Chapter 1683: Suspicion

In the secret realm, Zu An had acquired the "Book of Records" given to him by Lu Sheng, which endowed him with a natural precognition for danger.

In that very instant, images flashed through his mind. He quickly dodged to the side, simultaneously channeling the Primordial Chaos Scripture intensely to protect his entire body.

However, the opponent's Voodoo Curse was too insidious; it could not be evaded by mere physical dodging.

As the scarecrow's right arm was torn off, Zu An felt a mysterious force envelop his shoulder. A tearing agony shot through his entire arm, his skin ripped open, and blood flowed freely.

Fortunately, his body had been tempered through several rounds of Primordial Qi, making it incredibly resilient. This prevented the Voodoo Curse from tearing off his arm immediately.

He then swiftly channeled the Primordial Chaos Scripture to heal his injured arm, and the wounds on it visibly mended at a rapid pace.

But the insidious power did not dissipate; it continued to tear at the muscles in his arm.

The relentless cycle of tearing, repairing, and tearing again made even Zu An, with his strong will, gasp. The pain wasn't necessarily the main concern; the critical issue was that if this insidious power didn't fade, his body would eventually give out.

Suddenly, an idea struck him. He immediately activated the Gluttonous Sky Devouring Art. A black hole seemed to appear at his shoulder, and the insidious powers were gradually absorbed into it.

The rate at which the wound on his shoulder was deteriorating visibly slowed, and soon, his flesh began to knit back together.

Zhang Jie, standing opposite, looked utterly bewildered. The sight before him completely overturned his understanding of reality. How could anyone survive his Voodoo Curse unscathed?

A flicker of fear crossed his mind. He was no longer as composed as before and dared not play cat and mouse. Instead, he directly twisted the scarecrow's head, intending to end his opponent's life immediately.

Zu An felt a sharp pain in his neck, but by then, he had already figured out his opponent's methods. He had already fully activated the Gluttonous Sky Devouring Art, absorbing all the bizarre energy.

"How is this possible!" Zhang Jie nearly collapsed upon seeing Zu An completely unharmed.

He bit the tip of his tongue, spraying out a mouthful of blood, and mumbled strange syllables. Various black patterns began to appear on his face.

The atmosphere in the entire room instantly turned extremely eerie, as if some terrifying and grotesque entity was about to be summoned.

Zu An dared not take any more risks. The opponent's Voodoo Curse was truly too sinister; who knew if he could handle whatever was summoned this time.

So, he directly spoke: "What are you looking at?"

Zhang Jie was stunned and instinctively replied, "What about it?"

This interruption caused his summoning ritual to be slightly disrupted, and what greeted him next was a dazzling sword light.

"I regret it so much, truly. Why did I bother responding to him? I still had my most powerful technique unused, how frustrating!" This was Zhang Jie's last thought before he died. His intense unwillingness left his eyes wide open even after he drew his last breath.

With his death, the eerie atmosphere in the room gradually faded, and even the terrifying and powerful aura vanished. Zu An wiped away cold sweat, thinking how truly unpredictable these sorcerer's methods were; he had almost met his end.

He woke the several unconscious people in the room. Upon learning that Zhang Jie, the culprit, had been apprehended and executed, Xiao Jianren and the others breathed a sigh of relief. However, their spirits soon dampened upon realizing that their colleagues had fallen in battle.

They knew that a day like this would inevitably come for those in their line of work, and they wondered when their own turn would arrive.

At this moment, Zu An said, "Ensure these two are given a grand burial and their families receive generous compensation. Furthermore, I will submit a petition to secure them a place in the Hall of Honor."

"Your Excellency is most righteous!" Xiao Jianren and the others were invigorated. The Hall of Honor was considered the highest posthumous accolade for Embroidered Uniform Envoys. Many envoys died each year, but only a rare few ever earned a place in the Hall of Honor.

It not only recognized their achievements but also guaranteed prosperity for their families for at least three generations.

Zu An glanced at Zhang Zitong, who was standing nearby, and continued, "In the case of Zhang Jie, it was thanks to Zhang Zitong's denunciation and her cooperation in setting the trap that we were able to bring the culprit to justice."

Zhang Zitong was startled and looked at him with a complex expression.

