zhou was appointed deputy to new fourth army chief of staff xiang ying in december 1937. in the aftermath of the new fourth army incident, zhou was murdered in jing county, anhui province by liu houzong (), a member of xiang's staff. liu also murdered xiang and another officer, taking the gold resources of the new fourth army and handing them over to the kuomintang, who gave him a large monetary reward. liu was jailed by the nationalists in their wartime capital of chongqing, but was later freed. liu's whereabouts after 1949 are unknown, although he may have been caught and executed for his treason.