Chapter 1 The Interrogation

Zhao Xintong was certain she had heard this voice before. Everyone's voice was unique, like a fingerprint. There might be similarities, but no two were exactly alike.

But she couldn't recall where she had heard it. She considered that the owner of the voice was someone she wasn't familiar with, but someone significant enough to be remembered.

Who could be an unfamiliar person with special significance?

Just as Zhao Xintong frowned, puzzled, she heard the person say calmly, "Lingjing ID Zhao Xintong, real name Zhao Xintong, 14 years old, studying at No. 3 Middle School in Baila City. Heh, still underage. It's good to be young, unlike me, a fragmented, pitiful person."

Fragmented... unfamiliar! Zhao Xintong's eyes widened instantly, and enlightenment dawned upon her.

She knew who this interrogator was!

It was Yuanshi Tianzun from the Songhai branch, the pitiful insect that everyone occasionally discussed in their small group. He had brought a shot in the arm of encouragement to the team's Redeemers. Every time everyone felt that life was too bitter and the world was ugly, they would think of Yuanshi Tianzun and then encourage each other in the small group.

If Yuanshi Tianzun could live so strongly, what right did they have to be negative?

He's here to save me... can he save me? A glimmer of hope appeared in Zhao Xintong's weary eyes.

"You're lucky. The student you pushed down the stairs is not in mortal danger, nor is she paralyzed. But she has broken leg bones, pelvic bones, and ribs. Her internal organs were bleeding, and she just came out of surgery."

Zhang Yuanqing resumed his low, hoarse voice. "If she had died, even if you were underage, the authorities would send you back to the Lingjing. You know, the law doesn't apply to our group. You won't be protected by the Protection Act."

Zhao Xintong was silent for a few seconds, then said faintly, "My behavior was a bit extreme, but even if she died, I wouldn't regret it."

Hey, even though the camera isn't on, there are people watching behind the one-way mirror, Zhang Yuanqing thought.

Victoria and Lingjun were next door, observing Zhao Xintong through the one-way mirror.

Zhang Yuanqing ignored Zhao Xintong's words.

"Zhao Xintong," he said sternly, "I need you to confess some things honestly. This is very important. I don't want to hear any nonsense, and you better not be arrogant in front of me. If you don't cooperate, I'll abandon this interrogation and switch to someone else."

The little girl might still be arrogant, but seeing Yuanshi Tianzun's serious expression, Zhao Xintong didn't dare to act rashly.

This fragmented guy was the sickest. If you annoyed him, he would leave without a second thought, regardless of whether you were a teammate. When dealing with this kind of mentally ill person, it's best to go along with him.

It was like how the mentally ill in a mental hospital were also afraid of the most severely ill.

"Okay, good!" Zhao Xintong nodded obediently.

Pretty good, that's how it should be. Zhang Yuanqing immediately took out a rusty token and held it in his hand. He took off his sunglasses, and his eyes were filled with a bright white light, exuding an aura that made the human world fear and trust him.

"First of all, apart from the instance dungeons, have you ever killed official Xingzhe or ordinary people?"

"Have you committed any acts of theft, robbery, or intentional injury, other than the incident the day before yesterday…"

"I usually occasionally use Gu poison to retaliate against my classmates, but they always bully me first. The Gu poison I use isn't fatal, at most it torments them for a few days."

"Why do they bully you?"

Zhao Xintong bit her lip and didn't speak.

Zhang Yuanqing continued, "Regarding your identity information, the Baila branch has already completed the investigation. Now I need to personally verify the situation with you. I hope you don't have any concealment, as this concerns Baila branch's assessment of you."

The evaluator was next door, it was Shimu Victoria. Even with Lingjun's intercession, Victoria would not casually let go of an evil profession.

Zhang Yuanqing had guaranteed that Zhao Xintong was a kind and pure evil profession.

Because of her little lover, Victoria said, "If this evil profession has really not committed any wrongdoings, I will forgive her once."

