Chapter 1037: Surround and Kill

Hearing this, Zu An's spirits instantly lifted. It seemed his trip here wasn't in vain after all.

Unfortunately, the speaker's voice was extremely hoarse and strange, as if deliberately masking their original voice.

"If Zuo Su doesn't die, will any of you feel at ease?" At that moment, the black-robed man sitting furthest away also spoke, his tone seemingly tinged with sarcasm.

Zu An frowned, puzzled as to why these people met in disguise, even altering their voices. Did they not know each other?

However, upon closer inspection, he noticed a difference: although everyone wore black robes, the patterns on their sleeves and collars varied.

The person furthest away had white patterns, the one to his left had orange patterns on their robe, and the one to his right had red.

The patterns on the other two were cyan and yellow, respectively.

"What do these colors signify?" Zu An pondered.

What made his expression even more solemn was the cultivation level of these individuals. Although it was difficult to pinpoint precisely, there were at least two Grandmasters and two peak Ninth-rank cultivators. Even the weakest among them appeared to be at the mid-Ninth rank, and he couldn't rule out the possibility that some were concealing their true strength.

Had all the experts from Yunzhong Commandery gathered here?

Zu An couldn't help but inwardly complain. It seemed he shouldn't jinx himself; he might just end up getting caught here.

An awkward silence fell over the room. Clearly, their concern for Zuo Su's death was merely feigned; no one genuinely cared.

After a while, the yellow-patterned black-robed man, whose back was to Zu An, broke the ice: "Alright, alright, nobody wanted this to happen. The most pressing matter now is to figure out what to do after Zuo Su's death. What about the power vacuum in the Commandery Governor's Manor?"

The red-patterned black-robed man then spoke: "Hmph, Xu Yu recently took over the Commandery Governor's Manor; the power vacuum has already been filled."

Zu An thought to himself that Xu Yu didn't seem to be part of their group. Finally, there was someone in Yunzhong Commandery he could temporarily trust.

"No matter, Xu Yu isn't good at socializing and lacks the means to gather a following. He doesn't pose much of a threat to us," the cyan-patterned black-robed man beside him said, his voice old, clearly no longer young.

The orange-patterned black-robed man added: "Xu Yu comes from a humble background and has no influential connections. He's not worth worrying about."

Zu An was startled. This person sat ramrod straight, and there was something about their whole demeanor that felt familiar, yet he couldn't recall who it was at the moment.

The white-patterned black-robed man then tapped the table: "We should find an opportunity to win Xu Yu over. It would be best if he became one of us."

The cyan-patterned elder gave a wry smile: "That fellow fancies himself virtuous. It's not like we haven't tried to win him over before, but he just doesn't know what's good for him."

"That just means we chose the wrong approach," the white-patterned man snorted. "Everyone has weaknesses; we should appeal to their preferences. Didn't Zuo Su also seem impervious before, yet we still managed to handle him in the end?"

"You have a point. I will look into it thoroughly," the yellow-patterned black-robed man replied in a muffled voice.

"More than winning over Xu Yu, I'm concerned about another issue," the white-patterned man said, slowly turning his head to scan everyone present. "Why was Zuo Su arrested? And the Imperial Envoy's side clearly wasn't making random arrests; they also dispatched people to apprehend several related officials at the same time. How did the Imperial Envoy's side know so much?"

The yellow-patterned black-robed man hesitated, then said: "Before, Imperial Envoy Vice-Commissioner Zu An visited Zhenyuan Bank and retrieved a box that someone else had previously deposited there. Not long after, Sang Hong began making arrests. I suspect that box might have contained some records."

At this, all eyes turned to him. The red-patterned black-robed man said in a chilling tone, "So, all this time, the leak came from your end?"

Zu An's heart stirred, surprised to hear them discussing him. It seemed the identity of the yellow-patterned black-robed man could be confirmed: he was from the Zhenyuan Merchant Guild, though Zu An didn't know his specific role.

From the look of things, even if he wasn't the Guild Master, he was certainly one of the highest-ranking members of the guild.

The yellow-patterned black-robed man quickly waved his hand: "Of course not. If it were truly us who leaked it, why would I have mentioned it? That box was deposited in the bank long ago by someone else. It's the bank's rule never to peek at customers' belongings, which is how this unexpected situation arose."

"Who deposited that box?" the orange-patterned black-robed man asked.

"We sent people to investigate. It was a young beggar who deposited it with us…" The yellow-patterned black-robed man was interrupted by the others before he could finish.

"A young beggar depositing valuable items at the bank—you didn't suspect anything?" The others glared at him resentfully, clearly blaming him for the blunder.

