Mountain Climbing

Chen Miemie once again intuitively understood why the Seal Library was called the “human capital” of the witch clan.

First there was Silence presiding over the library, the core building of the City of Books, and now there was a witch serving as the head of a major guild.

Mortar Granny looked old, and to be fair, she really wasn’t young in age either.

She had taken the helm of the Molting Clinic at a very young age and had been at the wheel for decades—proof enough that witches could truly hold high positions in the Seal Library.

When Mortar Granny mentioned Xiaoyu, she showed no sign of grief or any such emotion.

Chen Miemie recalled that Silence had been the same way back then—no emotional ripple when speaking of the death of a fellow clan member.

Mortar Granny’s eyes were sharp, and she saw right through Chen Miemie’s thoughts:

“Our witch clan doesn’t have grief as an emotion. When something saddens us, what we feel is ‘resentment.’ Our first instinct is to destroy whatever or whoever caused it.

Chen Miemie, you might not sense it, but toward those who aren’t friends, witches are cold and merciless.

It’s not that some huge conflict of interest arose—it’s simply that with Xiaoyu gone, I naturally lost all goodwill toward Burger Workshop. And they feel the same way about us.”

Mu Ying picked up the thread: “Granny, let me take over the investigation report.”

“Mm.”

Mu Ying was still dressed in the same detective getup as last time—clearly someone who meant business when it came to investigation and deduction.

“Chen Miemie, after you took the Waterborne Eye from that villa last time, I didn’t stop investigating. I refused to believe it was just a coincidence.

Unfortunately, everyone was dead. Even though I went through every single corpse, tasting their blood one by one to glimpse their final moments, I still found no useful leads.

That’s when a member of Burger Workshop with the codename ‘Pufferfish’ caused a food poisoning incident with his signature blowfish dish—and it just so happened to kill two of our outer-circle members.

At first, we assumed it was either an accident or Pufferfish taking revenge on us over the villa incident.”

Chen Miemie recalled something: “It was actually because of seaweed residue left in the stomach, which, when eaten together with the blowfish, caused the poisoning, right?”

Mu Ying was stunned again: “You’ve got some seriously broad sources. How do you even know that?”

“Last time, Stone Speaker approached me about this case. He was hoping to find new leads from the Waterborne Eye.”

“Right. Not many people know about this—even within our two guilds, only a handful are in the loop.

That was what I uncovered. I experienced the final moments of the two poisoned victims and found that their death throes differed from a pure blowfish poisoning case. So I forced a second autopsy and finally discovered the seaweed residue.

When Stone Speaker found out, he didn’t release the truth. He said it was to avoid alerting the enemy.”

Chen Miemie latched onto a key point:

“What you’re saying is, during the first autopsy, they completely missed the seaweed? Is it that hard to find?”

“It’s pretty well hidden, true. But for a professional, it shouldn’t have been overlooked.”

A smile spread across Chen Miemie’s face. There was no such thing as a flawless plan, and she underestimated no one. This Mu Ying, without the Waterborne Eye and without the Butler’s thread, had still managed to find the crack.

Sure enough, Mu Ying laid out his theory:

“In any case, apart from all the parties directly involved, there’s always a third party that gets overlooked—the law-enforcement investigators who handle the case.

People instinctively assume they have nothing to do with the case, that they’re impartial and neutral, and therefore they’re never treated as suspects.

But that logic doesn’t hold up.

Anyone who’s involved could be the one. Such a simple truth, yet it becomes a blind spot in everyone’s vision.

The coroner’s ‘carelessness,’ the case-closer’s ‘cover-up’—everything points me toward suspecting Stone Speaker, the grand scholar in charge of criminal investigations.”

“Clap, clap, clap—” Chen Miemie applauded softly.

“Beautiful deduction.”

Mu Ying showed no pride whatsoever, only a touch of helplessness:

“Unfortunately, it’s still just a theory—just one possibility. I don’t have solid proof. We can’t even voice this suspicion openly, after all, Stone Speaker is a grand scholar who oversees punishment.”

“So, Mu Ying, what do you want me to do for you today? Even if the Waterborne Eye in my hands could speak, a monster’s testimony wouldn’t exactly count as evidence, would it?”

“Does the Waterborne Eye actually have a lead? Does it know Stone Speaker?”

