Zu An’s expression darkened. He changed clothes and returned to the Embroidered Envoy’s meeting point, gathering all the related personnel.
“Did Sir Eleven’s investigation bring about any results?” Xiao Jianren asked sleepily. He felt guilty and quite apologetic because his leader had been working hard outside, but he had been sound asleep.
Zhang Zitong noticed that there was still some dew on Zu An’s clothes, indicating that he had clearly been running around all night. She felt a bit of admiration for him.
Zu An asked, “Who was it that told you Sir Seven was with a sweet smiling woman?”
“It was a colleague from Yi Commandery,” Xiao Jianren said, giving Zhang Zitong a look.
Zhang Zitong explained, “It was a Bronze Token Envoy from here. His name is Jiang Zhong. Did something happen?”
“Bring me to see him,” Zu An said sternly. All this was just too much of a coincidence. The turtle monster had said that a woman threw Golden Token Seven into the water, while that Envoy had described the woman’s appearance. It was evident that they had been trying to draw attention to the Hub of Freedom. If not for the fact that he just happened to know Tang Tian’er, perhaps he really would have continued to investigate in the Hub of Freedom’s direction.
Zhang Zitong and the others exchanged a look, sensing that something wasn’t right. At the moment, however, they didn’t dare to ask more and said, “Sir Eleven, Jiang Zhong just happens to be on vacation today. His home is to the west of the city. Should we send someone to bring him here?”
“Lead the way. We’ll go straight there,” Zu An ordered.
All his subordinates shivered, because that meant there was definitely something wrong with Jiang Zhong. Zhang Zitong didn’t dare to treat the matter carelessly and led the group toward the west of the city.
…
All of them were silent along the way. They quickly arrived at a tattered residence. Zu An didn’t say anything as he kicked the door open and went in.
However, he quickly became dejected, because the courtyard was too quiet. If Jiang Zhong were present, he would have rushed out to see what was going on. There was no way there wouldn’t be any reaction at all.
Soon afterward, Xiao Jianren came out to report the result of his investigation, saying, “Jiang Zhong isn’t at home!”
Zhang Zitong’s expression changed. It was already the dead of night, and yet an Embroidered Envoy wasn’t resting at home? Where else would they go? After all, the Embroidered Envoys all had their own special rules. Even when they had the day off, they had to always be on call. There could always be some mission they would have to tend to.
“Ask around with the neighbors,” Zu An ordered.
Xiao Jianren nodded, then led his subordinates to search the surroundings. Meanwhile, Zu An took the chance to ask Zhang Zitong, “What is this Jiang Zhong normally like?”
“His behavior was always a bit slick, but you won’t last long in our line of trade if you can’t adapt to circumstances,” Zhang Zitong replied. “There wasn’t much else. Anyone who could work as one of us has definitely had their background thoroughly investigated.”
Zu An sneered. “Is that so? I don’t think you’re even the slightest bit slick.”
Zhang Zitong was a bit hard-pressed as she replied, “With my personality, it is indeed easy for me to offend people. It’s all thanks to Sir Seven’s care. I already viewed him like my adoptive father, which is why I really want to find out his killer as soon as possible. Is there really something wrong with this Jiang Zhong?”
“He’s already missing, and yet you still think there’s no problem?” Zu An replied expressionlessly.
Xiao Jianren ran back while gasping for breath, saying, “Boss, the neighbors said that they saw him in the evening, and they even saw his house light on, so they assumed that he was sleeping inside.”
Zu An frowned. He went inside the room and looked around. When he saw the messy bedding, he checked the temperature inside and said, “It seems he left not too long ago.”
Xiao Jianren’s expression changed. He asked, “We’ve just begun to investigate him, and yet he’s already fled?”
The surrounding Embroidered Envoys’ expressions quickly became unnatural. They were all professionals, so they realized that there was only one possibility: there was a mole among them.
When their gazes landed on her, Zhang Zitong asked with a scowl, “Do you suspect me of leaking information?”
Xiao Jianren chuckled in embarrassment, replying, “That’s not my intention…” He naturally didn’t want to suspect her, but Jiang Zhong was her subordinate. Furthermore, she had indeed been following Golden Token Seven’s case.
Zu An said, “It has nothing to do with her. I was paying attention to her the whole time and she didn’t leak out any information.”
