Who the hell is this guy? Where did he come from?

This guy is such a piece of shit!

They might not even have noticed if he had quietly taken the salt permits away. However, he deliberately announced it to all of them! Did he really do this just for the sake of angering them?

Why would he take such a big risk, though? Is there a screw loose in his head?!

Their minds were occupied with these thoughts, but that didn’t stop them from taking action. With a roar, they all chased after him with blades in hand.

The two sides even stopped fighting against each other. They tacitly agreed to deal with Zu An first.

Zu An frantically drove the carriage forward. He turned a corner, and for a brief moment, he was out of sight of his pursuers. He took out the Brilliant Glass Bead and stored all of the chests inside.

He jumped up into a nearby tree and hid. The horses continued to speed off into the distance.

His pursuers had no idea what had just happened. They continued to scream and shout as they chased after the carriage.

A huge smile spread across Zu An’s face as Rage points continued to flood in. He could have stored those chests into the bead when he first reached the carriage, but he didn’t do so precisely because he wanted to farm some Rage points.

How could he waste an opportunity to piss off so many people at the same time?

Worried about how Qin Wanru was faring, he rushed back the way he came.

Along the way, he received another batch of Rage points. Clearly, those men had finally caught up to the carriage and realized that all the chests were gone.

“Sigh, I wonder if they’ll start fighting again.” Zu An said. He almost sounded as if he wanted the whole world to fall into chaos.

He returned to the place where he had left Qin Wanru earlier, to find that only a small handful of men from the River Patrol Army remained. If Sang Qian hadn’t accounted for close to half of the enemies by himself, this small remnant would have already been wiped out a long time ago.

Meanwhile, Qin Wanru and Qiu Honglei were still tangling with each other.

Even though Qin Wanru’s cultivation was high, she had lived like a princess for many years, and didn’t have much combat experience.

On the other hand, Qiu Honglei clearly had much more experience fighting. Utilizing the slowing effects of her strange lantern, she gradually seized the advantage.

Qin Wanru was frustrated at her inability to deal with someone with a lower cultivation than hers. She screamed, and an icy gale suddenly started to blow about. Countless icicles flew out from behind her.

This was the first time Zu An had seen her use elemental power! He hadn’t expected her to wield the ice element, like Chu Chuyan did.

Her nature didn’t seem to match the ice element at all.

Since she had such a fiery temper, Zu An had naturally assumed that she wielded the fire element.

“What?” Qiu Honglei seemed to have realized something as well. She swept her fingers forward quickly, and the weak yellow light inside the lantern flowed outward. The icicles slowed as they made contact with the yellow light.

Losing all their momentum, the heavy icicles fell to the floor one after another, exploding into fragments of ice.

However, Qin Wanru seemed to have already predicted this. Her expression remained completely composed. She pressed her hand to the ground.

A dark blue halo suddenly appeared beneath Qiu Honglei. In the blink of an eye, the fragmented ice suddenly seemed to come alive. They flowed together, wrapping around her legs and locking her firmly in place.

Qin Wanru’s figure flickered. A palm flew towards Qiu Honglei’s chest.

Zu An was horrified. “Please have mercy! he blurted out.

Qin Wanru didn’t know who her opponent was, but Zu An knew that she was Qiu Honglei.

Qiu Honglei had treated him extremely well, and the two of them could be considered friends. He had no desire to see her die.

However, Qin Wanru was still a sixth rank cultivator. Although he had already activated Grandgale to close the distance, he was still a step too late.

Qin Wanru’s palm had already made contact with Qiu Honglei’s chest.

Qiu Honglei’s legs were frozen in place, so she couldn’t move at all. She turned to look towards Zu An at the last second, confusion clearly visible in her eyes.

It was unclear whether she was confused as to why an enemy was concerned about her, or if it was because she recognized him.

Qin Wanru’s hand passed through her chest. Qiu Honglei’s entire body shattered.

Yes—it shattered. Her body shattered like glass.

Zu An was stunned. “Lightshadow Doppelganger!” Qin Wanru cried out in alarm.

Qiu Honglei’s figure had already appeared behind her. Her slender white hand shot towards the middle of Qin Wanru’s back like a knife.

Qin Wanru was already much slower than usual, due to the lantern’s effects. There was no way she could dodge this attack in time.

“Madam!” Zu An had moved in to save Qiu Honglei, but he hadn’t expected the tide of battle to turn so quickly. Now, the one who was in danger was Qin Wanru.

How could he ever face Chuyan and Huanzhao if he let something happen to Qin Wanru?

He used Grandgale to get closer. Nothing else mattered at this moment. He grabbed Qin Wanru and tried to flee.

However, his movements were instantly slowed when he made contact with the faint yellow radiance. His body felt as if it weighed ten times more than usual.

The lantern’s pale yellow light looked warm and cozy; however, it was only now, when he was within its area of effect, that he realized that this color could actually feel so ice-cold.

Qiu Honglei froze momentarily when he suddenly appeared in front of her. She was clearly hesitant.

In this moment of hesitation, Zu An just happened to see a well nearby. He summoned Blue Mallard. The water in the well surged upward like a dragon, threatening to swallow up that lantern floating in midair.

Qiu Honglei was shocked. She immediately pulled the lantern back in panic.

Zu An used this chance to summon Grandgale. He grabbed Qin Wanru’s hand and blinked away.

Qiu Honglei watched the two retreating figures, a pensive look on her face.

Zu An and Qin Wanru stopped several li away. Zu An gasped for air. Everything had happened way too quickly just now. A single mishap and their lives would’ve been ended!

Then again, didn’t Qiu Honglei show them mercy in the end?

Did she recognize me?

I guess that’s not too surprising. A mask isn’t enough to hide the awesomeness of a popular guy like me.

Qin Wanru finally came to her senses. “Why did we run?!” She cried, pulling her hand away. “That was just an accident! I could’ve defeated her…”

She grew more and more ashamed as she spoke. If Zu An hadn’t stepped in just now, she could have been seriously injured. A sixth rank cultivator losing to a fifth rank was almost too shameful to bear.

However, that woman’s strength wasn’t like that of a fifth rank expert at all!

Zu An laughed inside. Qin Wanru was acting like a little girl, unwilling to admit defeat. Of course, this was well in line with her usual temperament. “Madam, have you forgotten what we came here for? We didn’t come for a fight.”

“The salt permits!” Qin Wanru seemed as though she had just woken up from a daze. “Did we lose the salt permits in the end?”

She couldn’t help her disappointment when she saw that he was empty-handed. It was to be expected, of course, since the enemy had such overwhelming numbers.

However, he had just saved her life, so she couldn’t bring herself to criticize him.

“Don’t worry, I got the salt permits!” Zu An said nonchalantly.

“What?!” Qin Wanru was ecstatic. She looked around anxiously. “Where are they?”

Her smile suddenly froze. “Be careful, someone is coming from over there.

“Their cultivation is extremely high. They could be at the seventh rank!

“It’s probably someone allied with those black-clad men!”

Qin Wanru analyzed the situation in the blink of an eye.

The two of them grew instantly nervous.