Chapter 174 - 122: Did Nan Guess My Identity as the Black Cat Martial Artist?

Chapter 174: Chapter 122: Did Nan Guess My Identity as the Black Cat Martial Artist?

Upon clearly seeing the face of the person before him, a profoundly dark light flickered in Zeng Anmin’s eyes. He had seen this man at Fa’an Temple just a few days ago. It was the cripple from Fa’an Temple!

He thought, "Who would have thought? Son of a bitch! If it weren’t for Hu Zi giving me the idea to visit Fa’an Temple, I wouldn’t have even recognized this man’s face right now!"

"Fa’an Temple... Ren Weizhi..." Zeng Anmin slowly pieced the clues together in his mind.

He continued his train of thought, "Everything clicks into place! A month ago, Prince Qi was assassinated with a hidden weapon right under my nose. And while at Fa’an Temple, the little monk Yingchen mentioned, ’Mr. Ren visited once last month.’ The timeline is a perfect match! This means that Ren Weizhi went to the temple last month to give this cripple a mission: assassinate Prince Qi! And two days ago, Ren Weizhi visited the temple again. Obviously, this time, the mission was to kill me..."

Zeng Anmin took a deep breath and slowly lifted his head. The moonlight cascaded over his fierce, sharply contoured face. The physical toll from using the Eternal Night Three Slashes had yet to fade. His Dan Feng eyes were heavily bloodshot, brimming with intense killing intent.

"From here on out, following the trail of this old cripple will make things much easier," Zeng Anmin said, his voice laced with a deep, bone-chilling coldness. "Ren Weizhi, the old cripple, and the mastermind behind you all..."

His tone sounded like the whisper of a demon. He thought, "If you dare to try and kill me, you better be prepared to be killed in return."

TAP, TAP, TAP.

Zeng Anmin found his little roan horse, swung himself into the saddle, and headed home.

As Zeng Anmin slowly rode away, the corpse on the ground remained motionless. It wasn’t until a rat caught the scent of blood in the air that things changed. The rodent scurried swiftly across the street, approaching the body. It sniffed gently, its beady little eyes gleaming with extreme greed. Just as it was about to crawl onto the corpse...

CRACK!

The body disintegrated in an instant. Just like the large tree Zeng Anmin had shot at before, the corpse crumbled into a pile of powdery ash. Even the clothes scattered into the wind. All that was left on the ground was a pool of blood of unknown origin.

Back at his home.

Zeng Anmin made sure not to alert anyone upon his return. He drew water himself and washed away every trace of blood on his body. As he watched his blood-stained clothes burn to ashes in the brazier, a razor-sharp glint flashed in his eyes.

"So, what is the backup plan for Ren Weizhi and his mastermind?" Zeng Anmin murmured, staring into the dancing flames.

He slowly pieced together all the clues in his mind. He thought, "If they dare to send an assassin after me, they must have made ample preparations. Furthermore, they must be fully confident in their ability to bring down my father."

Just as he was pondering deeply, a sudden BUZZ brought him back to reality. He wondered what the sound was.

Zeng Anmin sat back in his chair and closed his eyes, sinking his awareness into his Sea of Consciousness.

Inside the Sea of Consciousness.

The ethereal projection of the Dragon Inspection Map still floated right in the center. To the left lay his Martial Arts True Qi and the Short Axe. To the right was his Vast Righteous Qi, along with a bow and a brush.

Without hesitation, Zeng Anmin stepped forward to look at the back of the Dragon Inspection Map.

[South: North, I have an urgent matter to discuss with you!]

Seeing this message, Zeng Anmin raised a brow. He thought, "It’s been a long time since I last chatted with my allies in the Celestial Dao Alliance. And now, out of the blue, there’s an emergency?"

Zeng Anmin pondered for a moment before waving his hand to write on the back of the Dragon Inspection Map:

[North: What is it?]

After sending it, Zeng Anmin waited quietly. However, to his surprise, he ended up waiting for quite a while. Just as he was about to lose his patience, the back of the Dragon Inspection Map flickered again. What followed was a massive wall of text.

[South: A traitor has appeared within the Eastern Sect. They have already fled past the border and are heading toward the southern region of the Northern Holy Dynasty. If—and I mean *if*—it’s convenient for you, could you help search for them? The situation is extremely urgent, and we cannot afford a single moment of delay. That traitor stole nearly three thousand catties of Thunder Powder from the Ministry of Industry of my Great River!]

[South: We don’t know what their objective is, but if they truly manage to flee into the Great Saint Dynasty carrying so much Thunder Powder, there is no predicting what they might do. It could very well bring widespread devastation to the common people...]

She did not write the unspoken consequence: the relationship between the Holy Country and Jiang Country would become extremely tense. The alliance treaty between the two nations to jointly fend off the demons would also likely become nothing more than a scrap of paper.

A traitor in the Eastern Sect? Fleeing into the territory of the Great Saint Dynasty?!

When Zeng Anmin read this, he couldn’t help but feel his scalp tingle with dread!

Three thousand catties of Thunder Powder?! The term "Thunder Powder" might sound somewhat unfamiliar, but if one called it gunpowder...

Zeng Anmin didn’t hesitate at all and wrote directly on the back of the Dragon Inspection Map:

[North: Three thousand catties?! What kind of traitor can single-handedly carry three thousand catties of Thunder Powder?! Why are you only bringing up such a massive incident now?! What the hell is the Empress of your Jiang Country even doing?!!]

Not feeling entirely satisfied, his eyes flashed with a surge of anger as he added:

[North: Three thousand catties of explosives is such a massive target... It’s quite obvious that from the Empress down to the officials of every level, the entirety of your Jiang Country is filled with incompetent fools!]

In his moment of panic and urgency, Zeng Anmin’s words were incredibly harsh. Sure enough, South did not respond for a very long time after he sent that message.

"She must be too ashamed to speak after getting scolded by me," Zeng Anmin mused aloud, rubbing his chin. After pondering for a moment, he wrote again:

[North: Of course, I’m not targeting you personally. I was just caught up in the urgency of the moment. I hope you can understand.]

[Desolate: Holy smokes! If three thousand catties of explosives were to detonate, wouldn’t half a city be reduced to ruins?!]

[Dao: Lives are at stake; we cannot stand idly by.]