As Chen Ling cut open his own face with his own hands, Winter Harbor became so quiet that only the sound of the wind remained.
For some reason, as everyone looked at Chen Ling's sliced-open face and that faint smile, they felt a hair-raising sensation...
"...That's enough." The Six-Stripe Enforcer finally spoke. "Take him to the room to treat his injuries first, and at the same time prepare him to accept questioning."
Two Law Enforcers breathed a sigh of relief. They supported Chen Ling and walked straight towards a small cabin not far away.
This small cabin was clearly temporarily commandeered, probably some household's private residence. It was cramped and dim.
Chen Ling was supported into it and sat down by the bed. After the two Law Enforcers brought him gauze and medicine, they let him wait there... Chen Ling heard them push the door and go out, but they didn't leave. Instead, they stood guard outside the door.
Chen Ling merely applied some medicine to his face simply and bandaged it twice, and didn't bother with it anymore.
After all, for him who possessed 【Formless】, a face was just a consumable. As long as he tore off this layer of facial skin, it would still be a flawless face.
Over the next half hour, four or five batches of people arrived one after another.
They asked about the process and details of the matter over and over again, especially the deaths of Yan Xicai and Lu Xuanming.
Chen Ling directly pushed Yan Xicai's death onto Jian Changsheng; as for Lu Xuanming's death, he pushed it onto Number 8.
Strictly speaking, Chen Ling actually wasn't lying. He merely omitted some details and displaced the actions of some characters.
Even if these people entered the Ancient Vault again and carefully searched the entire crime scene, they would hardly be able to find any flaws, unless they entered the abyss at the bottom of the cliff and found the corpses of the District One Enforcers that he had thrown down.
But even if they found them, their faces had all been scratched by Chen Ling. Under the condition that their bodies had been smashed into meat paste, it was almost impossible to confirm their identities.
Soon, the Law Enforcers received news again:
In a Warehouse near Winter Harbor, they found an empty K18 Train that was suspected to have merged with some kind of Ritual Artifact.
This discovery further corroborated Chen Ling's testimony. The Fire-Stealers had indeed completed the face-swapping by attacking the train... The K18 Train connected the Seven Great Districts. A train that simply didn't exist in the files carrying away the District One Enforcers from the starting station basically wouldn't arouse suspicion. Moreover, the Fire-Stealers cleaned the train too thoroughly, fundamentally leaving no clues behind.
As for whether it was possible that those swapped were from other Districts... Everyone hadn't suspected it at all, because Chen Ling had no need to lie about this matter. Moreover, the fact that he himself had ridden a train and hadn't been replaced was the best evidence.
"...So, is the interrogation over?" Chen Ling rubbed the corners of his eyes wearily. "When can I go back?"
"It should be soon." A Law Enforcer guarding the door answered hesitantly.
"Should be?"
"After all, this is the first time such a serious trial accident has happened. It involves too much... Moreover, the Stars Chamber of Commerce and that Seven-Stripe Enforcer are not to be trifled with. They originally hoped their legacy successors could go experience trials and step onto the Divine Path, but in the end, they all died inside... Tell me, would they be willing to let the matter drop?"
Hearing this, Chen Ling's brows furrowed tighter and tighter. "What does this have to do with me? The ones who killed them were the Fire-Stealers."
"But the Fire-Stealers are all dead too." The Law Enforcer said meaningfully. "Everyone died, yet only you survived... If they want to seek revenge against the Fire-Stealers, they can only start with you, attempting to find more clues."
"But I've already told you everything I know."
"What if you concealed something? These major families always have some means to make people spit out everything they know, and can even reconstruct everything you've seen... Only by doing so will they feel at ease.
Of course, after doing this, a normal person either dies or goes crazy..."
Chen Ling's heart instantly sank.
If that group of people in Aurora City really used such means on him, wouldn't everything be exposed?
"Doesn't this count as them using lynching? Do the Law Enforcers not care?"
"It does, this is expressly forbidden by Aurora City... But tell me, among these Law Enforcers and Enforcers, who is willing to go against them? If they want to take you away, who dares to stop them?"
Chen Ling fell silent.
At this moment, this Law Enforcer also seemed to realize he had spoken too much and quickly explained, "Brother, I was just saying casually... It might not necessarily happen."
Chen Ling didn't continue the conversation. He suddenly remembered that the batch of people who repeatedly asked him about the details of Yan Xicai and Lu Xuanming's deaths just now all looked somewhat gloomy after finishing their questions...
【Audience Expectation Value +5】
A bad premonition surged into his heart. He closed the room door and began to ponder indoors. If someone really wanted to take him away, how should he break the deadlock?
Run?
With so many Enforcers surrounding the outside, where could he run to?
Right at this moment, a low murmur of conversation came from outside the door, followed immediately by the door of the house being pushed open.
Outside the door was a man wearing black clothes. What he wore wasn't the standard windbreaker of an Enforcer, but an expensive and warm fabric. Two Law Enforcers followed behind him, one of whom was the one who had just spoken with Chen Ling. His gaze towards Chen Ling was full of pity.
"Law Enforcer Chen Ling." The man leading slowly spoke. "Come with me for a trip."
"Where to?"
"Aurora City."
Chen Ling's brows furrowed tightly. "Who are you? Why do I have to go to Aurora City?"
"Who I am isn't important. What's important is... today you must come with me." The man's gaze sharpened, and a terrifying Oppressive Aura was released from within his body, drowning Chen Ling like a tsunami!
The phantom of a Divine Path surfaced. It was a Divine Path that Chen Ling had only seen not long ago... The Path of the Scholar God.
With Chen Ling's current Spiritual Power, comparing it to the other party was simply a world of difference. There was no doubt that the other party's rank must be above the Fourth Order, but hadn't reached the Fifth-Tier, because compared to the aura of that Five-Stripe Enforcer, there was still a gap.
If nothing unexpected happened, this was the manpower sent by the Stars Chamber of Commerce or that Seven-Stripe Enforcer.
Because taking Chen Ling away overtly violated Aurora City's regulations, they couldn't directly send Enforcers to take action. They could only mobilize some strong individuals outside the system. And this Path of the Scholar God possessor in front of him was clearly their person.
"What if I refuse?" Chen Ling spoke emphasizing every word.