Zu An felt discouraged. Chen Xuan’s cultivation was higher than his, so his speed was obviously much greater as well.

Even though the Sunflower Phantasm movement technique was formidable, it only excelled in maneuvering over short distances.

Of course, if he could use Grandgale freely, he would have already left Chen Xuan far behind him.

“Isn’t there anyone you can still use to get us out of here?” Zu An asked in panic. Those in the meeting hall were all the higher-ups in the gang, but there was surely no way they could have contacted everyone ahead of time in order to organize this mutiny. Otherwise, news of this betrayal would have leaked out a long time ago.

However, Zheng Dan shook her head and said, “I am only rarely on the island. These subordinates are practically all under Liu Chan’s control.”

Zu An was completely speechless for a while. “Aren’t you just a bit too much of a failure as a gang boss?” he finally said.

Zheng Dan felt embarrassed as well. She was the Zheng clan’s young miss, and she was going to become a madam in the future. She had little interest in blood or violence, which was why such a situation had developed.

Just as Chen Xuan was about to catch up, someone suddenly rushed out to block his path.

Chen Xuan roared out, “Piss off, asshole!”

He attacked viciously with his first strike, catching the newcomer full-on and causing him to vomit blood.

However, his opponent did not give up. He continued to face off against Chen Xuan. “Gang boss, you need to get away!”

“Ya Xiao!” Zheng Dan grew emotional when she saw his bloodied body clinging to Chen Xuan’s leg. Her beautiful eyes filled with tears.

“We need to escape, quickly. Don’t let his actions go to waste.” Seeing her begin to have thoughts of turning back, Zu An pulled her after him quickly and continued running.

Zheng Dan bit down on her lower lip until she drew blood. She was clearly full of anger and hatred.

“You can only get revenge if you stay alive,” Zu An reminded her, worried that she might do something stupid.

Zheng Dan trembled. She suddenly remembered that she had been poisoned by that filthy drug, and she would meet an extremely bitter end if she stayed behind. She gave up on her thoughts of going back.

“Ya Xiao didn’t even know what I looked like all these years, nor did he know who I was. I’m truly sorry…” she muttered quietly to herself.

Zu An sighed. “This world will always have young lads willing to risk their lives for those they love...”

I definitely won’t do something that stupid.

But he then quickly recalled his experiences in the dungeon. Hadn’t he also risked danger this time to save Zheng Dan?

I guess we’re all idiots. What right do I have to mock him?

The two of them finally reached the shore. There was a hidden dock within the reeds, and a small boat was tied to it.

Zu An didn’t have time to undo the rope. He hacked through it with his Poisonous Prick, and then jumped in with Zheng Dan and began rowing frantically.

Unfortunately, he had never rowed a boat before, so he had no idea how to do it. The more strength he used, the more the small boat spun about in place.

Zheng Dan couldn’t help but smile. This was the first time she saw him in such a silly state. “Let me do it,” she said quickly.

She stopped Zu An and proceeded to roll up her sleeves. The water’s surface rippled, and the small boat shot out in a straight line.

Zu An sighed in admiration. “What the heck? You’ll make a killing if you start a ferry business!” Zheng Dan: “......”

Didn’t he know the situation they were in? What was wrong with this guy’s head?

There came a loud whoosh from behind him. Zu An turned around and saw Chen Xuan running crazily across the water’s surface, his face red as he charged at their boat.

“Why the heck do you have this kind of superpower too?!” Zu An was stunned. Wasn’t this guy only at the sixth rank? Why was he flying now?

But he quickly surmised that such a feat shouldn’t be too difficult for those of higher cultivation levels. After all, he wasn’t soaring freely in the sky, but skipping across the surface using the strength of his strides.

Zheng Dan clenched her teeth. She stood up and gestured behind them with a hand. A wave of water surged up behind them.

It was only a foot tall in the beginning, but the wave grew larger and larger, eventually reaching several tens of feet in height.

Zu An’s eyes widened completely. That sweet-tempered and delicate demeanor he was used to seeing was completely an act!

He sighed to himself. 

Why are all the women at my side so tough?

Chen Xuan was unfazed when he saw this huge wave. He drew his long blade.

He hadn’t used his blade when he fought against Chu Yucheng and Chu Hongcai in the Immortal Abode, but he used it this time.

There was a flash of cold light. His blade ki created a giant phantom sword in midair, which slashed downwards.

It almost felt as if this blade could cleave the Brightmoon River in half.

The tremendous blade ki sliced through the huge wave in front of him and continued on forward, towards their small boat. Chen Xuan clearly wanted to destroy their boat so that they wouldn’t have any way to escape.

Zheng Dan’s arms crossed in front of her. A screen of water formed in front of her and blocked that overbearing sword energy.

“Pfft!”

Blood spurted out from Zheng Dan’s mouth. She was thrown into the air as though rammed by a speeding carriage, and she seemed destined to fall into the water.

Zu An reached out and caught her in his arms. The tremendous force had thrown him about as well. 

“What’s wrong?” Zu An asked with concern. His eyes were drawn to the blood trickling down the corners of her lips. Her body’s temperature was also incredibly hot.

Zheng Dan groaned, her voice terrifyingly soft and delicate. “It’s nothing… it’s just that…”

She couldn’t finish her sentence. After all, her situation was just too embarrassing for a young lady to explain.

