The Interrogation and Revelation

“Name.”

“Bai Xia.”

“Did you bring your ID card?”

“Uh… no, I didn’t…”

Bai Xia, feeling a knot of anxiety, sat on a folding chair at the makeshift interrogation tent. Her fingers unconsciously twisted the hem of her shirt as she faced the officer’s questions.

“A student ID will do too,” the young officer asked, glancing up at her. As if realizing no one would idly carry a student ID, he added, “Or your ID number is fine; I can look it up here.”

Watching the several Awakened chatting not far away, Bai Xia’s throat unconsciously bobbed. Finally, with a sigh of resignation, she rattled off a string of numbers.

After all, my ID has always shown me with this male appearance, so there shouldn’t be any issues, she thought. This disguise is so effective that even facial recognition software can’t see through it. How could a mere police officer possibly detect it?

Indeed, her assessment proved correct. The officer questioning her scrutinized the identification details displayed on the system, then glanced at Bai Xia’s current appearance. Detecting no discrepancies, he inadvertently allowed Bai Xia to breathe a small sigh of relief.

As long as nothing goes wrong… if I can just make it through this interrogation, everything should be fine.

As this thought flitted through Bai Xia’s mind, she heard the officer suddenly display a surveillance video on his tablet. It was footage from the previous day, showing her using her abilities in the bar—kicking a man, door and all, directly into the bar counter.

“Do you know this young woman?” The officer turned the tablet towards Bai Xia, his previously relaxed demeanor replaced by a sharp gaze that instantly made her tense up.

No way… how did they get such clear footage from the bar?

The surveillance footage captured the young woman’s exquisite beauty with startling clarity; even the flicker of panic in her ruby-red eyes was distinctly visible. This made Bai Xia’s heart pound, for it was now undeniably clear that these officers were indeed after her.

“Officer, this… I…”

Just as Bai Xia was about to explain, the officer displayed another surveillance video on the tablet. This footage, timestamped for that very morning, showed the young woman slowly entering a self-built residential building, then stepping into one of the rented rooms—which happened to be Bai Xia’s own home!

Upon seeing this, Bai Xia could almost hear her own heart thumping wildly in her chest, and a cold sweat instantly drenched her back.

What do I do now… they’ve found out everything.

Bai Xia had clearly underestimated the efficiency of the Blade Keepers Agency. How long had it been since she returned home? Yet, they had already pinpointed her residence with uncanny precision. Even worse… had they already entered and searched her home?

My wardrobe contains both male and female clothes; if they’ve found that, I’ll truly have no way to explain myself.

“We want to know what your relationship is with this young woman,” the officer stated, his voice now imbued with a hint of authority as he looked at the nervous young man before him. Since they live together, how could this young man not know her? he mused. “Are you cohabiting, or perhaps siblings?”

“This…” Bai Xia’s throat tightened, her fingertips unconsciously twisting the hem of her shirt. Her mind raced, scrambling for any plausible excuse to buy herself some time.

But how could she explain this? No matter what she said, she’d have to account for her whereabouts. For now, it seemed her only option was to stall for time and devise a countermeasure.

“Officer, has she… committed a crime?” Bai Xia cautiously probed, attempting to steer the conversation in a different direction.

“Didn’t I just show you?” The officer replayed the surveillance footage from the bar, the scene of the white-haired young woman kicking open the private room door repeating. “Illegally using supernatural abilities to harm someone—isn’t that obvious enough?”

Observing the footage, the police, despite suspecting some underlying peculiarity, knew their hands were tied. They were, after all, simply following orders.

“If you know her whereabouts, it’s best to tell us now. There are many residents here, and it would be disastrous if anyone were harmed,” the officer said, tapping the table. His tone softened slightly. “We’re only trying to ensure the safety of the people living here.”

“…” Bai Xia opened her mouth, but no words came out.

But she couldn’t possibly turn herself in, could she…?

After much deliberation, Bai Xia decided to persist in her deception.

As long as she adamantly denied everything, and they couldn’t verify her true identity, these officers would be powerless to do anything.

“I… I don’t know,” Bai Xia said, shrugging with feigned helplessness. “I didn’t even know she had returned.”

“Really?” The officer stared at her suspiciously for a few seconds. Seeing that Bai Xia remained genuinely unperturbed, he eventually sighed in resignation, then picked up the walkie-talkie beside him. “Report, no useful information obtained.”

Watching the officers diligently carry out their duties, Bai Xia couldn’t help but feel a surge of injustice.

Truth be told, she was clearly the victim in this whole affair; her actions had been nothing more than self-defense. Yet, she had become the target of their investigation. She found it incredibly difficult to fathom what kind of power or background her opponents possessed to orchestrate such a situation.

Ultimately, ordinary people are just that—ordinary people, she reflected. When faced with the oppression of power, there’s simply no room to resist.

A sense of powerlessness inevitably welled up within Bai Xia at this thought.

Indeed, she thought bitterly, how can your ten years of arduous study compare to my family’s three generations in business? Even the Awakened, revered by ordinary people, are nothing more than playthings in the hands of those in power, aren’t they?

The atmosphere within the small tent instantly grew heavy. Facing the Blade Keepers Agency, now so close, she felt utterly at a loss. All she could do was listen to the noisy commotions outside and wait for the officers before her to tell her what to do next.

The worst that could happen, after all, is my identity being exposed, then being captured for experiments or outright execution, she mused. I’ve grown tired of living in constant fear like this.

“Sigh…” Bai Xia let out a soft sigh. To be honest, she felt her life would likely end here.

