My Wife is Unbeatable in the Whole World, Touch Me If You Dare!-Chapter 194 - 115: Putting Oneself into the Situation

After a day had passed, Li Nuo once again arrived at the Chang’an County Magistrate’s Office.

Many petty thieves who haven’t been caught by the law but have records at the County Magistrate’s Office.

If the performance of catching thieves didn’t meet the target in any given month, by the end of the month, they would grab a few record-holding petty thieves and throw them into the jail to boost their performance figures, which was an unwritten rule.

The constables at the County Magistrate’s Office were well aware of these matters.

Li Nuo had Pei Zhe send for a few petty thieves named in the county office’s records to see if they could find a breakthrough through them.

As soon as these people arrived at the County Magistrate’s Office, they began crying and pleading for mercy.

"Injustice!"

"The commoner has long corrected his wrongs!"

This content is taken from fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm.

"Your Excellency, please observe carefully, this commoner hasn’t committed a single crime these days..."

...

Pei Zhe was annoyed by the noise these people made and said irritably, "All of you, shut up!"

He looked at the habitual thieves and asked, "Which of you knows about the Thief Sect?"

"Ah, what sect?"

"Never heard of it."

"Me neither..."

The thieves looked at each other, all with looks of confusion.

Pei Zhe’s gaze swept over their faces, and from their expressions, it seemed that most of them truly hadn’t heard about it.

However, one thin man with a weasel-like face, while saying he hadn’t heard of it, had an expression that was purposely exaggerated and artificial, clearly feigned.

Pei Zhe had always admired Li Nuo’s ability to spot a criminal in a crowd of hundreds.

Therefore, he later studied this skill intensely.

Although he hadn’t reached Li Nuo’s level, he could still precisely determine whether someone was lying through their subtle facial expressions.

He pointed at the thin man and told the Government Officials, "The rest can go back. Take him to a cell; this official has some questions for him."

Moments later, in the cell, the thin man trembled and said, "Your Excellency, this commoner, this commoner has indeed not committed theft again, Your Excellency, please see clearly!"

Sitting on a chair, one leg crossed over the other, Pei Zhe said, "Talk, what is the Thief Sect all about?"

The thin man was taken aback and shook his head, saying, "What Thief Sect, this commoner has never heard of it..."

Pei Zhe didn’t ask further but picked up an iron brand and casually placed it in the furnace to heat it up. The fire blazed fiercely, and the tip of the brand soon turned red hot.

Pei Zhe didn’t speak but took the iron brand and prodded and poked inside the furnace, making the flames burn even brighter.

The thin man knelt on the ground, his forehead breaking out in large beads of cold sweat, whether from fear or heat, it was hard to say.

Clang.

Pei Zhe’s iron brand accidentally knocked against the iron of the furnace, making a crisp sound.

The thin man’s body shook, and he immediately looked up and said, "Your Excellency, it’s like this, this commoner has only recently joined the Thief Sect, I don’t know much, I’ll tell you everything I know..."

...

Liu San was a citizen of Chang’an.

But he belonged to the bottom of Chang’an society.

Even more miserable than the bottom.

At the ripe age of twenty, he was still unmarried.

Last year, spending nearly all his savings, he managed to get married, but because he didn’t prepare the money for his bride to dismount the bridal sedan and for the wedding chamber, he ended up sleeping outside the door for the entire night.

The next morning when he woke up, the bride had run off with all the household’s valuables.

After being depressed for a long time, he finally picked himself up, scraped together some money from relatives and neighbors, planned to start a business, and then by accident, the money got stolen.

Afterward, he gave up on life entirely.

To survive, he often engaged in petty thievery; a successful heist meant a full belly for a few days.

Getting caught meant merely taking a beating, as long as he protected his head.

But being beaten constantly wasn’t the way to live, so in order to be beaten less, he began to painstakingly train his skills.

Gradually, his artistry improved, his success rate increased, and he took fewer beatings.

Until one day, he robbed someone and was caught in the act.

However, the man didn’t hit him, nor did he take him to see the officials, instead, he introduced him to an organization.

This organization was called the Thief Sect.

After joining the Thief Sect, Liu San realized thievery wasn’t as simple as opportune snatching.

Thieves were divided into Wall-climbing thieves, Tunneling thieves, Blockage thieves, Hand-inserting Thieves, Tomb Robbers, thieves of breaking the homes, Iron Abacus Thief, and so on and so forth...

His kind, pickpockets who stole wallets on the streets, were the lowest level.

The man asked if he wanted to join the Thief Sect.

Joining the Thief Sect required handing over half of the stolen goods.

In turn, experienced thieves would teach him various new Stealing Techniques such as slipping in and picking locks, climbing over walls and jumping through windows, Dragon Seeking and Gold Dividing, Tomb Exploration and Coffin Opening, Geomancy Fengshui...

Seemingly giving up half of the goods didn’t seem like a good deal.

But before joining the Thief Sect, he could only steal a few hundred coins a month, barely scraping by.

After joining the Thief Sect and learning so many advanced thieving skills, plus having the support of the sect from selecting targets, scoping out places beforehand, to executing the heist, setting up the getaway, and laundering the money, the profits were a hundred to a thousand times more than before.

If it wasn’t for him self-learning and excelling at thieving, he wouldn’t have been able to join the Thief Sect.

Such an opportunity, Liu San accepted without a second thought.

Before he joined the Thief Sect, he was a hungry bachelor.

After joining, he ate in restaurants every day, and every night he enjoyed the pleasures of a groom.

It was the Thief Sect that changed his life, he naturally wouldn’t readily betray the Sect.

But the red-hot iron brand was too frightening; once branded on the body, wouldn’t it cook the flesh?

He feared pain and couldn’t bear such suffering.

Watching the red-hot iron brand, he spilled the beans about everything he knew regarding the Thief Sect.