The yellow-patterned black-robed man gave a wry smile: "Those who deposit items with us usually have various reasons to keep things discreet. It's common practice for them to find beggars to help with deposits, as we only recognize the key, not the person."

"We've conducted extensive investigations over the past two days and finally found the young beggar from back then. From his description, the person who deposited the box should be Shen Zhou."

"Shen Zhou!" The others gasped in low voices, clearly all familiar with the name.

For a mere guard to be remembered by so many top figures was truly unprecedented.

"I can't believe he had such a trick up his sleeve!" The white-patterned man slammed his hand on the table.

Then he suddenly let out a surprised "Hmm?" "Yesterday, when the Imperial Envoy's people made arrests, other related individuals were dealt with promptly. Which of you was responsible for that?"

Just as the others were about to answer, a sliver of light suddenly appeared on the round table.

Zu An cursed inwardly. The night had been heavily overcast and dark, perfect weather for sneaking around.

But now, without him noticing, the clouds had parted, revealing the moon behind them.

Moonlight streamed down. Worried his shadow might be cast on the window and expose him, Zu An instinctively crouched down.

Unfortunately, the situation was sudden, and he forgot about the small hole he had secretly poked in the window earlier. The moonlight streamed right through it.

The reason these people were being so secretive was to prevent their identities from being revealed. That's why, even though several of them were meeting in the room, they hadn't lit any lamps, remaining in darkness.

Seeing this light, how could they not realize what was happening?

Someone was there!

Knowing he couldn't hide any longer, Zu An was about to launch himself away with a tap of his foot.

At that moment, a sharp sword qi burst forth, instantly shattering the window and door.

A flying sword had already shot towards his waist.

"Han Fengqiu!" Having previously fought against him, Zu An immediately recognized the sword.

He swung his palm to bat the flying sword away, then summoned the Great Wind to teleport outside.

He could handle one Grandmaster, but two Grandmasters of unknown cultivation levels, plus so many other top experts, and the potential arrival of guards from the Zhenyuan Merchant Guild, meant his only option was to flee.

He had briefly considered using the imperial decree to summon the emperor's power to suppress them, but while the decree was potent, its activation time was too long.

Earlier, when he was escorted to the capital from Brightmoon City by Embroidered Envoy Huang Huihong, the envoy failed to complete the summoning even as he died.

Now, the individuals inside were masters among masters; they would absolutely not give him time to summon the emperor's power.

Just then, the trees in front of him suddenly grew wildly, transforming into a dense, towering thicket of thorns that blocked his path.

Zu An was forced to stop. The Great Wind teleportation had a drawback: it couldn't ignore spatial obstacles.

At the same time, the plants and flowers on the ground instantly wrapped around him. Their usually smooth leaves were now covered in sharp thorns, pricking Zu An directly.

Under the moonlight, the thorns gleamed a phosphorescent blue, clearly indicating a potent poison.

Unfortunately for them, Zu An's body was resilient and immune to all poisons. He simply shattered the thorns and charged out.

Just then, a massive golden brick materialized above his head, descending with the force of Mount Tai.

From the look of it, if he were hit squarely, he would instantly be flattened into a paste.

Zu An quickly dodged sideways. At that moment, a pair of shimmering, multi-colored eyes suddenly appeared before him, and his body stiffened.

This must be the doing of that demon clan's Kong Qing!

He immediately understood this was a spiritual attack, and that Pei You had likely been controlled by this same move previously.

*Huh, why does it feel less powerful than I imagined?*

Nevertheless, he dared not be careless and immediately summoned the Hundred Phoenix Cry to counterattack.

Meanwhile, one of the black-robed figures, whose eyes were glowing, was about to unleash his power to destroy the target's consciousness when he suddenly felt a five-colored light flash from the opponent as well.

"Huh? This is the Princess's aura?"

This momentary hesitation meant he couldn't unleash his killing blow before the Hundred Phoenix Cry's counterattack instantly arrived.

He couldn't help but let out a muffled groan, muttering inwardly, "That brat has no martial ethics!"

The white-patterned black-robed man beside him frowned, clearly wondering why he had missed. However, he didn't dare delay and immediately raised both hands.

After the Hundred Phoenix Cry counterattack, Zu An dodged sideways, and the enormous golden brick slammed down exactly where he had just stood.

With a deafening crash, the entire Zhenyuan Merchant Guild building shook several times.

The golden brick, meanwhile, had directly smashed a large crater into the ground.

Just as Zu An was about to leave, he found the surrounding air suddenly turned incredibly cold. A layer of frost instantly covered his entire body, and in the blink of an eye, he was completely frozen into a block of ice.