Chapter 1032: Cute Girl Voice Changer

Zuo Su, after his initial shock subsided, gradually calmed down. He looked at the other person and asked, "Have you come to silence me?"

Pei You stood there in silence, clearly assenting.

A flush spread across Zuo Su's face, his chubby cheeks quivering. He was clearly furious. "Why? I haven't said anything!"

Pei You finally spoke. "Lord Zuo, having risen to your current position, why ask such a naive question? For others, only a dead man can truly keep a secret."

"If you were in our shoes, you would make the same choice."

Zuo Su fell silent. He knew that in their position, he would indeed silence others.

"Can you give me a chance?" Even though he knew hope was slim, his survival instinct urged him to make one last attempt. "Since you could get in, you could take this opportunity to help me escape..."

His voice trailed off as he spoke, for the other person continued to watch him expressionlessly.

"I understand," Zuo Su said with a bitter smile. "After all my precautions back then, I still ended up entangled with you people. I should have realized this day would come."

"You've enjoyed enough over the years; your time in this world hasn't been in vain," Pei You said flatly.

"That's true. You certainly have countless tricks. What I've enjoyed, many wouldn't experience in ten lifetimes..." Zuo Su sighed, seemingly resigned to his fate. But the next second, he suddenly looked up and shouted, "Guards..."

Unfortunately, Pei You had anticipated this. He instantly sealed Zuo Su's mute acupoint, and the sound was abruptly cut off.

"How unbecoming, Lord Zuo," Pei You said, a hint of disdain in his eyes.

In that instant, Zuo Su's eyes were filled with pleading and terror; tears even welled up. The complexity of his gaze was beyond words.

Pei You no longer had any interest in talking. His eyes suddenly glowed with a bright light, and then the same light appeared in Zuo Su's eyes.

Immediately afterward, all light in his eyes faded, and his head slumped limply, clearly devoid of any life.

Pei You confirmed he was dead before turning and leaving.

Given Zuo Su's cultivation, killing him would normally have been difficult. However, with his vital acupoints restrained, he couldn't muster any defense and naturally became a lamb to the slaughter.

***

The next morning, after Zu An had left, Hong Zao came in to check on Pei Mianman. She found her sprawled lazily on the bed, seemingly too indolent to even lift a finger.

"Miss, are you getting up?" Hong Zao wondered to herself, *Young Master is truly something; every time he leaves, Miss looks completely worn out.*

"You brat, aren't you stating the obvious? Don't disturb me. Let me sleep a little longer," Pei Mianman grumbled, rolling over to find a more comfortable position.

Hong Zao paused. "Huh, Miss, why are your lips swollen?"

Pei Mianman instinctively covered her lips, her face slightly flushed, but she feigned calm. "It's nothing. I might have caught a cold."

"How would catching a cold make your lips swell?" Hong Zao asked, giving her a look that clearly said, *Do you take me for a fool?* She suddenly slapped her forehead. "I know! Miss must have secretly eaten Young Master's lollipops, and she ate so many that her lips swelled. And she didn't want to share them with me, so she made up this excuse to trick me, didn't she?"

Pei Mianman, both embarrassed and flustered, grabbed a pillow and hurled it. "You wretched girl! Eat, eat, eat! All you ever think about is eating! You'll regret it someday!"

Seeing that her mistress was truly angry, Hong Zao stuck out her tongue and quickly scurried downstairs.

Meanwhile, Zu An returned to the guesthouse feeling refreshed. *Big Mianman is truly a rare talent, a treasure men only dream of,* he thought.

However, he suddenly noticed something amiss in the surrounding atmosphere. The Imperial Guards were all on high alert, looking as if they were facing a formidable enemy.

Zu An pulled a few aside to ask, but they didn't know what had happened, only saying they were following Lord Sang's orders.

His heart sank, and he quickly strode into the inner hall.

Inside the room, he saw only Sang Hong, Xiao Jianren, Pei You, and a few guards whom Zu An recognized as prison wardens.

Even more surprising, Pei You was tied up and kneeling in the center of the room.

Sang Hong paced back and forth anxiously, seemingly on the verge of making a difficult decision.

Zu An was stunned. He'd only been out for one night, yet it felt like he'd missed an entire century. "What happened? Why is Brother Pei..."

Hearing his voice, Pei You seemed to have found a savior. He quickly turned around and wailed, "Brother Zu, you're finally back! Lord Sang wants to kill me!"

Zu An looked at Sang Hong, utterly bewildered.

