Chapter 692: Madam Requests

Prince Qi's heir had been waiting for Uncle Han to capture his opponent, eager to avenge himself.

But to his surprise, Han Fengqiu took so long and still hadn't managed to catch the other man.

In that moment, he felt a strange sense of relief: *Well, if even a peak ninth-rank expert can't catch him, it's perfectly normal that I, an eighth-rank, lost to him earlier.*

Murong Qinghe watched the situation in the arena, her valiant eyebrows furrowing deeper. "Your brother-in-law is truly odd," she mused. "He was like this when he fought the Prince's heir, and he's still like this now against a peak ninth-rank. What exactly *is* his limit?"

Chu Youzhao proudly declared, "My brother-in-law is incredibly powerful."

She also felt a pang of regret that her sister wasn't there to witness his impressive display.

Hearing the murmurs around him, Han Fengqiu stopped, his old face burning with embarrassment.

With his level of cultivation, he had launched so many attacks without even touching his opponent; he had long lost face.

He knew that continuing like this would make it nearly impossible to capture the man, so he simply halted. "Brat, you've truly angered this old man," he growled.

Zu'an couldn't help but grin. "So you weren't even angry when your pants fell down in front of everyone just now?" he quipped.

Having already faced off against far more formidable opponents in life-or-death battles, Zu'an found Han Fengqiu powerful but not truly fear-inducing.

Han Fengqiu's face twitched. He took a deep breath, said no more, and held his sword horizontally in front of him.

*Buzz, buzz, buzz!*

The sword vibrated gently, emitting a resonant hum like a dragon's roar.

Then, with his right hand, he drew a large circle in front of himself.

The single sword, previously held horizontally, instantly multiplied into countless blades, fanning out like a peacock's tail or a blooming chrysanthemum.

Zu'an's smile faded. Even from a distance, he could feel the chilling essence of his opponent's sword energy.

Han Fengqiu tossed the swirling sword formation ring from in front of him into the sky. The ring continued to spin, producing a buzzing hum.

Then, one became two, two became four, four became eight…

The air filled with an innumerable, dense cluster of sword energy.

Han Fengqiu sneered, "Little bastard, let's see where you can hide now!"

Clearly, he had the same plan as Prince Qi's heir: since Zu'an's evasive movements were so elusive, he would use an area-of-effect attack to make evasion impossible.

Just then, the woman inside the carriage spoke. "Save him!" she commanded.

It was clear she believed Zu'an had no chance of dodging this attack.

"Alright!" The gap-toothed coachman grinned, then took a single stride that instantly brought him into the middle of the field.

Just as he appeared, the sword energy in the sky suddenly rained down, creating a storm of blades that saturated every inch of land for dozens of yards around. There was seemingly no escape for Zu'an, no matter where he hid.

Zu'an's expression turned serious. *Using swords? Perfect, I have a similar skill myself,* he thought.

As he was about to act, a figure suddenly appeared directly in front of him.

"Oh, that coachman?" Zu'an instantly recognized him. Those missing and bucked teeth were so uniquely unsightly it would be hard *not* to recognize him.

At that moment, the gap-toothed coachman reached out and simply, yet precisely, caught Han Fengqiu's personal sword from mid-air.

The instant the sword was caught, the vast torrent of sword energy dissolved like bursting bubbles, vanishing without a trace.

Han Fengqiu's smile instantly froze on his face. He had expected to witness Zu'an's agonizing screams as the sword energy flayed him, but how could he have anticipated such an unforeseen turn of events?

He quickly recovered and bowed respectfully to the gap-toothed coachman. "Han Fengqiu, an attendant from Prince Qi's mansion, greets Senior!"

Even though the man appeared younger than him, in the world of cultivation, the more accomplished always held precedence.

The fact that the man could easily see through his sword formation and directly seize his sword indicated he was at least one rank higher than him. Only Grandmasters or those who had touched the Divine Soul could discern the true core of a sword formation amidst a flurry of sword energy.

By stating his identity, he also subtly implied a warning: no matter how powerful this man was, he couldn't possibly surpass Prince Qi.

The gap-toothed coachman snorted coldly. "Don't try to scare me with Prince Qi. While it's true I can't defeat him, beating you is still effortless."

Han Fengqiu was speechless.

"Oh, right, I smiled just now, didn't I? Weren't you thinking of hitting me?" The gap-toothed coachman pressed on, gazing at him with a knowing half-smile.

Han Fengqiu quickly apologized, "This junior wouldn't dare!"

