Lin Chengyou: “Was this even worth telling me about?”

Jue Sheng wiped the sweat from his brow. Just as he was about to explain in detail to Lin Chengyou, Jian Tian and Jian Xi burst in, their faces full of displeasure. “Young Master Lin, surely your Ministry of Justice can’t keep coming to our Dongming Temple every time there’s a case. Can’t you let us old Daoists have some peace for a few days?”

Their words cut off abruptly when they caught sight of the corpse in the room. They stared at the body of Prince Rong’an’s daughter-in-law in the inner chamber, exclaiming in shock: “This—this is?”

Lin Chengyou stood up and said: “From the fifth day of the third month until now, three pregnant women have already fallen victim. I feel there are many unclear aspects to this case, so I had no choice but to request the presence of you two seniors.”

Jian Tian and Jian Xi were startled: “Three pregnant women victimized?”

More people arrived in the outer corridor—this time it was Magistrate Yan and a group of yamen runners from the Ministry of Justice. The coroner re-examined the corpse, and the runners carried it away. Magistrate Yan remained in the room to investigate thoroughly. Lin Chengyou had Jue Sheng and Qi Zhi take the two Daoist priests to the neighboring tavern while he questioned everyone present at the scene one by one.

Jue Sheng and Qi Zhi found a table at the neighboring tavern and invited Teng Yuyi, his servant, and the two Daoists to sit down.

The people waiting in the tavern were called away for questioning one after another. Before even a cup of tea could be finished, only Teng Yuyi’s table remained occupied.

Teng Yuyi took a sip of wine to calm his nerves, then looked up at Jian Tian and Jian Xi: “Venerable Masters, I trust you’ve been well?”

Only then did Jian Tian and Jian Xi recognize that the yellow-faced youth was Teng Yuyi. They were taken aback: “Young Master Wang, why did you paint your face like that?”

Though surprised, they had no patience to hear Teng Yuyi’s explanation, as everyone’s thoughts were on the bizarre case that had just occurred.

“Was the murderer that person in the room? Did the young master catch him so quickly? Why was Young Master Wang in the room? What exactly happened?” The two old Daoists fired off questions one after another, making it nearly impossible to respond.

Jue Sheng and Qi Zhi briefly explained what had happened that day.

Jian Tian asked puzzled: “So you’re saying the young master caught the murderer Zhuang Mu on the spot, but even so, they couldn’t find the fetus?”

Teng Yuyi made a sound of agreement: “The murderer even tore off a piece of the victim’s skirt to wrap the fetus, and that piece of cloth was still in the murderer’s hand, but the fetus was nowhere to be found.”

Jian Xi said with horror: “How many months pregnant was this woman?”

Teng Yuyi recalled seeing Prince Rong’an’s daughter-in-law on the second floor and gestured approximately: “Her belly was about this big.”

Jian Tian: “With a belly that size, she must have been at least six or seven months along. In such a short time, where could the murderer have hidden such a large fetus?”

Teng Yuyi watched the Yamen runners coming and going outside the shop. Indeed, with so many people searching together, they should have found it by now.

Suddenly, wailing could be heard from outside. It seemed quite a few people had arrived at the neighboring spice shop.

Jue Sheng and Qi Zhi ran out to look, then came back saying: “People from the Prince Rong’an’s household have arrived.”

Out of curiosity, Teng Yuyi also went to look outside and saw many elderly women and young men gathered at the entrance of the spice shop. As soon as they arrived, they surrounded the white-cloth-covered corpse, wailing in grief.

The coroner and yamen runners carrying the daughter-in-law’s body couldn’t get through the crowd and were blocked at the spice shop’s entrance.

Among the crowd, one man in his thirties particularly stood out. He wore loose cyan robes and had refined features. He was crouching before the corpse, his eyes full of grief.

Teng Yuyi thought to himself, this must be Prince Rong’an’s son.

Sure enough, someone was heard consoling him: “Young Master, please try to contain your grief.”

Prince Rong’an’s son remained motionless as wood. Jue Sheng and Qi Zhi sighed—two lives, mother and child, gone in an instant. No amount of consoling words from others would help.

After a while, Magistrate Yan came out from the shop, parted the crowd, and bent down to say a few words to Prince Rong’an’s son. The young master finally showed a response, nodding woodenly before getting up to follow Magistrate Yan into the spice shop. With his departure, the group of servants also retreated to one side.

