Chapter 1682: Curse Arts

“Some say that he died, while others say that he was captured and locked up in secret… Who can say for certain?” Zhang Jie said, laughing in self-mockery. “Furthermore, even if the imperial descendant is still in this world, so what? What could he even accomplish?”

Zu An actually agreed with that analysis. The Zhou Dynasty already had a firm control over the world. Between that and the presence of an unstoppable being like Zhao Han, who would throw away their lives for an imperial descendant of the previous dynasty?

However, he suddenly noticed that something was strange. He asked, “Aren’t you a surviving member of the ‘evil’ foreign regime then?”

“Surviving evil?” Zhang Jie sneered. “Who would want to have anything to do with those crazy bastards?”

“Then why did you talk for such a long time about that previous dynasty’s imperial descendant? And what’s the purpose of taking such a huge risk?” Zu An asked. Even though his tone was a bit harsh, many things he had been confused about were finally cleared up. Previously, he’d had no way of understanding the previous dynasty’s secrets.

“I already told you. It’s to get revenge for brother Zhang, of course,” Zhang Jie said calmly.

“No, that doesn’t make sense,” Zu An said with a sneer. “You were able to become such an important official in this kind of frontier region, so you must have already reached the peak of your career. There’s no way you would take such a risk to deal with a single king.”

Even though King Yan was part of the imperial clan, he wasn’t from the same branch as Zhao Han’s direct line, but rather his uncle. Even if Zhang Jie wanted to get revenge, there was no reason to target him.

Zu An paused for a moment before continuing, “Besides, you wanted to end her life too. You can’t justify that as showing her father favor, right?”

When she heard that, Zhang Zitong looked at Zhang Jie with a hint of fear. She hadn’t thought too much about that under the pretext everything was for the sake of revenge, or perhaps she hadn’t been willing to think more about it. Now that the main act of revenge had concluded and she was reminded of it once more, she realized that something was strange.

Zhang Jie laughed and said, “You are quite sharp, perhaps the smartest among all the Embroidered Envoys I know. But since you’re that smart, have you considered why I told you all of these things?”

“Stalling for time…” Zu An said. He naturally knew Zhang Jie’s goals, but he had confidence in his own strength and had wanted to get more information. That was why he had played along with the game.

His expression suddenly changed midway through his sentence, because Zhang Jie’s temperament gradually became strange. All of the candles in the room flickered. They were clearly still lit, but the entire room suddenly became dark. It was as if all of the light were being sucked away by something. The shadows in the room seemed to leap at Zhang Jie together, as if they were living beings.

Zu An suddenly realized something and exclaimed, “You were that shaman who killed Golden Token Seven!”

He had examined Golden Token Seven’s corpse. Golden Token Seven’s cultivation wasn’t low, and together with the support of assorted Embroidered Envoy equipment, he would normally have had a fighting chance even against a master rank cultivator. However, there had been no signs of resistance at all, as if he had died in his sleep.

At first, Zu An had thought that the killer was Sir Huo from King Yan Manor. However, even though Sir Huo’s cultivation wasn’t bad, Golden Token Seven had been investigating King Yan Manor for some time, so there was no way he wouldn’t have been on guard against that famous follower at all. Sir Huo’s cultivation wasn’t high enough that he could ignore such vigilance. As such, Zu An had always been curious as to who that mysterious shaman was. Now, he had finally obtained his answer.

𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

However, he was still a bit confused. He asked, “If you’re a shaman, how did you escape the court’s background check?”

An important official such as Zhang Jie would definitely have been investigated heavily. There was no way the court wouldn’t have known if he were a shaman…

Zhang Jie chuckled and said, “I’m not a shaman, but I just happen to have cultivated a secret technique that invites a shaman to possess me, granting me the abilities of a shaman. The only issue is that the process takes quite a bit of time.”

The reason why he hadn’t used the shaman’s power to silence Zhang Zitong was because he had been worried that the Embroidered Envoy would find out that the true culprit of the case was still at large, but he didn’t need to have such misgivings anymore.

His eyes turned completely ink-black as he said, “Seeing as I could kill Golden Token Seven, then I naturally don’t mind killing another Golden Token Envoy.”

Zu An wondered what kind of freakish thing this shaman possession was. Why were there so many strange and inexplicable skills in this world? However, he didn’t hesitate anymore, because he could already sense that Zhang Jie had a skill that could threaten him. He didn’t appear to move at all, but Soul Reaping Chains instantly appeared in his hands and shot toward Zhang Jie.

The Soul Reaping Chains were the Embroidered Envoy’s standard-issue weapon. They were extremely effective in restricting all kinds of abilities. Zu An didn’t want to expose his other identity, so he didn’t use a sword.

