The other party also saw his face at the same time and stopped her attack. With a hint of surprise and joy in her tone, she exclaimed, “It’s you?”
The intruder had a beautiful oval face and an exquisite ponytail tied with a blue butterfly knot. Who else could it be other than Qiao Xueying?
“What brings you here to the Chu clan? Could it be because you missed me?” teased Zu An. Despite his casual tone, he was actually quite perplexed as it wasn’t likely for here to come here after having betrayed the Chu clan.
At the same time, he noticed that her face was slightly redder than normal.
Qiao Xueying also finally snapped out of her state and exclaimed in astonishment, “Q-quick, call the Brightmoon Duke out!”
“What’s wrong?” Noticing the horror in her voice, Zu An quickly helped her up while scanning the surroundings warily.
“It’s useless. I just received intelligence that the Brightmoon Duke isn’t in the manor anymore,” a teasing voice sounded. Following that, an old man suddenly appeared on top of the manor’s wall. His hands were placed leisurely behind him, and he eyed Qiao Xueying coldly as if a cat preying on a mouse.
“Shi Lezhi!” exclaimed Zu An in astonishment. Even though the latter had tried to mask his appearance, he was still able to recognize the other party right away.
The old man was also astonished. His face darkened as he said, “How did you recognize me?”
Zu An pulled Qiao Xueying behind him as he said with a smile, “No matter how you disguise yourself, you can’t hide that scummy aura around you.”
“…” Shi Lezhi.
You have successfully trolled Shi Lezhi for +598 Rage!
“You sure have a sharp tongue. However, you’ll soon understand that this is not a world where words matter. You’ll regret having been born with that mouth of yours!” sneered Shi Lezhi coldly.
Zu An looked at Shi Lezhi intently before scoffing, “Just because I’ve always concealed my true strength beneath my cheerful expression, you really think that I’m a mere third rank cultivator, huh? Did you think that I would dare to provoke all of you if I only have that much? Since that’s the case, I shall cast aside my disguise and reveal my true strength to you!”
Zu An’s disposition caused Shi Lezhi’s eyes to narrow warily. He immediately gathered his ki and put up his guard against the other party. There was some sense in what the other party had said. It indeed made no sense for a third rank cultivator to maintain such a high profile, and anyone else in his place would have already died many times over by now.
To be honest, the happenings in the dungeon made no sense to him and Shi Kun. They couldn’t understand why the army of third rank and fourth rank cultivators they had dispatched to kill Zu An would end up getting wiped out.
That shouldn’t have been impossible.
And putting that together with Zu An’s words, Shi Lezhi suddenly found himself wondering if Zu An was actually a hidden expert, just that he was intentionally suppressing his cultivation so as to numb those around him.
Now that he thought about it, Zu An had managed to sever Shi Kun’s weapon with a single strike back then. Had he not interfered, there was a good chance that Shi Kun might have already been dead by now.
How could a third rank cultivator wield such power?
Putting aside a third rank cultivator, even a fifth rank cultivator couldn’t hope to defeat Shi Kun in a single hit!
All of the evidence suggested that Zu An was indeed hiding his strength.
Could he be a sixth rank, seventh rank, or eighth rank cultivator?
Shi Lezhi’s complexion darkened. If Zu An really actually managed to reach a level at such a young age, he would indubitably grow to become a powerhouse in the future.
Qiao Xueying also looked at Zu An in astonishment, wondering if the latter was really a hidden expert. The novels which she often read with Chu Chuyan often had such a development, such as the prince of some country feigning to be an ordinary worker or some incredibly powerful sword immortal disguising as a mortal to court a woman…
Could he be the same as well?
It was then that Zu An suddenly grabbed her hand and ran away. “What are you dazing off for? Run!”
He immediately activated Grandgale and instantaneously moved tens of meters away.
“…” Qiao Xueying.
“…” Shi Lezhi.
The huge contrast in her expectations and reality caught Qiao Xueying completely off guard, such that she fell into a daze. Shi Lezhi also took a while before he finally realized what was going on. Just the thought that he had been fooled into putting his guard up against a mere trashy third rank cultivator left him feeling deeply humiliated.
“You bastard, I’ll slice you into pieces!”
You have successfully trolled Shi Lezhi for +1024 Rage!
With a powerful step, he charged toward Zu An with a speed as fast as a released arrow. To his astonishment, even though his speed as a eighth rank cultivator should have been much faster than that of a third rank cultivator, he was actually unable to catch up with the latter!
“How could this be possible?!”
Shi Lezhi was astonished. Could that fellow possibly have been hiding his true strength?
Meanwhile, Zu An continued screaming as he ran, “Help, help! A madman is after me!”
His voice echoed far and wide, swiftly drawing attention here.
Qiao Xueying’s lips crept up. All this while, she had scorned Zu An for not having any dignity, but it was only now that she realized that the nifty tricks he resorted to were actually oddly effective. At least, the guards of the manor were indeed rushing toward him.
When the two guards saw them, they immediately drew their swords and siad, “Who are you?”
“I am your young master! That man behind me is the intruder who crept into the Chu clan!” shouted Zu An.
Shi Lezhi was dressed completely in black, which made it obvious that he wasn’t a good person. So, the guards quickly rushed forward to stop him, demanding, “Who are you?”
Unfortunately, barely after they said those words, Shi Lezhi grabbed their necks and twisted it, producing a crisp cracking sound. Just like that, the two guards breathed their last.
Zu An felt his goosebumps rising all over his body.
One must know that those two guards were at the third rank too, but they were killed like helpless sheeps!
While Zu An did possess some unusual means that made him far stronger than an ordinary third rank cultivator, he knew that he would only last a second or two at most against an eighth rank cultivator if he were to get caught.
So, he desperately ran away with Qiao Xueying in his hand, but once the effect of Grandgale ran out, it turned out that Qiao Xueying was the faster one of them. As a result, it turned into Qiao Xueying dragging him along instead.
Shi Lezhi’s eyelids twitched. He had received an order from the young master to nab Qiao Xueying alive so that the young master could have a taste of her, so he went easy on her. Yet, it ended up creating an opportunity for Qiao Xueying to get away.
He thought that she would run to the academy to seek help, but with a feint, she ran toward the Chu Manor instead.
His fear of Chu Zhongtian made him hesitant to give chase, but all of a sudden, he received news that Chu Zhongtian had left the city in a hurry. With that, there was nothing for him to fear anymore.