Chapter 145: A Family Should Be Together and United

Liao Zhongyou desperately clutched the sword piercing his neck, trying to pull it out. Yet, all his strength seemed to have vanished, his hands slumping limply onto the blade as he gasped for his last breaths.

At that moment, his mind was a blank. Why was this guy here? Had he been lying in wait for him all this time?

He finally understood why the Young Master had repeatedly warned them to be wary of this man’s cunning and treachery.

But the Young Master never said he would be so despicable. He’d already killed him, but wouldn’t even let him die in peace.

Looking at Zu An, who stood before him with a nasty smirk, Liao Zhongyou felt a surge of anger rush to his head. Blood gushed from his throat as if it were worthless.

Rage value from Liao Zhongyou: 1024!

“Is that all it takes to die?” Zu An felt a bit anticlimactic, seeing the man's wide, unblinking eyes, as if he couldn't rest in peace. He had hoped to milk more rage points from him.

Pulling his sword back, Zu An propped Liao Zhongyou's body against a tree and frisked him. He found nothing but some dried rations and a few bottles of healing medicine.

The bow on Liao Zhongyou looked decent, but Zu An didn't know how to use it. He then tested the arrows in the quiver; they were easily cut in half by the zombie army's arrows, clearly of far inferior quality. He didn't bother keeping them and casually tossed them aside.

“Damn, another pauper,” Zu An grumbled. This one was even poorer than the last; Shi Shangfei at least had some loose silver and primal stones.

Just as he was about to toss the body down, Zu An suddenly changed his mind. It was always good to make use of resources.

So, holding Liao Zhongyou's corpse in one hand, he followed the direction the swordsman had taken. That person seemed weaker and thus should be easier to deal with.

Meanwhile, on the north side of the forest, Shi Zhenxiang was cautiously searching around with his blade, but found nothing along the way.

“Brother, I will definitely avenge you!” he said through gritted teeth. Indeed, he was the older brother of Shi Shangfei, whom Zu An had encountered earlier outside.

They had been orphans since childhood, relying on each other and slowly growing up through various harsh and dangerous training. Finally, they completed their training and emerged. They had thought that completing Young Master Shi's mission this time would grant them their freedom, and after that, the sky would be the limit. Who would have expected such an unexpected turn of events?

Just yesterday, they had been together, gazing at the sunset, reminiscing about their lost childhood while dreaming of their future. His younger brother had even suggested that they should each marry a pair of sisters in the future, so their bond would be even closer.

But now, all of it was gone!

“Zu An, I swear I'll tear you limb from limb!” Shi Zhenxiang vowed silently.

Rage value from Shi Zhenxiang: 876!

Just then, footsteps sounded behind him. A sudden alarm rang in his mind, and he abruptly turned his head. He relaxed only after seeing Liao Zhongyou waving at him. “Didn't I tell you to stay there and provide support? Why did you come here?”

He noticed Liao Zhongyou's eyes were wide. *What's wrong with this guy? Did his archery training damage his eyes?* he wondered.

“I just saw a figure heading this way, so I came to check,” Zu An said, standing behind Liao Zhongyou and supporting his body, deliberately lowering and muffling his voice. Even if it wasn't a perfect imitation, it would be hard to tell the difference if one wasn't paying close attention.

“What? Zu An came this way!” Shi Zhenxiang tightened his grip on his blade and looked around. “Good! I'll avenge my brother!”

Zu An had already learned his name from the rage points he'd collected, and hearing this, he understood. So, he was Shi Shangfei's brother. *What were their parents thinking, giving them such idiotic names?* one literally meaning "shit on the fly" and the other "shit smells truly fragrant."

“Why are you getting so close to me? Spread out; we'll cover more ground,” Shi Zhenxiang grumbled, noticing the other man walking towards him.

*Hmm, wait, why is his walking so strange? And the way he just spoke...*

Just then, he felt a dark figure lunge at him. He swung his blade in a backhand strike, directly cutting the person in half. When he saw Liao Zhongyou lying on the ground, his eyes went wide with disbelief. “How could it be you…?”

What puzzled him even more was that while Liao Zhongyou specialized in ranged attacks and was relatively weaker in close combat, he shouldn't have been instantly killed by a single strike from him.

At that moment, a cold glint flashed as a sword thrust directly at his neck.

However, Zu An was surprised this time. Although his fatal thrust hit its mark, there seemed to be a layer of transparent armor blocking his opponent's neck, preventing him from piercing further.

He then remembered that after reaching the third rank, cultivators could project their qi, forming a protective aura around their bodies like armor to defend against attacks.

As their cultivation improved, the protective aura's coverage expanded, and its defensive power grew stronger.

Of course, if your cultivation was higher than your opponent's, your attack could, to some extent, penetrate their protective aura and injure their body. But if your cultivation was lower, your attack might not even be able to break through their defense.

However, because activating the protective aura consumed qi very quickly, no one kept it active unnecessarily. This gave lower-ranked cultivators a chance to challenge higher ranks.

Just like when Zu An severely wounded the fifth-rank Yuan Wendong and instantly killed the fourth-rank Liao Zhongyou, it was because he caught them by surprise, before they had time to activate their protective auras.

At this moment, Shi Zhenxiang unleashed his qi, striking Zu An's sword directly with his blade. Zu An felt a massive force come through, could no longer hold onto his longsword, and quickly retreated.

Shi Zhenxiang swung his blade, hacking at Zu An. “You bastard, you almost ambushed me, but today, you're dead!”

Even though he was more than ten meters away, Zu An suddenly felt a blade aura slice directly towards him. He quickly executed a clumsy roll to the side, looking as awkward as possible.

