Chapter 107: How Was That? Did You Hear His Inner Voice?

“This is quite an eerie spot for a talk, Officer Shangguan.”

He Yimo sat in a dim, somber room, his gaze awkwardly fixed on the two women before him.

Directly ahead stood Shangguan Qiuya, her hair streaked with gold, wearing the embroidered robes of an imperial official. Beside her sat primly a young dragoness—resembling a miniature white dragon, with two pairs of small, rounded horns on her forehead. If not for He Yimo’s prior knowledge of her from the original story, he might have mistaken her for a kin of Wangxue. After all, the horns of Eastern dragons are modeled after deer.

Half an hour earlier, after the awards ceremony, He Yimo had briefly explained to Mo Yuyan and Yun Jin before following Shangguan Qiuya’s instructions to the Mountain God Temple. Upon his arrival, she had been investigating evidence beneath the temple’s Buddha statue. Spotting him, she led him to a secret chamber beneath the temple—a place all too familiar, the very passage he’d once infiltrated with Jiang Jinyou.

They reached a secluded room at the tunnel’s end, where Shangguan Qiuya had prepared a table and chairs, along with a docile-looking young dragoness who seemed harmless. The eerie, oppressive atmosphere triggered a flashback to his past interrogations by Shangguan Qiuya in Fallen Immortal.

He Yimo mentally retraced his steps in the Mountain God Temple, confirming no loopholes, before steeling himself for her questioning.

Their interrogation lasted roughly two hours. Now, He Yimo had recounted his whereabouts in meticulous detail, answering every one of Shangguan Qiuya’s questions with practiced composure.

Yet, the more confidently he spun his tale, the deeper Shangguan Qiuya’s suspicion grew.

“So, I stumbled upon the Nine-Colored Deer by chance in the mountains. I had no idea it was a legendary Nine-Colored Deer until I reached Snow Village…”

“As for Gu Wanglan’s cult lair, I found it only after the Deer guided me…”

“It’s a pity, though. By the time I arrived, Daoist Chen was already dead… What a regret.”

“Is there anything else, Officer Shangguan?” He Yimo asked, spreading his hands in feigned helplessness. He’d repeated these explanations many times. If scrutinized, even he found them absurd—but Shangguan Qiuya had no evidence. It boiled down to whether she chose to dig deeper.

Mudao Sheng clearly wouldn’t investigate Chen Jianxin’s death thoroughly, but this rigid, zealous official was another matter.

“He Yimo, don’t you find all this too convenient?” Shangguan Qiuya propped her chin on her hand, her amber dragon eyes fixed on him.

He Yimo shrugged, deflecting smoothly:

“Coincidence, yes. But as you said earlier, you found strange red fox fur at the Mountain God Temple and the cliff site. If there’s a conspiracy, it must be that ‘Delight Demoness’ you suspect. If this was all her doing, why would the ultimate beneficiary be you?”

“How would I know? You’ll have to ask that ‘Delight Demoness’ yourself.”

He Yimo’s nonchalant tone only deepened her suspicion and frustration. Despite her interrogation revealing inconsistencies, he brushed everything off as coincidence. She had no concrete evidence to incriminate him.

And now, according to his version of events: the ‘Delight Demoness’ rescued the Nine-Colored Deer at the temple, yet callously released the legendary beast into the forest. The Deer, instead of fleeing, waited to be “discovered” by the lost He Yimo that night, immediately forming a contract with him.

Days later, Gu Wanglan murdered Chen Jianxin, inherited his Innate Sword Saint Physique through a ritual, but fled after being injured by He Yimo and Mo Yuyan. Despite gaining the Saint Physique, Gu Wanglan inexplicably chose to leap off a cliff to his death instead of escaping on flat ground.

At this point, Gu Wanglan and the Innate Sword Saint Physique vanished without a trace.

And as if scripted, the very next day, He Yimo “diligently” broke through to Golden Core overnight.

What kind of coincidence is that? Even novels wouldn’t dare write this!

