Chapter 987: Reunion with Old Friends
Even though he didn’t know Sun Xun’s objective, Zu An didn’t want the Devil Sect to be implicated because of him. After all, whether it was Qiu Honglei or Yun Jianyue, they were both his good friends. As such, he said, “Sir Minister, please don’t be in such a rush to come to a decision. I seem to have noticed something here. It might not have been the Devil Sect who did this.”
Gao Ying and Pei You were stunned. The blame was deflected onto the Devil Sect; why the heck are you adding more meddlesome things? Sun Xun was also confused. He didn’t know what Zu An’s motive was.
Zu An said, “Based on our talk, it seems some of the young master’s guards are missing. Could they have escaped during the chaos?”
Sun Xun shook his head. “That is impossible. The murderer’s cultivation is extremely high, and many guards were taken out in one hit. Those people would not be able to escape. Furthermore, I sent my men out for several dozen li, and we found no traces of anyone fleeing.”
Zu An continued, “Then could it be that they colluded with the enemy, then left with the enemy after the matter?”
“That is also impossible.” Sun Xun immediately refuted that. “They were all reliable people who were carefully selected from the Xun clan. Furthermore, their families are still in the city, so no one would take the risk of doing something like that.” He wouldn’t assign anyone who wasn’t loyal and devoted to his son’s side. Furthermore, with their family members held hostage, how could so many people rebel at the same time?
“Then the case becomes much clearer.” Zu An gave the corpses on the ground a look and said, “Those people were also killed, and their corpses were taken by the killer.”
“What is Sir Zu implying?” Sun Xun was surprised. Now, he suddenly didn’t feel that Zu An was the killer either. After all, he had only acted against him in the Hub of Freedom to vent his anger. If they really could find the real killer, what did a bit of personal grudge count for?
Zu An said, “The killer could clearly choose to leave on his own after doing the deed, yet he wasted the effort of bringing away all of those soldiers’ corpses. That means he had a reason that forced him to do that.”
“What kind of reason?” Even Gao Ying and Pei You had been sucked in now.
Zu An gave the two of them a satisfied look. These supporting characters really were doing their part well! He explained, “I gave their corpses a look earlier; they were almost all killed in one strike. That’s why there was no need for the killer to deal with them. However, he had to bring the other corpses with him, which means his identity could be discerned from their corpses.”
“Are you saying his cultivation techniques could be discerned from those people’s bodies?” Sun Xun wasn’t stupid. He quickly reacted to what Zu An was saying.
“Indeed.” Zu An pointed at Yang Long. “According to what you told me, he was a seventh ranked expert. However, his spear was snapped from the front. That means the attacker’s cultivation was much higher. However, I noticed that he didn’t die from being killed; rather, he struck his own skull to end his own life.”
“Why would he do that?” That was also what Sun Xun had been confused about. However, he hadn’t had the time to think about it in detail before.
Zu An explained, “It’s because he knew he was dead for sure. If he didn’t end his own life, it would only lead to more suffering. That means he knew the murderer would torment him. But judging from what you all said, you rushed over not long afterward. That killer definitely didn’t have the time to torture him, so there must’ve been another reason why he had to end his own life. Sir Sun’s cultivation is profound; do you have any ideas?”
Sun Xun’s eyes narrowed. He muttered to himself, “If he didn’t have to worry about being tortured, he had to have been so scared that he would rather be dead than alive. Looking at their situation, the killer didn’t bring poison. Then…”
He suddenly thought of something. He said quietly, “There are some sinister cultivators in the martial world who rely on sucking away the cultivations or souls of others to increase their own cultivation. If Yang Long killed himself, it might have been to avoid such a result. However, if the other party needed a soul, it would have been useless even if he ended his own life…”
He quickly looked at his subordinates after saying that. He asked if there were any similar experts who had come to Yi Commandery recently. The target’s cultivation was high, at least above the eighth rank, and he could absorb the cultivation of others. There weren’t many who could satisfy those conditions.
Sure enough, one subordinate said, “There’s a well known evildoer called Thick-Browed Daoist who appeared in Yi Commandery.”
