Interrogation and Truth

Ning Xiuyuan groggily opened his eyes, finding himself lying in a somewhat grimy sickroom. The walls were covered in mottled brown patches, the origin of which—whether bloodstains from previous patients or other bodily fluids—he couldn't tell.

On a mobile medical cabinet nearby, various common yet horrifying medical instruments were laid out.

A surgical bone saw, bloodletting tools, giant scissors, subcutaneous syringes, hemostatic plugs…

On the opposite wall, a medical poster about lice was plastered!

"You're awake?"

A voice, tinged with mockery, reached him.

Ning Xiuyuan struggled to sit up and followed the sound. The speaker was a priest in black standing by the window. He was about thirty, with thick golden hair and sharp, cold eyes.

Looking around, he saw another priest sitting by the door, head bowed as he flipped through a book.

"How long was I asleep?" Ning Xiuyuan asked.

"Ha, listen to this. The first thing our Lamplighter cares about upon waking is how long he slept? Aren't you curious about Orlando's condition?"

The golden-haired priest's tone grew more derisive. "That's right, Orlando is dead. You knew that before you pretended to be asleep, which is why you're not curious."

Ning Xiuyuan frowned, sensing something was amiss.

"Alright, notify the investigation team!" the priest who had been reading spoke up.

The golden-haired priest narrowed his eyes, and an invisible ghost leaped from his body, crashing into the wall and disappearing.

Clearly, he had gone to notify the investigation team.

Seeing the two priests' harsh and unfeeling demeanor, Ning Xiuyuan wisely chose to remain silent.

He looked around and found his crystal lantern, revolver, and some miscellaneous items placed on the nightstand, feeling a slight sense of relief.

He then assessed his physical condition, finding it to be unexpectedly perfect.

After a moment of thought, he suddenly understood.

After killing Orlando's uncontrolled form, as the parts of his extraordinary characteristic that had been absorbed returned, his self and his extraordinary characteristic had fused further due to the death of the uncontrolled entity, reaching a new level.

The current fusion degree had reached about one-quarter.

It was this fused portion of his extraordinary characteristic that granted him an unusually high recovery rate.

Before long, the sound of dense footsteps from outside interrupted Ning Xiuyuan's thoughts. Looking up, he saw several priests entering.

It seemed they were the so-called investigation team.

"Arthur, you should still remember what happened before you passed out, right?"

Upon entering, the leader got straight to the point.

His name was Rhodes, and Ning Xiuyuan knew him.

He was around forty, with thinning hair, and rarely appeared in the church. However, every time he did, all the priests treated him with great respect.

This made Ning Xiuyuan realize that even among priests, there were differences in status.

"I remember."

"Very good, tell us in detail!"

Rhodes asked, not even bothering to explain that this was a routine investigation.

Ning Xiuyuan also realized something and, after organizing his thoughts, asked, "How many days... have I been unconscious? I need a definite timeframe to describe it."

Rhodes took a slight breath. "One day and one night. Today is June 10th."

Ning Xiuyuan nodded.

"On June 9th, around three or four in the morning, I got up to check the candlelight in the church. After I finished my work, Father Wright suddenly rushed in, saying Orlando was seriously injured and asking me to go treat him—"

Before Ning Xiuyuan could finish, a priest interrupted him with a sharp rebuke.

"You're lying! With so many medical personnel in the Church, Father Wright would have no reason to find you, a newly promoted member!"

Instantly, the atmosphere in the sickroom became tense.

Ning Xiuyuan's pupils constricted. At this moment, he finally understood what had happened.

—He was suspected of being the murderer by the Church!

"Continue!" Rhodes raised his hand, stopping his colleague's questioning, and continued to ask.

Ning Xiuyuan felt indignant. He had prevented a crisis of uncontrolled spread, and this was the treatment he received.

But when you're under someone else's roof, you have to bow your head. He could only continue:

"A rusty iron sword pierced Orlando's chest, right through his heart..."

"You don't even know how to lie. Such a serious injury could only be treated by Sister Angela! Father Wright wouldn't have asked you." The priest rebuked him again.

