Preparing to Close the Net!

Inside the Governor's Mansion, in the study.

After talking for nearly an hour, Zeng Anmin and his father had exchanged all their information.

When Zeng Anmin finished recounting the entire process of how he had been "rescued."

Silence fell over the room.

After a long while, his father slowly raised his head, cold light flickering in his eyes:

"Then we can now confirm that the assassin was sent by Prince Jiang's Estate."

"Mm. And Jin Taiping's Shen Liu's disappearance is most likely connected to Prince Jiang's Estate as well."

Zeng Anmin had actually known from the start that the assassin was from Prince Jiang's Estate.

Heh, but you really had to hand it to them.

If he himself had not been the Black Cat Martial Artist.

Prince Jiang's Estate truly would have pulled the wool over his eyes this time.

Who would have thought that after his own son had just died at that assassin's hands, he would turn around and impersonate that assassin to kill his political enemy's son?

It had to be said, whoever came up with this idea was a fucking genius.

"Shen Liu..."

His father fell silent for a moment, then glanced at Zeng Anmin.

"You saw through your father's intentions?"

"How could anyone fail to guess? I said I wanted to become an official, and you immediately shoved me into the Xuanjing Division. Then this case just happened to come up. There must be something wrong with it."

The corner of Zeng Anmin's mouth twitched. "By the way, Father, what exactly did you discover was wrong?"

He casually picked up the Jade Toad from the desk, playing with it as he looked toward Zeng Shilin.

"I never considered whether the case itself was right or wrong." His father slowly shook his head, his expression turning grave.

"Now that Shen Liu was dead, Shen Jun taking over the merchant guild was inevitable. Yet this Aunt Murder Case of his suddenly surfaced."

"That Xu Yunfeng locked Shen Jun in prison for three months..."

"To prevent Prince Jiang's Estate from taking the opportunity to support a puppet and swallow Jin Taiping whole, your father placed you in the Clerk's Office to protect Shen Jun."

"Shen Jun cannot die."

"Though under the laws of our Great Sage Dynasty, if a woman of the household committed adultery, using private punishment would not warrant death."

"But he could not escape living punishment. Your father feared that he would suffer at someone's hands in prison..."

At this point, his father's expression became one of relief.

"I never expected you to truly solve the case."

Shen Jun had been innocent from beginning to end.

That kid was a pretty good person.

Zeng Anmin sighed inwardly.

As they spoke, Zeng Shilin took a small object from a drawer beneath the desk and handed it to Zeng Anmin.

"Take this."

Zeng Anmin looked at the object being offered, his expression turning strange.

A gun?

No, it was a firearm.

This world even had firearms?

"A toy from the Profound Formation Division. Within a hundred paces, no martial artist below the Sixth Grade Void Insight Mirror can withstand a single shot."

A proud expression surfaced on his father's face.

"When your father broke through to the Embrace Flame Realm, Master Xu personally gifted it to me. It bears the Profound Formation Division's Spirit Gathering Array."

"It is far more powerful than an ordinary firearm, and it does not need to be loaded."

Tsk.

Of course he would take something good.

Zeng Anmin accepted the tiny firearm and examined it carefully.

This little firearm was roughly the size of his palm. After studying it for a long time, Zeng Anmin could not find a fuse.

Could it be a flintlock?

Zeng Anmin's eyes brightened slightly.

That would make things much easier.

"Thanks, Father."

Being polite with his own father would only dilute their feelings for no reason.

"Mm."

His father's expression turned solemn.

"Where did that Black Cat Martial Artist go?"

His son had only said that the Black Cat Martial Artist saved him, without mentioning where that fellow had gone.

His father now felt somewhat conflicted about the Black Cat Martial Artist.

But he still wanted to capture such an unruly martial artist.

Zeng Anmin's hand paused slightly.

Here it came.

But he wanted to probe from the side first, so he raised his head and said:

"That Black Cat Martial Artist saved my life, after all. He is certainly no utterly wicked villain..."

"Hmph." His father snorted coldly.

He looked seriously at Zeng Anmin. "If he had saved the lives of countless common folk, his merits and faults could offset one another. But he only saved my, Zeng Shilin's, son..."

"That cannot offset the crime of assassinating the Young Master of a prince's estate in broad daylight."

After saying that, he stared deeply at Zeng Anmin, his gaze boring straight into his eyes.

Zeng Anmin abruptly saw a trace of azure qi in his father's gaze.

That azure qi surfaced in Zeng Shilin's eyes, looking somewhat eerie.

Heart Inquiry!

"Where exactly did that Black Cat Martial Artist go?" His father's voice drifted faintly.

Zeng Anmin felt rather speechless inside.

No, me! I'm your biological son, and you're using a Confucian Path technique on your own son?!

Fortunately!

He inconspicuously glanced at his Golden Finger.

Unyielding Martial God: Immune to all soul and spiritual attacks.

Amazing!

"Black Cat Martial Artist..."

