Pursuer

As the words were spoken, the corpse seemed to suddenly come to life.

Breathing, heartbeat, and body temperature all returned.

Then... she started moving too.

Two slender, white hands reached out and then supported her head.

"Snap--!"

After the crisp sound, the girl straightened her neck and turned her head back to a normal angle.

Then, she stuck her fingers into her eye sockets and, with a "pop," gouged out two pure black eyeballs.

Then...

Her own eyes appeared—the fiery red inherited from the Nightless Sky Family.

Lin Yu was somewhat surprised by what he saw.

"How did you do that?"

"The Prosthetic Eye made of 'Dim Crystal' from the Universal Trade Association seems to be a Second Generation product," the girl said nonchalantly. "It was a gift from some young master a few years ago... They say it has Night Vision and farsightedness, but it's quite useful for playing dead."

"After all, they look lifeless, like the eyes of a dead person—later generations of products have been updated and are not as exaggerated, but they still make your eyes look lifeless."

Lin Yu thought of Saint Orchid Kui's eyes, wondering if there was any connection between the two.

"Alright, now it's my turn to ask," the girl raised the megaphone, pressed a button to turn the volume up, "Sherlock, how did you do that?"

"Which aspect are you referring to?" Lin Yu threw the question back at him, "Whether it was me recognizing that you were faking your death, or recognizing your identity."

"Both—how did you know I wasn't a corpse, and... how did you determine from this corpse that I was the Nightless Sky Fire Apricot?"

As the girl spoke, she acknowledged her identity Nightless Sky Fire Apricot.

"As a corpse, you're too 'new'," Lin Yu said calmly. "Although you've lost vital signs, you've placed too many actual corpses around you that you would actually use, so I can do a simple spot-the-differences test—those corpses, although 'dead,' don't have any obvious external injuries, and they're even neatly 'stacked'."

"But you deliberately showed me your neck as if it were broken... which is a bit out of place with the surroundings, as if you were using that neck to deliberately emphasize 'this is a corpse'."

"But it's clearly a corpse, yet it wasn't folded up, and it wasn't moving—it's like standing in front of a closet full of neatly folded clothes, and finding a garment that's neither being worn nor put away... This is too abnormal."

"Such keen observation skills! No wonder you're the renowned 'Detective' of City That Never Sleeps!" exclaimed Nightless Sky Fire Apricot.

Lin Yu flicked the brim of his hat, showing no humility.

However, he didn't deduce that the other person wasn't a "corpse" based on these details...

Although the other party's disguise was perfect, even to the point of completely losing vital signs and suppressing emotional fluctuations.

But Old Zheng could see the other person's Soul State —vibrant and full of life.

The reasoning and analysis I just went through was just Lin Yu's reverse deduction of the solution after seeing the "answer," and he only said it to fit Fu Luo's character.

Nightless Sky Fire Apricot looked at Lin Yu, then asked.

"Then, how did you determine that I am the Nightless Sky Fire Apricot?"

This is something Lin Yu genuinely deduced.

"Because you seem to be a member of the Nightless Sky Family, and you know too much about the Nightless Sky Family affairs. Even though you have various information channels, you are aware of every single latest secret related to the Nightless Sky Family. On the contrary, you didn't mention anything about what happened to the Saint Orchid Family. So I guess you must be a member of the Nightless Sky Family."

"Furthermore, you just mentioned that you have to hide your identity—this actually exposes the fact that you must have a necessary reason to 'conceal your identity,' because if someone is a destitute Outer City, an ordinary minor Noble, or a company employee, what difference does it make whether their true identity is known or not... Compared to this identity, their original identity is almost irrelevant."

"There's only one possibility: that your identity as the uncrowned king of Gray Street Three is still a 'burden' in terms of your true identity, which is why you might want to hide it."

Lin Yu analyzed the situation calmly.

Nightless Sky Fire Apricot squinted her eyes, a smile appearing on her face.

At this moment, with her new glasses, she looked exactly like the Nightless Sky Family Head.

Lin Yu had to admit that, compared to the Nightless Sky Huo Shu and Nightless Sky Huo Le, she seemed to resemble the Nightless Sky Family Head more—at least in appearance.

"Even so, you can only conclude that I am a member of the Nightless Sky Family. How do you know that I am definitely the Nightless Sky Fire Apricot?"

Nightless Sky Fire Apricot asked again.

"Because you asked about the Nightless Sky Fire Apricot, and it didn't sound like you were 'gossiping'... Even though you disguised it very well, and even the loudspeaker couldn't detect your tone or body language, your choice of words... was definitely not 'gossiping' about someone else."

"You must be the most Direct Lineage member of the Nightless Sky Family, and among the younger Direct Lineage ... your mother introduced me to two people, besides the two I've met, one in the Great Wilderness and the other in the Universal Trade Association, who is older than Huo Le."

Lin Yu responded calmly.

"But these don't count as evidence," Nightless Sky Fire Apricot frowned. "Aren't you just guessing?"

Lin Yu shrugged. "I'm Detective... Judges make judgments and the Security Bureau make arrests based on evidence, but Detective sometimes have to trust their intuition—find the Truth first, then verify whether the Truth is true; it's also a method of reasoning."

"Ah, I see," Nightless Sky Fire Apricot breathed a sigh of relief, acknowledging Lin Yu's statement. She then smiled and said, "What brilliant reasoning! Talking to someone like you is something you can't afford to relax for a moment. I understand now why my mother likes you; you're definitely the type who knows how to please her."

"So, since we're back to this topic... why are you pursuing me? You hadn't even met me before today, had you?"

"I was just looking for an excuse to attend your coming-of-age ceremony and ensure the assassination of Arter Mercury went smoothly," Lin Yu honestly told the truth in front of the person in question. "Sorry for using you."

"Oh dear, I knew it," Nightless Sky Fire Apricot pouted. "It's alright, go ahead and use it. It's for killing Arter Mercury anyway."

"Don't you feel uncomfortable?"

Lin Yu asked.

"I'm a little disappointed, but it's okay. Anyway, there are plenty of people who don't like me and plenty of people who are pursuing me," said Nightless Sky Fire Apricot, waving her hand. "But... remember to give me a fun birthday present!"

"Even if you're just pretending to pursue me, at least make it look good!"