Chapter 1033: Unraveling the Truth

Zu An was utterly bewildered. He had only intended to draw some vitality fruits to help Daji improve her cultivation, but he never expected to draw a skill too.

He quickly checked the description provided by the keyboard.

Voice Changer for Cute Girls: In a certain timeline, there was a man who enjoyed pretending to be a woman and interacting with other men. This allowed him to receive the most attention and always get a larger share of the spoils. He developed this voice changer to convincingly impersonate a cute girl, and with its sweet voice, he quickly captivated the hearts of many men. Unfortunately, the truth always comes out. One day, his deception was accidentally exposed. The men who discovered the truth were furious, and his miserable fate remains unknown, but this magical artifact was passed down.

Usage Effect: This item allows the user to perfectly mimic anyone's voice, to the extent that even those closest to the target will not detect anything unusual. However, each time this function is used, a "sacrifice" must be made.

Note: The "sacrifice" requires the user to first employ this item to mimic the voice of a cute girl and successfully deceive a male target.

Zu An: "???"

This was utterly ridiculous!

He knew that every skill he drew came with some kind of catch, but he never imagined this one would be so problematic.

Initially, he was quite pleased when he read about the usage effect. Although his "Thousand Faces" technique also described how to use vital energy to change one's appearance to match a target, the records in the secret manual were incomplete. According to the current information, he could only achieve about 70-80% similarity, making it very difficult to deceive anyone close to the target.

With this voice changer, combined with his "Thousand Faces" technique, he would be able to successfully disguise himself as anyone without revealing any flaws.

But when he saw the usage conditions, his face darkened.

The so-called "sacrifice" simply meant he had to pretend to be a woman every time.

Pretending to be a woman wouldn't have been so bad; he could have quietly found a secluded place to do it, and it would be harmless. But this outrageous requirement demanded that he successfully deceive a male!

Didn't this mean he would have to act like a cross-dresser in front of another man?

If he were exposed, it would lead to absolute social ruin.

He would lose all face!

Before even trying it, he already felt an endless wave of embarrassment.

"Zu, are you ready?" Sang Hong's knock came from outside, clearly anxious that Zu An had been silent for so long.

"Just a moment," Zu An replied. Realizing there was a more urgent matter at hand, he suppressed his thoughts, placed the "Voice Changer for Cute Girls" into his glazed pearl, and decided to research it later.

"Come here," he beckoned to Daji.

Daji obediently took small, quick steps towards him, her expression seeming to smile, yet upon closer inspection, it didn't.

"Even you're laughing at me," Zu An muttered, a little dejected. "Open your mouth!"

Daji blinked, tilting her head slightly, and obediently parted her red lips.

Zu An popped the vitality fruits into her mouth one by one. Fortunately, they melted instantly, otherwise, she might choke on so many.

During this, his fingers inevitably brushed against her tongue. To his surprise, she did not resist, which was unprecedented.

"She's quite a foodie," Zu An thought with an odd expression. A peerless beauty with her mouth open, waiting to be fed, always gave him an urge to feed her something else.

He quickly composed himself, shoved the remaining vitality fruits into her mouth, then stood up and moved away, no longer looking at her. "Once you've finished eating, refine them," he instructed. "We have important matters to attend to later."

Daji nodded slightly, seemingly understanding his meaning. After consuming all the vitality fruits, her aura began to rise steadily.

Sixth Rank, Seventh Rank, Eighth Rank, Ninth Rank...

Ultimately, her cultivation settled at the Ninth Rank of the Sixth Grade.

Reaching the peak of the Sixth Grade required 800 vitality fruits. She had now consumed 740, just one step away from the peak.

It seemed he needed to quickly prepare the breakthrough materials for her.

Zu An silently reminded himself.

Once Daji's cultivation had stabilized, Zu An called Pei You in.

"Brother Zu, you have to believe me! If even you don't believe me, then I'll... I'll..." As soon as Pei You entered, he began to lament to Zu An. But mid-wail, he suddenly noticed Daji standing nearby.

Could such an enchanting, peerless beauty truly exist in this world?

Even the legendary Yu Yanluo probably wouldn't compare.

"Well, well, Brother Zu, you're secretly keeping such a beauty!" Pei You couldn't help but exclaim.

Zu An rolled his eyes. This buffoon was on the verge of death and still thinking about such things.

He couldn't be bothered to waste words with Pei You and immediately had Daji use her Fox Charm skill to control him.

Pei You's eyes gradually became vacant, and Zu An took the opportunity to question him about last night's events.

However, his answers remained exactly the same as before.

"Hmm?" Zu An was stunned. Neither side was lying, so what exactly went wrong?

After a moment of thought, a sudden idea struck him. He asked, "When you were meditating outside the cell yesterday, did you notice anything unusual?"

