Chapter 70 : Ten Days

“Seems like you are enjoying your time here," Yan said while looking at Tan Suzi, who leaned back against the wall and folded her arms, though the movement carried more exhaustion than defiance.

“Yes, very. I love it here.” Tan Suzi replied.

Yan ignored the remark and asked “How did you end up here?”.

Tan Suzi let out a slow breath and rubbed the side of her forehead.

“I was chasing a baby like you,” she said at last.

Hearing her, Yan glared with wide eyes.

“ A bearded baby, he stole silver from a child near the market.” Her voice carried irritation, as if the whole situation had become more troublesome than the original crime.

“So I followed him,” she continued. “He ran through half the street before slipping into one of those narrow alleys.”

"And?”, Yan tilted his head slightly.

“When we came out the other side,” Tan Suzi said, “the officers were already there, and they arrested him immediately.”

Yan’s gaze remained steady.

“And what about you?”

Tan Suzi gave a dry laugh.

“They arrested me too and thought I was his accomplice.”

She gestured faintly around the room.

Stolen from NovelFire, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“Expected,” Yan replied and looked somewhere else.

Tan Suzi glared back at him, “I explained the situation but they said they’d investigate.”

Her tone flattened.

“Until then, they asked me to stay here.”

Tan Suzi looked back at him.

“And what about you, Mr. Rock?”

Yan took a slow breath.

“Nothing serious.”

“I was investigating the berserkers while thinking you had turned into one of them.”

Tan Suzi stared at him.

“You’re joking.”

Yan remained silent.

“Seems like your puny brain thought that I would be with them. And why would I be with those mindless idiots?” she muttered.

Yan ignored the comment. Instead, he asked calmly, “The man you chased… was he carrying anything?”

Tan Suzi frowned slightly as she thought.

“Yes.”

“What?”

“A bottle.”

Yan’s attention sharpened, “What kind?”

“A common wine bottle.”

Yan nodded slowly.

Tan Suzi noticed his expression and asked, “What’s with the bottle?”

Yan lifted the bottle he had brought earlier. A faint green stain clung to the inside of the glass.

“The green liquid,” he said.

“I found traces of it in some of these bottles.”

Tan Suzi’s posture was stiffened, “You think…”

Yan spoke evenly.

“The berserkers.”

“I believe these bottles are responsible for creating them.”

“No, this should not be happening.”, Tan Suzi shook her head immediately.

Yan looked at her

“That’s wrong.”

There was tension in her voice now, something close to unease.

Yan noticed and asked, “What happened?”

Tan Suzi pressed her fingers against her temple.

“The green liquid…” she began slowly, “should never be used on mortals.”

Yan listened.

“Mortals either don’t have spiritual lines,” she continued, “or they haven’t begun cultivation yet.”

She looked directly at him.

“That liquid was never meant for them.”

Yan felt a small ripple of surprise beneath his calm expression, as he had once consumed that same green liquid every day back in the sect like a drink.

Tan Suzi lowered her voice, “If a mortal drinks it…”

She hesitated.

“They die.”

Tan Suzi continued quietly, “Not immediately.”

“The liquid burns through their body slowly.”

Her gaze drifted toward the iron gate.

“They turn violent first.”

“Like the berserkers.”

The oil lamp flickered against the wall as Tan Suzi looked back at him.

“And after that…”

Her voice tightened slightly.

“They all die.”

After a moment of silence, Yan finally asked, “How long will it take?”

Tan Suzi swallowed.

“…Ten days.”

The room fell silent again.