Chapter 1866: Real Mastermind
“Show yourself!”
Even though Bi Qi, Zhao Yuan, and the others had left, King Yan’s men were still present. As Golden Peak was a place of utmost importance, soldiers soon rushed over.
That figure’s expression changed when he saw the soldiers. He immediately turned tail and ran. When the soldiers saw that, they all drew their weapons and surrounded him. Both sides clashed, and soon, quite a few soldiers were injured.
That person's cultivation was high, and his movement technique was extremely slippery. After several clashes, he finally found a chance to break out of the encirclement. He showed a nasty grin, revealing his especially striking buck teeth as he exclaimed, “Heh, this young master can go wherever he wishes!
Suddenly, there was a cold snort, and a palm appeared in front of him. That person wanted to evade, but he discovered that he couldn't move no matter what he did. He exclaimed in horror, “Grandmaster!”
The palm struck him with a loud noise, knocking him onto his back and causing blood to spurt out of his mouth. He was so shaken up that he couldn't muster up any strength at all. Countless blades immediately aimed at his neck shortly after.
An elder dressed in official robes slowly walked over and asked, “Who are you?”
“King?” the person on the ground exclaimed in shock as he recognized the elder's attire. He didn’t know which king could be so formidable. He replied, “Respected king, please spare my life! This humble one is Wei Suo. May I know what wrongs I have committed?”
“Why did you come out from this secret dungeon? Which sect are you from?” King Yan asked in puzzlement as he looked at the spatial gate that was slowly closing in midair. Was there such a person among the daoist sects?
“This humble one is without a sect, and I don't know what haooebed either. I was fine and dandy exploring a different secret dungeon when I was suddenly sucked into this secret dungeon," Wei Suo replied.
After waking up in the tomb, Wei Suo had seen that there was no one else around him, only some corpses. He still vaguely remembered that the Ghost King had possessed him and he was scared that he was going to die, so he had immediately scampered out of the great tomb on all fours. Soon after, an aura of devastation had emerged from the tomb. The entire place had sucked in all the living things around it, then disappeared into the void itself.
He had secretly rejoiced, while at the same time observing a moment of silence for Zu An and the others.
You guys didn’t listen to my advice back then and just had to go into the great tomb!
Sigh, living a cowardly life is the best way to survive in this world.
Afterward, he had wandered around for a while, then accidentally bumped into a large group of people. They'd said that someone seemed to have failed tribulation, so they were looking for treasure. He had wanted to try his luck too, but he ended up being captured by someone from a sect and was turned into a medicine slave. At first, he had resigned himself to death, but then a spatial gate appeared. He had quickly made his way through and managed to escape.
However, he was once again captured the moment he returned! What was this blasted luck?
King Yan’s eyes narrowed. He said, “So he went to that secret dungeon too! Bring him down and interrogate him with torture!”
Wei Suo immediately pissed his pants when he heard that. as the surrounding soldiers were dragging him away, he struggled frantically while screaming, “You guys can’t treat me like this! My brother is an important figure in the imperial court! It’s Sir Zu An! Have you all heard his name before?!”
King Yan had just been about to leave. When he heard that, his eyes lit up. He turned around and stared at Wei Suo, replying, “Oh? Zu An is your brother?”
“That’s right! We are brothers in life and death!” Wei Suo exclaimed, immediately sticking out his chest when he felt that there was some hope.
King Yan chuckled and said, “In that case, this king will personally interrogate you!”
Wei Suo was stunned.
…
Meanwhile, Zu An’s group had already left Violet Mountain. They advanced to the capital in a dignified manner.
Apart from Zhao Xiaodie, Guan Chouhai was also in a carriage of his own. After all, he was not only the sect master of Heavenly Sorrow Sect, but also a grandmaster. Even though he was a prisoner at the moment, he still had to be treated with the proper courtesy.
As for Zhi Yin, Wu Xiaofan and the others, they didn’t have such fortune. They were all locked up in the prisoner carriage, covered in shackles. Their arms and legs were bound to the carriage itself. There wasn’t any trace left of the dignity a representative disciple normally enjoyed.
When he saw that, Zu An had his subordinates give them some water and food. He also found some conical bamboo hats with black veils to put over their heads. They were immediately moved to tears. After all, they all had their own pride. Being paraded through the streets like criminals felt worse than killing them. Now that they had the hats, even though they could be seen, at least their faces would be covered. Zu An even said that outstanding heroes like them should not have had to experience such humiliation.
Hear, hear! This is more like what a human should say!
Compared to King Yan and Zhao Yuan’s ruthless subordinates, Zu An was like a saint. Regardless of what their impressions of Zu An had been like before, now, they all felt extremely grateful.
Zu An made sure to give Zhi Yin a few treatment pills. After facing Elder Blood Spirit, his injuries were the worst, and then he had been immediately locked up without even being given a chance to recover.