Xiao Jianren and the others were momentarily taken aback, but as sharp individuals who had reached their positions, they quickly understood that Zu An intended to protect her and naturally raised no objections.

The room was too bloody, so Xiao Jianren and his team handled the aftermath, while Zu An led Zhang Zitong to another room.

"Don't think I'll be grateful to you. Your actions merely made it impossible for me to remain in my previous faction, and you also intended to smoke out other 'snakes,'" Zhang Zitong said after a long silence.

In truth, there wasn't much affection between her and Zhang Jie, and she had only heard about his involvement with her father today for the first time.

Moreover, he had just tried to silence her, so his death was of no consequence to her.

However, she truly couldn't understand why Lord Eleven would let her off. After much thought, she concluded that this was the only plausible reason.

Zu An said indifferently, "Otherwise, what other intentions would you think I have?"

Zhang Zitong's face turned pale. "Right," she thought, "What am I doing, being so self-important?"

At this point, Zu An spoke, "Since you've effectively died once, cherish this life and live it anew. After all, the injustice against your parents has not yet been cleared."

"Furthermore, Tao Qing and Yan Ke were your colleagues. If you commit suicide again, would you be worthy of their sacrifice?"

Zhang Zitong's expression shifted between conflicted emotions. After a long moment, she nodded and said, "Alright!"

Zu An finally let out a sigh of relief. Besides the reason just stated, he kept this woman because of her connection to the former dynasty's imperial grandson, believing she could be a useful pawn. After all, they were Zhao Hao's enemies, and she might prove useful someday.

After settling matters there, Zu An went directly to Yi City Lord's Manor, found Lord Liao Ling, and broadly explained the situation with Zhang Jie.

He hardly dared to trust anyone in the entire Yi Commandery's officialdom, but Liao Ling was an exception. Having cultivated such pure Haoran Sword Qi, his character was undoubtedly upright.

Liao Ling was greatly astonished upon learning Zhang Jie's true identity and instinctively disbelieved the conclusion.

However, with Zu An presenting both human testimony and physical evidence, Liao Ling began to waver.

Zu An then instructed him to maintain control over the entire Yi Commandery to prevent Zhang Jie's loyalists from resorting to desperate measures and causing unrest.

As for why he didn't allow the Yan King's faction to handle it, it was out of fear that they would seize the opportunity to purge dissidents, which would completely destabilize the balance of power in Yi Commandery.

Liao Ling understood this reasoning. Although he still harbored some doubts about Zhang Jie, he agreed to help control the situation for now.

After these arrangements were made, Zu An found an open area to summon the Emperor.

Perhaps due to previous instances, he called out several times, but the Emperor did not respond.

However, Zu An did not give up and continued calling.

After a while, an impatient voice resounded from the golden token: "If there isn't a valid reason this time, I will hold you accountable!"

Rage points from Zhao Hao: 233233233...

Clearly, being summoned repeatedly like a monkey did not sit well with him. This time, he didn't even project his divine consciousness; only his voice appeared.

He mused that the next time he saw this fellow, he would definitely revoke his privilege to summon him.

Zu An then broadly recounted what had just happened.

"Zhang Jie, a sorcerer?" Zhao Hao's voice conveyed surprise, clearly realizing this was no minor matter. He no longer bothered to scold Zu An for summoning him. After a moment, he asked in a deep voice, "What was his motive?"

Evidently, he didn't easily believe Zu An but was curious as to why a high-ranking regional official like Zhang Jie would take such an enormous risk.

"I don't know the specifics, only that there seems to be a mysterious force behind him," Zu An replied. He did not report anything about the former dynasty's imperial princes or grandsons.

What Zhang Jie had told him earlier was, firstly, to buy time for the sorcerer to fully possess him, and secondly, to sow discord with malicious intent. Zu An knew that after learning such imperial secrets, the Emperor would never tolerate him and would eventually settle accounts.

Thus, he naturally wasn't foolish enough to reveal everything.

"A mysterious force..." Zhao Hao fell silent, seemingly deep in thought.

Seeing that he remained silent for a long time, Zu An even thought he had left.

Just then, Zhao Hao suddenly spoke, his voice filled with suspicion: "Zhang Jie himself was a Grandmaster, and since he possessed sorcerous abilities, how were you able to kill him?"