Chapter 681: Entering the Trap

"Please take off your veil."

"."

"Please cooperate, Miss Shentu."

"Does this have anything to do with the investigation?"

"It does."

In the interrogation room, Li Fei and He Jian sat opposite Shentu Yue.

He Jian's first request was for Shentu Yue to remove her veil.

Shentu Yue fell silent for a moment, gave Li Fei a deep look, and finally slowly removed her veil.

The face beneath the veil was not as stunningly beautiful as people had imagined, but it was above average.

Yet, combined with Shentu Yue's temperament, which was like the bright moon in the sky, no one could deny her beauty.

"On February 21st, between 1: 0 PM and 3: 0 PM, where were you?"

He Jian had no interest in Shentu Yue's true appearance; he went straight into his questioning.

"I was at home."

"Specific location."

"The compound at 19 Xicheng Road."

"What were you doing at the time?"

"I was cultivating."

"Was there anyone else in the compound besides you?"

"No."

"Did you notice anyone else coming by? Or any other unusual circumstances?"

"No."

"."

In the Inspection Department's interrogation room, Li Fei and He Jian interrogated Shentu Yue.

It was mainly He Jian asking questions, with Li Fei observing.

He Jian first asked about general matters, then repeatedly questioned her on various details.

His interrogation technique was quite skillful; many questions seemed identical but actually contained traps.

If the content was fabricated, any logical loophole would be detected!

Furthermore, throughout the interrogation, He Jian's eyes always held a faint, ghostly glimmer.

He was like a ghostly crane patrolling in the dark, carefully examining every detail.

The interrogation lasted about an hour.

He Jian turned to look at Li Fei: "Does Lord Li have anything else to ask?"

Li Fei shook his head.

He Jian looked back at Shentu Yue and said in a firm tone:

"You are lying."

"Hmm?"

This conclusion caught Li Fei by surprise, as he hadn't noticed anything wrong with Shentu Yue's answers throughout the process.

Shentu Yue frowned slightly and looked directly at He Jian: "Everything I said is the truth."

He Jian shook his head: "Martial arts experts can control their breathing, heartbeat, the flow of their Qi and blood, and even their muscle reactions, but some subtle changes in expression still cannot be concealed. I have been in this line of work for over forty years; no one can lie in front of me."

He said this last sentence nonchalantly, without the slightest tone of showing off.

It was just like True Person Qingding saying he was the best alchemist, or Lin Tianyi saying he was the best in the world.

"."

Shentu Yue remained silent.

"On February 21st, between 1: 0 PM and 3: 0 PM, there was definitely more than one person in your home, and you were aware of it."

He Jian stated his judgment.

"."

Shentu Yue avoided He Jian's gaze and looked at Li Fei:

"I have cooperated by coming here to accept your interrogation, and I have answered all your questions. You said there is evidence proving I am in collusion with the thieves; where is the evidence? If you cannot produce evidence, may I leave?"

Li Fei glanced at He Jian beside him.

He trusted the judgment of this 'Ghostly Crane', so he was even less likely to let Shentu Yue leave:

"According to the laws of the Great Lan Dynasty, we can keep you here for at least 48 hours until you are completely cleared of suspicion."

Shentu Yue looked at Li Fei, put her veil back on, and her eyes were cold:

"After 48 hours, I hope the Marquis of Jing'an will not go back on the martial arts duel he promised me."

"Certainly."

Li Fei nodded calmly.

Afterward, he and He Jian walked out of the interrogation room.

Of course, they would not deliberately mistreat Shentu Yue; they arranged a room for her and had someone take her there to stay.

"My Lord."

Lu Wenxing walked over immediately and said to Li Fei in a low voice:

"Lord Zhong has already taken at least ten calls just now."

Li Fei was not surprised by this and was just about to speak when he saw Zhong Han walking quickly toward them with a solemn expression.

"Marquis of Jing'an, Lord He."

"Lord Zhong."

"How is the interrogation going?"

"It is already certain that Shentu Yue knows some inside information."

". s there evidence to prove she is connected to the thieves who raided the prison?"

"There is no concrete evidence, but the content I uncovered using secret techniques, along with Lord He's interrogation just now, confirms that she is inevitably involved in this prison raid."

"."

Zhong Han looked at Li Fei, "May I have a word with the Marquis of Jing'an?"

"Fine."

So the two walked into a room and closed the door.

"Does the Marquis of Jing'an know about the World-Entry Society?"

"I know a thing or two."

"Let me put it this way: in Gansu Province, in every industry you can think of, the World-Entry Society has people firmly in the top five! Some are even the leaders of the industry. In the officialdom, there is no need to mention Lord Chi, and the other five ministries also have people from the World-Entry Society."

"."

"If there were evidence, I would cooperate with the Marquis of Jing'an to investigate the case with all my might without a second word! But if there is no definitive evidence, I really cannot continue to keep Shentu Yue here."

"Regardless of whether there is evidence, I must keep her for at least 48 hours."

Li Fei said calmly.

Being able to forcibly detain someone for 48 hours to cooperate with an investigation without sufficient evidence was indeed the power of the Inspection Court.

But when the person being detained was Shentu Yue, the pressure was immense, even for one extra minute!

