Chapter 313: Fortune in Misfortune

From the treetop, Zheng Dan sighed softly, watching the boats searching the distant river. "It seems we have to go back."

Zu An nodded. Though the people were still some distance away, it was only a matter of time before they found them. "Are those from the Giant Whale Gang or Moonbright City?"

Zheng Dan shook her head. "They shouldn't be from the Giant Whale Gang. They don't wear clothes like that. It looks like..."

As the leader of the Giant Whale Gang, she could naturally tell the difference.

Seeing her hesitate, Zu An smiled. "Is it Sang Qian's River Defense Camp?"

Zheng Dan's expression darkened, and she hummed in affirmation.

"It seems this guy cares quite a bit about you," Zu An couldn't help but remark.

Zheng Dan's expression was complicated. "He's always been decent to me."

Zu An was speechless.

"Why does it sound like we're illicit lovers when you say it like that?"

"Pah!" Zheng Dan spat, her cheeks flushing instantly. "Who talks about themselves like that?"

Zu An chuckled. "Alright then, let's pack up and go back."

He had been missing for so long; he wondered how worried the academy and the Chu family were.

Zheng Dan nodded, then lightly stepped off the tree.

There wasn't much to pack, really. They had fled in a hurry when chased, without any luggage.

The only thing to deal with was the pile of red dragon's treasure.

"How are we going to carry all this?" Zheng Dan asked, a worried look on her face as she gazed at the piles of gold, silver, and jewels.

Zu An smiled slightly. "No need to worry."

He walked up to the piles of treasure, activated his mental energy, and silently willed them to be collected. The gleaming treasures instantly vanished.

"A spatial artifact!" Zheng Dan exclaimed, her face suddenly flushing. "No wonder I couldn't find those IOUs and silver notes on you before. So you have something like this... you made me..."

Zu An wrapped his arm around her waist, softer than a willow branch, and planted a firm kiss on her cheek. "If not for this, how would we have had our destiny together?"

"A wicked fate," Zheng Dan scoffed, finally unable to endure his wandering hands. Blushing, she turned and walked out.

Zu An laughed heartily and followed her.

"Oh, right," Zheng Dan said, unable to resist speaking after they left the cave. "I heard dragons hold grudges. You've emptied its home; will it come after you in the future?"

"Don't worry, that dragon won't be coming back," Zu An said with a slight smile.

Zheng Dan's expression shifted slightly. "It seems there's indeed a super expert by your side."

The Sang family had assigned her this task, and she hadn't expected to uncover this information in such a way, at a rather high cost.

Zu An couldn't help but say, "Couldn't it have been me who killed it?"

"You're such a braggart," Zheng Dan scoffed. "Don't worry, I won't tell the Sang family."

She naturally didn't believe Zu An was capable of killing such a terrifying dragon. And since there was no dragon corpse, she figured the powerful individual by his side must have driven it away.

To be able to defeat such a terrifying dragon, just how powerful was that expert?

She had always been confident that the Zheng family could replace the Chu family, as the Chu family was currently struggling. But with such a top-tier expert assisting them, it was hard to say who would ultimately prevail.

Subconsciously, she wanted to recruit Zu An to the Zheng family, but then she remembered her engagement to Sang Qian. She secretly sighed, deciding not to speak.

"What's wrong?" Zu An asked, sensing her sadness, and took her hand.

"Nothing," Zheng Dan said, forcing a smile. Then, remembering something, she hastily asked, "Since that powerful person is with you, then... then weren't we seen these past few days?"

Thinking of her uninhibited behavior over the past few days, she was so mortified she almost wished for a hole to crawl into. She didn't mind showing her passionate side to Zu An.

But the thought of being seen by others filled her with unbearable shame.

"Don't worry, no one saw us," Zu An reassured her, feeling a little guilty. Besides, Queen Mi was a woman anyway, so it didn't really matter if she saw anything.

Speaking of which, Mi Li was quite devious. She claimed to be sleeping but had secretly been watching.

After some reassurance, Zheng Dan gradually calmed down.

"Wait a moment~" After they had walked for a bit, Zheng Dan suddenly turned and ran quickly back into the cave.

Zu An looked puzzled, unsure of what she was doing. When he followed her, he found her tidying up the places where they had slept.

The scattered straw was neatly arranged, and she even used water elemental power to wash down the surroundings.

Zu An was speechless.

Zheng Dan rubbed the corner of her clothes, a little embarrassed. "It would be embarrassing if someone found out."

Zu An found it hard to reconcile the shy young woman before him with the fiery, uninhibited beauty he had seen in the past few days.

The two descended the mountain. When they were about a hundred meters from the officials, Zheng Dan suddenly pulled Zu An back. "A'Zu, don't come with me."

"Worried your fiancé will find out?" Zu An asked with a smile.