With the entrance clearing, Teng Yuyi had to return to the shop. Jue Sheng and Qi Zhi pulled aside a few familiar yamen runners to ask some questions, then came back saying: “They still haven’t found the fetus.”

Jian Xi exclaimed in surprise: “How is that possible?! A fetus that far along—how could it be hidden so easily?”

Jian Tian suddenly said: “I know! Could it be that the murderer immediately—”

His old face wrinkled as if feeling somewhat nauseated, and he suddenly refused to continue speaking.

Jian Xi immediately understood what his senior brother meant to say, nodding with an ashen face: “That’s right if it was consumed on the spot, naturally it wouldn’t be found. No, this old Daoist must go remind the young master.”

Teng Yuyi grabbed him: “When Lin Chengyou brought Zhuang Mu over, Zhuang Mu’s mouth was stuffed with cloth strips. Presumably, Lin Chengyou inspected his mouth as soon as he caught him. If Zhuang Mu had desperately tried to—Lin Chengyou would have discovered it on the spot. There would be no need to search everywhere afterward.”

Jian Xi let out a breath: “That’s true.”

Teng Yuyi was lost in thought for a moment, then couldn’t help asking: “Have you two venerable masters ever encountered such demonic acts of killing pregnant women and taking their fetuses before?”

“Never seen it personally, but we’ve read about it in the temple’s records of strange occurrences. Such incidents are not common, because for demons in the mortal realm who want to increase their power, an unformed fetus provides far less benefit than a young, strong man. Rather than specifically seeking out pregnant women, it would be better to directly hunt down young men who can be found anywhere. However, when it comes to yin spirits and vengeful ghosts, that’s a different matter—”

“Oh? How so?”

“A fetus has one foot in the mortal realm and one foot still in the netherworld. Before seeing the light of day, it can only receive nourishment from its mother through the umbilical cord. Whether it can successfully be born as a human ultimately depends on fate. Though their consciousness is still hazy as they grow in the chaos, they already have a strong desire for rebirth from the moment of conception. If this process is interrupted, resentment will naturally arise. For those fetal spirits with a particularly strong desire for rebirth, they might even transform into vengeful spirits on the spot. The ‘Book of Demons’ has a general term for such deeply resentful infant spirits—they’re called ‘New Moon Child Lords’ because they died in the womb before their mouths were full, like the crescent moon on the first day that will never see the full moon.”

“New Moon Child Lords?” Teng Yuyi listened very attentively.

“Yes.” Jian Tian stroked his long beard. “Besides the New Moon Child Lords, these wrongfully dead women are also very troublesome. For women about to become mothers, even if it’s just an unseen fetus of flesh, they naturally develop strong protective instincts. If someone dares to harm their child, it’s like taking their own life. This poor Daoist isn’t very clear about the details of these cases, but if these women were already dead when their fetuses were taken, that would be one thing. But if they were not yet dead when they watched their children being stolen, Young Master Wang can imagine how deep that terror and hatred would be.”

Teng Yuyi’s face immediately turned grim: “I think they must have been alive when their fetuses were taken.”

The gazes of all four people at the table turned to him at once: “How does Young Master Wang know?”

“I heard it from the young master.” Teng Yuyi steadied himself.

She had only learned today from Jue Sheng and Qi Zhi that the female ghost who had broken into her courtyard last night was the second victim. She remembered how the ghost kept saying “Give it back to me” with such shrill resentment—it was very likely she was searching for her lost fetus.

However, if she mentioned this, she would have to explain everything that happened last night from beginning to end, and then it couldn’t be hidden that Lin Chengyou had been forced to come to exorcise the ghost and subsequently stayed at the Teng residence for most of the night.

She had nothing to be ashamed of, but since her father wasn’t home last night, and Jian Tian and Jian Xi were known for their gossiping, it wouldn’t be good if rumors started spreading.

Fortunately, Jian Xi didn’t think too much about it and just exclaimed in shock: “If the murderer took the fetus while the mother was still alive, this case becomes much more complicated. Women who die in such circumstances are full of obsession and quickly transform into fierce ghosts searching for their fetuses. But since the fetuses are already lost, how can they be found? The more they can’t find them, the stronger the female ghosts’ resentment grows. As they say, mother and child are connected in heart—when the New Moon Child Lords sense their mothers’ resentment, their spiritual power also greatly increases. What situation this will eventually develop into is hard to say. No wonder the young master was anxious to find us; he saw that things were highly unusual and wanted Dongming Temple to quickly help find the whereabouts of the three fetuses.”

