A Sudden Turn

Half a minute has passed.

Anna frowned, but came to no conclusion.

Li Mo shook his head. "Stop, there's no need to try anymore."

Anna opened her eyes, looking very confused, and said:

"How strange... My vision is completely blank; I can't see anything. Why is that?"

Li Mo took Anna's hand and said, "Don't doubt yourself, the scene must have been blocked."

"Shielding?" Anna blinked; this was a field she didn't understand.

Li Mo explained, "The principles of the world are all interconnected. Where there is a spear, there is naturally a shield. Since there are probing rituals like the Ember Rewind, there are also shielding rituals specifically designed to erase traces. The contest between spear and shield often depends on the rank of the mystic."

Anna asked, "How are the ranks of the mystical scholars determined?"

"Based on the depth of their perception and the rituals they can perform, mystical scholars are roughly divided into five ranks, from lowest to highest."

"A beginner who has just awakened their Mysticism Perception and can perform basic rituals is a first-tier [Mystery Peeper], and above that is a second-tier [Spirit Medium]."

"The next level up is the third-tier [Mystic Ritualist]. At this level, one is already capable of independently presiding over complex rituals."

"As for the fourth-tier [Adjudicator] and the fifth-tier [Sage] who stand at the pinnacle, they are generally unseen by ordinary people. The only one publicly known is our royal family's Great Sage, who is definitely a fifth-tier figure."

Anna listened attentively and nodded gently. "And what about me?"

Li Mo said, "Although your talent is quite good, you're just starting out. The Ember Rewind you used is only a first-tier detection ritual. The perpetrator is either a second-tier or higher mystical scholar or possesses a high-tier Mystical Artifact, which is why you saw a blank space."

At this point, everyone understands.

The person who murdered Morris was most likely also well-versed in the occult.

Sheriff Sanders looked extremely grim.

--Why does it have to be a shielding ritual of all times!

Three years ago, before Li Mo lost his Mysticism Perception, Sanders invited Li Mo to assist the police department in investigating two difficult cases.

One of the cases involved the theft of a wealthy businessman, and the scene was also blocked off.

Without Li Mo as a cheat code,

That case took three whole months to investigate.

The police searched the surrounding neighborhoods thoroughly, but ultimately, due to the lack of substantial evidence, it became a cold case that could never be closed.

In Sanders's understanding, the presence of occult-level counter-surveillance measures at a crime scene meant two things.

First, Li Mo and Anna wouldn't be of much help here.

Secondly, the fact that the murderer possesses such advanced occult counter-intelligence capabilities indicates that he came prepared from the very beginning.

This case will be extremely difficult to solve.

Sanders sighed and said:

"Li Mo, you and Miss Anna should go back and rest."

Li Mo said, "Wait a minute."

In the past, he was indeed helpless when the occult failed.

But things are different now.

Everything that passes by leaves a trace.

Mysticism can solve mysteries, but it cannot erase the traces it leaves in the real world.

Li Mo silently recited the word "focus" in his mind.

When I opened my eyes,

The world fell silent for him.

His gaze slowly swept across the scene.

Every detail was magnified, and magnified again.

Seeing Li Mo enter the cell and remain motionless, Sanders followed him with some confusion. "You mean... you want to see the body again?"

"Mmm."

Li Mo started to give perfunctory answers.

Anna was very familiar with the young master's reaction.

Don't ask why I feel familiar with it; it's just that I feel familiar...

Wayne, confused, leaned closer and said:

"Hey, how about..."

Anna reacted quickly, grabbing Wayne and saying:

"Don't disturb him, let him see for himself first."

Seeing Anna's serious expression, Sanders obediently retreated outside the iron gate.

The point about listening to advice and eating well.

Inside the prison cell.

Li Mo was left alone.

He observed carefully.

The floor of cell number four was made of bluestone slabs.

Because this is a semi-underground structure, a layer of dust usually settles on the surface of the stone slabs.

When the prison guards came in to check the body, the footprints were mainly concentrated in a straight line from the cell door to the middle of the wooden bed.

