Chapter 81: Tit-for-Tat, Si Jin Protects Shengsheng
"Miss Yun Sheng, on the day Chen Hao disappeared, you left the Tower at 5:30 PM. But you didn’t return to Xinglan Garden until 10:40 PM. Where did you go and what did you do during those nearly five hours?"
Facing their general’s gaze, which was so cold it could freeze the air, the investigators dared not delay and quickly got to the point.
They had clearly done their homework. They didn’t dwell on what was already known, instead cutting straight to the key discrepancy in the timeline.
"I went to the department store. That day at the Tower, I made a bet with a fellow trainee, Zhao Qian. I won the bet, which was Fifty Thousand Star Coins. My account only had 10 Star Coins before that, and I’d been wanting to buy some essential training supplies and items to aid my spiritual power, but I didn’t have enough money. As soon as I got the money, I went straight to the mall."
Yun Sheng wasn’t lying about this part; she had indeed gone to the department store that day.
She had simply overestimated what Fifty Thousand Star Coins could buy. In the end, she just browsed around the mall without buying any of the things she needed.
Su Wan, who had been sitting anxiously on a nearby sofa, suddenly went pale. Her eyes instantly flooded with overwhelming guilt and heartache.
She had only given Yun Sheng the supplementary card with a million Star Coins *after* Chen Hao’s disappearance.
’In other words, before that, her own daughter had been so broke!’
The realization was like a dull knife twisting in Su Wan’s heart, and her gaze toward Yun Sheng filled with pain and self-reproach.
The investigator made a note, then posed a second, more damning question.
"You returned to Xinglan Garden at 10:40 PM. At a normal pace, the walk from the gate to the Lin Mansion takes about ten minutes. However, the gate records show you entered the Lin Mansion at 11:00 PM. Where were you and what were you doing during that extra ten minutes?"
Those ten minutes precisely covered the time when Chen Hao had his confrontation with Yun Sheng and was subsequently dealt with by Si Jin.
Although there were no security cameras in that area, the precise timeline firmly pinned the suspicion on Yun Sheng.
Yun Sheng’s breath hitched.
’This question is even harder to answer than the first!’
She couldn’t say she had been wandering around the community, because according to the statement she had previously given to Zhou Rin, she’d seen someone who looked drunk and had quickened her pace to get away.
Nor could she say something else had happened, as any additional event would require more fabricated details, making it easier for her story to fall apart.
All eyes in the living room were fixed on Yun Sheng.
Bai Ye’s gaze was cold and piercing, as if he were waiting for her to show the slightest crack in her story.
Si Jin remained relaxed beside her, but Yun Sheng could feel the air around him tense for a split second.
"I..."
Yun Sheng pursed her dry lips. Her mind raced, but she couldn’t come up with a flawless excuse.
Seeing her silence, the investigator’s tone hardened. "Miss Yun Sheng, please give us a direct answer. What you did in those ten minutes is crucial to clearing you of suspicion."
The pressure weighed on Yun Sheng like a tangible mountain.
She bit down hard on her lip. Her gaze swept over the two inspectors and Luo Cheng, finally flickering, as if unintentionally, across Bai Ye’s cold, stern face.
"A failure who doesn’t even have a spiritual body, someone the Tower judged to be an awakening failure—even if you gave me ten minutes, do you really think I could do anything to Chen Hao? Take him out? Dispose of him? Make him vanish into thin air?"
Yun Sheng paused, the sarcasm in her voice sharpening.
"Aren’t you all... giving me a little too much credit?"
It sounded like self-deprecation, but it was actually a sharp way of pointing out the most illogical part of their investigation.
The investigator was caught off guard by her sudden counter-question, momentarily at a loss for words.
Clearly, Yun Sheng’s words had exposed a potential contradiction in their investigation.
But procedure was procedure. The discrepancy in the timeline had to be explained.
"Miss Yun Sheng, we understand you’re upset. But the discrepancy in the timeline is an objective fact, and we need a reasonable explanation. Please, try to remember. Where were you during those ten minutes? What were you doing? Or perhaps... did you see anything out of the ordinary?"
The question was clearly leading, but Yun Sheng didn’t take the bait.
"I really don’t know. When I left the mall, my mind was still on the things I wanted to buy. I wasn’t paying attention to the time at all; I was just walking home like normal.
It was dark out, and I was a little scared, so I might have taken a longer route. I wasn’t very familiar with the community back then... As for how much time passed, I really wasn’t watching the clock. I don’t remember."
Naturally, this explanation did little to resolve the mystery of the ten-minute gap.
The atmosphere grew tense once more.
Just as the investigator was about to apply more pressure, Si Jin, who had been sitting quietly beside Yun Sheng as if he were mere window dressing, suddenly chuckled.
He straightened up slightly. His posture remained relaxed, but his gaze sharpened as he looked directly at Bai Ye.
"General Bai, I’m a little confused. Does the Tower’s investigative unit always handle cases this way? Without a shred of proof, based solely on an unaccounted-for gap in a timeline, you repeatedly harass an innocent person who clearly lacks the capability to commit the crime?
Shengsheng has already made it perfectly clear that she doesn’t have the ability to take on a C-level Sentinel. Even if there’s a time discrepancy, it proves nothing.
As for Chen Hao’s disappearance, shouldn’t your priority be to track down his whereabouts, investigate his movements on that night, and search for other potential witnesses or clues?
Why waste your time here, harassing an innocent girl again and again, instead of doing your actual job!"
Si Jin’s blunt accusations caused the temperature in the living room to drop to freezing.
Everyone held their breath, their tense gazes focused on Bai Ye.
As if in slow motion, Bai Ye’s gaze finally shifted from Yun Sheng’s defiant face and settled on Si Jin.
An invisible pressure built between the two men, a silent, crushing force.
In the suffocating silence, Bai Ye finally spoke.
"Dr. Lin Mo, the Tower’s investigative unit operates in accordance with Star Alliance law and internal regulations. Its authority and procedures require no explanation to outsiders. And it is certainly... not your place to question them."
Then, Bai Ye shot a sidelong glance at the two investigators.
"Since Miss Yun Sheng cannot provide a reasonable explanation for her whereabouts during the critical time period, then, according to regulations, escort her back to the Tower to assist with the investigation. We will conduct a more detailed inquiry and the necessary tests to completely clear her of suspicion."
The four words, "Take her to the Tower," exploded in the living room like a clap of thunder.
Su Wan cried out in alarm, "No! Ah Ye, you can’t! Shengsheng, she..."
But before she could finish, Luo Cheng and the two other investigators were already striding toward Yun Sheng, ready to carry out the order.
Just then, a tall, imposing figure shot up from the sofa, moving to stand in front of Yun Sheng.
It was Si Jin.
His previously languid posture vanished in an instant, replaced by the sharp, cold aura of a drawn sword.
He stood ramrod straight, completely shielding Yun Sheng behind him and blocking the path of Luo Cheng and the two investigators.