Iron Teeth, Brazen Tongue, and a Silent Threat

Zheng Qi's vicious threat fell into the interrogation room like a cold stone, sending out silent yet chilling ripples.

The veteran detective, Brother Wang, looked utterly grim. He sprang to his feet. "Zheng Qi! You're threatening a police officer! That's another charge against you!"

Zheng Qi merely sneered and leaned back, once again looking like a dead pig unafraid of scalding water, a scoundrel nothing could faze. He tilted his head and stared at them defiantly, as though those vicious words had never come out of his mouth.

Zhang Qian's face went white, then livid. Beneath the table, her hands clenched into fists, her nails nearly digging into her palms. It wasn't fear, but sheer fury and indignation. A prisoner actually dared threaten her so brazenly! It only deepened her suspicion-someone had to be pulling his strings, or where would he have found the nerve?!

But clearly, further questioning would yield nothing of value. This man was a scoundrel through and through, an outlaw with no regard for his life.

"Take him away!" The veteran detective waved a hand, and the detention officers led Zheng Qi away.

As Zheng Qi was hauled to his feet, he looked back in Zhang Qian's direction before leaving. He ran his tongue over his teeth and gave her a smile full of malice and warning.

The interrogation room door closed.

Zhang Qian took several deep breaths before she managed to suppress her surging anger. "Brother Wang, you saw that! That attitude of his! Does this look like a simple fight? Someone's definitely behind it!"

The veteran detective frowned deeply. Zheng Qi's final threat had indeed left him uneasy and wary. "That brat's a tough one, and the kind who doesn't care if he lives or dies. But his attitude alone doesn't prove anything. Maybe he's just naturally antisocial."

"I don't believe it! There's still one more!" A stubborn light shone in Zhang Qian's eyes. "The one who stabbed someone with a toothbrush, Qian Er! I want to question him!"

Soon, Qian Er was brought in.

Unlike the overbearing Zheng Qi, Qian Er appeared very cooperative, even a little timid. He sat carefully in the interrogation chair, his hands resting properly on his legs and his eyes darting away. He looked like an ordinary little man who had made a mistake by accident.

"Name?"

"Qian Er."

"Sex?"

"Male."

"Occupation?"

"B... before this, I ran a small business..." Qian Er spoke softly, with a hint of obsequiousness.

"What are you in for?"

"Uh... an investment... ran into a little trouble, and the clients had a bit of a misunderstanding..." Qian Er's answer was vague, the typical spiel of a fraudster.

The veteran detective was still the one leading the questioning.

"Do you know why we brought you in?"

"I do, I do." Qian Er nodded repeatedly, his attitude cooperative. "At the detention center... I acted on impulse and hurt someone. I'm guilty, and I accept my punishment."

"Why did you stab him with a toothbrush?"

Just the right amount of regret and a trace of "helplessness" appeared on Qian Er's face. "Reporting to the authorities, I... I lost my head for a moment. That guy called Skinny Monkey was always bullying people, and he had a nasty mouth. That day, he was cursing away again, pointing at the mulberry tree while cursing the locust. I... I don't know what came over me, my blood rushed to my head, and... and I couldn't hold back..."

His account sounded perfectly reasonable. Violence sparked by arguments escalating into conflict was common in detention centers.

"Just because he was cursing people?" the veteran detective pressed.

"Y... yes, I suppose..." Qian Er's eyes flickered, and he seemed a little hesitant.

"Did someone put you up to it?" Zhang Qian suddenly cut in. Her gaze was as sharp as a torch as she stared into Qian Er's eyes, trying to catch the slightest change. "Did someone tell you to do it? For example, to stand up for someone?"

Qian Er froze for a moment. Genuine confusion appeared on his face, along with a touch of aggrieved innocence. "Put me up to it? No! Officer, where did that come from? I just couldn't hold myself back. I had a bit of a personal grudge against him... Nobody put me up to it!"

His reaction was seamless, exactly that of an ordinary person who had acted on impulse and somewhat regretted it afterward.

"A personal grudge? How long have you even been in here? What kind of personal grudge could you have against him?" Zhang Qian pressed him at every turn.

"Uh... well... some people just rub you the wrong way at first sight, right, officer?" Qian Er tried to gloss over it.

"Your timing was awfully convenient," Zhang Qian persisted. "You just happened to strike when he was about to reach Lin Feng?"

A nearly imperceptible trace of panic flashed across Qian Er's face, but was quickly covered by an even deeper look of "indignation." "A coincidence, I guess? I didn't think that much about it at the time... Officer, the way... the way you're questioning me... why do I feel like... you're trying to lead me into a confession?"

He suddenly raised his head and looked at the veteran detective beside her, speaking with a little of an ordinary citizen's grievance and a trace of fear. "Officer, this lady officer keeps asking me if someone put me up to it, but... but that never happened! The way she's questioning me, I... I'm under a lot of pressure! If that goes in the record, won't I be falsely accused? Officer, you have to look into this fairly! I made a mistake, and I admit it, but you can't just pin some baseless charge on me!"

The veteran detective frowned and glanced at Zhang Qian, signaling for her to mind her approach.

Zhang Qian's teeth itched with anger. Qian Er was much harder to deal with than Zheng Qi! Zheng Qi resisted head-on, while Qian Er was a soft nail, too slippery to get a grip on, and he even turned the tables on them!

"You..." Zhang Qian wanted to ask more.

But Qian Er seemed to remember something and muttered quietly, though clearly enough to be heard, as if talking to himself-or perhaps to the officer taking notes. "...Questioning me like this... isn't proper procedure, is it? When I get out, I'll have to ask a lawyer... whether I can file a complaint..."

He hadn't spoken loudly, but the threat was unmistakable. A suspect who knew how to threaten the police with a complaint was clearly no easy customer.

The veteran detective's expression darkened too. He rapped on the table. "Qian Er, just answer the questions honestly! Stop dragging in that nonsense!"

"Yes, yes, yes, I'll be honest, absolutely honest." Qian Er immediately bobbed his head and bowed, as agreeable as could be, but his mouth was locked shut. They couldn't get anything else out of him beyond "acting on personal impulse."

The interrogation reached another deadlock.

Zhang Qian knew she wouldn't get any of the answers she wanted from these two. Zheng Qi had an outlaw's arrogance, while Qian Er was as slippery as an old hand. Their conduct could not have been more different, yet each had cut off every lead at "personal conduct," leaving Lin Feng entirely in the clear.

But the doubts in her heart hadn't disappeared. Instead, they only grew. The more perfectly unconnected it all seemed, the more certain she felt that something was lurking beneath the surface!

That Lin Feng, how had he done it? What gave him the ability to make two ruthless characters like that risk their lives for him? One brazen and open, the other sinister and vicious?

She left the detention center full of doubts and frustration. Looking back at the high walls and electrified fencing, she felt as though Lin Feng were hiding behind them, watching her with a mocking, icy gaze.

Meanwhile, Lin Feng, in his cell, had already learned roughly how the interrogations had gone through the invisible link.

He was very satisfied with both Zheng Qi's crude threats and Qian Er's watertight performance.

The deathsworn summoned by the system were far more reliable than he had imagined. Not only were they absolutely loyal, but they had also perfectly inherited the personalities and patterns of behavior appropriate to their "identities," without a single flaw.

The iron curtain had already fallen.

Evidence? None existed.

Leads? Completely severed.

No matter how strong Zhang Qian's intuition was, there was nothing she could do.

Lin Feng slowly closed his eyes, the corners of his mouth curling into a barely perceptible, icy smile.

The game had only just begun.

And this time, he was no longer a pawn at anyone's mercy.