Duan Mingyuan didn't endorse coercion in transactions.
The benefit of traveling with Zheng Liu was having a police officer able to attest to his innocence. They came for investigation but encountered a crooked merchant at the company, who tried to force them into selling 150 years of their lifespan for the truth—an outrage overriding even the rigged melons in the greenhouse. To prevent them from falling victim to the unprincipled merchant, he had no choice but to resist reluctantly.
That was what had just happened.
As for the leads related to the 13 missing people and the long-sealed truth spoken by the merchant, those were unexpectedly discovered while they fought to protect their lawful rights.
Mingyuan found this easy to understand.
In gaming terms, it was as if the merchant dropped quest items upon death.
