“There has to be a way out of this. There must be!” said Zu An in agitation, almost as if he was trying to convince himself of it too.

Qiao Xueying had completely lost consciousness, but her hand was still clutching his collar tightly, as though this was the only way she could faint in peace.

Every time Zu An felt that Shi Lezhi was getting too close, he would immediately turn around and shout ‘Whatcha starin’ at?’, to which, Shi Lezhi would be compelled to respond with ‘I’m staring at you, shithead!’.

Using this short gap, Zu An would try to put some distance between them. Unfortunately, this trick only worked if the opponent was caught off guard. After he had done it a few times, Shi Lezhi grew accustomed to it, and it barely had any effect anymore.

In the end, Zu An ran into a remote courtyard before finally coming to a halt, gasping for air.

Shi Lezhi also stopped several meters away before slowly walking over to his quarry. He sneered coldly, “Go on, keep running. Why aren’t you running anymore?”

He could have rushed straight in and ended things right away, but he was a little hesitant to approach recklessly, because he was afraid that Zu An might still have some other trump cards up his sleeves. After all, the brat had already displayed many unbelievable abilities thus far.

He quickly spread his ki outwards to examine the surroundings. Only after confirming that there were no traps or cultivators in the area did he finally heave a sigh of relief.

Hah, it looks like I’m really getting scared over nothing. No matter how many tricks he has up his sleeves, he’s still no more than a third rank cultivator. What could he possibly pull off?

However, Zu An flashed a mysterious smile and said, “Run? Why should I? I specifically chose this place to grant you a quiet resting place. You’ll get to enjoy the fragrance of the flowers and the chirping of the birds. You should be thanking me for my consideration.”

Shi Lezhi was dumbstruck.

He had no idea whether he was hearing things, or if Zu An really had a screw loose inside his head. Really, where does he get the courage to say such things?

You have successfully trolled Shi Lezhi for 666 Rage points!

“Did you think that I would continue falling for your tricks?” sneered Shi Lezhi coldly. He could still remember the humiliation he felt when he’d fallen for Zu An’s bluff earlier, and there was no way he would allow history to repeat itself.

All of a sudden, though, a shaky figure walked out from a nearby wooden hut and said, “What’s going on? Why is it so noisy here?”

Shi Lezhi quickly turned towards the disturbance with a frown, only to see an old gardener standing there. He looked like a dried-up, human-shaped persimmon, and was holding onto a hoe in his hand.

What’s going on? I checked everything within a thirty meters radius. There should be no one here!

However, he sensed no pulsations of ki coming from the old man at all, and felt relieved. He’s nothing more than an ordinary old man. There’s no need to fear him.

So, he ignored the old man and brought his gaze back to Zu An, sneering, “Looks like someone else is here to join you on your journey to the afterlife.”

Zu An quickly hid behind the gardener and said, “Elder, that guy dares to disrespect you!”

This old gardener was none other than Old Mi. Zu An had not been running blindly all this while; he had been heading straight toward Old Mi’s place of residence. Since Mi Li couldn’t be counted on, the only one in the entire Chu Manor who had the means to save him was Old Mi.

“Your way of sowing discord isn’t particularly ingenious,” remarked Old Mi with a frown. He was displeased that Zu An had led an outsider here, which put him at risk of being exposed.

Zu An replied with a sheepish smile, “Well, I’m not lying. He really is disrespecting you.”

Shi Lezhi suddenly felt uneasy as he listened to their conversation. He took a closer look at Old Mi, but the old man’s feeble silhouette betrayed no hints of him being a powerful cultivator. After a short moment of hesitation, he sneered. “Trying to put on an act once more, huh? Are you trying to buy time for your reinforcements to arrive?”

He could hear the commotion going on in the Chu Manor. All of the guards who had been resting were now awake, and were rushing to this spot at this moment.

Shi Lezhi had no intention of clashing head-on with the Chu clan, so he decided to get this matter done with and carry Zu An and Qiao Xueying out of this place. As for the gardener, he would simply kill him. There was no need to leave this ant who had seen him alive.

However, Old Mi paid no heed to Shi Lezhi. Instead, he glanced at the woman in Zu An’s arms and asked, “Who is she? Hm, Snow?”

He’d stayed in the Chu Manor for so many years, and there was no reason why he couldn’t recognize Snow.

“Indeed. That fellow dashed in with the intention of kidnapping our people, and needless to say, there’s no way someone as heroic as me could turn a blind eye to it! But that fellow refused to let the matter go and came after me as well!” exclaimed Zu An.

“Didn’t Snow betray the Chu clan?” Old Mi said, exposing his lie right away. “What’s going on?”

Zu An finally answered sheepishly, “He’s from the Shi clan. He’s under orders to kill us.”

He dared not say that Shi Lezhi was here to kill Snow only, out of fear that Old Mi wouldn’t make a move. He was betting on the fact that he could be considered half a disciple to Old Mi, and because of this, the old man wouldn’t turn a blind eye to the danger he was in.

“The Shi clan?” Old Mi’s eyes narrowed contemplatively.

“Are you done with your act yet?” Shi Lezhi was already losing his patience. “Darned old man, get lost, and I can grant you a painless death!”

Old Mi sighed deeply and said, “How disappointing. So many years have passed, and yet, I still see so many frogs in the well in the world of cultivation. A mere eighth rank cultivator like you dares to speak so brazenly in front of me?”

“How did you know…” Shi Lezhi’s heart skipped a beat. He dared not underestimate the old gardener in front of him anymore.

He used his ki to scan him once more, but he was still unable to detect anything, which meant that there were only three possibilities. One, the other party’s cultivation was far higher than his. Two, the other party was an ordinary mortal. Three, the other party was carrying some sort of artifact that concealed his cultivation.

