Chapter 1038: Wings Clipped, No Escape

Upon witnessing this, the other black-robed figures cast admiring glances at the white-striped black-robed man. After all, their combined efforts hadn't stopped the target, but he had handled it with a single move.

The white-striped man stood with his hands behind his back, exuding an air of arrogance.

Just as he was about to speak, his expression suddenly changed slightly, and he abruptly looked up at the target frozen in ice.

At that moment, a touch of red suddenly appeared within the pristine white ice block. Then, the ice surface began to crack, and a dazzling flame burst forth from within, shattering the entire block of ice. The flame then shot skyward, illuminating the night somewhat.

Everyone was instinctively drawn to the flame, but they soon realized there was no one within it.

"It's a trick!" The black-robed figures quickly looked down, only to see the man's figure vanish around a distant corner.

"Chase him! Don't let him get away!" the white-striped black-robed man said coldly. Their recent conversation had been too critical; the consequences of it being exposed would be unimaginable.

The others understood this as well and quickly gave chase.

Zu An ran frantically, but unfortunately, the pursuers remained relentlessly on his heels. Two Grandmasters, in particular, soared into the sky to survey the entire area, forcing him to use the shadows of building corridors to conceal his movements, preventing him from running at full speed.

At this point, the entire Zhenyuan Merchant Association became active. Countless guards poured out from all directions, searching everywhere for the intruder. Under these circumstances, the Jade Cong's map function was of little use, as guards were everywhere. Even knowing their positions in advance wouldn't allow him to evade them.

Zu An narrowly avoided several waves of searches, only to encounter another team of guards approaching him head-on, while several black-robed masters continued to pursue him closely from behind. He knew this couldn't continue. With a tip of his toe, he flipped himself up to the second floor and climbed through a window.

"Xiao Chan, what's going on outside? Why is it so noisy?" Inside the room, steam filled the air, accompanied by the scent of flower petals. It turned out a young woman was bathing there.

She seemed to have heard some movement. She stood up from the bathtub, grabbing a towel to dry herself while looking towards the outside. She ended up making eye contact directly with the intruding Zu An.

Zu An's scalp tingled. How could he have known it would be such a coincidence that he'd randomly pick a room to hide in, only to find a girl bathing? Zu An wondered why the girl in front of him looked a bit familiar, though it was hard to recognize her without clothes on.

He didn't have time to think deeply. If he let her scream and attract his pursuers, he would be finished. So, with a swift movement, he was at the young woman's side and clamped a hand over her mouth. "Don't scream, I won't hurt you."

Unfortunately, in this situation, what young woman would believe him? She struggled desperately.

Rage points from Tang Tian'er +555 +555 +555...

Zu An was startled when he saw the name in the background. He quickly took a closer look at her. Because her hair was wet and draped over her shoulders from bathing, her appearance differed slightly from what he'd seen before, so he hadn't recognized her immediately. Now, upon closer inspection, he saw the familiar brows and eyes, especially the sweet dimples at the corners of her mouth. He finally realized: "Miss Tang?"

He quickly pulled off his mask. "It's me!"

"Mmmph!" Seeing his face, Tang Tian'er's eyes widened, but she instinctively stopped struggling.

Seeing that she recognized him, Zu An felt a bit awkward. "I accidentally barged in here while escaping pursuers; I didn't mean to offend you, so please forgive me. I'll take my hand off now, but you absolutely mustn't scream. If you agree, just blink your eyes." In his opinion, since she had taken his "Leopard Fetus Meridian-Altering Pill," she probably wouldn't act impulsively. However, little did he know that his Leopard Fetus Meridian-Altering Pill deception had long been seen through by her.

Tang Tian'er gave him a wronged look, but in the end, she blinked.

Zu An then released his hand. Tang Tian'er huffed resentfully, "How are you here?"

"It's a long story..." Zu An was about to explain when his gaze involuntarily swept over her body. Her skin, perhaps due to the recent bath, was truly fair with a hint of red, seemingly delicate enough to break with a touch. When he had seen her as an emcee at the Carefree Pavilion, she wore a cheongsam-like outfit, her figure graceful and captivating. Now he realized that it was she herself who was beautiful, not just the clothes.

Tang Tian'er also snapped back to reality. She looked down and saw that she was standing in the bathtub, most of her body above the water. She nearly fainted. She instinctively opened her mouth to scream but then remembered something and quickly covered her mouth with her hand.