Zhang Jie clearly had some reservations toward the Golden Token Envoy’s Soul Reaping Chains. He tried to move out of the way while aiming his pitch-black gaze directly at Zu An.

Zu An felt as if the air around him had become extremely viscous, and his eyelids became very heavy. A strong sense of drowsiness came over him. For some reason, the Soul Reaping Chains that had been rushing fiercely toward Zhang Jie’s weak point also weakened.

With a thud, Zhang Zitong also collapsed on her bed. Zhang Jie’s attack hadn’t been aimed at her, but the side effects alone were already too much for her to handle.

Drawing on his previous experience with Sir Huo, Zu An quickly closed his eyes and summoned Hundredwarble at the same time. The most effective retaliation against a spirit element attack was often a spirit element counterattack.

Sure enough, Zhang Jie had a pained expression, and his hypnosis skill also weakened.

However, Zu An didn’t have it easy either. This sleep-inducing skill was just way too powerful! It still affected him even though his eyes were closed. Fortunately, with his experience against Sir Huo, as well as Hundredwarble’s retaliation, it wasn’t enough to make him fall asleep.

The previous time, against Sir Huo, he had been able to break through the illusion and wake up. However, he didn’t dare to take such a risk against the much more powerful Zhang Jie. He wouldn’t necessarily be able to wake up, and it would be very bad if Zhang Jie decided to deliver a lethal blow while he couldn't move.

The door slammed open with a loud bang. Xiao Jianren and the other Silver Token Envoys rushed in. When they heard sounds of fighting and realized that something had happened, they hurried over to help.

However, when Zhang Jie’s pitch-black gaze met his, Xiao Jianren groaned and fell straight to the ground. He didn’t excel in combat prowess. Furthermore, because of Zhang Zitong, his emotions had been thrown into turmoil, so his mental strength was at its weakest. That was why he was the first to fall.

The other Silver Token Envoys only endured for a second longer before collapsing. Only two Silver Token Envoys managed to stay awake despite feeling extremely drowsy. They still gritted their teeth and tossed their Soul Reaping Chains around Zhang Jie’s body.

Most of Zhang Jie’s attention was on Zu An, and he had only used a bit of strength to deal with the others. These two individuals were Silver Token Envoys who had extremely steady wills, which was why they were able to hold on.

Zhang Jie released a cold snort, and two copper coins flew toward the two.

Zu An noticed that the natural laws surrounding those two copper coins were extremely strange and cried out, “Be careful!”

However, he was still too late. The two Silver Token Envoys had already brandished their Soul Reaping Chains and struck the copper coins.

How could a copper coin endure the power of a Silver Token Envoy’s full-powered attack? The two copper coins immediately exploded into pieces. However, at the same time, those two Silver Token Envoys’ bodies suffered the very same fate.

Curse Arts!

The strange skills of shamans could often link one’s life with an object. If the object survived, so did the person. If the object was destroyed, so was the person.

Zu An’s eyes turned red from that sight. He hadn’t expected this to end up involving two Silver Token Envoys! In reality, because he had been so busy as of late, and because these were Golden Token Seven’s Silver Token Envoys, he hadn’t even taken special note of their names. He only remembered that one was surnamed Yan while the other was Tao. They were a bit lazy normally, but they had actually been so fearless and valiant in front of a great enemy, ultimately dying to the unknown danger.

While Zhang Jie was distracted, the viscous aura of drowsiness finally weakened. Zu An made his move. Resplendent sword radiance erupted, dispelling all of the darkness in the room.

At that moment, a hint of fear flashed through Zhang Jie’s eyes. He began to run, but he noticed that something was strange about his body. He was shocked to discover that his entire right arm was missing! It had been sliced up by the sword ki.

Zu An frowned. Zhang Jie shouldn’t have been able to avoid that sword, so why had he only lost an arm?

Zhang Jie’s face was filled with alarm and horror. He could no longer remain calm, because he knew that he had brushed past the gates of hell just then.

The substitute puppet he carried had already turned to powder. Normally, the existence of that puppet should have been equivalent to him having an extra life. Thus, he had assumed he was absolutely safe. And yet, he hadn’t expected this sword to be so formidable! Not only had it destroyed his puppet, it had even carried enough power to get rid of his arm!

He didn’t dare to show any hint of negligence. He used his left hand to fish out a small straw doll shaped like a human as he spat, “Blood for blood! I’ll let you have a taste of the pain of losing an arm too!”

Suddenly, he twisted the doll’s right arm, ripping it right off.

At the same time, Zu An’s right arm suddenly began to burst with blood. His whole arm was being torn apart!