Jue Sheng and Qi Zhi couldn’t sit still anymore, thinking about going to help their senior brother. Voices came from outside as Lin Chengyou and Magistrate Yan entered.

Magistrate Yan spoke as they walked: “We’ve basically questioned the customers from these dozen or so shops, and the ink shop across the street still has more than ten people—”

Just as Jian Tian and the others were on edge, about to ask if the fetus had been found, Lin Chengyou lifted his robe to sit opposite them and took two items from his chest, pushing one toward Teng Yuyi: “Young Master Wang, please smell this first.”

It was a piece of dark sandalwood-colored incense. Teng Yuyi took it puzzled and immediately frowned upon smelling it.

Lin Chengyou watched Teng Yuyi intently: “Can you identify it?”

“Tianshui Sheluo?” Though this incense was uncommon, Teng Yuyi had played with such things since childhood, back in Yangzhou.

Lin Chengyou: “When you burst into the quiet room earlier, did you smell this fragrance?”

Teng Yuyi smelled the incense carefully. She was very sensitive to scents. Though the room had been filled with a thick blood smell at the time, Tianshui Sheluo had a unique spicy oil scent that was easy to distinguish for anyone who had encountered it before. She had smelled it as soon as she entered the quiet room but hadn’t noticed in her tension. Now that she was calm, she could easily recall it.

She nodded: “Yes.”

Magistrate Yan couldn’t help asking: “Young Master Wang, are you certain? This could be very important evidence.”

Teng Yuyi’s bright eyes turned to look at Magistrate Yan.

Lin Chengyou smiled slightly: “She won’t remember wrongly.”

Magistrate Yan was taken aback.

“Young Master Wang is quite knowledgeable about incense and has an excellent memory.” Lin Chengyou played with the piece of incense. “Since Young Master Wang could smell it, this matter becomes easier to handle. Someone who hasn’t encountered this incense before wouldn’t notice even if they smelled it, and the smoke dissipates instantly, making it very difficult to trace afterward. The murderer never expected someone would dare to burst in at the scene, let alone someone who knows about ‘Tianshui Sheluo.’ With Young Master Wang’s testimony, at least we know that different drugs were used to knock out the servants and the young master’s wife.”

Jian Tian and Jian Xi hurriedly asked: “Young Master, what’s the difference between these two drugs?”

“One is an ordinary sleeping incense called ‘Falling Wind’ that can make people fall asleep instantly. The other is a drug called ‘Drunken Fragrance’ made by combining Tianshui Sheluo—it can paralyze a person’s limbs and throat. The person affected cannot move their body or cry out, but remains conscious throughout.”

Teng Yuyi’s back went cold: “Young Master means to say that Prince Rong’an’s daughter-in-law was conscious when she was attacked?”

Lin Chengyou made a sound of agreement, his expression becoming grave as he put down the incense.

Jue Sheng and Qi Zhi were greatly shocked: “Then wouldn’t she have watched herself being cut open and her fetus taken? Just now the two Daoist masters mentioned the ‘New Moon Child Lords’—could the murderer deliberately using ‘Drunken Fragrance’ on Prince Rong’an’s daughter-in-law be related to this?”

Lin Chengyou was surprised: “The two seniors have already mentioned the New Moon Child Lords? Very well, then I’ll be brief. The murderer used two different incenses for no other reason than to mislead the officials. ‘Drunken Fragrance’ leaves no trace, while ‘Falling Wind’ lingers. As soon as those servants wake up and describe it, it would be easy to determine that this sleeping incense was used at the scene. Combining the two, officials would naturally conclude that the young master’s wife was knocked out by the same drug. But in fact, the murderer used ‘Drunken Fragrance’ on Prince Rong’an’s daughter-in-law. As for why the murderer did this, it was clearly to push the victim’s resentment to the extreme. I suspect the same method was used in the previous two cases.”

Teng Yuyi nodded in surprise: “No wonder when I went to check, the quiet room’s door was closed from the inside. The murderer must have been afraid the incense from the corridor would drift into the room—that way Prince Rong’an’s daughter-in-law wouldn’t have been able to keep her mind clear.”