Zhi Yin swallowed the pills with difficulty and looked at Zu An in confusion, asking, “Why are you treating me so well?”
“Your junior sister is worried about your injuries,” Zu An replied.
Zhi Yin was stunned. His expression suddenly changed and she exclaimed, “What did you do to her?!”
After the previous interrogation, he already roughly knew what had happened on Violet Mountain. His junior sister’s life would probably be over soon, so how could she possibly be able to convince Zu An? When he recalled how his junior sister always had a good opinion of him, and thought about how she could have even sacrificed her own purity to save him this time…
“Just what kind of nonsense are you thinking right now? I didn’t do a thing. Just focus on recovering for now," Zu An replied, stunned. He then turned around to leave.
When he saw that Zu An’s tone and expression were completely normal, Zhi Yin knew that he was overthinking things. He said in shame and embarrassment, “Thank you!” He'd had a degree of natural hostility against this guy because of his goddess Chu, but who would have thought that Zu An would let that enmity go and save him, only to be met with suspicion?
Zu An merely waved his hand and didn’t say anything.
In the distance, Zhao Yuan and Bi Qi both saw his actions.
This guy really knows how to bribe the hearts of others.
However, they didn’t care. Bi Qi was an ally of Zu An to begin with, and as for Zhao Yuan, he didn’t care enough about the opinions of these juniors.
Then, Zu An ran over to Guan Chouhai’s carriage. Zhao Yuan was about to take a look when Bi Qi, inadvertently or otherwise, held him up, not giving him the chance to move over. Zhao Yuan was speechless.
Why does this brat always have so many people helping him?
When he sensed Zu An’s arrival, Guan Chouhai, who had been resting, opened his eyes. He asked, “Why are you helping me?” He knew what had happened on Golden Peak the best out of anyone here. He had been part of the main force against Zhao Han, and Zu An had probably seen it too, and yet here Zu An was helping him hide it.
“Since I saved you, I'll naturally save the entire Heavenly Sorrow Sect. Shouldn’t you scratch my back too and help me understand some things?” Zu An asked with a smile.
Guan Chouhai frowned. He had looked down on this brat with seemingly no cultivation before, but after Violet Mountain’s events, he already treated Zu An as someone at the same level. He asked, “What do you want to know?”
Zu An sensed his surroundings and didn’t detect anyone approaching. He then asked, “Passerby, salted fish, servant, tomato, stone, old lady-killer, malva nut, chick, landowner... Who exactly do these names refer to?” He carefully observed Guan Chouhai's reactions as he recited the names. It was precisely because Golden Token Seven had found that list of names that he was killed.
Sure enough, Guan Chouhai’s expression changed greatly. He asked, “Where did you get that list of names from?”
“You don’t need to worry about that. I naturally have my ways,” Zu An calmly replied.
Guan Chouhai looked at him vigilantly, asking, “Are you pretending to save me, only to scooup us all up in one go once you obtain information from these people?”
Zu An replied with a sneer, “If I’m not mistaken, if your group members didn’t die on Golden Peak, they perished in the secret dungeon. Is there a need to catch them all in one go? I only intended to confirm some things.”
Guan Chouhai fell silent. He knew that what Zu An said was the truth. A while later, he said, “How can I know for sure that you won’t abandon me after I speak?”
“Don’t worry, I have an agreement with Xiaodie. I'll help her save her people,” Zu An said calmly.
“Xiaodie?” Guan Chouhai repeated, raising his brows. He recalled how Zu An had helped Zhi Yin and the others a bit and couldn't help but laugh. He said, “It seems my luck isn’t that bad and I took in a cute disciple. The others weren’t so lucky.”
Zu An continued to watch him calmly. Guan Chouhai thought he lusted after Zhao Xiaodie’s beauty, but he didn’t really want to explain it either.
Guan Chouhai then said, “Old lady-killer is none other than me.” However, when he saw Zu An’s strange expression, his face heated up. “These nicknames are all more or less a bit related to our real identities. Do you think that nickname doesn’t suit me?”
When he saw Guan Chouhai’s humiliated expression, Zu An endured the urge to laugh. He replied, “It does.”
Guan Chouhai then continued, “Since the assassination of the emperor was a serious matter, all of us would be done for if news got out. We were scared of someone discovering our identities, so we used code names.”
“Just who was it that organized all of you?” Zu An asked curiously.
“Landowner,” Guan Chouhai replied.
“Was Landowner King Qi or the libationer?” Zu An asked curiously. After all, only those two had enough prestige and resources to organize such a huge event.
“Neither,” Guan Chouhai said, shaking his head.
Zu An asked in shock, “Then he is…?”
Guan Chouhai slowly exhaled and said, “I don't know either."
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