Chapter 1113: Blood for Blood

The sword had a rolled-up piece of paper in its center. The paper was made of a special kind of material that granted it some resistance against water and fire.

Zu An unfolded the paper and gave it a look. His expression was grim and conflicted.

Sang Hong noticed his expression and asked curiously, “What is it?”

Zu An had already had his subordinates withdraw earlier. He replied quietly, “Chen Zhou left behind the proof we've been looking for all this time here.”

“What?!” Sang Hong exclaimed. He quickly took the paper from Zu An and gave it a look.

The paper was a simple account book. The records matched up with the ones they had taken from the Zhenyuan Merchant Group before. The only difference was that this account also included a large amount of smuggling between King Qi and the fiend races.

No wonder King Qi hadn’t let the entire village go. He had been worried about Chen Zhou leaving behind some proof, and yet they couldn't find it. That was why they had decided to just burn everything down. That way, the evidence would also go up in flames.

But they had never expected Chen Zhou to hide the evidence in his son’s toy wooden sword, and that wooden sword had just happened to be given to Zu An as a gift. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been able to escape the flames either.

Sometimes, it was just like that. The will of heaven worked in mysterious ways.

Sang Hong said, “Ah Zu, I am going to seize all of these people on this list. Why not come with me?”

The account book was just an account book. They needed the real people named in the evidence to have ironclad proof.

Zu An shook his head and said, “Please go on your own, respected uncle. I have more important matters to tend to.” He looked toward a certain section of Cloudcenter City.

Sang Hong guessed what Zu An was thinking and said worriedly, “Ah Zu, do not act rashly. We should take our time with our decisions.”

Zu An said with a heavy voice, “What is cultivation? If I can’t get proper revenge, it will be hard to find peace.” He didn’t wait for Sang Hong’s response. With just a few steps, he vanished into the distance.

Sang Hong looked sullen. He waved at his subordinates to call them back to the city. The best thing he could do for Zu An now was to settle all of the evidence as quickly as possible.

Meanwhile, Zu An moved quickly and arrived outside a residence in the city. He roared thunderously, “Zhao Zhi, get the f*ck out here right now!”

…

The people inside the residence ate and drank happily. The silver-haired Han Fengqiu touched cups with some burly men, exclaiming, “All of you have worked hard!”

One of them had some yellow and black patterns on his face; his voice was naturally loud. He replied, “How can this be called hard work? They were merely some villagers; it didn’t take much effort at all. The only thing I’m puzzled about is why we had to act against those ordinary people.”

Han Fengqiu said with a chuckle, “It’s mainly because some treacherous things have been happening around Cloudcenter Commandery recently. If we didn’t deal with this situation as soon as possible, it would be quite bad if everything failed in the end because of a small mistake.”

The large man nodded. He said with a bit of regret, “Then maybe we should’ve just eaten them. That way, nothing would’ve been left behind.”

Han Fengqiu cursed the man inwardly for being stupid, but he still said in an amiable tone, “But that way, your identities might have been exposed. It would have made it harder to take care of things later.”

“Hmph, I can go wherever I please in Cloudcenter Commandery. Who can stop me?” the large man retorted with a snort.

Han Fengqiu thought to himself, These fiend races really are barbarians. Interacting with them really is exhausting…

Just then, Zu An’s furious roar rang out. Those who were in the room were angered and quickly rushed out.

“I was wondering which bastard was so confident. So it was Sir Zu.” Han Fengqiu sneered when he saw who had arrived.

Zu An noticed the large man at his side. He had a round face, and the black and yellow patterns he bore were especially striking. Zu An frowned and remarked, “The Tiger clan?” The patterns were too similar to tiger stripes. It was hard to not make that association.

Han Fengqiu felt regret. That muscle-brained idiot had actually come out with him! But he blamed himself too, for being too worked up and forgetting to stop them.

But with things how they were, there was no point in hiding anything. He said indifferently, “These are my new bodyguards. The court doesn’t forbid employing them, does it?”

Because of their defeat in the war back then, many of the fiend races had remained in the human territory to serve as slaves. Many nobles raised fiend race slaves, and eventually, that had even become a way to size up the power of a clan.

