【Chengyu】Turnabout: Bloodline

The Chief Prosecutor, who was still seriously ill, was lazily lying on the bed, with a book spread out on his lap, and a pair of glasses on the bridge of his nose.All of a sudden, the two uninvited guests almost knocked open the door of his ward with their bodies. Although Yu Jian's brain felt a sharp pain from the sudden sensory stimulation, his seemingly reaction was to gently hold the book with his wrist movements. Together, and then turned his attention to the two guys who were panting at him.

"Good evening." He raised his eyebrows slightly.

"You're all right!" Gumshoe smiled out of breath. "Damn it, I've never been so tired from running."

"Especially when it's this hot," Wright added breathlessly, as Edgeworth focused on the sweat stains on his suit and tried to reason logically about what had put them in such a panic. "Yu Jian, how do you feel?"

"Thanks to your suggestion, I'm starving to death now." The chief inspector frowned, and put the topic aside for now, "Don't talk about this, what are you two so anxious about?"

Wright felt the person next to him straighten up, fumbled in his pocket a few times, and conjured up the dorayaki he bought at the courthouse earlier today.Yu Jian's eyes lit up the moment he saw the bag of snacks, and the expression of confusion and inquiry was gone.After the gums saw had thrown it to him, he was absorbed in unpacking it.It took Wright a moment to move himself to the bedside chair, and collapsed on it.

The sweet taste of bean paste filling hit his face, making him dizzy for a while.At this moment, he suddenly realized how hungry he was.Riding a bike like an athlete is never a good idea, Wright thought, not to mention he hadn't had a grain of rice in nearly 24 hours.

"You've been poisoned, Edgeworth," Gumshoe announced in a dejected tone.Wright could almost picture his sad dog eyes in his mind, but unfortunately he temporarily closed them due to extreme exhaustion, leaving Edgeworth to face them. "Wright Wright took a sample of your drinking water and we tested it in the lab. The water was mixed with enough arsenic to kill a cow twice."

"I know."

"It's lucky you weren't really thirsty enough to drink a full glass, or—wait, what?"

Cheng Butang raised his head, blinked vigorously, and looked at Yujian.Mitsurugi was carefully biting the surface of the dorayaki.

"You know?" His eyes widened in disbelief.

Edgeworth shrugged calmly, sticking out his tongue to lick a piece of bean paste stuck to his lower lip. "Ming visited me today, not long after you left, Interpol." He glanced up, and then cast his eyes on the food in front of him, "When she was here, I just took the medicine and forgot …accidentally took a gulp of water. A few minutes later, my condition suddenly deteriorated, at least that’s what Ming told me. I figured it was best to trust her, because when I woke up, she was with a nurse Wash me off with blood."

Wright blinked, sitting upright with his hands crossed between his knees.He noticed that Edgeworth was now wearing his pajamas instead of the hospital-issued gown, and that the stubble growing on his chin had been shaved off.Did Hunter Moming even help with this?Although Yujian's godmother said she was a bit arrogant and old-fashioned, would she really lend a helping hand to her "brother" who was sick in bed?Or did she hire someone to do it?In that case, Wright is more than willing to do this labor for free.

"She wrapped the entire glass in cellophane and took it to the police station. She told me the result on the way back to the airport. As always, she was briefly interviewed on my behalf, ... However, she was at 7pm I was supposed to see Hanamiya Kiro before the flight took off."

"That's exactly what the lab guy said to me. They said they just tested a water sample, so they had to update the machine first to make sure the samples didn't contaminate each other." Gumshoe stroked his stubbled face. His chin snorted, "But, that means, two samples from different dates both showed the presence of arsenic, right? That means the poisoner has always been in this hospital, not just some Said by a passing visitor."

"That's right, detective." Yu Jian said while chewing dorayaki. "Other than Wright and the hospital staff, no one comes to my room every day—even the medical staff, and they're usually not always the same group. Except, of course, my attending physician."

"You don't doubt me at all, you are so sweet, Edgeworth." Wright smiled happily at the person who was enjoying dessert.

"I don't believe you can fool me like this, and you have no reason." Yujian said half annoyed, squinting at Wright who was slumped on the chair, then lowered his head and continued to stare at the dessert in his hand, "Except Besides, how did a guy with such a notorious reputation in the media get his hands on pure arsenic without anyone knowing?"

"It's in pure form... eh?" Wright rested his chin on his fist and mused, "Isn't that rare? You'd have to be a chemist, or a pharmacist, to get it. He sighed suddenly, "Ah! For example, my client who happens to be a pharmacist. Like pure arsenic, strychnine can only be purchased through specialized drug suppliers. This makes potential suspects scope has been greatly reduced.”

"So, the culprit has to be someone who works in the dispensary, huh?" Gumshoe blinked.

"Well...or at least someone who can enter the pharmacy and use the equipment." Yujian finally raised his eyes from the dessert, and met Phoenix's eyes.

"What do you think?" Wright asked.

"Well, hospital pharmacies don't stock vast quantities of deadly drugs that have no value other than suffering and death, do they? In your case, strychnine was compressed into tablets—and to do that, it would have to be It goes to a machine in the pharmacy. The pills come in a prescription bottle with a label printed that day — all of which can only be done in the pharmacy.”

"What about arsenic?"

Edgeworth hesitated for a moment, and bit his lower lip.He was so engrossed that he could tell he was racking his brains for a conclusion. "I have no idea."

Wright regretted asking that question so much, he couldn't always expect the Attorney General to have all the answers, especially after such a major brain surgery. "Maybe, from the outside? Maybe the janitor found some rats or something?"

