Chapter 1673: Unforeseen Event
Zu An was stunned. How had this situation ended up involving gunpowder?
Even though this was a world of cultivation, gunpowder existed. It just happened to be much weaker than in Zu An’s previous world, so it couldn't compete against the methods of cultivators in this world. Still, it was good in terms of how cost-effective it was. It was easy to acquire, so it was usually used for mining or military purposes.
As if seeing through his confusion, Yun Jianyue explained, “Back then, the court was supposed to send a batch of gunpowder to Yi Commandery and it was to be received by King Yan, but it was plundered midway. The Embroidered Envoy in charge of that case was Jiang Zhong. Later, through his investigation, he discovered that it was stolen by the Devil Sect. The case was closed just like that.”
Zu An sighed and said, “If it had been anywhere else, that conclusion would be fine, but he already knew that King Yan and the Devil Sect were secretly allies!”
Yun Jianyue gave him a look, clearly unhappy with him calling her sect the Devil Sect. She replied, “You’re right. We knew that we hadn’t done such a thing, and King Yan believed us. That meant there was something wrong with the one who came to the conclusion.
“King Yan went to investigate Jiang Zhong’s background, but just happened to run into him while he was being tracked by a group of mysterious pursuers who were trying to silence him. King Yan’s subordinates thus took the chance to rescue him.”
“Where is Jiang Zhong right now?” Zu An asked. He had tried to find the man after realizing that there was something wrong with him, but hadn’t been able to find Jiang Zhong at all.
“He was probably hidden or killed by King Yan,” Yun Jianyue said, shaking her head. She clearly didn’t care much about a nobody like that.
“Later, King Yan interrogated Jiang Zhong. Jiang Zhong was at the end of his rope and could only seek out King Yan,” she continued, “It seems that Jiang Zhong went too far in gambling and lost his family fortune, accumulating a large amount of debt and causing his marriage to fail. He fell deeper and deeper into debt until Shadow Group found a chance to purchase him.”
“Gambling is indeed a vicious poison,” Zu An remarked. He thought to himself, There really is something wrong with Yi Commandery’s Embroidered Envoy system. Its subordinates had already reached such a state, and yet they hadn’t noticed anything ahead of time.
“But Jiang Zhong didn’t know about the Shadow Group’s details, so he only listened to orders. His line of contact with his superiors was already nowhere to be found,” Yun Jianyue said. As the Devil Sect Master, she clearly held some reservations toward the mysterious Shadow Group.
“What about the batch of gunpowder that disappeared?” Zu An asked.
“Judging from my investigation since then, the trail ended at Violet Mountain. So, I suspect that the batch of gunpowder has already been delivered to Violet Mountain,” Yun Jianyue answered.
“What?!” Zu An exclaimed in shock. This was gunpowder that was used by the court to supply the military! What was it going to be used for in a place like Violet Mountain?
When he then thought about how the emperor would hold the Fengshan Ceremony here, however, it wasn’t hard for him to guess the objective.
“But I don’t know where it’s hidden. Furthermore, there’s no way such a large amount of gunpowder was delivered here without causing any activity at all. That means there’s only one possibility, which is that a certain important figure is covering it up,” Yun Jianyue said.
“Are you suspecting Wang Wuxie?” Zu An asked in alarm. All of Violet Mountain was Wang Wuxie’s territory. In such a situation, he was the most suspicious one.
“Wang Wuxie is indeed suspicious,” Yun Jianyue said, shaking her head. “It isn’t impossible for it to be the other daoist sects either. Many people came to Violet Mountain ahead of time for this great daoist competition. If they were here to serve as the receiving end, the Righteous Sun Sect couldn't really just examine their possessions either.”
“So that’s why you pretended to be Emptiness Isle’s Elder Peng. You were investigating this matter,” Zu An said, having thought through many things. No wonder he had always sensed such a familiar feeling from Peng Wuyan. He was glad that he hadn’t gotten into any conflict with them so far, and had even helped them several times. Otherwise, he could have ended up being hated by them!
