Chapter 255: Fake Meets Real

Zu An was speechless. Am I really going to run into bandits when I’m on here with a girl? Just what kind of shitty luck is this?

However, he wasn’t that worried either. After his trip to the dungeon, his cultivation shot up greatly. As long as he didn’t run into some ridiculously crazy enemy, normal people weren’t issues at all.

When he was just about to console Qiu Honglei, a sweet aroma wafted over. The other party had already arrived by his side.

“The young master doesn’t need to feel fear, I will protect you.” Qiu Honglei blocked in front of her. The previous gentle and loving appearance was nowhere to be seen. Instead, it was replaced by a resolute expression.

Zu An: “???”

Did we end up swapping our scripts?

The curtains were crudely torn off. Several masked men charged in.

When they saw Qiu Honglei’s beautiful figure, they all whistled, their eyes completely infatuated.

Qiu Honglei said with a grave voice, “Who are you all? You all dare behave like this in Brightmoon City? Immortal Abode isn’t a place you all can afford to offend! If you leave right now, I can still pretend like this never happened.”

Zu An couldn’t help but feel a bit of admiration. She could still remain completely calm in this type of situation! This type of bearing was clearly different from normal beauties.

When they heard those words, the masked men were first stunned, but they immediately leapt over one after the next.

“Immortal Abode? Oh we are so so scared!”

“Before our Blackwind Stockade, Immortal Abode is nothing!”

“The one we are attacking is precisely your Immortal Abode!”

…

“Blackwind Stockade!”

Qiu Honglei’s appearance changed slightly. She had clearly heard of the reputation of the Blackwind Stockade before. Great Bandit Chen Xuan led a group of bandits all over the mountain forest, plundering the caravans that passed by. Brightmoon Duke and the city lord sent experts and armies to suppress them, but they always returned without achieving much. Many times, they even suffered serious casualties.

“You all are from the Blackwind Stockade?” Zu An was a bit surprised. He just saw Chen Xuan earlier, so he still had some impression of his subordinates.

Even though these people were masked, they were clearly not the ones Chen Xian brought into Immortal Abode. Could they have been waiting in ambush outside?

“What, scared?”

The one in the lead snickered. “Hand over your woman. If us brothers are in a good mood after we have our fun, we might just leave your with your life.”

“Hurry and leave, young master, I will hold up the rear!” Qiu Honglei hurriedly pushed him out.

Zu An was completely speechless. We’re in the middle of the river, where am I supposed to go? However, he still nodded in the end and said, “Alright, take care.”

After saying this, he turned around and left.

Qiu Honglei: “……”

She originally thought that this person would modestly decline, and then frantically try to help her escape. Who would have thought that he wouldn’t even hesitate before leaving?

The men on the other side all roared with laughter. “Beauty, the man you chose really is too stupid and cowardly! Why not follow big brothers here? We can promise you that you’ll never go hungry.”

Zu An turned a deaf ear to these voices. He reached the front of the ship and then looked around. Apart from a small boat beside them, there weren’t any other bandits. The other flower boats were still leisurely riding along the river, the scene still bustling with liveliness.

He thought for a bit, and then returned to the boat.

When she saw that he came back, Qiu Honglei became nervous. “Why did the young master come back?”

Zu An didn’t reply to her question. The eyes of the bandit leader lit up. “He’s surnamed Zu? He’s Chu clan’s son-in-law Zu An?”

“What, am I already that famous?” Zu An was full of amazement. His voice even sounded incredibly self-satisfied.

Qiu Honglei on the side shot him an angry look. Why did he admit to it so easily?

That bandit couldn’t help but ask, “I heard that you won 7.5 million silvers from Silverhook Casino, and then won another million from a different gamble?”

Zu An nodded. “What can I say? My luck has always been amazing. Winning a bit of money like this really isn’t much, not worth mentioning at all if you ask me.”

Qiu Honglei’s hand moved to her forehead. It was clear that she already gave up on him.

That bandit roared with laughter. “But now, doesn’t it seem like my luck is the one that’s good? Not only did I catch a great beauty, I even got myself a cash cow. Hand over the money and I might consider letting you off.”

Zu An shrugged. “But I didn’t bring any money with me today. How about you come over to Brightmoon Estate and ask my wife for it?”

That bandit sneered. “You can forget about trying to scare me with Brightmoon Duke. When has our Blackwind Stockade ever feared him?”

Zu An looked at him with curiosity. “Your way of speaking is rather confident. I wonder what your position is in the Blackwind Stockade?”

“I’m obviously Master Chen Xuan! What, scared now?” That bandit snorted. “Just obediently write a letter back home for the Chu clan to pay the ransom, or else I am going to chop up your limbs before sending you home.”

“You are Chen Xuan?” Zu An couldn’t help but laugh.

Qiu Honglei tugged at his sleeves from the side, saying quietly, “Young master, I believe it’s best if we don’t anger them.”

Zu An didn’t say anything. All of this was too strange. If it wasn’t because he learned what the true Chen Xuan looked like from the Rage points system before, he might have truly been deceived by this fella.

