“You really are a filial child.” The man narrowed his eyes, his thick eyelashes and deep eye sockets making his gaze seem a bit hazy. Logan Sullivan spoke in a voice that sounded almost like a sigh, “Countless people pride themselves on being ‘filial at home, respectful outside,’ but when faced with the Reincarnation Sundial, how many of those in the prime of youth could truly trade their life for another’s?”

But the Soulwarden interjected, “The Reincarnation Sundial is one of the Four Sacred Artifacts of the Underworld, capable of disturbing the balance between yin and yang. Mortals should not use it recklessly.”

Quinn Barnes, like everyone else, didn’t dare look up at the Soulwarden. After hearing his words, she twisted her fingers together, struggling to find the right words, and said, “I don’t know what that is… I just heard it was some old relic, said to be miraculous… She suddenly had a cerebral hemorrhage, I was at school, and no one saw it happen. By the time people found out, it was too late for rescue. When I—I saw her, she was already… At that time, my grandma wasn’t just living with me. My parents thought I was a burden; she was the one who raised me. We depended on each other for survival… Do you know what it’s like to depend on someone like that? I couldn’t even cry, I just couldn’t believe she was gone, how could she die… How can people just die?”

“So you found the Reincarnation Sundial.” Logan Sullivan said.

“I thought I was crazy, actually believing in something like that, but it really responded to me…” Quinn Barnes shot him a quick glance, then quickly looked away, muttering, “What was I afraid of? I was still so young, maybe I could live to a hundred. Even if I gave her fifty years, I’d still live to retirement. I had so many years left in my life, why couldn’t I give them to her? If mortals aren’t supposed to touch things from the underworld, then why was it right there? Why did it answer my wish?”

Chapter 19 Reincarnation Sundial Eighteen …

This question left everyone present in silence. After a while, the Soulwarden finally spoke.

He said, “That’s because at the time, you were desperate, truly wishing for her to come back to life. Sometimes… as long as a person’s will is strong enough, anything can happen. But even if you have the strongest obsession in your heart, it doesn’t prove that it’s the right thing to do.”

Quinn Barnes’s eyes turned red. She quickly and stubbornly looked away, as if even that sudden surge of grievance couldn’t be seen by others.

After a while, she said in a muffled voice, “Yeah, I’m just an ordinary person. No matter what life forces on me—the only family I had suddenly died, I’m left with parents who hate me, all my efforts go unrecognized, every year I have to rack my brains to scrape together tuition, and even with all that, I can’t find a decent job in Longcheng. In other people’s eyes, I must seem so pitiful, right? I have to bear all of this, so maybe I really shouldn’t have brought my grandma back. Maybe I should have died with her.”

Logan Sullivan looked at her calmly, not interrupting.

Quinn Barnes let out a cold laugh: “I feel like I’m a turtle, struggling and crawling slowly on the ground. Someone walks by, gives me a gentle kick, and I’m flipped on my back. Then he watches me struggle in pain, and after I finally use all my strength to right myself, he gives me another gentle kick, and all my effort is wasted again. Isn’t that funny?”

There was an indescribable resentment and dissatisfaction about this girl, even though she seemed to be trying her best to restrain it.

Charles Gray’s face was a bit flushed. He felt that he was neither smart nor hardworking, always muddling through, yet he’d gotten a job without much effort. So he stood up, stammering a little as he tried to be helpful: “I… I’ll get you a glass of water.”

Quinn Barnes remained lost in her emotions, ignoring him.

Logan Sullivan asked, “The Reincarnation Sundial responded to you, your grandma was rescued, but her health was never good after that. Were you the one taking care of her?”

“Who else could it be,” Quinn Barnes said expressionlessly, “My parents only took her back for the sake of appearances. That was already a huge sacrifice for them.”

Logan Sullivan nodded: “You had to study, earn your own tuition and living expenses, and take care of an elderly person. Life must have been very hard, right?”

Only then did Julian West glance at his superior in surprise. He had thought that when Logan Sullivan signaled him to cooperate upon entering, it was because Quinn Barnes had lied about the hungry ghost case, and they planned to get some inside information out of her. But as the questioning went on, Julian West could no longer figure out what Logan Sullivan really wanted to know.

