The Shopkeeper had just gotten out of bed when he heard a commotion outside. Before he could even put on his shoes, he was pinned down by ferocious constables.

"Tie him up."

Zhao Lin kept a hand on the axe at his waist, his eyes fixed on the Shopkeeper’s every move.

The Shopkeeper didn’t resist, allowing the constables to bind him securely.

"Officer, you look rather familiar," the Shopkeeper said, looking at Zhao Lin calmly, showing no signs of panic.

"You’re the one people shouldn’t judge by appearances!"

Zhao Lin said coldly, "Start talking. How many exits does the secret passage beneath this inn have, and where do they lead?"

"What secret passage?" The Shopkeeper looked completely lost.

Liang Song walked to the side of the bed, lifted the mattress and blankets, and moved aside the bed boards to reveal a hole about two feet wide.

The Shopkeeper glanced at it once before turning his head away.

Zhao Lin said slowly, "Cover it up for now. If Wen Gensheng hears us, he might run."

The Shopkeeper’s expression changed drastically when he heard the name "Wen Gensheng," and he whipped his head around to look.

"Speak up. How many exits does the tunnel have?" Zhao Lin asked again.

The Shopkeeper lowered his gaze and said nothing.

Zhao Lin’s expression darkened. "Confess and you’ll be treated with leniency; resist and you’ll be punished severely. If you don’t start talking, we’ll have to resort to torture."

The Shopkeeper remained unmoved.

Just then, Tu Wuyan approached, carrying a box. "Constable Zhao, this must be him, right?"

"I appreciate you coming, Constable Tu."

Zhao Lin nodded, then turned and walked out of the room. In the main hall, the inn’s staff—waiters, the bookkeeper, cooks—were all tied up and lined up in a single row.

Guests on every floor were hiding in their rooms, though a few bolder ones had cracked their doors open to peek outside.

Zhao Lin bent down and pressed his ear to the floor. After listening for a moment and detecting no movement from below, he walked back into the room.

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

The Shopkeeper was hanging from a roof beam as Tu Wuyan relentlessly struck him with a Nine-tailed Whip.

"Thirty-five, thirty-six, thirty-seven..."

The Shopkeeper’s jaw was clenched tight, his entire body trembling. He was soaked from head to toe, and it was impossible to tell if it was with sweat or blood.

"Tough one, he is. To withstand forty lashes from the Nine-tailed Whip."

Tu Wuyan offered a compliment, then turned to his wooden box and took out a bag of salt. He began rubbing it into the Shopkeeper’s wounds, smiling as he said, "Just bear with it. This will help your wounds heal faster."

The corners of the Shopkeeper’s mouth twitched in agony, but he stubbornly refused to make a sound.

Seeing this, Zhao Lin sighed. "Constable Tu, don’t you claim to know one hundred and eight methods of torture? All you know how to do is whip him?"

Tu Wuyan had intended to play around for a while longer, but he just laughed. "You’re embarrassing me, Constable Zhao. I’ll make him talk right now."

With that, he rummaged through his case and pulled out a smaller box containing a bundle of steel needles. He carried it over to the Shopkeeper and smiled. "These are my family’s heirloom Five-Color Needles. When inserted into the body’s five meridians, they produce five distinct sensations: cold, heat, itching, pain, and numbness."

"While any one of these sensations is manageable on its own, the combination of all five will teach you the true meaning of a fate worse than death."

Tu Wuyan took a long steel needle and approached the Shopkeeper, aiming for his left side...

"I’ll talk," the Shopkeeper said abruptly.

Zhao Lin was a little surprised. ’He was so tough during the whipping, but he caved at the mere sight of a needle. Then again, that’s normal. Everyone has a different breaking point.’

"He’s talking?"

A look of disappointment crossed Tu Wuyan’s face. He put the needle back in its box and stepped aside.

"There’s a map hanging on the wall behind the counter. Bring it here and I’ll show you,"

the Shopkeeper said, gasping for breath.

Zhao Lin had someone bring in the map and unfolded it in front of the Shopkeeper. "How many exits, and where are they?"

The Shopkeeper glanced at the map. "There’s one under the feeding trough in the stables..."

Zhao Lin shot a look at a nearby constable, signaling for him to take some men and guard that location.

The Shopkeeper continued, "There’s another one next to the drainage ditch by the east wall."