It wasn’t just her. There had been no suspicious activity among any of the people who traveled with them. With such a huge difference in cultivation, not a single movement from these people could escape his notice.
Zhang Zitong quickly sighed in relief. Her impression of him improved a bit further. However, she soon realized that Golden Token Eleven had never completely dropped his suspicion of her, and that he had still been secretly watching her.
Zu An commanded, “Order the arrest of Jiang Zhong. Find him as soon as possible.”
Someone accepted the order and passed it down. Zhang Zitong finally couldn't take it anymore and asked, “Just what is going on? Why did Jiang Zhong suddenly run? What’s happening with him?”
Zu An replied, “Someone deliberately led us to investigate the Hub of Freedom…” He gave them a rough summary of what had happened.
“Who is the mastermind behind all of this? These schemes really run deep…” Xiao Jianren cried out in alarm.
Zhang Zitong said with a frown, “What I’m more curious about is how Jiang Zhong just happened to obtain information at such a crucial time.”
That was also what Zu An couldn't figure out. They spoke for a while longer, but couldn't figure anything out either, so he had them continue to investigate Jiang Zhong’s trail. He himself returned to the relay station.
…
The next day, Zu An wanted to find Yan Xuehen and Chu Chuyan, but when he arrived at their residence, he discovered that the beauties were already long gone. Zu An gritted his teeth. Yan Xuehen really was quite the vicious individual. Not only had she refused to meet him, she hadn’t let Chuyan meet him either.
Sigh, but the relationship between us three really is annoying. I really have no idea how to deal with this in the future…
Zu An walked into an alley with a heavy mood. Suddenly, a small butterfly fluttered in front of him, leaving him surprised. There are actually butterflies in the middle of winter? This world really is completely different.
A few more butterflies flew over to him, then swirled around him like leaves. They added something of a warm feeling to the cold winter day.
Zu An reached out his hand. The butterfly in front of him fluttered its wings and stopped on his finger. It treated his finger as a flower petal, then lowered its head to bite him.
A smile appeared on Zu An’s face. He was about to stroke the butterfly when he suddenly felt a stinging pain. His expression changed. He quickly flung the butterfly away and looked at his hand. There was a bit of blood on the tip of his finger. Furthermore, the blood was turning a bluish color; the butterfly was clearly poisonous.
Suddenly, a laugh that sounded like silver bells rang out. A pretty young lady sat on a tree nearby. Her colorful clothes made her look like a brilliant butterfly as they fluttered in the wind. Meanwhile, the little butterflies just happened to stop on her finger, looking lovable and cute.
“It was you?” Zu An exclaimed, glowering This young lady was naturally the Princess Butterfly he had met yesterday, Zhao Xiaodie.
“I advise you not to rashly use your ki. After being afflicted by my poison, the more of your skills you use, the faster you’ll die,” Zhao Xiaodie said. Then, she suddenly changed her tone and continued, “No, actually, you won’t die that quickly. The poison will first flow through your meridians and turn your entire body numb, then invade your internal organs. Then, your innards will start to gradually melt, ultimately turning into a puddle of viscous goop. Most importantly, your consciousness will be intact the entire time. You’ll experience the fear of your entire body melting. Hehe, just the thought of it alone is really interesting.”
Zu An said gravely, “I am an Imperial Envoy bearing his majesty’s mission, and yet you’ve used such vicious assassination methods on me. Not even your father King Qi will be able to deal with the consequences.”
“Tsk, you want to use the emperor to scare me?” Zhao Xiaodie replied with a disdainful smirk. “You’re right. If this matter is exposed, it will become really tricky. But you’ll be nothing more than a puddle of blood, so who would know that I did it? This alley is so secluded that no one will come here. Won’t it be fine if I just toss your brain into some random ditch, thus erasing all evidence? Right, I still haven’t told you that even though your entire body will melt, your brain won’t, have I?”
She had deliberately described the illness in great detail, intending to see Zu An collapse in fear. However, Zu An’s apathetic mood really dampened her spirits a bit. She thought, Is this just the despair of inevitable death? Then I should try and give him a bit of hope.
“Of course, this princess isn’t completely insensitive to people’s feelings. If you beg me, I’ll consider giving you the antidote,” Zhao Xiaodie said, looking down on him from above. She sounded amused as she asked, “Do you want to live?”
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