It was the imprint of a police boot with thick soles, and the soles still had some wet mud on them, making it very easy to identify.

Li Mo squatted down.

Observe the wooden plank bed.

Dust had accumulated around the two back legs of the bed against the wall, indicating that the bed had not been moved.

However... two distinctive shoe prints can be seen.

Li Mo seemed to be deep in thought.

Get up,

Observe the iron gate.

The iron railings had been unattended for years, and their surface was covered with kerosene lamp soot.

It is located in the height range of approximately 1.55 to 1.65 meters above the ground.

The inside of the third and fourth iron railings clearly showed signs of being gripped and rubbed off by someone's hand.

Now look at the stone slab floor.

There are marks from the knee scraping.

In Li Mo's mind, the scene of the crime gradually unfolded:

More than half an hour ago.

Morris was sitting on the edge of the wooden bed, lost in thought.

Just then, someone walked over from outside the corridor and stopped in front of cell number four.

Morris looked up when he heard the noise.

--You must have met someone you know.

He got up from the edge of the bed, and because of the haste, he stumbled and left a distinctive shoe print on the floor.

Then Morris walked to the iron gate, knelt down, and grabbed the railing with both hands, possibly pleading for help.

This explains why the two patrol officers on duty did not hear the cries for help.

Because Morris never suspected that the person outside the door would kill him.

He might have seen the other person as a savior trying to get him out of trouble!

Li Mo continued to deduce the clues.

What happened after Morris grabbed the iron railing and leaned in?

There is a padlock on the iron gate.

There were no signs of prying around the brass padlock.

This indicates that the murderer possessed the key to cell number four.

The moment the cell door opened, Morris sensed something was wrong and tried to back away.

But the killer was much faster than him...

Then what?

How was he killed?

They went forward to examine Morris's body.

Morris had many wounds, making it difficult to determine the cause of death.

However, upon closer inspection, some details can still be discovered.

If you part the right corner of Morris's mouth, you can see obvious bruising caused by teeth pressing together.

On the back of Morris's head, there was a small, triangular, purplish-black bloodstain, no bigger than a pinhead, clearly a fresh wound...

Li Mo released his grip, and the scene of the crime gradually became complete:

After the murderer opened the cell door with the key,

They covered Morris's mouth and nose from the front.

Morris's lips were bruised and bleeding from his own teeth, and he couldn't make a sound.

Immediately afterwards,

The killer, wielding a sharp weapon, stabbed Morris from behind his left ear, killing him instantly.

The killer then picked up Morris's body, placed it back on the wooden bed, calmly arranged the shielding ritual, and left silently.

Very professional.

Li Mo looked at Morris's hands.

His five fingers were slightly bent, clearly indicating that he had grabbed upwards at the murderer's collar or chest before he died!

The edges of my nails were torn off.

This shows that quite a bit of force was used in that strike.

--Well done, Morris! That deathrattle was crucial!

Upon closer inspection, a dark gray thread stub was found inside the nail crease.

Morris was also wearing a dark gray vest.

If it were anyone else, seeing this loose thread, they would probably just assume it came from Morris's own vest.

But Li Mo grew up in a spinning mill.

This afternoon I just finished a tension comparison test of thirty count yarns in the workshop.

He could immediately tell the huge difference in craftsmanship between the two.

Morris's vest was made of the most common 20-count single-ply coarse yarn available on the market.

The kingdom's northern shipping routes are currently blocked.

Coal and woolen yarn spindles are all subject to strict quota control.

The uniforms of the Mondel Police Department officers and ordinary dock soldiers were made of coarse twill cotton linen with a count of 24.

The half-millimeter-long dark gray thread in Morris's fingernail is made of high-twist double-ply worsted yarn with a count of 60 or higher.

In the center of the dark gray fine yarn, there was even a dark silver metal wire wrapped around it.

In plain language:

The craftsmanship is excellent; it's a rare item, almost 99% of the time.