He asked, “Right, where are the real Elder Peng and Peng Wuyan then?”
“I killed them,” Yun Jianyue said with a displeased expression. “I’m a demoness who kills without batting an eyelid, after all.”
Zu An frowned. Even though he knew about her identity, based on their interactions, he hadn’t really seen that vicious side of hers. He still felt a bit uncomfortable when he heard that.
“Look at how scared you got,” Yun Jianyue said, rolling her eyes. “Don’t worry. It’s too much of a waste to kill someone just like that. I locked them up and plan to just release them after all this. Who knows, I might even be able to plant a seed in the daoist sects for the future.”
Zu An sighed in relief. He quickly asked with a chuckle, “How has the investigation been going so far?”
“Honglei and I have been investigating this matter the entire time, but unfortunately, there haven’t been any results,” Yun Jianyue said. Her expression became a bit strange as she continued, “But sometimes, not being able to find out anything can tell us a lot of things.”
Zu An was stunned. He asked, “What do you mean?”
“I was also suspicious of the daoist sects before, but they are still just guests. It would have been practically impossible for them to sneak in that batch of gunpowder without alerting me,” Yun Jianyue said. She paused for a moment, then continued with a serious expression, “And the only one on all of Violet Mountain who could do such a thing may be Wang Wuxie.”
“He seems quite refined and elegant, and he’s even the State Teacher. It’s not too likely for him to do such a thing, right?” Zu An wondered. He recalled his impression of Wang Wuxie and how he hadn’t really noticed anything strange.
“Refined and elegant?” Yun Jianyue sneered. “That’s only because you haven’t seen how much of a fool he was when he pursued that stone cold woman in his youth.”
Zu An was speechless. Yan Xuehen was indeed beautiful, so it wasn’t that surprising for those from the previous generation to like her. On the contrary, it would be stranger if Wang Wuxie hadn’t liked her.
Yun Jianyue continued with a serious expression “The reason I sought you out today is because I wanted to help speak up a bit for King Yan, and also because I wanted to remind you that King Yan has been scheming in Yi Commandery for so long. Do you really think you could deal with him that easily?”
Zu An was startled, saying, “Then what you’re saying is…”
“King Yan has tens of thousands of elite troops. If someone were to instigate conflict, something major could easily happen,” Yun Jianyue continued. “Furthermore, from what I know, you didn’t catch King Yan’s heir or Sun Xun, right?”
“Don’t tell me they would really dare to start a rebellion?” Zu An exclaimed, his expression changing a bit. Zhao Han was still here, and the court was flourishing. Wouldn’t starting a rebellion just result in all of them being wiped out?
“You can’t assume that everyone would be that rational. When pushed to the limit, it isn’t too surprising for people to start acting unreasonably,” Yun Jianyue slowly said.
Zu An was about to speak up when he suddenly noticed something. He took out the Embroidered Envoy golden token. There was a piece of information on it: ‘King Yan’s army has completely surrounded Yi City, demanding the release of King Yan. Yi City is in danger of being broken through.’
Zu An’s expression darkened. He knew that these people wouldn’t be able to cause much trouble, and that they would definitely be subdued by Zhao Han and the court with terrifying efficiency. However, the lives of Yi City’s common people, as well as Xiao Jianren, Zhang Zitong, and the others, weren’t guaranteed. He got up and said, “I’m going to pay Yi City a visit!”
“I’ll go with you. After all, without King Yan as a backer, our Holy Sect won’t be having as easy a time anymore,” Yun Jianyue said as she also got up. She put on Elder Peng’s mask again.
…
Xie Daoyun paced back and forth uneasily. Zhang Zijiang said with a chuckle, “Don’t be too worried, Lady Xie. Sir Zu’s cultivation is unmatched, so he won’t be in danger.”
Xie Daoyun’s face turned a bit red. She quietly said, “I’m not worried, but that Elder Peng is a senior of the daoist sects. If she was able to raise a disciple as formidable as Peng Wuyan, her cultivation must be deep and immeasurable. Big broth… Sir Zu is still young, after all.”
