Chapter 899: Truth Revealed

Xu Xiaoshou almost burst out laughing.

The trial officer was so amusing; even a hardened veteran couldn't resist the little girl's adorable innocence. Especially with this kind of baseless, unauthorized interrogation, where he couldn't harm "Mu Xiaogong" at all, had to be careful with his methods, and still needed to get the desired answers—it was utterly exhausting.

Of course, as someone with professional training and experience, Xu Xiaoshou found it hard to break character. He could still hold back under the current circumstances.

"The man in black... problem... uh... problem..." The little girl remained slumped on the ground, stammering and utterly clueless.

Xu Xiaoshou naturally couldn't just give the answers directly. Yi was the head of the Foreign Affairs Department, specializing in intelligence. If he were to interrogate a helpless little girl, how could he possibly allow her to retain any memory of the event afterward? According to the soul memories of Yi that were read during "Soul Reading," anyone interrogated by Yi was subjected to his mental control. Afterward, even the most powerful individuals would struggle to have a clear recollection of the interrogation process. And Xu Xiaoshou was currently impersonating "Mu Xiaogong." Given "Mu Xiaogong's" capabilities, it was impossible for her to remember any part of the interrogation.

So, while feigning confusion, Xu Xiaoshou stammered for a long time, only managing to blurt out vague information like "the man in black" and "problem." If he could articulate the specific details of the interrogation process now, the trial officer in front of him would undoubtedly doubt his authenticity.

Sure enough, seeing that the little girl couldn't utter any key information for a long time, the trial officer fell into deep thought. He knew that the Head of the Foreign Affairs Department had interrogated Mu Xiaogong only after receiving a mission from Rao Yaoyao. Putting himself in Yi's shoes, if he were someone of the esteemed status of the Head of the Foreign Affairs Department and targeting a little girl, it would indeed be impossible to let her retain any memory of the interrogation. This meant that questioning her in the current manner wouldn't yield any significant information.

The trial officer mused. He already knew he wouldn't get direct answers, but there were still some questions that needed to be probed indirectly, and he had to go through the motions.

"Do you remember me?"

After a moment of thought, the trial officer used mental guidance to alter his image in the little girl's mind to Yi's usual appearance: a small girl. There was no reaction. The little girl on the ground seemed to be looking at a stranger, offering no response whatsoever.

"Yi didn't use this appearance..." The trial officer understood. He put himself in Yi's position again, pondering what methods Yi would employ to interrogate the little girl before him.

First, normal interrogation: Approach Mu Xiaogong as a regular trial officer, ask questions normally without mental guidance. But this could easily lead to deception. The trial officer dismissed this option. Because he had just tried it; Yi's little girl appearance was too cute and completely unhelpful for the interrogation.

So...

Second, gentle interrogation: Approach as someone close to Mu Xiaogong and subtly extract the desired answers. Thinking this, the trial officer used mental guidance to change his image in the little girl's perception to that of "Young Master Xu."

This time, the little girl reacted. "Waaah... Leader Xu... give me back..." The little girl, slumped on the ground, became extremely upset and started to sob. The trial officer quickly ended this mental guidance. If her emotions fluctuated too much, she might break free from the interrogation prematurely or even suffer significant mental trauma.

"It wasn't Young Master Xu either..." The trial officer thought, and soon felt relieved. Mu Xiaogong and her bodyguard Xiao Qing had appeared on another mountaintop after Yi's death. Rao Yaoyao had already shown him these spirit mirror images when assigning the mission. Based on the previous cloud realm images, it was inferred that neither of them had clearly seen "Young Master Xu" – Yi disguised as Young Master Xu – during Yi's interrogation. Because if she had, given the little girl's temperament, she would certainly have caused a huge scene. Yi's interrogation time wasn't long; he left quickly and was then ambushed, leading to his death. If he were to transform into Young Master Xu... He would likely spend most of his time under this mental guidance, as "Young Master Xu," apologizing to the little girl! How demeaning! He was the Head of the Foreign Affairs Department!

This left only one last possibility...

Third, violent interrogation: Using a brutal and exaggerated mental image to directly assault the subject's soul, applying sufficient pressure, and combining it with mental guidance to quickly extract the desired answers. Considering the duration of Yi's interrogation process, this was the most probable method.

The trial officer then asked gently and sweetly, "What did the person you met casually after relaxing and taking a walk look like?"

The little girl on the ground immediately trembled: "Tall... dark... devil..."

Three adjectives in total. The trial officer immediately confirmed that Yi had used this method. Only this method could quickly obtain the desired answers. And clearly, after finishing the questions, Yi had not found the results he suspected—meaning Mu Xiaogong was not problematic—which was why he left immediately. After leaving, he encountered other ambushes... This must be the case.

"He wasn't a devil; he was just a master. He's not scary, really. Look, he didn't lay a hand on you, did he?" The trial officer first offered a gentle reassurance. Once the little girl had indeed calmed down, he asked again: "So, how long did he question you for? Do you remember?"