There was a bit of grayish-white powder on the surface of the thread.

The sheriff might think it's just lime powder on the stone wall.

But that's not the case.

The white powder remained dry even in the humid air, without a trace of moisture clinging to it.

Clearly, this should be an anti-salt spray sealing wax made from refined whale wax and zinc oxide.

The high salinity of the air in harbor cities means that metal fabrics exposed to the sea breeze will oxidize and turn black within half a month.

Only high-ranking military officers stationed year-round on the harbor defense line would use this expensive whale wax coating, regularly applied to the silver-threaded surface of their uniform collar insignia.

Sixty-count double-ply worsted dark gray base yarn, inlaid with dark silver metallic threads, and coated with anti-salt spray whale wax...

Suddenly, a person popped into Li Mo's mind.

He lost focus.

Remaining silent.

Sheriff Sanders asked expectantly:

"How's it going? Have you found any clues?"

Li Mo shook his head. "No."

He wasn't telling the truth.

"Let's go, Anna."

As I walked out of the police station,

A salty, fishy sea breeze blew in.

It's windy tonight.

For no reason,

There's a feeling that a storm is brewing.

As Sheriff Sanders saw them off, he was still sighing over the murder case and instructed the patrol officers to completely seal off cell number four.

Li Mo boarded the carriage and looked at the red and white double moons in the night sky.

A multitude of thoughts raced through his mind.

The more he thought about it, the deeper it became.

The more I think about it, the more...

This information.

Gradually,

The combination created a very ominous scene.

"What's wrong?" Anna sensed something was amiss and asked softly.

"Sheriff Sanders can't handle this anymore," said Li Mo.

Anna: "?"

Li Mo said to the coachman in a deep voice, "To the Governor's private residence, quickly!"

This afternoon at the workshop, when Caroline allocated special wartime funds, the place of issuance at the bottom of the official document was the private residence of the Governor of Mondel Town.

The sound of horses' hooves shattered the night as they galloped onward.

Twenty minutes later,

The Governor's Private Residence.

With the double-moon seal of the Special Envoy's Office, Li Mo was able to enter the second floor of the main house without any hindrance.

Special Caroline was present, as was Xiao Xi.

Two high-ranking Black-Robed Court Guards stood on either side of the desk.

Without offering a single word of pleasantries, Li Mo launched into a thunderous attack:

"Your Excellency, are you sure the Mystical Artifact in the military-controlled docks is still safe?"

Estelle paused, staring intently at Li Mo.

The Black-Robed Court Guards on both sides looked over as she moved.

Caroline immediately asked seriously, "How did you know?"

Facing immense pressure, Li Mo said softly:

"Just a guess."

"That's not important. Listen to me first. Morris died at the police station, and a second- or higher level occult shielding ritual was set up at the scene."

"Before he died, he left a piece of 60-count high-twist double-strand fine dark gray yarn under his fingernail, with embedded dark silver metallic wires and coated with a salt spray-resistant wax used by high-ranking officers in the harbor."

"And in Mondel Town, I've only ever seen one person wear this kind of standard overcoat: Captain Carter, the highest-ranking commander of the Third Line of Defense."

"Your Excellency, I suspect there are spies within the military."

"If the person currently guarding the Mystical Artifact is the traitor, then everything makes sense."

That day.

Helen accidentally wandered onto the dock.

Morris's first instinct was to let her leave.

But... there are people who won't let that happen.

Morris was unwilling to kill Helen, so he kidnapped her and put her in the cellar, but this led to a big mistake and gave Li Mo and others the opportunity to solve the case.

As for Matthew's worker, his only intention was to steal Morris's wallet.

Unexpectedly, the wallet contained a letter from Mr. Harris to Carter...

"I've been thinking about it... If Captain Carter really is a spy for the Duchy, he'll definitely do one thing..."

"Trigger the Mystical Artifact at our dock before the autumnal equinox."

"Your Excellency, regarding the triggering ritual for this Mystical Artifact, does Captain Carter know or not?!"