Chapter 111: Reversal, Reversal, and Reversal Again

These words shocked everyone at the table.

No one expected the dead short-haired girl to have any connection to the people from Rotten Vegetable Village.

For a moment, the atmosphere instantly grew oppressive, the air falling dead silent.

But Yan Jing quickly smiled.

'I imagine, with so many guests sitting here, Sun-Swallowing Tower isn't planning to dictate the verdict all on its own.'

'Of course not.'

The woman spoke sternly.

'We have substantial evidence. But for now, please come with me.'

'Let's go, then.'

Old Master Liu picked up a toothpick from the table, clamped it between his teeth, and said casually, 'They invited us, so we can't exactly deny them the face.'

'Let's go.'

Chen Nian stood up, his eyes calm.

'Miss... Miss Rose... you guys... you guys eat first...'

Mantou comforted a visibly unsettled Rose before standing up as well.

'Let's go, then.'

Yan Jing said with a smile.

By now, the guests in the main reception hall had stopped talking, turning their eyes toward Yan Jing's group.

The group soon arrived at the main table.

'You're the murderers?'

Giant Mouth asked.

Only when he stepped close did Yan Jing realize just how loud its voice was. It practically ravaged his eardrums, accompanied by a thick, putrid stench.

'Not yet. We're merely suspected.'

Yan Jing said softly.

Giant Mouth blinked. The man in front of him gave off a very different feeling.

No, it wasn't just him.

In fact, all four of the people who had walked up gave off an unusual vibe.

If they were ordinary inner world residents, they would be cowering and trembling in front of him, or at least showing some trace of fear.

But of the group standing before him, aside from the young girl whose eyes revealed a hint of terror, the rest were completely calm.

'Very well. Let's hear why you were brought here.'

Giant Mouth said.

Soon, the woman with the double chin began her statement:

'This fried rice was put through Anomalous Energy Detection, and we found traces of poison on it.'

'And on the entire main table, this is the only fried rice dish. According to the banquet menu, we've confirmed this dish was prepared by Yi Ji and the others from Rotten Vegetable Village.'

With that, she placed a plate of fried rice in front of Giant Mouth.

Giant Mouth looked at the fried rice. He sniffed it first, then scooped up half the rice with his tongue, pulling it into his mouth. He nodded.

'There is indeed poison residue.'

Seeing this, the surrounding guests broke into murmurs.

With Giant Mouth confirming it, the presence of the poison was basically an established fact.

Then, the double-chinned woman spoke again.

'Next, we found quite a few eyewitnesses who saw all four of them enter the kitchen to cook. And the dish they cooked was precisely fried rice.'

As she finished speaking, several people wearing aprons were brought over. They all spoke up, confirming that Yan Jing and his group had indeed entered the kitchen.

Then, the woman continued.

'Finally, we investigated the waiter who handled this fried rice between the time it left the kitchen and arrived at the table.'

'We found that he hasn't left the Tower in three days.'

'We also examined him and verified he wasn't under any form of mental manipulation. After investigating his social connections, we ruled out the possibility of him obtaining the poison from anyone else.'

At that, a trembling waiter stepped up to Giant Mouth and stammered, 'N-No, it wasn't me, Mr. Giant Mouth. It really wasn't me.'

'It was him!'

'He was the one who put the plate of fried rice on the serving window!'

As he spoke, the waiter pointed at Yan Jing.

At this, every gaze in the room converged entirely on Yan Jing and his companions.

The evidence was now overwhelmingly solid. If Yan Jing didn't refute it, it would completely cement his guilt as the murderer.

But just as everyone waited for Yan Jing to speak, a faint sob suddenly rang out.

Everyone looked over and saw that it was actually Yu Xiran, her head buried as she wept by the dining table.

Tears fell drop by drop onto the table.

Beside her, the short-haired girl, Yu Ling, was patting her shoulder, whispering comfort into her ear.

In the quiet main reception hall, the sobbing grew louder and louder.

Suddenly, Yu Xiran raised her head and looked at Yan Jing, her beautiful eyes filled with fury and tears.

'It was you!!'

'It was you!!!'

'I saw it this afternoon! It was you guys! You kept staring at Yu'er, and you kept using tricks to mess with her!'

With that, she abruptly stood up and lunged at Yan Jing.

Even Giant Mouth hadn't anticipated this scene.

But his eyes flickered. Not only did he choose not to stop her, he even held back a Sun-Swallowing Tower executive who wanted to intervene, allowing Yu Xiran to throw herself onto Yan Jing.

