Chapter 261: Assassination
Zu An swallowed. He had a bit of history with this Wailing Whip himself. As for how it felt… he really didn’t want to bring back those memories.
How could Cheng Shouping not scream so miserably?
Chu Huanzhao got more and more frustrated as time went on, so she came back for an explanation from Zu An. Who would have thought that she would end up hearing Cheng Shouping say these things as soon as she came back? She was already fuming to begin with, so this was simply pouring fuel on her flames!
One lash wasn’t enough to make her feel better. A second strike followed.
Seeing that she was about to strike out a third time, Zu An immediately rushed in to stop her. “Okay, okay! This pitiful kid is going to die at this rate.”
Chu Huanzhao became more annoyed the more she looked at him. She raised her whip, about to strike him again.
But she still didn’t strike him in the end. She released a harrumph before turning around. “I don’t want to talk to you!”
Zu An chuckled when he saw her throw a tantrum. Wasn’t this brat getting more and more adorable?
Didn’t I say this before? It’s still good genes and a pretty face that’s important in the end. Even if she throws a bit of a tantrum, no one will find it that annoying.
He then turned around to give Cheng Shouping a look. “Honestly man, you’re going to get done in by that mouth of yours sooner or later. Be more careful in the future, don’t blabber about everything all the time.”
“Ow…” Cheng Shouping had a resentful look on his face. What the heck is this? The one who went to Immortal Abode is the young master, the one who got to feel good is also the young master! I just casually brought this up, so why am I the one getting beaten?!
Hmph! I thought highly of the second miss and the young master all this time for nothing! I’m only going to support the first miss from now on!
Seeing his extremely wronged expression, Zu An tossed him a silver ingot. “Get some medicine for yourself and rest up. Don’t go with me to the academy today, lest Little Huanzhao gets angry at you again.”
The silver immediately made Cheng Shouping’s eyes light up. He said with a beaming smile, “Thank you so much young master! The young master really is the best!”
Someone as straightforward and and generous like the young master deserves to have a different girl by his side every night! Of course, he didn’t dare say this out loud out of fear that he’ll get whipped again.
Zu An couldn’t stand his sappy look anymore. He immediately chased after Chu Huangzhao.
She always waited for Zu An to go to school together. Yet today, she immediately got on a horse and left.
Only after great effort did Zu An finally catch up. “Aiyou, who was it that made our little Huanzhao so angry?”
Chu Huanzhao’s face was still pissed, refusing to say anything.
Zu An scooched over. “Are you still upset that I didn’t get you a gift? I’ll buy you whatever you want right now! Big bro has money~”
Chu Huanzhao couldn’t stand his pestering. “You know that this is not why I’m upset!”
“Then why are you upset?” Zu An asked with a smile.
Chu Huanzhao’s turned her head away. “You already know the answer.”
Zu An’s had a contemplative expression on his face. “Was it because of what happened in Immortal Abode?”
Chu Huanzhao harrumphed. Her small snow white face became a bit colder.
“I really was dragged there by those second and third branch fellas! They wanted to find about about your big sis’ condition, so I had to deceive them and say that it wasn’t a big deal! But they aren’t stupid either, so how would they trust me that easily?”
“They wanted to bring me with them to Immortal Abode to test me out. If there really was something wrong with your big sis, then I wouldn’t have the heart to go and play around.”
“I had to beat them at their own game. This really is a huge sacrifice for me! In order to make them think that Chuyan is fine, I had to brace myself and go to that type of place!”
Zu An said all of this with a deadly earnest expression. He was even a bit amazed at his own ability to bullshit his way through.
As for Chu Yucheng and Chu Hongcai… the two of you can just carry this whole pot for me! It was your fault for calling me out anyway.
“Are you telling me the truth?” Chu Huanzhao’s expression finally eased a bit.
“Of course! You know that I’ve always been an upstanding person, so how could I let myself like this, go to that type of place if I had a choice?!” Zu An was said in a righteous manner. He stuck out his chest while speaking to make himself look even more tall and upright.
“But… but I heard that Immortal Abode’s courtesan queen chose you… chose you to… enter her chambers alone,” said Chu Huanzhao angrily. Why do all of these wretches keep going after my brother-in-law day and night?
Zu An said with a chuckle, “You’re worrying too much. The two of us only chatted over some tea. We ended up running into Stockwing Brockade’s Chen Xuan before our conversation even got that far.”
“Chen Xuan!” Chu Huanzhao was given a fright. Even someone like her who didn’t participate in the clan’s matters knew about this great bandit. Chen Xuan plundered the trade routes around Brightmoon City, causing great damage to Chu clan over the years.
“Brother-in-law, nothing happened to you, right?” Even though he looked perfectly fine, Chu Huanzhao still pulled on his arm in worry to check for injuries.
A warm feeling surged within Zu An when he saw her sincere concern. Even though this brat was a bit crafty and unruly, she really did treat him well.
When he landed in this world filled with dangers, she was the only one who made him feel a bit of warmth. “Don’t worry, I’m fine. A trifling Chen Xuan can’t do anything to me.”
You have successfully trolled Chen Xuan for +431 Rage!
