Chapter 1609 – Imposter

Seemingly worried that Zu An would continue to make her kowtow, Zhao Xiaodie took out a whip and put it into his hands, saying, “Just use this to hit me! As long as you can vent out your anger, that should be fine.”

Zu An looked at the small whip in his hands, then glanced at her strangely, remarking, “Could it be that you have some weird fetish?”

“Huh?” Zhao Xiaodie exclaimed in bewilderment, clearly not understanding what he meant.

“Just hit me already!” she continued, her alarm nearly bringing her to tears again. She was scared that he would refuse and bring up kowtowing again, so she began to encourage him. “Could it be that you wouldn’t dare to hit me?”

“I wouldn’t dare?” Zu An repeated. He knew that she was provoking him, but when he saw her provocative expression, he found it a bit hard to resist. He brought the whip down straight across her bottom.

“Ah!” Zhao Xiaodie screamed in pain. Zu An was a bit hesitant, but Zhao Xiaodie said, “Keep going, I can take it.”

Zu An was speechless. He brought the whip down again. He could visibly see Zhao Xiaodie’s bottom tremble. However, her robes really were high-quality, not showing any sign of damage after two strikes. Zhao Xiaodie groaned and bit her red lip tightly, tears filling her eyes.

Zu An thought to himself, Should I just let it go? This is just bullying a little girl a bit too much. However, when he remembered her bossy and aggressive appearance, and thought about how terrible a state he would have been left in if he were weaker, he still hardened his heart and brought the whip down again.

Zhao Xiaodie suddenly groaned. Her cry of pain seemed to carry a hint of some unknown feeling, too. However, Zu An didn’t think too much about it and assumed her voice was distorted from pain. He planned to just whip her a couple dozen or so more times and then be done with it. Either way, cultivators’ bodies were pretty tough, and wouldn’t be broken from just a few dozen lashes. Martial artists liked to show off other kinds of weapons, but wasn’t the whip pretty interesting too?

However, as Zu An brought the whip down, Zhao Xiaodie’s cries became stranger and stranger, sounding more like moans than screams. Additionally, her whole body trembled slightly, as if she were holding back something.

“If you can’t take it anymore, you can choose to beg. If my mood is good, I might just forgive you,” Zu An said. Inwardly, he thought, I’m really not suited to being a villain. Am I really about to give up that quickly?

Zhao Xiaodie shook her head, still maintaining a proud expression. Zu An recalled how arrogant and despotic she was; if he couldn't teach her a good lesson today, she would just hurt even more people in the future. As such, he brought the whip down again.

Zhao Xiaodie finally couldn't take it anymore, letting out a sweet and intimate cry. Then, she fell to the ground, unable to even stand up again. Her entire body shook intensely. Her eyes were watery as she looked at Zu An, no longer carrying any hints of crafty and unruly pride. Instead, her face was completely red and her gaze was filled with several different emotions.

Zu An was stunned. As an experienced person, how could he not tell what was going on with her? He had never expected to run into an M! No wonder she hadn’t given him any Rage points the entire time he was hitting her. How could he possibly continue? He threw the whip away and leaped back, exclaiming, “What the hell?!”

Only after a long time had passed did Zhao Xiaodie crawl to her feet. Her chest rose and fell intensely; she clearly hadn’t recovered from the wonderful sensation. She rubbed her heated cheeks, and there was a flustered expression in her eyes as she muttered, “What is going on with me?”

Only after a moment did she realize what had happened. She had actually shown such an embarrassing side in front of him?

Ahhh! I should’ve just kowtowed! All of this is his fault! I’m going to make him pay for this one day!

But that kind of feeling just now seemed quite… incredible?

…

Zu An didn’t know that he had just unlocked a whole new world for her. He was a bit speechless even when he returned to the relay station. He really was unlucky today! Not only had he not met Yan Xuehen and Chu Chuyan, he had even encountered a crazy woman.

Not long after he returned, Wang Bolin sought him out and said, “Sir Zu, we need to hurry to Violet Mountain to finish the task his majesty entrusted to us.”

Zu An thought, This guy really is honest. He had wanted to stay a few more days in Yi Commandery to spend time with Yan Xuehen and Chu Chuyan, but now that they had already left, it was meaningless for him to stay any longer. Instead, he would be caught up in the battle between the local officials and King Yan. As such, he nodded and said, “Alright, pass down the order to prepare for departure!”

