Chapter 789: Fortunes Rise and Fall
Zu An was alarmed. He said in a low voice, “I have no idea what you are talking about. Sir Ma, have you developed a delusional disorder?” At the same time, he began to look around him. All of the muscles in his body had already silently gone taut, ready to strike at any time.
Ma An chuckled and asked coldly, “Sir Eleven, are you prepared to silence me? I guess that makes sense. Embroidered Envoys indeed have the authority to act first and report later.”
Zu An’s voice became cold as well. “Did you come all the way here just to say these senseless things?”
“Naturally, I came here to ascertain your relationship with Golden Token Eleven,” Ma An said. “I wasn’t too sure at first, but judging from your reaction, I’m already sure.”
Zu An’s eyes narrowed. “Sir Ma seems confident in your backing. Could it be that you really aren’t scared that something might happen to you here?”
Even though he was the imperial hospital’s commissioner assistant, their doctors didn’t specialize in cultivation. Judging from Ma An’s ki fluctuations, he was only at the sixth rank. Since he already knew that Zu An was Golden Token Eleven, where did he get the confidence to face him alone?
“Our imperial hospital has never been too interested in violence. However, medicine and poison are two sides of the same coin. Since we’re good at healing people, we’re also good at poisoning people.” Ma An gave the candle on the table a look. “Aren’t you starting to feel weak right now, as if your strength is slipping away?”
Zu An’s expression changed. He quickly rushed outside. However, he dropped heavily from the sky midway through his flight. “You… You actually dared to poison me! Despicable!”
Mi Li couldn’t help but sigh in amazement when she saw the shock and anger on Zu An’s face. If she didn’t know that he was impervious to most poisons, she would really have been deceived by his reaction. This brat really was a natural born actor!
But there was no way Ma An would know the truth. He smiled when he saw Zu An’s reaction. “It’s all the same killing. You use blades, while I use poison. How is this despicable? The difference between humans and animals is precisely in trickery and wit, in our ability to think.” He tapped on his temple while speaking, his voice full of ridicule.
Zu An asked ‘weakly’, “What kind of poison is that? Why is it so strong?”
Ma An felt proud when Zu An asked about his field of expertise. He fished out a pitch-black bottle from his inner pocket, saying, “This poison is named Frozen Soul. It was something I obtained with great difficulty. Once you are affected by this poison, your entire body will feel as if it’s in a world of ice and snow. The movement of your limbs and the flow of your ki, even your heart and soul, will be frozen still.
“It would be difficult for even a master rank cultivator to survive this poison, let alone someone of your cultivation rank.” As he carefully stored the bottle away, Ma An had a reluctant expression on his face. “It’s a poison that not even a master could defy, so you don’t need to feel too wronged about your death.”
Zu An was shocked. When he heard the poison’s description, he began to wonder if his poison immunity really was enough. He secretly circulated a bit of ki and sensed that there was a bit of cold ki seeping into his body, but it was quickly neutralized by his body’s primordial ki. Overall, there wasn’t too much of an effect.
He sighed inwardly in relief, and then he used the chance to ask, “We share no grudges; why are you so determined to kill me?”
“No grudges?” Ma An’s expression warped when he heard those words. “Twenty years ago, my younger brother died under the hands of a golden token envoy! Whenever I see you golden token envoys, I want to kill you many times over! How can there be no grudges?!”
You have successfully trolled Ma An for +444 +444 +444…
Zu An scoffed inside when he sensed the other party’s strong resentment. What the hell were the political investigators doing? They had actually let this kind of person into the imperial hospital and made him the commissioner assistant.
“But the one who harmed your younger brother isn’t me! How long has it been since I came to the capital? I only came here to make a living!” Zu An tried to see if he could prove his own innocence, or else having to fight someone to the death for this sort of ridiculous reason would be too much.
“Shut your mouth! All Embroidered Envoys deserve death!” Ma An’s eyes turned red. “It’s all that Cheng Xiong’s fault for being too useless. He came to ask about the medicine records, and I even hinted that there was an issue with Sir Eleven asking for soul healing medicine, yet in the end, he didn’t even manage to get rid of you and was killed instead!”
Zu An suddenly understood. No wonder Cheng Xiong had just happened to investigate him last time, and even Zhuxie Chixin had become suspicious. So it was all because of this guy working behind the scenes.
He said in a grave voice, “But the Embroidered Envoys all act according to his majesty’s will. Don’t tell me you wish to take revenge on his majesty?”