Isn’t this completely an extortion scheme?

He read many times online about some high spirited fellas who went into sketchy places to meet hot girls, only to end up being extorted and blackmailed by some big bad men.

Wasn’t this the same situation?

“What, do I not look like him?” Zu An’s expression really was getting on his nerves.

You have successfully trolled Gu Yueyi for +233 Rage points!

“Gu Yueyi?” When he saw the name in the backend, Zu An was momentarily stunned. He didn’t seem to know this name.

“You do, of course you do!” Zu An’s voice carried even more ridicule. However, he didn’t expose the other party. He wanted to see what this fella wanted to do first.

Even though he had a mask on his face, he could vaguely tell that Gu Yuyi’s age wasn’t that great. This bandit frowned. Zu An’s reply clearly made him feel that something was off. “Stop speaking nonsense. Hurry and write the note so I can contact the Chu clan’s people to fetch the ransom.”

Zu An shook his head. “I feel like your decision isn’t all that wise.”

Gu Yueyi’s brows furrowed. “Are you trying to teach me how to do things?”

Zu An chuckled. “I am merely helping you analyze the situation. Look, even if I write a letter back and you send it to Chu clan, what dignity would the Chu clan have left if this glorious dukedom were to obediently give you the ransom?”

“Let alone the fact that everyone in Brightmoon City already knows that this drafted son-in-law isn’t all that well received in Chu estate. Who knows, they might just use you all as an excuse to get rid of me and even pocket my few million taels.”

“This way, no one will blame the Chu clan for being heartless, but rather blame your methods for being too cruel.”

Those people all looked at each other in dismay. In the end, Gu Yueyi was completely at a loss as he said, “Then what should we do?”

“How about this? Let’s go back to the Chu clan, just the two of us. I’ll bring out the banknotes for you,” Zu An said.

Gu Yueyi sneered. “Do you take me for a fool? What if you don’t come back out after I take you back to Chu estate?”

Zu An pointed at Qiu Honglei beside him. “Don’t you still have her? With her as a hostage, I will definitely come back with the ransom! That is why you absolutely must not harm her, or else I won’t be giving you any money!”

When he saw that they were still hesitating, he continued, “Even though lady Qiu is pretty, she isn’t enough for all of you to divide amongst yourselves. I have a few million banknotes back home. That’s enough for you to change girls every day. Wouldn’t that be even better?”

Gu Yueyi was a bit shaken. He subconsciously gave Qiu Honglei a look, and then Qiu Honglei nodded without batting an eyelid.

Only then did he say, “Fine, but you better not play any tricks. Otherwise, not only will we take turns with her, we’ll definitely kill you.”

Zu An paid close attention to all of their changes in expression. “Don’t worry, I am more scared of dying than anyone else.”

However, he was wondering to himself why Qiu Honglei was doing all of this. Did she really desire his few million silver?

But with Immortal Abode’s information network, there’s no way she doesn’t know that most of the silver is on a debt note. Whether or not the debt note can even be exchanged for money is still an issue. What could she even do with something like that?

“Alright, we are going to Chu estate!” Gu Yueyi waved his hand, indicating for his subordinates to move the ship in Chu clan’s direction.

“The two of you better not do anything fishy.” After saying all of this, Gu Yueyi’s subordinates arrived behind the two of them, two shining blades hovering in front of their necks.

Qiu Honglei said apologetically, “Sorry, I ended up making you lose so much money.”

“I am someone who loves the carefree life, and I love beauties even more. Money can always be made again, but once you are gone, you will really be gone!” Zu An said this one the surface, but laughed coldly on the inside. Like hell I’ll come back after I go back to Chu estate! You’re all probably in on this together anyway.

Then, he’d have Yue Shan lead troops to capture and interrogate them, figure out what they were really scheming.

When the time comes, I should bring Qiu Honglei back to personally interrogate her one on one.

The reason why Zu An didn’t expose anything was mainly because Gu Yueyi’s cultivation wasn’t low. The ki rippling around his body seemed to be at the fifth rank. Of course, if it was just him alone, Zu An wouldn’t care much either.

However, there was also Qiu Honglei here. Even though this woman looked soft and tender on the surface, he couldn’t see through her at all.

This meant that her cultivation was either considerably higher than his, or that she had some type of artifact that concealed her aura.

Regardless of which one it was, he didn’t dare act carelessly.

A commotion suddenly broke out outside.

“Hahaha, I finally found lady Qiu’s flower boat!”

Gu Yueyi suddenly turned around. “What is going on?”

However, what he received in reply were several muffled miserable screams.

His expression changed. He immediately drew his blade and ran over. However, not long after he left, he immediately flew backwards as if he was struck by an artillery shell.

The entire boat was also blasted into pieces by the powerful energy. Only then did everyone clearly see the scene outside.

They were surrounded by several small boats, among them a red haired man who stood at the front of his boat domineeringly. He looked down on Qiu Honglei as if he was looking at his spoils of war.

Immediately afterwards, his gaze shifted to Zu An. A cruel smile crept up along his lips.