"Mercy, sir! Mercy, sir!" the black-clad man called Chi Tu immediately begged for mercy. In their line of work, the principle of strength above all else was paramount.
Sang Qian, standing to the side, stared at Zu An with her mouth agape, as if she were looking at a god. Everything had happened so fast. Just a second ago, the mysterious man in black who exuded pressure and made them feel utterly hopeless was defeated by Zu An with one hand in the blink of an eye.
And that move just now, the way he spoke, the way he looked so majestic, so cool...
She suddenly understood her sister-in-law a little better; no wonder she fell hopelessly in love with this man—he was indeed very charming at times.
Zu'an had no idea that his image in other people's eyes was beginning to reverse; he simply stared at Chi Tu and asked, "What's your name?"
"My name is Gui Li," the black-robed man replied obsequiously, forcing a smile that looked more like a grimace, completely devoid of the air of a superior being he had just displayed.
"Hmm?" Zu An's expression turned cold. Then, the other party let out a scream. His arm was broken. Moreover, the other party sealed all the major acupoints on his body in an instant, leaving him with no power to resist.
"Chitu, if you dare to play tricks on me again, next time it won't be your hand that gets cut off." Zu'an stared at him indifferently.
Chi Tu was greatly alarmed, thinking to himself, "Very few people know my name, how did the other party know it?"
He was already somewhat afraid of the other party's purifying ability, and now that his true identity had been revealed, the other party's image in his mind became even more unfathomable. How could he dare to hide anything at all: "Please forgive me, esteemed master. I have been using the alias Gui Li for so long that I have almost forgotten my real name. I did not mean to deceive you."
Zuan remained noncommittal: "You haven't answered my question yet."
Chi Tu hurriedly replied, "It's like this, some time ago I received a commission from a silk merchant. He paid a large sum of money to help me deal with someone..."
"Ah~" Zheng Dan exclaimed in surprise and hurriedly asked, "Is that silk merchant surnamed Hu?"
“I didn’t ask his name, and he was acting suspiciously, not wanting anyone to know his identity.” Chi Tu noticed that Zu An’s expression was off and quickly added, “But I’ve seen what he looks like before…”
Then he gave a general description of the person's appearance.
Zheng Dan's face turned ashen: "It really was him!"
"What happened?" Zuan asked.
When Zheng Dan explained the situation, and combined with Chi Tu's testimony, it was not difficult to deduce the truth of the matter. It was clear that Zheng Dan had recently expanded the Zheng family's business to the capital, which would obviously harm the interests of local silk merchants in the capital.
The other party used various business tactics to suppress and squeeze out the Zheng family business, but Zheng Dan was very experienced. He had previously managed the Zheng family business in Mingyue City and also secretly controlled the largest gang. What storms hadn't he seen?
By countering each move as it came, they not only thwarted their opponent's efforts but also expanded their market share further.
So, relying on their status as local bigwigs in the capital and having some connections, they used official means to suppress and target Zheng Dan.
Even though the Sang family was in decline, they were still high-ranking officials in the imperial court. Sang Qian felt somewhat guilty towards her sister-in-law, since she had to keep her young and widowed. Therefore, she naturally had to help the Zheng family in business.
Seeing that neither the methods used in the business world nor in the officialdom worked, he became emboldened and sought out the demon butcher.
Chi Tu was very experienced in this kind of thing, so they naturally hit it off immediately.
He was confident in his cultivation level and had done so discreetly that even if something happened, only the ghost puppets he raised would perish, and it wouldn't affect his main body. Who would have thought that someone would come knocking on his door so quickly?
"I've said everything I need to say. I hope you'll be lenient and spare me, sir, since this young lady hasn't suffered any real harm. I'll leave the city immediately and promise not to harm anyone again," Chi Tu pleaded. He was very puzzled as to how the other party could pinpoint his location so quickly.
Unfortunately, the exchange he had just had was so intense that he didn't dare to ask any questions.
As for the promise not to harm others in the future, that's just talk. Those who cultivate this kind of technique often need blood and corpses, so how could they not harm others?
Zu An clearly knew this as well, and said directly to Sang Qian, "Xiao Qian, take this person to the authorities. Leave the rest to your Sang family. Is that alright?"
Now that he is leaving the capital, and Zheng Dan is nominally the daughter-in-law of the Sang family, it would be better for them to handle things on his behalf.
"Don't worry, our Sang family isn't someone anyone can bully!" Sang Qian glared fiercely at Chi Tu, clearly still resentful about being frightened by him earlier.
Zu'an nodded. In previous years, many families had been destroyed and people died under Sang Hong's orders. They were very familiar with this kind of thing. Moreover, this time the evidence was all there. If they couldn't handle this, it would be a waste of the great reputation of Sang Hong and his daughter.
He was about to take Zheng Dan away to recuperate properly, as Zheng Dan had been mentally and physically exhausted during this time and should not be overworked.
Then the demon cried out, "Don't send me to the authorities! I... I have a huge secret to give you!"
He was well aware of the court's current crackdown on witchcraft, and that anyone found using it would be subject to the most severe punishment.
If he were handed over to the authorities, death would actually be the best outcome.
"A huge secret?" Zuan scoffed, clearly not taking it seriously. What huge secret could such a shady guy possibly have?
Seeing that he didn't believe him, the demon hurriedly shouted, "It's related to the Duke of Yunzhong!"
Zu An suddenly stopped walking away. If it were anyone else, he wouldn't really care, but this time his mission was to investigate the disappearance of the Duke of Yunzhong, so he wouldn't let go of any clues.
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