"Zu'an?"
Upon hearing the name the other person mentioned, Sang Qian's voice rose eight octaves.
Sang Hong, who was usually very composed, didn't have time to scold his son this time. Instead, he was equally surprised because the news was so unexpected.
He found it hard to connect Zu'an with an eighth-rank expert like Shi Lezhi, let alone kill Shi Lezhi.
"Brother Shi, you're not mistaken, are you?" Sang Qian asked with a suspicious look. He thought to himself that he had heard that this guy's sword was broken by Zu An's sword in the back mountain of the academy. Could it be that he was scared out of his wits and deliberately described Zu An as very powerful in order to make himself look less embarrassed?
That he could kill an eighth-rank expert is outrageous.
Sang Hong also didn't believe it, but unlike his son, he didn't lose his composure. Instead, he quietly watched Shi Kun, knowing that there would be more to come.
As expected, Shi Kun smiled bitterly and said, "I also think I was mistaken..."
He then recounted what had happened the previous night and Bian Tai's reasoning, omitting some unnecessary details, such as how they drugged Qiao Xueying, treating it as a normal capture of a traitor.
“Ninth rank…” Sang Hong remained silent, as if deep in thought.
Sang Qian then said, "Brother Shi, there is no ninth-rank expert in the entire Bright Moon City. Is there some misunderstanding on your end?"
Knowing they didn't believe him, Shi Kun sneered, "I've told you everything I need to say. Whether you believe me or not is up to you. Anyway, I'll be returning to the capital soon, and whatever happens to you then will have nothing to do with me."
"Is Young Master Shi returning to the capital?" Sang Hong asked curiously.
"That's right, I got a message from home that I need to go back." Shi Kun was too embarrassed to admit that he was frightened, so he naturally had to come up with an excuse.
After saying that, he exchanged a few more pleasantries and then left in a hurry.
After he left, Sang Qian asked in confusion, "Father, why would the Shi family summon Shi Kun back to the capital at this time?"
Sang Hong said calmly, "Shi Kun's plan has completely failed. There's no point in staying here any longer. Besides, Shi Lezhi is dead. He should be terrified now, so he'll naturally go back."
"What do you think of what he just said? Is there really a mysterious ninth-rank expert?" Sang Qian asked curiously.
"Whether it is or not, we'll find out by asking." Sang Hong stood up and turned a porcelain vase on the bookshelf behind him. The bookshelf parted to the sides, revealing a secret room.
Immediately afterwards, a masked man came out. Sang Qian couldn't help but take a few more glances. He couldn't understand why his father was keeping it from him, even at this point, and still making him wear a mask.
Sang Hong said in a deep voice, "You heard what Shi Kun just said, right? What do you think?"
“Ninth rank? The Chu family shouldn’t have such a person,” the man shook his head and said with a hint of sarcasm. “If there really were a ninth rank, Chu Zhongtian wouldn’t be the head of the family.”
Sang Hong nodded: "That's what I thought too, but it doesn't seem like Shi Lezhi's death at the Chu family's place is fake. What exactly happened?"
“Oh right, I remember now,” the masked man patted his forehead. “Zu An made a name for himself in the last family competition. Afterwards, the Chu couple questioned him. At the time, he seemed to say that he had been taught martial arts by a strange person, but that strange person left after teaching him.”
"Could he be lying? That strange person didn't actually leave; he's been by his side all along!"
Sang Hong nodded: "That's very likely. This also explains why Shi Lezhi died silently inside. He probably learned that Chu Zhongtian had left the city and became overconfident, wanting to take the opportunity to go in and capture Zu An. After all, Shi Kun was dealt with quite badly by the other party, so he was bound to seek revenge."
"Unfortunately, I didn't expect that there was a mysterious expert hiding behind Zuan. If that person had taken advantage of the situation and launched a surprise attack, even if his cultivation level was similar to Shi Lezhi's, he should have been able to kill him."
After making a rough deduction, Sang Hong looked at the masked man: "The question now is, who exactly is that mysterious expert?"
A hint of doubt appeared in the masked man's eyes: "I've been in the Chu family for so many years and I haven't noticed the existence of such a person. Could it be that he is related to Zu An's father's generation and is not actually in the Chu residence?"
Sang Qian, who was standing to the side, said, "After the Chu family chose Zu An as their son-in-law, we sent people to investigate Zu An's situation. We thought he had some special identity, but according to the information we found, he was an orphan who was raised by his uncle since childhood. His uncle also died not long ago."
“We investigated his uncle; he’s just an ordinary person, nothing special.”
“An orphan…” Sang Hong fell into deep thought. “Can’t we find any information about his parents at all?”
“Nothing was found,” Sang Qian shook his head, then suddenly a thought struck him: “Could there really be some secret about his background?”
“That’s probably it,” Sang Hong said, his eyes gleaming. “There’s no such thing as kindness without a reason. I don’t believe a piece of trash is worth a mysterious expert’s effort in nurturing. Qian’er, go and investigate his background more thoroughly and see if you can find any clues about his parents.”
“Okay!” Sang Qian agreed, but looked somewhat troubled. “However, we may not be able to find anything, since we have already investigated very thoroughly before.”
“Before, it was like looking for a needle in a haystack. Now, this is a targeted investigation, and we might find something unexpected,” Sang Hong said, who was quite experienced in this area. He then turned to the masked man and said, “Of course, apart from Qian’er’s group, we will also trouble you to investigate the Chu family and see if you can find that mysterious person.”
"No matter how mysterious a person is, since they are in this world, they will inevitably leave traces. If you pay attention, you should be able to find some clues."
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