The Swapped Master's Bride And Her Bad Luck System.

After her questioning, Linlin was summoned. Liwu was not allowed to speak to her team members, not before they could be questioned too. She remained in the break room, a lukewarm cup of tea in her hands that vaguely tasted of betrayal.

Her team trickled in, one by one, each looking like they had been chewed and spit out by a bureaucratic dragon.

"Let me guess," said Detective Xuanji, flopping into a chair. "They asked all of you about the suicides and said one of us made some kind of complaint but won’t say who."

"Same here," muttered Linlin, rubbing her temples. "They kept asking me if there is something I thought we could have done to stop the suicides. I kept saying no and they kept repeating the question as if I would somehow change my mind."

He Xiao Yi raised an eyebrow. "Did they do the dramatic pause before asking if you ’felt responsible?"

Everyone groaned.

"Yes!"

"It’s like they are looking for someone to blame."

"They did it twice, in my case."

Liwu leaned forward, "Just so we are clear, did anyone here actually make some kind of complaint?"

Everyone shook their heads or laughed.

"Hell no." Xuanji denied strongly. "We saved that kid, that is all that matters. The only adult I feel sorry for is the old woman. As for the men, I could care less. They made their beds long before we came along."

"Good to know what you think, detective Mu Xuanji." The male IA officer said from the entrance. "Your team can go now. If we have any other questions, we will reach out."

Liwu stood up eagerly. "Not to me. I have nothing to say about this case anymore."

"Same." He Xiao Yi declared.

The break room intercom crackled. "To the dream team that was commended today, please report to the roof immediately."

Everyone exchanged glances.

"Are we being thrown off the building?" Xuanji asked.

"Maybe its the firing squad." Su Jin joked.

Instead, they were greeted by a sleek black helicopter with the city’s mascot emblazoned on the side. Mo Xia waved them in. "I am here to deliver you to your final destination. Mayor Weijun instead that you be picked up in style."

Liwu blinked. "He was commended but when IA came around, he was nowhere to be seen."

Mo Xia did not respond to that. Instead, she waved them in again, "He said you all deserve a break. Lunch is waiting."

They climbed aboard and the helicopter soared. Soon, it descended in the heart of the Flame district, landing on a private pad above a restaurant called Fusion Trendy Frenzy.

The name alone was suspicious and cause to turn back.

Inside, the decor was a riot of mismatched chairs, pillows, and chaotic themes like neon dragons, minimalist zen gardens, and wall of holographic noodles shaped like Hawaiian fire dancers that danced when they walked by.

The owner, a cheerful system host named Chef Lao greeted them with a bow and a flourish. His short twisted beard comically flying in the wind. "Welcome, heroes of One city. Today’s menu is a celebration of justice and chaotic flavor!"

The team exchanged wary glances.

"Chaotic flavor?" Liwu asked.

"Justice?" Xuanji echoed.

Chef Lao clapped his hands as they took their seats around the table in a room full of family members that had remained back to celebrate with them. "First course: Durian sashimi with seaweed mint foam!"

Everyone froze.

Liwu leaned towards Weijun and hissed into his ear, "Are you trying to kill us?"

Chef Lao declared proudly and loudly, "Second course: deep-fried mooncake tacos with wasabi drizzle!"

Liwu pulled out her handcuffs. Tai’s, Zhang’s and those who knew her laughed. She wanted to arrest the chef because her tongue was offended before she could even taste his food.

Weijun held her hand and grinned. "I can’t wait to see your face when you bite into a mooncake taco. It sounds sketchy but the taste is divine."

Liwu was skeptical.

Like others who had never eaten here, she swallowed her opinions, and prepared to be disappointed. However, the food was....shockingly good. The names did not have much relation to the actual food the durian sashimi was creamy and oddly refreshing. The mooncake tacos had a crunch that defied logic.

"Okay, maybe it is not so bad." She admitted.

