A Good Country Wife-Chapter 693 - 686_1

Lin Yue, no matter how strong her patience, couldn’t help it when she heard Quan An’s shameless remarks, not to mention that Quan An had so blatantly stated his intentions. Such shameless thoughts were utterly despicable. Her face turned as cold as ice.

"As the Magistrate of Xin’an City, the parental official of the people, you should be thinking of their welfare. Instead of neglecting your duties, greedily accepting bribes, and perverting the law, you dare to commit such acts. Disguising as bandits to kidnap civilians, extorting money, and harboring such malicious thoughts. A person like you deserves to be an official as much as a dog deserves to assist tyranny. You will sooner or later meet a bad end. I’ll say it again, where are Dalang and his brothers? Hand them over immediately!"

Seeing that Lin Yue was not only unfazed by his intimidation but also aggressively demanding the release of the captives, Quan An realized that mere threats were useless against her. This woman was not one to be compared with ordinary women; she appeared gentle and frail yet was fiercely strong. Moreover, with the situation in his favor, Quan An, backed by his numerous followers, confidently prepared to take action against the trio of Lin Yue. "It seems you prefer punishment over a polite drink. Come on, tie her up."

At Quan An’s command, the group he had brought with him began to surround Lin Yue. She remained calm and stopped Haishi and the other from stepping forward to fight the bandits. Despite their excellent fighting skills, facing such numbers, they would inevitably be at a disadvantage. Of course, it was out of the question for Lin Yue to surrender without a fight. She calmly took out a small ball-like object from her person and tossed it to the ground. Instantly, upon impact, it burst with a loud ’bang,’ releasing a thick cloud of white smoke that rapidly spread in all directions.

Lin Yue was certainly not a reckless person. Although she was concerned for Dalang and his brothers and willing to take a risk, she had also made several preparations. This small orb was one of the trump cards she had prepared—an adaptation of a signal flare that she had obtained from Jiang Ziqi for self-defense. The white powder released by the small ball was a potent knockout drug. Lin Yue’s journey back from the Capital City had been smooth, and so the orb had not been used until now when it had proven extremely useful.

Before Quan An and his men could react, many of them had already fallen to the ground, with others following suit one after another, all lying in disarray, rendered unconscious, Quan An included. Only Lin Yue and her two companions remained standing.

Haishi and the other had already prepared themselves for a desperate fight. Although they were outnumbered, both were skilled fighters, especially the Hidden Guard transferred from the Jiang Family, whose kung fu was exceptional. When it was time to strike, Lin Yue stopped them and now they understood what the medicine she had given them earlier was for. No wonder the lady had dared to venture here with them, she had already prepared ways to cope with the situation.

Haishi once again realized Lin Yue’s intelligence and resourcefulness. With such simplicity, she had dealt with so many people. His face was full of admiration and respect. "So the lady had prepared in advance, this is really great. I was originally worried about them having superior numbers, afraid we wouldn’t stand a chance and thus fail the lady."

"It’s just that we don’t know where they’re hiding Dalang and the others. Let’s take some effort to figure out the location. Here, wake Quan An up first, I have something to ask him." As she spoke, Lin Yue kicked the lying Quan An, venting both her anxiety and her frustration.

Quan An was awoken by the dousing of cold water. At first, he felt disoriented and couldn’t understand what had happened, only remembering a swath of white before losing consciousness. It was only after looking at Lin Yue and her companions that he remembered everything. Coming to his senses, he scrambled up from the ground, and seeing his men scattered about, he pointed at Lin Yue and cursed loudly, his words laced with terror.

"Witch, what sorcery have you used to bring everyone to this state!" Quan An was inherently a coward; he had only acted brazenly before because he had the advantage of numbers. Now, when the tables were turned, he was struggling to accept it.

"Speak, where have you taken Dalang? Out with it immediately, or else this ’witch’ will make you suffer," Lin Yue said with a chilling gaze, pressing Quan An for answers. She didn’t care in the least about being called a witch. It was better for Quan An to be frightened of her; fear would make it easier to extract information.

"If you want to see those kids, fine, wake my people up first, and then obediently come with me to see Magistrate Cheng. Otherwise—hmm—you can forget about it! If I’m displeased, the lives of those little ones are at risk, so you’d better be sensible!" At this moment, Quan An still had an ace up his sleeve, which gave him a certain immunity from fear as he cruelly spoke, punctuating every word and phrase with a threat, using Dalang’s brothers to intimidate Lin Yue.

Lin Yue certainly wasn’t going to be threatened that easily. With a covert signal, a Hidden Guard on loan from the Jiang Family stepped forward, grabbed Quan An, and applied pressure. Being from the Jiang Family, the guard was naturally well-versed in interrogation techniques, decisively using the Bone-Shifting Hand technique to dislocate Quan An’s shoulder. The pain was intolerable for an ordinary person, as evidenced by Quan An’s pained scream.

"Ah, pain, pain, stop it, heroic good sir, let me go, you’re killing me with pain." The Bone-Shifting Hand was indeed an effective method of torture, and being treated like this was agonizing, almost to the point where death seemed like a better option.

"Speak! Where are they? Otherwise, you’ll get to taste more of the Bone-Shifting Hand’s delight—not exactly pleasant," the Jiang Family’s Hidden Guard said with a cold smile that sent shivers down Quan An’s spine. Quan An was conflicted about whether to reveal the truth. Once he did, and people were rescued, it would be difficult to ensnare Lin Yue again. But if he didn’t speak, the agony of the Bone-Shifting Hand was almost too much to bear.

"It seems that wasn’t sufficient to persuade you, so hesitant you remain... Well then..." The Hidden Guard didn’t finish his sentence, but with another move, Quan An screamed in agony, losing any inclination to contemplate further and begging for mercy incessantly.

"Spare me, please, I’ll tell you where you can find Dalang and the others, I’ll tell you, just stop it," Quan An, in pain and fear, his voice trembling, had lost all semblance of backbone, which made him much easier to deal with.

Upon hearing Quan An’s words, a trace of joy appeared on Lin Yue’s face. "Speak quickly, where are Dalang and the others? Are they still all right?"

"Don’t worry, they are fine. I never intended to harm them; I just wanted to use them to lure you to present to Magistrate Cheng and then get some money," Quan An confessed.