Ji Youzhi suddenly choked on his words, blinking as a ray of golden light emerged from the box.
"How... how could this happen?"
Ji Youzhi muttered to himself.
The casino patrons, pinned down by the Inner Guards, were astonished. They had studied this box for two full days without figuring out how to open it.
How could this little girl casually open it as though she were toying with a plaything?
"Cover it up quickly! Donât flaunt your wealth, donât you know?"
Dugu Xiao practically drooled at the sight.
He absolutely refused to admit he wasnât actually concerned about flaunting wealth, but was instead green with envy!
With all these Inner Guards and people from the God Hunter Bureau present, not to mention himself, a Grand General, how could they be afraid of flaunting wealth?
Xiaosuisui agreed with Dugu Xiaoâs warning about flaunting wealth and turned to pick up Ji Youranâs medicine box.
She opened it to check inside. She had no idea what should have been in there, but she noticed that one of the vials was empty.
"Thereâs an elixir missing from here."
As soon as she said that, Ji Youzhi understood. "It seems thereâs someone here who knows medical skills!"
"No...no one knows them!"
Sister YingâEr immediately contradicted.
Ji Youzhi gave Li Youâan a look.
Li Youâan immediately started a series of interrogations, and the results were astonishing.
"So you just trained a monkey with immense strength, and it stole these three boxes? Where is the monkey?"
The crowd was amazed. Even Xiaosuisui was curiously looking around, trying to find the monkey that Sister YingâEr spoke of.
"The monkey isnât mine. It belongs to my sworn brother."
"Who is your sworn brother?"
"His name is Yin Ge. Heâs a performer. We both have some skill in training small animals. A few days ago, he brought me a monkey and asked me to help train it. Later, I discovered that the monkey was very strong, so I intentionally trained it to swipe things."
"You trained it to swipe things, yet it so conveniently took Ji the Divine Physicianâs medicine box and the imperial disaster relief silver?"
No matter how Li Youâan thought about it, he found Sister YingâErâs explanation implausible and immediately questioned her.
"Actually, it was truly a coincidence. My sworn brother was seriously ill, his life hanging by a thread, and a Mister Wu was treating him. He told me my sworn brother didnât have long left and if he wished to live, he needed a precious Life-Extending Pill."
Upon hearing Sister YingâErâs story, everyone from the Ji Family grimaced.
Ji Youranâs missing Life-Extending Pill must have been targeted by this Sister YingâEr at some unfortunate moment!
"How did you set your sights on Ji the Divine Physicianâs medicine box? And how did you know his medicine box contained a Life-Extending Pill?"
Li Youâan continued to inquire.
Sister YingâEr honestly confessed, "It was Mister Wu who told me."
"Mister Wu?"
Ji Youzhi grew agitated and immediately pressed for details.
"Which Mister Wu? Whatâs your relationship with him? How did he know my second brother had a Life-Extending Pill?"
From Ji Youzhiâs eager questions, Sister YingâEr could easily tell that he was very interested in this Mister Wu.
"It seems youâre very interested in Mister Wu?"
Sister YingâErâs gaze was fixed intently on Ji Youzhi.
Xiaosuisui, however, stood to the side, furrowing her brow.
She felt sheâd heard the name Mister Wu mentioned quite often. The last time was during the investigation of the assassination attempt on Princess Nanjiang; she seemed to recall hearing the name at that restaurant!
"Just answer what youâre asked! Whereâs all this nonsense coming from?"
Li Youâan shot Sister YingâEr a stern glare.
Yet, Sister YingâEr paid him no mind and instead turned to look at Ji Youzhi.
"If Iâm not mistaken, you must be the Lord God Hunter from the God Hunter Bureau. If I provide information about Mister Wu, can I receive a lighter punishment?"
As the manager of Li Jiâs gambling house, Sister YingâEr naturally understood the intricacies of Great Hanâs officialdomâafter all, the person backing Li Ji was a Third Grade official of the imperial court.
"That depends on whether the clues you provide are worth me pleading for you before His Majesty."
Ji Youzhi did not make any firm commitment but answered ambiguously.
"Whether you tell the truth or not is your choice."
Ji Youzhi was desperate for leads on Mister Wu, but he didnât want to put himself in a passive position.
"Mister Wu is a Witch Doctor. I met him thirteen years ago. My sworn brother fell into a pond in the harsh winter and his health was poor after he was rescued. Mister Wu has been treating him ever since. The year my brother fell into the water, Mister Wu told us that my brother wouldnât live long and that he needed a Life-Extending Pill if he wanted to survive. A few years ago, a Life-Extending Pill was auctioned at an underground auction. I was the one who bought it, but Mister Wu took it away, saying he would use it for research to help my brother develop more Life-Extending Pills."
Upon hearing Sister YingâErâs words, everyone frowned.
"Did Mister Wu manage to develop the Life-Extending Pill in the end?" Li Youâan asked.
Ji Youzhi shot him a look that clearly said,
Are you an idiot?
"If Mister Wu had developed the Life-Extending Pill, why would she need to steal my second brotherâs medicine box?"
Li Youâan felt wounded by the Lord God Hunterâs words again.
"But what Iâm curious about is, how did you accurately locate my second brother? How did you know his medicine box contained the Life-Extending Pill you needed? And, since you were after the Life-Extending Pill, how did my third brotherâs... I mean, how did those other two boxes also end up in your hands?"
Hearing Ji Youzhiâs questions, Sister YingâEr felt that it truly was all just a coincidence.
If it hadnât happened to her, she herself would find it hard to believe these were all coincidences!
"If I told you everything was a coincidence, would you believe me?"
Everyone stared at her, their penetrating gazes scanning her.
"As long as you tell the truth, we will believe you!" Xiaosuisuiâs childlike voice suddenly rang out.
However, nobody found her abruptness odd.
They all nodded in agreement with her statement.
"Thatâs right, as long as what you say is true, weâll believe you!"
Ji Youzhi and Zhu Xiuxiu echoed her statement in unison.
Sister YingâEr smiled inexplicably.
She wasnât even as perceptive as a little child!
"If Iâm going to speak, of course, itâs going to be the truth."
"Oh! Then go ahead and tell us!" Xiaosuisui nodded, her chin level with Sister YingâEr, who was bound and lying on the floor. Xiaosuisuiâs large, vibrant eyes fixed on her.
Gazing into those lively eyes, Sister YingâErâs defenses seemed to crumble. She began to recount, somewhat ramblingly, everything that had happened two days prior.
Ah Ling called out to Xiaosuisui in her mind.
"Master, now! You can use the power of the Soul-Calling Bell to explore the depths of her soul and see what sheâs thinking right now."