Upon hearing Qiu Tu's words, the girl became even more anxious. She slapped the table and shouted, "Who are you talking about! Who are you talking about!"
"How could I, Shen Lingshuang, possibly lie!"
Qiu Tu gave the girl a suspicious look. Although he wasn't adept at interrogation, he... was good at deceiving others.
To a master of deception like him, the girl's expressions and actions were full of flaws.
Firstly, the girl was habitually maintaining eye contact with him. This is a common mistake among novice liars: they mistakenly believe that it can enhance credibility.
Secondly, the girl repeated certain pieces of information several times, such as "Shen Yuzhou" and "Who are you talking about," which actually indicated a guilty conscience.
Lastly, yelling and exaggeratedly slamming the table were signs of lacking confidence and trying to bluff.
So... was this girl lying?
Thinking this, Qiu Tu slowly retracted the smile from his face and quietly watched the girl.
At first, the girl continued to bluff, but gradually, her gaze became more and more unfocused, until she finally lowered her head and simply began to eat her vegetables.
Seeing this, Qiu Tu reached out to pull the table aside. The girl, holding her chopsticks, exclaimed, "Hey? Hey? Hey? What are you doing!"
Qiu Tu, with a cold face, pointed at the black uniform he wore and asked in a deep voice, "Do you know which department this uniform belongs to?"
The girl looked puzzled.
Qiu Tu stated emphatically, "The Political Department!"
After saying that, he asked again, "Do you know what the Political Department does?"
The girl shook her head in confusion.
Qiu Tu said, "Responsible for espionage, counter-espionage, internal supervision, and various other dark affairs!"
Then, he continued to ask, "Do you know what methods we use to interrogate prisoners?"
The girl's attitude softened considerably. She hunched her shoulders and shook her head pitifully.
Qiu Tu took out a stack of slightly blurred color photos from his pocket and slapped them heavily into the girl's hands.
The girl took the photos, wanting to look, but found it inconvenient while still holding chopsticks. Hesitating for a moment, she put the chopsticks in her mouth and flipped through the photos.
These photos, which Qiu Tu had specifically gone to the Political Department to request that afternoon, were all of torture scenes or corpses that had died horrifically.
Even Qiu Tu felt horrified looking at the photos, let alone a girl like Shen Lingshuang.
So after just seeing two pictures, her little face turned deathly pale, and her eyes began to glaze over.
Seeing this, Qiu Tu asked knowingly, "Why are you trembling?"
Shen Lingshuang stuttered, "Me, where am I trembling?"
By the end, her teeth were chattering uncontrollably.
Seeing this, Qiu Tu secretly laughed to himself: Weakling, thought you were so tough, but a little scare and you cower as well.
Realizing the time was right, he didn't continue to press the girl. Instead, while reaching out to take the photos back, he comforted her, "Don't worry, as long as you behave, I won't hurt you."
"You wouldn't want to experience something like this, would you?"
Shen Lingshuang quickly shook her head. Perhaps for fear that Qiu Tu wouldn't believe her, she shook it as if it were a rattle drum.
Seeing this, Qiu Tu nodded with satisfaction, then began a new round of questioning, "Now, tell me, who are you really? How did you come to Xinjie City?"
Shen Lingshuang looked at Qiu Tu pitifully, "I... I escaped from the Planning Area of the Third Sanctuary. My family suddenly faced a disaster, and I had no choice but to seek refuge in the Eighth Sanctuary..."
Qiu Tu took out a notebook and casually started to record the interrogation, "Don't be so vague, give me specifics. Which Planning Area of the Third Sanctuary?"
Shen Lingshuang shrank back, "The Seventh District."
Qiu Tu wrote it down, then asked further, "How did you become a Pharmacist?"
Shen Lingshuang timidly said, "It's a family heritage..."
"Family heritage?" Qiu Tu asked with curiosity.
Shen Lingshuang nodded, "My family has a long history of medical practice, so I learned to concoct potions from a young age, and gradually I became proficient."
Qiu Tu frowned as he looked at her, "Is the recipe for the Cataclysmic Potion also passed down from your family?"
Shen Lingshuang gave Qiu Tu a surprised glance, "You actually know about the Cataclysmic Potion?"
Qiu Tu: ....
"How fresh, don't you know why you were arrested?"
Shen Lingshuang blinked, saying with a puzzled face, "Wasn't I arrested for selling fake potions?"
Qiu Tu: ?
The two exchanged perplexed looks.
After a moment, Qiu Tu tapped on his notebook, saying sternly, "Stop joking around!"
"Do you think I'm playing with you!"
"Let me tell you, this is an interrogation, an interrogation!"
Having said that, he glared viciously at the girl and switched his questioning approach, "I'm asking you, can you make the Cataclysmic Potion?"
Shen Lingshuang shrank her head in, saying cautiously, "I can only make inferior quality Cataclysmic Potions."
"But as for the specific effects, I really don't know...."
She said softly, "The potions I make have always been odd. They always have some strange effects."
"For instance, when my father had a fever, I made him a fever-reducing potion according to the recipe."
"His fever indeed subsided, but he also became completely cold to the touch....."
Qiu Tu: ???
"Another time, I was testing a new potion and found out it was poisonous; I could only take Antidotes."
"But after eating several Antidotes without effect, I had no choice but to retch green foam while gnawing on Detoxifying Herbs."
"I chewed through all the Detoxifying Herbs stored at home until my whole face turned green before I was cured...."
Qiu Tu: ???
He felt like three black lines were hanging from his forehead.
Just what kind of creature was this girl in front of him?
Was she joking, or was she serious?
If she was serious... then did she dare to take her own Cataclysmic Potions?
Meanwhile, perhaps noticing the grim look on Qiu Tu's face, Shen Lingshuang tilted her head, looking up at Qiu Tu with curiosity and asked, "Why aren't you laughing anymore? Are you naturally disinclined to smile?"
As she spoke, a mischievous cleverness flashed in her eyes.
Qiu Tu: ???!
In that instant, Qiu Tu confirmed something: The girl was acting! From the moment she saw the photo, she had been putting on a show, including the stories she told later to tease him!
This was completely outrageous!
Thinking this, Qiu Tu could no longer suppress his anger. He directly pulled the girl up and pushed her into the chair.
Then he reached behind his back and pulled out his dagger, intending to give Shen Lingshuang a harsh lesson and intimidate her!
After all, whether it was the fraud rings of his previous life or the Political Department of this world, there were many cruel and painful punishments that inflicted harm without causing disability!
But just as his hand touched the hilt of the dagger, he suddenly remembered the girl's identity shrouded in mystery. In that moment, he calmed down.
He looked at Shen Lingshuang fiercely, torn between letting her go and carrying out the punishment. Caught in his dilemma, his gaze fell on the girl's slender waist and perky buttocks as she leaned over the table.
The next second, his hand came down hard!
"Slap!" "Slap!" "Slap!"