Zu An immediately felt a weight drop in his stomach. It looked as if something had happened to the two of them after all. However, judging from the information he currently had, this matter seemed to be small-scale. Not too many people in the sect knew about it. That meant it could be more of a disturbance among the upper levels of the sect.
Zu An wanted to ask him for some more information, but Fatty Hu didn’t know that much. Zu An was also worried about drawing suspicion, so he couldn't just continue to chase the matter.
Fatty Hu gave him a jade token and said, “Brother Lu, you should hold onto this. Wait by the town dock at nightfall.”
“What is this?” Zu An asked as he looked at the jade token in his hands. He could sense some runes swirling around on the surface, but they were the simpler type.
“This is a jade token that symbolizes that you’ve successfully joined the Holy Sect. Only by having this can you get on the boat. We haven’t finished the recruitment process yet, so you can look around for now. I’ll see if I can swindle... Ahem, recruit a few more disciples.” Fatty Hu immediately changed his wording.
Zu An was speechless. He wanted to ask around in other places too, so he cupped his hands and bade Fatty Hu goodbye.
...
Zu An wandered around the hall and took mental note of the various factions’ disciples. He thus saw that the Unfeeling Path and Yin Yang Path had the most disciples, and their cultivations were also a bit higher. The other factions, both in terms of cultivation or numbers, were fewer.
Apart from the most miserable Treasure Hunter Path, there was also the Skysplitting School, which also only had a single disciple in charge of recruitment, and his cultivation was much worse than even Fatty Hu’s. There was almost no one who went to his counter. It seemed that after Shadow Group left, the Skysplitting School really had been greatly weakened.
When Zu An saw a black-clad youth walk toward the Skysplitting School’s banner, his eyes narrowed. The youth seemed to be interested in joining the Skysplitting School. His skin was abnormally pale, as if it had never seen the sun, and their entire figure felt like an unsheathed sword, incredibly sharp.
Even though that person had some treasure that concealed his cultivation and aura, how could these things deceive Zu An? This black-clad youth was strong! He was even stronger than the other direct disciples in this hall, like the Yin Yang Path’s Fang Biao, Heavenly Devil School’s big sister Pan, and Treasure Hunter Path’s Fatty Hu. Only Freedom Path’s Li Feiqing could have a chance in a fight. Someone with that level of cultivation was willing to apply to become a Devil Sect disciple?
Even though he was a bit puzzled, Zu An didn’t give it too much attention. Even though this young man was strong, that was just among others in his age group. Compared to the other powerful individuals across various ages, he was still lacking a bit of maturity.
...
Zu An left the hall and went to the dock next to this small town. Normally, these kinds of mountains had small streams and rivers, and the water in them flowed rather quickly. And yet, what was in front of him was a large river, and it looked quite extensive to boot.
Zu An carefully examined it for a while. This wasn’t something drawn by the Freedom Path Master, and it actually existed. Could it be that the legendary Lake of Hatred was located by a riverbank? Or could it be within this great river?
He was thinking it over deeply when he suddenly heard sounds of fighting from nearby. He turned around.
It turned out the Yin Yang Path’s Fang Biao and his subordinates were surrounding Zhang Zitong!
When he saw Zhang Zitong’s red-faced, sorry figure, Zu An frowned. Just how had this woman ended up muddling her way into the silver token envoy ranks?
The thugs rushed forward in the blink of an eye. Even though this place was remote, there were some people there, who all looked in the direction of the fight out of curiosity.
A disciple from Yin Yang Path glowered at the surrounding people, saying, “the Yin Yang Path’s third young master is involved in this matter. If you don’t want to die, then get lost!”
Those people who just wanted to join the liveliness were alarmed. They all knew of the Yin Yang Path’s bad reputation, especially when it came to the third young master. He was known for his arrogant and tyrannical behavior. He never had many misgivings when doing things. They didn’t dare to loiter anymore and quickly vanished.
Zu An was suddenly left here all alone, feeling rather out of place.
Fang Biao was already calmly walking in that direction. He sized up Zhang Zitong with a malicious expression, saying, “As expected of such long legs, you were actually able to run so fast. If you weren’t stopped by this river, we wouldn’t have been able to catch you so quickly.”
“I am from the World School! Aren’t you afraid of offending the World School? If you all leave right now, I can pretend that today’s events never happened,” Zhang Zitong exclaimed. Her chest rose and fell rapidly as she continued to gasp for air. Her forehead was covered in a layer of fine sweat, as if she was feeling really hot.
Fang Biao roared with laughter and said, “You didn’t even seem to have completed the World School’s exam, so you’re not a real World School disciple. Furthermore, even if you were a World School disciple, this young master would still obtain you today. Could it be that the World School would want to be on bad terms with my father over a trifling female disciple like you?”
Zhang Zitong immediately became crestfallen. It seemed there was no way to resolve this matter peacefully anymore.
