Before he could even catch his breath, Cheng Muyun's knee was already pressing firmly against his neck, and the suffocating feeling of bone pressing against his throat made his whole body spasm.
"Speak! Who is behind this!" Cheng Muyun's voice was like it had been pulled out of an ice cellar, each word sharp and grating, making one's ears ache.
Chen Hede stood beside the incense table, his fingertips twirling the unburnt incense ash. His tone was as calm as if he were stating something unrelated to himself: "He has already confessed that it was the Chamber of Commerce that approached him, offering him a large sum of money to open the door on that day."
Cheng Muyun's brows furrowed sharply, his eyes almost blazing with malice. He stared down at Li Qirui's distorted face, his voice laced with venom: "What has my Cheng family ever done to wrong you? My grandfather entrusted my mother to your care back then, and the money we've given you over the years is enough for you to buy shops on half a street. Why do you have to turn around and bite us?"
Li Qirui's body, which had been twisting violently, suddenly froze when he heard the words "my mother".
He suddenly realized that Cheng Muyun knew everything, knew about his shady dealings. Since that was the case, begging for mercy would be futile.
A bone-chilling coldness surged up from the soles of his feet, instantly extinguishing all his struggles. His limbs hung limply at his sides, with only the slight rise and fall of his chest remaining.
This calm acceptance of death only fueled Cheng Muyun's anger.
He abruptly ripped the rag out of Li Qirui's mouth, grabbed the man's cheek with his large hand, forced him to tilt his head back, and stared intently into those turbid eyes: "I'll ask you one last time! Why did you attack Zhuohua?! Why did you do this?!"
The incense in the ancestral hall was still flickering, reflecting Cheng Muyun's ferocious profile, and even the air seemed to tremble from the roar.
Li Qirui's teeth were covered in blood, his neck was pressed down by Cheng Muyun's knee, and he could only exhale weak breaths, unable to utter a complete sentence.
His face was bruised and swollen from being beaten by Xu Jixin, and now it was purplish-red from suffocation, as if he was about to suffocate at any moment.
Cheng Muyun loosened his knee; he didn't want Li Qirui to die so easily.
Xu Zhuohua was determined to get revenge on Li Qirui for everything he had gone through.
Li Qirui coughed violently, struggled to lift his head, and looked at Madam Cheng standing behind Cheng Yuguang.
His dim, reddish eyes filled with tears, and he moved his lips to say, "I'm sorry."
Madam Cheng held a handkerchief, her face showing pity and reluctance. Li Qirui often accompanied her, and she never imagined that Li Qirui would kill Xu Zhuohua.
Cheng Muyun clenched his fist tightly, his knuckles, wrapped in thick gauze, turning white from the force.
The next second, the fist slammed into Li Qirui's mouth with a whooshing sound, and a crisp "crack" followed by a muffled groan exploded in the ancestral hall.
"You still have the nerve to apologize?" He roared like a caged beast out of control, his eyes red. "Bastard! I'll make you say it! Say it!"
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