Do You Long for Freedom? / Reality and Illusion?

Swish--

A whooshing sound echoed in her ears, and when her vision cleared again, she was already at a barbecue stall by the roadside.

Newspapers and other trash blew in the cold wind. The town streets were brightly lit, and the surrounding atmosphere remained lively. However, due to the large number of people and the extremely fast speed, no one noticed anything amiss. At most, some people might have thought they were seeing things.

Coming to her senses, Ling Mengxue was taken aback when she saw the smiling face in front of her. After a moment of surprise, she was speechless. "Xia Keke, do you know what you've done?"

"Brother Duskfall, you don't look too well. Perfect timing! I'll treat you to some otherworldly barbecue, let's cheer each other up!" Xia Keke smiled innocently, looking romantic and adorable, seemingly unaware of what was happening, and waved to call the owner over to take their order.

Ling Mengxue's cheeks twitched slightly, and finally, all her helplessness turned into a sigh.

How can I put it?

Not only was her investigation plan at the tavern disrupted, but it seems even the expenses for treating people to drinks were paid for with her own money.

Is this what they call "turning the tables"?

"Could you go to the tavern later and help me investigate someone?" Ling Mengxue smiled gently, not intending to get angry over such a small matter.

Of course, this is all contingent on what kind of answer she will receive.

Xia Keke nodded, but her mind seemed elsewhere. Her eyes were bright as she stared intently at the sizzling barbecue grill, which was emitting fragrant white smoke, and her mouth was watering.

It smells so good!

At the barbecue stall, the proprietress smiled and fanned the fire vigorously with a fan, making the charcoal roar. She kept turning a skewer of lamb on the grill, and soon the fragrant skewers were ready and placed in front of the two of them.

Seemingly confident in her culinary skills, the proprietress fanned herself and chuckled, "Judging from your appearance, this must be your first time here, right? I'm sure after trying our 'Swaying Barbecue,' you won't be able to eat anything at any other BBQ restaurant!"

"Really?" Xia Keke blinked in surprise. "But it really smells amazing! Even skewers don't smell this good. It must be delicious!"

"That's right! You definitely won't find another place as delicious and affordable as our 'Swaying Barbecue' on the whole street!" The proprietress beamed with delight upon hearing this, her chin lifting in a smile.

Ling Mengxue remained silent, not joining in the banter, and quietly picked up a skewer to eat, unable to resist commenting, "It's alright, but not that amazing."

The proprietress. "..."

Xia Keke: "..."

"Why are you looking at me?" Ling Mengxue asked, puzzled by the complicated expressions on their faces.

Could it be my fault again?

Her demeanor is rather aloof, completely incompatible with a comedic guy. Did the atmosphere unintentionally fall apart again?

[img=304,296]http://img=700,939]http://Chapter 154 Do You Yearn for Freedom?

Faced with this atmosphere that made it hard to eat, Ling Mengxue perked up and smiled, "Coco, let's leave it at that for now. I still need to find that delivery guy. The bar is counting on you."

After saying that, she popped the last piece of char siu from the skewer into her mouth, grabbed a bottle of juice, and quickly disappeared under the orange glow of the nightlight.

"Little sister, is that your brother? I didn't expect him to be so shy. It's dangerous for a boy to walk home alone at night, especially one as handsome as him. Do you want to follow him?" The proprietress stared at Ling Mengxue's back, somewhat lost in thought. "I'll waive the bill for you. You can bring your brother next time."

"Huh? Big sister, are you interested in my brother?" Xia Keke licked her fingers and asked with a grin.

Upon hearing this, the proprietress blushed deeply and scratched her head sheepishly, saying, "Just think of it as me treating you to barbecue every day, how about that?"

"No way! Brother Duskfall is mine, no one can take him away!"

"??"

At the same time.

A few hundred meters from the police station, Ling Mengxue strolled around the perimeter of the detention center like a idler and soon arrived at her destination.

Upon noticing the person approaching, the security guard at the entrance immediately became suspicious; this is basic professional conduct.

Ling Mengxue knew she was being watched, but she wasn't worried. She simply touched her shirt pocket and secretly activated the prop she had prepared beforehand.

[Universal Interference Device]

[Quality: Guaranteed]

[Description: A multi-functional signal jamming device, also known as a "Signal Killer," with built-in network and power cut-off functions. It can affect the operation and use of electronic devices within a certain range.]

This little item only costs around 200 points in the Destiny Sign shop, which is quite cheap and very useful.

In just one second, all the surveillance equipment within a one-kilometer radius malfunctioned.

Even if someone discovers it, there's no way to fix it; replacing the equipment won't solve the problem either. The only solution is for her to turn off the jammer herself.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Ling Mengxue approached the police station, intending to first learn about the patrol and guard situation.

Using Spatial Perception, the approximate police force of the entire detention center was determined in just a few seconds. Apart from the auxiliary police officers around the security guards, there were currently about six or seven patrol officers remaining here.

"Little brother, are you still wandering around? If you want to visit, please come back on the weekend. Besides, we are not open to the public in the evenings either," the security guard at the door kindly reminded Ling Mengxue, noticing her absent-minded appearance.

Such a cute boy, coming to this place so late at night, is it probably for this reason?

Ling Mengxue originally wanted to say that she was there to break someone out of prison, but she stopped herself in time. She forced herself to say in what she thought was a very weak tone, "Officer, actually I got lost. I was too embarrassed to ask for directions, so after thinking it over, I..." As she spoke, she looked melancholy and gave a hint in her eyes.

Seeing this, the security guard immediately understood and quickly reassured him, "Don't worry, little brother, I understand your situation. Do you remember your family's phone number?"

"... younger brother?"

"... Hey, where did they go??"