Thus, there was this interrogation.

Zhang Yuanqing opened Zhao Xintong's file and said, "Your father committed suicide by jumping off a building when you were six years old. You lived with your mother and stepfather. When you were nine years old, a fire broke out in your house, and your mother and stepfather died in the fire. You have been living with your widowed grandfather ever since."

"Then answer me, when did you become a Lingjing Xingzhe?"

Zhao Xintong looked at him and said, "When I was nine years old."

Zhang Yuanqing frowned. "The time when your mother and stepfather died in the fire?"

"Yes," Zhao Xintong said softly.

"I set the fire and burned them to death. Not long after burning them to death, I obtained a character card and became a Wu Gu master."

What kind of parents sacrificed to heaven and unlimited magic power was this? Zhang Yuanqing's heart sank, and he glanced imperceptibly at the one-way mirror.

A child who personally burned their biological mother and stepfather to death, anyone with normal values would sentence her to death, right?

Although Victoria slept with her adopted son, her values should be normal.

"Can you tell me the reason?" Zhang Yuanqing thought, this is your last chance!

"Reason?" Zhao Xintong's mouth curled into a sneer.

"Isn't avenging my father a reason? Isn't escaping a terrible family environment a reason? My father was a businessman. When I was young, my family was well-off, and my father doted on me. Before I was six years old, my life was full of happiness and joy, but when I was six years old, that bitch had an affair with my father's partner and cheated all of my father's money, using his name to take out loans from the bank."

"My father lost everything overnight and still owed endless loans. He felt that the future had lost hope and finally chose to commit suicide by jumping off a building. I was taken to a new family by that bitch. Those dog men and women were not good to me. The man beat me and whipped me with a belt, and my biological mother also scolded me as a bastard and said that I should have jumped off the building with my father. The reason they accepted me was just to make their reputation sound better and to fulfill their legal obligation to support me."

"I endured them for three years. One day, I poured sleeping pills into the wine at home. After they drank the wine, I set fire to that disgusting home. They died, and I gained new life."

Zhao Xintong laughed, her laughter resentful and sad. Zhang Yuanqing looked at her for a long time and sighed, "The shadow of your father's suicide and the long-term personality insult you suffered from domestic violence led to a distorted mentality. It's understandable that you became an evil profession. So what made you change yourself?"

The last sentence was said for Victoria to hear.

Zhao Xintong said lightly, "I haven't changed. I just want to change my life. I've been living with my grandfather for the past few years, and I've been relatively happy. My grandfather is very good to me. His pension is barely enough for us to live on, but in order to support me, my grandfather spends three months a year working as a coolie outside."

"A respected senior once told me that people's hearts are the dirtiest things. They pollute society and pollute the world, but there are also beautiful and good things in human nature. We must learn to be grateful for the beauty of human nature and tolerate the ugliness of human nature."

"I want to try to tolerate the ugliness of human nature for my grandfather's sake, but I haven't been able to succeed so far. I can't forget the harm that the past brought me. That senior said that laying down the butcher knife leads to instant Buddhahood, but for us, laying down the butcher knife is the most difficult thing in the world. This is not just something you say, it requires great enlightenment."

"I understand your situation." Zhang Yuanqing nodded, "A few last questions."

"You just said that you occasionally use Gu poison to retaliate against your classmates. Did they often bully you? Since you usually use Gu poison to retaliate, why did you choose the most extreme method the day before yesterday?"

Zhao Xintong looked at him and smiled coldly, "Have you ever been to school?" Zhang Yuanqing seemed to be provoked.

"I can tell you very clearly that the presidents of Tsinghua and Peking University almost fought with each other over me, Cambridge and Harvard even sent representatives to enroll me. I coldly told them that I was destined to be a student they could not get, and in this context, MIT didn't even have the courage to send me an admission letter."

