41st Break: Implicated 

"What is wrong?" Meng Xing asked as he looked at Lin Ze.

"That person just now…" Lin Ze muttered, looking like he was hesitating whether to speak as he sat across him.

"What?" Meng Xing stared at Lin Ze, waiting for him to speak.

Lin Ze sighed. "What did that person tell you?" he asked as he looked in the direction where Qiu Si left.

As he expected, Qiu Si has already disappeared. Qiu Si is really also a practitioner like him, and Qiu Si's level is not inferior to Lin Ze's. But, Lin Ze has never met Qiu Si before. If he did, Lin Ze would have already challenged Qiu Si, who is obviously also a talent. However, he hasn't even seen Qiu Si in jianghu before.

Qiu Si is definitely a strong practitioner, so why is he working in Huichen? Lin Ze thought, feeling puzzled. It seems that the boss of Huichen has a keen eye for talent.

(Meng Xing: I have a pair of eyes, please. A pair of keen eyes!)

"Oh. He told me that they would take me to see a doctor to identify what kind of poison is it that I have." Meng Xing lied without changing his expression or even blinking his eyes.

Lin Ze started when he heard what Meng Xing said. Then, he recalled what Qiu Yi told him earlier.

An hour ago...

"This is the information that we have on the person that we – " Qiu Yi spoke when he saw Lin Ze. But, Lin Ze cut him off.

"Why wasn't Meng Xing in his house last night?" Lin Ze asked and frowned as he looked at Qiu Yi.

Qiu Yi calmly looked back at him. "Is Officer Lin doubting the information that we gave him?" he asked, voicing out Lin Ze's thoughts. "Our Huichen's plaque was written by the emperor himself, stating our integrity. So how can Officer Lin doubt our intel?" he asked.

Lin Ze didn't speak.

"Just because the person wasn't there doesn't necessarily mean that our intel was wrong." Qiu Yi told him.

"Then why was Meng Xing not in his house last night?" Lin Ze demanded.

"I heard that sir Meng has friends… maybe sir Meng stayed at his friends' house?" Qiu Yi casually said. "After all, sir Meng is alone and no one was there to look after him when he was poisoned…" he said.

Lin Ze clenched his fists.

Qiu Yi ignored his dark expression. "This is the information that we have on the person that we wanted you to catch." He said as he had a servant hand the information to Lin Ze.

Lin Ze looked at it. "A woman?" he muttered.

"Why? Does Officer Lin look down on female practitioners?" Qiu Yi asked.

The servant, who is a woman, looked at Lin Ze. Lin Ze paused. He could see that even this servant is a practitioner, too. Huichen really is shrouded in mysteries for even its servant is a practitioner.

"No." Lin Ze answered as he read the information that the female practitioner had given. Then, his face darkened. "She is the one who poisoned Meng Xing?" he asked as he clutched the paper tight.

"I thought that Officer Lin would be surprised instead of how this female practitioner knows young mistress Meng?" Qiu Yi spoke. He is referring to Meng Zixin.

Lin Ze started. "She is friends with Meng Zixin?" he muttered.

"Yes." Qiu Yi nodded in affirmation. "We found out that five years ago, this female practitioner was present in the Meng residence and is friends with young mistress Meng." He spoke. "But, she was not seen after that, until five years later, that is this year when she appeared in the Meng residence again." He said.

Lin Ze frowned. "But, how is this related to Meng Xing?" he asked, then froze when he thought of something. The Meng family and Meng Xing… could it be -? He thought.

"Does Officer Lin think that sir Meng is related to the Meng family?" Qiu Yi asked and looked at Lin Ze, interrupting his thoughts.

Lin Ze looked at him.

"We also thought so, but then there is no one named 'Meng Xing' in the Meng family." Qiu Yi calmly spoke. Of course, they can't tell Lin Ze that Meng Xing is Meng Ruyan – the second young master of the Meng family.

"Then, why is this female practitioner friends with Meng Zixin?" Lin Ze asked, feeling puzzled. He felt like there was fog inside his brain.

"We suspect that sir Meng was implicated." Qiu Yi answered.

"… 'implicated'?" Lin Ze muttered.

"En." Qiu Yi nodded in affirmation as he continued to lie without blinking. "As you also thought, sir Meng has the same surname as the Meng family, so one would first think that sir Meng really is from the Meng family." He spoke.

Lin Ze froze, having a vague guess. And it was as he guessed when he heard Qiu Yi continue.

"As we have confirmed, young mistress Meng doesn't know that her 'friend' is a practitioner." Qiu Yi said. "This female practitioner approached young mistress Meng with hidden intentions, then, but we don't know yet what it is. But, we have a guess." He looked at Lin Ze.

Lin Ze also understood. "She wanted to poison someone from the Meng family?" he said.

Qiu Yi nodded. "En." He answered. "This was five years ago. Then, she returned five years later…" he said. "She must have returned to check whether the person that she secretly poisoned really has died." He frowned.

Lin Ze's brows knitted. "But, no one has died in the Meng family." He said. If there was, their Lin family would have already notified him.

"Yes." Qiu Yi sighed. "We are still investigating who could she be trying to poison." He told Lin Ze.

Lin Ze fell silent as he pondered. "Then, how was it that Meng Xing was poisoned instead of that person?" he asked.

Qiu Yi secretly smiled. Here it comes. "Officer Lin should already know that sir Meng was an orphan?" he asked.

"Yes." Lin Ze answered.

"Our Huichen investigated sir Meng during his first request, and we found that sir Meng actually appeared in the capital five years ago." Qiu Yi said.

Lin Ze was shocked. "What?!" he exclaimed.