Lin Chengyou: “No, the murderer didn’t close the door for fear of incense drifting into the corridor. While ‘Drunken Fragrance’ can only be used by burning it, ‘Falling Wind’ can be added to tea. Magistrate Yan and I have already checked—all the teacups the servants drank from had traces of ‘Falling Wind’ around the edges. Moreover, to mislead officials, the murderer deliberately put some on the rim of Prince Rong’an’s daughter-in-law’s cup in the room as well.”

“This—this—” Jue Sheng scratched his head, “The murderer thought of everything so thoroughly. But Senior Brother, wasn’t the murderer afraid someone else might come to the corridor during the crime? People passing by would surely become suspicious seeing all these servants dozing off.”

Lin Chengyou: “That might be possible on normal days, but not today. Whenever this young master’s wife came to buy things at the spice shop, she would rest in the quiet room, with her servants standing guard outside, not allowing the shop assistants to disturb her. I just asked these servants—ever since the young master’s wife became pregnant, they were often called up at night to serve tea and water. Being so exhausted, whenever they went out during the day and found an opportunity, they would doze off. Everyone who frequented this shop knew this. The murderer daring to act in the spice shop shows they had already thoroughly understood Prince Rong’an’s daughter-in-law’s habits. They were confident no one would come by while they acted, and indeed, if it weren’t for Little Edge Sword’s sudden warning, Young Master Wang wouldn’t have gone to check.”

Teng Yuyi paused: “Before I entered the room, I first asked the servants outside what had happened. The murderer inside should have heard my voice…”

Jian Xi was puzzled: “Then why didn’t the murderer escape in time?”

Lin Chengyou said: “Isn’t it simple? They must have had something very important they hadn’t finished. Young Master Wang, think carefully—where in the room was the murderer hiding when you saw them? Were they standing, lying down, or crouching on the ground? Were they holding anything when they jumped out the window?”

Teng Yuyi thought for a moment: “The murderer seemed to be hiding under the window the whole time. When I realized someone was in the room, they immediately straightened up and jumped out the window. I only saw they were wearing short brown garments and didn’t see their face. However, when the murderer jumped out the window, they used their right arm to push off the windowsill—their left arm was folded against their chest the whole time as if holding something.”

Lin Chengyou pondered: “But when I caught Zhuang Mu in the back alley of the spice shop, he wasn’t holding anything… In such a short time, he neither had the chance to meet with his accomplice nor could he have swallowed the fetus under my watch. Where did the fetus go?”

He looked at Teng Yuyi thoughtfully.

Teng Yuyi naturally knew what he wanted to ask and hurriedly put down her teacup: “Since I didn’t see the murderer’s face, I couldn’t be certain it was the same person. But just now in the quiet room, I looked at Zhuang Mu very carefully several times. I’m sure the murderer had a very similar build to him, and they were both wearing brownish clothes.”

Jian Tian and Jian Xi said from the side: “It’s rare to find a grown man as short and thin as Zhuang Mu, and wearing the same clothes—the chance of mistaken identity shouldn’t be high. Besides, if this case had nothing to do with Zhuang Mu, why would he happen to appear at the scene?”

Magistrate Yan said: “Clothes can be changed, and it’s not impossible to find someone with a similar build—”

Teng Yuyi suddenly froze, finally realizing what she had missed.

Lin Chengyou’s eyes flickered: “Did you remember something?”

“Though I only caught a glimpse when the murderer jumped out the window because their left arm was raised so high, the left elbow was exposed. The room was dark, but outside it was bright sunshine. When they jumped out the window, I saw their clothes had a large tear, about… this big.” She demonstrated the size with her thumb and index finger in front of Lin Chengyou.

Lin Chengyou started, suddenly standing up: “Magistrate Yan, let’s go.”

Magistrate Yan was quite excited: “Now we should be able to determine whether the murderer was Zhuang Mu or not.”

The people in the shop had already been dismissed by Lin Chengyou, and with these two gone, only the people at the table were left staring at each other.

Fortunately, Lin Chengyou and Magistrate Yan returned quickly. Jian Xi hurriedly asked: “How was it?”

Lin Chengyou lifted his robe to sit down: “There was no tear in Zhuang Mu’s clothes.”

Teng Yuyi’s ears rang—this meant—

“The murderer Young Master Wang saw in the room was someone else.”