After careful thought, Shi Lezhi figured that the third option was the most likely of all. Since the old man was able to remain composed while facing him and also see through his cultivation, he couldn’t be an ordinary mortal.

As for the possibility that the other party was far stronger than he was, he dismissed it right away. After all, he was an eighth rank cultivator, one of the strongest experts in the world!

There were only a handful of people who could compete with him in Brightmoon City. Even against the number one expert in the city, Chu Zhongtian, he would still be able to put up a fight. No matter how powerful the old gardener in front of him was, it was simply impossible for him to be even stronger than Chu Zhongtian. Otherwise, how could he possibly lower himself to serve as a mere gardener in the Chu Manor?

There were only that many ‘hidden experts’ in the world, as cultivators needed a lot of resources to sustain their growth. Because of this, stronger cultivators tended to have a far higher social standing in the world. Those who chose to keep a low profile were likely to be overtaken by their more well-known counterparts.

Having finally thought things through, Shi Lezhi cast aside his fear. It didn’t seem that there was anything here to be afraid of. Even if he is indeed stronger than me, there’s no way he could possibly kill me in a single blow. If things get awry, all I have to do is turn tail and run!

“It seems like I’m growing more timid with age. Forget it, I can’t be bothered to waste my breath on you anymore.” Hearing the sound of the approaching guards, Shi Lezhi knew that there was no time left to hesitate.

A powerful force rippled forth from his body, causing the nearby tree branches to snap off and fly away. The grass in the area was also flattened against the earth, as though a massive hand was pressing down on them. Even the flowers in the area which were in full bloom were reduced to ashes in the blink of an eye.

Seeing the disastrous fate that had befallen the flowers he had been taking care of all this while, Old Mi’s wrinkled face quivered a little. “I had been hesitating as to whether I should interfere or not, but now… you can drop dead.”

Shi Lezhi sneered in response to Old Mi’s rage. Where does he get the courage to make such boasts? It looks like those who are acquainted with Zu An are all braggarts!

He did not hold back as he attacked, determined to blast the insufferable old man into shreds with sheer force before using the remaining momentum of his attack to break Zu An’s limbs. After that, he would bring the two youngsters back with him. While the young master had his fun with Qiao Xueying, he would make sure that Zu An thoroughly regretted having been born into this world!

All of a sudden, though, warning bells began ringing in his head, causing goosebumps to rise all over his body. It was almost as if every cell in his body was warning him of imminent danger, causing his heart to thump uneasily. Even so, he was unable to discern anything dangerous about the situation he was in. 

Why is this happening?

He scanned his surroundings, but nothing seemed amiss. 

The guards of the Chu clan wouldn’t be able to rush here in time, Zu An is still standing there, and the old gardener… Huh? Where did the gardener go?

It was then that an eerie voice sounded behind him. “Now that you’ve already seen me, how can I let you escape with your life?”

Before Shi Lezhi could respond, he felt a terrible pain piercing the back of his head. Realization struck him at that very instant, and he exclaimed, “This movement skill and that speed, you’re…”

Unfortunately, before he could finish, his consciousness left him, plunging him into darkness. His body slumped forward before falling heavily onto the ground.

Zu An was dumbfounded by what he had seen. “Holy shit! I knew that you were powerful, but you actually killed an eighth rank cultivator just like that. This is way too… too…”

He was unable to find a suitable adjective strong enough to express his current feelings.

Old Mi glanced at him nonchalantly and said, “I’ll leave you to handle things here. You’d better think things through carefully before explaining this to the Chu clan. If you expose my identity once more, you can accompany him on his journey.”

With a light tap of his feet, he vanished into the night.

Zu An knew that Old Mi was currently hiding his identity, which was why he couldn’t afford to appear in public. He recalled the chilling words the old man had spoken just before his departure, which sent a shudder through his body. He knew that Old Mi wasn’t just making an empty threat.

It looks like there’s some huge secret behind his identity.

However, this was not the time for Zu An to be pondering this matter. He could already hear the footsteps of the Chu clan’s guards not too far away, so he quickly hid Qiao Xueying’s body in some nearby bushes. Since she was a traitor of the Chu clan, she would surely be put through a great deal of suffering if she were to be captured.

Soon enough, Qin Wanru and Yue Shan appeared, leading a group of elite guards. Upon seeing the sight before them, they stopped in their tracks, their eyes widening in astonishment.

They saw Zu An and Shi Lezhi standing face-to-face. Zu An had a finger pointed at Shi Lezhi’s head, while Shi Lezhi’s fist had stopped in front of Zu An’s chest.

“Zu An, a-are you all right?” Qin Wanru asked with a quivering voice. 

Despite her question, her heart had already turned cold. She had personally experienced just how powerful that black-clothed man was, so she knew full well that there was no way Zu An could still be alive after being hit by that punch.

She couldn’t help but think about how Zu An had lured the black-clothed man away in order to save her, and it made her feel terrible inside. All this while, she had never hesitated to display her scorn toward him, but she never expected him to sacrifice himself to save her at such a critical moment.

If he were to die here just like that, how could she possibly face her two daughters?

“Zu An, rest assured. I’ll exact vengeance for you! Men, hack that bastard into shreds!” roared Qin Wanru furiously. 

So what if you’re an eighth rank cultivator? The Chu Manor isn’t a place where you can come and go as you please! Now that you’re already here, don’t even think about leaving this place alive!

The guards immediately rushed forward, but were interrupted by a familiar voice.

“Hah! I’ve been wanting to keep a low profile thus far, but you simply had to force my hand. You should have known that you stood no chance against my Six Pulse Divine Sword, so why did you even bother?” Zu An exerted the slightest bit of force from his finger, pushing the corpse of Shi Lezhi down onto the ground, in front of the incredulous pairs of eyes all around him.