Sang Hong was infuriated. "You scoundrel! How dare you speak? You killed Zuo Su! Do you have any idea what the consequences are?"

"Pei You killed Zuo Su?" Zu An was dumbfounded. Even with his vast imagination, he couldn't fathom why.

"I've been wronged! I didn't do it!" Pei You quickly protested.

"How dare you argue?" Sang Hong slammed his hand on the table in anger, then pointed to the several prison wardens on the other side. "You tell me, what exactly happened last night?"

The prison wardens exchanged glances with Pei You, then hesitantly began, "Last night, Lord Pei came to guard outside the prison cells. Later, in the middle of the night, Lord Pei suddenly got up and wanted to enter a cell, dismissing us."

"We didn't think much of it and allowed Lord Pei to enter."

"But this morning, everyone discovered that Lord Zuo had died in his cell."

***

The few men recounted what had happened last night, each adding to the story.

Zu An eyed Pei You with a strange expression. *I never would have thought you were this kind of person,* he mused.

"I didn't!" Pei You quickly protested. "Last night, I was meditating the entire time and never left. They're lying!"

Sang Hong said gravely, "Azu, as you can see, both sides have been presenting conflicting accounts. Many people saw Pei You enter, but he's the only one who claims he didn't. Who do you think I should believe?"

Zu An frowned and pulled Sang Hong aside. "Uncle, have you checked the backgrounds of those Imperial Guards?"

"Yes, I have," Sang Hong replied gravely. "They all have clean backgrounds and no connections with anyone from Yunzhong Commandery. I even interrogated them separately, and their testimonies are consistent."

"So the problem is with Pei You?" Zu An's brows furrowed.

"As it stands, yes," Sang Hong sighed.

"But he has no motive to do something like that." Having spent so much time with Pei You, they had developed a considerable friendship, and Zu An naturally didn't want anything to happen to him.

"That's for him to answer," Sang Hong said, casting a worried glance at Pei You. "Unfortunately, given how stubborn he appears now, I doubt he'll tell the truth."

Zu An's heart stirred. "Don't worry," he said. "I have a way to tell if they're telling the truth or lying."

"How will you discern it?" Sang Hong asked, a little confused.

"Prepare a quiet room for me, and have them come in one by one." To be safe, Zu An decided to interrogate the prison wardens first.

As he passed Pei You, he whispered, "What is your precise cultivation rank and stage? This concerns your life, so don't lie."

Pei You was somewhat frightened by the current situation. If he couldn't prove his innocence, he might well meet his end here today, so he dared not conceal anything. "Sixth rank, eighth stage."

Zu An breathed a sigh of relief. That was good; it was still within his control.

He returned to the room and had the prison wardens come in one by one.

Although Sang Hong didn't understand, he trusted Zu An and didn't ask further questions.

As each prison warden entered, they saw a woman in a white dress in the room, a peerless beauty who perfectly blended purity with captivating allure.

*How could there be such a beautiful woman in the envoy delegation?* they wondered.

The moment this thought arose in the wardens' minds, their eyes glazed over, and they looked bewildered.

Zu An had Daji use her "Fox Charm" skill to easily control these men, then he questioned them again about what had happened the previous night.

Their answers were consistent with what they had said before.

Zu An's heart sank. It appeared Pei You had indeed entered the cell yesterday.

After sending the wardens out, he didn't immediately call Pei You in. Instead, he summoned his keyboard.

Daji was currently at the sixth rank, fifth stage, and her "Fox Charm" skill was level two, which allowed her to control targets of equal cultivation.

However, Pei You's cultivation was at the sixth rank, eighth stage. Currently, Daji clearly couldn't control him; she needed to advance her cultivation.

The accumulated rage points during this period were enough for him to exchange for Primordial Energy Fruits to enhance Daji's cultivation.

However, the shop's exchange rate of 1000 points for one Primordial Energy Fruit was too straightforward. Zu An, considering himself quite lucky, decided to try his hand at the lottery instead.

After starting the lottery, Zu An remained unfazed by the "Thank you for participating" messages that quickly flashed across the screen. After so many draws, he was used to them.

If he drew a skill every single time, he'd start worrying about his lifespan.

Soon, he had drawn a total of 340 Primordial Energy Fruits.

Zu An was about to give them to Daji when his gaze suddenly sharpened. He noticed that the cursor from the last draw had landed on the letter "S."

Congratulations! You've drawn "Cute Girl Voice Changer"!

Zu An stared in bewilderment.