"That's pure arsenic, Wright. Pesticides and rat poison are regulated, and they're a mixture of different toxins." When the person in front of them licked his bean paste-stained fingers clean At that moment, those cold dark gray eyes locked on Cheng Butang again.Considering he often has a deep distaste for Maya's table manners (one of the reasons he rarely attends Wright's office dinners), this is clearly outside of Edgeworth's usual over-the-top dining habits.

Although, seeing Yu Jian licking his fingers obediently, this is really...

Yu Jian sighed suddenly, and handed the second dorayaki to Wright, pulling him out of that wonderful reverie.

"Huh?" Cheng Butang carefully picked up the half-opened bag, and asked suspiciously.

"It's not that you looked at me like a dog begging for food, how could I..." The Chief Prosecutor paused, and then a bright blush burst out from his pale cheeks, running all the way down his neck Spread to the open neckline. "It seems... I misunderstood."

"Then what should we do now?" Gumshoe suddenly interjected, "We can't let you stay here anymore, Yu Jian prosecuted the case. That prisoner is still waiting for an opportunity to poison you!"

"Why don't you go back to America with Ming?" Wright took a bite of the dessert and muttered, "If Gumshoe drove you to the airport, you could still catch the same flight as her."

"I won't go back to the United States. Now the prosecutor's office has too much work that needs my attention. I never even thought about going abroad." Edgeworth said, frowning at Wright's behavior of talking with food in his mouth frowned, but said nothing. "In any case, if I go to the United States, my health will definitely be more worrying because of Ming's...'care'."

"Indeed." Cheng Butang nodded in agreement while chewing another mouthful of dorayaki.

"I'll go back to my own home, stay in bed, and go back to a doctor's office a few blocks away."

"And who will take care of you?" Gumshoe asked.

"Haven't you ever lived in an apartment by yourself?"

"But that means you have to take the elevator!"

"And what if you fall down? No matter how sensible Pess is, she can't drag you into a wheelchair!"

Mitsurugi opened his mouth, his fingers already in a posture ready to raise objections.

"Pess was at my place. She and Missile are best friends!"

He retracted his objection, put his hands back on his knees, and leaned his head against the hollow metal bedstead until the two agitated gentlemen quieted down into an awkward silence.

The Chief Inspector brushed aside half of his bangs blocking his right eye, frowned solemnly but with great interest and turned to Gumshoe: "Did Pess really not cause you any trouble?"

"Of course. Missile likes her as much as I do. She didn't even shit on the carpet once. This is much better than Missile." The criminal policeman smiled and stroked the stubble on his neck, pouted embarrassingly. Lip, "As long as you need, I can help you take care of her all the time."

"Does anyone else know she's at your house?"

"No. The spare key you gave me finally came in handy! Yesterday, I brought Pess, her food, some toys and her bed directly back to my house." Gumshoe smiled respectfully After saluting, he tapped the pen holder behind his ear excitedly.Feeling his fingers brush against his face at extremely close distance, Wright took a step back.

"Very good, keep it up." Yu Jian nodded.

"Yu Jian procuratorate?"

Ignoring the question hidden in the detective's tone, the chief prosecutor turned his piercing silver eyes to Wright. "As for you, don't say a word to anyone. If the D.A. knew of the situation, they'd—"

"What do you mean by 'if'? Karma has visited you herself—she has proven that you have been poisoned. Whatever you wish to hide—the prosecutors must have known." Wright suddenly said to Edgeworth He frowned with a domineering attitude, and couldn't help but feel that this guy might have taken a step back on the road away from the magic-kun style.

"What I want to say is that the prosecutor's office will prohibit you from continuing the investigation in this hospital, because you have been in contact with me—and the victim." Edgeworth turned his gaze to the dark sky in the gap between the shutters. "They will suspect that you are a poisoner and...will not allow us to meet." His eyes were still sharp, but his voice seemed to be choked by something, struggling in his mouth and unwilling to let it out. "Of course, you're so stupid, you can't be the poisoner—but prosecutors like Yane or Yumihiko Ichiyanagi, what do they know?"

Cheng Butang tensed up for a moment, slumped his shoulders, and put his hands in his pockets. "You seem to mean that...you are going to stay here, continue to live in the hospital..."

"Considering the current situation, although this is the most dangerous place, it is also the safest place. It is true that I will be poisoned, but I can also get medical assistance as quickly as possible."

"Ah, 'medical aid' doesn't mean there's a possibility of being poisoned at the same time, Inspector Edgeworth," Gumshoe interjected.

Suddenly Wright stomped his foot on the sanitized floor and said loudly, "I don't take any objections, Edgeworth. You're coming home with me, staying at my house. It's not for me—or The D.I.C., Yane, whoever, it's not even for Pess — it's all about you and your recovery."

Edgeworth stared at his hand again.

"Plus, my apartment is on the ground floor - with a wheelchair ramp."

Yu Jian rubbed his shoulders uneasily, mockingly said, "Oh, what a luxury."

"You ungrateful bastard, I'm going to take you out of the hospital. Besides, Meiguan hasn't seen you since Xishen's trial and the hostage incident. She misses Uncle Yujian very much." Cheng Butang knocked absently Heel, through the eyelashes secretly watching the still hesitating Chief Prosecutor.

"Abducting me emotionally is nothing compared to your usual tactic. So are you serious about your invitation?" Yu Jian snorted coldly, and lightly placed his fingers on the bandages wrapped around his head. "It seems only a fool would refuse."

"Okay." Cheng Butang followed the Gumshoe out of the ward, applying for the necessary documents for the Chief Inspector's discharge, heaving a deep sigh of relief.

TBC