in Wanru was shocked by Zu An’s warning. She couldn’t have imagined that a random intruder who had barged into the Chu clan in the middle of the night would actually be an eighth rank cultivator!

However, it was already too late to pull back her attack.

Forget it! So be it if I die!

This resolute thought flashed across Qin Wanru’s mind.

Shi Lezhi quickly responded to her palm strike with a fist of his own. Wary that he would reveal his identity, he chose not to use any cultivation techniques or moves that could potentially identify him, relying on just the raw strength of an eighth rank cultivator.

“Ahhh~” With a cry, Qin Wanru was sent flying backwards, crashing heavily to the ground.

“Is that all you got?” Zu An’s lower jaw nearly fell to the ground. 

Given how she was able to keep Chu Zhongtian in line, he figured that she should at the very least be an eighth rank cultivator. Perhaps, out of respect for her own husband, she might even have intentionally suppressed her cultivation so that her husband could be known as the number one expert of Brightmoon City.

But as the saying went, the higher the expectations, the greater the disappointment.

Way too weak!

Zu An saw that Qin Wanru was at least struggling to get to her feet, and reckoned that she should be fine for the time being. He breathed a sigh of relief, then turned to Shi Lezhi and shouted, “Stinky old man, you sure are useless! An eighth rank cultivator, unable to catch up with a mere third rank cultivator? I feel sorry for your mother for giving birth to someone as useless as you!”

Shi Lezhi was so enraged that his mind went blank for a moment.

You have successfully trolled Shi Lezhi for 1024 Rage points!

He finally understood why even the young master would end up losing his cool when faced with this fellow. How could anyone not lose their temper at this?!

“You bastard! Once I get my hands on you, I’ll tear off your limbs one by one and torture you for life!” bellowed Shi Lezhi as he darted straight for Zu An.

He moved so quickly that his figure morphed into a blur, and in an instant, he was right next to Zu An.

Qiao Xueying’s face paled in horror, but it was too late for her to do anything.

Fortunately, Zu An was already prepared. He summoned Grandgale once more, and blinked tens of meters away.

Now that his cultivation had risen, he could summon Grandgale more than once per day, and the distance he could cover each time had greatly increased as well. Unfortunately, he knew that this wasn’t enough for him to escape from an eighth rank cultivator. Once he used up his three uses of Grandgale, he would be completely helpless before Shi Lezhi.

Shi Lezhi also had the same thoughts in mind. As an eighth rank cultivator, he could tell that Zu An was using some sort of secret art to escape from him. Such powerful techniques definitely had a limit to them. If not, Zu An would have been long gone

If so, all he needed to do right now was to wait for Zu An to deplete himself. That would be the end of that bastard.

Just thinking about how Zu An’s interference had foiled his initial plans made him gnash his teeth in anger. I won’t grant him an easy death!

Just like that, Zu An and Shi Lezhi vanished once more.

Qin Wanru’s body trembled in fear. She wasn’t severely injured, as the intruder seemed to have gone easy on her, simply pushing her away without inflicting much damage. Nevertheless, her ki was still shaken up by the impact, and her body was numb. She wouldn’t be able to gather any strength to fight, at least for the next few minutes.

She thought about what Zu An had done, and a thought surfaced in her mind. Could he have intentionally lured the enemy away for my sake?

This brought a conflicted expression to her face. However, she quickly realized that Zu An was still in danger, and hurriedly summoned the guards.

… 

Meanwhile, Zu An was concentrating only on fleeing, still holding Qiao Xueying’s hand. At the same time, he quickly called out to Mi Li for help. “Big sis empress, big sis empress! Quickly, come and save me!”

However, no matter how he called her, Mi Li refused to answer.

“Could she have gone back to sleep after guiding me through the acupuncture earlier?” Zu An was scared out of his wits. He dared to act so boldly only because he knew that he had trump cards he could resort to if things went awry, such as the skills he had received from the Keyboard, or Mi Li.

Yet, who could have expected that his trump card would fail at this vital moment?!

At this moment, he noticed that Qiao Xueying was gradually moving more slowly. He turned around to look, and was surprised to see that her face had become as red as a cooked lobster. Her eyes were glistening brightly, and it seemed as if she would tear up at any moment.

“What’s wrong?” asked Zu An anxiously.

“Shi Lezhi poisoned me. He intends to bring me back to serve Shi Kun.” Qiao Xueying bit her lips indignantly as her breathing began to grow a little unstable.

Had this been half a month ago, when she was still filled with admiration for Shi Kun, she would have been more than willing to accede to Shi Kun’s request, even without any drugs. However, the instant she saw how Shi Kun had been willing to abandon her in the dungeon like a mere pawn just so that he could survive, all of the feelings she harbored for him died.

Right now, she would rather die than be taken advantage of by Shi Kun.

She had fled desperately as soon as an opportunity arose. She had no idea what had been going through her mind—perhaps because she had lived there for many years, or because she knew that Chu Zhongtian had the means to deal with Shi Lezhi—but she instinctively ran toward the Chu Manor. 

Zu An fell speechless upon learning of her situation.

He never thought that Shi Kun would exact vengeance on Qiao Xueying so quickly. He had stopped Qiao Xueying from stepping forward to testify for him earlier on despite being in a bind himself, in order to avoid this situation.

However, it seemed like he had overestimated Shi Kun’s decency as a human.

And it seemed like Shi Lezhi was someone without a shred of dignity too. Despite being an eighth rank cultivator, he had no qualms about poisoning a young lady. Those in the Shi clan were really worse than beasts!

Qiao Xueying felt her body slowly growing weaker and weaker. Soon, she was no longer able to keep up with him, and tumbled onto the floor.

Of course, there was no way Shi Lezhi would let this opportunity slip past him. He rushed forward immediately and exerted his terrifying pressure on the two of them, rendering them immobile.

It was so powerful that Zu An even had difficulties trying to breathe, let alone summon Grandgale. All of a sudden, a thought surfaced in his mind, and he shouted, “Whatcha starin’ at?”

“I’m staring at you, shithead!”

The moment those words came out of Shi Lezhi’s mouth, he fell into a daze. Why would I suddenly say those words?

He had never even heard of such a comeback before!

Wait a moment, I think I heard of something similar back at the Clans Tournament. During a crucial moment in the fight, Zu An suddenly shouted ‘Whatcha starin’ at’, and for some strange reason, Yuan Wendong replied with ‘I’m staring at you, shithead’. It was this lapse in concentration that caused Yuan Wendong to lose the match and end up crippled.

Back then, everyone thought that Yuan Wendong was a fool for making such a foolish mistake… but now I look at it, it seems like Zu An possesses some sort of mysterious skill!

But why in the world would there be such a skill?

Shi Lezhi was utterly confused, but he made sure to remind himself to report this upwards, lest the young master fall for this trick in the future.

Shi Leizhi’s sudden lapse of attention caused his pressure to disappear, and Zu An made use of this opportunity to summon Grandgale, moving tens of meters away once more.

By this point, Qiao Xueying was already on the verge of losing consciousness. She grabbed Zu An’s collar and said, “Kill me.”

“What?” Zu An was baffled.

“Kill me! Otherwise, I’ll only be humiliated once I fall into the hands of the Shi clan!” exclaimed Qiao Xueying with the final shred of her rationality.

Zu An shook his head and replied, “Don’t you know that I’m a gentleman? How could someone like me possibly kill you? Don’t worry, I’ll definitely find a way to save you.”

“How do you intend to save me in such a situation?” Even in her groggy state, Qiao Xueying could see Shi Lezhi coming closer and closer to them, and her heart fell into despair.