Weijun laughed out loud. "I told you so. He is a system host with a super chef system, of course he makes good food."

There was joy in the room, the families laughed, kids played with holographic chopsticks and Liwu finally relaxed.

Until a voice called out from the corner.

"Since you guys are so good, I dare you to solve that cold case from last year."

Everyone turned. It was Xuanji’s sister, Wen. Like her brother, she was notorious for her conspiracy theories.

Liwu raised an eyebrow. "Which cold case?"

"The Sky temple deaths," Sister Wen said, eyes gleaming. "Four bodies. No suspects. They said it was some kind of accidental poisoning, but I know it was a murder. And I think a system host did it."

The room fell silent.

Chef Lao dropped a tray. "Excuse me?"

This was system host territory, many of the people in the room were system hosts. To say such a thing boldly was to invite frown and anger from many.

Sister Wen pointed dramatically. "You system hosts are too clever. You walk through walls, fly on swords and have unknown poisons that no one knows. That temple was sacred and someone wanted it gone."

Xuanji sighed, "Sister Wen, we are off duty."

"But you are the best!" she insisted. "And I brought files!" She put a big bag on the table and pulled out folders.

The team groaned.

Weijun leaned forward. "Maybe we can solve the case as we eat. A little puzzle over dessert."

Linlin perked up. "I’m in. I already ate two mooncake tacos. I feel invincible."

He Xiao Yi nodded. "Let’s do it. We are not doing anything anyway. At worst, we will end up with indigestion and a headache."

The files were messy but intriguing.

A poisoning had occurred during a lunar festival. Four bodies were found: a monk, two pilgrims and a plumber. Their bodies had been gray. The well water was identified as the cause of their death.

But Sister Wen had notes.

The temple had been closed to all outsiders so what were the pilgrims doing there?

The monk had recently argued with a system host over the theft of some religious artifacts.

The plumber had a criminal record as a grave robber and someone like him had no business poking around the temple pipes.

The land on which the temple sat had been embroiled in the midst of an acquisition war against a prominent business man.

The well had been closed off for years. Why suddenly decide to drink from it on this day?

Liwu frowned. "It does feel suspicious."

Chef Lao cleared his throat. "I knew Monk Bao. He was not a fan of us...system hosts. Said we were soulless and shameless."

Linlin winced. "That’s rude."

Chef Lao nodded. "I am not soulless or shameless. I do charge highly for my food, but that is because the experience is worth it."

Liwu flipped through the data. "There’s something here. A system host who was not named complained against the temple. The noise from their rituals was interfering with his system’s signal."

He Xiao Yi leaned in. "So the temple was disrupting tech development."

"Or tech development was disrupting the temple." Sister Wen suggested, whispering as if they were all conspiring.

Restaurant servers brought porcelain bowls with desert that looked like strange pudding. The texture was wrong, almost rubbery, but the taste was heavenly--honey and spice.

Linlin licked her teeth, "Okay, let’s do a suspect elimination. The pilgrims should not have been there so either the monk or plumber let them in. I say they were victims."

Weijun tapped a bowl with his spoon. "I visited that temple for inspection and I can confirm with Sister Wen that the well was sealed. The monk made this joke about hiding a demon down there that should never be released. We laughed about it at the time. Someone must have opened it deliberately."

"So it wasn’t a random well opening." Liwu muttered, flipping through Sister Wei’s notes. "So we know the monk didn’t kill these people. I doubt tech guy did it...then again, people have killed for less."

He Xiao Yi added, "You know, the plumber is the perfect scapegoat. A former grave robber working at a temple with religious artifacts worth millions! The script writes itself. But he is dead, so....if it was murder, he was not the culprit."

While scrolling through his phone, Weijun said steadily, "After the incident, the temple was closed. The land was inherited by the monk’s distant nephew and he chose to sell the land. It was bought by a woman named Yu Nuan."

Sister Wen slapped some files on the table. Gasping loudly, she declared, "We have solved it."