"Uh..." A confused mumble.

The trial officer sighed. She was a complete airhead, serving no purpose other than to leave one speechless. Yi probably vented a lot of emotions on this girl, which is why his image in her mind transformed from nothingness into the three adjectives: "tall," "dark," and "devil." The trial officer could barely tolerate his own awkward posture at this point. He found it hard to imagine how the dignified Head of the Foreign Affairs Department had been tormented by this little girl during his final interrogation before death.

"Is there anything else you remember from that encounter that you can tell me?" The trial officer pondered for a moment before pressing on. But the result he got was still just the little girl's confused mumbling...

"Sigh." After a long silence, a helpless sigh escaped him.

The trial officer ended the mental guidance. Watching the little girl fall into a deep sleep, she was soon snoring. "What an untroubled mind!" the trial officer muttered to himself. He quietly withdrew the domain, swayed his body, and vanished.

The interrogation seemed to have concluded at this point. "Mu Xiaogong" continued to snore loudly on the ground, as if trying to recover from the exhaustion of the day's battle and the mental trauma of encountering the "tall, dark devil" during the night.

Inside the quiet wooden cabin. This situation lasted for over a quarter of an hour... Until the "Under Surveillance, Passive Value, 1" message no longer appeared in the information bar.

Only then did Xu Xiaoshou, still feigning Mu Xiaogong, open his groggy eyes.

"Huh?"

"How did I fall asleep on the ground?"

"Wasn't I watering flowers..."

"Mu Xiaogong" frowned, rubbing her throbbing temples, seemingly experiencing a headache from sleeping on the ground. But with her level of intelligence, she wouldn't think too much about it. Her hand transformed into a vine, and too lazy to even walk, "Mu Xiaogong" pulled herself onto the large bed, burying herself under the covers to sleep.

"No problem!"

Outside the Xu Gang camp, the trial officer, hidden within the Heavenly Dao, silently observed everything and finally chose to depart. Mu Xiaogong was completely normal. A childlike disposition, playful, carefree, prone to little tantrums... All characteristics perfectly matched the intelligence gathered on her by the First Loft in the Heavens.

Just as Yu Zhiwen had thought. After interacting with Mu Xiaogong, the trial officer arrived at the same conclusion. A Grandmaster would not stoop to such lengths, pretending to be an innocent, adorable little girl, and maintaining the disguise for an extended period before the Royal City Trial began: fighting in the Heavenly Net Arena, submitting to Young Master Xu, chanting those embarrassing Xu Gang slogans... All just to set a fatal trap for Yi in the Cloud Luan Mountains.

Not to mention that Yi himself had proactively taken on the task to find Mu Xiaogong. Simply those embarrassing Xu Gang slogans and the fierce determination to reclaim the Xu Gang Leader position made the trial officer believe that no Grandmaster could possibly conceive or utter them. Mu Xiaogong possessed unique traits in this world; her character was special and difficult to imitate.

If one were to boldly speculate: "Mu Xiaogong is actually a gold-medal assassin from Three Incense, with Grandmaster-level strength!" Then, an assassin might indeed put in great effort to meticulously prepare all of this, ensuring the trap they set formed a perfect closed loop.

But even then, three points remained unexplainable. First, how did she gain Young Master Xu's trust? Did she begin planning and preparing all of this from the very first meeting with Young Master Xu in the Northern Region? Second, if not, was Young Master Xu also part of the operation to kill Yi? But a successor of a semi-saint force would have no reason to attack someone from the Holy Divine Palace. Others might not know the gravity, but a semi-saint's successor certainly would. Third, how did Mu Xiaogong know Yi would be attracted to her physique? Assassins have specific targets; acting against others incurs extra fees and requires weighing pros and cons. It couldn't be that she disguised herself for so long just to kill whoever showed up, could it?

That would be too reckless! If, that time, it wasn't Yi but Wang Dachui, the Head of the Body Department, who went, would she have killed Wang Dachui? Impossible! The trap that killed Yi must have contained special abilities specifically targeting him. In the setup that led to Yi's death, too many strategies needed to be planned in advance! Special people, special treasures, special abilities... Only through relentless targeting would there be even a slight possibility of killing a Grandmaster within a quarter of an hour!

It couldn't be that Yi's action was a coincidence, that he coincidentally encountered several Grandmaster stowaways capable of killing him walking together, that their confrontation coincidentally flared up instantly, that Yi's abilities were coincidentally targeted, and that his physical body, soul, spiritual power, and will were all coincidentally suppressed completely, leaving him unable to even send a distress signal, and then coincidentally, he was gone?

Impossible! Absolutely impossible! That would be damn too coincidental! Even deities couldn't guide a story to such an outcome! The Holy Divine Palace conducts its affairs based on evidence. Such a coincidentally closed loop had not even a fraction of a possibility of occurring. The trial officer fundamentally didn't believe that a little girl with Mu Xiaogong's temperament could kill someone as difficult to kill as the Head of the Foreign Affairs Department.

