As the translucent palm materialized around him, Zu An found it hard to breathe. Even the air around him was being crushed.

“The hell? Are you the bloody buddha or something?!” He cursed. He didn’t want to suffer the same fate as the Monkey King.

He didn’t dare hold back. He immediately used Grandgale to teleport into the air.

There were no other openings. That was the only place he could slip out.

Just as he was about to fall, he used Grandgale again, pushing himself several zhang higher.

Liu Yao’s eyes widened. According to his intelligence, Zu An was supposed to be around the fourth rank. To be honest, he couldn’t care less if this kid was at the third, fourth, or fifth rank. After all, none of that mattered much for someone like him.

How could he have predicted that this kid could fly into the sky?

Was he somehow at the ninth rank?

Even though this was utterly absurd, this was what he was seeing! Keeping his guard up, he immediately rushed into the air to chase after Zu An.

After a while, Zu An had no choice but to land. He couldn’t use Grandgale limitlessly.

Liu Yao sighed in relief when he saw Zu An land. So he isn’t at the ninth rank after all.

At the same time, he laughed at himself. He’d made a big fuss out of nothing. There was no such thing as a young ninth rank cultivator in this world.

He was done playing hide-and-seek with this brat. He seized an opening and struck with his palm, intending to cripple him first before slowly interrogating him. Either way, he was just a drafted son-in-law, and not a core figure in the Chu clan. Wounding him or crippling him wouldn’t make a difference.

The instant Zu An stopped, he heard a sharp whistle coming from behind him. He immediately dodged to the side in alarm, but he still couldn't avoid what was coming.

He felt as though he had been rammed by a speeding car. Blood gushed out of his mouth. He felt as if all of his internal organs had been knocked out of place, and that he was going to break apart.

His vision darkened. However, he knew that there was no way he could faint right now, and quickly bit his tongue to stay awake. Using the Sunflower Phantasm, he fled in three different directions.

Yet again, Liu Yao was stupefied. That strike was strong enough to knock out even a sixth rank expert! Why could this kid still keep running?

Just what kind of a freak was he?

The other party had even split into three identical copies at once, so he had no idea which one to pursue. Zu An quickly disappeared from view.

Liu Yao’s expression grew ugly. He immediately gave out orders. “Search the vicinity for a seriously injured young man wearing white! He won’t be able to get far! That way, that way, and that way! Search in all three directions!”

Meanwhile, Zu An didn’t flee any further, but doubled back to Chu Estate instead. The most dangerous place had now become the safest place. All the soldiers had gone outside to search for him, so it was safer just to stay in the estate.

He’d heard what Liu Yao said as well, so he quickly took off his clothes and changed into a green outfit.

Worried that someone would still recognize him, he took out a mask and put it on. Not only did it change his appearance, the bloodstains on his face and the paleness of his complexion also disappeared.

Only after doing all this did he check his own condition. He had quite a few broken bones, and suffered some damage to his internal organs as well. If not for the Primordial Origin Sutra reforging his body twice and making his body far sturdier than an ordinary person's, he might’ve already been crippled.

“That old man is awfully vicious!” Zu An immediately used the Primordial Origin Sutra to treat his injuries. At the same time, he swallowed a Soul Return Pill that he’d gotten from Divine Physician Ji.

He didn’t want to drink ‘Faith in Brother Spring’. He wasn’t facing anything life-threatening at the moment.

The Soul Return Pill deserved its reputation as well. He could feel a wave of medicinal force spreading outward from his dantian to nourish his entire body. Coupled with the natural properties of the Primordial Origin Sutra, the speed of healing became much more rapid.

He finally found the room where Qin Wanru was locked up. To his surprise, she wasn’t tied up, but sat by her bed with a worried frown.

“Who are you?” When she saw that there was someone outside, Qin Wanru jumped in fright, and subconsciously took a step backwards.

“Madam, it’s me.” Zu An removed his mask.