The large tree directly behind where he had just stood was split in half by an invisible blade energy.

Zu An's heart froze. Third-rank cultivators could only attach qi to their bodies for protection, but fourth-rank cultivators could make qi leave their bodies, forming blade auras and sword auras like those seen in martial arts TV shows from his previous life, greatly increasing their attack range and power.

Shi Zhenxiang gave him no quarter, laughing heartily as he swung his blade, hacking and chasing him. “Now your weapon has been knocked away! Let's see how you fight me now! Today, I'll slice your flesh off piece by piece to avenge my brother!”

“So much talk for a fight,” Zu An sneered, then swiftly darted forward, quick as a startled rabbit.

In an instant, he closed in on Shi Zhenxiang, less than a foot away. Their noses almost touched.

Shi Zhenxiang was scared out of his wits. The strangeness of this lunge was beyond his imagination, and its speed was indescribable.

Although he had been slightly distracted by talking, his blade work hadn't faltered at all. He hadn't even seen how the opponent had broken through his blade's defenses.

Now that they were so close, his longblade was behind the opponent, completely unable to turn and strike his back.

Although Zu An no longer had his longsword, he was holding an arrow, lunging towards Shi Zhenxiang's wrist with it.

Seeing what was in Zu An's hand, a flicker of disdain crossed Shi Zhenxiang's face. *Bows and arrows derive their power from distance; they're not meant for short-range stabbing.*

*Moreover, he has his protective aura.* *Although I couldn't understand his move just now, the level gap between us is significant.* *Even if I stood still and let him attack, I'd be fine,* he thought.

But no sooner had that thought crossed his mind than a sharp pain shot through his palm, followed by a bone-chilling cold that spread through his entire body. He shivered involuntarily, his whole body feeling frozen.

In that very instant, he felt a tingling pain in his hands and feet, and then he involuntarily collapsed to the ground, unable to get up.

“You severed my tendons!” Shi Zhenxiang immediately understood what had happened, feeling both shocked and enraged.

Rage value from Shi Zhenxiang: 999!

Zu An replied apologetically, “My apologies, you're just too powerful. To be safe, I had no other choice but this.”

Shi Zhenxiang: “...”

*Damn it, your attack was so vicious, and the reason is because I was too powerful?*

Rage value from Shi Zhenxiang: 666!

However, he had been trained as a death-seeker from a young age and quickly resigned himself to his fate, knowing there was no escaping it today. The only other thing he didn't understand was: “Where did you get that arrow in your hand? And why could it break through my protective aura?”

“Picked it up on the road,” Zu An said, smiling slightly as he looked at the arrow in his hand. He had suspected earlier that these arrows were certainly not ordinary, considering how a zombie with such strong defenses would be finished with one arrow. He hadn't expected to confirm just now that they indeed had armor-piercing effects.

However, he noticed that the arrow in his hand had become different from its companions, losing its dark, lustrous sheen. It seemed these arrows had limited uses.

Shi Zhenxiang: “...”

*Like hell I believe you! You just picked it up on the road, and it can break through a protective aura?*

Rage value from Shi Zhenxiang: 250!

“So, what should I do with you?” Zu An asked, squatting down beside the fallen Shi Zhenxiang.

“Just kill me; you won't get anything out of me!” Shi Zhenxiang scoffed, regretting that he couldn't avenge his brother.

“How about this: I'll give you a chance. Activate your protective aura. If you can survive one stab from my dagger, I'll let you go. What do you say?” Zu An said, taking out “Poisoned Dagger.”

“Is that true?” Despite knowing it was likely a trick, the instinct for survival made Shi Zhenxiang ask.

“Of course, it's true. I only injured your limbs just now, I didn't cripple your cultivation. You should still be able to channel your qi for a protective aura, right?” Zu An smiled genuinely. He had deliberately held back earlier, intending to use this guy for an experiment.

Shi Zhenxiang's expression flickered. “No, what if you use that strange arrow to stab me again? I can't block that.” As he spoke, his eyes darted to the quiver on Zu An's back.

“Don't worry, I won't use that,” Zu An said, seeing his continued disbelief. “You saw it yourself just now; that arrow basically becomes useless after one shot. I don't have many left in total. Do you really think I'd waste one on a useless person like you?”

Shi Zhenxiang was taken aback. Zu An's explanation actually made him believe it. Such a precious item truly wasn't worth wasting on a crippled person like him. “Alright, I agree. I just hope you keep your word!”

With that, he channeled all his qi, and a semi-transparent armor appeared around his body. *Hmph, I just had bad luck running into that strange arrow earlier. Do you really think this lousy dagger can hurt me?*

Zu An didn't rush to attack. Instead, he asked, “You and your brother were very close?”

“Of course!” Shi Zhenxiang thought to himself. *This guy is soft-hearted. If I'm lucky enough to survive, even if I can't heal my injuries to get revenge myself, I'll spend all my family's wealth to hire others to kill him.*

Zu An nodded, then plunged the dagger down. To Shi Zhenxiang's disbelief, it easily sliced through his protective aura as if cutting tofu, then cut open a small patch of skin on his body.

He just wanted to test if the dagger had an effect on cultivators' protective auras, and at the same time, test the extent of the dagger's guaranteed-kill effect. He hadn't had such an opportunity before.

Shi Zhenxiang had been filled with dread, but seeing that Zu An had only cut a little skin, he immediately sighed in relief. Just as he was about to say something, his body suddenly shuddered, and then he instantly plunged into endless darkness.

Before his death, the last words he heard were: “Since you two were so close, go join him. A family should be together, neat and tidy.”

Rage value from Shi Zhenxiang: 1024!