Chapter 250: The Death of Zhu Zixun

"Zhu Zixun? Isn't he right there?" Li Ji pointed to a corner of the ox cart ahead, but suddenly realized the spot was empty, with only the crushed grass remaining.

His eyes went wide instantly. "Where's the person? He was just here."

Pan Xiaohei was shrieking inside her mind, "Come quick, he's getting faster and faster, I can't keep up."

Only then did Pan Yun turn and say, "I'll go chase him. Keep a close eye on Song Bei. Lose another one and I'll hang you in front of the Jianghu Alliance."

Li Ji's face flushed red, both ashamed and annoyed.

Pan Yun flew into the forest and vanished in the blink of an eye, her speed extreme.

She darted through the treetops, and in no time she spotted Pan Xiaohei leaping rapidly between the trees, with Zhu Zixun moving at high speed below.

He showed no sign of having suffered a heavy blow, slipping sideways through the forest at great speed, using the shadows of the trees to conceal his form—extremely fast, extremely light on his feet.

If Pan Xiaohei hadn't been up in the trees, Pan Yun would have lost track of him several times.

Pan Yun narrowed her eyes slightly; this kind of concealment technique seemed oddly familiar.

Pan Yun swept swiftly through the treetops, the crash of waves reaching her, the salty sea wind hitting her face.

She passed over Zhu Zixun from above, then slowly descended from high in the sky.

Zhu Zixun saw her suddenly drop from the heavens, his heart sinking, though his expression didn't change. He braked sharply, then his feet stamped rapidly in quick succession, and with a twist of his toes he abruptly veered right and ran.

Pan Yun gave a faint smile, leapt into the air, stepped on three trees in succession mid-flight, turned a somersault like a kite, and landed right in front of Zhu Zixun again.

Zhu Zixun turned and dodged Pan Yun once more.

Pan Yun let him run for a stretch, then once again channeled her lightness skill to give chase, flying through the treetops before landing in front of him...

Pan Xiaohei followed along twice, then finally gave up. She found a big, tall tree, scrambled to the top, and hung her head down to watch her play cat-and-mouse.

She felt Pan Yun was the cat—where else would such a wicked sense of fun come from?

Zhu Zixun was gasping for breath. Realizing that no matter how he ran, he couldn't escape Pan Yun, he finally stopped at the edge of the forest, leaning against a tree to pant.

After quite a while, he looked up at Pan Yun, who was blocking his way.

Behind her was the sea, the horizon where the dawn light had appeared. So close—just a little more and he could have escaped into the ocean.

Once he reached the sea, he was certain no one could do anything to him.

Seeing he had caught his breath enough, Pan Yun asked with a soft laugh, "Still running?"

Zhu Zixun said with a bitter smile, "Daoist Priest Sanzhu, you were willing to let Hu Jing and Su Ying off, even willing to show mercy to pirates like A Xin, letting them atone for their crimes with service. Why won't you let me off?"

"You're thinking about this wrong. I didn't let them off—they earned the chance for themselves," Pan Yun said. "Ever since we took down Song Bei, I've been very curious: who exactly was the one serving as Song Bei's confidant, acting as the island's lookout?"

"A smuggling caravan led by Japanese pirates—Song Bei was a Japanese man in disguise, but aside from him, two-thirds of the guards in the caravan were Han Chinese, with less than a third being Japanese. Would Song Bei and the one behind him really trust Han Chinese that much?"

"Especially since you also hired three Wu Gong masters," Pan Yun said. "Song Bei could be the brain and the spokesperson of the group, but he must still need someone to protect him, to ensure the caravan's safety—a high-combat-force presence."

"I originally thought that person was hiding among his group of grey-clothed guards, but I fought through all of them. The seven who stayed by his side were indeed strong, but that was only when they fought as a unit—individually, they were nothing to speak of."

"Later I suspected he was mixed in with the blue-clothed guards, but after separating them one by one and testing, I found that although some of the blue-clothed guards tried to sneak away, none of them fit the profile. So it could only be one of the three of you."

Pan Yun said, "Of the three, aside from Hu Jing, whose identity can be verified, both you and Su Ying could be said to be of unknown origin."

Zhu Zixun immediately said, "I've been famous for years, I'm a local—how can you say my origin is unknown?"

Pan Yun gave a cold laugh. "Exactly because you're a local, that's why you're even less trustworthy. Isn't Song Bei's household registration and travel pass that of a local?"

"However, your age, your Wu Gong, and your growth experience did make me more inclined to believe you, which is why I suspected Su Ying even more."

For that reason, she deliberately kept him by her side to observe.

But after making contact, she found Su Ying struck decisively against the Japanese pirates, and had a somewhat lazy temperament, so her gut told her it wasn't him.

So she turned her gaze onto Zhu Zixun.

She also disliked him the most, so she simply didn't test him herself, but handed the person over to Pan Xiaohei, giving him every condition to escape.

Pan Yun said coldly, "You moved too slowly. If you'd been a bit faster, and I'd been held up by the Japanese pirates in the formation, then the ones fighting you would be Li Ji and my cat. You might really have escaped into the sea."

The moment she brought this up, Zhu Zixun's face twisted in pain.

Who could have expected that the acupuncture points she'd sealed would be so hard to break through? A mass of Qi had blocked his acupoints completely; only by enduring intense pain did he manage to force them open.

Pan Yun raised her chin and said, "How about it? Want to fight another round?"

Zhu Zixun's fist tightened, then loosened, then tightened again. "That day, you let me win on purpose?"

