Lin Xiaotian's voice turned cold, "You know I don't have much patience to waste here with you. Regardless of your answer, cooperate honestly, and I might spare your life."
Zhou Lanmei clutched at the last straw, her voice trembling, "As long as you swear not to kill me, I'll tell you what happened back then."
Lin Xiaotian turned his head, a devilishly charming arc forming at the corner of his mouth.
He raised his palm and brought it down.
"Slap!"
A crisp slap echoed.
Zhou Lanmei's mouth bled from the impact, and she fell to the side.
At this moment, she felt stars exploding in her vision. As she fell, her mind felt as if it had been struck by a thousand-pound hammer.
Lin Xiaotian smiled and crouched beside her, a silver needle appearing in his hand. He slowly inserted it into her acupoint.
"I already told you before, cooperate honestly. You're not qualified to make demands of me."
"Whatever I ask you, you'd best answer."
"I have no patience to continue wasting time with you here. Those events back then, you were merely a fuse. The real culprit has yet to show their face."
"For example, who told you about the Tiantian Pill?"
"Such an important matter, the Lin family would surely treasure it carefully, and would absolutely not tell outsiders. And at that time, you had only just married into the Chu family, which was nothing compared to the Lin family."
Hearing this, Zhou Lanmei's mind cleared a little, and a glimmer of hope ignited in her heart.
"You're right, this matter cannot be blamed on me at all. Someone deliberately leaked this news to me. Even if it wasn't me, someone else would have sold this information."
"As long as you don't kill me, I..."
Her words were cut short.
She felt as if countless needles were piercing her body, the pain forcing a scream from her.
A smile appeared on Lin Xiaotian's face as he said directly, "I've already told you, don't make demands of me. You're not qualified. If I hear similar words again, I will make you wish you were dead."
"When your spirit breaks, you'll naturally tell me everything."
"Don't test my patience, you can't afford the price."
Zhou Lanmei now wished for death.
She had never experienced such pain, as if ten thousand ants were gnawing at her heart.
"Uncle, you just pulled out those silver needles. The person who told me the news back then was surnamed Liu. I don't know his specific name, only his appearance."
"What I remember most clearly is that he had a handlebar mustache, and his appearance was that of a scoundrel. He had a pair of triangular eyes, and when he smiled, his mouth would open to reveal a row of yellow teeth."
"He was the one who said he could help me solve my current troubles, and he was the one who gave me the news."
"At that time, I was just thinking, better safe than sorry. Spreading that news was a moment of madness. I truly know I was wrong, please spare me!"
"Only later did I realize that I was being used. The person who truly wanted to deal with your Lin family was that bastard surnamed Liu."
Lin Xiaotian narrowed his eyes slightly and said calmly, "After that, did that guy ever appear again?"
"I never saw him again, only that one time."
Speaking of this, Zhou Lanmei's eyes suddenly flashed with venomous hatred. "And I want to tell you, Old Madam Chu took advantage of the chaos. She also arranged for people to go to your Lin family to steal things."
"Many of the things she stole were hidden by her."
"To this day, those items have been collected by her, hidden somewhere. She is definitely guarding those treasures."
A cold glint flashed in Lin Xiaotian's eyes. "Did that include this item?"
He took out the wooden box.
When Zhou Lanmei saw the wooden box, her pupils contracted violently.
"That's right, I saw this thing before. And the one who led the charge was Chu Jingtian. She didn't even dare to tell her eldest son about this matter, as he wasn't her biological son. Our family didn't receive any news."
"Please, I've told you everything I know, let me go!"
Lin Xiaotian sneered, "You think providing me with this little bit of information is enough for me to let you go? Don't you find that ridiculous?"
"If I can't find the ultimate culprit, I will make you suffer endlessly."
"Don't worry, I said I wouldn't kill you, and I won't."
"But I didn't say I wouldn't act against you."
"The pain you're experiencing now is nothing. It's merely an appetizer. I still need you to testify against that guy, as he is the only true lead."
"Although I don't know where that bastard surnamed Liu you mentioned is, I believe that a fox will eventually show its tail. He will definitely come looking for me again."
"Because he can't just watch me grow stronger."
After Lin Xiaotian finished speaking, he inserted the last silver needle.
Zhou Lanmei felt pain coursing through her entire body. An unspeakable fear enveloped her completely.
She could not speak, nor could she move her limbs, but the pain did not lessen in the slightest; it only intensified.
The only thing she could move were her eyeballs, which were filled with pleading and regret.
Lin Xiaotian's gaze was as cold as ice, but his face wore a smile. "If you knew this would happen, why did you do it in the first place?"
"Hundreds of lives in the Lin family need someone to pay the price. That debt of blood must be washed away with blood."
"But your blood is too dirty. I will not scatter your blood at the Lin family's graves."
"So I can only let you spend the rest of your life lying in a hospital. You can live for at least another decade or two."
As Zhou Lanmei thought of the constant trembling pain throughout her body, she would rather die than endure another second of it.
And this pain would continue indefinitely.
Despair filled her chest.
Lin Xiaotian directly stuffed her into the car. Just as he was about to get in, a sudden tremor ran through him. He abruptly turned his gaze in one direction, and his killing intent erupted.