Poisoning Succeeds

Watching the few crystals that had precipitated at the bottom of the dish, Yang Ning's eyes shifted slightly.

Yang Ning thought to himself, The reaction might be more pronounced if I use fresh blood.

As soon as the thought occurred to him, he picked up the small knife beside him without hesitation and lightly sliced his fingertip. A bead of crimson blood immediately welled up and fell onto another clean porcelain dish. He then dipped his chopsticks into the filtered fruit acid and carefully dripped a little into the bead of blood. Before long, clearer white crystals gradually precipitated from the blood, which had originally been pure red.

Although he was in this world of cultivation and lacked sophisticated chemical instruments, making the experiment crude and rudimentary, the result before him was already enough to serve as a demonstrable clue.

Yang Ning slowly picked up the porcelain dish containing his blood, took the bucket nearby, and poured in clean water to dilute it. Then he tipped his wrist and poured the contents into the waste bucket in the corner.

The dish contained his blood; he absolutely couldn't leave behind any trace.

Next, he picked up the other dish, where crystals had precipitated, and gently blew on it. Once all the liquid had evaporated, leaving only a little white crystal clinging to the bottom, he carefully put the dish into the Urea Bag he carried with him.

After finishing all this, Yang Ning glanced at Xu Yinyin, who was still sitting where she was, and casually stretched.

Xu Yinyin immediately caught the movement. She sprang to her feet like a nimble sparrow, her eyes gleaming with anticipation. "Boss, what is it? Did you get results?"

Yang Ning nodded. "I'll need two more days to get all the clues."

"That's wonderful!" Xu Yinyin nearly jumped for joy. She clenched her small fist, excitement bright on her face. "As long as we have clues, we can keep investigating! Sooner or later, we'll tear out those Demon Cult scum lurking within the sect by the roots and purge the sect!"

Yang Ning's eyelid twitched. He nodded with a chuckle. "Yes, yes."

"Boss, you've worked hard," Xu Yinyin said, hurrying over and looking up at him with her pretty, delicate face. Concern colored her voice. "This dungeon is cold and damp. Staying here too long can't be good for you. Why don't we head back and rest first?"

Yang Ning looked at Xu Yinyin, whose eyes were practically sparkling, and nodded. Then he picked up the Urea Bag, and the two of them left the morgue together.

In the empty, shadowy corridor, the only sounds were their footsteps and the occasional crackle of the oil lamps burning on the walls. As they passed the cell holding the deranged Undercover Agent, Yang Ning's gaze seemed to casually sweep over its door, which had a food hatch at the bottom. The dangerous scene from earlier played back rapidly in his mind—

At the time, Yang Ning had heard the footsteps coming down the stairs growing louder. In his desperation, he could only lower his voice and give an order through the door:

"Eat it now! Remember, from this moment on, don't eat anything else! If you understand, tap a finger!"

In the darkness, a scarred finger with its nail torn off trembled as it reached out and tapped once.

Receiving the response, Yang Ning immediately closed the metal panel. His figure darted away from the door like lightning, and he hurried back toward the morgue.

He knew full well that if he could make the Undercover Agent delay taking the poison for a few days, that would naturally make him the least suspect. However, the prisoner was delirious, trapped in this lightless cage, and unable to tell day from night. He couldn't even grasp a simple concept of time like "four meals."

But the brief opportunity to be alone just now had been precious; he couldn't afford to let it slip by. In that split second, Yang Ning had been forced to improvise: he ordered the man to take the poison immediately and not to eat from that moment on.

Based on Yang Ning's calculations, if the Undercover Agent took the poison now, his Death Time should fall late tomorrow night. The Law Enforcement Hall had previously estimated the drug's onset time from the Undercover Agents they had captured: twelve shichen, or one day and one night.

According to the Law Enforcement Hall's rules, at mao hour tomorrow (five in the morning), the disciple on patrol would squat down and open the hatch at the bottom to inspect the cell carefully. At that time, the Undercover Agent should still be alive.

At chen hour (seven in the morning), the Law Enforcement Hall disciple would, as usual, toss the morning buns through the little hatch. The Undercover Agent would still be alive then, but because of Yang Ning's order, he wouldn't eat.

After another full day, at you hour (five in the evening), the evening buns would be tossed in. The Undercover Agent should not have succumbed to the poison yet, but he still wouldn't touch the food.

It wouldn't be until the following morning, when a disciple came to squat down and inspect the cell again, that they would discover he had already died. They would also see four buns left untouched in the cell—a sign that the Undercover Agent had gone a whole day without eating.

All these signs would perfectly mislead everyone into believing that he had died sometime after the disciple's morning inspection the previous day, when he was confirmed alive, but before the morning food was delivered, when the first bun was found uneaten. Reasoning backward from there would pin the poisoning to the morning Yang Ning had fainted in the Law Enforcement Hall with a "cold," between mao hour and chen hour.