Chapter 8: Mary The Greatest Detective

"Cultivator… is that how you see me?"

"Why…? Should I be seeing you as something else?"

A sudden weight mixed with the air inside the hospital room as soon as Mary raised her eyebrows; the friendliness in her voice, now slightly faded. But of course, Lucian, who absolutely lacked any social awareness, was not able to pick this up as he just shook his head.

"No," he whispered. He wasn't a Cultivator, at least he didn't think so.

"Right…" Mary squinted her eyes as she leaned away from Lucian and looked at him from head to waist, "...So, you really don't remember anything?"

"...No," A lie, again. He remembered what happened with Foreman Yang vividly even though he lost control of himself. He ate the lithum inside Foreman Yang. He also ate his flesh, drank his blood, and then just left him inside Maeve's room haphazardly, in fear that he might also do the same to his own daughter.

He then went out into the hallway, where he felt a pain that caused his entire body to just shut down; he did not scream, however, in fear that his daughter might hear him.

He just gritted through the pain that felt like his bones were being ground; digging into his flesh and then hitting all of his nerves. Fortunately, his body shut down by itself…

…and now he finds himself here, inside a hospital room being interrogated by a cultivator.

"I'll tell you what happened," Mary then once again leaned closer to Lucian, even placing her fingers on his lap and letting them crawl across it, "You—"

"That is sexual harassment, Ms. Mary," Lucian breathed out, causing Mary to almost stutter as she stared at Lucian, who did not even bother looking back at her.

"You were discovered by another rogue cultivator, who happened to be disguising himself as a Looter Foreman. Of course, he had a hard time actually figuring out you were also a rogue cultivator, after all, I could barely even see your teeny tiny lith — you are barely even in the Spirit Infant level–no, you are barely a cultivator at all."

Lucian could really only stare at nothing in particular as Mary told her story of what happened. He won't stop her, she seemed so confident, after all.

"And one day, which happened to be last night—"

"I need to get back to my wife and daughter, Ms. Ma—"

"Shut up!" Mary pointed at Lucian's face; the air around them, once again surrendering to the lith she was emitting, "Let me finish."

"...Okay," Lucian could really just nod.

"Where was I… right — he followed you home when he realized you were also a rogue cultivator," Mary then leaned away as she crossed her arms, "For what reason, well, who knows. But then, he discovered your family, who are inflicted with Rot — and of course, the two of you got into an altercation…

…and you killed him, does that sound right?"

"As I said, I do not remember," Lucian said, "But that is probably what happened."

"I knew it! Agh, I'm the best!" Mary then stood up from the chair and started looking and pointing at her subordinates, "You guys should pay up. Tch, doubting my detective skills. Anyway…"

Mary then quickly sat back beside Lucian and looked him straight in the eyes.

"...What I am most curious about is how someone like you, who is barely even in the lowest rank, was able to defeat someone at the Spirit Elder."

"Wh—"

"No, no! Don't tell me!" Mary placed her finger on Lucian's lips before he could say anything, "Let me guess… in a final fit of desperation, you used all of your life force to bite through his neck, catching him off guard — and with your sudden burst of temporary strength, you targeted and pulled out the guy's lith. After all, a father would always go through hell for his family."

"Yes," Lucian nodded, "That is probably what happened."

"Agh… I'm too good," Mary raised her fists in the air, "I'm too smart for this job. I should get promoted. You guys are watching, right?"

"Am I under arrest for killing Mr. Yang?" Lucian then asked.

"No, not at all," Mary shook her head and smiled, "On the contrary, you are being rewarded — Liu Yang is wanted in his country and has an international bounty on his head. Sadly, you killed him so the reward isn't gonna be that high."

"Then, if I am not under arrest, I wish to get back to my family," Lucian slightly raised his hand to show the cuffs, "They—"

"Well… you are a rogue cultivator, and that is against the Law," Mary then smiled as she gestured to her men to approach. And as soon as they did so, Lucian broke the restraints and quickly leaped away from the bed.

He still had no idea how strong he had become because of his newfound strength, but he was sure he wasn't strong enough to take Mary and the others on. There was also the fact that he couldn't fight. And even if he was capable, he would still be chased by the entire Immortal Police — even still, he can't get arrested.

His wife and daughter need him.

"Woah! Woah!" Mary then quickly got in between her men and Lucian, "What the fuck are you guys doing!? Relax, relax. Lucian, relax. We are not going to arrest you or anything like that."

"But you said I broke the law for being… a rogue cultivator," Lucian whispered out; his mind, trying to think of a way to escape this situation.

"Well, yes…" Mary shrugged, "...Lucian Zhang, your identity is weird. You have no birth certificate, no files, no photos, and no history. You just suddenly popped up in the system when you were 18 years old and got your first job as a common retailer in a backwater town — honestly, quite typical for a rogue cultivator. So, there's no use in denying that."

"...Okay."

"But I sympathize, Lucian," Mary then let out a long and very deep sigh as she shook her head, "I know why you're hiding. You're too weak to be in the cultivation world, and that sucks. So, I am gonna give you a chance — by the end of the week, register yourself as a cultivator. If you don't…

…I will arrest you."

"Okay," Lucian just blinked a couple of times.

"Aren't you happy…?" Mary squinted her eyes.

"I am," Lucian said monotonously.

"...I guess you can't really be, seeing as both your wife and daughter have the Rot," Mary then calmly approached Lucian, placing her hand on his shoulder and patting it, "There is a reason why we live in a completely different world from them, Lucian. It's time to accept that. Humans who have the Rot are lucky enough to even live a week…

…spend the remaining time you have with them, and then leave the world behind… Kill it if you have to."

"I appreciate the advice, Ms. Mary. And even more so the chance you are giving me," Lucian finally looked Mary in the eyes, causing her to slightly back away as she did not expect Lucian's blue eyes to be so bright; almost glowing, in fact.

"R… right," Mary then raised both of her thumbs as she walked away, "Give the man his reward for killing Liu Yang and let's pack up. More cases to solve!"

And with those words, one of Mary's men placed a bag on Lucian's bed before just casually leaving the room. Mary seemed extremely proud as she stepped out of the room; her head held high, completely unaware that she was almost completely wrong.

It didn't matter, however. For the books, this case was already solved.

"So, what's our next agenda for Mary, the greatest detective in the world?" Mary smirked as she looked at her men.

"That was it, Young Lady."

"What!? But that was my first case! And don't call me Young Lady! Boss, call me Boss!" Mary raised her voice as she pointed at her men.

"Okay, Boss. That was your last case. But the forensics called while you were interrogating Lucian Zhang, they discovered something weird."

"Why, what's wrong with Yang's body?" Mary squinted her eyes.

"No, not Yang — but with Lucian Zhang's wife and daughter. They thought they were dead so—"

"What the—why did they check on them as well? That's fucking unethical, and not to mention disrespectful! Who is it?" Mary truly seemed mad, "What's the name of the one who called?"

"I… didn't ask, Boss."

"What did they say anyway?"

"They said the oldest rotten skin found on their body was approximately 3 years old."

"Three—are they saying they've been alive for 3 years with the Rot…?" Mary's expression twisted in disbelief, "The fuck are they on about? That's impossible."

"That's what they said, Boss."

"...Then they are wrong, tch. Don't bother me with nonsense," Mary then scoffed; waving her hand as she just continued to walk away. After three steps, however, she looked back at Lucian's room,

"...Have someone watch Lucian—no… I'll do it myself."