Chapter 1032: Capture the King to Catch the Thief

The Embroidered Uniform Envoys were a forbidden presence for the citizens of Great Zhou. Parents often used them to scare disobedient children, threatening that if they continued to cry, an envoy would take them away, which usually made the children stop immediately.

While such warnings were exaggerated, they clearly illustrated the profound sense of oppression the Embroidered Uniform Envoys instilled in most people.

And that was just for the ordinary envoys, let alone the legendary Gold Medallion Embroidered Uniform Envoys.

"Gold Medallion Eleven!" Sang Hong and the others felt a wave of reassurance upon seeing him.

Zu An, in particular, took the lead, shouting, "Lord Eleven is here! Lord Eleven is here!"

The morale of all the Imperial Guards surged instantly.

Dong Jin, on the other hand, looked much grimmer. However, given the situation, he couldn't possibly surrender.

"No matter how formidable, he's still just one man!" Dong Jin scoffed, while secretly bracing himself for a surprise attack.

At that moment, Gold Medallion Eleven appeared to take out a musical instrument and plucked its strings.

A sound akin to a pipa filled the air, sharp and forceful, like the sudden shattering of a silver vase or the clang of weapons from charging cavalry.

Everyone present instantly felt a jolt to their minds, followed by a piercing pain in their brains.

Sang Hong was startled and quickly circulated his vital energy to steady himself, only then managing to suppress the intense discomfort.

He hastily scanned the scene and saw most people clutching their heads in agony. Only a handful of individuals with high cultivation, such as Gao Ying and Pei You, could barely withstand the effect.

"What kind of technique is this?" Sang Hong was utterly astonished. He instinctively glanced towards Zu An, hoping to see him unharmed, but Zu An was no longer there.

Just as the sound of rushing wind reached him, he quickly turned, only to see a white figure already hurtling towards Dong Jin.

Dong Jin, at that moment, was also terrified. The soul-shaking impact had left him momentarily dazed, and even though his cultivation was considerable, he had only just managed to suppress the discomfort.

But as he recovered, he saw a figure charging directly at him.

"Form ranks!" he commanded his soldiers, drawing his saber. Unfortunately, his troops were in disarray and utterly incapable of following orders.

Left with no alternative, he could only swing his saber and slash at his attacker.

Years of suppressing bandits and battling the demon race in a place like Yunzhong Commandery had forged a fierce and resilient character within him.

In that instant, he had already assessed that his opponent's cultivation far surpassed his own. He didn't expect his slash to stop the person.

Instead, he aimed for a life-for-life exchange.

He was gambling that his opponent, who clearly held the advantage, would be unwilling to risk mutual injury.

If his opponent hesitated or dodged even slightly, he could seize the chance to create distance. By then, his subordinates would have recovered, making it difficult for his opponent to capture him.

Even if his opponent ignored the risk, taking someone down with him before he died wouldn't be a bad trade.

He had only recently broken through to the seventh rank and possessed absolute confidence in this life-risking saber strike.

But his eyes immediately widened in disbelief.

Because his opponent showed no inclination to dodge; instead, he extended his fingers.

Dong Jin was immediately struck by a sense of absurdity. Two slender, delicate fingers, a mere flesh-and-blood body, intending to parry his sharp saber head-on?

His expression turned cold, and he drove the saber's edge towards his opponent's fingers.

From years of combat in Yunzhong Commandery, he knew that in a life-and-death struggle, one could not hold back even an ounce of strength, or else the tide could easily turn.

However, his eyes quickly widened in astonishment, for his incredibly powerful saber strike was gently clamped between those two fair fingers.

Refusing to give up, he tried to twist the saber blade to sever the opponent's fingers, but to his shock, the blade remained utterly motionless, as if all his strength had vanished into the void.

Greatly alarmed, he instantly realized he had encountered an immovable force. His instinct screamed at him to abandon his saber and retreat.

It was too late. He felt a suction force emanating from the saber hilt, preventing him from letting go, and his vital energy, too, showed signs of unraveling.

It was like someone accustomed to climbing stairs for years suddenly encountering a step that was slightly higher or lower than usual; they would likely trip and fall.

This applied even more to cultivators. Accustomed to the precise coordination between their vital energy flow and movements, that sudden surge of vital energy instantly robbed him of his breath, causing his blood and internal qi to churn violently.

Normally, this wouldn't be a major issue; a single breath would have been enough for him to recover and regain his composure.

Unfortunately, his opponent seized that fleeting moment, closed in swiftly, and directly struck his chest with a single finger.

In that instant, the clothes on his back burst open, and he felt as if he had been slammed by a rampaging giant bull.

He spewed a torrent of fresh blood from his mouth, instantly feeling as though all his internal organs had been dislodged.

He instinctively tried to use the recoil to distance himself, but his opponent's hand seemed to possess an adhesive force, making it impossible for him to break free.

Immediately after, his opponent's large hand clamped onto a vital acupoint on his shoulder, and his entire body went limp, leaving him utterly without the power to resist.

