Passing Sentence on Himself

Golden Saber Martial Arts School?!

Chu Tianshu glanced at everyone with a subtle expression.

The two men and three women had good hearing; upon hearing the voice on the phone, they all held their breath and moved closer, their faces showing surprise and suspicion.

Qi Lianyong remained calm and only mouthed something to the man with the severed finger.

"Normal answer".

It's unclear whether the man with the severed finger understood the lip movements, but he certainly understood the threat in his voice.

"You've heard of that martial arts school in Guangling, right?"

The man with the severed finger managed to say, "Why did you bring that up?"

"Golden Saber Martial Arts School had an old campus; after they moved out, that area was converted into a cultural center."

The eldest brother said, "Besides the showroom, there's also a warehouse there, filled with half-antique, half-fictional items."

"Just deliver the goods there, and someone will let you in. Tell them it's merchandise, and don't mention anything else."

"Also, find a place on the road as soon as possible to fully charge your phone, so you don't lose contact."

He hung up the phone as soon as he finished speaking.

The man with the severed finger looked hesitantly at the crowd, unsure of what to do next.

Chu Tianshu flicked his finger, and the silver needle was sealed back into place.

"It's the old campus."

The short-haired girl seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, but she still had some doubts. "But this is our old campus after all. Could this person have some connection with our school?"

Qi Lianyong chuckled, "Even if you don't trust the teachers' character, you should trust their work arrangements."

"Attending classes every day, occasionally going out for auxiliary defense missions, and taking a few days off."

"Who has the time to become a Jiangnan, searching for ancient tombs?"

The short-haired girl looked a little embarrassed, gave an awkward laugh, and lowered her head to pet the cat in her hand.

"But..."

Qi Lianyong then changed the subject, "Even among the current teachers and students, while they are not highly suspicious, it's hard to say whether this person might have other identities or connections to the school."

"Unfortunately, we know the names and addresses of the men we arrested, but not their boss's."

Chu Tianshu was also looking at the four prisoners.

He arrested three out of the four people.

Of the core members of this gang, only the ringleader remains at large.

Chu Tianshu twitched his index finger, feeling a slight sense of incompleteness and unsatisfaction.

He suddenly noticed that the man with the mole on his forehead seemed to be twitching his eyelids.

"Do you have something to say?"

Chu Tianshu reached out and pulled out a needle.

The man with the mole took a breath and his first words were...

"My full name is Yao Liben. I can help you."

Chu Tianshu said calmly, "Why are you so eager?"

"I see now, you weren't planning to kill us outright, you were going to double-cross us."

Yao Liben stated frankly, "If we were sent to be tried according to the law, I wouldn't die."

"In the underworld, money brings dignity. When I entered this line of work, I wanted to experience the awe-inspiring life of the wealthy, not to become a death row inmate."

"So I painstakingly studied the criminal law, recording each crime I had committed and their corresponding sentences, just to prevent myself from being caught one day."

"Over the years, I haven't been involved in any murder cases. During interrogations, I can provide factual evidence. I have a clear conscience, and in terms of sentencing, the most I could get is life imprisonment."

Yao Liben's eyes lit up.

"If I can help devise a plan to bring the boss to justice, it will be considered a meritorious service, and I might be able to get a reduced sentence."

The man with the severed finger stared in disbelief, his eyes fixed on his companion.

Chu Tianshu was speechless for a moment.

When they interrogated the burly man earlier, they mainly asked about the whereabouts of the lower-ranking members, the strength of the man with the severed finger, and Yao Liben.

I really didn't have time to ask about the specific crimes these people committed.

Anyway, that burly man has more than one life on his hands.

Surprisingly, there really is a tomb raider here who can use legal statutes to determine his own sentence.

"You're quite the perpetrator."

Chu Tianshu grabbed him and pulled him out, then gave him a shake, making him stand in front of him.

These vans are quite large, and the back seats can be folded down to store goods.

But these four prisoners could only huddle together.

Yao Liben was dragged out, and although he was still stiff and standing there blankly, he felt much more comfortable.

"According to your companions' testimonies, your boss is a mysterious and unfathomable figure. Besides knowing his surname is Li, that he's skilled in martial arts, has extensive connections, and understands tomb raiding, we know nothing else."

Chu Tianshu asked, "What methods do you have to help us capture him?"

Yao Liben breathed a sigh of relief, "His mysterious and unfathomable demeanor is nothing more than a pretense to establish authority and better control his associates."

