Zu An rubbed his eyes in confusion, wondering if he was seeing things. However, he soon figured that there was likely to be a cave there that was just slightly out of sight, thus creating the illusion that they were disappearing into the hill.

This hill was not too big, spanning about a hundred meters in height and several hundred meters in width. However, there was something unusual about it. Naturally-formed hills tended to have ridges, making them look rugged, but the surface of this hill was smooth. The trees growing on it looked odd as well, growing in too orderly a fashion. It felt more like he was looking at a carefully managed garden instead.

Once the zombie army was gone, Zu An carefully made his way over to the foot of the hill to take a look, only to realize that he had been mistaken. It was not actually a cave, but a pair of majestic stone doors. There were quite a few bizarrely-shaped stone creatures flanking the stone doors, which he was unable to recognize due to his lack of knowledge about the world. 

It looks like I need to find Shang Liuyu to hold some night-time remedial lessons for me.

He noticed that the stone doors were closed, so he tried to push them open. However, as soon as his palm came into contact with the doors, a chill immediately shot through his arm, making him shudder.

This place is way too sinister!

He took a look around the area, and soon gained a rough understanding of just what kind of place he was in. The surroundings looked very reminiscent of a grave, and he was starting to think that the little hill before him wasn’t actually a hill, but a massive burial mound.

During the Qin and Han Dynasties, members of the royal family were buried within such mounds. It was only in the Tang Dynasty that mausoleums began to be constructed. The royal families of the other dynasties did not possess as much wealth, and their graves weren’t as impressive.

Zu An examined the area carefully, but was unable to find a way to open the doors. In the end, he was left with no choice but to give up.

Zu An tried his best to console himself. I doubt that a treasure like the Evanescent Lotus would appear in a place as sinister as this.

By this time, he realized that the sun had already risen, and he felt it best if he returned to meet up with Ji Xiaoxi. I should ask her if she knows what kind of environment the Evanescent Lotus tends to thrive in. 

On the way back, Zu An couldn’t help but wonder how the stone doors were meant to be opened. All of a sudden, he felt goosebumps rising all over his body as warning bells rang in his mind. He immediately executed Sunflower Phantasm and dodged to the side.

Just as he did so, a cold gleam of light shot out from behind a boulder, striking towards him.

Thanks to his timely execution of Sunflower Phantasm, Zu An barely managed to escape with his life. Nevertheless, he was still left with a bright cut across his chest that was bleeding profusely, caused by his enemy’s attack. Had he not dodged in time, he would surely have been split into two.

“Hm?” The unseen enemy was perplexed to see his sure-kill strike fail.

On the other side, Zu An assessed the enemy who had nearly taken his life just a moment ago. Instead of a zombie or a ferocious beast, he was actually a living human. The clothes he wore and his slightly familiar face both gave away his identity. “You’re from the academy!”

“Ah, Teacher Zu, my apologies! I noticed many zombie carcasses along the way, so I’ve been on the edge all this while. As soon as I noticed movement, I thought that it might be a powerful zombie, so I panicked and made a move. I never expected it to be you!” That student’s voice was as sincere as it could be.

Zu An sneered coldly in his heart. It was obvious that the earlier attack was premeditated, so how could you possibly have missed the fact that it was me? You must be taking me for a fool! 

However, he didn’t allow his thoughts to show on his face. Instead, he put on a smile and asked, “What’s your name?”

“I’m Shi Shangfei, from the Earth class,” replied the student.

“Shit Shangfei?” Zu An burst into laughter. He slapped the student’s shoulder and laughed. “You have an interesting name!”

Based on his earlier attack, this fellow’s cultivation should be around the higher reaches of the third rank.

“You’re too kind.” Shi Shangfei tensed as soon as Zu An tapped his shoulder, afraid that he would try to make a move against him. He was so nervous that he didn’t even notice that Zu An was making fun of his name. 

“Oh, right. What are you doing here all alone? Shouldn’t you be traveling with a teacher’s group?” asked Zu An.

