Not long after Zu An came out of the room, a figure standing in the distance turned around and walked towards him: "Greetings, Lord Zu. I am Gong Pan. Madam said you have something to ask me."
"Lord Gong, you flatter me. I simply have a few questions I'd like to ask." Zu An carefully examined the middle-aged man before him. He was agile, with sharp eyes, indicating a high level of cultivation. Moreover, he had thick eyebrows and large eyes, giving him the appearance of a mature and composed person. A dragon-like scar ran from his chin to his neck, adding to his rugged appearance.
Because he glanced at it a couple more times, Gong Pan subconsciously touched the scar: "This was stabbed by a demon expert back then. If it had been half an inch off, my bones would probably be cold by now."
"I'm sorry." Zuan felt somewhat apologetic, after all, his gaze just now had indeed been a bit impolite.
"It's nothing," Gong Pan laughed heartily. "Everyone who sees me for the first time looks here. This is not a disgrace to me, but a glorious mark, proving that I fought the demon race head-on back then, which is why I have such injuries."
"General Gong was able to survive such injuries; he is sure to have good fortune in the future." Zu An also sighed, realizing how dangerous that sword strike had been.
“I don’t care about whether I’m lucky or not, I just hope that the Duke is alright,” Gong Pan’s tone suddenly dropped. “I was only able to avoid this fatal blow because the Duke pulled me aside by an inch. It’s a pity that although I am still alive, the Duke’s fate is unknown.”
Zu An's heart skipped a beat, and he seized the opportunity to ask, "How exactly did your lord get into trouble?"
Local officials had investigated the case before and submitted reports to the imperial court, but unfortunately many details were unclear and the logic was contradictory. Obviously, it would be more useful to ask those who had personally experienced it.
Gong Pan hesitated for a moment before saying, "Since Madam sent me here, it proves that Lord Zu is a trustworthy person. Please come with me."
As he spoke, he led Zu'an to a spacious courtyard. There was no one else around who could be seen eavesdropping before he began to say, "The whole thing about the Duke's disappearance is very strange. At the time, the Duke was in seclusion, but when the day came for him to emerge, he made no move. At first, no one took it seriously, since cultivators don't always emerge from seclusion on time."
"However, after ten days, there was still no movement from the secluded place, so everyone tried to ask when the Duke would come out, but there was no response at all."
"Everyone then realized that the door was not locked and the house was empty."
"At first, everyone thought that the Duke had left the pass ahead of time and gone to other places, which was not uncommon. But after several months, the Duke still hadn't returned, and the people in the manor realized that something might have happened."
"We sent out many people to search for places where the Duke might have gone, but unfortunately we haven't found him. Throughout Yunzhong County and even the surrounding counties, although some people occasionally claim to have seen the Duke, after our investigation, we found that they were all just making things up to scam the reward."
"Another six months passed, and the Duke still did not appear. Everyone then realized that he had probably met with some misfortune."
As he spoke, his knuckles cracked, clearly indicating that he was very agitated.
Zu An asked in a deep voice, "Who was the last person you saw, and when?"
Gong Pan thought for a moment and replied, "Many people saw the Duke at the end. At that time, the Duke invited the Second Master to drink at his mansion. There were many maids and servants serving him. I was also there and saw everything."
"You were here the whole time? And you saw him go into seclusion after drinking?" Zuan found it strange; who goes into seclusion after drinking?
“No, that’s not it,” Gong Pan replied. “At first, we were all on the side, but later the Duke wanted to talk to the Second Master about some confidential matters, so he asked us to move to a distance outside. Although we didn’t see it with our own eyes, we could see the two of them clinking glasses and laughing through the shadows of the window.”
Zuan frowned. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, then there was a lot of room for maneuver.
There were so many similar murder cases in detective novels from my past life.
"Could it be that the Duke had already met with misfortune at that time, and the figures you saw and the sounds you heard were actually imitations by others?" Zu An pressed.
“That’s impossible!” Gong Pan denied it outright. “We are the most trusted people of the Duke. No one knows his physique and voice better than us. If someone is impersonating him, we will definitely be able to tell the difference.”
Zuan frowned, feeling that the other party's judgment was too arbitrary.
The shape of a person can be distorted when viewed through a window, and with so many extraordinary people in the world, it's hard to guarantee that there won't be someone skilled in ventriloquism.
The book he had previously acquired, "A Thousand Faces," explained how to perfectly imitate the voice of a target.
However, upon further reflection, he realized that such a secret manual must be extremely rare, since even as a former Embroidered Robe Envoy, he had never heard of anyone achieving such a feat.
At this moment, Gong Pan continued, "Even if we assume that person was an imposter, how could he have done it? You must know that the Duke's cultivation level is already at the peak of the Grandmaster realm, making him one of the top experts in the world. Who could subdue an imposter so quickly and silently without being discovered by us outside?"
"What if it's Second Master Jian assisting?" Zu An stared intently into the other person's eyes.
Gong Pan's expression changed, but he still replied, "Impossible. Although Second Master Jian's cultivation is high, he is still far inferior to the Duke. The Duke could easily let him use one hand, not to mention we are outside."
Zuan fell silent. He could suspect that someone could use ventriloquism to impersonate someone, but cultivation level was something that was real and tangible.
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