"."

Zhong Han looked at Li Fei helplessly.

He had long guessed this would be the result.

Back when Li Fei had not yet been enfeoffed as a Marquis and was not yet the Special Envoy of Lan, he dared to investigate cases forcibly despite the huge pressure brought by the Great Luo Sect.

How could Li Fei retreat now?

"Fine, if there is still no evidence after 48 hours, I can only release her."

Zhong Han said to Li Fei.

"Naturally."

Li Fei nodded.

Then Zhong Han left.

He Jian and Lu Wenxing walked into the room.

"Does Lord He have any ideas?"

Li Fei asked.

He could not use the 'Gate of the Dream Realm' on Shentu Yue because it was almost impossible to break her mental defenses, and it would instead expose his special methods.

He Jian said without hesitation:

"First, investigate the interior of the Inspection Department to find out who leaked the information."

"Second, investigate the compound at 19 Xicheng Road to see who visited there on the afternoon two days ago."

"Third, investigate the origins of the two people we captured."

Li Fei: "What if no results are found from these three lines?"

The reason they had to forcibly bring Shentu Yue back was precisely because they felt it was very difficult to find any evidence.

"The fourth line, Shentu Yue has already given it to us."

"What is it?"

"She really should have nothing to do with this case."

"Ah? Didn't He Jian just say she was lying?"

"She is indeed lying, but when I brought up issues like her collusion with rebels, her emotions were very calm; only when mentioning specific questions about that afternoon did her emotions show subtle changes. This indicates she is covering for someone else."

He Jian said very firmly:

"Someone else must have visited her residence that afternoon, and this person has a very close relationship with her, which is why she would cover for them."

Li Fei could not help but admire this great detective's observational skills.

In any case, with his perception, he had completely failed to see any emotional changes in Shentu Yue just now.

"In that case, the fourth line of inquiry is to investigate those who are very close to Shentu Yue."

Li Fei said.

He Jian: "I don't think there will be too many."

On the morning of February 24th, the Red Sleeve Restaurant was sealed off by people from the Inspection Department.

A few minutes later, the proprietress of the Red Sleeve Restaurant was brought back to the Inspection Department.

Opposite the Red Sleeve Restaurant, there was a teahouse.

On the second floor of the teahouse, in a quiet room facing the street.

Two men sat opposite each other, drinking tea while watching the Red Sleeve Restaurant outside the window.

"It seems to be going quite smoothly."

A man with some white hair at his temples, looking somewhat aged, said.

He was none other than Zhu San, who had rescued Ye Zhao from Li Fei's hands!

The man sitting opposite Zhu San looked much younger, wearing a pale white Confucian robe, with long hair draped over his shoulders and an ethereal temperament.

He took a sip of tea, closed his eyes to savor it, and said slowly:

"I didn't expect to be able to drink authentic Jade Old Mountain tea here."

Zhu San looked at him and said in a respectful tone:

"If you like it, I will go find the owner and buy some more in a while."

"No need."

The man in the Confucian robe opened his eyes, "This tea has a unique charm only when brewed with the water here; if you buy it and take it away, it won't have this taste."

Zhu San nodded; he did not understand these things very well.

"Since everything is going smoothly, why are you still so worried?"

The man in the Confucian robe asked.

Zhu San: "The oath-bound technique on Liu Jiehui was accidentally broken, and I am worried that there will be other accidents later on."

"If it could really be completely broken, the other side wouldn't be reacting like this now. It seems that last night was just a trap deliberately set by Li Fei and He Jian; they actually haven't grasped any key information."

"I hope so."

Zhu San sighed, "It's a pity the duel last night didn't happen; Xu Jing still needs another confirmation before he will agree to cooperate with us."

The man in the Confucian robe nodded and said very casually: "Hmm, if it really doesn't work, I'll do it."

Zhu San: "No need. After the commotion last night, Li Fei and Shentu Yue will clash sooner or later; you don't need to expose yourself in advance."

"Heh, I never thought that one day I would have to be so calculating just to deal with a Dao Foundation realm martial artist."

The man in the Confucian robe gave a self-deprecating smile.

"After all, he is the first in history."

"I hope he doesn't disappoint me."

That afternoon, the interrogation of the Red Sleeve Restaurant proprietress, Shao Sirou, had a breakthrough!

An oath-type technique similar to the one on Liu Jiehui was implanted in her mind, so Li Fei could not obtain key information from her subconscious world.

However, just obtaining some 'peripheral' information, combined with He Jian's interrogation, was already enough to piece together a portion of the truth:

"What can be confirmed at present is that the person who went to Shentu Yue's residence that afternoon was Shao Sirou; it was she who passed on the internal intelligence of the Inspection Department."

He Jian said to Li Fei:

"And all of Shao Sirou's past connections are related to the Entering the World Society. The two rebels we caught last night, as well as the 'Night Demon' Suo Ze who broke into the Inspection Department, can be inferred from existing intelligence to also likely be related to the Entering the World Society."

Li Fei: "So, are the New Heaven Society and the Entering the World Society in collusion? Or are they actually the same organization?"

He Jian's gaze was deep:

"It is too early to draw a conclusion, but I just always feel that something is not right."

(End of chapter)