Chapter 261: Assassination

Zu An swallowed hard. He had personally experienced the power of the Wailer’s Whip, and the intense sensation was something he’d rather not recall. No wonder Cheng Shoubing was screaming so miserably.

It turned out that Chu Huanzhao had become increasingly annoyed as she thought about things, so she decided to come back and question Zu An. But as soon as she returned, she overheard Cheng Shoubing’s words. Already furious, this was like adding fuel to the fire, and she instantly erupted. One whip wasn’t enough to appease her anger, so she struck a second time.

Seeing her about to strike a third time, Zu An quickly stopped her. "Alright, alright, he’ll die if you hit his small body again."

Seeing him, Chu Huanzhao became even angrier. She raised the whip, intending to strike him. But in the end, the whip didn’t fall. She just snorted and turned to leave. "I don’t want to talk to you!"

Seeing her childish tantrum, Zu An smiled. He wondered why he found this girl increasingly adorable. Well, that’s why; it’s because of good genes and good looks. Even when she throws a tantrum, it’s not that annoying.

Turning back, he glanced at Cheng Shoubing. "Sooner or later, your mouth will get you into trouble. Be careful in the future; don’t be so loud-mouthed and boisterous."

"Oh," Cheng Shoubing replied with a resentful expression. He thought, "What kind of situation is this? The one who went to the Immortal Abode was the young master-in-law, and the one who enjoyed it was also the young master-in-law. I just casually mentioned it, so why am I the one getting beaten?"

Hmph, to think I used to have high hopes for the Second Miss and the young master-in-law. From now on, I will firmly support the Eldest Miss!

Seeing his aggrieved expression, Zu An took out a silver ingot and tossed it to him. "Go buy some medicine for yourself and get some good rest. You don’t need to escort me today, lest Xiao Zhao sees you and gets angry again."

Seeing the silver, Cheng Shoubing’s eyes lit up. He beamed and said, "Thank you, young master-in-law, you are the best!" With the young master-in-law’s generous personality, he deserves to have a new bride every night! Of course, due to the previous incident, he didn’t dare to voice this blessing.

Unable to stand his overly fawning gaze, Zu An quickly went after Chu Huanzhao. Before, she used to wait for Zu An at the gate to go to school together, but today, she just rode off on her horse.

Zu An had to exert himself to catch up. "Oh dear, who upset my little Zhao so much?"

Chu Huanzhao kept a straight face and remained silent.

Zu An leaned closer. "Are you still angry that I didn’t bring you a gift? What do you want? I’ll go buy it for you right now; I’m rich."

Chu Huanzhao couldn’t stand his teasing. "You know perfectly well it’s not about that."

"Then what is it about?" Zu An asked with a smile.

Chu Huanzhao turned her face away. "You’re asking when you already know."

Zu An’s eyes darted around. "Is it about what happened at the Immortal Abode last night?"

Chu Huanzhao snorted, and her fair little face grew even colder.

"I was purely dragged there by those two guys from the Second and Third Houses. They came to ask me about your sister’s injury. I told them she was fine, that there was no serious problem. But they’re not fools; how could they believe it so easily? So they specifically invited me to the Immortal Abode to test me. After all, if your sister really were in trouble, I definitely wouldn’t be in the mood to enjoy myself. So I played along with their scheme. To fully convince them that your sister was fine, I made such a great sacrifice, gritting my teeth and going to that kind of place." Zu An said earnestly. At the same time, he couldn't help but admire his own ability to fabricate stories. As for Chu Yucheng and Chu Hongcai, they could just take the blame. Anyway, they were the ones who invited him in the first place.

"Really?" Chu Huanzhao’s expression finally softened a bit.

"Of course, it’s true. You know I’ve always been upright. How could I willingly degrade myself by going to such a place!" Zu An said indignantly. As he spoke, he puffed out his chest, making himself appear especially grand.

"But... but I heard that the courtesan from the Immortal Abode chose you... chose you to be... her special guest," Chu Huanzhao said breathlessly. All these seductive hussies outside were trying to hook up with her brother-in-law all day long.

Zu An said with a smile, "You’re overthinking it. We were just having tea and chatting. Before we could say more than a few words, we ran into Chen Xuan from Black Wind Stronghold."

"Chen Xuan!" Chu Huanzhao gasped in alarm. Evidently, Chen Xuan’s raids on the trade routes around Moonbright City had severely affected the Chu clan over the years. Even she, who usually paid no mind to family affairs, knew his notorious name.

"Brother-in-law, are you alright?" Although she knew he was standing there perfectly fine, Chu Huanzhao still anxiously pulled his hand, checking repeatedly for any injuries on him.

Seeing her genuine nervousness and concern, Zu An felt a warmth spread through his heart. Although this girl was a bit mischievous on ordinary days, she was truly good to him. Having just transmigrated to this perilous world, she was the one who made him feel the only warmth. "Don’t worry, I’m fine. A mere Chen Xuan can’t do anything to me."

Rage points from Chen Xuan +431!

This rage point income in the system made Zu An freeze. What was going on? Why was he receiving rage points from him? Could it be...?

