My health recovery is incredibly fast.

But Xia Zuo cannot openly admit that he has discovered Erin's secret.

Because the identification technique cannot detect the type of bloodline power, it can only be used in conjunction with bloodline language to detect signs of bloodline awakening, such as abnormal physical data, residual non-elemental energy fluctuations, etc., so Xia Zuo changed his words in the secret message.

After sending the secret message, he remained silent for a short while, putting some pressure on Erin.

When Erin's legs crossed uneasily for the third time, Shazo said:

"Yani assigned you the task of escorting monster cubs, right?"

“Yes…yes, Your Excellency.” Erin lowered her head and nodded.

“Tell me the details of what happened. Who did you meet, what did you do? It would be best if you could give the exact names and times, as that would be more convincing,” Xia Zuo said.

Erin looked up, quickly glanced at the other person's hazy hood, unable to discern Shazo's emotions and attitude, then lowered her head again and said:

"About 11 days ago, Captain Yani told me that the garrison at Pisco Fortress had captured a group of monster cubs and needed my help to escort them to Masno City..."

Later, Erin recounted her experience, pausing several times to add details about the time and people, prompted by Xia Zuo.

After listening for more than 20 minutes, Xia Zuo couldn't help but sigh at how dangerous alchemy, magical knowledge, and bloodline power could be if they weren't used for the righteous path.

It could be said that the researchers involved in the case in Masno City suffered an undeserved misfortune.

He built a complete security system for his monster breeding room, including various emergency arrays to respond to all kinds of emergencies.

And a magical door that requires dynamic passwords and gestures to unlock.

The password and gestures were known only to the researcher.

But don't forget the existence of monsters.

Many monsters possess intelligence comparable to that of an 8-year-old human child, especially those monsters that are qualified to be raised in the monster breeding room; each one can remember the researchers' actions and words.

Although Erin did not explicitly state how she obtained the access key to the monster breeding room, Xia Zuo could easily piece together the events using her awakened bloodline power—the Beast Speaker.

In short, this lucky individual, who first became a mage and then awakened her bloodline power, perhaps out of pity, or perhaps influenced by the monster cub, learned from the monsters in the monster breeding room how to enter and exit the room and open the breeding tank, and then told the monster cub. Then, using magic and a special ability of a beast speaker, she remotely guided the monster cub to leave the kingdom and escape into the mountains west of the border.

There are many details in this imagined account of events that are worth examining.

For example, why didn't Erin release the other monsters from the monster breeding room? After releasing the monster cubs back into the mountains, what are Erin's plans for dealing with them?

Xia Zuo did not intend to delve into such questions.

Now, he only wants to find out one thing—whether Erin has any connection with the Church of the Otherworldly Demons.

“Erlin,” Xia Zuo’s voice was low, “You should know that in this incident, you are the person I suspect the most.”

Erin looked up at the other person nervously.

Xia Zuo continued:

“I have dealt with similar cases before, and I know that many things can be accomplished without the resident monk’s personal involvement. Ordinary people will volunteer to serve him.”

“I also know that no resident mage is a fool. Regardless of whether their actions have caused serious consequences, they will think of countermeasures, erase any clues, and prepare a flawless self-narration in advance.”

Xia Zuo looked directly at Erin, his gaze piercing through her fearful eyes and striking her very soul.

"Your account is irrefutable. If we assume that you orchestrated the escape of the monster cubs, then you would need some people to help you guide them out of the kingdom. No matter how careful they are, they will still leave some clues. And I am good at finding those clues."

A calm look flashed in Erin's eyes, which Xia Zuo caught precisely.

As expected, the Beast Speaker bloodline grants the ability to communicate remotely with animals and monsters. Erin could guide the monster cubs through the blockade on her own, without needing anyone's support.

Xia Zuo looked at Erin, who had suddenly become confident, and chuckled as he asked, "Do you want to know how I found the flaw?"