Zu An sighed when he heard that name. The reason he hadn’t said it himself was because people tended to believe the conclusions they reached themselves more.
Sure enough, Sun Xun quickly said, “Send someone over to immediately ask whether Thick-Browed Daoist joined in the auction today. His brows are too distinctive. One can easily notice them even if he wears a mask.”
He had heard about Thick-Browed Daoist himself. He thought to himself that if it really was him, he was going to skin the man alive and tear out his tendons to vent out his anger.
“Understood!” The subordinate quickly got on a horse and left.
Sun Xun thus cupped his hands toward Zu An and said, “Sir Zu is a genius at investigating cases after all. We have found some clues so quickly. As for the previous offenses, I hope that Sir Zu does not take them to heart.” He felt sincere gratitude. After all, if he could find out the real culprit who had killed his son, then that would make him happier than anything else right now.
“Sir Sun is too generous with your praise. I offer my condolences to Sir Sun, that this kind of thing happened.” Zu An thought to himself, Yes, you should be thanking me. To a certain extent, I was the one who got revenge for you.
He suddenly felt the ki within him become unstable. The explosive bloodiness he had absorbed seemed to be uneasy. He calmly suppressed it and told himself that he had to find a good time to properly purify the cultivation he had gotten from Thick-Browed Daoist. Otherwise, the rebound would really be bad for his body.
“Is Sir Zu uncomfortable anywhere?” Sun Xun was a cultivator after all. He could sense that there was something unnatural about the other party’s ki fluctuations since they were so close.
“It’s nothing.” Zu An forced a smile. He was worried about how to explain the situation.
Suddenly, there was a loud noise in the distance and the entire sky became as bright as day. The expressions of those present became strange as powerful winds blew against them. Those with lower cultivations couldn't help but sway unsteadily from side to side.
“This is… the aura of a grandmaster?” Zu An and Sun Xun looked into the distance in shock.
Two individuals were standing in the skies several dozen li out. One was an elder clothed in official robes that only a king could wear. He was clearly King Yan. Across from him was a ridiculously beautiful woman. Together with her long hair that flowed all the way down to her waist, she gave off a cool, elegant womanly air.
“Yun Jianyue!”
“The Devil Sect’s sect master!”
Zu An and Sun Xun both recognized her.
An alarm rang out just then. A guard quickly came to report, “Minister Xiang, there seem to be members of the Devil Sect who have invaded the manor to assassinate the king!”
Sun Xun’s expression changed greatly as he exclaimed, “We’re going back to assist the king immediately!” Then, he said to Zu An and the others, “Sirs, please go back for now. Forgive me for not being able to see you off.”
Zu An said, “I'll go with you.” When he saw the other party’s shocked expression, he quickly explained, “As an official of the Zhou Dynasty, I should do my part as well. Furthermore, I’ve faced these Devil Sect evildoers in the capital back then too, so I have a debt to repay.”
He was worried that something would happen to Yun Jianyue or Qiu Honglei. After all, Yi Commandery was King Yan’s domain. King Yan not only had a lot of experts under him, but was also a grandmaster himself.
He was actually quite puzzled. Yun Jianyue wasn’t someone who acted impulsively, so why had she done something so unwise? But he quickly remembered that she had even dared to invade the Imperial Palace, so what was the big deal with King Yan Manor?
“Brother Zu!” Gao Ying and Pei You quickly advised against him going. This is a grudge between King Yan Manor and the Devil Sect. It has nothing to do with the imperial envoy! Why the hell are you going over to throw your life away for nothing?
“You guys should head back and report to Sir Sang first. I’ll take a look at the situation. Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing,” Zu An replied. Yun Jianyue didn’t recognize these two, so he was worried that it would be bad if they ended up getting in trouble because of him.
Gao Ying and Pei You knew Zu An always acted with proper thought, so they didn’t try to advise him further. They said, “Alright. We’ll come over together after we meet with Sir Sang. You have to remember not to act impulsively at all costs!”
Zu An nodded. Then, he headed toward the city with Sun Xun’s group. He continued to pray inwardly, Big sis Yun, Honglei, please don’t let anything happen to you two…