She grabbed his arm and shook it violently.

As she shook him, she wailed loudly, 'Why... why would you do this to us...'

'Aunt Yu Mu... Brother Yu Mo... they already knew they were wrong...'

'Why... why did it have to be Yu'er now too...'

'Speak... say something!!!'

Eventually, seemingly exhausted from shouting, she slumped right against Yan Jing's shoulder, her sobs gradually quieting down.

She passed out completely.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, no one had expected such a dramatic scene to unfold.

As for Yan Jing, he had maintained a smile from beginning to end, his hands raised high to show he hadn't touched Yu Xiran.

After Yu Xiran fainted by his ear, the smile on his face grew even more radiant.

To outsiders, it seemed as if he had gone mad. That smile didn't just carry mockery toward the unconscious Yu Xiran; it brimmed with smug satisfaction over his crime.

But only Yan Jing himself knew what he was smiling about.

Just a moment ago, Yu Xiran had whispered into his ear:

'Long time no see, Ah Ji.'

That voice seemed different from before, so it hadn't triggered the memories in his mind. But that tone of voice was already etched into the very DNA of this body, telling him that the woman from its memories had returned.

'Do you have anything else to say?'

Giant Mouth had someone pull the unconscious Yu Xiran away, then spoke to Yan Jing in a deep voice.

'I do have a few things.'

Yan Jing smiled.

'Mr. Giant Mouth, you said we entered the kitchen. We admit that.'

'You said we were the ones responsible for making the fried rice this time. We admit that too.'

'You said this waiter saw me put the plate on the table. We admit that as well.'

'However, there is one point we do not admit.'

Saying this, he pointed a finger at the plate in Giant Mouth's hand and smiled, 'And that is, we didn't make this fried rice.'

An uproar broke out.

At his words, the main reception hall exploded into chaos.

No one could have imagined that under these circumstances, Yan Jing would actually deny making the fried rice.

Didn't that mean Yan Jing and his group had gone into the kitchen, bustled around for a while, and then handed someone else's fried rice to the waiter?!

Wasn't that total nonsense?!

Who would do such a thing unless they were lunatics?!!

'Someone just said they saw you cooking the fried rice!'

Giant Mouth said evenly.

'We did make fried rice.'

Yan Jing nodded.

'Then where is the rice?'

Giant Mouth stared intently into Yan Jing's eyes.

Yan Jing then turned his head and called out loudly to Rose, 'Xiao Mei, bring that gift from the table over! Yes, the gift I brought for you all!'

Hearing this, Rose was a bit confused, but she picked up the box from the center of the wooden table and brought it over.

Looking at the Tower's ruler right in front of her, Rose swallowed hard. She was terrified, her body trembling uncontrollably.

Yan Jing smiled.

'Xiao Mei, open the box.'

Rose was even more bewildered. But seeing everyone's eyes fixed on her, she reached out with trembling hands and opened the box.

At the exact moment the box was opened.

A strange, savory aroma drifted through the main reception hall.

This fragrance seemed perfectly suited to the Domain of Sun-Swallowing Tower. It drifted incredibly far. The crowd, who were already mostly full, swallowed their saliva upon smelling it. To their surprise, they felt hungry all over again.

Even Giant Mouth had his eyes glued to the box of fried rice in front of him, completely unable to look away.

'I must taste this.'

Giant Mouth said slowly.

Yan Jing scooped out a third of the large box of fried rice and offered it to Giant Mouth.

Giant Mouth took the fried rice, his eyes gleaming. Then, he tossed the entire plate, rice and all, right into that massive mouth.

Then, he closed his eyes.

A few seconds later, under everyone's intense gaze, he opened his eyes, smacked his lips, and uttered two words:

'Great rice!!!'

The crowd was shocked again. What did this mean?! Could it be that the man in front of them really wasn't the murderer?!!

Right at this moment, Yan Jing handed over several photographs and told Giant Mouth that the people in the photos could testify to the exact appearance and details of the fried rice they had made—because Yan Jing had given them all a taste.

They could verify it.

Immediately following that, before giving Giant Mouth a chance to question him, Yan Jing smiled and said, 'Next, Mr. Giant Mouth, I have a question.'

'Why is it that with so many people at the main table, this fried rice was eaten exclusively by that girl named Yu Yu'er?'

As his words faded.

The entire hall went completely silent.

Right, why was that?