Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Lin slammed the door shut as he exited the interrogation room for the second time today.

Chixia: "Bad."

Hui Cui: "Your mood is terrible."

The bird person and fox person waiting by the interrogation room door exchanged a glance. Although Hui Cui was feeling down due to Director Shuye's death, she still managed a smile at Chixia. Even without saying anything, it alleviated much of Chixia's unease.

Chixia responded with an agitated expression. Despite entering the Tribunal Headquarters a year before Lin, his relationship with Hui Cui was still limited to exchanging greetings.

So for Lin to receive the Chief Judge’s favor... The Chief Judge even came to the interrogation room to pick him up...

Chixia couldn't help but feel envious. Hui Cui had already walked past him to approach Lin and asked, "Are you okay?"

Lin: "Not good at all."

Chixia shuddered; if Lin spoke to him in this tone, something inexplicably bad would happen next.

Lin gritted his teeth and said, "They dared to throw mud at me, twice..."

The blindfolded black-haired ritualist seemed enveloped in dark clouds. He clenched his fist and said, "I'm going to kill him."

This statement violated the rules of the judges, but the two who heard it—one turned away and coughed, while the other took several steps back, fearing they might be caught in the crossfire of his wrath.

Why did I come here to wait for him... Chixia began to wonder. This guy doesn’t look like he needs any comfort, and why should I comfort him anyway?

Lin took a deep breath and tried to compose himself, then said to Hui Cui, "Chief Judge, thank you for testifying on my behalf."

His superior, having said he would take responsibility, would indeed do so without shirking. After Director Shuye's death, he quickly arrived and explained to the internal affairs inspector who had taken Lin away that he had been investigating Lin. Without this, Lin's suspicion would not have been so light, and he wouldn't have been able to leave the interrogation room so soon.

Lin felt somewhat ashamed. He had confidently come to investigate but hadn't achieved any results, yet he had to trouble the Chief Judge to bail him out.

Thinking about it, his desire to kill the traitor intensified.

"No need to thank me," Hui Cui said, not mentioning the investigation into the traitor in front of Chixia. She only added, "Director Shuye died from a curse. You witnessed his death up close, so be careful not to be affected by the curse."

"Understood," Lin nodded. "I need to go back to the director's office to see if there are more clues. Then I'll visit the Purification Room."

After saying this, he looked at Chixia.

"Please accept my condolences for Director Shuye," Lin said.

Chixia, surprised by Lin's softer demeanor, stammered, "...Thank you?"

"I was right there in the office and couldn't prevent it," Lin told him. "If I had noticed something amiss when I entered, perhaps I could have saved the director. I'm truly sorry."

With such a potent curse, even detecting it ten seconds earlier might not have made a difference.

Chixia wasn't the type to blame others without understanding the situation. He knew that if Lin hadn't walked into the inner office at that moment, they might not have discovered his uncle's body for another ten minutes or even hours, by which time the curse's traces would have vanished, leaving no leads for the investigation.

If not for this reason, Chixia wouldn't have waited outside the interrogation room, but he couldn't bring himself to express gratitude to Lin. After a few grunts, he finally said, "It's not your fault."

"No, it is my fault," Lin said coldly. "We shouldn't delay. Chief Judge, I'll head back to the director's office now."

"Thank you," Hui Cui said sincerely.

Secretary Lüefeng waited at the end of the corridor. Hui Cui hurried over, and they disappeared around the corner together.

A curse murder had occurred within the Tribunal Headquarters, making the case extremely serious. Clearly, he had taken some time out of his busy schedule to check on Lin, which calmed Lin's anger considerably. He couldn't help but think, the Chief Judge is truly a great superior.

He must work hard to repay her, Lin thought, and asked Chixia, "How is the department doing now?"

"What do you think?" Chixia scoffed. "Though they don't have to go through the interrogation room like you, everyone has to undergo questioning and investigation. After all, my uncle was cursed just meters away from them, and none of them noticed. They're useless."

"...You seem to exclude yourself from that, Mr. Big Shot who also noticed nothing."

"I, I was, I was thinking about your nonsense!" Chixia said anxiously.

"Mm-hmm, mm-hmm," Lin replied dismissively.