The two subordinates saw Zu An and said, “Boss Biao, it’s that brat again. Those two might actually have a thing going on between them.”
Fang Biao now had a bit of killing intent in his eyes as he looked at Zu An. He said, “You bastard, I already let you go in the main hall, and yet you just insist on being an eyesore around her.”
You have successfully trolled Fang Biao for +44 +44 +44...
Just then, Zhang Zitong also noticed Zu An. She couldn't help but become a bit apologetic, saying, “You should get away as quickly as possible. I’ll help you stop them!”
Zu An sighed and replied, “I already told you I wouldn't join your group because it'd definitely cause trouble, and look where we are now.”
Zhang Zitong’s face heated up, but she quickly said, “It’s pointless to talk about those things now. We’ll each take care of our own business and I won’t implicate you. Hurry and leave!”
“It seems they really have something between them,” Fang Biao said with a sneer. “Then that means we definitely can’t let this kid go.”
With a wave of his hand, and because Zu An didn’t move, more than a dozen subordinates quickly surrounded the two of them.
When she saw that, Zhang Zitong shot Zu An a glare.
Why is this guy so dumb? He can’t even run anymore now.
Fang Biao suggested, “Pretty lady, how about you drop your resistance and properly service this young master? Then, I’ll let him go. What do you say?”
Zhang Zitong harrumphed. “Keep dreaming! What does this guy not choosing to run away have to do with me? If you want to kill him, then kill him. You can forget about using him to threaten me.”
Zu An nodded inwardly. This woman wasn’t as rigid as some holy mother. Her previous choice to stand up bravely and ‘save’ him was already extremely unwise. Otherwise, there wouldn’t have been so much trouble here.
“Is that so? Well, neither of you will be able to run away anyway.” A sinister smile flickered across Fang Biao’s face as he said, "I'll do you right in front of him. Then I’ll know whether the two of you have a special relationship from your reaction.”
Zu An was speechless.
This kid really is the definition of despicable...
Zhang Zitong’s expression grew cold as well. She replied, “You probably think that the reason I’ve been running all this time is because I can’t win against you, right?”
“If it isn’t that, then what is it?” Fang Biao asked. He suddenly felt that the situation wasn’t right.
Zhang Zitong suddenly flicked her wrist, and a long silver whip appeared from her sleeve. She said, “It was actually because I was worried that I would be seen by others from the Devil Sect, so I didn’t want to expose my cultivation. What you absolutely shouldn’t have done was chase all the people around us away.”
As soon as she said that, the long whip lashed out like a venomous snake and instantly appeared in front of Fang Biao’s throat.
Zu An’s eyes narrowed slightly. He had previously already noticed that this woman’s cultivation was much higher than that of an ordinary silver token envoy, but he hadn’t expected her to have still been holding back all this time. However, after thinking about it, she was a spy from who knew where, who had infiltrated the Embroidered Envoy. It would be stranger if she wasn’t hiding her cultivation.
Fang Biao was horrified. However, in the end, he was still the Yin Yang Path’s direct disciple, and managed to grab one of the pickpockets next to him to block the attack. The whip instantly thrust through his subordinate’s throat, sending blood splashing everywhere.
Fang Biao used the chance to bring his fan down along the whip. He naturally knew that against a long range weapon like the whip, if the opponent managed to widen the gap, there was nothing you could do but get beaten.
Unfortunately, Zhang Zitong’s wrist was extremely flexible. The long whip lashed out like a silver dragon and flickered all over the place. In the end, Fang Biao couldn't close the distance and got hit twice instead. He screamed miserably as two deep, bloody gashes appeared on his body.
The other subordinates also reacted and drew their weapons to attack Zhang Zitong. Fang Biao was a child the Yin Yang Path Master doted on a lot. If something happened to him, all of them could forget about living. With that, Fang Biao finally got a moment to breathe. However, their group of a dozen or so people was still beaten viciously by Zhang Zitong.
Zu An grinned slightly.
This woman is quite good at acting; even I was almost fooled by her, and I even felt that she was stupid.
He was about to turn around and leave when a burst of pink mist suddenly flew at them.
Zhang Zitong’s expression changed. She quickly covered her mouth and nose, but the enemy seized a really good opportunity and tossed it right when she was in the middle of taking a breath. As such, she still breathed in a bit. She immediately felt the ki within her stir a bit and her body heat up. She was horrified and quickly pulled back the whip to protect herself.
Fang Biao roared with laughter and exclaimed, “Pretty lady, do you think that this glorious Yin Yang Path’s third young master is really that useless? Martial arts might not be my strongest suit, but these drugs are what I’m best at!
“It’s useless even if you cover your mouth and nose. This ‘Eighteen Spring Winds’ has already been specially modified by this young master. It’ll enter your body as long as it touches your skin!” An uncontrollable grin appeared on the corners of Fang Biao’s lips.
Zu An had a strange expression.
Eighteen Spring Winds?