The Rage points that came in left Zu An stunned. What kind of situation was this? Why did he end up receiving his Rage points?
Don’t tell me…
Right at this time, a streak of black light shot over. All of Zu An’s fine hairs immediately stood on end. He grabbed Huanzhao and jumped off of their horses.
An arrow landed in his previous location at almost the same instant. That pitiful horse directly exploded under the powerful impact.
Chunks of flesh splattered everywhere. Chu Huanzhao’s horse was absolutely horrified, raising its front legs before bolting for the distance.
If Zu An didn’t grab her beforehand, the consequences would have been too horrible to imagine.
“What happened?” Chu Huanzhao was so scared that her face went deathly pale. She was normally extremely bold, but when had she ever seen flesh fly everywhere like this? She tightly held onto Zu An’s sleeves, her body shaking uncontrollably.
The surrounding Chu clan guards snapped out of their shock. All of them hurriedly drew their weapons, surrounding the two of them within. They began to vigilantly watch their surroundings.
The surrounding people were in even greater panic. They were all screaming and running around, so how were they supposed to find where the assassin was?
Zu An seemed to have picked up on something. He turned his head towards a certain direction. A red-haired man was standing behind a third floor pillar with a large bow in hand. When Chen Xuan realized that he had been discovered, he revealed a cruel smile. He reached out a hand and pulled his thumb across his throat before disappearing without a trace.
Zu An frowned. This guys was actually a master at assassination! He immediately ran after he failed.
Zu An would much rather fight the other party right here. If he could hold him here, the problem would be dealt with once the city defense army or Chu clan guards came.
What a pity!
No wonder this fella was still living so well even under the joint suppression of Chu clan and City Lord’s forces.
Zu An’s complexion became a bit awful when he thought about how he now had to constantly be on guard against a powerful assassin. This fella could fail all he wanted, but his life was forfeit if he messed up even once.
“Second miss, young master! We weren’t able to find the assassin!” A skinny Chu clan guard reported after searching the surroundings.
This guard’s name was Jiao Shanhe. He might look a bit like a monkey, but he was the most outstanding scout in Chu clan’s private army, an extremely sharp and astute person. After Snow’s assassination attempt, the clan arranged for him to protect Zu An.
“The assassin has already left.” Zu An said with a disappointed tone.
Those guards were all stunned. How would you know that? But after being around him, they also realized that this young master had some secrets, so they didn’t doubt his words.
“Let’s head to Brightmoon Academy first to be safe,” said another guard with a large and tall build. This was Feng Daniu, the one with the most steadfast temperament out of the three guards. He was just like his name, his figure built like an ox.[1]
“Indeed, no one will dare to cause trouble in the academy. Chu clan will receive news about this soon, so Commander Yue will escort the young miss and young master back then.” The other guard swept an intimidating look across everyone who tried to approach them.
This person was another guard Chu clan assigned to watch over Zu An named Zhou Lujun. His blade technique was just as cold and stern as his appearance.
“Okay!” Zu An had no objections. The academy was full of powerful individuals. Chen Xuan would be completely outmatched if he went there.
“Huanzhao, don’t be scared. The assassin has already left.” Zu An looked at this young lady’s alarmed expression. She was still young after all, so he hurriedly consoled with a quiet voice.
“Brother-in-law, did you get hurt anywhere? Oh my goodness, there’s so much blood!”
Chu Huanzhao finally snapped out of her daze. Her small hands searched his body with a worried expression.
“I’m fine, this is all horse blood. That horse really had it rough!” Zu An felt terrible inside. He hadn’t spent that much time with this horse, but he had always been someone who got attached easily.
He would definitely return this debt to Chen Xuan.
“That’s good, that’s good.” Chu Huanzhao recovered from her shock. She completely forgot about the previous matter after such a bad scare.
Seeing these two holding each other, comforting each other so intimately, Jiao Shanhe and the other guards looked at each other in dismay.
“Isn’t the second miss and the young master a bit too close?”
“I don’t think we should get too involved in Master’s family affairs.”
“But what if something really does end up happening? Will Master and Madam blame us?”
“I don’t think they will. Second miss is still so young, would the young master really do something like that? Does he look like a savage?”
“He kind of does to me.”
…
Their party rushed to the academy. A few guards remained at the entrance, while Chu Huanzhao left to attend her classes.
Zu An went back to his staff dormitory instead to wash up and get all of this blood off of him first.
When he had just taken off his clothes, he suddenly heard some activity by the entrance. His heart trembled. Did that Chen Xuan really sneak into the academy?
With the Tai’e Sword tightly clenched in hand, he swung the door out and thrusted outwards.
Ah!
A cry of alarm sounded. Zu An pulled back his sword in a panic. He immediately became embarrassed when he saw the stunning beauty before him. “Big sis Shang, why are you here?”
“I noticed someone was home when I was walking by. We haven’t chatted in a while, so I decided to drop in.” Shang Liuyu was dressed in a green long skirt today. She quickly recovered from her shock. “Who did you think I was? Why would you suddenly pull out a blade on me…”
Before she finished her sentence, she noticed the incredible muscles on his exposed upper body. A light flush of color immediately spread across her neck.
1. Daniu = big ox