Just then, the door opened with a groan. Zu An and Yun Jianyue walked out from inside. Xie Daoyun quickly rushed over to greet them. Zhang Zijiang no longer had a frivolous appearance and also looked at Zu An with a nervous expression.
“I’m fine, but I have to go out on a trip. You need to be careful,” Zu An replied.
“What kind of pressing matter is it, Sir Zu?” Xie Daoyun asked worriedly.
“Don’t worry. Something minor happened over at Yi City and I’m heading over to deal with it. It’s nothing dangerous,” Zu An said to comfort her, not wanting her to worry.
Xie Daoyun released a sigh of relief.
Zu An initially thought of asking Zhang Zijiang to look into the batch of gunpowder in Violet Mountain. But after thinking about it a bit, he thought, Wouldn’t it be great if Zhao Han got blasted to pieces? Why am I worrying about that guy?
Afterward, he waved at the two of them and left.
…
When they left, Yun Jianyue suddenly laughed and said, “That Lady Xie seems to care quite a bit about you.”
Zu An said with an embarrassed smile, “She’s a friend, so it’s just a friend’s concern.”
“It’s another friend again. You have quite a few of these pretty female friends, don’t you,” Yun Jianyue retorted with a sneer.
Zu An gave her a look of surprise. There was a hint of amusement on his face as he asked, “Is big sis Yun jealous?”
Yun Jianyue’s face heated up. She glared at him and said, “Get lost! I was just speaking up for our Honglei!
“Why are you laughing? I’m going to rip your mouth off! What, you don’t believe me?
“You’re still going to continue smiling?”
…
When the two of them got to the base of the mountain, Zu An took out the Wind Fire Wheels and invited Yun Jianyue to ride with him.
After some hesitation, however, she still shook her head and said, “I’ll just fly on my own.” She clearly wanted to keep some distance from him.
Zu An thought, As expected of Yan Xuehen’s nemesis. The two of them have the exact same way of thinking. Thus, he didn’t force the issue. After they flew into the air, he found something to talk about to dissolve the awkwardness, asking, “Right, was that turtle spirit at the bottom of Blackwater Pool also something you guys arranged?”
Back then, it was precisely because the turtle had mentioned that a woman had tossed Golden Token Seven into the pool that he had suspected the Hub of Freedom.
Yun Jianyue was stunned. She asked, “What turtle spirit? Back then, it was because King Yan knew that you had managed to narrow the trail to some woman that he had Jiang Zhong lead you to the Hub of Freedom.”
“You guys don’t know about that turtle spirit?” Zu An asked in surprise. He had always thought that the turtle spirit was something arranged by King Yan, and that it was his way of shifting blame onto Tang Tian’er. He had assumed that King Yan had only miscalculated due to not knowing about his relationship with her. But judging from what Yun Jianyue was saying, King Yan didn’t even know of the turtle spirit’s existence!
“I really didn’t. I was still curious as to how you found out Golden Token Seven’s death was related to a woman. So it was because of a turtle spirit in Blackwater Pool?” Yun Jianyue replied. She was the Devil Sect Master and was full of knowledge, so she naturally knew about some legends.
Zu An told her what had happened at Blackwater Pool. Yun Jianyue frowned, and after a pause, she suddenly asked, “Did you consider that perhaps that turtle spirit didn’t deceive you?”
Zu An was stunned. He replied, “Then why did it leave in such a guilty manner, even leaving behind that message?”
Yun Jianyue chuckled and replied, “Brat, you’re normally pretty sharp, but aren’t you a bit muddled right now? Think about it. If you were that turtle spirit and there was someone who could take your life at any time out there, would you still dare to continue staying there?
“As for that incense burning or whatever, it’s nothing compared to its life. Only if it kept its life could it slowly gather all that again. There would be no need to take the risk of staying there at all.
“As for the message it left, its losses were way too great this time, so it’s normal for it to have been a bit bitter.”
Zu An was speechless. Suddenly, all kinds of thoughts filled his mind.
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