Once, I wanted to be a good person

Meanwhile.

Bai Zhi, guided by Little You, also arrived at Fang Ze's office.

Possibly because she finally didn't have to deal with official business and could peacefully do what she enjoyed, Bai Zhi's mood had been very good these past few days. When she arrived at Fang Ze's office, she always had a faint smile on her face.

Until......

"The case is cracked."

Upon hearing Fang Ze's words, which were as calm as a light breeze, Bai Zhi froze for a moment, almost thinking Fang Ze had said something as trivial as "I had breakfast this morning."

But then she realized: for Fang Ze, solving cases seemed easier than eating a meal! Could it be that he had solved the case that had troubled the entire Bai family for so long in just a few days?

Thinking this, she gazed at Fang Ze with her beautiful eyes and couldn't help asking, "Has the person been found?"

Fang Ze looked at her and shook his head, "No, not quite. That pair of nobles, the mother and child, are most likely no longer among the living, however... I found the real culprit."

At Fang Ze's words, Bai Zhi felt a jolt in her heart, and her body trembled slightly. She tried her best to control her emotions and attempted to keep her tone steady, "Who is it...?"

Despite Bai Zhi's efforts to conceal her feelings, Fang Ze still keenly sensed the unrest in the heart of the girl before him.

However, the conversation had progressed to this point, so it definitely wouldn't be appropriate to stop now. Therefore, Fang Ze slowly revealed the answer, "Dahei Jialuo."

As he spoke, he briefly went over the information about Dahei Jialuo, as well as about the case concerning the noble mother and son.

The gist of it was, of course: though the mother and son were nobles, their bloodline was very possibly derived from Dahei Jialuo, which was why they were used as sacrifice for the descent of the Demigod.

Upon hearing Fang Ze's words, Bai Zhi's first reaction was disbelief. She said, "Impossible!

She continued, hastily speaking, "I didn't think you would solve the case so quickly, so there wasn't time to tell you more details about the case."

"In fact, they met with disaster because someone wanted to steal the noble bloodline and ambushed them; it has nothing to do with any Demigod."

Fang Ze paused for a second upon hearing Bai Zhi's words, then couldn't help asking, "You know more details about this case?"

Seeing Fang Ze asking, Bai Zhi hurriedly shared the inside story of the case and the old rumors she hadn't yet had time to tell Fang Ze, telling him everything in detail.

After listening to her, Fang Ze thought quietly for a while before asking, "Have you ever considered that the news about extracting the noble bloodline might very well have been deliberately released by Dahei Jialuo's henchmen or Believers?"

"Their purpose may be to confuse the entire situation and conceal their true intentions."

Saying this, Fang Ze pointed at himself, then at Bai Zhi, and said, "The two of us are the best examples, aren't we?"

"Because you didn't share this inside story with me ahead of time,"

"So I investigated according to the normal pattern of a disappearance case, and wasn't led astray, quickly arriving at the truth."

"But you... over these years, because you have always followed the predetermined direction to look for clues, you missed the truth by a hair's breadth."

Hearing Fang Ze's words, Bai Zhi stood frozen on the spot, her eyes slowly becoming hollow.

Because... she felt that what Fang Ze said made sense. What one hears as an inside story might not be so, and could very likely be a misdirection spread intentionally by someone.

Only... that inside story, that drama, and that method of extracting noble bloodline were just too convincing and managed to misguide everyone's direction in the investigation.

Now that she thought about it, everything indeed seemed too coincidental.

With these thoughts, Bai Zhi couldn't help feeling an onset of sorrow...

So... had her mother and brother really... just gone like that?

Although she knew that after so many years, the likelihood that the two of them were still alive was less than 1%, but... over these years, that 1% chance was the only belief sustaining Bai Zhi.

And now...

This belief had crumbled.

In that instant, Bai Zhi's eyes, looking blankly ahead, grew redder and redder, and then, big tears began to well up in her eyes and slowly slide down...

Fang Ze, who had been continuing to organize the case details just now, suddenly felt that the atmosphere in the room was a bit off, so he quickly looked up and was immediately met with the sight of Bai Zhi, who was now a tearful mess.

He was momentarily stunned. Then, he quickly surmised the truth, "That pair of noble mother and son, they were your... relatives?"

Bai Zhi fell silent for a moment, then silently nodded her head.

The room fell quiet...

After a while, "They were my biological mother and my full brother. However, their bloodline was different from mine, inherited from my mother's family."

Hearing Bai Zhi's words, Fang Ze was stunned for a moment, then enlightenment dawned on him. He felt as if everything had suddenly connected...

The atmosphere in the room, for a time, fell silent.

Time seemed to stop at that moment, moving unbearably slowly and oppressively...

Looking at Bai Zhi, her eyes swollen red and crying as if her heart would break, Fang Ze hesitated for a moment before standing up, walking over, and gently embracing her in his arms.

Possibly not expecting Fang Ze to suddenly make such an intimate gesture, Bai Zhi's body noticeably tensed up, but after a moment, she slowly relaxed.

Leaning on Fang Ze, she couldn't be sure if it was an illusion, but Bai Zhi always felt as if there was a comforting, soothing magic power emanating from Fang Ze.

That magic power slowly eased the pain in her heart and seemed to provide a fulcrum for her recently shattered belief...