“Why do you look like you’ve taken an aphrodisiac?” Zu An mumbled to himself. Her face was blushing crazily and her eyes were misty. He wasn’t unfamiliar with this sight.

Snow had looked exactly the same back then.

“You keep asking even though you already know the answer.” Zheng Dan gave him a resentful look. 

This guy is making fun of me on purpose!

“What do you mean?” Zu An was stunned. He had been completely focused on unsealing his acupoints through the use of the Snowflake Sword technique earlier, and was unaware of what had transpired in the hall.

Chen Xuan’s arrogant and overbearing voice came from behind them. “Hahaha! I thought the gang boss would have some type of exceptional cultivation, but it turns out that this was all you had!”

Zheng Dan wiped away the blood around her lips. She said angrily, “You’re despicable! If it wasn’t for… if it wasn’t for… I won’t have lost to you so easily.”

“If you didn’t suffer from my ‘Eighteen Spring Winds’? You should just cease your struggles! The effects will only grow stronger the more you resist! Isn’t your entire body burning up now? You really want to embrace a man, don’t you?” Chen Xuan roared with laughter.

“Eighteen Spring Winds?” Zu An was shocked. He could guess just from the name what kind of effects this drug had. No wonder Zheng Dan was acting like this.

Just who came up with such an indecent name?

But he noticed Zheng Dan’s embarrassment, and was ticked off by how arrogantly Chen Xuan was behaving. He drew the beauty in his arms closer to him and said with a raised voice, “Isn’t she embracing me right now? What are you hollering like an idiot over there for?”

Chen Xuan’s breath caught. When he saw Zheng Dan’s body grow limp in Zu An’s embrace, he suddenly felt like all of his efforts had instead gone towards helping another man.

“You son of a bitch! We haven’t even settled our past debt, yet you’ve provoked me again! Very well, I’ll teach you what it means to rather be dead than alive once I get my hands on you,” Chen Xuan said through gritted teeth.

You have successfully trolled Chen Xuan for 999 Rage points!

Zu An sighed. “You’ve already said the same thing so many times. Look at me, I’m still fine and well! It turns out the glorious Blackwind Stockade Master Chen Xuan is just another good-for-nothing who is only good at running his mouth!”

Zu An could hear Chen Xuan’s teeth grinding from where he was. This time, Chen Xuan didn’t reply, but dashed toward them instead, his face a dark mask of rage. He vowed to himself that he would only satisfy his anger after he skinned this bastard alive.

You have successfully trolled Chen Xuan for 1024 Rage points!

Just as he began to accelerate, he noticed something amiss. The water beneath his feat had suddenly turned into ice, which shattered instantly and gave way under the force of his steps.

Caught off guard, his entire body sunk into the water.

Zu An had deliberately angered him, then secretly harnessed the cold energy of the Snowflake Sword to form a thin layer of ice over the surface of the water.

“Go!” With a kick, Zu An sent the small boat further downstream.

Using Grandgale, he teleported himself towards the shore, cradling Zheng Dan in his arms. Then, with a few more leaps, they disappeared into the trees.

Remaining on the boat would be disadvantageous for them. It would be difficult for them to escape once Chen Xuan resurfaced.

He had also noticed a Whale Gang ship approaching from a distance.

Since escaping via water was out of the question, it seemed a better idea to escape into the mountains and rely on the complex terrain. This way, they at least had a chance to throw off their pursuers.

Unfortunately, his face had been covered the entire way here. He knew nothing about the defenses of this place, and it was hard to get his bearings. He could only instinctively run in the direction of the most complex-looking terrain.

By the time Chen Xuan leapt out of the water, Liu Chan and the others had reached him in their ship.

Chen Xuan’s face was overcast. “Chase after them!” he yelled, pointing at the small boat in the distance.

The Whale Gang’s ships were fast. They caught up to the rowboat quickly, and discovered that there was no one in it.

“I think they went ashore over there,” deduced Liu Chan and his crew.

“I swear I’ll catch them today!” Chen Xuan was fuming with rage. Even if he couldn’t get revenge on Zu An right away, he couldn’t let Zheng Dan slip through his fingers.

Otherwise, wouldn’t all of his careful planning only serve to benefit another man?

I, Chen Xuan, have never done something so idiotic before!

When Liu Chan and his crew saw that he was about to rush ashore, then hurriedly pulled him back. “Stockade master, you must not go there! We are approaching the borders of Hidden Dragon Mountain! There are wild beasts in the area that can cause serious harm!”

“Wild beasts? Do you think I’m scared of some beast?” Chen Xuan sneered. Their Blackwind Stockade was based out of this mountain. Practically all the surrounding beasts had been captured and eaten by them.

If he were venturing into the depths of some other mountain, he wouldn’t dare to act rashly even though he was a sixth rank cultivator. However, he had never heard of any formidable fellows appearing around Brightmoon City.

Like hell he’d be scared!

His metal element cultivation gave him a practically-invincible body. Even if he ran into a beast of the same level or one level higher than he, he was still confident that he could protect himself.

He only had a single goal in his mind: He had to catch the poisoned Zheng Dan as soon as possible. He hadn’t even had the chance to enjoy himself yet!