Chapter 265: Zhou Ze

Seeing the miserable state of Tong Wenrong, Du En's footsteps instead slowed down.

Because this City Lord was not in any serious danger; he just looked miserable, but in reality, he was just playing dead.

Why the need to pretend?

One of the reasons surfaced immediately.

When Du En stepped into this vital hub and approached Tong Wenrong, a three-inch-tall tiny person suddenly crawled out from a crack in the floor behind him; looking at its appearance, it was clearly a young Zhou Ze.

This tiny person appeared sneakily and launched a surprise attack toward Du En's side.

With a ghostly howl of Yin wind hidden within a single finger, it was the secret technique Yin Ghost Finger, capable of piercing directly into another's mind and infiltrating their spirit; it was the most vicious and insidious, truly impossible to guard against.

Zhou Ze revealed a ferocious grin, and then, he discovered the person in front of him had vanished.

Slap!

It struck empty air.

?!!

Just as he was astonished, a figure descended to shroud him, and instantly his whole body broke out in a cold sweat; he turned his head very stiffly, only to see Du En calmly watching him, a third-rank peak-grade Dharma sword appearing in his hand, flicking the sword tip, eager to try.

"You actually need to turn your head to observe? Either you have other malicious intentions, or, in this form, you do not possess divine sense."

Du En said in an emotionless tone.

He was also observing the opponent.

The three-inch tiny person before his eyes did not correspond to anything he knew or had seen.

It looked somewhat like a Nascent Soul, because a Nascent Soul is a three-inch infant shape, but a normal Nascent Soul would not have the external manifestations of a normal person's flesh and blood; instead, it was closer to his own manifestation of the Solid Spirit Body, essentially a fusion form of Dharma power.

Looking again at that insidious secret technique and the form of its sudden appearance, it gave one a ghostly feeling; this three-inch-tall little ghost also seemed plausible.

Yet, this little thing had an excess of living Yang energy, not at all like those of the Yin ghost variety.

"Ah!"

The three-inch Zhou Ze shrieked, and with a 'poof' sound, transformed into a wisp of smoke and vanished.

This kind of method was even less consistent with anything he knew.

Therefore, Du En did not rashly stop it; in any case, the monk may run, but the temple cannot, and as long as he could control the City Lord's Mansion, the situation in Lin'an City would not fall into chaos.

Thus, lost in thought, he put away the Dharma sword in his hand and walked to the front of Tong Wenrong.

This City Lord appeared to be struggling to open his eyes wide, murmuring in his mouth: "Lord Du, you, you have finally arrived, it is only a pity that I was unable to, cough cough cough..."

"Since you are heavily injured, then don't speak. Here, a medicinal pill for healing and recovery."

*Gulp~*

Tong Wenrong swallowed this third-rank pill in a daze, and his injuries immediately improved visibly to the naked eye, but he could not help but pull a long face: "My Lord, this pill of yours, it, it..."

"Just confiscated it, I have plenty, don't worry about it."

I am very worried!

Why did you think I was playing dead?

Although Zhou Ze's sudden attack had indeed almost cost him his old life, fortunately, he was very cautious and hid within the heavy defensive measures of the vital hub, which was why he wasn't killed by the sneak attack, only losing some blood.

At that time, Du En was in a fierce battle with someone, and he didn't even dare to look again, fearing he would witness the scene of Du En killing people once more.

His heart was filled with trepidation, and he hadn't paid much attention to Zhou Ze's futile attempt to break through the vital hub's defenses from the front; he was just jumpy and terrified.

Then, in his panic, he couldn't help but think about how to distance himself from the situation; after thinking it over, his brain clicked, and he simply did both at once, opting to play dead.

For one, if he was near death and delirious, any questioning would result in him not knowing what happened on Du En's side, so it wouldn't have much to do with him.

For another, it could also avoid provoking Zhou Ze's side, lest he use some other ruthless move to directly break through those heavy defenses.

Let him leave the defenses to fight Zhou Ze?

He hadn't even thought about it!

After all, that was a rebel who dared to commit treason!

Without some real ability, would he dare to do that?!

So, of course, he had to be careful and cautious.

The second point was somewhat effective.

But as for the first point.

Du En had directly fed him a pill, the black-market kind; now it was a case of being too clever by half—mud had fallen into his trousers, and whether he was an accomplice or not, he was now an accomplice!

"I will take responsibility for my own actions; I will not implicate you."

Du En saw his expression and spoke directly.

Tong Wenrong could only force optimism, force a smile, pat his bottom, wipe away the bloodstains, and stand up, his eyes flickering between optimism and pessimism.

Overall, it was mostly pessimism.

Although it was now obvious that Zhou Ze had major problems, and with those three from Yunyi City involved, the Great Cultivator above would be eager to shake off the trouble and would not come running to target him in such an obvious way.

Furthermore, Lin'an City was quite special, facing the Rotten Forest Immortal Sect across the water; how could the City Lord here be changed just like that? If he were suddenly replaced, what would the other side think?

It wasn't that Tong Wenrong lacked this self-awareness, but he was timid and fearful, and truly dared not be optimistic.

"What exactly happened here?"

Du En spoke, interrupting his tangled pessimism.

"Well, shortly after you, uh, did that and that, suddenly, that Zhou Ze popped up like a ghost and launched a sneak attack directly on me. Fortunately, I was hiding within heavy defenses, and I was guarding against everything from my spirit to my body, otherwise, I might really have lost my life."

Speaking of this, Tong Wenrong still had lingering fears.

Du En, however, was thinking thoughtfully.

Because even in a small city, the various vital areas within the City Lord's Mansion had defensive strength at least at the peak of the fifth rank, which even a Great Cultivator would find difficult to overcome.

For a Golden Core stage Zhou Ze to not only be able to sneak in but also launch a surprise attack that could injure a City Lord behind heavy defenses, this clearly meant there was a major problem!

Also, Du En noticed a point in Tong Wenrong's words and confirmed: "When he attacked you, was he in his normal state, rather than the strange three-inch tiny person from just now?"

"That's right, what about it?"

"In that case..."

Du En was lost in thought, then gave an answer that had nothing to do with the question: "Next, we need to act immediately. While we quickly and meticulously go over how much control City Lord Tong still has over the city's defenses a few more times, you can summon the Inner City Superintendent over. I will cooperate first to take them down before anything else."

"No problem."

Speaking of this matter, Tong Wenrong was actually quite proactive, having the air of someone finding joy in suffering and wanting to have a good time before death.

Du En didn't say much more and hid directly in the shadows.

Very quickly, the oblivious Inner City Superintendent Zuo Kui, a burly man who lived up to his name, hurried over, unaware of the reason Tong Wenrong had suddenly summoned him in the middle of the night.

And in a place like the command center, no less...

He didn't think much of it and stepped straight inside.

Having just stepped in, City Lord Tong could hardly wait and, imitating Du En's previous tone, said: "Zuo Kui, your crimes have been exposed!"

"Huh?"

Zuo Kui immediately shrank his head and stopped in his tracks, feeling somewhat guilty.

"Huh?"

Tong Wenrong also felt astonished; he had only been putting on a show, never expecting that this thick-browed, big-eyed fellow would actually be involved in this matter?!

The two of them stared at each other in dismay, and the air suddenly turned silent.

(End of chapter)