The captain's reaction was the last straw that broke the camel's back, as after hearing his words Li Peng was utterly shocked. No longer could he keep his composure as sweat started forming on his back and forehead.
"This… This, what kind of poison is this?" Li Peng questioned.
Seeing that the opportunity had appeared, Hei Wan decide to strike the iron while it was hot.
"My best guess is that it's a poison called the memory confounding powder. It has a delayed effect and all that are affected by it enter a daze and lose their memory of around an hour." Hei Wan answered.
The shocked expression was still there on Li Peng's face as he comprehended Hei Wan's words.
"Such a poison exists? And it can even affect cultivators. Truly fearsome!" Li Peng uttered.
"You need to leave now. We won't be affected by the poison as our faces are covered, but you will be affected as well soon." Hei Wan spoke.
"What should I do then? Even if I leave now won't I forget the events of the past one hour." Li Peng spoke.
"I need you to write a document and stamp it with your personal seal. Once you lose your memories, we will be able to prove that what we were saying was true." Hei Wan ordered.
Li Peng realized the importance of her words and immediately nodded.
"Yes, I'll do as you command, madam." Li Peng replied.
He then picked up a piece of parchment and swiftly wrote a letter of trust and then stamped it with his personal seal. Once the letter was done, he handed it to Hei Wan, who took it and stored it in her sleeve.
"Now we should be fine. I'll talk to Lin Mu, so you don't need to worry." Hei Wan spoke.
A sigh of relief escaped Li Peng's lips as he heard Hei Wan's words.
"We're lucky that madam Hei Wan is here. If you were not here, we would have been doomed." Li Peng spoke while walking away from the office along with Hei Wan.
"It's not entirely your fault Li Peng, it's the Town Head, and the Guard captains fault. They have been taking things too lightly these days. They did not even inform the officials in the Wu Lim city. I only got to know of this because of a few merchants." Hei Wan replied.
Now knowing that the plan was nearly complete, Hei Wan just waited for Li Peng to fall into a daze as well. Everything after that would be smooth sailing.
A few minutes later, Li Peng stumbled and fell down on a chair. Hei Wan called out to him a couple of times and confirmed that he was indeed under the effects of the memory confounding powder.
"Should we proceed now, leader?" Hei Bao asked.
"Yes, call Lin Mu. We are done here, I'll handle the rest myself." Hei Wan answered.
Hei Bao nodded and then went to fetch Lin Mu, who was now waiting in a different room. Lu Xiao was placed in this room as well, along with a few guards and physicians. The physicians were done checking Lu Xiao, while the guards were just keeping an eye.
Hei Bao entered the room and looked at Lin Mu. The guards spotted him and saluted him with cupped hands. He nodded to them and went towards Lin Mu.
"Let's go." Hei Bao spoke.
Lin Mu nodded and started following him. A minute later they met up with Hei Wan.
"Seems like the plan was successful." Lin Mu spoke with a little smile.
"Indeed, most of it is complete. Now all that's left is for me to continue the investigation." Hei Wan replied.
Lin Mu thought for a moment before deciding to ask her what had been in his mind for a while now.
"What is your identity that you were able to command the guards and even Li Peng?" Lin Mu question.
"That-" Hei Bao was about to speak when Hei Wan interrupted.
"It's fine. We can tell him." Hei Wan spoke to Hei Bao.
She then turned to look at Lin Mu and spoke.
"The identity I'm assuming right now is actually my real identity. I am a high official from Wu Lim City and work under the mayor." Hei Wan answered.
A slight trace of shock appeared on Lin Mu's face, but he managed to suppress it.
"I see. No wonder Li Peng seemed so easily convinced. He had already met you before." Lin Mu spoke.
"Yes, I've met him twice before. He was appointed to his current position as a supervisor by the mayor himself because of a few merits that he obtained." Hei Wan explained.
Lin Mu had not expected for Hei Wan to be a real official. He had originally thought that it was just a facade, and she had just set up a disguise that went deep. But the reality seemed to be rather different.
"How do we proceed now from here?" Lin Mu questioned.
"We now have direct access to the investigation, so we will take care of it. You can go and keep a watch with the mercenaries if you want to. The curfew should be canceled today now that the town head is dead." Hei Wan replied.
"Wait, how would the curfew be lifted? Won't they be even more alert now?" Lin Mu asked.
"No, all orders issued by an official are canceled upon their death, unless they are issued by a high official." Hei Wan answered.
"Ah, I see. That makes it much more easy for us now. Okay, then I'll head off for now." Lin Mu replied and then turned around.
A couple of minutes later Lin Mu left the town center feeling happy. His day had started off on a bad note, and now it was finally on track to something good. After Lin Mu left, Hei Wan and Hei Bao got busy with their work. They had some culprits to catch.
Outside, Lin Mu saw the guards taking care of the mercenaries and pedestrians that had fallen under the effect of the memory confounding powder. Lin Mu did a rough count and estimated that at least a hundred people were affected by the poison.
"This is indeed rather strong and very useful." Lin Mu muttered to himself.
"Indeed, alchemical products such as there are always in demand because of this very reason." Xukong chimed in.
"Hmm, perhaps I should try to acquire more of it, maybe." Lin Mu spoke to himself.
"You could do that, or perhaps even learn it yourself," Xukong suggested.
Lin Mu felt a little surprised by senior Xukong's words.
"You mean, become an alchemist myself?" Lin Mu questioned.
"Yes, if you have the talent that is. We don't know that yet." Xukong replied.
"Talent? Can't I just learn it normally?" Lin Mu asked.
"Of course you can learn it by hard work, but the problem is that if you don't have the necessary talent, it will take you many years to even learn to refine the most basic pills," Xukong explained.
Lin Mu nodded in response and wondered if he had the talent.
"I would need to get the required materials and study materials before that though, won't I?" Lin Mu questioned.
"Not necessarily. If we just want to check for talent, we can do that once you reach the peak stage of the qi refining realm. Once you are at that stage, we will see if you can ignite a qi flame." Xukong answered.
"A qi flame?" Lin Mu further asked.
"It is the most basic requirements needed to refine an alchemical pill. Although external flames can also be used to refine the pills, checking if you can ignite a qi flame is the fastest method to see if you have the talent to become an alchemist. The most important ability that an alchemist need is the control over the flames and heat." Xukong explained.
Lin Mu thought over it and wondered if he would have the talent or not. Xukong was able to guess what was going through Lin Mu's mind, thus he decided to talk again.
"Don't be discouraged if you don't have the talent to become an alchemist. You can still try out the other professions of a cultivator." Xukong spoke.
"What other professions of a cultivator are there, senior?" Lin Mu asked with curiosity in his eyes.
"The other popular professions of a cultivator are Weapons forging, spirit tool refinement, formation creation, and beast taming. There are others as well, but they are not as common." Xukong answered.
"Of these, which is the easiest to learn?" Lin Mu asked.
"There is no single answer to this. Depending on the talent and resources, some professions may be easier for certain cultivators and difficult for others. If you consider having no talent and the bare minimum resources, then I would say formation creation is the easiest to learn." Xukong answered.
After hearing senior Xukong's answerer, ideas were already running in Lin Mu's mind and he was lost in them. Eventually, he reached his house while thinking about them.