Shi Shangfei answered respectfully, “Teacher Zu, my group encountered a pack of wolves along the way. We panicked and fled in different directions, and got separated in the process.”

“This dungeon seems even more dangerous than I expected,” remarked Zu An.

“Indeed.” Shi Shangfei nodded in agreement. “Speaking of which, how did these zombies in this valley die?”

Zu An thumped his chest and said, “Needless to say, I slew them valiantly with my sword!”

Shi Shangfei’s mouth fell open.

Would it kill you to stop bragging? If you really are that capable, I’ll swallow my sword right here right now! Then again, if he wasn’t shameless, he should have realized by now that someone of his caliber isn’t worthy of Chu First Miss and backed down!

You have successfully trolled Shi Shangfei for 300 Rage points!

“Teacher Zu, you came here with Ji Xiaoxi, right? Why don’t I see her around?” Shi Shangfei had to tread carefully here. He was confident that he could deal with Zu An alone, but he couldn’t say the same if Ji Xiaoxi were to get involved as well.

“She went off to gather some wild fruits. Ah, there she is!” Zu An gestured behind Shi Shangfei with a slight jerk of his head.

Shi Shangfei subconsciously turned his head around, only to realize that something was amiss right away. He immediately tried to back away, but it was already too late. He felt a sharp pain along his neck, which caused him to hurriedly wrap his hands around it. Even so, he was unable to stop his blood from flowing out. 

“W-why?!”

He couldn’t believe that a teacher would actually kill a student so easily. He was confident that he had acted the part well enough, and his explanation made sense as well. Even if the other party was unconvinced, he shouldn’t have resorted to a killing move right away!

Zu An sighed deeply. “You must be dreaming if you think that you can pretend to be my friend after giving me a tight slap. You could possibly have held your own against me if you had chosen to fight me directly, but you simply had to flaunt your acting skills in front of me. Don’t you know that people used to call me Sanlitun’s Liang Chaowei[1]?”

While Shi Shangfei had no idea who Liang Chaowei was, he could at least tell that his act had been seen through right from the start. He was trying to make Zu An put his guard down, but in the end, he was the one who had grown careless instead. It made him feel enraged and remorseful.

You have successfully trolled Shi Shangfei for 723 Rage points!

“You… Wipe that smug look off your face! I’ve already told my companions… You will meet your end soon enough!” Shi Shangfei’s face reddened, and more blood flowed out of his neck.

“Oh? I should thank you on behalf of your companions then. That’s such a relief. I had already put my guard down, and if not for your warning, I might have just fallen for their assassination attempt! But now, they’re going to be the ones to die.” Zu An chuckled mockingly.

“Y-you…” Shi Shangfei felt as if he was going to pass out from anger. Won’t he at least let me die in peace?!

You have successfully trolled Shi Shangfei for 856 Rage points!

“Stop wasting time over there! Why aren’t you dead yet? Even an insignificant cannon-fodder character like you should have some self-awareness! People like you should die with a minute of screen time or less, or else you’ll end up slowing down the pace of the film! Besides, isn’t it uncomfortable for you to keep wrapping your hands around your neck like this? Come, let me help you.” 

Zu An stepped forward and pried Shi Shangfei’s hands away from his neck, causing blood to spurt out of the deep cut in his neck right away. In just a few moments, Shi Shangfei had breathed his last, his eyes wide with indignance.

Damn it!

You have successfully trolled Shi Shangfei for 1024 Rage points!

Zu An proceeded to search his body, but he was only able to find some dry rations, several silver pieces[2], and ki stones. The saber which Shi Shangfei wielded was only so-so in terms of quality, severely lacking in comparison to the weapon that the Chu clan had prepared for him.

Eek, he’s poorer than I thought.

There was no way a millionaire like Zu An would be interested in such low-level loot. 