Fine beads of sweat broke out on his temples. *What sin did I commit today?* he thought. *I only encounter freaks when I go out.*

He had originally intended to dominate the entire scene and make an impressive display, but instead of showing off, he had been thoroughly outmaneuvered.

"I didn't think you would," the gap-toothed coachman snorted, then turned to Zu'an. "Hmm, you're not bad, young man. Your tongue might be sharp, but you're quite handsome, and your cultivation isn't bad either."

Zu'an was momentarily speechless. *What's with that look, as if he's sizing me up as a son-in-law?* he wondered.

He quickly cupped his hands and said, "If I had known of Senior's cultivation earlier, I wouldn't have made a fool of myself."

No wonder they hadn't shown the slightest gratitude when he stopped the startled horse earlier; it turned out the runaway horse couldn't have harmed them at all.

"It's rare to find such a chivalrous heart," the gap-toothed coachman remarked, finding Zu'an increasingly agreeable.

Chu Youzhao was a mix of shock and delight. One moment, she saw countless blades of sword energy flying towards Zu'an, her heart nearly leaping out of her chest. The next, a mysterious powerful figure was helping her brother-in-law, and judging by his tone, it seemed her brother-in-law would be safe today.

She couldn't help but whisper to Murong Qinghe, "You know the most about people in the cultivation world. Do you know who this Senior is?"

Murong Qinghe looked bewildered. "I have no idea," she admitted.

Logically, she knew most, if not all, of the Grandmaster-level and above experts within the capital's circles, yet this man's features didn't match anyone she knew.

The carriage itself bore no family emblem, and its appearance was indistinguishable from that of an ordinary household, offering no clue to its origin.

Prince Qi's heir, standing nearby, grew impatient. While Han Fengqiu might have had reservations, the heir had none.

In the entire capital, there were few people he truly feared, aside from the Emperor himself. "Who exactly are you?" he demanded. "Do you realize you're sheltering a criminal who murdered a military officer and obstructing the court's enforcement of the law!"

The gap-toothed coachman chuckled, revealing his yellow, bucked teeth. "You don't need to try and scare me with that," he said. "The truth of the matter will naturally be clear to the officials of the imperial court."

At this point, Zu'an interjected, "My dear 'persimmon' (a pun on the heir's title), you can eat what you like, but you can't just say whatever you like. When did I murder imperial officers? These people were merely frozen."

Zu'an retracted the chilling energy, and the frozen figures one by one came back to life, though many were now missing limbs.

Prince Qi's heir's expression shifted. *What kind of technique was that, so astonishing?* He quickly dismissed the thought to investigate, however, and immediately retorted, "Even if they didn't die, you still broke so many of their limbs! Attacking imperial officers is still a grave crime!"

Zu'an chuckled. "There are witnesses nearby. You were the one who deliberately caused such a commotion to show off, shaking these ice sculptures to the ground and causing their arms and legs to break. Strictly speaking, you're the real culprit! So, Old Man Whose Pants Fell Down, please arrest the true offender!"

"You!" Prince Qi's heir trembled with rage. He had intended to use his family's status to twist the truth and call black white, but now it felt as if their roles had been completely reversed.

[Zhao Zhi's Rage Value: 888,888,888…]

Han Fengqiu's eyelids twitched when he heard the phrase "Old Man Whose Pants Fell Down." *Was this fellow born specifically to infuriate people?* he wondered.

[Han Fengqiu's Rage Value: 999,999,999…]

He took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the urge to strike, and turned to the gap-toothed coachman. "May I ask for Senior's esteemed name?"

He understood that the true key lay with this mysterious expert; without him, Zu'an would simply be a lamb to the slaughter.

"I've forgotten my name," the gap-toothed coachman said, waving his hand dismissively. "I'm just an ordinary coachman."

The others looked bewildered, but Han Fengqiu's expression subtly shifted. "Could it be... you are..."

Prince Qi's heir, however, grew annoyed. "Who cares who he is? Today..."

Han Fengqiu quickly rushed over to stop him, whispering in his ear, "My Prince, he is..."

Prince Qi's heir's breathing immediately quickened. He quickly looked towards the ordinary carriage, his eyes filled with a desperate light of anticipation and yearning.

Zu'an frowned. *What's gotten into this guy? He looks like a boar in heat. Doesn't he worry that charred thing might break off if he gets too excited?*

At that moment, the gap-toothed coachman smiled at Zu'an. "Young man, my master would like a word with you."