Zhao Lin glanced at the map but didn’t see any marking for a drainage ditch. He frowned. "Where is this drainage ditch?"

The Shopkeeper seemed to have trouble seeing the map. He squinted for a moment, then said in a raspy voice, "Bring it closer. I’ll point it out to you."

"Alright."

Zhao Lin was about to step forward when a sudden chill shot up his spine, making the hairs on his body stand on end.

’That voice...’

’How is it the same as Wen Gensheng’s voice from the tunnel?’

’That’s not right. There were clearly two people talking in the tunnel. One was the Shopkeeper here, and the other was Wen Gensheng. How could the Shopkeeper’s voice suddenly change to sound like Wen Gensheng’s?’

’I might have fallen into a mental trap,’ Zhao Lin suddenly realized. ’Or rather, I trusted my ears too much.’

’Just because I heard two voices, does that necessarily mean there were two people?’

In a flash, Zhao Lin’s mind raced. He pulled back the foot he had started to move forward and shouted, "He’s a martial artist!"

The Shopkeeper flexed his arms, and the ropes binding him snapped. He lunged forward, reaching for Zhao Lin.

Instead of retreating, Zhao Lin advanced, raising his fist to meet the attack.

’Now I get it,’ he thought. ’The Shopkeeper is Wen Gensheng, and Wen Gensheng is the Shopkeeper!’

’The entire conversation in the tunnel was just him talking to himself.’

’Schizophrenia? Multiple personalities? The world of these deviants is truly beyond the comprehension of ordinary people.’

Wen Gensheng had hidden his true cultivation for years. According to his master, his strength was currently suppressed at the Third Layer of the Power Realm, on the verge of breaking through to the Qi Realm, but not quite there yet.

’Since we’re both in the Power Realm, I have no reason to be afraid of him. Plus, I’m wearing armor. All I need to do is attack.’

BANG!

Fist met palm. Zhao Lin took two steps back, but Wen Gensheng was sent flying backward, landing behind the earthen bed. "WAAH!" He spat out a mouthful of blood.

Wen Gensheng’s face was a mask of disbelief. He had intended to capture or severely injure Zhao Lin to create an opportunity to escape, never expecting Zhao Lin to be so formidable.

THWIP! THWIP! THWIP!

Several constables recovered and, raising their crossbows, fired at Wen Gensheng.

Wen Gensheng snatched up the bed boards and bedding to block the incoming Crossbow Arrows, then flipped over and jumped into the secret passage.

Seeing the man escape, Tao Erleng let out a roar and was about to jump into the hole after him.

Zhao Lin grabbed him. "It’s dangerous in there, don’t go in!"

Tao Erleng asked, "Then what do we do?"

Zhao Lin got down on the floor, listening intently, while giving an order: "Guard the entrance. Pump poison smoke into the passage."

The constables in the room immediately sprang into action. They took out the toxic herbal bundles they had brought from the armory, lit them at the passage entrance, and tossed them inside.

The bundles contained over a dozen potent poisons, including aconite, croton seeds, wolfsbane, arsenic, and orpiment. Originally used on the battlefield, the smoke would quickly poison any man or beast that inhaled it, causing respiratory distress and, after prolonged exposure, death by bleeding from the seven orifices.

Three constables raised heavy crossbows and aimed them at the earthen bed.

One stood back in the center, while the other two were positioned forward on the left and right, forming an inverted triangle.

’They even understand the concept of a crossfire.’

Zhao Lin nodded to himself. ’Even a Qi Realm master would have a hard time escaping unscathed if they emerged from that tunnel unprepared.’

At first, there was no sound from the tunnel. But soon after the poison bundles were tossed in, a series of coughs rang out, followed by the sound of staggering footsteps heading toward the west side of the inn.

"You all stay here and keep watch," Zhao Lin ordered. "Brother Liang, Tao Zhuang, with me."

Zhao Lin stood up and strode out of the room. He called to the constables guarding the main hall, "Go get Chief Shi and Chief Jin and bring them in here."

The constable acknowledged the order and hurried outside. He went up to Shi Dahai and Jin Liqun. "Chief Constable Zhao asks for both of you to bring your men and join him inside."

Shi and Jin, who had been standing at the inn’s entrance looking in, were both taken aback. "Did they catch him?"

"I didn’t see anything from out here," the messenger constable replied. "But from the sounds of it, the suspect escaped into a tunnel."