"Alright, Sister Angela was not in the city on the night of June 9th," Rhodes said in a low voice, his tone not exactly a rebuke.

The priest's expression faltered. He opened his mouth but ultimately said nothing.

"Continue!"

"Then I healed him!"

"You..." The reprimanded priest was about to speak again, but was pulled back by a companion.

"If I remember correctly, you only became an Ascetic Physician on June 8th. How did you treat such a severe injury?" Rhodes asked with a strange and suspicious look.

"I only treated the heart. Healing heart trauma is no different from healing ordinary wounds," Ning Xiuyuan said in a low voice.

As soon as he finished speaking, the priests in the ward looked at each other, surprised that the answer was so simple.

Unfortunately, no one in the ward was an Ascetic Physician, and no one knew if it was possible.

"Is that so? I'll confirm this with Sister Angela. She's also an Ascetic Physician. If you want to change your statement, now is the time," Priest Rhodes said expressionlessly.

"I suggest you find a few more people, even Your Excellency the Bishop, to verify, to prevent anyone from colluding and framing me," Ning Xiuyuan said, a hint of anger rising in him as he swept his gaze coldly over the priests watching coldly from around the room.

The priests all looked displeased at his words.

"Thank you for the reminder. I will," Priest Rhodes nodded. "Continue."

"After I healed Orlando, no one expected a ghost to emerge from the rusted sword and enter Orlando's body, causing him to lose control completely."

Ning Xiuyuan's words were interrupted again before he could finish.

"This is completely illogical. If the enemy wanted to kill Orlando, why would they attack afterward? The moment the iron sword pierced Orlando's body, it should have taken effect immediately."

This was the question from another young priest, arms crossed, with a head full of brown hair.

Ning Xiuyuan didn't explain, because he didn't know why either.

"Do you have any explanation for this?" Unexpectedly, although he didn't want to explain, the other party was unwilling to let it go.

"I don't know. However, after I healed Orlando and got off the carriage to talk with Pine, Pine said they encountered a dangerous and cunning Puppet Master. He disguised himself as a Gravedigger and controlled zombies to fight. Orlando was ambushed by a headless zombie, which caused the fatal injury. Hiding the ghost in the iron sword probably has its own deeper meaning."

Ning Xiuyuan's thoughts raced as he explained, having no choice but to do so.

His experience of killing loss of control entities had taught him that in this world, no one could be relied upon; only he himself was his greatest support!

As expected, his words caused the priests to frown.

This was because they had indeed investigated and found that Orlando had encountered a Puppet Master controlling zombies that night.

"Continue. What happened after Orlando lost control?"

"He killed Wright..." Ning Xiuyuan roughly recounted the battle.

"Wait, you're saying the loss of control entity killed Wright, Atley, and Pine in succession, and even dragged you back, intending to kill you?" Rhodes interrupted Ning Xiuyuan, repeating to confirm.

"Yes!"

"Then how did the loss of control entity die? Don't tell me you passed out and don't know anything," Rhodes said with deep eyes.

Ning Xiuyuan pursed his lips. "I killed it."

The words fell like a thunderclap!

"What? Did I hear you correctly? You're saying you killed a loss of control entity that absorbed four extraordinary characteristics?"

"Even if the loss of control entity didn't fully absorb them, and even if it was irrational, it's not something you, an Ascetic Physician, could kill!"

"Don't tell me you used a gun! To be honest, only the Supernatural Bullets issued to Atley were found at the scene."

The priests in the room looked at each other, their faces filled with shock and doubt. None of them believed Ning Xiuyuan could have killed Orlando's loss of control entity.

"Silence! Arthur, tell me, how did you kill Orlando's loss of control entity? I want to know every detail."

Priest Rhodes took a few steps closer, standing by the hospital bed, looking down and staring intently into Ning Xiuyuan's eyes.

Ning Xiuyuan narrowed his eyes.

Could I tell you this?

If I told you, it would be exposing the Disease Deceiver's greatest weakness to the public!

But if I don't say anything, how can I clear my name?

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