Chapter 157: Placed in a Situation of Life and Death

Shi Kun was utterly bewildered. "Is he killing himself because he can't win? Good riddance, though."

His two Level 4 subordinates also breathed a collective sigh of relief. This man was simply too strange; he was supposedly Level 3, but if a normal Level 3 could possess such combat power, they'd rather lose their heads. So, his suicide was a relief.

Chu Chuyan was held in his arms, clearly feeling specks of blood land on her. Her voice, uncharacteristically, held a hint of urgency: "You... what are you doing?"

She had told him to kill *her*, so why was he killing himself? Did he think he couldn't save her and was preparing to die with her?

As expected of a master and servant, their thoughts surprisingly aligned.

A faint blush appeared on Chu Chuyan's incredibly pale cheeks. "You don't have to do this, we're not even..."

Before she could finish, Zu An interrupted, "We can talk about romance later. Let me deal with these annoying guys first."

With one arm around her, supporting her body against his, he held his sword in the other hand. He concentrated his energy in his dantian and roared, "Behold my forbidden art — Ten Thousand Swords Return to Origin!"

Everyone was still processing his strange behavior when he suddenly roared. They instinctively recoiled in unison. After all, Chu Chuyan had previously used a forbidden art to instantly defeat "Kun Eater," so the mere mention of "forbidden art" now made them wary.

His recent bizarre actions, combined with his blood-soaked appearance and determined aura, made even Shi Kun, whose cultivation was clearly far superior, decide to avoid direct confrontation and observe the situation first.

Just as everyone was bracing themselves, Zu An suddenly tossed his sword, scooped up Chu Chuyan, and ran.

Shi Kun: "???"

Qiao Xueying: "???"

The two Level 4 martial artists: "???"

Amidst their astonishment, they finally realized that he had merely been bluffing, trying to create an opportunity to escape. The thought of being deceived by such a simple trick ignited fury in them all.

Rage points from Shi Kun +666!

Rage points from the Level 4 martial artists +233 +233!

Only Qiao Xueying wore a complicated expression. Zu An's life or death wasn't her primary concern; the crucial matter was her mistress's safety. On one hand, she wanted her mistress to seize the chance to escape, but on the other, she worried that Zu An wouldn't be able to heal her. She was torn.

"Chase them!"

Shi Kun, enraged and humiliated, pursued them like lightning. He cultivated wind-element techniques, which specialized in speed. Given the disparity in their cultivation levels, and the fact that Zu An was carrying someone, Shi Kun should have caught up in a matter of breaths. Yet, after chasing for a while, he had only slightly closed the distance, leaving him utterly bewildered.

Chu Chuyan had initially been perplexed by his self-harming behavior, but the moment he started running with her, she immediately understood and even admired his quick thinking. However, the disparity in their cultivation levels meant the outcome was inevitable. "Put me down," she said. "With your current speed, you might still have a chance to escape alone."

"Shut up, how could I abandon you?" Zu An said with a grim expression. His self-harm was merely to trigger the explosive effect of the Phoenix Nirvana Scripture when critically injured. Although the Phoenix Nirvana Scripture was difficult to cultivate through self-mutilation, reaching a certain level of severe injury would cause his strength, agility, and vital energy to enter a berserk state, significantly boosting his power beyond normal levels.

He had previously relied on this state to escape when battling two Level 5 cultivators, Pei Mianman and Qiao Xueying, at the Chu residence. However, he knew that at the time, the two women were hesitant to use their elemental powers, fearing they would alert Chu family experts, and opted for hand-to-hand combat, which allowed him to hold his own.

Once elemental power was unleashed, the gap between Level 5 cultivators and lower-level practitioners was simply immense.

Shi Kun, Qiao Xueying, and their subordinates clearly wouldn't hold back now. Even in his berserk state, he was no match for them.

He had deliberately entered this state not for increased offensive power, but for enhanced speed to facilitate their escape. That was why he had managed to avoid being caught while carrying Chu Chuyan for so long.

"We won't escape in the end," Chu Chuyan sighed faintly. Although she didn't know what secret technique he had used to greatly boost his speed, Shi Kun was already skilled in wind-element speed techniques, and the enormous gap between Level 5 and Level 3 meant escape was impossible.

"There's a place where we might have a glimmer of hope!" Zu An said in a low voice, gazing at the distant small mountain. He had been racking his brain trying to figure out how to escape, but after considering all his skills and items, he still couldn't resolve their current predicament.

There was only one way: to find life in the face of death.

He had previously witnessed a terrifying zombie army entering that small mountain, a fact Shi Kun and his group were unaware of. If he could lead them there, there might be a slim chance of survival.

He knew, of course, that given the horror of the zombie army, there was a greater probability they would all die there. But staying here meant certain death, whereas going there offered a slim possibility of survival. Even if they died, it would be worth it to drag their enemies down with them—that would be a satisfying end.

Besides, what if they somehow managed to survive? What's the difference between a person without dreams and a lifeless, stagnant one?

The pursuers behind them were getting closer. Shi Kun's mocking voice drifted over: "Hmph, run all you want. Let's see how far you can get. Once your vital energy is depleted, that will be the end of you."

Before coming, he had confirmed the distance from the academy's other teachers; they were too far away to arrive anytime soon.

And he could catch up to them in a matter of minutes.

"Xue'er, stop him quickly!" Shi Kun urgently shouted as they approached a small grove of trees.

Qiao Xueying hesitated for a moment, then flicked her wrist. The trees in front of Zu An seemed to come alive, their vines coiling and snaking towards his legs.