Jian Tian and Jian Xi were shocked for a moment, then hurriedly said: “If the murderer wasn’t Zhuang Mu, why was he also wearing bloodstained clothes? Where did he get so much blood on such short notice?”

Lin Chengyou said: “When I saw Zhuang Mu in the alley, his expression was already odd. Looking at the piece of Prince Rong’an’s daughter-in-law’s skirt in his hand, he seemed very surprised. Thinking about it now, he must have been set up. Someone found a way to lure him to the back alley and somehow tricked him into getting blood all over his hands. The location happened to be in the alley where the incident occurred, and the timing was so close that when I saw his appearance, I naturally assumed he was the murderer.”

Qi Zhi asked curiously: “Then why did Senior Brother later suspect he wasn’t the murderer?”

Lin Chengyou knocked Qi Zhi on the head: “Just a few days without practice and I see you’ve become foolish again. Just the fact that we couldn’t find the fetus at the scene was enough to make your Senior Brother suspicious. With so many people unable to find it, it means either Zhuang Mu had already handed the fetus to someone else, or he had hidden it somewhere else. Either way, it meant he had plenty of opportunity to escape the alley, yet he oddly remained in place waiting to be caught. I suspect he was just a scapegoat—the real murderer had already escaped with the fetus, and Young Master Wang’s testimony just happened to prove my guess.”

Jian Tian and Jian Xi slapped their thighs: “But that’s not right! Even if this frame-up succeeded, what then? As soon as the murderer strikes again, the officials would still know the real culprit is someone else. The murderer went to such lengths to collect ‘New Moon Child Lords’—now with only three fetuses, they might kill again.”

Lin Chengyou looked at the teacup in his hand and thought for a while before saying: “The murderer didn’t frame Zhuang Mu just this once.”

Everyone was shocked.

“Don’t forget, when the previous victim Shu Liniang was killed, Zhuang Mu was seen by her neighbor in Chun’an Lane. If we hadn’t found this lead, we wouldn’t have found the West Market today and coincidentally caught Zhuang Mu ‘killing someone.’ Everything happened so coincidentally as if someone had deliberately arranged it. I’ve investigated Zhuang Mu—his background is unclear, and his hands might not have been clean to begin with. These two frame-ups were done so perfectly that even if he knew he was set up, he couldn’t defend himself.”

Teng Yuyi was startled: “Young Master, when did the case in Tong Prefecture happen?”

Lin Chengyou paused: “The fifth day of the third month.”

“I remember now—when I had Butler Cheng investigate Zhuang Mu, his people discovered that Zhuang Mu likely hadn’t been in Chang’an for nearly a month. If this was also arranged by the real murderer, it means they had planned to frame Zhuang Mu since the first case.”

Lin Chengyou’s expression changed slightly.

After pondering for a moment, he smiled: “How calculating indeed. When the first victim, Lady Bai in Tong Prefecture, was killed, Zhuang Mu was away from Chang’an for unknown reasons—if investigated later, he couldn’t prove he wasn’t in Tong Prefecture. When the second victim Shu Liniang was killed, someone saw Zhuang Mu appear in Chun’an Lane, which happened to lead us to the West Market. For the third victim, Prince Rong’an’s daughter-in-law, Zhuang Mu was at the scene again. If Young Master Wang hadn’t happened to burst into the quiet room, even the gods couldn’t have cleared his name. However, we’ll need to investigate further to know the whole truth.”

Everyone looked at each other, too shocked to speak for a moment.

Teng Yuyi was stunned for a while before asking puzzled: “But as far as I know, Zhuang Mu is just a ruffian. Why would the murderer go to such lengths to frame him?”

Lin Chengyou turned to look at Teng Yuyi, suddenly saying: “Young Master Wang, may I have a word?”

Teng Yuyi vaguely guessed what Lin Chengyou wanted to ask and quickly planned how to answer.

The two walked to one side. Lin Chengyou looked back to make sure no one could hear them talk, then began: “I wanted to ask why you came to the West Market today to follow Zhuang Mu?”

Teng Yuyi said seriously: “Actually, I wanted to tell Young Master when the incident happened this afternoon. That night at the Caifeng Tower, I had asked He Mingsheng where the silver thread came from. He Mingsheng said it was from a ruffian named Zhuang Mu in the West Market. I wanted to know the origin of that silver thread and also get one for self-defense, so I came to the West Market today to follow Zhuang Mu.”