Together, they returned to the Ceremony Department office on the first floor of Zone Two. The colleagues who usually worked there had moved to a different location, and now the office was bustling with clock-tapping frost crow believers, adept at reconstructing past events.

This Pillar God, being the deity of death, ruler of the dead, and patron of artists and historians, had followers skilled in reconstructing past events, many of whom became extraordinary professionals like archaeologists.

Of course, such professionals often worked as death scene reconstructors if they became judges.

They typically possessed some autopsy skills, though not as specialized as morticians, but sufficient for their needs.

Lin applied to re-enter the scene, claiming he wanted to recall any additional clues. The archaeologists agreed after a brief discussion, but Chixia, unable to provide a reason, was left outside.

Lin put on shoe covers. As for gloves, they were part of the judge's standard uniform, which Lin always wore.

An archaeologist accompanied him, and Lin didn't linger in the outer office, heading straight for the inner office.

At the entrance to the inner office stood a mummy... no, a sealwright's professional, a sealmaster.

The Pillar God known as the sealwright had a rather down-to-earth name, but compared to other Pillar Gods closely tied to the daily lives of the underground city's residents, He and His followers were less common.

This Pillar God of sealing and locking maintained the seals on dangerous objects, keeping them away from ordinary people's lives. While some dual-nature professionals might work in the military, sealwright professionals were primarily found in their own church and the Tribunal.

The sealmaster guarding the inner office prevented the curse's aura from dissipating. The archaeologist following Lin nodded at the sealmaster, who then removed the tape sealing the door, allowing them to enter.

Once they were inside, the sealmaster closed the door again.

The two archaeologists working in the office glanced over. Lin greeted them and explained his reason for entering, and they let him approach the desk where the curse's aura was strongest.

They believed in their colleague; if Lin were to make any inappropriate moves, the archaeologist following him would handle it.

Director Shuye's body had already been removed.

Lin still remembered how, after Director Shuye had vomited out all his organs, he then vomited blood. Those viscous fluids had now dried on the desk, chair, and carpet, turning almost black, with an almost palpable aura of foreboding rising from them.

The blood of someone who died cursed... if it hadn't dried and was preserved by some method, it could be a relatively expensive ritual material.

An ill-timed tidbit of knowledge surfaced in Lin's mind as he carefully avoided touching the bloodstains, walking while recalling the process of Director Shuye's death.

What a pity, if only he had entered the office earlier...

Detecting traces of a curse might be impossible, given that Director Shuye himself was a very knowledgeable ritualist. If he hadn't noticed anything amiss, Lin likely wouldn't either.

But if he had entered the office earlier, at least he could have observed Director Shuye through a mirror, discerned his true emotions during questioning, and obtained testimony. Perhaps he could have found out why Director Shuye was cursed... or why he was silenced.

No, he couldn't jump to the conclusion that this was a silencing. What if it was a personal vendetta against Director Shuye?

Though the timing was suspicious, it wasn't impossible.

Lin stood beside the dormant computer, where bloodstains marred the matte frame of the monitor. He touched the black screen regretfully, then paused.

In the black screen, he saw Director Shuye's wrinkled face.

A chill crawled up Lin's spine like a spider, reaching his nape, making his black hair stand on end. Instinctively, he glanced in the direction the screen faced.

No one was there, just the dark red chair devoid of any figure.

"What's wrong?" the archaeologist following Lin stepped forward and asked.

"The aura of the curse is quite terrifying," Lin replied, glancing back to ensure the archaeologist could see the screen too, but he seemed completely oblivious to the blurry face on it.

Lin released the monitor, and Director Shuye vanished from the screen.

This was...

a reflection once mirrored, his intuition told him, something he could peruse like a book.

Lin touched the screen again, and past images played backward frame by frame. He saw blood flowing back into Director Shuye's mouth, the organs falling out returning to his mouth, two eyeballs rolling back into their sockets, and a living Director Shuye sitting before the computer.

Lin appeared in the screen, then retreated.

Before Lin entered, the old fox seemed to be daydreaming, unmoving for a long time, probably asleep.

Fast-forwarding, a hand pressed the daydreaming Director Shuye into his seat.

Of course, described in reverse, a hand held Director Shuye's shoulder, pulling him up from the seat.

This wasn't unusual, except the face of the hand's owner, reflected on the screen, was identical to Director Shuye's.