Yun Zhen stands behind the curtain, carefully watching the main suspect as Zhou Pi conducts the questioning.
The man before them is truly strange—he has no family name and possesses features quite unlike any native of the dynasty.
As the interrogation continues, Yun Zhen can tell by instinct that the man is likely not the culprit. Still, she is reluctant to let him go.
Her bracelet glows, a sign that it only gives in proximity to Qi refiners.
She's certain: apart from herself, no one in the room is a Qi refiner—except the suspect.
The dynasty does employ Qi refiners, but all are too occupied with their own affairs to assist her.
She rings the bell at hand; Zhou Pi halts his questioning, nods, and leaves the interrogation room to join her behind the curtain.
Yun Zhen states plainly, "He is not the murderer."
Zhou Pi replies, "He is a strange guy, but very likely not involved with the spy."
"But I want him," Yun Zhen says.
Zhou Pi glances at the princess, not quite understanding her meaning.
Yun Zhen clarifies, "He's a Qi refiner. I want his assistance in uncovering who's behind the spy."
Zhou Pi promises, "Rest assured, Princess, I'll make him agree to assist."
But Yun Zhen shakes her head, "He is a Qi refiner. It may prove counter-productive if I force him."
Zhou Pi hesitates. "Then…?"
"I will speak with him myself."
He nods.
Yun Zhen rises from her chair, leaves the room with her two maids, Zhou Pi following respectfully behind.
Inside, Aslan's consciousness descends into his clone. Checking the clone's recent memory, he sighs in relief—the clone's answers convinced the guard he is just a traveller from another continent.
He thinks, "I should be released very soon."
At that moment, the door opens, and a woman enters, the guard trailing behind.
The guard, ferocious during questioning, now looks timid—like a dog with its tail between its legs.
'The woman must be someone important,' Aslan notes, studying her carefully. Except for her forehead and striking eyes, the rest of her face is hidden inside a veil.
'Her eyes are beautiful,' he observes.
Taking her seat opposite him, the guard stands silently behind her.
The woman says, "Mr. Aslan, we believe you are not the murderer."
Aslan replies, "Then I can leave?"
She says, "You can leave here, but you must remain available until we catch the murderer. We need the address where you will be staying, since you are still the only suspect."
Aslan hesitates. "It's no problem, but I haven't found an inn yet."
The woman offers, "How about I provide a house for you, in exchange for your help with the case?"
Aslan considers: 'I'll get a house, and I get to play detective.'
He agrees, "Ok."
"How can you help me?" the woman asks.
Aslan thinks about the murder, done by poison, and realises he may be able to identify the poison used with his Authority of poison.
"Let me check the victim's body," he says.
The guard protests, "You didn't check when the man fell in front of you."
Aslan responds, "I was surrounded by a crowd accusing me. How could I check the body in that situation?"
The woman consents, "Ok, follow me."
She stands; Aslan does likewise, following her, with the guard behind them.
They leave the room, exit the guard station, and board a carriage with her and her two maids.
At the window, the woman instructs another guard, "Check which ministers the spy contacted. Watch for anything unusual since his death."
"Yes, princess," the guard replies.
Aslan notes the guard's words, realising she's royalty.
But, he thinks, it matters little—she is a mortal, and in fifty years, she will be deep beneath the ground.
The carriage starts moving, and Aslan looks outside the window.
Yun Zhen glances his way, surprised at his calm reaction to her revealed identity.
Even qi refiners, despite their power, usually fawn over her—she is the emperor's biological sister and controls vast resources.
No reaction from Aslan means he has a background, she thinks.
A few minutes pass, and the carriage stops in front of a building.
Aslan steps out, sensing dead energy seeping from the building.
He does not absorb it—his technique is not complete.
Following the princess, Aslan enters the building and walks through its corridors.
They stop at a door—the princess knocks and opens it moments later.
Inside, a middle-aged man sits behind a desk, facing the door.
Seeing the princess, the man stands up.
"Princess, what can I do for you?"
"A body was sent here by Zhou Pi a couple of hours ago. Where is it?"
"Old Gu is examining the corpse," the middle-aged man replies.
"Did he find anything?" she asks.
The man answers, "Princess, you know how Old Gu is. He won't submit his report until he examines every inch, even irrelevant parts."
"Take us there," the princess commands.
The middle-aged man steps from behind the desk.
They follow him into a room, greeted immediately by the overwhelming smell of medicine.
Aslan's eyes move toward the victim's body lying on the table, chest parted open.
On another table lies everything removed from the victim's body.
Aslan wonders if the murder was done by poison.
He questions whether examining all body parts is necessary to analyse the poison.
The middle-aged man calls out loudly, attracting the attention of an old man examining a veil of blood nearby.
"Old Gu, what are you doing?"
Old Gu looks up, startled by his name, and lets out a sigh.
"Tang, why are you here?"
Tang replies, "The princess wants to know if you found anything."
Aslan steps closer to the victim's body.
Old Gu says, "I am examining the poison. It is a new kind."
Old Gu then notices Aslan touching the bloody heart with a finger, sucking the finger to taste the victim's blood.
Old Gu exclaims, "Hey, what are you doing?"
Though Aslan already knows the poison ingredients upon touching the blood, he tastes it to add dramatic effect.
He begins naming the ingredients required to make the poison:
"Petals of Nightshade, Silver water, Roots of Elephant Leaves plant," and several other components.
A heavy silence falls over the room.
The princess asks, "What do you mean?"
Aslan replies, "These are the ingredients required to make the poison."
Old Gu looks unconvinced.
"Hey boy, how can you tell just from tasting blood?"
Aslan responds calmly, "If you don't believe me, refine these ingredients and see if the poison can be replicated."
The princess commands, "Qi, Li, bring the ingredients. Mr. Aslan said."
Within a couple of hours, the ingredients are refined into a dark silver liquid.
The poison's properties closely match the original, but when tested on small animals, the effect is not immediate—it takes several hours for the poison to fully act.
When the results are revealed, everyone turns to look at Aslan.
The properties align, but the delayed effect puzzles them.
Tang asks, "Do we need to refine it further to condense it?"
Old Gu replies, "Very likely."
Aslan counters, "No need. It is the poison, but the victim also had another silent poison inside his body."
"When the dark silver poison entered, the two reacted and killed the victim instantly."
He names the ingredients of the second poison, and tests prove Aslan's theory correct.
Meanwhile, Zhou Pi arrives after hearing the poisons have been identified.
Zhou Pi asks, "Can we track the killer using the poison's ingredients?"
Aslan explains, "The first poison inside the spy's body has a shelf life of two days."
"This means the spy had to ingest the poison every two days."
Zhou Pi's eyes light up; he now has a clue to find the killer.
Tang adds, "The second poison's ingredient—silver water—is only found in some medical stores."
After that, they leave.
Aslan, in the princess's carriage, enters the princess's estate.
He is given a room to stay.
Inside the room, Aslan's consciousness leaves his clone and returns to his main body.
Night has fallen, and it is time to rob.
He bursts with energy, his body condensing behind a male Qi refiner who is meditating.
He hypnotises the male with his spirit and makes him reveal his Qi refining cultivation method.
Aslan then bursts with energy, leaving the male Qi refiner, and moves on to his next target.
Before dawn, he had collected all the Qi refining cultivation techniques of the city.
The Qi refiners do not even know they have imparted their techniques to someone.