Ma An chuckled. “Do you think I’m stupid? Of course I won’t take this up to his majesty. It’s enough if I just get rid of you golden token envoys. That was the vow I made in front of my younger brother’s grave. I’ve already managed to get rid of three of them over the years, and you’re about to be the fourth.”
Zu An was speechless. People always bragged about how formidable the golden token envoys were, yet they had no idea that those envoys were being done in by their own people. How embarrassing. But why was this guy so vengeful? Did he have a brother complex or something?
He couldn’t help but ask, “You killed several golden token envoys just for this reason? Do you not know that this is a clan eradicating sin?”
“Who would find out that I was the one who did it once you died?” Ma An sneered, clearly not treating it as a big deal. “However, if you obediently answer my questions, then I can grant you a swift death.”
Zu An sighed. “Looks like I really am finished here. Just say it, what do you want to ask about?”
He wanted to use this as a chance to look into Ma An’s background too. For some reason, he felt that this matter wasn’t that simple. Those golden token envoys all had powerful cultivations, and they were sharp and careful. How could they be so easily done in by Ma An?
“Does the ‘Phoenix Nirvana Sutra’ you offered up to his majesty truly have the ability to grant eternal life?” Ma An asked, looking eagerly at Zu An.
Zu An sneered, “What, even you desire eternal life?”
“That’s not something you need to worry about. You only need to answer whether it’s true or not!” Ma An insisted somewhat impatiently.
Zu An said seriously, “Of course it can; otherwise, why would his majesty grant me a noble title?”
“It actually can? Then that makes things more troublesome…” Ma An mumbled to himself.
“Why do you care if his majesty can obtain eternal life? What, do you want to take his place?” Zu An was confused. With Ma An’s cultivation, he shouldn’t have the ability to participate in such a battle. His eyes suddenly lit up. “So you had someone backing you.”
“Damn kid, I’m the one interrogating you right now, not the other way around!” Ma An harrumphed. “Did anything happen between you and the crown princess?”
Zu An gave him a look. “Who’s the one behind you? King Qi?”
Ma An exclaimed angrily, “Are you in a position to ask me questions right now?”
You have successfully trolled Ma An for +66 +66 +66…
He kicked out toward Zu An’s side as he spoke. However, halfway through the motion, he stopped out of shock. “Why isn’t your body covered in frost…”
He quickly backed up, but it was already too late. The ‘dying’ Zu An suddenly moved and grabbed his ankle. Ma An subconsciously tried to kick out with his other leg to break free. At the same time, he tried to toss out some poisons. Unfortunately, a powerful suction force caused all of his body’s ki to surge toward his ankle.
He was horrified. “What kind of… demonic art…” Shortly afterward, he had already become powerless. Having one’s body hollowed out that way would leave one feeling extremely weak.
Zu An sucked away all of Ma An’s cultivation with the Heaven Devouring Sutra, and only then did he let go. The feeling of sucking out another person’s cultivation really was amazing! It really would be a problem if he couldn’t control himself and became the world’s public enemy.
“Im… Impossible… Not even a master rank could withstand Frozen Soul, so why are you… fine?” Ma An leaned against the wall. His hair that had been quite glossy was now dried up, and his face had become a lot skinnier, his lips deathly pale. At that moment, he began to question everything he knew about life.
Zu An was obviously not in the mood to answer his questions. “Sir Ma, you didn’t think fortunes would rise and fall like this, hm? Now, I’m the one asking you questions and not the other way around. Speak, who’s the one backing you?”
Ma An smiled bitterly. “You can’t expect your shoes to never get wet if you walk by the riverbank. I actually already anticipated that I would one day be done in by a golden token envoy; it’s just that I didn’t know it would be by a new one like you. However, I advise you not to delude yourself into thinking you can get any information out of me.”
“Is that so? The Embroidered Envoy’s prison has quite a few tough fellas like you, but I don’t recall there being many of them who were able to remain silent,” Zu An sneered.
Ma An said indifferently, “I knew that this day would come one day when I decided to face the golden token envoys, so I already made a seal inside my body. Once I’ve been pushed to a certain point, my blood vessels will explode on their own. I am a glorious commissioner assistant from the imperial hospital; you better believe what I say.”
Zu An frowned. Judging from how confident this fellow sounded, it seemed that was most likely the case. However, he wasn’t worried and said, “Do you think I don’t have any other methods just because I can’t torture you?”
As he spoke, a white light flashed, and a devastatingly beautiful woman appeared out of thin air.