Chapter 1584: Nowhere to Begin

When he saw how Zhang Zitong was so worked up that her face was turning a bit red, Zu An asked nonchalantly, “Do you think Sir Seven was murdered?”

“Indeed,” Zhang Zitong said with a nod. “Sir Seven was always cautious, and his cultivation was high. How could he possibly lose his footing and drown? Still, the problem is that there were no problems with his corpse at all. All of the evidence suggests he really did die an accidental death.” She felt a sense of grief and indignation as she spoke, as if she blamed herself for not being capable enough to get revenge for him.

Zu An looked at Xiao Jianren, asking, “Did you examine Sir Seven’s body?”

Xiao Jianren was stunned, replying, “Lady Zhang already examined it…” His entire body trembled halfway through his sentence. He also realized that he had made a mistake.

Zu An gave him a look, thinking, This fella actually made that kind of mistake? Looks like his withered wood really did experience spring again, and he let this woman completely confuse him.

Zhang Zitong wasn’t stupid. She quickly responded, “What, are you suspecting me of faking the report?”

“It’s nothing more than routine business, Lady Zhang. Please don’t mind it too much,” Zu An said. He then asked, “Where’s Sir Seven’s corpse? Don’t tell me he’s already been buried?”

“Of course not,” Zhang Zitong replied, glowering. Despite Zu An’s words, it was clear that he already suspected her. It would be strange if she could feel happy in such a situation. She said, “Sir Seven’s remains are stored in the house. There are people watching over it right now.”

The house she was talking about naturally wasn’t the Embroidery House back in the Imperial Palace, but rather the office where the local Embroidered Envoys worked. They were all designed the same way as the Embroidery House in the capital.

Zu An was on a timer tonight, so he immediately cut to the chase, saying, “Let’s head over and take a look.”

Even though she wasn’t happy with being suspected, Zhang Zitong still felt admiration. This Golden Token Eleven was indeed more professional than his subordinates. She quickly led the others to the Embroidered Envoy office in Yi Commandery. The Embroidered Envoys were all moved when they saw Zu An’s Golden Token uniform. A Golden Token Envoy had finally arrived! Ever since something happened to Sir Seven, they had become like drifting reeds, every day full of worries and anxiety.

Zhang Zitong quickly brought Zu An’s group to the back garden, indicating for the guards to open up the doors. Cold air rushed out from inside. She explained, “I was worried that Sir Seven’s remains would decompose, erasing any evidence we could find, so I found a frozen coffin to store him in. Apart from that, I found a runemaster to preserve his corpse with various runes.”

Such methods naturally couldn't keep the corpse in its optimal state forever, or else everyone who could do so would. However, keeping the corpse in good condition for a few months wasn’t a problem. Zu An walked up to the frozen coffin and gently removed the cover, revealing a shriveled figure lying inside.

He sighed. The body was indeed Golden Token Seven. He had fought alongside Golden Token Seven before when he was passing by Yi Commandery. Even though the other man had worn a mask back then, there was no way to falsify his build and aura. However, this was the first time Zu An saw Golden Token Seven’s true appearance. The man had an ordinary face; he was someone who, if thrown into a crowd, wouldn’t be given a second look.

Such a face was actually the most suitable for a Golden Token Envoy. After all, if all of them were as handsome as Zu An, they would draw attention wherever they went. How would they even do work?

Zu An reached out to touch Golden Token Seven, then sent in his ki to examine the body’s condition. He discovered that there weren’t any other injuries, nor were there any signs of poisoning. Of course, he wasn’t a specialist in the field. After completing his inspection, he gestured for Xiao Jianren to step forward.

That guy Xiao Jianren was quite a genius; he even knew how to perform autopsies. If not for his usual slowness of speech, he wouldn’t have had his talents buried in the Embroidery House for so many years.

Xiao Jianren put on a glove and took out a knife. He bowed toward Golden Token Seven and said, “I apologize for the offense, sir.”

Zhang Zitong’s eyelids twitched as she muttered, “I already sealed up the wound after examining Sir Seven’s body. Now, we’re going to do it again… I didn’t think Sir Seven would have to go through the suffering of blades even after passing.”

Xiao Jianren’s hand trembled when he heard what she said, worrying that he would make his goddess unhappy.

Zu An said seriously, “I worked together with Sir Seven before, so I know what kind of person he was very well. I believe he would want to find out who the real murderer was too, and wouldn’t mind these kinds of things.”

Xiao Jianren felt a bit of relief when he heard Zu An say that. His blade went in and cut open Golden Token Seven’s body, carefully examining the insides.

Zhang Zitong couldn't keep watching. As she turned around and walked away, she glanced toward Zu An and asked, “Sir Eleven has worked with Sir Seven before?”

Zu An nodded and replied, “That’s right, and it was just a few months ago.”

Zhang Zitong was a bit surprised. She hadn’t expected these two to have such a relationship. A light flickered in her eyes and she opened her mouth, but in the end, she swallowed her words back down.

Zu An felt his stomach churn as he watched Xiao Jianren work. A forensic investigator’s work really wasn’t something a normal person could do. He shifted his gaze and asked the ponytailed woman, “Who’s the one Sir Seven trusts the most among you guys?”

Zhang Zitong proudly stuck out her chest and replied, “Sir Seven was always introverted and usually kept his distance from people. If he really trusted anyone, it would be me. After all, we were like father and daughter for many years.”

“Then did he leave you any statements, or perhaps something like a letter?” Zu An asked. He didn’t have any clues at all in this case, leaving him completely lost.

Zhang Zitong shook her head in confusion, replying, “He didn’t. Why is Sir Eleven asking that?”

Zu An replied, “The last time I met him, he shared with me that he was investigating an extremely important matter. Based on how nervous he was, it seemed to be really serious, and he said that it could get him in big trouble. Do you have any impression of the huge issue he was talking about?”

Zhang Zitong looked at him in surprise, replying, “I’ve followed Sir Seven for so many years. Why have I never heard him mentioning something like this?” She looked a bit suspicious as she thought, You’ve only met with Sir Seven once. If there really was something important, why would he tell you?

Zu An was a bit puzzled when he saw that she wasn’t lying from her expression. Is she really telling the truth, or is she just pretending to not know?

If it was the former, why hadn’t Golden Token Seven told her? Could it be that he didn’t trust her…?

…

Meanwhile, Xiao Jianren had already finished his autopsy. He sealed up the corpse while shaking his head, reporting to Zu An, “The cause of death is without a doubt drowning, and there were no other injuries. There were no signs of being bound or tied up, nor were there any signs of poisoning. Of course, there’s a chance that he was fed a drug in a very small amount, which would make it undetectable now that so much time has passed.”

When she heard that, Zhang Zitong said decisively, “That’s impossible. When I received news of Sir Seven’s death, my first suspicion was that he was drugged, then drowned in the water. I immediately focused my investigation on that, but I didn’t detect any sign of a drug.”

Zu An frowned. There was no way of confirming whether what she said was true or false. If he had known it would be like this, he would have grabbed a few of those Truth Talismans from Xie Daoyun. However, this woman was an Embroidered Envoy, so a Truth Talisman wouldn’t necessarily prove useful anyway.

“Bring me to the location where the accident took place,” Zu An said.

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“When we found Sir Seven’s remains, we searched the Blackwater Pool. There were no suspicious traces,” Zhang Zitong replied.

Seeing that Zu An was still unconvinced, she could only bring them over. However, inwardly, she was still unconvinced that there was anything else he could find from the crime scene. It had already been so long; what else could they even find? This guy was completely wasting time.

Is he just going through the motions so he’ll have something to report back later?