Still filled with the disappointment brought about by the lacklustre gains, he began reflecting on the earlier situation. This was not the first encounter he had with danger; his battles with Pei Mianman and Snow had nearly cost him his life as well. However, those two were fifth rank cultivators, so it was only normal for him to feel threatened by their prowess.

Shi Shangfei, on the other hand, was only a third rank cultivator, but he, too, had nearly taken his life away with that very first strike. 

This made Zu An realize that he was still being too careless. He would have to be far more attentive to his surroundings, or else he would make an easy target for others.

Ah, Shi Shangfei mentioned earlier that he had already called his companions over… 

A sharp piercing sound suddenly whistled from above him as a black shadow swiftly whizzed toward Zu An.

This time, Zu An was prepared. He took a step sideways, but didn’t just stop there. He quickly followed it up with a roll to cover more distance.

As he came out of his roll, three arrows struck the spot that he had just been standing on, as well as the spots that he could have ended up on with just a simple dodge.

Judging from the speed and power of the arrows, the enemy was likely to be stronger than the zombies he had faced earlier, but that didn’t mean that he would be harder to deal with. After all, he had been up against a whole army of zombies earlier, but there was only one archer right now!

As common sense dictated, in order to defeat a long-range enemy, the first thing one had to do was to close the distance first.

So, as soon as Zu An dodged those arrows, he immediately rushed in the direction where the attacks had come from. As long as he could close the distance, he was confident that he would be able to overpower his enemy with his Bixie Swordplay.

However, just as he was about to reach the archer, another three more people suddenly appeared by his side. One wielded a sword, one wielded a saber, and the last one wielded a spear. Although they wielded different weapons, their attacks were incredibly coordinated, and each of them was able to accurately target his vital spots from different directions.

So, Zu An made the wisest decision anyone could do in that situation—he ran.

Based on their auras, the weakest of them was at the early stages of the fourth rank, and the one wielding the spear had already reached the higher rungs of the fourth rank. As powerful as his Bixie Swordplay was, his cultivation was simply too low at the moment. If he was facing them one-on-one, he might still stand a decent chance, but that wasn’t the case right now.

If he really pushed himself, he probably could kill one or two of them, but he would also end up sustaining grievous injuries, possibly even getting killed.

Please, my life is worth much more than yours! How much of a waste would it be if I threw away my life for mere small fry?

The last thing his enemies expected was for Zu An to suddenly turn tail and flee. They shared a moment of awkward silence before they hurriedly gave chase. The archer had also recovered by this time, and he swiftly nocked an arrow and aimed it at the fleeing Zu An.

He released the arrow with utmost confidence that it would strike its target. Yet, it was as if Zu An had eyes behind his back. At the very last moment, he twisted his body sideways and dodged it impeccably.

The archer was completely dumbfounded.

Zu An patted his thumping heart in relief. He had been on guard against this archer from the very beginning, so as soon as he heard the arrow, he immediately began taking evasive measures. Of course, part of the credit went to the erratic movement that his Sunflower Phantasm granted him. It would have surely taken far more effort to dodge the arrow without it, even with the finest preparation.

As for the other few fourth rank cultivators chasing him, they were alarmed to find that Zu An was much faster than they had expected.

At the fourth rank, a cultivator’s agility would be significantly boosted, allowing him to cover great distances with a single leap. Theoretically speaking, they should have been able to catch up with a mere third rank cultivator within moments. Yet, while they hadn’t been shaken off yet, they were unable to close the distance at all!

Zu An was also feeling an incredible amount of pressure. He finally understood why martial artists could easily leap ahead of their opponents and intercept them in the movies. He was getting a firsthand experience of it at the very moment.

Every single time the fourth rank cultivators behind him took a step, they would be able to close the distance significantly. If not for the fact that they needed to land on the ground and build up momentum for the next leap, they would have already caught up with him by now.

Even though the Sunflower Phantasm increased his speed significantly, this movement skill was focused more on the element of ‘phantasm’, or mystifying one’s enemy, instead of straight line speed. Because of that, he was unable to shake them off, no matter how long he seemed to run.