When the morning came, Lin Fei had already prepared breakfast, donned formal attire, and energetically sent the reluctant Xueyin to the Grace Class. It felt a bit like herding a playful piglet back into its pen; until she formally apprenticed, no classes should be missed even for a single day.

Li Xin woke up a bit later, having spent quite some time going over the details last night. After breakfast, he called for a carriage at the street corner to head to Shadow Owl, since pay day was coming up, it wouldn’t hurt to spend today’s money.

The carriage arrived at Shadow Owl. Li Xin paid the fare, noticing that the coachman became noticeably more polite. Li Xin saw Meng Po at the entrance; this time, there were no sugared pastries present.

Meng Po put down her knitting. "Li Yinxiao, everything’s arranged. I took the liberty to put myself first."

Li Xin nodded. "Sister Meng, it’s just right to first get to know your basic situation."

The two headed to the meeting room. Li Xin smiled, "I’ve read through most of the dossier. On one hand, I want to understand everyone’s first-hand opinion on the case; on the other, I want to know about everyone’s specialties for easier work collaboration in the future."

"That’s understandable. If needed, I can apply to pull personnel files from Shadow Owl," Meng Po said.

Li Xin waved his hand. "No intention to invade privacy, just share what you can."

The power over personnel was Jiang Wu’s domain; having just integrated, Li Xin didn’t want to make waves.

"My real name is Meng Jingye, but alas, everyone likes to call me Meng Po. I have been on the path of a Life Master for decades; it’s also a retro path. In the ancient epochs, it was a rather splendid path, but entering the Sixth Epoch, fate-related deities were not among the seven gods, hence the dispersal, attaching to other paths. Law Enforcer is the choice of most; mainstream remains Life Masters and Prophets. The advantage of Life Masters is determining the past, though they can also foresee some future, just not as accurately as Prophets. Prophets can only determine the future, not retrace the past, but their advantage is they can determine themselves, while we Life Masters can only determine others." This time, Meng Po spoke very thoroughly, with a sense of telling everything she knew.

"I’m quite interested in Life Masters and Prophets, but it seems there’s not much record of the role of Life Masters in the dossier?" Li Xin questioned curiously.

"Li Yinxiao, professions without a deity at the end of their path are merely struggling to survive; power continuously diminishes. Our current range and accuracy of determination are declining, and we’re subjected to various interferences. Meanwhile, the danger of backlash from using our power is also increasing," Meng Po said helplessly. "I am actually only over forty."

"Does using the ability deplete life?" Li Xin asked.

Meng Po nodded. "When young, without restraint and sans support from the Divine Relic, there was no visible change early on, but aging suddenly descends at a certain junction."

Meng Po smiled, yet Li Xin could still see the desolation within, which was also the cost of Hidden Powers.

"How can it be avoided?" Li Xin recalled previous recklessness and treating fortune-telling as practice, lucky not to have succumbed.

"Reverence, caution," Meng Po advised. "Don’t determine things beyond your capacity."

"Are there any solutions?" Li Xin inquired.

"Divine Relics with such authority are naturally the best; if not, strict adherence to Life Master tenets is required. But Divine Relics, if they exist, they exist; without them, they won’t come to be again. I’ve heard a substitute appears on the Black Market, with a similar effect," Meng Po mentioned.

"Fake Embryo?" Li Xin asked.

"Li Yinxiao, you’ve heard of it, calling it a Fake Embryo is apt, yet its effect is truly remarkable. When it first appeared, it was quite affordable, but now it’s at a sky-high price," Meng Po laughed bitterly.

"Are there Night Patrol using it too?"

"Certainly, not just the Night Patrol. Anyone who cultivates Hidden Power to a certain extent will need it. It’s either don’t tread this path, or once embarked, who can resist? I have missed the chance; using Fake Embryo has age limitations, otherwise, I would try every method to obtain it," Meng Po declared.

Li Xin knew the potency of this thing but didn’t expect it had spread so widely; he recalled Kathy’s words, realizing this matter involved too much.

"What do you think of the Little Skinned case?" Li Xin redirected to the main topic.

Meng Po straightened up, "I’ve been following this case the longest, ever since it was reported eight years ago; I’ve made judgments during this time. I tend to believe the killer is a retro Mask Maker, who worships the Old God Trick-Faced King. The Trick-Faced King loves beautiful masks. The current victims vary in wealth, status, and age, yet most have good complexions. I’ve investigated related Trick-Faced King dossiers, showing his love for beauty isn’t limited to youth. Adults, children, elderly—if it’s beautiful, he likes it, having a collector’s penchant."

Li Xin nodded; this was an extra gain. Some dossiers had photos, and indeed, all had fine features. "This commonality is well noticed."

Hearing this, Meng Po was pleased. "I feel the killer involves multiple people, committing premeditated crimes, not done by one person."

"How so? Is there evidence?"

"Back then, the case was huge, I aspired to make achievements, so I forcefully judged. At that time, the conditions and atmosphere were at quite a peak; I felt a strong grasp," Meng Po described.

"I didn’t see this confirmed in the dossier."

Meng Po grimaced, "Life Master’s judgment isn’t one-hundred-percent accurate. Often, it’s intuitive, with possibilities for variables. Many factors can cause ambiguity. Whether the case has one killer, multiple, or an organization, upper management wants the culprits caught."

Li Xin nodded. "Anything else?"

"That’s about it, the rest is in the dossier. As the case dragged on, other opportunistic situations emerged, likely mixed with other Mask Makers; human skin is always the best material for a Mask Maker," Meng Po mentioned.

"Thank you, Sister Meng. What you shared today has been very helpful to me."

"It’s nothing, Li Yinxiao. Can the next person be Snake Skin? I’ve scheduled Snake Skin and Broken Gong for this morning, with Drunkard later in the afternoon, and Old Tuo later," Meng Po replied. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"Sure." Li Xin nodded. "Let Snake Skin come in after ten minutes."

"Alright." Meng Po stood up to leave, adding at the door, "Snake Skin’s original name is Lu Shuimo; it’s the ink from ink painting, transferred from the White Dove."

Snake Skin? Lu Shuimo? Such artistry?

Li Xin nodded, and Meng Po closed the door. Once Meng Po was gone, Li Xin rolled the dice; it could be used twice a day, and this time was valuable.

The determination was for Meng Po; from the recent conversation, Li Xin had thought of an indirect judgment method, targeting Meng Po’s claim that the killer involved multiple perpetrators, right after the conversation ended.

The dice gave a precise eight-point judgment.

Which meant that Meng Po’s determination was correct, the killer involved multiple perpetrators.