Reincarnated as an Energy with a System

1638  The Old Man

"Why did you do it?" the Captain asked. They were waiting for the female guard to get whatever the truth revealing medicine was, so no one had spoken for a while until the Captain decided to.

"I didn't," the woman said with a tiny voice.

"Then what did you feed my daughter?" the man demanded. "What did you put into her water? What was it?"

"Nothing. I put not—"

"He told me what he saw," the man said, pointing to Ning. "He saw you putting something into my daughter's drink."

"He's lying," the woman said.

"Why would he lie? He has no reason to lie to me. We only just met today!"

"I don't know," the woman answered. "I really… I don't…"

"Please stop this. We'll find the truth soon enough once the medicine comes here," the guard said.

"I won't take that medicine," the woman said. "You people are in on this together. You're trying to poison me."

She stood up. "I'll not have this. I'm leaving."

"Ma'am!" the young guard quickly reached the door. "You cannot leave. You are a murder suspect. Until we figure out the truth, you cannot leave."

"You cannot keep me here against my will," the woman practically shouted.

"We can," the man replied. "Now please go back and sit, or we'll be forced to make you sit."

The woman shook a little and moved back to where she was sitting in the room, on the complete opposite end of where everyone else was.

A while later, the woman arrived with an older man in his late 50s. The man was completely bald with a graying beard, a short stature, and to Ning's complete surprise, a single wavering white light around his body.

There was a Spirit attached to this man.

The guards began speaking and saying things, but Ning couldn't focus on any of that. He only saw the spirit and saw what it truly was.

The light turned into the spirit of an older woman in her late 30s. She looked pale, even paler than most Spirits did in general. There were darker lines like creases around her eyes that spread around her cheeks as well.

Her eyes were sunken but somewhat life-like. This was the most life-like eyes he had seen among the many ghosts he had seen.

Ning slowly stood up even as the old man brought out something from his pocket and handed it over to the other person next to him.

The young guard stopped Ning before he got too close. "Please don't try to do something now, my friend. You don't want to get captured along with her, do you?"

"There's a woman's Spirit next to him. I want to talk to her, and see what her issue is," Ning said softly to the man.

The young guard's eyes narrowed. He looked back at the man and then back at Ning. "Are you sure?" he asked.

"Yes," Ning said, explaining what she looked like. The guard nodded and gestured for Ning to sit down. Ning did as was told since there was nothing he could do just yet.

A small pouch with some sort of powder was mixed into a glass of water. The female guard confirmed with the old man that this was the right thing and gave it to the woman.

"Drink this," she said. "Do not worry about anything else. We will only ask you specific questions regarding this very case. We will be recording all the questions and answers so you can review them later to see if you feel like your privacy has been violated."

The woman didn't touch the glass. "Please, drink this. If you are innocent, then you have nothing to worry about."

The woman still didn't drink it.

"She killed my daughter. I'm sure of it now," the captain said. "That is why she refuses. She knows she is in the wrong."

The woman had begun tearing up at this point, sniffling as she stared at her chest. She looked nowhere else.

The guards looked all around as they couldn't force the woman to drink this. And since she didn't accept, they weren't sure what they could do.

"Isn't this proof enough?" the captain asked. "That's the proof. Her refusal is an admission of guilt."

"Miss," the female guard said. "Do not make this hard on yourself. This is some serious accusation, and if you are telling the truth about your lack of hand in this, then drink this. Or, we'll be forced to make you drink it."

The woman still did nothing.

"Alright, lock her up," the older guard said. "We'll feed her the drink when she accepts."

"You can't do this to me," the woman said. "I have done nothing wrong."

She looked at the guards with blinding fury in her eyes.

"Hey! Aren't you Vyra?" the old man in the room suddenly asked. The woman turned to look at him and quickly looked down, hiding her face.

The guards turned toward the old man in surprise. "You know who she is?" one asked.

"Yes," the old man said. "She's a customer of mine. Or was. She used to buy from me all the time."

Ning looked at the old man, then at what he prepared and his eyes slowly widened. "Wait, did you sell her some sort of powders?" he asked.

"Uhh… yes," the old man said.

"What sort?" Ning asked.

"I… don't remember what she wanted," the old man said, thinking a bit. "It's been a while."

"Do think," one of the guards said.

"It was something to help her sleep. She said she couldn't sleep, so I gave it to her," the old man said.

Ning's eyes narrowed. "And what would have happened should that medicine find its way into a child?"

"A child?" the old man said. "No, no, no. That medicine is not meant for a child. It's strictly for adults. Once or twice every few months won't do much to a child though."

"What about every day?" Ning asked.

The old man shook his head. "That child would die." n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om