Chapter 100: Isn’t It Just Acting?
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Zhu Chuanzhi was like a rabid dog released from its cage. His entire body transformed into a sharp blade light about to strike Zhou Shu.
Zhu Chuanzhi was confident that even a third-rank martial artist wouldn’t be able to take this attack head-on easily!
If a martial artist of the same rank didn’t die, they would be severely injured!
!!
With this move, he unleashed 120% of his potential. He even felt that the power of his move had already surpa.s.sed the fourth rank of the Martial Dao!
Zhu Chuanzhi even felt a sliver of hope rise in his heart. If he could break through now, not only would he have a chance of escaping from Zhou Shu, but he would also have a chance of escaping the city with his elder brother!
As Zhu Chuanzhi thought this, he suddenly realized that something was amiss.
On the other side, Zhou Shu seemed to be scared silly, and he neither dodged nor blocked.
Is he so confident?
Impossible. Even a third-rank Grandmaster wouldn’t disregard my move!
In this split second, a thought suddenly flashed through Zhu Chuanzhi’s mind. Could this Zhou Shu be the real one? And the one last night was fake?
At this point, he suddenly thought of his elder brother’s idea.
In the blink of an eye, Zhu Chuanzhi’s hand shifted slightly to the right.
With a loud boom, a deep fissure appeared on the ground beside Zhou Shu.
Zhu Chuanzhi was slightly out of breath, but he didn’t have time to rest. With a flash, he appeared beside Zhou Shu.
His hands grabbed Zhou Shu’s shoulders like eagle claws.
A stream of spiritual essence rushed into Zhou Shu’s body.
Indeed! Zhu Chuanzhi let out a sigh of relief. Zhou Shu’s body didn’t have the slightest trace of spiritual essence.
He knew it. How could a mere Forging Apprentice, who had only contacted the Martial Dao for a few days, have higher cultivation than him?
The Zhou Shu last night was indeed someone else in disguise.
This person with no cultivation was the real superintendent of the 0th Workshop!
“W-who are you?” Zhou Shu said with a trembling voice.
He admired his own acting skills. At this moment, countless thoughts flashed through his mind. In the end, he decided to take a gamble!
If Zhu Chuanzhi wasn’t a fool, he would definitely suspect the ident.i.ty of the Zhou Shu he met last night.
If he suspected that the one last night was fake, he wouldn’t kill him. At least, he wouldn’t kill him right away.
Since Zhu Chuanzhi was still in the city, it meant that Zhu Chuanfeng was definitely still in the city. Perhaps he would be able to capture him through Zhu Chuanzhi!
Zhou Shu decided to display his acting skills again. In any case, with his current cultivation in the Golden Bell Shield Technique, even if he had taken Zhu Chuanzhi’s attack head-on, he would have at most been injured and wouldn’t have died.
If he managed to catch Zhu Chuanfeng, he would make a killing.
Zhou Shu hadn’t forgotten that Zhu Chuanfeng still had seven heaven-grade weapons.
As Zhou Shu had expected, Zhu Chuanzhi really stopped.
“So you are Zhou Shu!”
Zhou Shu didn’t answer but instead mumbled to himself.
Whoosh—
The sound of the wind echoed as a few figures rushed over from all directions.
Zhu Chuanzhi’s figure flickered as he appeared behind Zhou Shu. He pressed his hand against Zhou Shu’s back, ready to kill him at any moment.
At this moment, a few figures landed in the courtyard.
“Who is it!” a voice shouted.
Without waiting for Zhu Chuanzhi to speak, Zhou Shu said, “Brother Zhao, it’s alright. It’s my friend. We just sparred a bit and caused some commotion. All of you can leave.”
Just as he opened his mouth, Zhu Chuanzhi’s body tensed up. He was just about to attack when he heard Zhou Shu’s words, so he withdrew his strength.
The few people who had rushed over were a bit puzzled. But after hearing Zhou Shu’s words, they didn’t say anything and cupped their hands.
“Second Master, we’ll stand guard outside. If there’s anything, just call us,” the leader said.
Zhou Shu nodded and gestured for them to leave.
These people were all guards arranged by Mi Zhifu. Their cultivation levels varied from the fifth to the seventh rank of the Martial Dao. They could be considered experts.
Only the Mi family was wealthy enough to easily send out a few ranked martial artists as guards. Mi Ziwen really treated Zhou Shu as a brother. Otherwise, the Mi family wouldn’t have put in so much effort.
Even if it was the Mi family, ranked martial artists weren’t aplenty.
“Great Sir, let’s talk it over. How much do you want? Name a price. I won’t bargain,” Zhou Shu said.
“Look, I’ve already dismissed all the guards. Relax a little. Everyone has times when they’re short on money. I should help out if I can. There’s really no need to fight and kill.”
Zhu Chuanzhi sighed in relief. When he heard Zhou Shu’s words, he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
Does he think I’m a thief? That I’m here to steal money?
Are you blind? Can’t you see the marks on the ground?
Would such an expert need to be a thief?
Zhu Chuanzhi couldn’t be bothered to explain. He said coldly, “Do you want to die or live?”
“Of course I want to live!” Zhou Shu said without hesitation.
“Very good!” Zhu Chuanzhi said coldly, “If you want to live, then listen to my orders!”
“Sir, tell me. As long as you don’t make me commit treason, I’ll do anything!” Zhou Shu said.
