Cui continued to explain, "However, due to the special nature of our Soul Guides' work, before leaving our post, we must return our personal identity badges and accompanying equipment to headquarters before we can go home to visit relatives. When I was in a hurry to return to the Soul Guidance Department to hand in my personal equipment, the other Soul Guide who was working with me said that she happened to be returning to headquarters and could take care of handing over my personal equipment on my behalf. This way, I could save time commuting to and from the Soul Guidance Department and get back home to look after my wife and daughter as soon as possible."

"Because Soul Guides are usually busy with official duties, it's common for colleagues to help each other by handing in important items to headquarters. Therefore, Cui, who was eager to go home, didn't think much about it at the time. Instead, he remotely informed the Soul Guidance Department of this information and hurriedly returned home after providing the data showing that his personal equipment had been handed over to a colleague."

"So, it was this Soul Guide who claimed to turn in your equipment who took your belongings, is that right?" Hearing this, Hao Yun interjected.

Cui looked up at Hao Yun, apparently not having heard of him before, but since Hao Yun stood with Judge Yan, he naturally didn't dare to be disrespectful to Hao Yun. So, Cui bowed slightly to Hao Yun and replied, "Report to this sir, that Soul Guide did indeed return Cui's equipment to headquarters. And after Cui returned to his post, he promptly retrieved his equipment."

With that, Cui even specifically displayed his identity badge and some commonly used equipment of Soul Guides to everyone to show that he was not lying.

Judge Yan, somewhat puzzled, then asked the tall, thin old man, "Master Gu, what do you mean by the identity being tampered with?"

The old man named Master Gu bowed to Judge Yan and replied, "Report to Judge Yan, according to Master Gu's instructions, I just investigated who the Soul Guide was who extradited Liu Erwa, and quickly found out that the Soul Guide who extradited Liu Erwa was Cui. So, I immediately sent someone to bring Cui back for questioning. Then I learned that during the time before and after extraditing Liu Erwa, Cui did indeed take leave to take care of his wife and daughter at home. About this, we have confirmed its authenticity and reliability based on various testimonies and evidence."

"However, while confirming the truth about Cui's home visit, we also unexpectedly discovered a new situation. According to the records of the Soul Guidance Center, when Cui was granted leave and immediately set off for home, he also executed a soul extradition task. The target of that task was to extradite Liu Erwa to the N31 timeline of Earth. And the Soul Guide who claimed to turn in Cui's personal items to the Soul Guidance Department only returned Cui's personal items after Cui completed the task of extraditing Liu Erwa."

"After discovering this issue, we immediately launched an investigation. And soon, based on the information provided by the Underworld Transit Management Bureau, we confirmed that during that task, Cui was indeed traveling on the transit train in the spirit world, and he never left his seat from the beginning to the end before reaching his destination."

"So, are you saying that someone used Cui's identity to execute the task of extraditing Liu Erwa while Cui was on his way home?" Judge Yan narrowed his eyes and asked. At this point, not only Judge Yan but everyone present understood Master Gu's meaning.

"Yes, Judge Yan," Master Gu replied straightforwardly. "And the biggest suspect who impersonated Cui's identity to execute the task of extraditing Liu Erwa is the Soul Guide who claimed to hand in Cui's personal items on his behalf."

"Oh? How can you be so sure, Master Gu?" Judge Yan raised an eyebrow and asked.

Master Gu bowed to Judge Yan again and said, "Report to the master. After investigation, we found that the Soul Guide did not return to headquarters to hand in Cui's personal items immediately after Cui informed the Soul Guidance Department of the handover. Of course, this is understandable. Because Soul Guides may still have tasks to execute, so they will return to the Soul Guidance Department after completing their tasks."

"But after our investigation, it was found that the Soul Guide did not have any records of executing other tasks during the time she returned to headquarters to hand in Cui's personal items. Meanwhile, Cui happened to have a record of executing a soul guidance task during that time. In addition, by retrieving the work footage of the Soul Guidance Department's equipment allocation center at that time, we also found that the Soul Guide explained the reason why she did not return to headquarters in time when handing in Cui's personal items—due to the excessive number of soul guidance tasks at the time and the shortage of personnel in the Soul Guides. Therefore, after Cui's leave was approved, out of great professionalism, he still proposed to temporarily complete another, very close, soul guidance task before officially returning home for leave."