Lin Chengyou listened patiently: “Just for that?”

“Of course. That silver thread was so light and thin—I’ve never seen a more convenient hidden weapon. I had people follow Zhuang Mu simply to find out where to get it. Also, the source of He Mingsheng’s evil techniques was strange. Since his silver thread came from Zhuang Mu, perhaps Zhuang Mu’s evil techniques also came from the same source. Young Master could thoroughly investigate this.”

Lin Chengyou nodded with a smile: “Good, I understand this matter.”

Teng Yuyi secretly let out a sigh of relief, but Lin Chengyou looked at the Teng household guards outside the shop and suddenly changed topics: “I counted for you—today besides Dun Fu, you brought eight guards from your household. You made such a big show just to find a ruffian and ask about silver thread?”

Teng Yuyi’s heart skipped: “That silver thread can take lives, and I didn’t know this ruffian’s background. What’s wrong with being cautious?”

Lin Chengyou smiled: “If you were so cautious, why did you go alone to the spice shop? Without even bringing a guard, you almost lost your life. Also, why did you paint your face like this? Were you afraid someone would recognize you?”

Teng Yuyi said softly: “I saw an old acquaintance in the spice shop and wanted to confirm their identity. Young Master, this seems unrelated to the case, doesn’t it?”

Lin Chengyou: “Fine, then let me ask about something related to the case. Last night when Shu Liniang turned into a fierce ghost, she went straight to find you. You said Lu Zhao’an led her there, but my subordinates reported that Lu Zhao’an was in his residence all night. For a deliberately created fierce ghost to seek you out instead of the murderer—don’t you think that’s too coincidental?”

This happened to hit Teng Yuyi’s sore spot. She decided to go on the offensive, smiling as she asked: “So Young Master suspects me?”

Lin Chengyou smiled: “If someone else were investigating, they would have suspected you long ago. Don’t forget, today Prince Rong’an’s daughter-in-law was killed, and you were the first person at the scene.”

Teng Yuyi snorted: “If Young Master suspects me, you’re welcome to investigate me.”

Lin Chengyou thought to himself, I never suspected you of harming anyone, but Teng Yuyi, don’t you think you have too many secrets?

He coughed: “You know why the corpse demon and those fierce ghosts sought you out, don’t you?”

His voice was so low only the two of them could hear. Teng Yuyi felt extremely guilty but still smiled as she said: “Of course, I don’t know. Anyway, I’ve told Young Master everything I know—believe it or not.”

With that, she turned and left. To cooperate with the investigation, she had already told him everything proactively, except for concealing the matter of borrowing life and living again, fearing it would implicate the person who had helped her borrow life.

She had almost told him everything—what more did he want?

She couldn’t very well say: I should have died long ago, only living because someone used evil techniques to help me borrow life.

If Lin Chengyou heard this, he might treat her as a monster. Just thinking about him forcing her to return her borrowed life made her shudder. If he used talismans and formations against her, wouldn’t that make her seem like a demon? Besides this, she was more worried about implicating the person who had used evil techniques to help her borrow life.

Lin Chengyou watched Teng Yuyi’s retreating figure. He had only asked a few questions, yet she had become so defensive—the meaning of “guilty conscience” was perfectly illustrated by Teng Yuyi.

But if he didn’t question her properly, he couldn’t even satisfy himself. Just the fact that Shu Liniang’s ghost went to find her was suspicious enough.

Moreover, right after she had people follow Zhuang Mu, he got into trouble. Although she voluntarily revealed Zhuang Mu’s connection to the silver thread, he vaguely felt these matters weren’t so simple.

He remembered when he first dealt with Teng Yuyi, her vicious hidden weapons had been truly eye-opening. A pampered noble lady acting as if she constantly feared for her life—the recent string of events made one even more curious about her secrets.

Of course, he wasn’t interested in her, but hadn’t this already involved two cases? He had hoped to get her to reveal some truth, but one question had made her angry with embarrassment.

He thought to himself, fine, keep your secrets. I’m only trying to uncover the truth. As long as we continue investigating this case, we’ll eventually understand the reasons behind everything.

One feeling guilty, the other full of doubts—when they returned to the table, both their expressions were somewhat strange.

Jue Sheng and Qi Zhi wondered to themselves: Senior Brother and Young Lady Teng had been getting along so well at the table, how did they become awkward after just a few words?