Because the mayor ceded his fertile land to the townspeople in exchange for the ownership of the hill behind the town, they did not harbor strong grievances, just a curiosity about the mayor's actions.
"These tricolored strawberries taste quite good, you should try them." Li Zhiqing said, taking a bite of the red-green-blue berries.
"Stop eating, Cao Hong is here." Lu Hongwei said.
Cao Hong threw the mayor in front of everyone, his mouth sealed by Spiritual Power, making him unable to speak.
Huang Laosan stepped forward, helped the mayor up, and said, "Mayor Liu, sorry for disturbing you so late."
"Just tell us where the Huang Feng bandit group hid their things in the back hill, and we'll let you go back for a good night's sleep." Huang Laosan said.
Upon hearing the term "Huang Feng bandit group," Mayor Liu's eyes flickered with nervousness, and he struggled, "Mm-mm-mm~"
Cao Hong seeing his state, released the Spiritual Power at his mouth, letting him speak.
Mayor Liu said, "Huang Feng bandit group? Never heard of them. I'm the mayor, how could I be linked with bandits? There must be some mistake."
"Mayor Liu, it's better for you to cooperate with us; otherwise, tonight might end in eternal sleep."
As Huang Laosan spoke, he casually reached out and broke one of Mayor Liu's fingers. Mayor Liu wanted to scream in pain but, with his mouth again sealed by Spiritual Power, could only let out muffled groans.
"Nine left, Mayor Liu wouldn't want all ten fingers broken, right? Lead us there, will you?" Huang Laosan's hand moved to the second index finger.
Mayor Liu frantically nodded, indicating his willingness to lead them.
Snap! Yet the index finger was still broken by Huang Laosan, and tears of pain welled up in Mayor Liu's eyes. New ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄhapters are published on N(o)vᴇl(F)ire.nᴇt
The pain from the broken fingers was excruciating; even getting a splinter under the nail was agonizing, let alone having two fingers forcibly broken.
After all, he was not a resolute Martial Cultivator; otherwise, he wouldn't be just a small-town mayor, he would have joined the military long ago.
Trembling, clutching his left hand, Mayor Liu, hesitant to touch his own injury, led the group toward the strawberry fields on the back hill.
Passing through the dense, weed-overgrown strawberry fields, they arrived at a clearing, an abrupt patch amid surrounding wild grass, starkly bare.
However, the clearing was just earth, bereft of other objects, seemingly not concealing any entrance to an underground staircase.
"Is this it?" Lu Hongwei asked.
Mayor Liu nodded desperately. Whether out of malicious delight or another reason, Cao Hong did not remove the Spiritual Power sealing Mayor Liu's mouth, denying him the chance to scream in pain.
Seeing him nod, Lu Hongwei looked at Li Zhiqing and said, "It's your turn."
Li Zhiqing took out three jade tokens and confidently declared, "Leave it to me."
Spiritual Power manipulated the three jade tokens to fly to the clearing's center, and threads of Spiritual Power Silk formed an array pattern. With the completion of the array, faint spiritual light began to appear over the clearing.
The jade tokens, along with the array, landed on the clearing, a flash of light revealed a pitch-black entrance, leading to stone steps descending underground.
Seeing the appearance of the entrance, Lu Hongwei, pleased, instructed someone to enter and check.
This was the Gatekeeper Lu Yu had seen before, a native Martial Cultivator from the Shenwu Realm, not a player.
Li Zhiqing stared at the entrance, furrowing his brows, sensing something peculiar—during the array activation, he felt a wave of Spiritual Power emanating from the passage.
The Spiritual Power fluctuated subtly, seemingly obscured by something, making it difficult to pinpoint.
A voice from the tunnel interrupted Li Zhiqing's thoughts; he shook his head, assuming the earlier Spiritual Power surge was from the hidden Spiritual Treasure, dismissing the notion of someone entering the treasure site under his watch.