The Smile in Her Eyes

Yun Jingheng received the test report the following evening.

The Soul Guidance Analysis Department was more efficient than he had expected; the report was sent directly to the Sea God Pavilion, with a blue "routine test" stamp on the envelope.

This was his own request; he didn't want it expedited or included in the official file—it was just a regular extracurricular research submission.

He opened the envelope, pulled out the thin test form, and scanned it from beginning to end.

All indicators are within the normal range.

Nutritional analysis, Soul Power activity reaction, toxicity screening, and hallucinogenic component detection all showed negative results.

The conclusion section states the standard line. "No known toxins or prohibited substances were detected in the submitted sample, and it meets food safety standards."

Yun Jingheng placed the test report on his desk and stared at the words on it for a long time.

No problem.

Xie Xie Xie it and was fine. He took a bite as soon as he opened the package and is still alive and kicking. He can even come over every evening to enjoy a cold drink and gossip about the Sea God Fate.

But this is precisely what makes him most uneasy, because if the cookies really are fine, then Xu Lizhi's behavior can only be explained in two ways: either he has really encountered some unspeakable trouble and needs to make his presence felt to maintain the illusion that "everything is normal".

Either he knew he would be investigated, so he didn't use a known toxin at all.

He picked up the test report again and turned to the component analysis chart on the second page.

The third column of the chart records a substance labeled "unidentified active enzyme" in extremely low concentrations, far below the threshold required for separate declaration under food safety standards.

The testing department's note stated. "This enzyme may originate from a byproduct of the baking process, which is a normal food processing residue and does not possess any known biological activity."

The absence of known biological activity does not equate to the absence of biological activity.

Could it be that they just don't know each other?

He put the test report into the drawer, along with the half-finished rune array drawing, then leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and began to go through the people Xu Lizhi had come into contact with one by one.

Xie Xie, energy biscuits, is known to have eaten at least one pack.

The cafeteria auntie, Xu Lizhi, handled dishes that likely affected a large portion of the Inner Court when she helped out in the cafeteria.

Xing Lan received a separate nutritional meal, the quantity of which is unknown, but she said that "the training effect has indeed improved."

But what can improve training effectiveness? What did he add to it?

Wouldn't this standalone nutritional meal plan, which supposedly has a boosting effect, pose even greater problems?

There is currently no record of direct contact between Xiao Yan, Yuan En, and Gu Yue, but they live and eat with Xie Xie.

Wulin shared a table at the barbecue restaurant at least twice, but those were during holidays, before Xu Lizhi's disappearance.

As for himself, of the half-pack of biscuits Xie Xie left behind, he only broke off a small piece to send for testing, and the rest was still in the drawer.

The scope is too broad.

If those unidentified active enzymes are indeed problematic, the number of people involved is far more than just one or two.

Of all these contacts, Xing Lan was the only one who was treated differently.

Xu Lizhi casually slipped a cookie to Xie Xie in the cafeteria. His improvements to the cafeteria's dishes were made for the entire college, but he made a special exception for Xing Lan, delivering the cookie only when no one was around, avoiding everyone's gaze.

Yun Jingheng's unease grew stronger.

The next morning, he went to the training ground.

Ye Xinglan had just finished her morning physical training and was wiping her sweat on the sidelines when she saw him standing at the entrance. She paused for a moment, then put away her towel and put away her Martial Soul as she walked over.

The two walked side by side for a while along the maple-lined path outside the training field.

"You mentioned last time that Xu Lizhi always delivered the nutritional meals after your training ended and before the others arrived. Did he say why?"

Ye Xinglan thought for a moment, "No, he just said he was going that way."

"On the way?"

Ye Xinglan sensed something was off in his tone and stopped to look at him.

The shadows of maple leaves fell on her face, making her expression appear both light and shadow, but her eyes remained clear.

Did you check the things he gave you before you ate them?