"Your Excellency, would you like to cast a wide-range detection spell?" A faint smile played on Erin's lips.

"No, that's too much trouble." Xia Zuo rubbed his hands together, deliberately displaying an eagerness. "I'll just read your memories directly, that's much more convenient, isn't it? Hehehe..."

"No! I won't accept this!" Erin shouted, her face instantly filled with terror. "What you're doing violates the academy's rules. This...this...this case doesn't even meet the criteria for memory access!"

"Heh." Xia Zuo chuckled again. "Whether a case meets the criteria for memory reading is not up to you. Preferential treatment is only for mages willing to cooperate with me, and you... tsk tsk tsk, my intuition tells me that your words are full of deception and self-righteous cleverness. You've been hiding a lot from me. And you're cautious enough to have likely already erased any traces of your accomplices. For a mage like you who is unwilling to cooperate, I prefer to read memories directly."

"I'm going to tell the mentor! You've violated the academy's rules! I'm even starting to doubt your true identity!" Erin took out a secret communication ring and quickly sent out a secret message.

Xia Zuo remained seated, completely unmoved.

Erin's violent reaction was within Xia Zuo's expectations.

The reason why Chief Beatrice intends to read memories is because this case may affect the overall plan of releasing monsters.

Erin said that reading memories violated the academy's rules because she, along with all the resident mages and researchers from the Western Continent, did not have access to plans such as releasing monsters, using sub-dimensional portals, and launching a counterattack against the alien lair in the starry sky.

Erin naturally had no idea that the negative impact of the monster cub escape case was enough to prompt the academy to use memory-reading techniques.

Chapter 20 Resistance

"Click, click..." Erin's secret communication ring made a sound.

She glanced at the message on the ring and exclaimed incredulously, "What?!"

"Did your mentor advise you to obediently accept the memory reading?" Xia Zuo chuckled smugly. He had already discussed it with Beatrice, and the mentors of the five resident mages would cooperate with this investigation.

“This is impossible…” Erin gripped the communication ring tightly, muttering to herself, “Why does this involve reading memories…”

Xia Zuo snapped his fingers to draw her attention. “Listen, Erin. Once I discover something in your memories that shouldn’t exist, you will be stripped of your status as an academy mage, lose your spiritual ocean, your spellcasting ability, and all knowledge related to alchemy and magic.”

Xia Zuo paused, then emphasized, "Now, you have one last chance to confess your crimes."

Erin kept her head down, making it impossible to see her face or expression.

After a minute of silence, she sighed and said, "Alright. I agree to have my memories read. I have nothing to confess; I've told the truth. As for the crime... such a fabricated thing, you'll find it doesn't exist after you've seen my memories."

Oh? Accepting memory reading? …Xia Zuo was confused.

This was not what he expected.

Shouldn't Erin have suggested that the respected and beloved Head of the House, Beatrice, conduct the ceremony to buy time and wait for a turning point?

Now, Erin was surprisingly calm, accepting Shazo's arrangement so readily.

Could it be that she has the ability to block her own memories and interfere with the results of reading those memories?

Xia Zuo had not learned the [Memory Reading] spell in the Enchantment category, and was unaware of its drawbacks and countermeasures.

But he was basically certain that Erin was hiding a deeper secret.

If the person investigating this case were an ordinary high-level mage, he would inevitably be troubled by this situation.

Ordinary high-level mages do not have detection spells and would have no idea that the person in front of them possesses bloodline power.

After reading Erin's memories, an ordinary high-level mage would likely find nothing, ultimately declaring Erin innocent and sending her down from the top floor to summon another resident mage.

But Xia Zuo won't do that.

He took out a triangular bottle of secret medicine from his alchemy pouch, handed it to him with silver sand, and said, "Drink it, dispel your elemental shell, and then enter into deep meditation."

Erin obediently complied, drinking the unfamiliar potion in one gulp.

After she closed her eyes on the silver sand sofa, Xia Zuo pointed at her and released a blood-element servant that burrowed into the tip of her nose.

