The atmosphere in the room suddenly froze, and slowly, Jiang Wu smiled.
"Hearing you talk like that, I feel like I’d be letting you down if I wasn’t the Skinner. But Li Yinxiao, investigating a case isn’t making wild guesses. Luckily, you’re talking to today, and I can pretend I didn’t hear it. Don’t lose confidence and make reckless guesses just because of a single mistake," Jiang Wu said calmly.
Li Xin looked at Jiang Wu, and Jiang Wu looked at Li Xin. The atmosphere grew increasingly tense, but neither intended to make a move. Both exuded strong confidence and composure.
Li Xin smiled, "Captain, do you rember the test when I first joined the society?"
"Of course, I rember. I was there, too. You perford well," Jiang Wu said.
"Captain, what disguise ability did you use back then?" Li Xin asked.
"A costu," Jiang Wu frowned. "Is that why you think I’m the Skinner?"
Li Xin shook his head, "The current Skinner is not really out to make costus; he’s only hunting down Fallen to retrieve worms. The Skinner is just a cover for his identity and purpose."
"Then what’s your reason for suspecting ?" Jiang Wu asked slowly.
"You didn’t use a costu; you used an ability that alters bones and added a bit of Disguise Technique. Unfortunately, this ability is the sa as the one with the Skinner. Oh, I forgot to ntion, I have an ability to perceive the abilities used by others," Li Xin said, fixing his gaze on Jiang Wu.
With Two Lives’ ability, when soone uses an ability near Li Xin, there’s a certain chance of acquiring it.
That’s why Li Xin discovered the problem so quickly during his own test; he felt sothing was off, leading him to think it might be an internal test by the Night Patrol.
And yesterday, when he sensed the sa ability on the Skinner, combined with his previous deductions, the only one who t all the conditions in Shadow Owl was Jiang Wu.
A forr Knight Order master, and having undergone ntal training by the Church Court, as the captain, having Four Lives is no wonder.
Jiang Wu’s eyes flickered as he looked at Li Xin. He never imagined Li Xin would have such an undetectable ability. With such a verifiable ability, once confird, his judgnt would have its most fatal flaw.
A flurry of thoughts crossed Jiang Wu’s mind as their eyes t, neither giving ground.
Eventually, Jiang Wu sighed, leaned back in the chair, and glanced at the closed door. "What do you want?"
"Captain, aren’t you planning to silence ?" Li Xin asked.
"If you intended to arrest , you wouldn’t have t with today. You’re so detailed, afraid I might not harbor murderous intent," Jiang Wu chuckled bitterly, "I thought my disguise was perfect, didn’t expect this many flaws."
"Captain, I want to know why you’re doing this?" Li Xin asked.
Catching the Skinner was his task and duty, but he wanted to understand the root of what the Skinner was doing. Li Xin was not a rigid person; essentially, the Skinner was fighting for justice, as those people deserved to die.
Jiang Wu took a cigarette from the drawer and lit it, "Aren’t you trying to replace ? Why ask so much? You have soone in the Church Court. Since you’ve got the evidence, you can report it directly?"
"Captain, do you still not trust now?" Li Xin frowned. He was being so straightforward.
Suddenly, Li Xin realized the matter Jiang Wu was involved in might hide a deeper secret, sothing not as simple as pursuing justice. Also, Jiang Wu feared not him but Kathy behind him.
"The Secretary doesn’t know about this matter," Li Xin said.
Jiang Wu kept his gaze on Li Xin, trying to discern whether he was telling the truth.
"This is a very deadly secret. If I tell you, it might put you in danger," Jiang Wu exhaled a smoke ring, "Don’t think the Secretary can protect you; she’d die if she knew too."
"If I was afraid of dying, I wouldn’t be a Night Patrol," Li Xin spread his hands, thinking what a strange person, the more he talks like this, the more curious he becos.
Jiang Wu lit another cigarette and sighed, "A few years ago, I received a mission to secretly use the sealed object to locate Dragon Capital’s Fallen and collect the worms within them. Because it was top secret, I acted alone, but soon attracted attention. This sealed object can control Fallen, not giving them the chance to transform. It has one characteristic: it peels off the Fallen’s skin, so I used it to lead them to believe in the Skinner. Thus, few people would suspect anything else until suddenly, the person who gave the mission died."
At this point, Jiang Wu’s hand actually trembled as he took a deep drag from the cigarette and looked at Li Xin.
In Jiang Wu’s eyes, Li Xin saw deep fear. This was a captain of Shadow Owl; they’d crossed paths, and he knew Jiang Wu’s strength.
"Who gave you the mission?" Li Xin asked, possessing a magical sealed object like a rattle, not an ordinary person.
"The forr Chief Red-robed Archbishop," Jiang Wu said, "He’s dead."
Dead?
The Chief Red-robed Archbishop should have been the Great Angel, and crucially, he was a top figure in the Moon God’s Court. Who could? Who would dare?
As a mber of the Night Patrol, the Chief Red-robed Archbishop was second to none, standing at the pinnacle of the secret paths of the Dao Yuan Continent. To eliminate such a strong presence, what kind of person could do it?
Li Xin swallowed, "What I heard was that this forr Chief betrayed his faith and disappeared?"
"Not disappeared, but dead," Jiang Wu sighed, "Before this, the master said to that if he disappeared, it ant he was dead. On that day, Dragon Capital experienced a once-in-decades thunderstorm, along with an earthquake, not natural phenona. He said I could decide whether to continue the mission but not to tell anyone, or it would be fatal."
Li Xin almost wanted to slap himself; curiosity killed Justin. Damn it, he was sowhat overconfident, as this escalated to a life-and-death mission involving a forr Red-robed Archbishop.
Li Xin smiled wryly, "Can I pretend I didn’t hear any of this?"
Jiang Wu handed a cigarette to Li Xin, and he took it, lighting it.
"No use, from the mont you continued investigating this case, I knew you wouldn’t give up until you achieved your goal. Moreover, you don’t look like soone afraid of dying," Jiang Wu said.
"Captain, you’re really bad at judging people. I’m scared to death right now," Li Xin took a deep drag to calm himself down.
"I have a few questions," Li Xin said.
"Go ahead. There’s nothing I can’t tell you now," Jiang Wu said, as if relieved of a thousand-pound burden.
"Captain, first of all, let’s not scare ourselves. Handling the Fallen isn’t a big issue; more likely, the Bishop didn’t want to escalate conflicts between the Church Court and the Hundred Martial Hall. If sothing happened to him, it’s probably another issue," Li Xin said.
"Possibly," Jiang Wu nodded, "That’s why I’ve stayed without escaping."
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