One-Way Glass

At dusk, Yun Zishan guided a cloud down to the ground. The moment she landed, she saw Qiao Bin standing beside Zhaoyu Tower.

Yun Zishan frowned slightly. "Why are you here? Didn't I tell you to keep an eye on that shop owner?"

Qiao Bin hurriedly cupped his hands and bowed respectfully. "Hall Master, Ning... Boss Yang has more than a dozen disciples helping him. He specifically sent this disciple out to receive you."

Yun Zishan did not respond, merely heading straight for Zhaoyu Tower. Qiao Bin quickly followed at her heels.

"How has he remodeled the Interrogation Room?" Yun Zishan asked as she walked, her voice cool.

Qiao Bin could not help swallowing. He stammered, "Uh... well... that..."

Yun Zishan stopped in an instant and turned to look at him. "What is it? Don't tell me he's a fraud who has already run away?"

"Absolutely not!" Qiao Bin hurriedly lowered his head. "It's just... this disciple truly cannot make heads or tails of the things Boss Yang has installed. I ask that Hall Master inspect them personally."

Yun Zishan's brows drew together even more tightly as she turned and entered the tower. Qiao Bin followed close behind, secretly breaking out in a cold sweat.

Descending the stone steps and passing through a deep, gloomy corridor, they heard a clanging of hammering from inside before they had even reached the Interrogation Room.

Yun Zishan reached out and pushed open the heavy iron door. The sight before her made her pause slightly—the once spacious Interrogation Room had been split in two by a wooden partition, becoming two separate rooms.

Even more astonishingly, a large, crystal-clear object had been embedded in the center of the dividing wall. Through it, she could clearly see Yang Ning and the disciples of the hall bustling about in the room opposite.

Yun Zishan stepped closer and lightly touched its surface with a slender finger. A chill spread from her fingertip.

She turned to Qiao Bin. "Is this glass? How is it so transparent?"

Qiao Bin tried his best to recall the name Yang Ning had just told him.

"It was called... one-way..."

He hurried over to the doorway in the partition and called inside, "Mr. Yang, please come out for a moment."

Yang Ning, who was directing the renovations inside, glanced at Qiao Bin calling for him, then looked over the disciples working before him.

The cultivators each displayed their own skills: some stood upon flying swords, hovering in midair as they used tape to affix things to the ceiling; others clung to the wall overhead with one palm while gripping hammers in the other, pounding away.

Yang Ning picked up the large plastic megaphone beside him and gave his instructions.

"Once you've put up this Soundproof Cotton (Acoustic Foam), stick these white panels over it. The first five to finish their tasks will each receive two bottles of cola!"

"Understood, Boss Yang!" the disciples answered in unison, rare smiles blooming across their faces.

On the other side of the glass, Yun Zishan silently watched it all. These disciples were always meek and deferential whenever they saw her, their expressions respectful and proper. Yet now, every one of them was beaming.

As the Hall Master of the Law Enforcement Hall, it was the first time she had seen the disciples under her command smile so happily, each one brimming with energy. For some reason, the contrast stirred an inexplicable hint of comfort in her heart.

At that moment, Yang Ning pushed open the door and came out from the room opposite. The instant he saw Yun Zishan, he instinctively shrank his neck and hurriedly cupped his hands. "Greetings, Hall Master Yun."

"You are not a disciple of the Sword Sect, so there is no need for such formality," Yun Zishan said blandly, her gaze still fixed on that strange transparent object. "Is this glass?"

Yang Ning answered truthfully, "This thing is glass. It is indeed similar to glazed glass, but its material is purer. I call it 'One-Way Glass.'"

"One-Way Glass?"

Yang Ning nodded. "That's right. One-Way Glass. As the name implies, you can only see the other side from this side. The room inside cannot see this side."

Yun Zishan frowned slightly. In her three hundred years of life, she had never heard of anything called One-Way Glass. She immediately walked to the wooden door and pushed it open.

"Exactly," Yang Ning explained. "As the name implies, you can see the other side clearly only from this side. From the other side, all you see is a dark mirror."

Yun Zishan had cultivated for three hundred years, yet she had never heard of such a strange object. She quickly pushed open the wooden door and entered the room opposite. When she turned back to look, she indeed saw only a dark "mirror"; the transparent view from before had vanished completely.

The instant she stepped into the room, the disciples who had been chatting and laughing fell utterly silent. They all bowed in unison. "Greetings, Hall Master!"

Still astonished by the glass, Yun Zishan merely waved a hand.

All the disciples straightened at once and immediately resumed working, but the atmosphere was no longer as relaxed as before. Only the sounds of tools striking remained. Her brows furrowed slightly as she silently withdrew from the room.

"This One-Way Glass is indeed strange, but this object alone is likely not enough to make that undercover agent talk." Yun Zishan looked directly at Yang Ning and raised her doubt.

Yang Ning glanced at several unopened cardboard boxes in the corner, a confident smile lifting the corners of his mouth. "Please rest assured, Hall Master Yun. Once everything is ready, you may watch my interrogation process from here."

Yun Zishan said nothing more. At present, she had no choice but to let this strange and peculiar shop owner before her give it a try.

Then Yun Zishan turned her head and saw through the One-Way Glass that the disciples inside had begun chatting and laughing again. Faced with the contrast between before and after, she unexpectedly felt a faint sense of discomfort.