31 Finding Out The Truth (2)

Lian Hu started shivering more than before but he didn't tried to deny the truth.

"What happened after that?" Li Ming asked him.

At first he kept silent but the cold eyes if Li Ming made him terrified and he started reciting everything.

"When I returned back home, I told everyone that we both got separated in the storm and I couldn't find him. Our families tried to find him but of course no one found him. After that it took me a complete year and a half to prepare tools for the mining. But I had only 6-8 people and they were not enough. But 5 years ago, I found Han Zhe talking about his plan with his wife, who didn't want him to do any such thing. I thought that I could also benefit from it. So after discussing we both decided to work together. Because of the less production of last two seasons, the villagers were in bad condition. So, I offered them money and in return asked for 80% of their production and for their grown up children to work for me. In the past 4 years they had only seen their children a few times and the children are not allowed to leak any information about the iron mines." Lian Hu completed his story and fell completely silent.

"Then according to you the villagers were already struggling with the poisoned fields even before you started your plans." Li Ming looked at the both men who nodded their heads in affirmation.

'How could that be possible? If not these two then who poisoned the fields?'

It was the first time in this world that Li Ming had came across a really tricky situation.

"Snowy, go and bring Sir Liu and his family here!" Li Ming told Snowy who left immediately.

"Why no one from the Capital city found about the mine?" Li Ming asked Lian Hu.

"The Thundering Mountains are the safest mountain ranges in Han Empire, which means that there are very small amount of spiritual herbs and spirit beasts. It also means that the people from the Imperial City don't have enough time to waste on such a place where they will not find something useful. The only people who went into the Thundering Mountains are from the nearby villages. They go into the forest only for catching some prey, wood or collecting  fruits and wild veggies. And for such things they don't need to venture deep into the mountains. So, no one found about the mine and my work."

Li Ming rubbed her forehead. She had never thought that these two people would be committing such a high treason.

"Other than this, is there anything else you would like to confess?" Li Ming asked the duo.

"Nothing.....there is nothing more to tell." Lian Hu said but soon chocked on his words.

It was a clear sign that he was still hiding something. The Truth Seeking Pill would not let him lie. Li Ming didn't say anything and waited.

After a minutes later, Snowy came back with the Liu family. Li Ming asked both Lian Hu and Han Zhe to repeat what they had told her.

At first Lian Hu didn't comply but he didn't have many options. Due to the Truth Seeking Pill, he told the Liu family everything.

After listening that the children from the village were actually working in the iron mines, Sir Liu was ready to kill both the culprits right there.

After everything was clear, Li Ming asked some of the villagers to bring the families of both Han Zhe and Lian Hu there.

Lian Hu had a wife and two sons (both were over twenty years old) in his family and after asking a few questions after feeding the Truth Seeking Pills to the three of them, everyone found that his entire family was taking part in the treason.

Han Zhe had a wife, an 18 year old daughter and a 5-6 year old son. But what shocked everyone was the condition of both his wife and daughter. They both looked like they had been beaten by someone. Even the little boy had some marks on his face and arms.

Li Ming also gave them the pills and then asked, "What happened to the three of you?"

Both the woman and the girl didn't say anything and kept quiet. Li Ming looked at the girl and said in a soft voice, "Don't be afraid, I will not let anyone here hurt you. Just tell me the truth. Who did this to you?"

For a moment Li Ming thought that the girl was going to tell her but then she looked at someone behind her and suddenly recoiled in fear.

Li Ming turned around and saw Han Zhe staring at the girl. After thinking for a while Li Ming took the girls chin in her hand and pulled her face up. She looked into her eyes and said, "Don't worry about your father, just tell us the truth." She was using her compulsion magic.

"This monster is not my father!" The girl suddenly cried out loud. Many nearby families had already gathered around when the Liu family had arrived.

After listening the girls words everyone started talking in whispers. Everyone had their own theories and speculations.

"Silence!" Li Ming shouted loudly and everyone felt quiet. She looked at the trembling girl who was crying non-stop.

"What do you mean? Tell everything clearly." Li Ming told the girl.

"Such an evil person can never be my father! He always beats me and mother!" The girl started crying more loudly.

"When I was younger, I saw him getting drunk and then beating my mom but that only happened once or twice a month. My mother said that it's very common but everything changed since past 3 years. He started to get drunk more and more but the worst part is that he also started bringing that Lian Hu and his two sons at our home. Then one day that bastard Lian Hu tried.....tried to f....force himself on me!"

The girl was crying so hard that it was nearly impossible to speak.

The crowd was silent as it listened to the girl's words. No one dared to utter a single word. Every now and then, they gave Han Zhe a killing glance before continuing to listen to the girl's grievances.

After a few seconds of silence the girl continued, "But my mom saved me. When I told my father he said that it was not a big deal. I should not make his friend angry. Later I found out that for saving me my mother paid the price. She had secretly saved some money. So she gave me the money to get far away from the village. Since my brother was a boy he was safe from those beasts. That night I tried to run away but I got caught by Lian Qin, the eldest son of Lian Hu. He brought me back to the house and my father beated both me and my mother. That day we realized that there is no other way for us than excepting the harsh truth of our lives."

Everyone was so shocked after hearing the truth that none had any words to speak. All of them were thinking about the pain that these two mother and daughter pair had suffered.

"My husband never beated our son but he also never stopped the Lian boys from hurting him." The woman spoke for the first time.

The whole area was completely silent. Other than the crying mother and daughter, no one made a single noise. Suddenly the voice of four powerful slaps one after the other echoed through the silence of the night.