“Ah Zu!” Qin Wanru was surprised and happy to see him.

“Madam, you’ve gone through a lot! I'm going to free you right now!” Zu An rushed in to pull her out. Suddenly, he coughed and spat out a mouthful of blood.

“You’re injured?” Qin Wanru cried out in alarm.

“It’s fine, it’s just a small injury,” Zu An said with a smile, wiping the corners of his mouth.

Qin Wanru's tone grew serious. “The only one who can hurt you now is probably Liu Yao. He is at the pinnacle of the ninth rank! How could your injuries be light if you managed to escape from him? I also heard him dispatching troops just now. So you were the one he was chasing after!”

Zu An waved his hand and said, “I’m all right, really. I’m tough and thick-skinned, remember? I’ve already pretty much recovered. I’ll tell you the rest of it once we’re out.”

Qin Wanru shook her head. “I can't leave. They’ve sealed away my ki, so I’ll only be a burden if I go with you. Besides, your father-in-law is still here. How can I leave on my own?”

Zu An found himself in a predicament. If she was sealed, then it was likely that Chu Zhongtian was as well. There was no way he could extract the both of them with his current cultivation.

“By the way, how is Huanzhao?” Qin Wanru asked, her voice full of worry.

“Madam, don’t worry. I’ve already put her in a safe place,” Zu An replied.

“That’s good, that’s good.” Qin Wanru exhaled in relief. Something occurred to her, and reached into her collar. Her face suddenly turned red. “Could you turn around?”

“Oh.” Zu An was puzzled, but subconsciously turned around.

“This is for you.” Qin Wanru said quickly.

Zu An felt her place a square seal into his hand. He examined it, and was shocked to see that this was a military seal!

What threw him off was that the metal seal wasn’t cold, but held an incredible amount of warmth. There was even a lingering fragrance on the seal.

Qin Wanru’s face grew red. She said softly, “This thing is really important, so I’ve always carried it on me. I am the duchess after all. Liu Yao would never search my body even if he searched the entire estate. That’s why he didn’t find this.”

Zu An recalled how she had reached into her collar, so he could guess where it had been hidden. He couldn’t help but give her another look. There's that much room in there?!

His ogling made Qin Wanru extremely uncomfortable. She coughed lightly and said, “Take this seal and recall the Red Cloak Army stationed in the barracks on the outskirts of the city. Liu Yao has gone too far! Do they think our Chu clan is that easy to bully?!”

Zu An was stupefied. These two really were mother and daughter! They had come to exactly the same decision this time.

“What are you staring at me for?” Qin Wanru gave a frightened start. She subconsciously checked her own clothes, afraid that she had perhaps forgotten to button her collar back up after taking out the seal.

“That was exactly what Chuyan was thinking.” Zu An repeated Chu Chuyan’s plan to her.

“That’s my daughter.” Qin Wanru also smiled, but sighed immediately after. “But I fear that things won’t go as smoothly as she expects. Hong Xingying is the one who sold us out, and he even has the account book that she’d left with me. It’s all my fault for being so useless. Chu Tiesheng stole the book during his earlier rebellion.”

“Hong Xingying!” Zu An gritted his teeth in anger. It was that bastard’s fault for pointing him out earlier as well. He’d almost lost his life to Liu Yao because of that.

“Don’t worry, I will tell Chuyan these things. We’ll discuss what to do later. At worst, I’ll just slaughter my way in with the Red Cloak Army and unleash hell on them,” Zu An declared.

Qin Wanru was startled. “Please don’t say such ridiculous things! We can endure living like refugees, but there is no way we’ll survive if we rebel!”

The people of this world clearly felt an innate sense of fear towards their ruler. Of course, the emperor of the Zhou Dynasty was the most powerful man in this entire world, so she had even less confidence that any rebellion would be successful.

There came the sound of footsteps approaching, along with a voice dripping with smugness. “Madam, are you sleeping? Xingying has something to talk to you about!”