“Good Madam... Please forgive my bluntness, but... That's nonsense.” he said, with a slight resentment.

  Ze Yun looked at him, still expressionless. Although there was not a single emotion visible on his face, the man immediately understood what he meant. If he spoke disrespectfully again, he would end up badly.

  However, May was not offended by his words. On the contrary, she was curious about what he wanted to say. He seemed to strongly reject these accusations. This was not surprising, of course. After all, anyone accused of murdering a person would become defensive and try to defend themselves against such accusations, especially considering that the accuser was a cultivator who could kill him on the spot.

  “I've already heard one version of events today, so now I'd like to hear from you. What happened? Surely these accusations can't be groundless, can they?” She asked, looking at the man, who was now visibly sweating.

  However, she was unable to determine whether this is because of fear of being caught or whether it is also the fear of the innocent. She thought it would be good to have some kind of skill in such a situation that would allow her to detect lies or sense emotions. However, she had no intention of wasting money on it.

  Nevertheless, the man went on with his story.

  “Oh, great cultivator. I have known Jang Yang since childhood. We always got along well, but there was always something strange between us.” He began to speak. “When we were seven years old, we used to go fishing together at the river, but unfortunately...”

  “Get to the point.” Ze Yun, who had been resting his chin on his hand, suddenly interjected. He looked slightly bored. Kai swallowed audibly and nodded in agreement.

  “Uhm... Yes, I'm sorry,” he said, embarrassed. “His daughter... It really was an accident! She suddenly fainted and fell as soon as I looked away for a moment! There were many witnesses, but...”

  “But what?” May asked.

  “But more and more people are starting to doubt it. Yang is trying to convince everyone that I'm behind it! I also had nothing to do with his wife's illness! But it does look suspicious, because my mother-in-law had the same symptoms... At first, everyone believed me, but... I think they're starting to stop,” he said, his voice breaking. May didn't know if he was being sincere, but he was certainly under a lot of stress.

  However, no matter how you looked at it, could it really have been a coincidence? May didn't believe in such things. She just didn't know who was lying and who was telling the truth. She looked at Ze Yun, who still didn't react. She shook her head, knowing that he wouldn't interfere without a reason. He wanted her to decide for herself. He wanted to see how she would react.

  This is probably one of his tests. If he is to be my master... He's not just interested in whether I have talent, but he wants to see what I will do in this situation. Is it some kind of moral test? Hmm, no. That's not it. It's more about my decision. This is not something that can be resolved in one night. It's not that he doubts my capabilities; he knows and is convinced that it's not possible for me. Does he want to see if I'll accuse someone without justification, or if I'll abandon them to themselves? Basically, neither option is good, but in theory, I have to make a choice... However, I'll prove him wrong! I'll solve this mystery.

  She didn't like the fact that he was constantly examining her. Although she understood where this came from, she also wanted to prove her worth. After all, it was in her best interest. Geniuses had always been given priority, whether here or on Earth.

  But how was she supposed to do that? She didn't know anything about forensics, and her knowledge of crime came from television documentaries and YouTube videos at best. That wasn't enough.

  However, she understood one simple thing. Thinking alone wouldn't get her very far. She needed facts and evidence. She had to do something.

  “Can I see the corpse?” she asked suddenly. Not only did Kai look at her strangely, but even Ze Yun looked at her with a frown of disgust. It was the first time he had reacted so strongly since arriving at this place.

  “Um... Excuse me, but... Why do you want to see the body?” asked the man, a hint of concern in his voice.

  “I want to see if there are any marks on her body. If someone pushed her off that roof, she might have signs of self-defense,” she said.

  “But there were many witnesses. Everyone saw her fall on her own,” Kai said reluctantly. “Yang claims that I poisoned her, causing her to lose consciousness and fall.”

  Hmm, well, yes. That's a very far-fetched theory. It doesn't make much sense for her to be playing on the roof, especially since if she had been poisoned, she wouldn't have had the strength to play. And it would be an even greater coincidence that she happened to be on the roof at that moment and just then lost consciousness. The whole situation is generally illogical.

  “Well, in that case, I'll look for signs of poisoning.” said May, deciding that it was best to press on for now. For some reason, the man seemed reluctant to let her see the body. Was he hiding something?

  “But... How?” he asked, surprised.

  May was surprised by this question. Were autopsies not performed in this world? Were victims not examined after death? Not that she knew how to perform an autopsy herself, but she had a few ideas for simple tests.

  “May Shang. I cannot allow you to commit desecration of a corpse. I don't know how brazen one must be to propose such a thing in the presence of a High Elder of the sect. However, I realize that this is due to your thoughtlessness, but I am giving you a warning.” Ze Yun suddenly interjected, speaking for the first time.

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  Kai, on the other hand, paled when he heard that the man was an Elder. For people in such small towns, even cultivators at the Qi Refinement stage were rare. Elders from sects were almost as legendary to them as dragons.

  May, on the other hand, was slightly shocked that this world viewed autopsies so negatively. She had never heard of it being a taboo subject before. However, she quickly calmed down.

  “Please forgive me, Elder. I didn't know that. Is postmortem examination of the body frowned upon?”

  Ze Yun looked at her as if she were an idiot. However, he decided to explain briefly, even though he initially had no intention of saying a word.

  “After death, the deceased deserves peace. I don't know what you wanted to do, but the living should not interfere in the affairs of the dead.” he said, explaining briefly.