Like a prisoner awaiting judgment, Bai Xia bowed her head, her fingers unconsciously twisting the hem of her shirt, anticipating the coming verdict. Then, the police officer’s walkie-talkie crackled to life: “Understood. Take them in for now.”

Having overheard the entire exchange from outside the tent, Chu Feng deliberated for a moment before ultimately deciding to take the young man into custody. After all, extracting the truth didn’t always require drugs; sometimes, an Awakened with specific abilities was all that was needed.

Once we get back, we’ll just call in an Awakened with hypnotic abilities, and any information will be easily obtained.

“Sorry, student, but we’ll need you to come with us,” the officer said, rising and gesturing for Bai Xia to follow. With no other choice, Bai Xia complied and got into the police car.

Truth be told… from the moment she stepped into the police car, Bai Xia held little hope of surviving.

She still had a considerable amount of energy stored within her. While she possessed little combat prowess, if she unleashed it all, she figured she might just manage to hold her own against an Awakened…

Accompanying the powerlessness was a suffocating sense of despair. At this moment, she couldn’t help but recall the image of Mo Bai holding her in his arms during her despair the previous night…

“If only Brother Mo could save me one more time…” Bai Xia murmured.

The journey to the police station wasn’t particularly long. After about ten minutes, Bai Xia was led into a small room with a glass observation window, where a cold metal table made her shiver involuntarily.

Had there not been an absence of handcuffs or similar restraints on the table, Bai Xia would have almost believed she was being interrogated as a criminal… though, she supposed, she effectively was. She sat awkwardly on the chair, her eyes nervously scanning her surroundings.

If it comes to it… I suppose I’ll just have to break the window and escape.

After sitting for a short while, a man and a woman entered the room, and Bai Xia’s heart began to thump wildly. The silver sword emblem on their uniforms indicated that these two were not ordinary police officers, but rather investigators from the Blade Keepers Agency. As for whether they were Awakened, Bai Xia dared not even consider it at that moment.

“Name?” the female officer asked, opening her notebook.

“But… wasn’t that already asked before?” Bai Xia stammered nervously.

“It’s just protocol. Just answer truthfully,” the male officer beside her said, a hint of impatience in his voice. “Answer what’s asked.”

As Bai Xia underwent her interrogation, Chu Feng slowly approached the glass observation window of the small room, beginning to observe the young man’s questioning from behind the pane.

Truth be told… he was somewhat compelled by circumstances at this moment.

Had the young woman not vanished without a trace after entering the rented room, they wouldn’t have focused their investigation on this seemingly ordinary young man. Chu Feng frowned, his fingers unconsciously tapping the frame of the observation window as he listened intently to the conversation inside.

It was clear, however, that Bai Xia was consistently skirting around the crucial points in her answers. On any topic related to the young woman, she would either deflect or evade the question.

“This fellow… he clearly knows something,” Chu Feng muttered, his fingers drumming against the glass with increasing impatience.

“Boss, the person’s here. Shall we proceed?” A moment later, a team member approached with a man wearing gold-rimmed glasses. This man was an Awakened with hypnotic abilities, specially brought in from the Blade Keepers Agency.

Watching the young man inside continue to feign ignorance, Chu Feng could only nod in resignation. “Go ahead.”

As the man with glasses slowly pushed the door open, Bai Xia, who had been parrying the two officers’ questions, instantly sensed a dangerous aura that made the hairs on her body stand on end.

Danger!

Staring at the bespectacled man who had just entered, Bai Xia’s unease surged to its peak. While she couldn’t be certain if the previous two officers were Awakened, the man before her now was undeniably one!

What are they doing… if they can’t get answers, are they going to use force?

Should I expose myself and run…?

Facing a genuine Awakened, Bai Xia felt her entire body tremble. Her tightly clenched fingers were even slightly white at the knuckles. After all, she had no idea if the energy stored within her could truly sustain an escape from this police station.

“Relax, student…” Seemingly noticing Bai Xia’s tension, the bespectacled man slowly sat opposite her, pushing up his gold-rimmed glasses. For a fleeting moment, unnoticed by Bai Xia, a strange blue light glinted in the lenses. “Let’s just have a simple chat…”

As Bai Xia looked into the bespectacled man’s eyes, a powerful wave of dizziness instantly washed over her, and her vision suddenly blurred. Even though she tried to stay conscious by biting the tip of her tongue, her awareness began to sink uncontrollably…

No good, this is… a supernatural ability…

“Look into my eyes.”

A deep voice, as if from a great distance, reached her. Bai Xia’s dark pupils slowly began to unfocus, losing their clarity. Then, in the very next instant, the black within her irises dissolved, and a strange, demonic crimson suddenly emerged!

“Boom—!”

In that split second, even Chu Feng, a Fourth-Tier Awakened, couldn’t react in time. The observation window before him shattered as the bespectacled man was hurled through it, his body slamming directly into the wall behind. Even the two initial officers were knocked off their feet by an invisible surge of power.

Meanwhile, in the interrogation room, the dark-haired young man was replaced by a petite white figure. The young woman’s snow-white hair stirred without a breeze, dark red energy fluctuations swirled around her, and her blood-red pupils fixed on Chu Feng, as if she intended to devour him whole.

Regaining his senses from his brief stupor, Chu Feng naturally recognized the white-haired young woman as the Awakened from the surveillance footage who had kicked open the private room door!

Crucially, they had recently discovered that this young woman possessed supernatural abilities that had not yet been registered with the Blade Keepers Agency. She had not only used her powers to harm someone and illegally possessed supernatural abilities, but now she was also assaulting an officer!

“Take her down!”