Chapter 5 Ghost Hunting (2)

Although he didn’t know which of the three people the traitor was, Ye Mingsheng didn’t have the time nor the interest to continue playing hide-and-seek with this damn guy, so he decided to try something a little more exciting...

After the night watchman blew the gong for the first watch, Ye Ju, who was sent by Ye Tie to deliver a message, finally returned to Liu's house. Ye Mingsheng finally got what he wanted.

Without hesitation, Ye Mingsheng put on his cotton coat immediately. Accompanied by Ye Ju and Ye Dong, he quietly walked out of the back door of Liu's Mansion and got on a carriage to drive out of the city.

An incense stick later, Ye Mingsheng, riding in a horse-drawn carriage, arrived at a small forest outside the county town.

In the dark night, the cold wind was blowing. He, who had just recovered from a serious illness, could not help but wrap his clothes tightly and slowly walked towards the depths of the woods. At this time, several flames could be faintly seen in the depths of the woods.

When they arrived at the fire, they saw Ma San, Chen Changlin and Feng Biao, all tied to three trees with hemp ropes as thick as fingers. Their mouths were blocked by a rag, and they were glaring at Ye Tie and others who were guarding them.

After seeing Ye Mingsheng coming, the three people suddenly became excited and wanted to say something, but their mouths blocked by rags could only make "wuwuwu" sounds.

After taking a quick look at the three people in front of him, Ye Mingsheng waved his hand and Ye Tie immediately took the rags out of their mouths.

"Commander, I have always been loyal to you..."

"General, what on earth is going on? Where did I go wrong..."

"My Lord, what are you doing?"

As soon as the rags in their mouths were taken away, the three people immediately began to cry out to Ye Mingsheng for mercy. However, Ye Mingsheng turned a blind eye to their actions and said in a low voice:

"Ma San, you have been with me since the fourth year of Anhe in Zhaowu Camp. Together we suppressed the Dangxiang uprising in Yongliang and eliminated bandits in Qingzhou."

"Chen Changlin, I recruited you from Bingzhou in the fifth year of Anhe, and you have been with me for more than three years."

"Feng Biao, you are also a new soldier I recruited from the refugees when I was the sentry commander in the fifth year of Anhe. I saw that you learned martial arts for a few days, so I promoted you to be my personal soldier."

As Ye Mingsheng spoke, the three people who were tied tightly to the tree stopped making noise and looked at Ye Mingsheng.

Under the gaze of these three people, Ye Mingsheng stopped talking, looked at them deeply again, and then said word by word:

"The least time you three have spent with me is more than three years. For the sake of our past friendship, as long as you stand up, I promise to give you a quick death without implicating others!"

When Ye Mingsheng said this, the three people tied to the tree were all shocked and seemed not to understand what Ye Mingsheng was saying.

After a few seconds, Ma San, the oldest of the three, was the first to recover from his shock. He looked at Ye Mingsheng and said sincerely: "Commander, I don't know what happened, but I think there must be a misunderstanding between us..."

Ma San wanted to continue talking, but Ye Mingsheng raised his hand to interrupt him and sneered, "The matter of Xiaoli Town has been exposed. One of you three betrayed me and wanted to pass the news to the Supervision Department!"

After he finished speaking, the expressions of the three people tied to the tree changed. Chen Changlin immediately said, "Sir, I didn't do this. It has nothing to do with me. You must believe me!" Ye Mingsheng ignored Chen Changlin's pleading and said calmly:

"I know one of you three is innocent, but I have no choice but to find the traitor, so I can only say sorry to you!"

"But don't worry, you have been with me, Ye, through thick and thin for many years. I will definitely take care of your funeral affairs beautifully. I will also take care of your family members, so you don't have to worry about anything when you get there!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Ye Tie and the others drew their steel knives from their scabbards and stepped forward. In this life-or-death situation, Chen Changlin, who had the weakest endurance among the three, immediately panicked and cried out:

"Third brother, Biaozi, if one of you two is the traitor, just admit it!"

"Don't implicate me, I still have an 80-year-old mother..."

"Damn it, I'm not a traitor. I hate people who betray their brothers the most!"

Faced with Chen Changlin's questioning, Feng Biao, who had always been honest and taciturn, couldn't help but swear. After that, he closed his eyes as if he had accepted his fate.

While Chen Changlin and Feng Biao were talking, Ye Tie and the others had already walked over to them. Seeing his head about to be chopped off by the steel knife, Ma San sighed and looked at Ye Mingsheng helplessly and said:
"Commander, you win!"

"I am the person you are looking for, but I am not a traitor. The token should be in your hands, sir. You know my identity and you cannot kill me!"

After Ma San finished speaking, everyone's eyes were focused on him. After hearing his admission, Chen Changlin, who had just walked through the gates of hell, was immediately surprised and happy. In order to please Ye Mingsheng, he immediately yelled at Ma San:
"Ma San, you damn bastard, the master has been very kind to you, but you actually betrayed him!"

Ma San ignored Chen Changlin's scolding. He looked at Ye Mingsheng and said with great certainty:

"My Lord, you can't kill me. You can't afford the consequences of killing me!"

As soon as Ma San finished speaking, Ye Tie, the captain of the personal guards, wanted to pick up a knife and teach Ma San a lesson, but Ye Mingsheng stopped him with a look, then looked at Ma San and said calmly: "Did you kill Wang Hu?"

Now that he had laid his cards on the table, Ma San had nothing to hide, and he said very frankly:

"That's right. I didn't intend to kill him, but he saw my token and was going to tell you about it, so I had to kill him and put the blame on him."

After getting the answer, Ye Mingsheng nodded, then signaled his men to untie the ropes of Yang Biao and Chen Changlin, and gave them a knife respectively.

Just as the two of them were looking at each other with knives in their hands, not knowing what to do, Ye Mingsheng pointed at Ma San and ordered coldly, "You two go up and chop off his two arms for me."

Hearing Ye Mingsheng's arrangement to tie him to the tree, Ma San, who had been calm and composed, suddenly panicked and shouted loudly:
"I am a spy from the Supervisory Department. Who dares to touch me?"

As soon as Ma San said this, Chen Changlin picked up the knife and walked towards Ma San viciously. Chen Changlin, who was ready to avenge his friend, was stunned. Thinking of the great reputation of the Inspector General, a hint of fear emerged on his face, and he subconsciously looked at Ye Mingsheng.

(End of this chapter)