While the statement was being taken, the security guard looked up and was immediately dumbfounded, her hand frozen in mid-air.

What's going on?

The person disappeared?

Has she remembered the way home?

Happy Town.

In a solitary cell in the detention center, a woman in prison clothes lay on the bed, a cigarette lit in her hand.

The tobacco burned exceptionally brightly in the darkness. After taking a puff, the ash, which hadn't been flicked away, fell in a whole piece. At my feet lay a carpet of cigarette butts, and smoke rings swirled between my fingertips.

Bai Tangyin stared blankly at the bright moonlight outside the iron bars, feeling inexplicably melancholy for some reason.

Don't ask where the cigarettes came from; I got an extra pack for dinner tonight—a kind person gave me one.

Perhaps it's because they see she's about to die? There will always be a few intellectual and rational people who still believe in her.

He was delivering takeout in the dark when he was suddenly arrested and falsely accused of Murder Demon?

What could be more unlucky than her situation?

There are a lot, right?

However, her misfortune has definitely surpassed that of 99% of people; she was sentenced to death, and it was a public "judgment," so she will surely be engraved on the pillar of historical shame!

Moonlight shone on the filthy walls, and the iron gate gleamed with a chilling light. Just a wall away, the outside was bright and cheerful, while inside the prison, decay and mold filled the air—a stark irony.

Bai Tangyin used to highly praise the efficiency of the police response in Happy Town, but it seems like she's lost her mind lately?

To draw conclusions and wrongly accuse innocent people without having complete information?

While it's true she was present at the scene of the murder, she was also a victim, wasn't she?

Last night, she just went to deliver some takeout, and on her way back and forth, she happened to witness the masked Murder Demon committing the crime.

At that moment, the Murder Demon had just come out of a rented apartment on the side of the road after committing his crime, carrying a blood-dripping fruit knife. He wanted to kill her to silence her. Who wouldn't turn weak in the knees upon seeing that?

Bai Tangyin's condition was similar to that of a normal person at the time. Her face was pale. She parked her electric scooter on the side of the road, got off, picked up a brick, and rushed over, beating the serial killer senseless. In the end, she even got the victim's blood on him.

After that, she chased the Murder Demon away, leaving him with no time to even pick up his knife before dropping it on the ground.

And so, she narrowly escaped death. She carefully picked up the knife, intending to report it to the police station.

Before she could make any further move, four or five police cars had already surrounded her...

Without giving her a chance to explain, the female police officer in charge immediately ordered her arrest.

Furthermore, according to subsequent investigations, after the relevant information was entered, her fingerprints did indeed match the fingerprints on the murder weapon perfectly.

There was nothing she could do; the Murder Demon was wearing gloves, and the only thing on them was her fingerprints.

However, after DNA testing, the police were shocked to discover that even the bloodstains on her delivery uniform matched those of the injured and deceased!

Does the result even need to be considered?

Unsurprisingly, she was imprisoned as a "Murder Demon".

But ultimately, wasn't she just unlucky enough to be arrested and made a scapegoat?

Although it was quite dark at the time, and she was mostly walking through blind spots of surveillance cameras, she had an alibi for the order number and the food preparation and delivery time. Did all of that get eaten?

Even her appeal was rejected, and the review was useless. The people handling the case didn't even bother to pretend; they were targeting her!

Even though there were still many reasonable people who wanted to stand up for her, they were secretly pressured.

This corruption is quite serious, isn't it?

This is a classic case of corruption that has been definitively proven.

"Sister, do you yearn for freedom?"

Bai Tangyin was smoking when she suddenly heard a voice from the void, which startled her so much that she stubbed out her cigarette!

[img=700,1038]http://Chapter 155 Reality and Illusion?

"Who? Who's speaking?"

Startled, Bai Tangyin immediately jumped out of bed.

At that moment, she no longer cared about the last cigarette she had left, and casually threw it on the ground.

She didn't know if she was going crazy or having delusions, but she could clearly feel a voice echoing in the cell.

The room was tiny, and all the items were clearly visible. There were no loudspeakers or anything like that inside. Could the sound be coming from outside the window?

Most suspect cells are equipped with a public address system, but hers was unusually "clean".

Also, this voice sounds familiar, like I've heard it somewhere before?

Click--

A crisp sound rang out, and Bai Tangyin suddenly felt a sense of relief. But when she looked down, she was completely stunned.

The shackles and fetters that were originally binding his limbs inexplicably all shattered!

"Can you hear me? If there are no problems, then prepare to break out."

The sudden sound rang out again, and this time Bai Tangyin couldn't hold her tongue any longer; her face stiffened.

Outrageous!

Is it a human or a ghost?

Meanwhile, in a deserted park, Ling Mengxue sat on a bench, typing on her keyboard, looking at the bewildered woman on the computer screen, feeling equally speechless.

The computer in her hand, capable of recording videos of other dimensions in real time, was something she had just bought from the Fate Mall. According to Xi He, it was a newly launched product, which was why she was recommended to buy it.

How should I put it?

It's useful, and you can even have conversations remotely, but some people were scared.

After thinking for a moment, Ling Mengxue adjusted the microphone to her ear, cleared her throat, and said, "Anyway, just keep an eye out for me. I'll put a 'notification letter' and two bottles of one-time-use 'Invisibility Potion' and 'Teleportation Potion' in your... uh... room. The choice is yours. If you want to die, then never mind."

After saying a few words, she slammed the laptop shut with a 'click'.

At the same time, in the prison cell.

Before Bai Tangyin could even retort after hearing what she said, a flash of silver light appeared before her eyes. Then, two reagent bottles, neatly laid out on the ground on a special wooden shelf, suddenly appeared in front of her, along with a short letter.

In an instant, the values she had cultivated through nine years of compulsory education collapsed!