From Celestial Official to Great Celestial Venerable

Chapter 102 Investigating the Case Through Dreams
Seeing the old man in shackles with his hands bound below the hall, he sneered, showing no fear whatsoever of the Questioning Heart and Manifesting Heart Mirror.

Qin Chuan raised an eyebrow slightly.

Is he just overconfident, or is he ready to go all out and cause a major upheaval, not caring at all?
The thought flashed through my mind quickly.

Qin Chuan didn't think much of it. He looked at the official documents in his hand, which were all interrogation conditions compiled by the Taoist priests of Youyi Temple, and asked:
“Zhao Famo, after auditing your finances, we discovered that your personal bank account has received numerous unexplained deposits of spiritual energy over the past twenty years, totaling approximately 500,000 spiritual energy. Furthermore, the Yu Lei Sect's accounts contain multiple empty and bad debts, amounting to over 300,000 spiritual energy. Add to that your own embezzlement and misappropriation of approximately 200,000 spiritual energy… The total amount involved in the three major charges of bribery, embezzlement, and misappropriation alone reaches 1.07 million spiritual energy. But the problem is… the bank account we seized from your study, and the multiple bank accounts we found in your cave, only contained 70,000 spiritual energy… You need to explain where the remaining 1 million+ spiritual energy went.”

This is the most visible aspect of the case at present.

Zhao Famo's crimes of embezzlement and bribery were already very clear, but after his arrest, they discovered this most critical problem with just a simple review of the evidence and a financial audit.

Of the more than one million spirit coins involved in the case, only 70,000 spirit coins were seized and recovered.

Although 70,000 spirit yuan is a huge sum of money in this era, the most important question is where the real bulk of it went.

"Where did it go? It was spent, of course."

Zhao Famo said calmly:
"Why would I be greedy? It's because I spend money like water, and my fixed salary isn't enough for me."

"You spent a million spirit coins? How did you spend them? Where did they go?"

The interrogator standing next to Qin Chuan frowned and demanded:
“Even a stone falling into water can make a big splash. With one million spirit coins, you could buy more than two hundred cave dwellings in Jiuchuan. Why can’t we find many large transactions in your financial records? The largest transaction is that you once bought a few expensive Taoist robes worth several thousand spirit coins.”

This question was posed.

Everyone in the public trial hall, including Qin Chuan, was staring intently at Zhao Famo, waiting for his answer, while also paying attention to the mirror and the mirror of conscience hanging high in the hall.

Zhao Famo, under everyone's gaze, chuckled and said, "I've always been a big spender and never pay attention to money. I don't really know where I spend it. It's common for me to spend several thousand on a single meal when I treat someone to a meal."

After he answered, Qin Chuan noticed that the mirror did not fluctuate at all, indicating that Zhao Famo had not lied, while the other mirror showed some blurry images of eating in a restaurant.

You didn't lie?

Everyone was shocked.

The Taoist priest beside Qin Chuan shouted, "You're talking nonsense! You can't possibly eat and drink less than a million spirit essences!"

"Eating, drinking, whoring, gambling, and prostitution are all ways to squander money."

Zhao Famo stared at the young Taoist with a cold smile and asked:
"You've never had that much money, how do you know what rich people eat and drink?"

The Taoist priest was enraged, but also somewhat ashamed and angry, and shouted: "You are not ashamed, but proud of it?"

Zhao Famo turned his head away, seemingly unwilling to say more to the Taoist priest.

At this moment, Qin Chuan raised his hand to stop talking.

Seeing the spirit official's signal, the young Taoist realized that he had been provoked and immediately took a deep breath, handing over the questioning to Qin Chuan.

Qin Chuan raised his finger and pointed to the blurry images and figures appearing on the Mirror of the Heart:
"Who are these people you're having dinner with?"

Zhao Famo turned around and looked at the high-hanging Manifestation Mirror. Then he turned back and said indifferently, "How could I remember so clearly the drinking buddies I've made? Since the Manifestation Mirror doesn't reveal them very clearly, then it should be clear that I really can't remember them."

