Although he didn't know his purpose, Zuan didn't want the Demonic Sect to be implicated because of him, after all, Qiu Honglei and Yun Jianyue were both his good friends.
So he said, "Prime Minister, don't be so quick to judge. I seem to have made some discoveries, and it may not necessarily be the work of the Demonic Sect."
Gao Ying and Pei You were completely bewildered, thinking, "We finally have the Demonic Sect to take the blame, why are you getting involved?"
Sun Xun was also full of doubts and couldn't figure out his motives.
Zu An said, "I just inquired around, and it seems that Young Master Sun is missing a few guards. Could it be that they escaped in the chaos?"
Sun Xun shook his head: "Impossible. The murderer's cultivation level is very high. Many guards were killed with a single blow. There's no way those people could have escaped. Moreover, I sent people to search within a radius of dozens of miles, and there was no trace of anyone escaping."
Zuan continued, "Is it possible that they colluded with the murderer and left with him after the incident?"
“That’s impossible too,” Sun Xun immediately denied. “These people are all reliable individuals carefully selected by the Sun family, and their families are still in the city. No one would take such a big risk to do something like this.”
He wouldn't have sent someone who wasn't absolutely loyal to the Sun family to his son's side. Besides, with family members as hostages, how could so many people betray him at the same time?
“Then the answer is obvious,” Zuan glanced around at the corpses on the ground. “Those people were also dead, but their bodies were taken away by the murderer.”
"What does Lord Zu mean?" Sun Xun's expression shifted. At this moment, he suddenly felt that Zu An was not the murderer. After all, the reason he targeted Zu An at Xiaoyao Tower was mainly to avenge his son. Now that the real culprit could be found, what did a little petty squabble matter?
Zuan said, "The murderer could have escaped on his own after the crime, but he insisted on taking the time and effort to carry away the bodies of those guards. Obviously, he had a reason to do so."
"What's the reason?" Now even Gao Ying and Pei You were engrossed in listening.
Zuan gave the two of them a satisfied look. Their straight man was just right: "I just looked at the bodies of the others. They were basically killed with one blow, so there was no need for him to deal with them. The fact that the others were taken away proves that his identity can be seen from their corpses."
"You mean you can tell his cultivation path from the injuries on those people?" Sun Xun wasn't stupid, and he immediately realized what was going on.
“That’s right.” Zu An then pointed to Yang Long beside him. “From what you just said, he was a seventh-rank expert, but his spear was broken in two by a direct blow, which proves that the murderer’s cultivation was much higher than his. But I just noticed that he did not die from murder, but rather he committed suicide by smashing his skull with his palm.”
"Why would he do this?" This was also a question that puzzled Sun Xun, but he hadn't had time to think about it in detail before.
Zu An explained, "Because he knew he was going to die anyway, and if he didn't commit suicide, staying would be even more painful. This proves that he knew the murderer would torture him. But you just mentioned that they arrived not long after, so the murderer definitely didn't have time to torture him. Therefore, his suicide must be for another reason. Lord Sun, your cultivation is profound, do you have any clues?"
Sun Xun narrowed his eyes and muttered to himself, "If they're not worried about being tortured, they might be afraid of a fate worse than death. Judging from their condition, the murderer doesn't seem to have used poison, so..."
Suddenly, a thought struck him, and he said in a deep voice, "There are some evil cultivators in the martial world who cultivate by absorbing the power or souls of others. Yang Long's suicide was most likely to avoid this. But if what the other party needs is a soul, his suicide would be useless..."
At this point, he hurriedly looked at his subordinates and asked if any similar experts had recently been seen entering or leaving Yi County.
Extremely high cultivation level, at least eighth rank or above, and relying on absorbing other people's power—few people can satisfy these characteristics at the same time.
Sure enough, news soon arrived from his subordinates: "The infamous villain Thick-browed Taoist, who is notorious in the martial arts world, seems to have appeared in Yi County recently."
Upon hearing the name, Zu'an breathed a sigh of relief. The reason he hadn't directly mentioned the name was that people tend to believe more strongly in what they speculate about.
Sure enough, Sun Xun said in a deep voice, "Immediately send someone to Xiaoyao Tower to verify whether the Thick-Eyebrowed Taoist attended the auction today. His eyebrows are very distinctive, and he can be easily identified even if he is wearing a mask."
He had also heard of the Thick-Eyebrowed Taoist's methods, and thought that if it really was him, he would skin him alive and tear him apart to vent his hatred.
"Yes!" The subordinate hurriedly rode away.
Sun Xun then cupped his hands in a respectful gesture towards Zu An: "Lord Zu is indeed a genius in solving cases, finding the direction in a short time. I apologize for any offense I may have caused you before, and hope that you will not hold it against me."
He was genuinely grateful this time, because finding the real killer of his son made him happier than anyone else.
"You flatter me, Lord Sun. I hope you can take care of yourself after what has happened." Zu An thought to himself, "You should indeed thank me, because in a way, I avenged your son."
Just then, he suddenly felt that the vital energy in his body was somewhat chaotic, and the violent and bloody intent seemed to be agitated.
He suppressed it without making a sound, thinking that he needed to find some time to properly purify and temper the thick-browed Taoist's power, otherwise it would backfire on him sooner or later.
"Is Lord Zu feeling unwell?" Sun Xun, being a Grandmaster, sensed that the other party's energy fluctuations were somewhat abnormal, even from such close proximity.
"It's nothing." Zu An forced a smile, just as he was worrying about how to explain, when suddenly a loud noise came from afar, and then the whole sky was as bright as day.
Everyone's expression changed. A gust of wind blew by, and those with lower cultivation levels couldn't help but stagger.
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
