Shi Kun harrumphed coldly. I’ve already caught up with you. Where else do you think you can escape to?
Under the buff of Wind God Dash, his speed was at least 20% faster than Zu An. On top of that, the other party was holding onto a person in his embrace and didn’t have a sword anymore. If he couldn’t even take down Zu An with such an overwhelming advantage on his side, he would really be utterly inept!
Shi Kun directed his sword toward Zu An’s legs, thinking that it would be an easy fight once he severed the latter’s tendons and crippled him.
However, Zu An abruptly flung his sleeves backward, and a shadow suddenly shot out from his wrist area.
Shi Kun could tell right away that it was a hidden crossbow. He remembered one of his lackeys having such a weapon. However, he didn’t think much of it as such weapons crossbows could only pose a threat toward low ranked cultivators. For a high level cultivator like him, the arrows wouldn’t even penetrate his ki armor.
So, he continued pushing his sword ahead, completely disregarding the arrow shot in his direction.
But just as his sword was about to pierce into Zu An’s leg, his body suddenly jolted. To his bewilderment, the arrow had actually pierced through his ki armor to sink into his shoulder. While the soft armor he was wearing had mostly cushioned the impact, limiting the injuries he sustained, he could feel a bizarre chill seeping into his wounds and spreading all over his body, causing him to shudder uncontrollably.
“What is this? Is the arrow laced with poison?” Shi Kun was shocked. He hurriedly drove his ki in order to drive off the coldness.
At the same time, Zu An abruptly turned around and attacked Shi Kun too. There was a pitch-black dagger in his grasp.
“Young master, be careful!” Qiao Xueying had experienced the prowess of the dagger herself, so she immediately shouted out a warning.
Shi Kun had suffered a bit from complacently thinking that he could use his ki to block the enemy’s arrow, so he wisely chose to face Zu An’s dagger directly this time around. He tossed aside his sword decisively and generated several wind blades to strike at Zu An.
The abrupt wind blades struck Zu An squarely, causing him to spurt blood. The strike had sustained significant injuries to him. On top of that, the obstruction of the wind blades closed up the temporary opening Shi Kun had revealed, giving the latter more than enough time to dodge his incoming attack.
Seeing this, Zu An could only sigh helplessly and back away,.
The hidden crossbow was a weapon he had obtained from Jia Zhengjing’s group, but he replaced the normal arrows with the armor-piercing arrows he had obtained from the zombie army.
It was fortunate that the mechanism of the hidden crossbow was rather simple. All Zu An had to do was to trim down the length of the armor-piercing arrow and slot them into the crossbow for it to work. Thanks to it, he managed to catch Shi Kun off guard for a moment there.
But it was a pity that he didn’t manage to kill him in the end.
Zu An noticed that Qiao Xueying and the other two fourth rank cultivators were about to catch up, so he quickly turned around and continued fleeing.
Meanwhile, Shi Kun stopped momentarily on the spot to consume a recover medicine and expel the chilling aura that had seeped into his body with his ki. Then, he extracted the arrow from his chest and examined it with a frown. “Just what kind of arrow is this? How could it be this formidable?”
This wasn’t the time for him to be brooding too much over such matter. Zu An had already gotten a lead on him, so he quickly ordered his lackeys to continue the chase.
Eventually, Zu An finally arrived at the stone doors at the foot of the mysterious hill. Seeing that Shi Kun and the others were still hot on his heel, he gritted his teeth and began walking toward the stone doors.
Chu Chuyan had remained in his embrace throughout the chase. From where she was, she could clearly see his blood-soaked clothes and hear his furiously thumping heart and his erratic breathing. Slowly, her eyes that were previously clouded in despair began filling with something else.
Born with great talents, she had always been the tall figure who protected others under her wing. Yet, in a twist of fate, she found herself helplessly in the arms of a man who was desperately doing everything he could to save her. He could have run off by himself, but he refused to let go of her, a baggage who was dragging him down.
“Fool…”
Chu Chuyan silently murmured her evaluation of him before slowly closing his eyes.
Zu An was oblivious to the thoughts of the beauty in his arms. He ran over to the stone doors worriedly, fearing that he wouldn’t be able to open it. However, perhaps it was because the effect of the Phoenix Nirvana Sutra had significantly enhanced his strength, this time, he was actually able to open a small crack that was enough for a person to slip in.
The pitch-black cavern that lay before him screamed of untold dangers. Zu An clenched his fists tightly before heading into the darkness.
…
Not too long later, Shi Kun and the others finally arrived before the stone doors too. They could feel the chilling air coming from the cracks of the slightly ajar doors, and their eyes flickered in hesitation and trepidation. “What’s this place?”
“Hmph! If even Zu An can enter this place, is there any reason why we can’t? Chase him!” With a grand wave of his hand, he took the lead and charged right in.
He had lost far too much today that he couldn’t give up at this juncture.