Having learned from his previous encounter, Zu An skillfully evaded each vine as they surged towards him, executing the Sunflower Phantasm to its utmost limit.

For some reason, he felt that this vine attack had significantly more openings than the previous one.

Shi Kun's expression darkened. With his cultivation level, he naturally noticed this, but at that moment, he showed no outward reaction.

Wind God's Leg!

His feet blurred into afterimages, and his speed sharply increased. This technique consumed a considerable amount of vital energy, so Shi Kun only used it when the opportunity was right.

Hearing the whooshing sound behind him, Zu An inwardly cursed, realizing the danger. He swiftly dodged to the side, but it was too late; Shi Kun's longsword had already struck his back.

"Eh?" The expected outcome of piercing him through the chest didn't happen. He felt enormous resistance from the sword tip—the guy was wearing precious armor!

Shi Kun had never imagined this seemingly impoverished fellow would possess protective armor. His initial sword thrust, meant to pierce the chest, only penetrated an inch. By the time he tried to apply more force, the opponent had already seized the opportunity to dodge.

With a cold snort, Shi Kun thought, *Now that I've caught up, can he still escape?*

With the boost from Wind God's Leg, his speed was now slightly greater than Zu An's. Coupled with the difference in their cultivation levels, and the fact that Zu An was carrying someone and had even discarded his sword, if he couldn't handle this now, he'd be better off just bashing his head in with a block of tofu.

He thrust his sword towards Zu An's foot; if he could sever his Achilles tendon, Zu An's strange movement technique would be rendered useless.

Just then, Zu An suddenly flicked his sleeve back, and a dark streak of light shot forth.

Shi Kun instantly recognized it as a hidden weapon from a sleeve arrow. He recalled one of his subordinates possessing such a mechanism.

However, he paid it no mind. Such sleeve arrows were only a threat to low-level cultivators; for someone like him, they probably couldn't even penetrate his protective vital energy.

So, he ignored the sleeve arrow and continued thrusting his sword towards Zu An's foot.

Just as the sword tip was about to reach Zu An's ankle, Shi Kun suddenly stiffened. The sleeve arrow had pierced directly through his protective vital energy and embedded itself in his shoulder socket. Although it was blocked by his soft armor and didn't penetrate very deeply, a strange chill spread from the wound, making him shiver involuntarily.

"What is this? Is the arrow poisoned?" Shi Kun was greatly alarmed and immediately channeled his vital energy to contain the ominous, cold energy spreading within his body.

At that moment, Zu An suddenly turned back and, with an extremely bizarre move, thrust at Shi Kun's wrist. A pitch-black dagger had appeared in his hand at some point.

"Young Master, be careful!" Xue'er, having witnessed the dagger's power before, urgently warned him.

Shi Kun had just suffered a setback by arrogantly using his vital energy to resist the sleeve arrow. Now, he dared not block this dagger with his body; its inky-black appearance immediately suggested something ominous.

He simply discarded his sword, then unleashed several wind blades that struck Zu An.

With a muffled groan, a faint mist of blood dispersed. Zu An was clearly severely wounded. The wind blades had hindered him, making it too late to wound Shi Kun with his dagger, and he inwardly regretted the missed opportunity.

He had confiscated the sleeve arrow mechanism from Jia Zhengjing and others earlier. He had merely replaced the ordinary arrows with the arrows fired by the zombie army, which he had picked up previously.

Fortunately, the sleeve arrow mechanism was relatively simple; he had cut off the front half of a zombie army arrow, which fit perfectly, allowing him to inflict significant damage on Shi Kun just now.

What a pity he hadn't managed to kill him!

Noticing Qiao Xueying and the other two Level 4 cultivators catching up, Zu An dared not linger and continued to run.

Shi Kun stopped in his tracks, quickly took out a healing and detoxifying medicine, and swallowed it. He then used his vital energy to expel the ominous energy that had invaded his body. As he removed the strange arrowhead from his chest, his expression subtly changed. "What kind of arrow is this? It's so potent."

However, at that moment, he couldn't afford to ponder too much. Zu An had already run far ahead, so he quickly signaled his subordinates to continue the pursuit.

After a prolonged chase and escape, Zu An finally arrived at the foot of the mountainous tomb he had seen before. Seeing Shi Kun and his group still hot on his heels, he gritted his teeth and headed directly for the stone gate.

Chu Chuyan, held in his arms, watched closely as the blood-soaked fabric on his chest, listening to his rapid heartbeat and ragged, heavy breathing. A flicker of something ineffable ignited in her previously lifeless eyes.

Her status and cultivation had always been extraordinary; she was always the one protecting others from a position of superiority, never the other way around. Yet now, in her most helpless state, she was being protected in this man's arms. He could clearly have escaped alone but had never abandoned her, a burden.

"Foolish..."

She silently made her assessment, then slowly closed her eyes again.

Zu An, of course, was unaware of the thoughts of the beautiful woman in his arms. He ran to the stone gate with a worried expression, originally concerned he wouldn't be able to enter. However, whether it was due to the berserk effect of the Phoenix Nirvana Scripture amplifying his strength or something else, this time, when he pushed the massive stone gate, he managed to force open a gap wide enough for a person to pass through.

Gazing at the pitch-black, gloomy opening, he gritted his teeth, entered the darkness with Chu Chuyan in his arms, and disappeared.

Not long after, Shi Kun and his group arrived. Staring at the strange gate and feeling the chilling aura emanating from it, their expressions subtly changed. "What is this place?"

"Hmph, if someone named Zu can enter, why shouldn't we?" With a wave of his hand, Shi Kun was the first to leap in. He had invested too much in today's affairs to give up now.