Only then did he clearly see his opponent's face: it was the most handsome young man from the imperial envoy delegation.

Although he had witnessed the young man block a sword strike from Xiao Yao at the welcome banquet, that attack was conjured from wine, and considering he was part of the Vice-Commander's entourage, Dong Jin suspected they had intentionally held back. He had thus reasoned that even if the young man's cultivation surpassed his own, it couldn't be by a significant margin.

After all, the fellow was far too young and had the appearance of a mere pretty boy, making it incredibly difficult to reconcile him with the image of a true master.

But only now did he understand just how profoundly mistaken he had been.

"I was truly foolish," he thought to himself.

Zu An, holding Dong Jin aloft, projected his voice, infused with vital energy, across the entire field: "Dong Jin has been captured! Considering that you were coerced and ignorant of the truth, if you lay down your weapons now, all past offenses will be forgiven. Otherwise, you will all be treated as rebels!"

He secretly congratulated himself, having first used Daji to play the "Heavenly Demon's Bewitching Sound" on her pipa, plunging those with lower cultivation into chaos, while he seized the opportunity to ambush Dong Jin, their leader.

If these soldiers had managed to form a military array, he wouldn't have succeeded so easily.

He was also grateful that his opponents had rushed here without all their equipment. Otherwise, in a direct confrontation, they could have used drums to counteract Daji's Heavenly Demon's Bewitching Sound.

Military drums were specialized instruments engraved with spell formations, producing an exceptionally loud sound filled with martial intent, which perfectly countered Daji's Heavenly Demon's Bewitching Sound.

The Yunzhong Commandery soldiers exchanged bewildered glances. With their leader captured like a mere chicken, how could they possibly continue this fight?

Having witnessed Zu An's ghostly movements and his instantaneous subjugation of Dong Jin, coupled with the Imperial Commissioner on the other side, glaring like a tiger, and the unfathomable Gold Medallion Embroidered Uniform Envoy, everyone's resolve faltered.

Instinctively, they wanted to lower their weapons, but then someone shouted, "Don't believe him! With your weapons, there's a chance; lay them down, and it's a dead end. Have you forgotten our years of fighting the demon race?"

A chill ran through everyone's hearts. They suddenly recalled that in battles against the demon race, the enemy would initially declare that those who surrendered would be spared, but once weapons were truly laid down, the captives were invariably slaughtered.

Later, they adopted the same tactics when capturing the demon race: first deceiving them with false promises to make them drop their weapons, then finding opportunities to massacre them one by one.

Over time, no one believed such promises any longer.

Zu An's eyes narrowed. He noticed that it was these specific individuals in the crowd who had been instigating trouble; otherwise, the two sides wouldn't have clashed.

These individuals clearly possessed higher cultivation than the surrounding soldiers. While others were still dazed by Daji's Heavenly Demon's Bewitching Sound, they had already fully recovered their senses.

He tossed Dong Jin into the Imperial Guard ranks and instantly lunged towards these individuals.

Sang Hong evidently shared the same thought and also lunged towards them.

"They're killing people! They're killing people!" those individuals cried out in panic, swinging their sabers to defend themselves.

Unfortunately, their cultivation was far inferior even to Dong Jin's, let alone a match for Zu An and the other person.

They were subdued almost in the blink of an eye.

Sang Hong felt a slight tremor in his heart. He had only managed to subdue one, while Zu An had subdued the remaining four.

Although he had been a bit further away, the disparity was still astounding.

At that moment, he heard Zu An utter a surprised sound: "Dead?"

He quickly looked down at the person he held, noticing black blood oozing from the corner of his mouth, clearly indicating suicide by biting down on poison.

"Death warrior!" A chill ran through Sang Hong's heart. He had clearly subdued his opponent just moments ago, which meant the man had bitten into the poison hidden in his teeth the instant they pounced. Such resolve and ferocity, he mused, could only be cultivated by a truly formidable power.

He had initially planned to capture a few of them to interrogate them about the mastermind, but now it seemed his efforts were in vain.

Meanwhile, the other commandery soldiers remained oblivious. They had only witnessed two figures pounce on their comrades, who instantly met violent ends. Coupled with the panicked shouts of "They're killing people!" they had just heard, they instinctively assumed Zu An and Sang Hong were responsible.

One by one, they instinctively seized their weapons, and a chaotic melee seemed on the verge of erupting once more.

Just then, an urgent voice cut through the air: "Stop! Everyone, stop!"

A group of people was seen running from a distance, led by Vice-Commander Xu Yu.

He rushed to the center, interposing himself between the two factions. Seeing the widespread damage and the severely injured Dong Jin, he couldn't help but wail, "What is happening here? What is going on?!"

Sang Hong stated grimly, "Lord Xu, you've arrived at an opportune moment. Is Yunzhong Commandery planning a rebellion?"

They now held control of the situation. If the other party's answer was even slightly amiss, Sang Hong wouldn't hesitate to purge the entire official establishment of Yunzhong Commandery.

Over the years, his court colleagues had secretly called him "Cold-faced Yama," for he was never one to be lenient.