“No, it doesn’t know him. But it knows it was deliberately brought to that villa.”

“By whom?”

“Someone who didn’t die at the scene—I’m looking into that too. By the way, about that accident involving Vice-Guild Master Yu from Burger Workshop… have you investigated it?”

“Of course. Back then, Granny was furious and told me to drop everything for two months and focus solely on investigating her death.”

“Can you share what you found?”

Mu Ying glanced at Mortar Granny.

Mortar Granny smiled: “We’re all friends here. Go ahead and tell her.”

Only then did Mu Ying continue:

“Before I get into the case, I should introduce Vice-Guild Master Xiaoyu.

Even though she’s the victim in this accident, her reputation in life wasn’t exactly stellar.

Her mother was a grand scholar and the head of the Guild Alliance. She was born into wealth, and personality-wise… well, let’s just say she was… confident.”

Mortar Granny cut in: “No need to sugarcoat it. Say it plainly. Xiaoyu had deep connections, was spoiled from birth, looked down on everyone, and carried herself with arrogance and aggression.”

“Yeah, exactly. All in all, outside her inner circle, Xiaoyu wasn’t well-liked—though she couldn’t have cared less.

Her Mystery was called the ‘Parallel-Line Shepherd.’ She could see and manipulate things in space that ‘would never intersect.’

Could be geometric parallel lines, could be metaphorical ones—two people who would never fall in love, two fates that would never cross, two secrets that would never be revealed.

It was said that in her vision, the world was covered in countless glowing parallel lines, like railway tracks stretching infinitely.

To some degree, the Molting Clinic and Burger Workshop were themselves two parallel lines that never should have met. The period of goodwill between us—there was something of her ability’s influence in that.

Because of her power, she had a hobby.

Since childhood, she’d loved mountain climbing. She loved standing on a summit and gazing at the horizon where the line of sight ends.

Ordinary people had no way to leave the city and climb mountains—far too dangerous. But, obviously, her family could afford to indulge that little ‘request’ of hers.

When she grew up, she developed another hobby. She liked men.”

“Wait!” Chen Miemie cut in immediately. “She’s a woman. Liking men is normal, isn’t it? How is that a hobby gained after growing up?”

Mu Ying paused, then rephrased: “Let me put it another way. She liked a lot of different men.”

“You mean she dated a bunch of handsome boyfriends?”

“Half right. She did date many guys, but they weren’t handsome. She didn’t care about looks or wealth. She only liked men who could solve geometry problems.”

Chen Miemie's eyes lit up. "Give me the details on this geometry expert."

"Her mother is the 'Geometry Jailer,' President Yu. She forced her to study geometry rigorously from a young age, but how many little girls actually like that? So from childhood on, she admired boys who could help her solve problems."

Chen Miemie's mind began to paint a picture: a guy and a girl, schedule set, room booked, romantic roses scattered across the floor, a hint of wine in the air, and then... solving geometry problems together all night long.

Seeing the conversation veer further off track, Mortar Granny gave a soft cough.

Mu Ying quickly dropped the irrelevant tangent.

"The day of the accident, she went hiking with one of her geometry mentors, carrying several notebooks of scratch paper for calculations. She slipped and fell off the cliff."

Chen Miemie waited for a while, only to realize there was no more to the story.

"You're kidding, right? You investigated for two months and that's all you got? A newspaper reporter could have done better."

Mu Ying ignored his sarcasm: "That's exactly what's strange. Based on my investigation, I can confirm she genuinely slipped and fell on her own. No 'mysterious' forces, nobody pushed her, no hypnosis or suggestion—nothing."

"That doesn't add up. She's highly skilled in the mysterious arts and has been hiking since childhood—how could she slip? And what about her geometry mentor?"

"He's the key witness. Not just me—President Yu and 'Burger Workshop' interrogated him too. He personally saw Vice President Xiaoyu step on loose ground and fall. With that many people questioning him, and him being just an ordinary man, there's no way he could lie."

"Is he still alive?"

"Alive, but in bad shape. He's bedridden now."

"Who planned the hiking route that day?"

"Vice President Xiaoyu herself."

"Who knew about the plans that day?"

"Too many people. She hiked at least once a month—it wasn't exactly a secret."

"How did they meet?"

"Apparently, in their organization, the Butler usually arranges those kinds of introductions."