Zeng Anmin's eyes became "dull."

He staggered toward the enormous map in the study.

The entire map depicted every location within and beyond Two Rivers Prefecture.

"Here..."

Zeng Anmin pointed casually, then could no longer endure it and "fainted."

Thud~

He fell straight onto the floor.

His father stared blankly at Zeng Anmin, a trace of suspicion surfacing on his face.

Then he stared deeply at that map.

The next day.

Zeng Anmin sat in the Clerk's Office with one leg crossed over the other, holding a case file in his hands and reading with great interest.

Qi Dachun's wise eyes had remained fixed on Zeng Anmin all morning without moving.

"You've been staring at me all morning. What, is there a girl on my face?"

Zeng Anmin truly felt uncomfortable. Looking displeased, he turned toward Qi Dachun.

"My pa said I gotta keep watch over Young Master at all times, never leave your side."

Qi Dachun paid him no mind, a serious expression on his face.

"What would you do if an assassin really came?"

Zeng Anmin placed the case file on the desk, folded his arms, and raised a brow at Qi Dachun.

"Of course I'd kill him!" Qi Dachun pounded his chest.

"What if you can't beat the assassin and he runs away?!"

"Hmph!" Qi Dachun proudly raised his head.

"When one's parents live, one does not travel far!"

His parents were still around, so he could not run very far!

Fine!

This fellow had even learned to apply what he had learned!

"What if the assassin's parents were people from Prince Jiang's Estate?"

With no one else around, Zeng Anmin deliberately wanted to tease Qi Dachun.

Dachun's eyes widened. "He wouldn't dare! Unless he wants to rebel!"

"Hehe."

Zeng Anmin chuckled, a strange expression on his face.

His phoenix eyes narrowed slowly, while the smile at his lips gradually turned eerie.

"You're right."

Huh?

Dachun's whole body stiffened, his wise eyes filled with confusion.

What?

Zeng Anmin ignored him. His phoenix eyes slowly lifted, his gaze dark and distant.

His hand slowly toyed with that exquisite little firearm.

Prince Jiang's Estate wanted to rebel!

The reason was this firearm!!

Although he did not know how many secrets the Profound Formation Division in the capital held.

It could manufacture firearms.

"Prince Jiang's Estate has people from the Profound Formation Division."

The reason was equally simple: yesterday's "Black Cat Martial Artist" who had tried to assassinate him.

He had held a short blade almost identical in appearance to the one Zeng Anmin had used to kill Wang Lin.

That short blade had been a system reward. Prince Jiang's Estate could not possibly have a system too, could it?

"Only people from the Profound Formation Division can make Spiritual Artifacts."

Zeng Anmin slowly raised his head and murmured.

Their purpose in disguising the assassin they sent as the "Black Cat Martial Artist" had been to muddy the waters.

It had to be said, it was a brilliant move.

But after calculating every possibility, they alone had failed to calculate that he himself was the real Black Cat Martial Artist!

"This move instead exposed him."

An eerie smile hung on Zeng Anmin's lips.

It exposed the fact that Prince Jiang's Estate had people from the Profound Formation Division hidden within it!!!

And the reason Zeng Anmin was certain Prince Jiang's Estate wanted to rebel.

Was because... sulfur soap!

When they inspected the ships yesterday, there had been sulfur aboard Prince Jiang's Estate's vessel.

Others might not know what sulfur could be used for, but how could Zeng Anmin not know??

Sulfur was an important material for making gunpowder!

Then...

Now, all they needed to do was find where they were transporting those materials.

Then they could completely seize evidence of Prince Jiang's Estate's rebellion!

Even if it did not want to rebel and merely sought self-preservation, there were ways to make it "rebel"!

"So where would they transport the sulfur?"

Zeng Anmin grinned.

This was why Jin Taiping's Shen Liu had disappeared!!

As the head of Two Rivers Prefecture's foremost ship merchants, Shen Liu had traveled the river since childhood. He absolutely knew where there were Wild Mountains and where there were deserted islands.

Prince Jiang's Estate needed someone like him to help them find an uninhabited place to conceal the evidence of their "rebellion."

But they had not expected Shen Liu's wife to seduce his own nephew in his very own Spirit Hall.

Shen Liu was a martial artist, and his nature was already unruly... If Shen Jun died at their hands, Shen Liu would certainly refuse to wallow in the same mire as them.

So they wanted to use his hand to kill Shen Jun. But they had not expected him to clear Shen Jun of suspicion.

To eliminate future trouble, they resorted to disguising themselves as the "Black Cat Martial Artist" to assassinate him.

Once he was dead, they would no longer have to worry about being exposed.

"Left Clerk, Young Master Shen Jun, helmsman of Jin Taiping's Fleet, requests an audience."

"Red-robed Guard Wang Daoyuan requests an audience."

Zeng Anmin's lips curled upward. He slowly rose to his feet, an eerie expression flickering across his face.

"Dachun, let's go. Accompany your young master to close the net."