  After a moment, Kai also chimed in when Ze Yun finished speaking.

  “Yes... Shortly after her death, her body was burned... That’s what we do with everyone,” Kai said.

  So that’s that. Too bad, I could have learned something interesting.

  May fell silent for a moment. She gathered her chaotic thoughts. Since she couldn't carry out her best idea, she had to focus on her second-best thought.

  “In that case, can I see the place?”

  “What place?” Kai asked, surprised.

  “The place where the girl fell. Of course,” May said.

  The man was looking at her strangely again. May was already slightly annoyed by all this.

  What now? Don't tell me that looking at the place where someone died is also taboo.

  Fortunately for her, it wasn't, and soon the man agreed to show her the place where the girl had fallen. It was, after all, the roof of the same building where they were currently sitting.

  The house was a four-story building where many families lived. The three of them went up to the roof. It was quite messy, with all kinds of rags and old clothes scattered everywhere, as well as food scraps. The smell was not very pleasant.

  The roof was flat on top, but slightly curved with a drain on the west side.

  May herself wasn't sure what she was looking for, but she decided to look around. The two men just watched her. She felt quite a lot of pressure, but after a while she fell into a trance of searching the entire roof. Unfortunately, because it was night, she had to light everything with a lantern, which didn't help in finding anything useful.

  She took her time with her inspection and looked through everything thoroughly. Her ability also came in handy. [Microscopic vision] was getting stronger all the time, and her zoom was getting better and better. It also helped her in this case.

  Finally, she got up and walked toward the two men. They both looked quite bored. However, May was not particularly concerned about this.

  “Cultivator, have you found anything that could help with the case...?” Kai asked. After thinking for a moment, May decided not to answer.

  Kai was a suspect in the case. Keeping him informed about the case didn't seem like the best idea to her. The very fact that he was at the scene of a possible crime was quite questionable. However, it wasn't Earth, so it didn't really matter.

  “Maybe, maybe not.” She replied evasively, not wanting to say anything yet. “But I have a few questions.”

  “Of course... I'll answer as best I can.”

  “Since the accident, has anyone been here? How often do people come here?” she asked.

  “Well, hardly anyone ever comes in here. It stinks and people don't really come here. And since the accident? I don't think so, at least not that I can remember.”

  So it's a pretty unvisited place. But it's strange, why would a girl come here to play? Like he said, it stinks here. Would a child want to play in a place like this of their own free will? Unless she had some other reason to come here... There are many people who saw her fall, but no one saw it up close. There is no evidence that she was “playing” on the roof, but that's what everyone says.

  Even adults avoided this place because of the smell and filth, but a child would play here? It wasn't impossible, but it was certainly strange.

  “Was the door to the roof always locked?” She asked about another thing that intrigued her. When they came here, the man had to open it because it was blocked. A child would generally have a problem with that.

  “Oh, no. It was only after the tragedy that they were blocked with these metal wires. Until then, they had always been open,” he said.

  May thought about how irresponsible that was. The roof had no railings or safety features. But well, there was no building inspectors here.

  After thinking about the whole situation, May decided that something was indeed going on and that it was not just an accident. Too many things about this case were suspicious. Even if she had actually climbed onto the roof to play, it would have been too much of a coincidence for her to lose consciousness on the edge of the roof.

  For some reason, she had gone up to the roof. Maybe someone had told her to go there? If she could find out who had instructed her to go up to the roof, it would be a significant clue.

  She was about to inform the men that they would be coming down from the roof when she noticed something. She walked to the very edge of the roof.

  The roof had a small wall. May moved closer. She noticed something interesting that she hadn't noticed before.

  “Did the girl fall from this exact spot?” she asked suddenly.

  The man hesitated.

  "I don't know exactly where, I didn't see it... But she fell on this street, so I only know for sure that it was from this side, but I don't know the exact location. "

  May, however, knew exactly where she had fallen. Why hadn't anyone noticed this before? Had no one checked the place where she had dropped? The first thing they should have done was to check the place from which she had fallen.

  But no one had done that? Even the girl's father hadn't thought of it? Something was going on...

  On a small wall less than a meter high, she noticed something that resembled black moss. However, most of it had clearly been removed. Only black stains remained on the wall. It was hard to see in the dark, but now it seemed obvious to her.

  Could it be that someone had told her to scrape the moss off the roof? But what was it anyway?

  She decided to ask, even though she didn't expect an answer. Ze Yun didn't want to help her, and Kai was a suspect in the whole affair. She wasn't counting on any help.

  To her surprise, however, Ze Yun answered her question. It seemed that he wasn't completely opposed to helping her after all.

  “It's not moss, it's mold. To be precise, Black Mold - Chale Ma,” he explained. “It's extremely toxic and only grows in contaminated areas.”

  “Toxic...?” The man was frightened. He turned pale.

  “What are the symptoms of poisoning?” May asked. “And how can you get poisoned by it?”

  “Poisoning is severe. Chale Ma only produces toxins when it is removed from its surface; it's a self-defense mechanism. Then, simple contact with the skin is enough to cause poisoning,” he replied with a slight smile on his face. “And the symptoms are... Well, depending on the dose: headaches, muscle aches, breathing problems, loss of consciousness... And in worse cases: infertility, internal bleeding, and also... Coma.”