Ye Xinglan frowned slightly, remained silent for a few moments, and then replied, "No. But after eating, my physical condition was perfectly normal, my Soul Power flowed normally, and I didn't feel any blockage in my meridians. I thought it was just a regular nutritional meal."

"What's wrong? Is there a problem? Did something really happen to him?" she asked.

Yun Jingheng paused for a moment, then briefly explained the matter of the test report.

No conclusion was drawn, nor was it stated that Xu Lizhi necessarily had a problem; the known facts were simply laid out before her.

Ye Xinglan didn't speak immediately after hearing this. The two of them stood on the maple forest path, and a gust of wind blew from the lake, blowing her stray hairs onto her face.

She raised her hand to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear, and then spoke.

"Jing Heng, have you been working too hard lately?"

"Hmm?" Yun Jingheng was slightly taken aback.

Ye Xinglan looked at him, her eyes showing no blame or impatience, but rather a helpless smile.

She draped the towel over her shoulder and touched his cheek with her left hand.

"Xu Lizhi was my classmate before. I know him better than you do. He's always been honest and kind, always smiling at everyone. He would even feel embarrassed if the cafeteria lady gave him an extra spoonful of meat, let alone harming anyone."

Her tone was calm, sounding more like a reassurance, "I know you've been under a lot of pressure lately. The Sea God Pavilion meetings keep coming one after another, you have to draw array plates and manage the preparations for the Sea God Fate, and then you heard about this."

When people are too tired, they tend to overthink everything.

She turned her head to look at Yun Jingheng, the shadow of the maple leaves flickering on her face, making her expression serious.

"Xu Lizhi brought me nutritious meals because he knew I had a lot of training and needed to replenish my energy."

"He chose to come when no one was around because he's always been afraid of being gossiped about since he was a child—you know that when Food-type Martial Soul delivers something to a combat-type martial soul, people will always gossip if they see it."

"He's not hiding anything; he just habitually avoids trouble."

Although her expression was serious, she was actually overjoyed.

Ye Xinglan thought to herself: He's jealous.

Yun Jingheng opened his mouth, wanting to say, "Then why did he break his promise to all three parties at the same time?", but before he could speak, Ye Xinglan had already raised a finger and tapped his shoulder, her tone filled with her unique certainty.

"The communicator is broken, that's all. Didn't you already know that? The tasting report wasn't submitted because he was halfway through writing it and then got dissatisfied with it and is still revising it. He didn't help with the braised pork in the cafeteria—I don't know about that. Maybe he's been busy with other things lately, or maybe he just wanted to slack off."

"After all, everyone has times when they don't want to work."

She looked at him, the smile still lingering in her eyes.

"You know what? You're exactly like my cousin used to be. Every time he sees me talking to another guy for a couple of minutes, he starts digging into his records, checking if he has any bad credit history. After he's done that, he'll try to subtly tell me that 'that guy might not be very reliable.'"

"You're a little better than him—at least you came directly to ask me, instead of secretly investigating behind my back."

She tidied his wind-blown hair.

"If you're really worried about the cookies, I can take them to the Soul Guidance Analysis Department for another test, through the official process, the kind that's on file."

"Xu Lizhi, let alone poisoning, he'd hesitate for ages even if you asked him to put an extra spoonful of salt in a cookie, afraid people would find it too salty."

"And..."

Ye Xinglan stopped. "Actually, he's not as... never mind, let's not talk about it anymore."

She tilted her head, as if looking at something interesting. "Do you want to take another nap? You look like you stayed up late again last night, didn't you? The dark circles under your eyes are almost bigger than your eyes."

"No, I slept quite well last night." Yun Jingheng rubbed his eyes.

"Really? I don't believe it."

Ye Xinglan smiled.

She turned around, waved to him, took a few steps toward the training field, then turned back and added, "Really, there's no need to investigate anymore. It's really nothing. You've been working so hard lately, give yourself some time to rest."