Chapter 67
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Chapter 67: The Investigation
Before the flying boat, Lin Hui personally came out to greet, followed by a group of guards.
"Elder Jiu, I’ll have to trouble you for this." Lin Hui stood before Lin Xuanfeng, cupped his hands, and said.
"Hmm."
Lin Xuanfeng acknowledged, then walked towards the pavilion with his hands behind his back. The other guards hastily cleared a path.
The three Pill Masters exchanged glances behind him and silently followed.
After entering the pavilion, Lin Xuanfen gave a casual glance around before addressing Lin Hui: "Bring everyone who has entered or exited the kitchen."
"Everyone?" Lin Hui couldn’t help blurting out.
At least several dozen people went in and out of the kitchen daily. Interrogating them one by one would be a massive task.
So he had only detained the key suspects.
"Everyone," Lin Xuanfeng’s voice turned cold.
Lin Hui bowed deeply, not daring to offer the slightest objection, while Lin Xuanfeng proceeded alone to the second floor.
The three Pill Masters were left standing where they were.
After Lin Xuanfeng ascended, Lin Hui let out a sigh of relief and looked at the three. He ordered a subordinate: "Take them to see Lin Kai."
In Lin Tianfang’s room on the second floor.
Lin Xuanfeng pushed the door open and entered directly.
Lin Tianfang showed no displeasure at all, instead greeting him with a smile: "You arrived faster than I expected."
"Since this matter involves the Lu Family, naturally, the sooner we get to the truth, the better." Lin Xuanfeng sat down casually on a nearby wooden armchair.
"Indeed, this affair is of great importance. We must find the agent the Lu Family planted within us," Lin Tianfang said, his expression serious.
"Rest assured. As long as they acted, traces will be found. I will get to the bottom of it within a day." Lin Xuanfeng replied with confidence.
Lin Tianfang nodded.
At that moment, Lin Xuanfeng looked quite surprised and asked: "Has Elder Si perhaps already broken through to the ninth level of Qi Refinement?"
Lin Tianfang was astonished: "How do you know?"
"Because that book on your desk is an ancient text about weapon refining techniques."
"Previously, I heard Elder Si had reached the great peak of the eighth level of Qi Refinement, just a step away from the ninth level."
"If you hadn’t broken through, you’d likely be perusing texts on cultivation techniques, not this."
"So I reasoned Elder Si must have already broken through. Knowing a long distance remains to the next minor realm, you now have the leisure to explore other disciplines."
Lin Xuanfeng sat there, his voice calm and full of confidence.
Lin Tianfang paused briefly, then countered: "What if I just happened to want to read it?"
"Those on the brink of a breakthrough don’t have the leisure or inclination to divert their attention elsewhere. In fact, I suspect if you hadn’t broken through, you’d probably still be in Closed-Door Training," Lin Xuanfeng retorted.
Lin Tianfang burst into laughter: "Hahaha! Truly worthy of being the hall master of the Law Enforcement Hall. Your insight is indeed sharp. It seems the traitor hidden within the family will soon be uncovered."
…
On the other side, three Pill Masters had arrived at the second level of the spiritual mine under Lin Kai’s arrangement.
To solve this incident, they even brought along the family’s top-level first-level antidotes.
However, when they saw the poisoned people, they had no solution at all; even the antidotes they brought were useless.
Ordinary antidotes could cure most illnesses caused by poisons, but typically only for poisons two minor grades below them.
Unless it was an antidote specifically designed for a poison, it might solve poison of the same grade.
So facing middle first-level poison, even top-level first-level antidotes were completely useless.
Unless Lin Zhi Shou, the top-level first-level Pill Master, arrived and refined a top-level first-level antidote.
And that was only if they weren’t afflicted by a more powerful poison.
Seeing this, Lin Kai thus told them about the theory Zhou Luo mentioned yesterday.
After hearing it, the few Pill Masters looked utterly confused, as they hadn’t come across this in ancient texts, but couldn’t easily say it was false.
Regarding this matter, Lin Kai reported it to Lin Tianfang right away.
Currently, Lin Zhi Shou, who was attending the Spiritual Pill Conference, wouldn’t return for at least another ten days or half a month.
It was still unknown whether the people on the second level could hold on until then.
Under such circumstances, Lin Tianfang had to agree to let Zhou Luo conduct the trial, and specifically instructed Lin Kai to stay close to Zhou Luo without leaving for a moment.
At noon, Lin Kai visited with three Pill Masters and informed Zhou Luo of Elder Si’s decision.
Zhou Luo immediately promised that he would do his utmost to treat them, then stated a large quantity of antidotes would be needed for the trial.
After all, with at least over a hundred poisoned on the second level, relying solely on Zhou Luo would take too long.
Luckily, the Pill Masters sent by the family were present, and the three offered to help.
Thus, the three took out furnaces and ingredients from the family from their storage bags, and began refining antidotes alongside Zhou Luo.
In front of outsiders, Zhou Luo kept up the appearance of recently advancing to the middle first-level, so his speed was many times slower than usual.
Elsewhere, Lin Hui had called everyone who entered or exited the kitchen between yesterday noon and night to the main hall.
Lin Shi was surely among them.
Since he did enter and leave the kitchen at noon, he didn’t raise suspicions.
He unintentionally glanced at the widely known hall master of the Law Enforcement Hall ahead, rubbed his bald head, and felt a little nervous inside.
This Elder Jiu was notorious for being cold-blooded, decisive, and unfeeling; in law enforcement’s name, he dealt with rule-breaking without mercy, his harsh methods intimidating.
If caught neglecting duties, it would definitely lead to a death sentence.
Lin Xuanfeng held a roster listing approximate time points and which people were roughly in the kitchen during each.
Most were regulars, with only a few appearing there by chance.
Naturally, these had all undergone focused scrutiny and been cleared of suspicion during Lin Hui’s questioning.
Lin Xuanfeng stayed silent, just looking quietly at the list.
The crowd didn’t dare to move.
After a long while, Lin Xuanfeng suddenly looked up, his sharp eyes sweeping the group, and said: "Those still in the kitchen or not gone to the front when the Lu Family appeared, stay. Others can leave."
Beside him, Lin Hui gave Lin Xuanfeng a long look, thinking this might be too rash.
Soon after, everyone else departed. Recalling how Zhou Luo had covered for him then, Lin Shi took a deep breath and remained where he was.
Gazing at the remaining twenty or so people, Lin Xuanfeng narrowed his eyes and added: "Those from the kitchen may leave too."
The dozen nervous and agitated from the kitchen instantly felt relieved and hurried away.
"Elder Jiu, this seems rather unwise," Lin Hui finally whispered softly.
Lin Xuanfeng didn’t glance his way, just spoke to himself: "Since this matter involves the Lu Family, their arrival bought time for the poisoner, making this the best window for the poisoning."
Actually, the Lu Family’s intrusion was purely accidental.
Yet, Zhou Luo hadn’t expected this accident to create a huge hidden peril for him.
Because the family linked the poisoning to the Lu Family, and with Lin Xuanfeng’s powerful insight, they pinpointed the poisoning to that precise span.
By Zhou Luo’s plan, the second-level people wouldn’t be poisoned until after dinner; even with evidence of tampered supplies, the large time gap made it hard to trace back to Lin Shi, let alone implicate him.
That was indeed so; Lin Hui’s questioning centered on kitchen staff and never connected to Lin Shi.
But who knew the family would summon Lin Xuanfeng, with his wealth of case-handling experience…