His subjective belief was, in fact, only one. Holy Servants! Or perhaps other dark forces with strength equal to the Holy Servants secretly orchestrated Yi's demise, then used the opportunity to pin the blame on the First Loft in the Heavens, thereby making their escape.

—This was the only explanation!

The trial officer knew that Rao Yaoyao also held this very thought. She had still called him over to verify, merely for peace of mind, for a slim hope. Now, that slim hope was shattered. Mu Xiaogong's motive, strength, presence at the scene, and other factors for collaborating with others in the crime were all severely lacking.

The trial officer abandoned his original intention to continue. Originally, his mission also included verifying Mu Xiaogong's wood-attribute abilities and strength, to see if she was a mimic. However, during the recent interrogation, the little girl's subconscious and natural use of wood-attribute abilities, as well as her daily habits like watering flowers and weeding, had already perfectly resolved the issue. No one could use wood-based abilities so proficiently right after acquiring a mimic. Before mimicking someone, Yi would also need to study the mimicked person's living habits, abilities, and details for a long time. In the Xu Gang camp, perhaps only one person could perfectly mimic Mu Xiaogong's living habits and wood-attribute abilities without spending extra time: Young Master Xu! But would he have known years in advance that he would acquire a mimic, spending vast amounts of time secretly observing his subordinate's daily habits, tone of voice, and micro-expressions? If this truly was a trap set by a young man... How profound would his scheming be? To spend years orchestrating such an intricate, convoluted plot, aiming for only one kill target, and then to succeed... The more one thought about it, the more terrifying it became! Most crucially, Young Master Xu had the most straightforward alibi: he had remained in the Xu Gang camp from beginning to end, never stepping out. How could this be explained?

"I suspect you, and you must come with me?" The Holy Divine Palace could say such things to anyone in the world, but not to the successor of a semi-saint force! Just how unyielding Young Master Xu was could be seen from how even Yu Lingdi was forced to retreat. If the above arguments could affect a semi-saint successor, Yi wouldn't have had to wait so long to find time to privately interrogate Mu Xiaogong, specifically taking her out secretly for questioning. And naturally, none of the subsequent misfortunes would have occurred!

"There's one more target..." The trial officer had no intention of interrogating Young Master Xu. Young Master Xu was not to be provoked; even Rao Yaoyao agreed on this point. The one he still needed to verify was the bodyguard Xiao Qing. A mere Grandmaster who had grasped a tiny bit of Heavenly Secret Arts was preposterous, yet within a semi-saint force, as Young Master Xu's guardian, it seemed quite normal.

The interrogation began... The interrogation ended... Not a single anomaly!

Patriarch Wuji, named Xuan Wuji, even if not as inscrutable as Dao Qiongcang, was not someone a mere Cutting Path realm intelligence officer could force information out of. The reason he was tormented by Yi to the point of physical collapse, leaving only his soul, was because he was under a martial arts prohibition order and could not resist. Now, with his abilities intact and having prepared in advance, what could possibly be extracted from him? If anything could be extracted from him, Xuan Wuji might as well slit his own throat!

"No anomalies."

In the void, the Cutting Path trial officer, hidden within the Heavenly Dao, fell into deep thought after two fruitless attempts. Synthesizing all circumstances, the conclusion he reached was the same as Yu Zhiwen's. Yi's death within a quarter of an hour must have been due to a trap, and the fact that the stowaways in the Cloud Luan Mountains could precisely track Yi's movements meant there had to be an internal mole within the Holy Divine Palace!

His spiritual perception reached towards the Xu Gang's main tent; Young Master Xu was propping his chin and dozing off, carefree, perfectly fitting his persona.

"Should I try?" The trial officer wasn't sure if mental guidance would work on a semi-saint successor, or if it would attract the attention of the semi-saints within their clan. He only knew that Young Master Xu was not to be trifled with. But for the mission, no matter how dangerous, sometimes he had to put himself on the line. Rao Yaoyao's mission instructions didn't require him to interrogate Young Master Xu, but as a subordinate activated by Rao Yaoyao at this moment, the trial officer knew he had to display a spirit of dedication. Death was not a fear. The real fear was that the truth might actually be hidden within a million impossible coincidences!

"Buzz."

Just as he contemplated risking his life to investigate further, his communication bead vibrated. The trial officer picked it up; it was Rao Yaoyao's communication bead, which he held in high regard, so he answered immediately.

"Come back," a very weary voice said from the communication bead.

"Senior Rao, I still have one last step to complete. Please give me another quarter of an hour..." the trial officer pleaded in a final struggle.

"There's no need for further futile efforts," Rao Yaoyao interrupted.

"Why?"

The communication bead was silent for a long time, only static could be heard. Finally, a voice suppressing anger emerged, heavy with emotion.

"Wang Dachui found traces of the Holy Servant Storyteller's Yin-Yang life and death power at Yi's death scene!"