Silas's first probing
As Professor Eleanor immersed herself in the library's ancient archives in search of the "truth about heresy," Inquisitor Silas's patience finally reached its limit. Surveillance reports poured in, documenting the growing influence of the "Eastern Secret Medicine," its increasingly close ties with the aristocratic circles, and the frequent use of an "evil force" that was completely inexplicable by the sacred texts (referring to Ling Yao's daily rune practice and potion testing).
The report, in particular, concerning the possibility that "Radiant Skin Dew" might contain "bewitching ingredients" and cause "abnormally positive changes" in the mental state of aristocratic women, made Silas restless. He could no longer wait for a perfect chain of evidence; he had to take the initiative, probe, and force the other party to reveal their true colors!
On this day, the sky was overcast, with leaden-gray clouds hanging low, as if foreshadowing some kind of misfortune.
The "Eastern Secret Medicine" shop had just opened when Finn was directing his new apprentice to wipe the counter and count the magic cores received yesterday, humming a little off-key tune. Ling Yao, as usual, was holed up in the back room, studying several newly acquired rare ore samples—these were specially selected from the family's mines and sent for "exchange" by a noble lady as a token of her gratitude.
Suddenly, the shop door was pushed open with a loud bang without any politeness!
Three young men dressed in the black apprentice robes of the court entered, led by a haughty young man with a sharp gaze. They carried short canes, symbols of the court's authority, at their waists, their steps synchronized, exuding a deliberately oppressive aura.
The relaxed atmosphere in the shop instantly froze. The young apprentice was so frightened that he dropped the rag in his hand, shrinking back and not daring to look up. Finn's heart also skipped a beat; he knew trouble was brewing. He quickly forced a smile and stepped forward:
Good morning, fellow alumni from the court! How can I help you?
The arrogant young man at the head of the group snorted coldly, his gaze sweeping with disgust over the "strange"-looking semi-finished runes and potions in the shop. He held his chin high and said, "We are here on the orders of Inquisitor Silas to search for contraband! We received a report that you are hiding dangerous magical materials and prohibited potions that have not been reported!"
He deliberately raised his voice to make sure everyone inside and outside the store could hear: "Now, cooperate with the inspection immediately! Otherwise, you will be charged with obstructing official business!"
Finn's expression changed: "Contraband? Senior, this must be a misunderstanding! All the materials in our shop are purchased through legitimate channels, and the medicines are all sold legally..."
"Whether it's a misunderstanding or not, we'll find out after we investigate!" The arrogant young man interrupted him impatiently, waving his hand, "Search!"
The two apprentices behind him immediately tried to rush inside.
"Wait!" Finn exclaimed anxiously, spreading his arms to stop them. Miss Ling and those valuable ore samples, along with some rune sketches she had drawn, were in the back room. These things couldn't be allowed to be rummaged through by these guys!
Just as a conflict was about to erupt, a slender hand lifted the curtain of the back room, and Ling Yao slowly walked out. She was holding a dark purple ore that shimmered with a faint light in her hand, seemingly unconcerned about the commotion outside, only glancing indifferently at the three apprentices of the Tribunal.
The arrogant young man's eyes narrowed slightly when he saw Ling Yao, a hint of apprehension flashing across them, but it was quickly replaced by an even stronger desire to show off. He puffed out his chest and said sternly, "You're the shop owner? Perfect timing! Get out of the way and cooperate with our search!"
Ling Yao seemed not to hear him, her gaze sweeping across the store. She saw a crumpled piece of rune draft paper on the floor, which Finn had failed to practice and was about to throw away, lying in an inconspicuous corner in the shadow of the counter.
She walked over calmly, and seemingly casually nudged the crumpled paper with her toe, making it wedged into a tiny crack in the floor at a tricky angle. A crookedly drawn rune node on the paper was precisely aligned with the arrogant young man's foot that was about to land.
At the same time, her fingers quickly traced several simple array nodes under the counter. A barely perceptible burst of immortal power flashed from her fingertips, instantly activating a very small-scale, extremely short-lived, and rudimentary "Disturbing Spirit Array"—this array wasn't even a proper array, at most a prank-level trick that caused anyone who stepped into its range to momentarily lose their senses and experience a slight sense of imbalance.
All of this was done silently and swiftly, without anyone present noticing.
Seeing that Ling Yao ignored him, the arrogant young man felt he had lost face. He snorted coldly, raised his foot, and was about to force his way past Finn and rush into the back room.
His right foot landed right on the crumpled paper that Ling Yao had slightly adjusted!
The moment his foot touched the crooked rune node on the crumpled paper, he simultaneously stepped into the weak influence range of the "Disturbing God Array"!
Two extremely weak effects combined—
Suddenly, the arrogant young man let out a strange "howl," as if he had stepped on a red-hot iron or had his bones suddenly removed. Without warning, he lunged forward, staggering exaggeratedly and flailing his arms and legs in an attempt to maintain his balance. In the end, he crashed headfirst into a crystal display stand next to him that was displaying samples of "Yingji Lu"!
"Splash—!"
The display stand shook violently, and several exquisite crystal bottles on it tilted precariously, about to shatter on the ground!
Finn and the two inquisition apprentices were terrified!
At this critical moment, Ling Yao seemed to "subconsciously" reach out to steady the display stand, and her wrist "accidentally" touched a glass of water that Finn hadn't finished drinking, which he used to practice the "Qingfeng Talisman".