Pan Yun gave a light laugh. "I thought that was obvious, no need to point it out specially. I didn't expect you to ask such a stupid question. Is it because Japanese people are just not smart enough to begin with, or have you been among them so long that you lost your brain?"

Zhu Zixun: "What exactly is your grudge with the Japanese? Why do you hate them so much?" Zhu Zixun couldn't understand it at all. "You've been insulting them in your words the whole time—just because they're pirates? But there are Japanese who aren't pirates. Besides, A Xin and the others are pirates too. Strictly speaking, eight out of ten pirates on the sea today are common folk who fled from our Great Ming. Why don't you hate them?"

"Who says I don't hate them?" Pan Yun said. "But we share the same ancestors. I hate them, scold them, that's enough—why would I go curse their ancestors?"

"Then the Japanese..."

Pan Yun cut him off. "I don't share ancestors with the Japanese."

Zhu Zixun had nothing to say.

Pan Yun squinted and asked, "You care so much about this—could it be that the Japanese are your ancestors?"

Zhu Zixun's face went red with anger, and he shot back, "The Japanese are your ancestors! I'm Han Chinese!"

Pan Yun just snorted and asked, "Have you been to the Japanese country?"

Zhu Zixun: "I have. They saved my life, that's why I work for them. Daoist Priest Sanzhu, I'm a man who repays kindness. If you're willing to let me off this time, Zhu will definitely repay you in the future. As long as you need Zhu, I'm willing to give everything I have to help."

Pan Yun: "Sounds good."

! 。Read

She tilted her head, seeming to think about it very seriously.

Seeing this, Zhu Zixun's heart lifted, and he watched her full of expectation.

After a moment, Pan Yun nodded under his hopeful gaze.

Light burst from Zhu Zixun's eyes, and a brilliant smile spread across his face.

Pan Yun smiled too, and held out her hand. "No need to wait until later to repay me. You can give me everything right now—just hand over the treasure map you hid."

The smile froze on Zhu Zixun's face. After a long while he asked hoarsely, "Wh-what did you say?"

Pan Yun frowned, withdrew her hand, and sighed in exasperation, "That's exactly why I hate talking to idiots. I thought I'd made it obvious enough — does it really need explaining again?"

"Weren't you standing by as a witness the whole time when we interrogated Song Bei and the grey-clothed guards around him? It's already been said — only Song Bei can go to that treasure island, and he needs the sea chart to find his way. So here's the question: I stripped him clean, so where's the sea chart?"

Pan Yun said, "Surely he didn't hide it in that cloth of his?"

Zhu Zixun: …

Pan Yun reached her hand out toward him. "Brother, I've already shown plenty of sincerity. Now it's your turn to keep the promise you just made. Come on — pour out everything and help me."

Zhu Zixun raised his head, his eyes flickered, and he reached into his robes and pulled out a large money pouch. Right in front of Pan Yun, he opened the pouch and took out a bundle, folded neatly into a square and wrapped carefully in oiled paper.

He walked toward Pan Yun, stopping three paces away, and slowly placed the oiled-paper bundle into her palm.

Pan Yun took it, and was about to pull back, when Zhu Zixun suddenly gripped the oiled-paper bundle tightly. His eyes blazing, he stared at her and asked, "Is what Daoist Sanzhu said true? Once I give you the thing, will you really let me go?"

Pan Yun said sincerely, "Of course. This isn't the first time we've done a deal, is it?"

She was referring to the hostage exchange they'd done before.

Only then did Zhu Zixun release his grip.

Pan Yun had just taken the thing in hand and lowered her eyes for a glance when a sudden surge of palm force came at her. Without looking up, Pan Yun's left hand shot out and clamped around Zhu Zixun's throat. In the next instant, with a twist of her hand — crack! Zhu Zixun's eyes went wide. The palm strike he'd just launched barely halted before Pan Yun's chest, blocked by an invisible force.

Only then did Pan Yun raise her eyes to look at him, a half-smile on her lips. "Hero Zhu, I'm perfectly sincere about doing a deal with you — but your heart isn't sincere."

The light in Zhu Zixun's eyes slowly faded. He seemed to have countless things he wanted to say, but there was no time left.

The light vanished from his eyes, his head lolted sharply to one side, and he lost consciousness completely.

Pan Yun released her grip, and Zhu Zixun slammed onto the ground with a heavy thud, the force so great that he bounced twice on the spot.

Pan Xiaohei slid down from the tree in a flash, hopped over to Pan Yun in a couple of bounds, glanced down at the corpse, and said, "He died with unfinished business."

Pan Yun: "If he'd managed to palm-strike me to death, I'd have died with unfinished business too."

Pan Yun opened the oiled-paper bundle, saw the silver notes neatly folded inside, and wasn't surprised in the slightest.

She even counted them in a cheerful mood. "Pirates really are rich — eight hundred taels. Hook the money pouch over here, let me see if there's anything else inside."

Pan Xiaohei hooked the money pouch over and tossed it to Pan Yun.

Pan Yun reached out and caught it, opened it for a look — inside were a handful of broken silver, a handful of copper coins, and eight small-denomination silver notes.

Mostly one-tael and five-tael notes.

Pan Yun stuffed all the money into the pouch and tossed it into the Ling Realm space.

Pan Xiaohei reminded her, "Do you want to check the merit points recorded in the Ling Realm? You killed so many people just now — the merit you earned from sending vengeful spirits on is almost used up, and the gold bar you'd just filled back up has shrunk back to the beginning again."

(End of chapter)