“To be honest, I was curious as to why someone as outstanding as Chu Chuyan would choose a person like you for her husband. However, now that I’ve met you in person, I think I know why.”
Zu An puffed out his chest. “Because I’m good-looking?”
“No, it’s because you’re shameless.” The woman stretched, her body drawing a beautiful arc. “I’ve been out for a while, so I should be heading back now. If fate permits, we’ll meet again.”
She turned and left, heading toward the bamboo forest behind the gazebo.
Her departing silhouette looked a little forlorn. Despite her occasional smiles and chuckles, a cloud of sorrow hung around her that refused to dissipate.
“I wonder what’s weighing down her mood.” Zu An slipped into deep thought, then shook himself. Hm? Why am I so intense all of a sudden?
Zu An quickly reined in his thoughts and headed off in search of Yu Yanluo.
Meanwhile, Plum Blossom Thirteen sprinted all the way to the headquarters of the Plum Blossom Sect, located in the southern district of the city. He headed straight for the sect master’s study room.
*BAM!*
“Bad news, sect master…” As soon as he barged in, he heard a shriek of horror. A naked woman darted to one side, scrambling to find something to cover her body.
“If you can’t give me an appropriate explanation for this, report to the Enforcement Hall and submit yourself to twenty lashes.” A one-eyed man sat behind a formidable desk. He grabbed the hair of the panicking woman and pressed her down beneath it.
“Wuuuuu…”
The room was silent save for the indistinct mumbling of the woman.
Plum Blossom Thirteen swallowed hard. Tan Wei’s wife sure has fair skin. He banished the thought and regained his focus. “I just met Zu An.”
Needless to say, the one-eyed man was the sect master of the Plum Blossom Sect, Mei Chaofeng.
“Who is Zu An?” Mei Chaofeng leaned against the back of his chair as a hint of pleasure rippled across his face.
“It’s the man whom you ordered Twelve to eliminate a while ago,” Plum Blossom Thirteen replied hurriedly.
“Ah, the young master of the Chu Clan?” Mei Chaofeng’s body straightened, a hint of rage coloring his lone eye.
Cough cough… The woman beneath the table dry-heaved.
Mei Chaofeng glanced under his desk before returning his focus to Plum Blossom Thirteen. “Twelve messed things up the last time, so I gave him another chance to make up for his mistakes. What’s wrong? Did he fail his mission again?”
Plum Blossom Thirteen replied, “I heard from our brothers in the sect that they spotted Twelve leaving the city together with Zu An. I thought the matter settled. Yet, Zu An has appeared in the city again, even though Twelve hasn’t returned.”
“What’s going on?” Mei Chaofeng frowned, sensing something amiss.
“I asked him about it. He said that the two of them bumped into Tan Wei not too long after leaving the city. Twelve chased after Tan Wei, and they parted ways.”
“Wuuuuu~” Hearing the name ‘Tan Wei’, the woman under the table struggled anxiously, trying to rise to her feet. Mei Chaofeng held her down firmly.
Plum Blossom Thirteen’s throat went dry. “Godfather, is it possible for Twelve to have been…”
“Impossible!” Mei Chaofeng dismissed it with a wave of his hand. “Be it in terms of cultivation level or wits, Tan Wei is far from being a match for Twelve. There’s no way he’d pose a threat to Twelve.”
“Report!” A sect member appeared in the doorway to the study. “We have found Tan Wei’s corpse outside the city.”