The message that came to Xia Zuo's mind startled him slightly.

“So that’s how it is…” Xia Zuomo sighed, dismissed the Blood Element servants, and waved his hand to change the appearance of the Silver Sand Sofa where Erlin was sitting, using a sturdy Silver Sand cage to firmly bind Erlin.

Xia Zuo took out Beatrice's secret communication ring and sent a secret message:

[It has been confirmed that Erin has connections with the Church of the Otherworldly Demons, but she herself may not be aware of it. A Shadow Demon of at least cube-level rank is lurking within the kingdom.]

After sending the secret message and putting away the ring, Xia Zuo looked at Erin, who had fallen into a deep sleep after drinking the potent sleeping potion, and shook his head helplessly.

Just now, as Xia Zuo was planning to use his Blood Element servants to transform Erin into a blood relative in order to further probe her secrets, the cheat system sent him a message:

"The host is transforming Erin into a blood relative. The system has detected that the target has been marked with the Dark Chamber Mark by an unknown Shadow Fiend. Do you wish to remove the mark to continue transforming Erin into a blood relative? Note! Once the Dark Chamber Mark is removed, the owner of the mark will receive feedback."

A mage from an academy was marked with a secret chamber by a shadow demon... Isn't that a bit absurd?

The half-human mage, at least, wears a human shell, which is quite deceptive and makes it easy to gain the trust of humans.

The Shadow Fiend was completely black from head to toe, inside and out, like black smoke billowing from a chimney. With that appearance, how could he possibly fool the academy's mages?!

After thinking it over carefully, Xia Zuo felt that the Church of the Otherworldly Demons might have taken advantage of a loophole.

For a cube-level Shadow Fiend or a blood fiend-level hybrid mage, as long as a person knows their name, characteristics, and appearance, they will sense it and appear beside that person to tempt them into corruption.

Therefore, Xingye Academy has never taught its mages any basic knowledge about otherworldly demons.

So much so that Erin probably didn't even recognize the Shadow Demon... and just thought it was the pet of some shadow mage who hadn't been recruited by Starry Night Academy?

Xia Zuo shook his head with a wry smile.

He didn't know the specifics either; the events between Erin and the Shadow Fiend were merely his speculation.

Xia Zuo was somewhat surprised that the Shadow Demon had the ability to resist memory reading.

...

Beatrice didn't keep Xia Zuo waiting for long.

Five minutes after Erin fell into a deep sleep, a faint meteor streaked across the night sky, passed through Shazo's spy barrier, and landed on the floor of the top floor of the tower.

A figure dressed in a white hooded robe appeared in a brief burst of bright light.

“Shazo, this is my elemental puppet.” Beatrice’s voice came from under the hood, sounding like it was synthesized using a secret communication device, with a distinct metallic quality.

"Good evening, teacher." Xia Zuo bowed slightly.

After he recounted the events, the elemental golem nodded and said:

“I’ll take her back for a bloodline test first. As for the Shadow Fiend, I’ll send Dim with the tracking equipment. Once he arrives, you and he can work together to find this Shadow Fiend.”

"Okay, teacher." Xia Zuo temporarily suppressed his questions about reading memories and disbanded his silver sand cage.

The elemental puppet summoned a wind belt to bind Erin, and then cast a powerful [Sleep] spell. After ensuring that Erin would not wake up, the puppet and Erin turned into shooting stars and left the place.

Xia Zuo was fascinated by this spell that allowed him to fly at high speeds.

He watched the two shooting stars disappear into the eastern horizon, then used a communication spell to summon Yani.

"Your Excellency...where did Erin go?" As soon as Yani reached the top floor, she looked around in surprise.

Because Xia Zuo had set up a privacy barrier, what happened on the top floor did not alert the people downstairs.

"Don't ask questions you shouldn't ask." Xia Zuo waved his hand and summoned a silver sand sofa for the other person to sit down.