"Looks like we’ve got a lead, Zhenhai," Zhang Yunqi said somberly.
"Yes, I’ll go take a look," Zhang Zhenhai replied and hurried towards the direction of the sound.
Before long, she arrived at a stream bank and saw a man in yellow holding sothing like a whistle, continuously making sounds.
"You..." Before the words could leave her mouth, Zhang Zhenhai suddenly leaned backward, nearly parallel to the ground in a dramatic backbend.
Swoosh.
A flash of silver streaked past above her face.
The silver gleam embedded itself with a ’ding’ into a nearby rock surface, leaving only a small hole.
Zhang Zhenhai straightened up without even looking and drew a curved blade to slash sideways.
Clang!
The curved blade struck so tal weapon, making a loud noise.
In the haste of the mont, Zhang Zhenhai’s force was less than half, and the curved blade was knocked out of her hand.
Aghast, she prepared to retreat.
But it was already too late.
"Got you!" a mocking male voice echoed from beside her.
Zhang Zhenhai felt a fierce wind quickly approach her forehead.
Then.
Thud.
A spray of hot blood drenched her face.
The attacker stood dumbfounded in place, a straight blade brutally piercing through his heart.
And the one wielding the blade was none other than Zhang Yunqi, who was previously at a distance.
He had evidently sensed sothing was wrong and stealthily followed along.
Not far away, the man in yellow holding a whistle fishing rod also saw the situation go awry and turned to flee.
But alas, a gunshot rang out.
The man’s body jerked, and blood splattered from the back of his head as he collapsed.
"Foster father!?" Zhang Zhenhai, still shaken, stood up and called out.
"Are you alright?" Zhang Yunqi frowned, holstering his gun.
"I’m fine, but..." Zhang Zhenhai walked over to the yellow-clad man’s side, flipped him over.
"It’s Sun Chi? How could he... No, wait!" Her tone halted as she crouched down, rubbing the edge of the body’s face, then pulled.
Suddenly, a remarkably intricate human skin mask appeared in her hand.
"Soone impersonated him!"
"You sent Sun Chi to guard Agarwood Palace?" Zhang Yunqi frowned, asking.
"Indeed!" Zhang Zhenhai’s face shifted, a shade of worry erged. "It seems Sun Chi and the others might be in trouble. Otherwise, his signal whistle wouldn’t appear here. It’s a setup!"
"A setup..." Zhang Yunqi also understood the gravity of the situation.
If Sun Chi revealed their Rebel Sect and the Young Master’s connection... that would really be a huge problem.
*
*
*
Inside the swaying ship’s cabin, in the center, there was a large iron cage.
Inside the cage, two n in yellow clothing were locked up, and due to the cage’s size, they could only huddle together, squatting on the spot.
One of them had a narrow chin, precisely Sun Chi of the Rebel Sect.
The other had a square face, with regular features, being his patrol partner Wang Heiniu.
Sun Chi spat fiercely outside the cage.
Ptui!
His face twisted ferociously.
"If you have the guts, let grandpa out for a battle of three hundred rounds! Sneaking up on soone, what’s the skill in that? What’s the heroism in it!?"
Inside the cabin, a man holding a tobacco pipe puffed calmly on dry smoke, watching the two in the cage with interest.
"Han Jia, where did you capture these Rebel Sect people?" The man, robustly built, set aside his tobacco pipe and asked with a smile.
"Responding to the young master, they were captured near Agarwood Palace. They seed to be watching the happenings at Agarwood Palace, with unclear intentions," a beautiful woman in a green lotus-leaf narrow skirt replied softly.
"Hehe... interesting... Rebel Sect people coming to pay attention to Agarwood Palace, could it be you have sothing intercepted by Zhang Ying?" The man raised an eyebrow, looking at Sun Chi and Wang Heiniu.
"Co, tell , if you say it well, I’ll let you leave safely."
"What Agarwood Palace, what not Agarwood Palace? I was just taking a stroll after dinner, you better let us go, or later when the experts arrive, it won’t matter what identity you have, you’ll find it hard to escape!" Sun Chi threatened viciously.
"Still quite defiant..." The man chuckled and tilted his head slightly.
From a corner ca forth a masked burly man in black.
The burly man carried large iron tongs, stepped forward, and clamped down on Sun Chi’s right arm.
Snap.
Aah!!
Sun Chi scread, his right hand starting from the wrist being brutally clamped and crushed into a bloody ss.
He wanted to dodge, but his body was weak, movents slowed considerably, unable to evade; clearly, he was drugged.
"I’ll tell! I’ll tell, just don’t clamp !!" Before Sun Chi could speak, Wang Heiniu was scared to the brink of urination.
Originally terrified, Wang Heiniu now shook uncontrollably with fear at the sight of the tongs.
"We, we were just here to specifically..."
Wang Heiniu didn’t finish his sentence before Sun Chi suddenly slamd his head against him.
Thud.
The two rolled together, ending up in a scuffle.
The burly man forcibly separated them from the side.
Wang Heiniu was already clutching his own throat tightly, his face covered in blood. A large chunk of flesh had been torn out by Sun Chi’s bite.
At this mont, it was clear that Wang Heiniu had no way out, convulsing all over as he lay by the cage.