How did the conversation end up so far off track?

But the Soulwarden sat upright beside them the whole time, showing no sign of impatience. Julian West couldn’t say anything more, so he just sat there, full of doubts, listening.

Charles Gray hurriedly poured a glass of water that was neither too hot nor too cold and handed it to Quinn Barnes. The girl took it, but didn’t thank him, only twitched her eyebrow nervously, staring at the cup. She looked calm, but the surface of the water in her hands kept trembling.

“She got up every morning at four thirty, always wanting to make me breakfast. Later, she became more and more confused. Once, the milk boiled over and she didn’t even notice, put out the fire, and almost caused a gas leak. After that, I couldn’t let her cook anymore. But telling her didn’t help—tell her one day, the next day she’d still try. So I had to get up at four thirty too, to make breakfast. I wasn’t home during the day—sometimes I had class, sometimes I helped my advisor with projects, sometimes I had to do internships. No matter where I was, I’d have to take a forty-minute to one-hour bus ride home at noon, make her lunch, pour her hot water for her medicine, and then rush back, often without time to eat myself.” Quinn Barnes said, “At night, when I got home, I had to settle her in before I could read for a bit, but I wasn’t very efficient. She was old and always wanted to talk, no matter the occasion, so I’d get interrupted a lot. When she finally went to bed, around ten, I could start doing some freelance translation work. Usually, I’d work until after midnight. Sometimes, when I was too tired, I’d fall asleep at the desk without even realizing it.”

“Hard?” She took a deep breath at this point, her face showing an indescribable exhaustion, as if even speaking was a huge burden. Then she quickly forced a bitter smile, lowered her head to take a sip of water to hide her expression, and said coldly, “There’s no point talking about this. Don’t waste time. If you have any more questions about the case, ask them now.”

Logan Sullivan tapped the case file lightly with his finger: “This might sound a bit heartless, but after your grandma passed away, your life got a lot easier, didn’t it?”

Quinn Barnes quickly looked up, glaring at him and asking sharply, “What do you mean by that?”

Logan Sullivan met her gaze, unfazed: “Exactly what I said.”

Quinn Barnes’s lips trembled. She suddenly stood up, spilling half a glass of water all over the table: “Is this how the police work? You can detain innocent citizens for no reason and then slander them at will?”

“Sit down, don’t get agitated.” Logan Sullivan pulled out a few tissues to wipe the water off the table. “I’m just talking about human nature. I haven’t accused you of anything. Even if you wanted to blow up the Pentagon in your heart, as long as you don’t do it, no one in the world can say you’re guilty.”

Quinn Barnes said stiffly, “I want to go home. You have no right to detain me.”

Logan Sullivan glanced at her and nodded: “Alright, then let’s not talk about unrelated things for now. This morning, you told me you saw Rachel Lowry at the school gate, and there was a ‘shadow’ following her. Can you recall what it looked like?”

Quinn Barnes frowned: “I didn’t see it clearly, I don’t really remember.”

Logan Sullivan smiled, this time his dimples appeared, but there were no smile lines at the corners of his eyes, making his gaze seem rather sharp. He lowered his eyes slightly, looking at his fingers resting on the table, and spoke in a slow, deliberate tone: “You might not remember people you brush past, or whether the driver at an accident scene was a man or a woman—that’s normal… But something that scared you this much, you don’t remember? If you don’t remember, why are you shaking?”

Quinn Barnes was clearly stunned, her slender fingers clenching nervously.

Logan Sullivan’s tone grew more severe: “Just this morning, I remember you told me about its approximate height, how dark it was, that its body looked a bit short and a bit fat.”

Quinn Barnes’s face suddenly turned pale.

Logan Sullivan narrowed his eyes: “Classmate, changing your story on a whim is not a good habit. Was the shadow you saw really like that?”

Julian West was experienced in cooperating with him. Seizing the moment when Quinn Barnes was inexplicably frightened and mentally unstable, he slammed the table and shouted, “Speak!”

Logan Sullivan pressed in step by step, as if stretching Quinn Barnes’s nerves to the limit, and Julian West suddenly snapped them.

“Yes… so what!” Quinn Barnes blurted out.