Yuan Tan froze, only then coming to his senses.
He then released Yuan Xi.
"Cough... cough, cough-"
Yuan Xi fell straight onto his backside, coughing and gasping incessantly, snot, tears, and saliva spilling all over the ground. He looked utterly bedraggled.
After a long while, he raised his pale face and looked up at Yuan Tan through tear-filled eyes, saying hoarsely, "Why don't you just kill me instead..."
This was just too damned torturous.
He might as well give up being their man on the inside.
Yuan Tan's expression darkened. He snorted coldly. "You think dying will be that easy? Answer my questions! Where is the Son of Heaven now? Did you lie to me before?"
"If you still refuse to tell the truth, don't blame me for disregarding our brotherly ties and having you tortured!"
Yuan Tan had not wanted things to turn so ugly.
But the situation was far too critical.
If he still could not find the Son of Heaven, either Lü Bu's or Zhang Liao's army could crush him, so he had to pry more information out of Yuan Xi.
"What else can I say?"
Yuan Xi lost his temper. Climbing up from the ground, he cursed, "I've already told you everything I should! All I know is that the Son of Heaven is in Dongguan Commandery! How would I know exactly where?"
"If you want to kill me, elder brother, you don't need so many excuses. Just do it! I'm only a disgrace to the Yuan Family who murdered his brother and imprisoned his father anyway. What brotherly ties do we have left?"
Yuan Xi had thrown caution to the wind.
He lashed out at Yuan Tan directly.
Yuan Tan's gaze shifted uncertainly. His left hand rested on the sword at his waist as he