“Understood!” Wang Bolin replied, feeling overjoyed. It looks like Sir Zu is a serious and earnest person, not one of those slick bastards who love to smooth-talk their way into their positions. Hmph, no matter how good at bootlicking that Zhang Zijiang is, won’t he be no match for me when dealing with a practical leader like this?

…

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Then, Zu An went over to inform Xie Daoyun. He saw that she was sitting in front of a desk, drawing something. He couldn't help but remark with a smile, “Little sister Ling’er really is hardworking. You’re always working hard at drawing talismans even during your spare time.”

“Ah?” Xie Daoyun jumped in fright. She quickly hid the talisman in front of her under the table and cried out in alarm, “Big brother Zu, why don't your feet don’t make any noise when you walk?”

Zu An had vaguely noticed a person’s outline on the paper. His expression grew strange. Why did it seem as if Xie Daoyun had been caught reading a banned book by a teacher?

She’s not drawing dirty things, is she? Zu An thought, but he immediately rejected the suspicion. How could a wise and virtuous lady like her do such a thing?

However, he suddenly remembered Zhao Xiaodie. She normally had a proud and crafty appearance, and yet she was actually an M deep down! Sometimes, one’s preferences really can be unpredictable…

In order to help alleviate Xie Daoyun’s awkwardness, Zu An said considerately, “I was out for a bit and just came back.”

“Were you looking for Miss Chu?” Xie Daoyun asked. She had looked for Zu An as soon as she woke up, but he hadn’t been there. She was very intelligent and had guessed where he went.

Zu An nodded and said, “Unfortunately, they already left. I don’t know where they went either.”

Xie Daoyun tried to console him and said, “Big brother Zu shouldn’t feel too discouraged. Those who are destined to meet again will meet again. You’ll see them again soon.”

She suddenly remembered how even though she left the capital on her own, she had ended up being reunited with him when she was in a moment of crisis. Wasn’t that even more of a once-in-a-millennium fated encounter?

“Little sister Ling’er’s words are always so pleasant,” Zu An said, his mood improving quite a bit. He then told her the reason for his trip.

Xie Daoyun replied, “I also just happen to need to go to Violet Mountain to complete my mission.” She paused for a moment, then suddenly asked, “Big brother Zu, can you find a set of clothes for me? I want to dress up as one of your personal soldiers.”

Zu An asked in confusion, “Why?”

Xie Daoyun said, sounding embarrassed, “My mission this time is to see if there are any dangerous formations set up on Violet Mountain. If I did that openly, it would imply that I don’t trust the State Teacher, which would be quite disrespectful to him and attract the gossip of others. It would be really bad if that ended up causing conflict between the academy and the State Teacher.”

Zu An figured that made sense. If there really was something wrong with the State Teacher, then her investigation could prove dangerous. It was safer for her to follow by his side. As such, he took out a set of clothes from his Brilliant Glass Bead and said, “I don’t have any new ones, but this is a set I’ve worn before. Should I ask the others?” He was always changing identities, so he had naturally prepared spare uniforms.

Xie Daoyun took the outfit and said, “There’s no need for that. This set is good enough.” If another man had worn those clothes before, she would never wear them, but her big brother Zu was different from other people.

Zu An sighed in relief before saying, “Little sister Ling’er should change into them quickly. We’re going to leave soon.” He thought to himself, After I leave Yi City, investigating Golden Token Seven’s case might become difficult. I’m going to have to run around back and forth all night again.

Xie Daoyun’s face turned a bit red as she asked, “Can big brother Zu go outside first? I’m going to change.” Even though she had a really favorable impression of him, how could she do such a thing right in front of him?

Zu An was a bit embarrassed. He quickly left and helped her close the door, saying, “Sorry, I was a bit absent-minded just now.”

…

Meanwhile, the usually quiet and secluded area around Violet Mountain was full of people. As it turned out, the nine daoist sects had all gathered to hold their great competition at Violet Mountain. Their disciples were busy registering themselves by the mountain gate.

Just then, two leaders from a group in the distance spoke to each other through ki.

“Master, do you think they’ll be able to recognize us as fakes?”

“Don’t worry. The daoist sects don’t actually interact with each other that often. The ones we’re impersonating are just some fairly unimportant elders. It would be strange if they could recognize us.”

The two had ordinary appearances, but their voices were very pleasant to the ear.