The water glass tipped over, spilling water, and a few drops landed on Ling Yao's hand.
Then, something happened that left everyone speechless—
The moment those few drops of water touched Ling Yao's hand, they seemed to come alive. Instead of flowing down her skin, they instantly condensed into several round and translucent "water droplets," as if they had a spirit, and shot out along a strange arc!
Clap clap clap!
Several water droplets struck the bottom of the crystal bottles that were about to fall with perfect precision. The force was so subtle that it was as if an invisible hand had supported them, causing the bottles to bounce slightly upwards before they landed steadily back in their original positions!
The whole process happened in the blink of an eye!
The display stand stopped shaking, and the crystal bottle remained unharmed, with only a few water droplets slowly sliding down the bottom.
The arrogant young man, having lost his balance due to the sudden shock, completely lost his center of gravity and fell flat on his face with a "thud," looking utterly pathetic.
The store was deathly silent.
Finn and his apprentice stared wide-eyed, their mouths agape.
The other two trial apprentices were completely dumbfounded, standing there at a loss for what to do.
The arrogant young man, sprawled on the ground, was completely blank-minded, seeing stars and filled with shame and indignation. He had no idea what had just happened to him. How could he have fallen so badly all of a sudden? And what was that water droplet that saved the crystal bottle…?!
Ling Yao withdrew her hand, glancing at the water stains on the back of her hand, her brows furrowing slightly, as if she were merely annoyed by the wet clothes. Then, she calmly looked at the young man lying on the ground, dazed and confused, her eyes seeming to ask: What are you doing lying on the ground?
"You... what the hell did you do?!" The arrogant young man struggled to his feet, his face flushed red, and he pointed at Ling Yao, shouting angrily, his voice trembling. He was convinced that this woman from another world had used some kind of evil magic!
Ling Yao spread her hands innocently, indicating that she hadn't done anything.
Finn finally realized what had happened. Although he hadn't seen exactly what had happened, seeing the judges' discomfiture, he immediately perked up and shouted, "Senior! You lost your balance and fell, how can you blame us? We almost lost valuable goods! Luckily, Miss Ling... uh... slipped her hand, otherwise how much compensation would your judges have paid?"
He emphasized the words "valuable goods" and "losing money".
Upon hearing this, the two court apprentices glanced instinctively at the crystal bottles, which were clearly very valuable, and a hint of fear and hesitation appeared on their faces. They couldn't afford to pay for them if they were broken.
The arrogant young man trembled with rage. He wanted to retort, but he couldn't produce any evidence to prove that the other party had used evil magic. Everything that had just happened seemed like a coincidence—he slipped and fell, the other party accidentally knocked over a water glass, and the water droplets coincidentally saved the bottle… But this coincidence was just too damn coincidental!
He was so frustrated he almost vomited blood. He wanted to grit his teeth and continue the search, but he felt a dull pain in the spot where he had fallen earlier, and his momentum had weakened considerably.
Ling Yao seemed too lazy to pay them any more attention. She turned around and took out a small notebook and a pen from the counter, and slowly began to write—this was something Finn had taught her, used to record orders and materials.
She wrote a few strokes, then held up the notebook and showed it to the arrogant young man.
The inscription, written in a crooked but barely legible script in the common mainland script, read: "Losses: three pounds of Purple Floss Grass, five pounds of Silver Leaf Grass, one qian of Moonlight Dust... (followed by a long list)... Total: two hundred and fifty gold coins. Compensation?"
Finn leaned over to take a look and almost burst out laughing. Miss Ling's list was outrageously high, including all the "potential" losses caused by their disturbance, and even accurately quoted the ironically significant number of 250.
The arrogant young man's face turned green as he stared at the list and the number. He wasn't on a mission; where would he get that much money? And this was clearly extortion!
"You...you're talking nonsense! We didn't break anything!" he shouted, his voice trembling with fear.
Ling Yao simply looked at him calmly and then shook the notebook in her hand.
An invisible pressure spread. The other two apprentices quietly tugged at the arrogant young man's sleeve and whispered, "Senior...why don't we go back and report first? Lord Silas only sent us to probe, not to get into a conflict...and this woman is really strange..."
The arrogant young man looked at Ling Yao's unyielding attitude, which he couldn't quite find fault with, and then thought about his strange encounter and the exorbitant compensation bill. In the end, he could only grit his teeth and swallow his anger.
"Hmph! Let's go!" He glared fiercely at Ling Yao and Finn, uttering a harmless threat, "You wait! The court won't let this go so easily!"
After saying that, he left the shop quickly with his two henchmen, looking disheveled and limping, his back view even showing a hint of panic.
Watching them disappear into the alley, Finn finally couldn't help but burst into laughter: "That was satisfying! So satisfying! Let's see if they dare to be arrogant again! Miss Ling, what you did just now was just too... too coincidental!" He still thought it was a coincidence.
Ling Yao put down her notebook, her face expressionless. It was just a trivial warning. She sensed the watchful eyes outside the shop; after the apprentices from the courthouse left, they seemed to have become more covert and wary.
She knew this was just the beginning. That Judge Silas would not give up easily.
She looked down at the dark purple ore in her hand, her fingertips applying slight pressure. A wisp of pure immortal energy seeped in, subtly altering the ore's internal structure, making it more compact and allowing for smoother energy flow.
We need to speed things up.
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