The others frowned; it certainly didn't seem like a lie.

The fact that the Mind-Revealing Mirror cannot clearly display the lake's surface is closely related to the other person's mindset and memories. After all, it's merely a treasure that provides feedback to the target, not the kind of treasure that can truly search the soul and mind. This method is already a form of punishment and is now strictly forbidden in ordinary cases because it would render the criminal mentally impaired. It's only considered as a severe punishment by celestial warriors or special departments when apprehending demons or opposing forces—it's effective and direct.

Next, Qin Chuan and everyone from Youyiguan asked a series of questions about the flow of money involved in Zhao Famo's case. The answers were either that they couldn't remember or that they should look it up themselves if they were capable.

Snapped!
Qin Chuan slapped his hand on the desk: "Do you think we can't find out just because you don't tell us?"

Zhao Famo looked at Qin Chuan with a hint of provocation on his face and said, "Young fellow Daoist, I must say, at your age, to become the deputy abbot is indeed a rare talent, one that is hard to find in decades. Unfortunately, there are some things in this Daoist temple that you can't just find out if you want to."

"You mean, someone is preventing us from investigating?" Qin Chuan asked, narrowing his eyes.

“I never said that,” Zhao Famo said, raising his hands.

"Qin Lingguan..." Upon hearing Qin Chuan's words, someone's expression changed slightly, and they whispered, "The Earth Official has given instructions to only investigate Zhao Famo's economic embezzlement case and not to drag it into other areas."

Qin Chuan raised an eyebrow slightly.

Zhao Famo is clearly a tough nut to crack; even the Questioning of Mind and the Manifestation of Mind have yielded no clues, so how can we continue the investigation?

"Let's end the interrogation here for today." After an hour, unable to extract any information, Qin Chuan stood up, took a deep breath, and said, "Take Zhao Famo back to the Heavenly Prison and keep him in custody."

Zhao Famo's white beard trembled slightly as he was being led past Qin Chuan. Qin Chuan then spoke:
"Did you erase some of your memories before we arrested you?"

Erasing one's own memories is a technique that involves the soul and can only be performed by Taoists at the Golden Core level. It is said that there are some private sects outside the heavens that also offer such services, specializing in cleaning, sealing, and erasing memories, which are used to treat diseases such as inner demons.

Zhao Famo was slightly taken aback. He glanced at Qin Chuan and smiled faintly, "What evidence do you have?"

A faint glint seemed to flicker in Qin Chuan's eyes, which met the other's gaze. He said, "We, the Immortal Inspection Division, will find it."

After that, he waved his hand.

"Take it down."

He had just left a dream in Zhao Famo's heart. Even if the other party might have had his memory erased by someone or some professional big shot, people are born with thoughts at every moment. From the words he subconsciously said during his fight with Yuan Qingbai, it can be seen that he still retains certain special memories. However, because they can't find the loose end, they can't get any information that can make the Heart Mirror reveal itself.

but……

In one's dreams, one is often in the safest and most comfortable state, where everything is an outward manifestation of one's inner self.

When the local official heard that the routine interrogation had yielded nothing, he had already expected it. But when he heard Qin Chuan ask, "Who is preventing the investigation?" he still sighed deeply. The young man... was too impetuous and hot-blooded.

The Earth Official wasn't particularly surprised by Qin Chuan's guess that the other party might have had their memories erased. As the saying goes, where there's a will, there's a way. In the world of Taoist arts and magic, all sorts of methods and techniques can be created to make people tell the truth. In such cases, many ways to protect secrets naturally emerge, such as erasing a part of one's own memories to ensure that the secret remains a secret forever.

Many fallen immortals have used this trick. It must be said that although this trick is simple, it is really effective.

However, the local official was unaware of this.

As night fell.

After the entire Jiuchuan County had entered a peaceful dreamland.

Qin Chuan, who was sitting cross-legged at home, had already transformed into a butterfly, fluttering in the mysterious dreamland and appearing in Zhao Famo's dream.

(End of this chapter)