"No, nothing unusual," Pei You replied. "It was quiet from beginning to end, and no one entered or left."

Zu An frowned, then asked, "How many cultivation cycles did you complete during your meditation last night?"

Pei You replied, "I first completed eight small cycles, and then... then five great cycles."

Zu An then asked him how long a typical cycle took, and the exact times he started his cultivation until the incident occurred today.

Finally, he discovered the problem: the timing of Pei You's cultivation clearly didn't add up; there was a missing period of time.

Yet, no matter how Pei You tried to recall, he couldn't remember what happened during that time.

"I think I saw a colorful light, and I felt like I fell asleep for a little while, but theoretically, I shouldn't have fallen asleep..." Pei You clutched his head, his expression extremely pained, clearly having been disturbed by something.

Worried about harming his spiritual consciousness, Zu An quickly told Daji to cancel the spell. Then, while Pei You was still disoriented, he carried him out.

"Any results?" Sang Hong, who had been pacing back and forth in the hall, asked. Seeing the two emerge, his eyes were full of hope, yet he also dreaded hearing any bad news.

"Neither side was lying," Zu An stated first.

"But how is that possible!" Sang Hong's expression changed.

Pei You, meanwhile, was deeply grateful. Zu An was truly a good brother; everyone else had doubted him, but Zu An believed him.

How many times had he saved him now, anyway?

One day, when he returned home, he would have to set up a shrine for Zu An in his house and burn incense and worship him daily.

Zu An set the somewhat weakened Pei You aside before explaining, "It seems a master temporarily invaded his body and controlled him to kill Zuo Su."

"Huh?" Pei You exclaimed, thinking, *Doesn't that still make me the murderer?*

But he immediately realized an even more serious problem: if that mysterious person had invaded his brain, wouldn't he have been transformed into their image?

If it were a beautiful woman, that would be one thing, but if it were a big man...

The thought made his face change dramatically, and he couldn't help but dry heave.

Zu An and Sang Hong looked at him in confusion, not understanding what was wrong with him.

Sang Hong, ignoring Pei You, said in a deep voice, "This kind of ability to invade someone's brain and control their actions is usually only possessed by rogue cultivators or the demon race. Furthermore, Pei You is no ordinary practitioner. To be able to control him without detection and silently kill Zuo Su, the perpetrator's cultivation must be far superior to mine."

As he spoke, his brows furrowed deeply. "This is truly difficult," he sighed. "Jian Taiding alone was already somewhat beyond our capabilities, and now a mysterious master has appeared. Even with my iron will, I'm starting to feel discouraged."

Hearing this, Zu An thought to himself that Daji's skill seemed similar, and wondered if he, too, would be considered a rogue cultivator. "Ahem," he cleared his throat. "Since Zuo Su was suspected of colluding with the demon race, it's highly likely that a demon came to silence him."

"There must be others behind this, otherwise, the demon race wouldn't have come to silence him so easily," Sang Hong immediately speculated. "Could it really be Jian Taiding?"

In the entire Cloud-Mid Commandery, Jian Taiding was undoubtedly the foremost candidate with such strength and influence.

Unfortunately, Jian Taiding held a high position and immense power, commanding military authority, making it impossible for them to investigate him.

"The most pressing task is to first find that mysterious demon master," Zu An said. "Once we find them, many things will fall into place."

"Exactly," Sang Hong said, standing up. "Furthermore, Zuo Su's murder must be kept a secret. All those who know must not leave the guesthouse for even half a step. Everyone should continue delivering meals, patrolling, and changing shifts as usual, creating the illusion that Zuo Su is still alive."

They had only just managed to quell the riot of the local garrison. If the soldiers learned Zuo Su had died in the guesthouse, the imperial envoy's delegation would truly be unable to escape responsibility.

If ill-intentioned individuals incited them again, and the city's troops stormed the gates once more, the entire imperial delegation would likely be annihilated.

After arranging everything, Sang Hong pulled Zu An into a room for a detailed discussion, his face etched with fatigue. "You and I both know how difficult it will be to find that demon master," he said.

The most likely place for the perpetrator to be hiding was Jian Taiding's Governor's Residence, which was heavily guarded. Moreover, Jian Taiding himself was a Grandmaster, making it impossible for them to even sneak in to investigate.

"I might have a way," Zu An said in a deep voice.

---

Two chapters have been updated for today.

I previously had a sore throat, runny nose, and stuffy nose. After two days, the symptoms were mild, and I was secretly pleased that my body seemed to be recovering quickly from a cold. However, last night my nose became completely blocked, and I couldn't fall asleep until past 4 AM. It improved slightly during the day today but worsened again tonight, so I immediately took some Lianhua Qingwen capsules at home. I hope they work.

It feels like I catch a cold every winter now. I vaguely remember having similar symptoms around this time last year.