"And the Soul Guide claimed that, because Cui had decided to complete an additional task temporarily and because the Soul Guides' workload was heavy, they did not submit an additional application to headquarters. After Cui completed the additional task, she would be responsible for receiving Cui's personal items and handing them over to headquarters."

"Of course, based on the tense and heavy workload of the Soul Guides, the special circumstances mentioned by the Soul Guide would naturally be understood by headquarters. Plus, the Soul Guide also presented proof that Cui had successfully completed the additional task at the time. Therefore, no one pursued this matter further."

"So, based on the information we have learned, I can conclude that the Soul Guide claimed to the equipment allocation center staff in order to cover up the true situation behind the delayed submission of Cui's personal belongings. And provide a seemingly reasonable explanation for the additional task record for Cui. Of course, the reason why the Soul Guide dared to do this must be because she saw that the Soul Guidance Department had a heavy daily workload and a shortage of personnel, and no one would have the time to specifically check the loopholes in the task information of each Soul Guide."

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"In that case, where is the suspect? Why don't you just arrest her?" After listening to Master Gu's narrative, Judge Yan asked again.

Upon hearing Judge Yan's question, the two Soul Guides immediately bowed their heads and bent their bodies to an angle close to ninety degrees. Then, Master Gu spoke with a trembling voice, "Reporting to, reporting to sir. We dispatched people to search for that Soul Guide as soon as we discovered the problem. However, we couldn't trace her whereabouts at all. She, she has gone off the grid."

"Gone off the grid?! How could she have gone off the grid?!" Judge Yan asked incredulously, staring at Master Gu.

"Sir, we also don't know how she managed it. It's as if she knew how to shield our direct signal connection, making it impossible for us to locate her no matter how hard we tried." Seeing Judge Yan's angry expression, Master Gu replied with a voice tinged with tears, indicating that they had done their best.

After hearing Master Gu's explanation, Judge Yan nodded, then asked again, "So, have you managed to find her personal information?"

Seeing Master Gu trembling under Judge Yan's pressure, Cui hurriedly answered for him, "Reporting to sir, according to our investigation, she has been off the grid for some time."

At this question, the two Soul Guides were taken aback. While maintaining their bowing posture, they glanced at each other, seemingly unsure how to answer Judge Yan's question.

"Hmm? What's going on? Are you telling me that not only have you lost contact with that Soul Guide, but you also couldn't even identify her identity?!" Seeing the hesitant appearance of the two guides, Judge Yan's anger flared up.

"No no no, it's not like that!" Seeing Judge Yan's anger, Cui hastily answered again on behalf of the still trembling Master Gu, "Reporting to sir, we have confirmed the identity of that Soul Guide."

As Cui spoke, he nudged Master Gu with his elbow, prompting Master Gu to snap out of it. Master Gu dared not show any negligence again. He reached out and swiped in the air, and all the data related to this investigation was displayed on the holographic screen above the hall.

Then, Master Gu pointed to a certain piece of data in the air, and a partial personal information of a Soul Guide appeared on the screen—Soul Guide number: DY-0520. Original name: Elina Adagua. Native jurisdiction: The 13th realm of the Underworld, SU-052 timeline on the planet Alf. Race: Dark Elf, Gender: Female—

Looking at the photo of this woman named Elina Adagua, it was obvious that she had the classic appearance of a female elf in movies and TV shows. Elina Adagua's appearance seemed very exquisite, but it made Hao Yun feel extremely uncomfortable. Actually, judging from the spirits and officials Hao Yun had seen in the Spirit God Realm, such as Master Gu, as well as the guards stationed outside the hall and the flying beasts patrolling in the air. Although their faces looked very fierce, they all gave people a sense of solemnity and dignity, rather than the distant feeling of arrogance and unapproachability like this female elf.