"The reason he knows our detailed sales and revenue records is simple: he always keeps a portion of the high-quality goods for himself and then goes to find larger buyers at other times."

"We can naturally learn the details of our shipments from the major buyers, and then compare them with the accounts we submit."

"If we were just casually stealing something along the way, and hadn't yet successfully smuggled it into the country before handing it over to the big buyer, then he wouldn't know what we'd stolen."

Qi Lianyong listened from the side and nodded secretly.

The leader probably didn't know that this group of people had passed by the Golden Saber Martial Arts School before and even caught a cat.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have so calmly arranged for his men to go to the old campus of the Golden Saber Martial Arts School.

"Such methods all serve to enhance his image of authority, but the true foundation of his authority comes from his accurate ability to locate tombs, his knowledge of mechanisms, and his ability to demonstrate his best skills when encountering supernatural or ghostly things in the tombs, leading everyone to charge through."

Yao Liben said, "But most of these advantages of his are useless when facing outsiders."

"To catch him, all we need to do is get him hooked and show up in your ambush; then we'll be halfway there."

Chu Tianshu said, "Get to the point!"

The key point is, he panicked.

Yao Liben stated confidently, "We've encountered unexpected situations before that caused us to be delayed on the road."

"On those occasions, he would ignore us midway through, only showing up suddenly after we reached the coast and reported to him, leading us to find other buyers along the coast."

"The reason he called so quickly this time to arrange the specifics is that he's eager to get rid of this batch of goods."

"Based on my observations during my recent meetings with him, he's likely eyeing something he desperately wants and urgently needs to sell his current item to purchase it."

"I can fabricate a story about a former buyer who happened to run into us on the way and was planning to take advantage of the cold weather to cheat us out of our money."

Yao Liben said seriously, "When you're in a rush, everything goes wrong. As long as I act convincingly enough, I can get A Xuan to help too."

"There's a high chance the leader will rush to the old campus to oversee things."

Chu Tianshu asked with concern, "Will he make it in time? If he's too far away, he can't be anxious even if he wants to. If he gets too anxious, he might just give up."

Yao Liben hesitated and said, "This... it's going to be a gamble. If I were to judge, the chances of success are still quite high."

Those who work with others have a greater grasp of details than outsiders like Chu Tianshu, making it easier for them to make judgments.

Neither the Tendon-Separating and Bone-Dislocating Hand nor Chu Tianshu's True Word Silver Needle Interrogation could achieve such a thorough level of investigation.

When a person is in excruciating pain and delirium, they are at best a dull, lifeless question-and-answer machine.

A prisoner like Yao Liben, who can exercise his initiative, is far more useful.

Is this the lure of a reduced sentence?

"Good!"

Chu Tianshu turned his head with a smile, "Master Qi, we were going to the Golden Saber Martial Arts School anyway."

"Let's trust his plan for now and set up this scheme along the way, what do you think?"

Qi Lianyong paused for a moment to think.

Meow! Meow!

The Bai Mei cat suddenly spoke, raising its right paw high and wriggling in the short-haired girl's arms.

Its eyes, like black grapes, gleamed in the sunlight and snow, and it couldn't wait to agree to the suggestion.

Meow!!

"All right."

Qi Lianyong said, "I'll make a call later to let the martial arts school know."

"And what about Yao Liben? When we asked your accomplices before, all we knew was that your boss was skilled in palm and finger techniques. Do you have any more details to add?"

Yao Liben pondered for a moment.

"In some ancient tombs, the surge of yin energy is so intense that even gunpowder cannot be ignited, and gas masks cannot withstand the bone-chilling cold and dizziness. One can only rely on their martial arts skills and magical artifacts to endure it."

"But Boss Li was able to thrive in that situation."

"Even those heavily armored tomb guardians can have a hole punched in them with a single blow from his hand."

Upon hearing this reaction, Chu Tianshu immediately had a guess in his mind.

Could it be a palm and finger technique cultivated using poisonous sand?

Among the variations of Iron Sand Palm are Poison Sand Palm and Black Sand Palm, which are very difficult to practice and can easily lead to hand deformities and lung diseases.

However, if one practices diligently and properly, and can achieve mastery, the body's resistance to toxins will greatly increase, and it will also strengthen the heart and lungs.

Qi Lianyong, on the other hand, also put forward a guess at this time.

"To be so at ease in an ancient tomb, could he be a master of yin-cold internal energy cultivation?"

(End of this chapter)