AMRWFA -Chapter 204 Exposed

Ma Aotian thought about it and felt it made sense.

He was the only bloodline of the ancestor—if he didn’t treat himself well, who would?

Whether the ancestral incense could continue still depended on him.

Ma Aotian casually reached into his pocket, but in reality, the ring’s old grandfather had handed him a pitch-black pill, about the size of a fingertip.

After taking it, he directly shoved it into Zhai Zuo’s mouth.

“Those who betray me will pay the price!”

Zhai Zuo only felt as if countless worms were gnawing through his internal organs. The pain was unbearable.

“Ah—!”

He let out a miserable scream.

Everyone else was startled and took a step back.

Supported by others, Zhai Zuo collapsed onto the ground, clutching his stomach in agony.

Ma Aotian looked at the others and said, “Don’t be scared. You didn’t betray me, so I won’t do this to you. We’re all people in the same line of work—I have to have some methods, otherwise I would’ve been eaten alive long ago.”

Some people were afraid, while others praised him.

“As expected of Brother Tian! So impressive!”

Outside the restroom corridor, the waiter who had come to coordinate with Zhai Zuo heard the scream. Noticing no one around, he seemed to realize something, pushed his cart forward, and pretended nothing had happened as he passed by.

Sure enough, just as he reached the corner, his supervisor stopped him and scolded him.

“Where are you running off to?”

“Sorry, Brother Ou, I was delivering stuff…” He glanced around and asked quietly, “What’s going on over there? I heard someone screaming.”

“Brother Tian is handling business. Don’t ask questions!”

“Oh, so it’s Brother Tian. Got it. Thanks for the reminder, Brother Ou—I almost caused trouble.”

……

After receiving the news, Ru Anzhi and the others felt something was wrong.

“It looks like that club is Ma Aotian’s territory. Zhai Zuo’s identity was probably already exposed. They were just waiting to catch him in a trap,” Liang Shishi said worriedly. After all, he was their comrade—now that he had fallen into Ma Aotian’s hands, no one knew what condition he was in.

Judging by the reports, his screams were pretty miserable.

“How did he find out? We’ve never directly contacted Zhai Zuo. Could there be a mole among us?” Ru Anzhi quickly reviewed everyone on the chain, trying to find the leak.

And now that Zhai Zuo’s identity had been exposed, should they rescue him?

Ma Aotian’s methods were clearly abnormal. Normal methods might not be able to pry open Zhai Zuo’s mouth, but if he used… non-normal ones…

At that moment, Minister Qin Shibo walked in from outside and told them the plan.

They still had to “rescue” Zhai Zuo—but first, they had to stabilize Ma Aotian and prevent him from panicking and doing something irreversible.

Their approach was simple: make Ma Aotian believe that Zhai Zuo was not their person—that he had long been “abandoned” by the higher-ups due to past mistakes, and that he was now trying to redeem himself by capturing Ma Aotian for merit.

Liang Shishi asked, “That… can work?”

Qin Shibo replied, “We’re not sure either. But just in case, it’s best to make Ma Aotian think Zhai Zuo isn’t ours. If he really has something like a ‘truth Gu,’ he’ll definitely use it on Zhai Zuo. Zhai Zuo may not be able to hold out—but what he says may not necessarily be true either. He might believe it himself, or be deceived into believing it.”

Though a bit convoluted, Ru Anzhi and the others understood.

A truth Gu was like a lie detector—it could only judge whether the speaker believed what they were saying was true, not whether it was objectively true.

Or whether they had been deceived into believing it.

Or were even self-deceiving.

“You think what he said is real?” Ma Aotian also didn’t expect that after using the truth Gu, he would hear something like this from Zhai Zuo.

He only wanted to make some money and reach the peak of life—he never intended to provoke the national team.

He was actually a mole from the national team?

Why would the national team send him to target him?

He hadn’t done anything!

In his ring, the old grandfather spoke:

【I don’t know. Didn’t I already tell you? The truth Gu only checks whether what he says is what he believes is true. Whether it’s actually true—you have to investigate yourself.】

【Just check whether he’s really from the national team, won’t you?】

【What, are you scared of the national team?】

Ma Aotian said, “Don’t be so dismissive! This isn’t your era—it’s a law-based society. Do you really think it’s like ancient times, where the emperor decided everything? In a country ruled by law, everything depends on legal proof.”

The old grandfather scoffed.

【Bah!】

【Even in a rule-of-law country, it’s still people governing. As long as you handle the people above, what’s there to fear below?】

【In the end, it’s just that you’re useless. If you had power, would I need to go through so much trouble?】

Ma Aotian replied helplessly, “Yes, yes, it’s all my fault for being useless. But what can I do? I was born into a gangster family. My mother ran off, my father was a nobody—I was just a stray dog. Why don’t you go find my father instead?”

【He’s dead, isn’t he? If I could find him, why would I bother with you?】

“Stop talking nonsense. Just tell me what to do.”

【You’re so afraid of the national team—you planning to surrender?】

“That’s impossible! They don’t have evidence. Zhai Zuo is in my hands so what? He’s under my control now—he says what I tell him to say. Until they have absolute proof, they won’t touch me.”

From another angle, Ma Aotian actually felt more at ease if it was the national team.

Because the national team wouldn’t act recklessly—they followed systems and procedures.

But if it wasn’t them… then things were dangerous. Those people would use any dirty method imaginable.

“Do you still have any puppet Gu? Give me a few more.”

【Do you think they’re cabbages?! Even getting this truth Gu and puppet Gu cost me a fortune. And you want more? Why don’t you just squeeze me dry?】

【If you drain me, let’s see what you’ll do then!】

【I really made a mistake choosing you as my descendant. I thought I’d finally enjoy some peace, but instead you keep ordering me around—this and that. Have some shame!】

“Can you blame me? You told me to expand the bloodline and restore the family glory. I’m just a nobody with no education. If I don’t rely on my ancestor, who do I rely on? So tell me—will you help or not?”

【Won’t!】

“Fine, I’ll just give up then.”

【I—Ma Aotian, I—!】

The ancestor’s voice exploded with curses.

Ma Aotian rubbed his ears and tried to comfort the increasingly furious old ancestor from unknown generations back.

“Stop yelling. We’re still from the same ancestor—if you curse me, you’re cursing yourself.”

The old ancestor continued cursing endlessly.

Ma Aotian finally said lazily, “Whatever. Do what you want. I’m going to find my future wife-in-law. Maybe in a few months, I’ll give you another descendant to burn incense for you.”