Zu An, seeing her about to scream, had been prepared to stop her, but then she covered her own mouth. He quickly halted. "Thank you, Miss!"

Tang Tian'er immediately squatted down, immersing herself back into the water, with only her head visible. "Are you still looking?" Tang Tian'er felt like she was going to faint. Had she owed this guy something in her previous life? Every time, she fell into his hands, and always in the worst possible way.

Zu An awkwardly turned away. "Don't worry about it, Miss. Actually, I didn't really see anything."

Tang Tian'er: "..."

Tang Tian'er was speechless. Was that even a human thing to say? He had seen her completely naked, and now he was claiming he hadn't seen anything. This young lady clearly had so much to see, was he blind?! Yet, given the situation, she could only pretend to "believe" his obvious lie. He had taken full advantage of her, and now she had to turn around and cooperate with his blatant falsehood. What kind of karma was this?

Rage points from Tang Tian'er +233 +233 +233...

Just then, there was a knock on the door from outside. "Miss, Miss, a formidable thief has entered the merchant association. The guards are searching for him everywhere right now. Please get up quickly, so you don't encounter any danger."

"Got it," Tang Tian'er rolled her eyes, thinking that the maid was too late; she had just had the same idea to get dressed, but that guy next to her had gotten an eyeful instead.

Just then, another voice came from outside: "Who's in there?"

Zu An's heart skipped a beat. It was Han Fengqiu's voice! Although he wasn't afraid of Han Fengqiu, he couldn't deal with him quickly. If a fight broke out, the other masters would rush over upon hearing the commotion, leaving him nowhere to run.

"It's our young lady," the maidservant said, evidently the Xiao Chan Tang Tian'er had mentioned earlier.

"We were chasing the thief, and he disappeared nearby. We need to search inside," Han Fengqiu said.

"No, you can't. The young lady is bathing," Xiao Chan immediately said, agitated, spreading her arms to block the doorway.

Both inside were startled by this. Zu An quickly said to Tang Tian'er, "I'm leaving now."

With a splash, Tang Tian'er reached out and grabbed his arm. "Many people are chasing you?"

Zu An nodded, quickly considering his next move.

"The outside is swarming with guards. Where will you run if you go out?" Tang Tian'er bit her lip. "It's safest to hide here with me."

Zu An looked around. "What if they come in? There's nowhere to hide here." There were wardrobes and screens in the room, but if they truly came in to search, these places wouldn't hide anyone at all.

Tang Tian'er shook her head. "Don't worry, with me here, they won't be able to come in."

Zu An was taken aback and couldn't help but look at her closely. Her tone suggested she was someone important. Hadn't she been an emcee at the Carefree Pavilion before? How was she now at the Zhenyuan Merchant Association? What was her relationship with the Zhenyuan Merchant Association?

As he pondered, sounds of an argument already came from outside. Han Fengqiu clearly had no intention of backing down. "Today's matter is too important; no one can bear the responsibility if the thief escapes. No matter who it is, we must search!"

"No! Our young lady has a noble status and is bathing. How can we let you smelly men in?" Xiao Chan glared furiously at them.

The commotion here quickly attracted the attention of the others. "What's wrong?" It was clear that the other black-robed figures had rushed over after hearing the news.

"We just chased the thief to this vicinity, and we want to go in and search, but this maid won't allow it," Han Fengqiu said, looking at the yellow-striped black-robed man. "This is your territory; say something."

The man replied awkwardly, "Inside is a distinguished guest of mine; it wouldn't be good to disturb them."

Zu An looked at Tang Tian'er in surprise. What was her situation, for even the yellow-striped black-robed man to call her a distinguished guest? However, at that moment, Tang Tian'er was huddled beneath the water, clutching her shoulders, looking utterly wronged. It was truly difficult to associate her with any influential figure.

At this point, another person spoke up: "That person overheard too many secrets; he must be caught. Furthermore, if the person inside is indeed your merchant association's distinguished guest, wouldn't it be even more troublesome if the thief managed to sneak in and harm your guest?"

Hearing this, the yellow-striped black-robed man immediately hesitated. "This..."

On the other side, someone had already pushed open the door directly. "Let's go in and see first."

Xiao Chan tried to stop them, but these powerful figures could silence her with just a flicker of their energy. How could she possibly stop them?