Just then, a dark streak of light shot towards them. Zu An’s hairs stood on end. He quickly hugged Xiao Zhao and rolled off the horse. Almost simultaneously, a long arrow struck the spot where he had just been. The poor horse was instantly shredded and exploded by the powerful force. Blood and flesh splattered everywhere. Chu Huanzhao’s horse was also startled; it reared up with a frightened neigh, then galloped away frantically. If Zu An hadn’t pulled her down in advance, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

"What happened?" Chu Huanzhao’s face was pale with fright. She was usually bold, but she had never seen such a scene of blood and gore splattering everywhere. She clutched Zu An’s sleeve tightly, her body trembling involuntarily.

The surrounding Chu family guards reacted quickly. They swiftly drew their weapons, surrounding the two, and watched their surroundings with vigilance. The surrounding civilians were even more terrified by this sudden upheaval. A group of people began to flee. The scene was chaotic, making it impossible to discern the assassin’s location.

Zu An, however, had a feeling. He looked up towards a certain spot. He saw Chen Xuan, with his red hair, peeking out half his body from behind a pillar on the third floor of a nearby house. He was holding a large bow. It was clear he had fired that arrow.

Seeing that Zu An had discovered him, Chen Xuan revealed a cruel smile on his face. He made a throat-slitting gesture with his hand, then quickly disappeared.

Zu An frowned. This guy actually understood the way of an assassin deeply; if an attack missed, he would immediately retreat swiftly and far. He would rather the opponent stay and continue shooting. This way, he would have a chance to stall him, waiting for the city guards or Chu family guards to arrive after hearing the commotion, to completely eliminate this hidden danger. What a pity! No wonder this guy had managed to survive for so many years despite the combined efforts of the Chu family and the City Lord to suppress him. The thought of constantly having to guard against a master assassin hiding in the shadows made Zu An’s face darken. The opponent could fail many times, but if he failed just once, his life would be over.

"Second Miss, young master-in-law, no assassin found!" A lean, capable Chu family guard reported after circling the area. His name was Jiao Shanhe. Don’t let his monkey-like appearance fool you; he was previously the most outstanding scout in the Chu family’s private army and was extremely vigilant. He had been assigned to protect Zu An after the last assassination attempt by Xue’er.

"The assassin has left," Zu An said in a low voice.

The guards were startled. They thought, "How do you know that?" However, after spending some time with him, they had come to realize that this young master-in-law had some hidden abilities, so they didn’t doubt his words.

"To prevent any further incidents, let’s head to the closer Moonbright Academy first. It’ll be safe once we’re there," another tall and burly guard, Feng Dani, said. Among the three guards, he had the most steady temperament, and true to his name, he was as strong as an ox.

"That’s right, no one dares to cause trouble at the Academy. The Chu family will quickly get the news. Then we can wait for Commander Yue and his men to come and escort the young lady and young master-in-law." Another, holding a long saber, sharply scanned anyone attempting to approach. This was Zhou Lujun, another guard previously sent by the Chu family to protect Zu An. His saber skills were as sharp and severe as his appearance.

"Alright!" Zu An naturally had no objection. The Academy was teeming with experts; if Chen Xuan really went there, he’d be nothing more than a small fry.

"Xiao Zhao, don’t be afraid, the assassin has left," Zu An said gently, looking at the fright on the young girl’s face in his arms, remembering she was still young.

"Brother-in-law, are you hurt anywhere? Ah, so much blood!"

Chu Huanzhao finally snapped back to reality. Her small hands constantly checked him over, her eyes filled with worry.

"No, this is all horse blood. I just feel sorry for the horse." Zu An felt annoyed in his heart. Although he hadn’t ridden this horse for more than two days, he was a person who always cherished bonds; he would develop feelings for anything he rode. To be killed like this by Chen Xuan, he definitely needed to settle this score with him.

"That’s good, that’s good." Chu Huanzhao, still shaken, no longer cared about what had made her angry earlier after experiencing such an event.

Watching the two embracing intimately, patting and touching each other, everything seemed to happen naturally. Jiao Shanhe and the other guards standing by exchanged glances:

"Aren’t the Second Miss and the young master-in-law a bit too intimate?"

"We should interfere less in our masters’ affairs."

"But what if something really happens? Will the Master and Madam blame us?"

"Probably not. The Second Miss is still so young. If the young master-in-law could lay a hand on her, would he be a beast?"

"I think he might be."

The group soon arrived at the academy. Several guards stood watch outside, and Chu Huanzhao went to her own class for lessons. Because of the bloodstains on him, Zu An first went to the teachers’ dormitory to wash up and change clothes.

Just as he took off his clothes, he suddenly heard movement at the door. His heart startled. Could Chen Xuan really be so powerful as to infiltrate the academy? He quickly grabbed his Tai’a Sword, tiptoed to the door, and abruptly flung open the door, thrusting his sword out.

"Ah!"

A startled cry rang out. Zu An hastily withdrew his sword, looking at the beauty before him whose expression had slightly changed. He couldn’t help but say awkwardly, "Sister Shang, I didn’t expect it to be you?"

"I noticed someone in your room when I passed by just now, and thought it’d been a long time since we last met, so I came to take a look," Shang Liuyu, dressed in a long green dress today, said. Her slightly startled expression quickly returned to normal. "Who did you think it was? Why would you resort to weapons as soon as I arrived...?" Before she finished speaking, she saw his bare upper body, rippling with masculine muscles. A faint, rose-like blush spread across her neck.