Shireen sat at a loss on the sofa in the basement of the handicraft store, wringing her hands nervously. She felt like a prisoner waiting for interrogation, and she had realized that she would confess everything in the subsequent interrogation.

Ironically, she was about to learn how to conceal the truth during interrogation, or rather, how to lie during questioning.

Shirin felt that the method suggested by Dead Leaf simply didn't work.

How could she learn the trick of deceiving Skylark in such a short period of time? That woman is a witch hunter, and she is also the best at exposing lies among witch hunters.

That day at the Camellia Theater, they only talked for a few minutes, and Skylark had already understood her various reactions.

Even the most obtuse person can see that this is not a confrontation at all. In front of the revealer, Shirin has no chance of winning.

But what else can she do now besides trusting the dead leaves? If she continues to maintain the status quo, she will definitely say something she shouldn't say in Skylark's next questioning.

By then, things may become out of control.

Although deep down in her heart, Shirin was curious about how Mr. End would deal with Skylark. Thinking that her unintentional actions would lead to a head-on confrontation between the two people, she even felt a little expectant.

...But she doesn't want to die.

Dead Leaf made it very clear and demonstrated personally how Mr. End would deal with people he thought were not helpful to the plan.

Perhaps Shireen still had a role in his plans, but she wasn't sure she was worth more trouble than she was worth, and she had no intention of testing that.

Shireen took a deep breath and stared at the basement door intently. She didn't know how long she had been waiting. Finally, Master Irene pushed the door open and entered.

When the old woman saw Shireen, she immediately frowned. But it was not because of surprise, but out of some habit. It is said that when Master Irene looked in the mirror, she would also frown at herself in the mirror.

"The little illiterate guy got into trouble again." She said coldly.

Shireen felt aggrieved because what happened tonight was a complete accident.

Although in hindsight she did make some unwise decisions, they were all reasonable under the circumstances.

She got herself into trouble solely out of good intentions, and using the word "getting into trouble" is unfair.

Dead Leaf followed Master Irene into the house, quietly closed the door, and then helped the old woman move a chair.

Master Irene extended her staff to the dead leaves, as if it were a matter of course. The female elf immediately took it and put it away without saying anything.

"I heard from the elf girl," the old woman took off her glasses and wiped them with her clothes, "You were targeted by the revealer, right?"

Shireen nodded reluctantly.

"Don't be so resistant, I'm here to help you." Master Yireni put on her glasses again, but still pursed her lips tightly, "I have heard that the person in charge of this investigation is a witch hunter, but who is she?

Which one? Tell me her name."

Name? "I don't know what her name is. She said the name of the witch hunter cannot be published. But she asked me to call her Skylark."

What happened next, Shireen couldn't believe her eyes. Master Irene actually smiled. Although the smile was fleeting, she still noticed it.

"Skylark? She must be... thirty-three years old this year, right? Tell me, little illiterate, is she married?"

Shirin was stunned for a moment, "What?"

"Married, let me ask you if she is married. Is it difficult to tell? Is she wearing a wedding ring on her left hand?"

She thought about it for a moment, "No."

"It seems that she did not take my advice. I told her that if she wants to continue to improve in interpreting expressions, she must find someone to marry. Whether she likes men or women, her significant other is a good research subject.

Your spouse is a treasure trove of micro-expressions."

"Huh?" Shirin blinked, not understanding the situation at all.

"Master Irene was a witch hunter before she retired." Dead Leaf said.

The gods cursed me! "You are kidding." Shireen stared at the female elf, trying to find the usual smile on her face.

However, Dead Leaf did not smile.

"That was more than ten years ago." Master Yireni said.

"...But I always thought you were a wizard apprentice or a librarian or something!" Shireen almost blurted out.

"You're right. I did both when I was young." The old woman replied calmly, "What? Don't you believe it?"

"Uh, but"

"It doesn't matter, you will believe it in five minutes. Now tell me, did Yunque tell you about the scar on her face before asking the question?"

Shirin paused for a moment, then nodded. "But that's because I've been staring at her."

"No, you're staring at her because she wants you to do that. She'll probably make up a witch hunter-style story for you, such as catching a fugitive or stopping a murderer in a public place, right?

Right? In short, it is the kind of exciting and bloody story that makes people swallow their saliva after listening to it and think to themselves: 'Oh, by all gods, this woman is not easy to mess with!'"

Shireen nodded again. This time she didn't pause.

"That's a common trick used by whistleblowers. We call it 'establishing an emotional baseline.' You think she started observing you when she asked questions, but that's not true at all. From the moment you saw the scars on her face, you started observing her.

It’s already started. Can you think of the reason?”

Shireen thought for a moment, then shook her head.

"Because asking questions will make people wary. Scheming interviewees will deliberately lie when answering simple questions, trying to let us establish a wrong baseline so that they can muddle through on really important issues. So the whistleblower is very interested in

Interpreting expressions has never been about simple questions. In fact, using questions to trick you into showing expressions is a scam in itself."

"……I do not understand."

"I don't expect you to understand what I just said." Master Yireni sneered, "Let me explain it again in an easy-to-understand way, a way that even an illiterate like you can understand."

Shireen felt her cheeks getting hot, but she still straightened her posture proudly (although she didn't know what she was proud of).

"Before the question, Skylark told you a bloody and exciting story. She did this to observe your natural emotions, so as to establish an emotional baseline before launching the next cross-examination."

"Then she'll ask you some simple questions that make no sense at all, trying to surprise or anger you. Then before you can figure out the situation, she'll suddenly change the subject. Mostly to introduce you to the various branches of witch hunters.

?In short, the purpose is to prevent you from having the opportunity to seriously think about the reactions you just made."

Shirin realized that she was opening her mouth wide and quickly closed it.

"Finally, she will tell you that those simple questions just now exposed your true reaction. An illiterate person like you will immediately believe that you have become an open book." Master Yireni revealed.
Chapter completed!