"Heh heh... You bunch of worshipers of strange gods! Want to get information out of ? Go eat crap!!" Sun Chi spat out the flesh and blood in his mouth, biting down hard.
"Not good!" The burly man rushed forward to pry open his mouth, but it was too late.
A spicy, pungent taste spread from his mouth.
Before long, Sun Chi trembled all over, collapsed to the ground, black blood oozing from his mouth, and gradually lost all breath.
"Young Master... it was my failure to act in ti....!" The burly man in black knelt on one knee, pleading for forgiveness from the man with the pipe.
"It’s alright... when soone wants to die, there are many ways that you can’t stop."
Setting down the pipe, the man showed a faint smile.
"Actually, even if they commit suicide, just their identities can give us a lot of clues.
This Agarwood Palace, this Daoist of the Great Dao Teaching, the hidden things... seem to be getting more interesting...."
"Zhu Wanguo. Don’t forget the orders your master gave you to co here. Act quickly, and don’t complicate matters."
The cabin door slowly opened as a tall woman dressed in purple-black sh clothing walked in with a cold face.
"I naturally dare not forget." The man composed himself, stood up, "Where has Mr. Yu gone? It’s precisely the ti I need manpower, and at this crucial mont, without the presence of a gentleman, it truly makes uneasy."
"Anyone can say good words." The woman smiled insincerely, her appearance was very peculiar, like a wax figure, her entire face overly delicate, with everything from the proportions to the skin, complexion, and pores seeming crafted with precision.
"Since you have settled things with the Jin family, it’s about ti to consolidate, right?"
"There’s just one last step." Zhu Wanguo smiled slightly. "That Linlang Island has so obstructions to our plans, so... my focus is now on resolving the matter with Zhou Xue Ming."
"Zhou Xue Ming... that person has so strength." The woman frowned. "Be careful not to go too far."
"Isn’t that what I’m counting on you for?" Zhu Wanguo complinted.
"Heh heh." The woman no longer responded, glanced at the two bodies in the cage. "If you need anything, let know promptly."
"I certainly won’t hold back." Zhu Wanguo nodded.
In his hand of cards, this elder from the sect, the one-eyed sword Qin Xianghong, was indeed one of the top aces.
Her seniority was so high that even his master, the old Magpie Hawk, had to treat her with respect.
And his entire plan, the greatest confidence, was also based on Qin Xianghong to directly suppress Zhou Xue Ming as a premise.
Otherwise, he was also afraid of failing and inviting disaster upon himself.
*
*
*
Amidst the fragnted sound of hooves.
On the outskirts of Citong City, at the foot of Agarwood Mountain, a caravan pulling so cargo slowly but steadily made its way to the mountain path entrance.
The caravan sent a person forward to negotiate with the Daoist guarding the mountain.
Before long, the guards at the entrance of the mountain path dispersed.
From the caravan’s carriage, tall figures dressed in robes and casual clothes descended one by one.
Among them were Sun Chaoyue, Ding Luo, and Mu Chunxiu, prominently present.
And after them, a burly man over two ters tall stepped down from the carriage.
The man’s eyes were narrow and long, his features were handso, and there was a faint hint of a blue beard on his chin.
His black hair draped over his shoulders, and he wore a black Daoist headscarf, with a round Taiji white jade inlaid on it.
"Finally back...." Zhang Rongfang looked up at Agarwood Palace, a slight trace of emotion on his face.
"Never thought it would take so long to return after this trip."
"Daoist!" At this ti, several figures hurriedly approached from the mountain.
Among them, leading the way, was none other than the scar-faced guard Chen Han.
Chen Han ca forward, bowing in respect.
"Daoist, many things have happened recently, we’ve been eagerly awaiting your return!"
When the person was present before, he hadn’t felt it, but after so ti without them, Chen Han realized that Zhang Ying, the Daoist, had always been the backbone of Agarwood Palace.
Even though he hadn’t managed many affairs, at any ti, he could always make calm decisions at critical monts, like a stabilizing force of a ship at sea.
"Don’t worry, I’ll handle it. The affairs of Linlang Association and the Hundred rchants Association have troubled you enough." Zhang Rongfang patted him on the shoulder.
"Daoist...." Chen Han wanted to say more, but held back. "Let’s talk after you return to the Daoist Palace."
"Very well." Zhang Rongfang glanced at the people who had co to greet him at this mont.
Suddenly, his gaze paused, and he charged forward with a sudden burst of speed.
In a flash, he reached out and grabbed in the crowd.
Poof.
A person exclaid, being grabbed by the shoulder with one hand, hoisted up, and thrown heavily to the side.
The others didn’t understand why and gasped lowly.
Soone was about to speak to ask Zhang Rongfang to stop.
But the scene that followed left them montarily stunned.
They saw Zhang Rongfang’s fingers deftly slice across the person’s face, precisely splitting the skin in two.
Underneath that skin, there was a completely unfamiliar face!
"Spare !!" The person shouted, turning to run, but after only a few steps, they naturally collapsed, their whole body starting to convulse.
Chen Han quickly moved forward to check, discovering that the person’s face was darkening, poisoned, and clearly nearing death.
"The fake face skin is poisoned!" he exclaid.
"Take it away, and conduct a search." Zhang Rongfang’s expression was as calm as water.
That the affairs of Agarwood Palace had already been infiltrated to this extent was beyond his expectations.
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