Zhao Xintong automatically ignored this passage, "Since you have gone to school, you should know that good academic performance and a withdrawn personality are the best targets for school violence, right? I can endure it most of the time, but I occasionally lose control of my emotions, for example, the girl I pushed down the stairs the other day, she cursed me as a bastard without a father or mother, who deserved to have her parents die. The reason she verbally abused me was simply because the boy she liked wrote me a love letter."

"Why should I endure these scumbags? I clearly have the power to destroy the entire school, but I have to be bullied by them again and again. Is it the so-called order that allows me to swallow my humiliation? So I often wonder, why should I reconcile with this world?"

Zhang Yuanqing looked at the rebellious little girl. He originally wanted to reprimand her from the perspective of someone who had been there, but suddenly he remembered what he had said to Dr. Sun that day: "Why should I coexist with it?"

He sighed, got up and left, saying, "I'm done asking questions. You wait here for news!"

After leaving the interrogation room, he went to the observation room next door. Lingjun and Victoria stood side by side in front of the one-way glass mirror, staring at the junior high school girl.

Seeing Yuanshi Tianzun coming over, Victoria stood with her hands behind her back, not turning her head, and said lightly, "I will verify what she said again. If it's true, I can decide to give her a chance. It will take about three days to complete the process."

Zhang Yuanqing breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank you, I owe you a favor."

Zhao Xintong would not lie, and the members of Master Wuhen's team were not villains. Victoria wanted to confirm the matter again out of caution, but the ending would not change.

"Lingjun owes you more favors, just consider it as paying them back for him!"

Victoria said brightly and coldly, "I advise you not to get too involved with evil professions, especially those who are excusable."

Zhang Yuanqing bowed slightly, "Thank you for the reminder."

He chatted with Lingjun for a few words and then left the Baila branch.

"The little girl is more courageous than me." Lingjun said with a smile, "I don't have the awareness and courage to personally kill my dog-headed father."

Victoria ignored his joke and frowned, "Yuanshi Tianzun is too involved with these evil professions. Sooner or later, something will happen if he continues like this. You better remind him. If he doesn't listen, then break away from him as soon as possible."

Lingjun perfunctorily said, "I know, I know!"

Victoria glared at him, "I'm not joking with you."

"What I look for in friends is the person, not fame and fortune. As long as he can still make me agree, he will always be my brother. The day he doesn't keep his original intention and goes the wrong way, I will break with him without you reminding me." Lingjun yawned.

"Help me with this matter, I'm going back to catch some sleep."

The Gulfstream soared above the sea of clouds, the roar of the aircraft's engine shut out.

Zhang Yuanqing reclined in the plush, luxurious seat, phoning Xiao Yuan: "Zhao Xintong's matter is settled. The Baila Branch will release her the day after tomorrow. Contact you to report that she's safe. I'm going back to Songhai first. I should be in an instance dungeon within two days, and it looks like I won't have time to come see you."

Xiao Yuan "Mm"ed, her tone unexpectedly gentle. "Take care of your business."

Listening to the cool and alluring auntie's voice, which contained hidden tenderness, Zhang Yuanqing's heart stirred, and he sighed, "What a heartless woman. I'm working so hard for you, slaving away like a beast of burden, woman, yet you don't even want to see me."

Xiao Yuan's voice turned cold, "Speak properly, don't be sarcastic."

"Although I don't have time to come to Wuhen Hotel this time, you can come to Songhai to see me," Zhang Yuanqing put forward his long-held request.

"I want to take you around Songhai."

"Does your girlfriend agree?"

Zhang Yuanqing immediately stammered. If it were Old Driver Lingjun, he would probably say: "My girlfriend got my heart, but my person is yours," or "I cruelly tore my heart in half, only giving her half, because I know the other half already has an owner."

But he was not scummy enough after all, and couldn't really say it. Just then, Zhang Yuanqing suddenly felt the sky outside the window darken, and the azure sky became deep and black.

It was like a layer of black velvet had been spread, and the blazing sun had also disappeared. Just now, it was still a sunny day, but in the blink of an eye, it had entered a lightless night.