Zu An obviously wasn’t there to talk about that. He asked coldly, “Where is Zhao Zhi? Why don’t I see him?”

Han Fengqiu frowned and replied, “Isn’t Sir Zu’s address a bit improper? If we really pursue this, your actions will be punishable.”

Zu An didn’t pay him any attention and instead asked, “Chen Zhou’s wife and son—was it you who ordered their death?”

The robust fiend race man’s eyes narrowed. However, he knew it wasn’t the time for him to speak either.

Han Fengqiu sneered. “What is Sir Zu saying? Who were the ones we sent to kill? I don’t even know who ‘Chen Zhou’ is. We’re all court officials; we need proof when we say things. Otherwise, I could go and write up quite a bit about you, leaving you with more than you knew what to do with.”

Zu An gave him an indifferent look and asked, “Do you think I’m here to investigate a case? That I’m here to slowly show you some proof?”

“The Great Zhou I live in is one ruled by law. Could it be that Sir Zu came here not to accuse me of a crime, and instead to punish me?” Han Fengqiu crossed his arms and retorted contemptuously.

“Congratulations, you’re correct.” Zu An instantly rushed out as soon as he spoke, reappearing in front of Han Fengqiu. His fist smashed outward.

Despite what Han Fengqiu had said, there was no way he could have expected Zu An to really attack, and so decisively at that! He frantically drew his longsword, but he wasn’t fast enough. Zu An’s palm slammed against the sword, and the blade was pushed back until it pressed against Han Fengqiu’s chest.

Pff!

A mouthful of blood gushed out of Han Fengqiu’s mouth. He felt as if several of his ribs had broken, and he was blown back like a broken sack.

Zu An frowned. Han Fengqiu’s injuries weren’t as serious as he had expected them to be. He seemed to be carrying some kind of protective treasure.

Suddenly, the tiger-patterned man charged over, letting out a furious roar.

Zu An immediately understood why tigers were so famous for their roars. He could see visible sound waves rush at him. Even with his current cultivation, his entire body trembled, and he was briefly dazed.

It was clearly the Tiger clan’s innate skill, and didn’t seem to have too much of a connection to cultivation.

The tiger-patterned man sent his massive fist flying toward Zu An’s waist. Judging from the sound barrier-shattering white light around his fist, it could easily crush one’s innards. Disturbing the enemy with his roar, then seriously wounding his opponent with his powerful fist, was the fatal combo that had won him victory time and time again.

But shockingly, his opponent woke up earlier than he had expected. Zu An’s fist arrived earlier even though it had begun moving later, blocking his fist.

Both sides backed up as a loud boom rang out. Gusts of wind swept out in all directions. All of the flowers, grass, and trees in a circle around them were completely destroyed.

Only then did Zu An discover that he had underestimated his opponent. The Tiger clan expert seemed to have reached the peak of the ninth rank. His body was tough, and together with his innate skills, he was much stronger than cultivators of the same level.

Just then, a draconic cry rang out, and an extremely sharp wave of sword ki stabbed toward Zu An’s his throat. However, Zu An flicked his finger casually, easily deflecting the flying sword.

The flying sword quickly returned to Han Fengqiu’s hands as blood trickled out from his mouth. He got up from the ground and exclaimed, “Mister Zu, have you gone mad?!”

You have successfully trolled Han Fengqiu for +433 +433 +433…

Han Fengqiu felt awful. This kid had clearly been inferior to him when they faced each other in the capital, and yet he couldn't take him down back then. Instead, the young heir had been injured, and people all thought he had lost to Zu An.

The worst part was that the reason he had acted the way he did was out of reservation toward the Yu clan’s expert. He hadn’t gone all out. As such, he had always felt resentful.

And yet now, not only had he been unable to wash away his past shame, he had instead been wounded in their first exchange! If news of that got out, what kind of self-respect would he have left?

The worst part was that he had suffered badly in both battles because his opponent had played dirty!

Zu An said coldly, “The blood grudge of Chen Zhou’s wife and son, as well as the other innocent lives in the village, needs to be repaid with blood!”