Zu An looked towards the source of the voice and jumped in fright.

A red-haired man was standing there, a domineering expression on his face. He looked at Zu An as if he was looking at livestock waiting to be slaughtered.

“Chen Xuan! Why are you here?” Zheng Dan frowned and said in a heavy voice.

This man was obviously Chen Xuan, master of the Blackwind Stockade. He hadn’t expected to see Zu An captured! This really was an unexpected pleasure.

Chen Xuan sighed. “I had some matters to discuss with the gang boss, but I didn’t know you weren’t on the island. I must ask for your forgiveness.” Chen Xuan clasped his fist in apology.

Zheng Dan frowned. This guy was a big shot as well. Even though his apology wasn’t that sincere, she wasn’t in any position to criticize him further. “May I ask why the Stockade Master wished to see me?”

Chen Xuan laughed. “Let me get rid of that bastard before we get to the important matters,” he said.

As the words left his mouth, he leaped forward, his large hands reaching towards Zu An.

Zu An’s entire body was sealed, and there was no way for him to resist. He could only watch as those hands descended towards him like a falcon’s claws.

Countless thoughts raced through his mind. He tried to come up with a way to get away, but there was just no time.

I'm dead!

Just then, he felt a fragrant breeze. Zheng Dan appeared in front of him, hand outstretched to meet this attack.

In an instant, the two of them exchanged a single blow. Chen Xuan did a backflip, glaring at Zheng Dan as he landed. “Gang boss, what is the meaning of this?”

He tried to hide his incredible shock. This woman’s cultivation was far higher than he had imagined!

He wasn’t the only one who was shocked. Zu An was also stunned. He was amazed that Zheng Dan had saved him, and doubly amazed that she was so strong.

Chen Xuan was a sixth rank cultivator, yet Zheng Dan had stood her ground in this exchange! Was she also at the sixth rank?

That should have been impossible!

Zheng Dan looked coldly at Chen Xuan. “I was just about to ask Stockade Master Chen the same thing.”

Chen Xuan pointed at Zu An. “You well know that I hold a great grudge against Zu An. Considering our relationship, I do not believe it too big of a deal for you to hand over this prisoner of yours to me. Am I wrong?”

Zheng Dan replied, “If it were someone else, I would take no issue at all. However, I still have a use for this person, so I must apologize instead.”

Chen Xuan was momentarily surprised, but soon flashed a quick smile. “Whatever. I’ll have many chances to kill him in the future, anyway. I’ll grant the gang boss this favor today.”

“Thank you for your understanding.” Zheng Dan found his response slightly strange. Chen Xuan was known to be a rude and unreasonable person. Why was he so agreeable today?

“Now, can the stockade leader talk about what brought you here?” Zheng Dan asked.

“Let’s talk more inside.” Chen Xuan laughed loudly, gesturing for her to enter the meeting hall.

A strange feeling troubled Zheng Dan. It was suddenly as if this Whale Gang actually belonged to Chen Xuan. She almost felt as if the master of this place was receiving her as a guest.

Despite her discomfort, she decided not to bicker over such a small issue. She merely walked towards the meeting hall, her face overcast.

“Gang boss, you’ve returned!” A small, skinny man with a long mustache welcomed her with a smile.

This was Liu Chan, a man who served as her second-in-command and a military advisor. He was the one in charge of everything when Zheng Dan wasn’t present on the island.

“Were you the one who issued that message?” Zheng Dan asked quietly.

Liu Chan replied just as quietly, “Yes. Chen Xuan suddenly paid a visit to the island and none of us knew what to do, so I had no choice but to seek you out.”

“I see.” Zheng Dan walked straight to the boss’ seat. Chen Xuan took the first seat to her left. The other important figures in the Whale Gang took their places in order.

Ya Xiao was one of these men. He sat in the fifth seat, behind Liu Chan.

Zu An was thrown into the furthest corner of the room.

He watched as some servants brought out tea. It was clear to Zu An that they were about to discuss some important matters. Once they were done with their discussions, they would then deal with him.

He didn’t believe Chen Xuan would give up so easily. Zheng Dan had protected him once, but she might not do so a second time.

Let alone the fact that Zheng Dan probably wanted him dead as well.

He hurriedly called out to Mi Li. “Big sis empress, big sis empress? Both of us are done for if you don’t come out now!”

But there was no response no matter how he called out.

Mi Li’s soul had been poisoned, and she had gone into hibernation in order to eliminate the poison. It seemed hopeless to rely on her aid this time.

This woman really doesn’t care at all! She’s not at all worried that my life will end soon. Zu An cursed endlessly.

But cursing wasn’t going to get him anywhere. He could only rely on himself now.

Unfortunately, no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn’t think of a single way out!

The rope wrapped around himself was easy enough to deal with. The problem was that Zheng Dan had sealed off all of his acupoints, which prevented his ki from flowing. He couldn’t even move his body.

I could slowly open up the acupoints if I could move even a single strand of ki. Zu An closed his eyes. He turned his senses inward, trying to see if he could gather any ki inside of him.

Unfortunately, Zheng Dan was extremely skilled at acupunctural sealing. He couldn’t move even the slightest bit of ki.

Just as he was about to fall into despair, he suddenly discovered a wisp of icy coldness.

Huh?

At first, he thought that he’d been mistaken. However, after further careful testing, he determined that there was indeed a trace of icy coldness within the depths of his dantian.

This is…

Zu An was overjoyed. He couldn’t be more familiar with this energy! There was no way to mistake Chu Chuyan’s aura after treating her day after day.

Why did Chu Chuyan’s frost ki exist in his body?

He had spent some time practicing the Snowflake Sword technique she had given him, but he didn’t seem to have achieved any notable results. He didn’t even manage to cultivate a strand of its aura.

He had no idea if it was because of the excess of yang energy in his masculine body, or if it was something else.

This trace of frost energy had clearly not been cultivated by him on his own. As he pondered it over, a thought suddenly emerged.

Could it be that he’d taken this from her body while the two of them were intimately connected?

He hurriedly tried to move that strand of cold energy, but it curled up into a ball and refused to move at all.

A stroke of inspiration hit him, and he tried to summon it using the Snowflake Sword’s flow path.

Sure enough, the strand of cold energy finally moved.

This strand of extremely pure cold energy swam about his meridians. It seemed like a small wisp, yet it flowed endlessly, continually spreading through his entire body.

He was completely focused on this cultivation, and was oblivious to what was happening around him.

…

Zheng Dan sipped her tea and said, “What brings the stockade master to our island today?”

Che Xuan said with a laugh, “There are some leftover details regarding the issue of salt permits that have yet to be sorted out.”

Zheng Dan grew unhappy. How dare he call her all the way back here for such a trivial matter?

However, she knew that the other members of the Whale Gang could do little in the face of a personal appearance by Chen Xuan. There really was no choice but to call her back to mediate.

As such, she held back her irritation and had some subordinates formalize the details, after which they signed several written agreements.

It was a complicated affair, and it eventually led to Zheng Dan loosening her collar. Why do I feel slightly warm today? Is it because my mood is all over the place?

Chen Xuan laughed when he noticed her movements. “Gang boss, there is another matter that I have always been curious about. I hope the gang boss can help me ease my confusion.”

Zheng Dan forced a smile. “Stockade master is now the Whale Gang’s ally, so feel free to speak your mind. I will do what I can, as long as it is something I can you help with.”

“You said it yourself!” Chen Xuan’s eyes wandered about her body hungrily. “I have always been curious as to what the gang boss looks like. Could you remove your veil so that I could have a look?”

Zheng Dan’s face immediately grew dark when she heard his request.