Zheng Dan quickly explained, "It's not that. It's mainly because Sang Qian is narrow-minded and has long been unhappy with you. Out here in the wilderness, with no one else around, it would be troublesome if he decided to kill you."

Zu An realized she had a point. The area was deserted, surrounded by Sang Qian's River Defense Camp subordinates. That guy really might harbor murderous intentions.

"Alright then, be careful," Zu An said, reluctantly bidding her farewell.

Zheng Dan suddenly threw herself into his arms, stood on tiptoe, and gave him a passionate kiss. Their lips parted only after a long moment.

"Dan'er, is that you over there?" Sang Qian's voice echoed from a distance.

Zu An's figure was hidden behind a large tree, completely out of sight from their perspective.

Zheng Dan's face flushed slightly. She quickly pushed Zu An away, secretly waved goodbye to him, and then turned to walk out. "General Sang, I'm here."

Sang Qian was both surprised and delighted. He rushed towards her like lightning. "Dan'er, it really is you!"

Sensing the concern in his voice, Zheng Dan felt a pang of guilt. "You've gone to a lot of trouble, General Sang."

"No trouble at all, no trouble at all," Sang Qian laughed heartily, clearly overjoyed to see his fiancée safe and sound. Then his eyes narrowed. "Are your legs injured?"

Zheng Dan was taken aback. "No, why do you ask?"

"I just feel your walking posture is a bit different from before, but I can't quite pinpoint how," Sang Qian said, scratching his head and staring at her legs in confusion.

Zheng Dan's pretty face instantly turned crimson as she thought of A'Zu's exaggerated... every day for the past few days.

Her heart pounded. She quickly changed the subject. "Oh, right, how did you find your way here?"

Sang Qian recovered his thoughts and replied, "A few days ago, a scout from the Giant Whale Gang sent word back that something had happened on the island, so I immediately brought people here. Hmph, Chen Xuan was audacious enough to try to take over the Giant Whale Gang. If I had known, I wouldn't have given face to the Shi family before."

Zheng Dan felt relieved. She knew that not only the Sang family but also the Zheng family had stationed people on Giant Whale Island. She just hadn't expected Chen Xuan to have turned all the high-ranking members against them.

The suddenness of the event prevented their forces from acting effectively.

However, once the Sang and Zheng families reacted, they naturally wouldn't stand by.

"By the way, I heard Chen Xuan was chasing you, and Liu Chan and others were with him. Did they... did they do anything to you?" Sang Qian asked nervously. As a man, he was most worried about certain things, and many unpleasant images were already flashing through his mind.

Zheng Dan's face turned slightly red, and she quickly shook her head. "Of course not!"

She felt a little guilty. While Chen Xuan and his group hadn't, Zu An had...

Hearing her answer, Sang Qian breathed a long sigh of relief. "Where are they now? Don't worry, I'll tear anyone who bullied you into a thousand pieces."

Zu An, hidden in the tree using the Bright Mirror Non-Platform technique, had a strange expression. He wondered if what he had done to Zheng Dan these past few days counted as bullying.

But she had been quite happy throughout the whole process, so it probably wasn't bullying, right? Sang Qian's threat surely didn't include him.

Zheng Dan replied, "They're all dead."

"All dead?" Sang Qian was somewhat incredulous. There was no need to mention Liu Chan's group, but Chen Xuan had lived freely for years despite the combined efforts of the Chu family and the City Lord to eliminate him. And now he was just dead?

Zheng Dan hummed in affirmation and said, half-truthfully, "I was fleeing, and they chased me deep into Dragon Concealment Mountain. By chance, I ended up in a dragon's territory. They were all killed by the enraged dragon, and I managed to escape in the chaos."

She had been thinking for days about how to explain things to her family when she returned, so her answer came without hesitation.

"A dragon!" Not just Sang Qian, but even the soldiers around him were astonished. "Are there really dragons in Dragon Concealment Mountain?"

Zheng Dan nodded. "That dragon was extremely powerful, and it was fire-attributed. With one breath of dragon's fire, Liu Chan and the others were burned to ashes..."

She had heard all this from Zu An before, and she recounted it vividly, describing the dragon's appearance in great detail.

Sang Qian no longer had any doubts and burst into laughter. "I never thought this misfortune would turn into a blessing! I'll immediately go back and gather experts. Then we'll return to hunt this dragon! Hahaha, we're rich, we're rich! A legendary dragon—its entire body must be a treasure!"

Zu An mused silently, "Compared to that dragon, I think your fiancée's entire body is a treasure."

If he had said that out loud, its destructive power would probably be second only to "Your wife is amazing," guaranteeing an off-the-charts collection of rage points.

However, considering Zheng Dan's situation, he ultimately suppressed the urge.