"Unfounded? Fine. Looks like I'll have to produce some hard evidence."
As he spoke, Xu Yi took out another Shadow-Sound Pearl and activated it. A shimmering light immediately rippled across its surface, but no image appeared. Instead, a voice came through: "Corpse refining north of the city."
Only four words, and then it cut off. But the voice was unmistakably Third Young Master Zhao's.
Deputy Director Zhao's face darkened as if someone had smeared it with soot. His eyes brimmed with disbelief.
"I imagine those four words are enough. I never thought you'd be behind such a major case. I've only let you hear four words, but I'm sure you know I have more than that. Everything you want is right here." Xu Yi pointed to the Sumeru Ring around his neck.
Those four words were clipped from the Shadow-Sound Pearl recording of Deputy Director Zhao and Third Young Master Zhao talking in the cell.
When he put Third Young Master Zhao in the cell, Xu Yi had looked around for a while. In the end, he hid the Hidden Spirit Pearl behind the cell's elevated wall lamp.
The Hidden Spirit Pearl was already hard to spot. Even at close range, one had to focus for a long time to make out the thin wisp of mist. Hidden behind the lamp and surrounded by its glow, it was even harder to see. What was more, the lamp hung ten feet above the floor. Even if someone in the cell deliberately stared at it, they couldn't make out the Hidden Spirit Pearl's thin wisp of mist.
And when probed with one's senses, it was as intangible as air.
Only after hiding the Hidden Spirit Pearl did Xu Yi kick Third Young Master Zhao awake. Once he'd tricked him into contacting Deputy