As an Imperial investigator for years, Shangguan Qiuya wasn’t naive enough to believe this nonsense, but she was infuriatingly short of proof.

“Fine, a case with no witnesses to contradict you!”

Shangguan Qiuya’s frustration peaked, her silver teeth clenched. He Yimo simply smirked, meeting her glare head-on:

“Since you have no evidence, Officer Shangguan, may I leave? Senior Sister Mo is waiting for me to return for cultivation.”

“Insolent! Sit down!” Shangguan Qiuya slammed her hand on the table.

In her years at court, she’d encountered countless fallen cultivators, but none as openly defiant as He Yimo.

He flinched at her sudden pressure but quickly recomposed himself, his impatience now evident. His posture grew lax, one arm draped over the chair’s back:
“Officer Shangguan, according to Great Xia law, the principle of ‘innocent until proven guilty’ applies. You may interrogate, but not detain me. Ask your questions—I’ll answer truthfully. Otherwise, release me per regulations.”

He recited the legal statutes verbatim. He knew Imperial Alliance officials like her were essentially imperial envoys—either judicial examiners or military generals assigned to regions, depending on local stability. Since Wuji Sect was relatively peaceful, she leaned toward the judicial role. Reciting laws might actually hold weight against her.

“Didn’t peg you for knowing law, He Yimo?” Shangguan Qiuya’s brow arched, momentarily dropping her aggressive stance.

“You flatter me, Officer. As a son of the Grand Tutor’s mansion, how could I be ignorant of Great Xia’s laws?” He Yimo replied smoothly. He’d had to study legal loopholes to avoid Shangguan Qiuya in-game, memorizing trivial rules like “no dueling within city walls” or “no hunting protected spirit beasts.”

“Officer Shangguan,” he suddenly leaned forward, a provocative grin spreading. “Some things are worth investigating, others aren’t. If you dig deep, no one will praise you. If you don’t, no one cares about the truth anyway.”

“Especially when some powers in the Great Xia Dynasty aren’t worth provoking. Take the Liu family of Jiangnan—billions in silver annually, monopolizing half the economy. Yet, does any official dare question their finances?”

He sighed, feigning weariness at systemic corruption. Shangguan Qiuya listened, biting her lip—unable to refute the truth. After all, her own exile to Wuji Sect had stemmed from offending a high-ranking official.

“So, we’re just small players. Why make things hard for each other? Maybe in a few years, after advancing at Wuji Sect, I’ll return to the Grand Tutor’s mansion, inherit the family business, and—just by chance—get appointed as an Imperial Dragon General. Then, a single letter might transfer you from this backwater to a Luocheng judgeship.”

He Yimo’s smirk held challenge. Half bluff, half earnest: with his cultivation growth, he’d dominate Wuji Sect within three years. Leveraging local influence to secure a court position, then climbing the ranks—Shangguan Qiuya might one day have to bow to him.

“…”

In the dim room, Shangguan Qiuya remained silent, her amber eyes simmering with suppressed anger and disdain. But she wouldn’t spar with him further—not without evidence.

“Very well. By Great Xia law, I have no more questions. You may go.”

Shangguan Qiuya exhaled, closing her eyes. Though she’d conceded, her tone carried an ambiguous weight.

“Officer Shangguan is reasonable.” He Yimo smiled, rising to bow. But he didn’t leave immediately. Instead, his gaze shifted meaningfully to the young dragoness across the room.

[Little sister, we’ll meet again~]

In a silent voice only she could hear, he spoke, adding a gentle glance her way.

Instantly, the docile dragoness flushed crimson.

“Ah…”
She lowered her head, eyes fixed on his retreating figure.

Shangguan Qiuya sighed, turning to tap the dragoness’s head:
“How was it, Baizi?”

“Um… that…”

“Did you hear his inner thoughts?”

“The… the… Brother He Yimo… ever since sitting here, he’s been chatting silently with Baizi this whole time…”

Shangguan Qiuya: ?