After serving as a member of the court for so long, Zhang Zitong had seen all kinds of officials. Many of them clearly didn’t do much, and yet always bragged about themselves so others would think they did a lot. It was none other than those kinds of people who did very well in the court, and whenever there were promotions, they had a higher chance of being promoted than others.
Golden Token Eleven appeared to be investigating a lot, but they were all things that other people had already investigated, and he hadn’t found out anything new. It was just repeated labor. Thus, Zhang Zitong assumed he was precisely that kind of person, and she was naturally dissatisfied.
Still, he was an Embroidered Envoy. Now that Sir Seven had died, if something serious happened, there would be no one left to protect her. She wasn’t so stupid as to show her true thoughts. Unfortunately, she didn’t know that Zu An had the Rage system and could deduce her thoughts based on the number of Rage points he received.
Zu An was a bit confused. Why does this woman dislike me so much? Could it be that she really is guilty at heart and doesn’t want me to keep investigating?
He left behind the others to look for other clues. However, he took Xiao Jianren and Zhang Zitong with him as they headed to Blackwater Pool. Along the way, he asked without batting an eyelid, “Was there anything strange about Sir Seven before the accident?”
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Zhang Zitong replied, “Sir Seven was a habitually silent man, but nothing strange could be seen about him. The only strange part was that he seemed especially busy, as if he had something brooding in his heart.”
Zu An continued, “Where was he supposed to go that day for his assignment?”
Zhang Zitong shook her head and replied, “How could we, as subordinates, know of our superior’s plans? Embroidered Envoys have always been secretive to begin with, let alone Golden Token Envoys.”
Zu An was a bit annoyed. She didn’t know a thing! There was no way to get started on this case at all. He asked, “What about things he left behind? Did Sir Seven leave anything behind?”
Before the ponytailed woman could reply, Xiao Jianren handed him a file, saying, “I looked into the things Sir Seven left behind. Everything is recorded here, especially…”
Zu An nodded slightly. It seemed this guy hadn’t wasted the entire time flirting. He had still done quite a bit of work.
Xiao Jianren explained all of the items one by one, then said, “These are all some common items that all Embroidered Envoys have. There was nothing strange about them.”
Zu An went over the list of items, but didn’t say anything.
Even though the city gates were closed, the Embroidered Envoys had a high status. In order to avoid trouble, they didn’t even interact with the city defense. They found a secluded place to climb over the walls. Zhang Zitong and Xiao Jianren both took out hooks. Yi Commandery was a big city with defensive formations everywhere. Even though they were Silver Token Envoys, they still couldn't just jump over.
Zu An frowned slightly. He didn’t have much time, and couldn’t just slowly wait for them. As such, he grabbed their shoulders, then kicked off. The three of them flew over the tall wall.
Zhang Zitong’s mouth opened slightly. Judging from his ki aura, or lack thereof, Zu An had clearly seemed no different from an ordinary person, so she had thought that he was either promoted through nepotism or his strength as a scholar. She hadn’t expected his cultivation to be so high!
It looks like he’s already reached master rank! Doesn’t that mean he might be one of the best among the Golden Token Envoys?
Xiao Jianren felt mysteriously satisfied when he saw her shocked expression. It was almost as if the more formidable Sir Eleven was, the more he could bask in his superior’s limelight.
Now that he thought about it, Sir Eleven’s growth really was fast. When they first met, Sir Eleven’s cultivation rank had practically been the lowest out of the Golden Token Envoys. Just how much time had passed before he broke through into the master rank?
“Lead the way. Where is the Blackwater Pool?” Zu An asked. Realizing that a lot of time had already passed, he didn’t let them go after jumping over the wall and decided to just fly with the two of them.
“Over… Over there,” Zhang Zitong said in embarrassment.
She had always been proud and cold among the Embroidered Envoys. Apart from Sir Seven, she hadn’t been too close to anyone. Even though she had worked together with her colleagues before, she’d had almost no physical contact even after so many years. This was the first time she had been so ‘intimate’ with another man.
However, she couldn't produce even the slightest hint of those kinds of thoughts, because the other man seemed to be focused on the mission, practically looking down on her cultivation. He had grabbed her shoulder as if he were carrying a little chick, which dealt her quite the mental blow.
…
Flying was much faster, and they quickly arrived at a cliff. There was a waterfall there, and they could vaguely make out a misty pool underneath.
“This is the Blackwater Pool,” Zhang Zitong said, pointing downward.
She was starting to feel a bit of admiration for Zu An. They had flown for so long, yet he didn’t seem red-faced in the slightest. At the very least, in terms of cultivation, his ability was immeasurable. Could it be that her earlier impression of him had been wrong?
Zu An glanced down and saw that the pool was extremely deep. The water was very clear, but looking at it from a distance, it did appear black. He figured that was likely where the name came from.
“Could it be that Sir Seven fell in the stream, and was then swept into the Blackwater Pool?” he wondered as he looked at the waterfall. The water flowed extremely quickly, and the rocks nearby were very slippery. Even cultivators would have a chance of losing their footing.
“I don’t think that’s too likely,” Zhang Zitong said, shaking her head. “Sir Seven didn’t have any external marks. No matter how sturdy a cultivator’s body was, if they fell from such a height, even if they didn’t break any bones, they would have some scrapes and bruises. But when I checked earlier, there weren’t any of those.”
When he heard that, Zu An took the two of them and jumped straight into the pool below, then muttered, “Sir Seven drowned to death down there? But it doesn’t make sense no matter how I think about it…”
Forget about an Embroidered Envoy, not even the lowest-level bronze token would drown that way!
“Are there really no monsters in this Blackwater Pool?” Zu An said while scanning around with his divine sense. However, the Blackwater Pool was too deep, and his divine sense didn’t cover that much area underwater. After a certain depth, it didn’t reach much further.
“There aren’t. If there were any, there’s no way our local Embroidered Envoy would have no record of them,” Zhang Zitong said, sounding much more respectful.
Xiao Jianren sighed. He had already gotten used to this woman’s proud nature. Now that she was acting like this, he actually felt a bit uncomfortable. He thought, If I become a Golden Token Envoy, she’ll probably treat me much better too, right…
“Still, I’ve heard some rumors surrounding Blackwater Pool. People seem to go missing here often,” Zu An said.
Zhang Zitong replied, “We looked into all of the recent cases. All of them were because of some murderers or bandits, who blamed those rumors to distract the masses.”
Zu An nodded. That was in line with the intelligence he had received before. He asked, “Recent cases? What about older ones?”
Zhang Zitong was a bit hesitant, but she still replied, “Apart from the few cases we investigated, the next oldest case dated back thirty years. I wasn’t born yet at that time, and there aren’t many members of the Yi Commandery Embroidered Envoy who have been around since then. No one knows what happened. But according to the files, there were some complex cases that didn’t have many clues. The ignorant local people thus began to create strange legends.”
Zu An frowned. It looked as if the Blackwater Pool really could have some secret inside.
“I’m heading down for a look,” he said. He didn’t wait for a response and dived straight in. With his Blue Mallard skill, he quickly descended. His figure swiftly disappeared from their line of sight.
When she saw how quickly he moved, Zhang Zitong was frightened, asking, “Will Sir Eleven be okay?”
Blackwater Pool was rather inauspicious, after all; another Golden Token Envoy had drowned there already.
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