After seeing the image on the screen, Judge Yan was visibly stunned. But it seemed that he was not surprised by the lack of the priestly dignity and slightly aloof expression of this woman, but rather by the unexpected appearance of this woman. Judge Yan turned to look at Master Gu and Cui, as if questioning whether their investigation results were correct. Master Gu and Cui smiled awkwardly at Judge Yan, not knowing how to respond for a moment.

"Master Gu, what's going on? Are you sure you didn't make a mistake?" Judge Yan immediately asked when he saw this.

Master Gu smiled bitterly and bowed to Judge Yan, saying, "Reporting to Master Gu, I dare to guarantee with my life that Elina Adagua is indeed the suspect shown in our investigation results."

"How did she end up here?" Judge Yan muttered to himself with a furrowed brow.

Cui quickly responded, "Reporting to sir, Elina Adagua was originally not stationed in our jurisdiction. But later on, because she learned that our jurisdiction had a very heavy workload at the time, she applied to headquarters to transfer here to help. Thanks to Elina Adagua's joining, she really helped us alleviate a lot of work pressure at the time. Elina Adagua is indeed a very excellent priest, but unfortunately—"

Hearing Cui's words, Master Gu also quickly chimed in, "Yes! Elina Adagua is indeed excellent. After she joined the Soul Guidance Department, she made a lot of contributions to our soul guidance tasks. Alas! I believe that there may be hidden circumstances in Elina Adagua's situation, and perhaps Elina Adagua is also a victim. Please, Master Gu, look into this matter carefully and make a judgment!"

Cui also followed up with Master Gu, "Please, sir, look into it carefully!"

From the conversation between Judge Yan and the others, it was apparent that this Elina Adagua was a priest with a special status and a high position. Otherwise, Judge Yan wouldn't have been so surprised when he heard that Elina Adagua was a significant suspect mentioned by Master Gu. Moreover, after the information about Elina Adagua being a suspect was announced, Master Gu and Cui suddenly changed their attitude, beginning to defend the image of the suspect.

Thinking of this, Hao Yun couldn't help but ask curiously, "Hey, Old Knife, this Elina Adagua seems to be quite extraordinary, right? What does she do?"

Due to the recent work requirements, the system chat channel in Hao Yun's consciousness was not only connected to Dao Lao but also to Judge Yan and Master Gu. Therefore, Judge Yan and Master Gu naturally heard Hao Yun's question. So, as Hao Yun asked his question, there appeared a strange scene where Dao Lao and the two of them exchanged puzzled looks.

Clearly, Judge Yan and Master Gu were hinting to Dao Lao not to say too much. Dao Lao seemed to be questioning Judge Yan and Master Gu. However, given Judge Yan and Master Gu's strong hints, Dao Lao ultimately chose not to answer Hao Yun's question, but instead said, "Based on the evidence that Master Gu and his team have, Elina Adagua's suspicion is indeed significant. However, it is difficult to discern her motives from this information alone. So I think the priority should be to find Elina Adagua's whereabouts as soon as possible while forcing the mold spirit energy out of Liu Erwa's body. Only then can we find out the truth."

It was clear that Judge Yan and Master Gu were hinting for Dao Lao not to reveal too much. Dao Lao seemed to question Judge Yan and Master Gu with his expression. However, given their strong signals, Dao Lao ultimately decided not to answer Haoyun's question directly. Instead, he said, "Based on the evidence Master Gu and his team have gathered, Elienna is indeed highly suspect. But from the data, it's hard to discern her exact motive. So I believe the priority should be to locate Elienna while simultaneously extracting the dark spirit energy from Liu Erwa. Only then can we uncover the full truth."

"You see, our main enemy right now is not Elienna, but the dark spirit energy. We don't know how it persuaded Elienna to help it enter the Spirit Realm, nor do we know its ultimate goal. However, we are very aware of the dark spirit energy's capabilities. It likely found a way to influence Elienna, leading her to cooperate with it," Dao Lao continued.