“Commit treason? You?” Zhu Chuanzhi sneered sarcastically. “Do you have a carriage in your residence?”
“There’s one,” Zhou Shu answered. Mi Zhifu had left it for him.
“Get someone to bring the carriage over,” Zhu Chuanzhi said.
“Why?” Zhou Shu blurted out.
“Cut the c.r.a.p! If you want to live, don’t ask so much!” Zhu Chuanzhi growled.
Zhou Shu seemed to be frightened and quickly said, “Alright, alright, I won’t ask!”
He raised his voice and ordered the people outside to prepare the carriage. Then he turned around and whispered, “Great Sir, is this okay? Can you let me go now?”
“When the time comes, I’ll let you go.” Zhu Chuanzhi pushed him forward. “Go!”
“Ah…” Zhou Shu staggered a step and cried out in surprise, “Sir, you’re being unreasonable! I’ve already prepared a carriage for you—”
“I didn’t say I would release you now!” Zhu Chuanzhi sneered. “Be good and listen to me. I’ll let you go when we get there.
“Don’t try to call for help. Your guards won’t be able to save you.”
“No, I won’t,” Zhou Shu hurriedly said. “Sir, you must be careful. My body is weak, and I can’t withstand any torture.”
Zhu Chuanzhi laughed coldly. He grabbed Zhou Shu’s arm with one hand and pressed the other on the back of Zhou Shu’s heart. Just like that, they boarded the carriage outside.
“There’s no need for a carriage driver. You can drive!” Zhu Chuanzhi growled.
“I don’t know how,” Zhou Shu said.
“Argh.”
“I’ll do it!”
Zhu Chuanzhi exerted strength in his hands, causing Zhou Shu to yell loudly.
He felt Zhu Chuanzhi exerting his strength and hurriedly controlled his body. The Golden Bell Shield Technique would reflect attacks. He was afraid that if he didn’t control it, he would injure Zhu Chuanzhi.
He hurriedly drove the carriage forward.
Zhou Shu wasn’t lying. He really didn’t know how to drive a carriage. But fortunately, it wasn’t too difficult. With Zhu Chuanzhi leading the way, he was finally able to force the carriage forward.
The carriage had the insignia of the Mi family on it, and Zhou Shu was also a workshop superintendent. Along the way, although they encountered a few constables from the Divine Constable Bureau patrolling the area, they managed to pa.s.s through them safely.
This surprised Zhu Chuanzhi.
They arrived at the Zhu brothers’ secret hideout. The carriage stopped at the entrance. Zhou Shu could already hear Zhu Chuanfeng’s breathing through the wall.
Zhu Chuanfeng’s breathing quickened as if he had heard something outside.
Zhu Chuanzhi came to the door and knocked with a special rhythm.
“Big Brother, it’s me,” Zhu Chuanzhi whispered.
Creak!
The door opened slightly, and Zhu Chuanfeng’s head popped out.
Bang! Almost immediately, the door slammed shut again.
“Big Brother—”
“Chuanzhi! Are you trying to get me killed?” Zhu Chuanfeng said angrily.
Zhu Chuanzhi turned around and glanced at Zhou Shu. He understood what was going on and said with a bitter smile, “Big Brother, you’ve misunderstood. This Zhou Shu is the real one. He doesn’t have any cultivation at all! The man I met last night was an impostor!”
“Really?” Zhu Chuanfeng sounded a little doubtful as the door opened a little more.
After confirming that his brother wasn’t being held hostage by force, he opened the door and urged Zhu Chuanzhi to drive the carriage in.
“The carriage belongs to the Mi family?” Zhu Chuanfeng was pleasantly surprised. The Mi family was extraordinary. Ordinary people wouldn’t dare to check the carriage.
“I almost forgot this brat is Mi Ziwen’s sworn brother!”
Although the matter of Mi Ziwen and Zhou Shu becoming sworn siblings was not widely publicized, it was not deliberately kept secret either. People could still find out if they wanted to.
Zhu Chuanfeng looked at Zhou Shu, a strange feeling in his eyes.
Zhou Shu felt a bit embarra.s.sed by his stare. He shrank back a bit and said, “Grand… Grand Craftsman Zhu, although I rejected you before, there shouldn’t be any deep hatred between us, right? Don’t tell me you want to kill me?”
“Kill you?” Zhu Chuanfeng laughed. “Killing you would be too wasteful. I wanted to take you in as my disciple, but there’s no need for that now. I’ll use you however I can. Say, if I use the Huben Saber, Hundred Refinements Ring Pommel Saber, Horse Slaying Saber, and Spring Embroidered Saber as my pledge of allegiance, what benefits will Great Wei give me?”
“You’re a Grand Craftsman. Even if you join Great Wei, you’re still a Grand Craftsman. Is there a need for you to use standard weapons as a pledge of allegiance?” Zhou Shu asked in confusion. He didn’t sense the aura of the seven heaven-grade weapons on Zhu Chuanfeng’s body, so he was in no hurry to make a move.
Zhu Chuanfeng sneered, but he didn’t say anything. He turned to look at Zhu Chuanzhi.
“We have the carriage of the Mi family. With Zhou Shu, we have a good chance of getting out of the city!” Zhu Chuanfeng said in a low voice. “Chuanzhi, get ready. We’ll leave immediately. We don’t want anything to happen if we delay!”
Zhu Chuanzhi nodded and forcefully pushed Zhou Shu. “You drive the carriage. Go! After we leave the city, I’ll let you go!”
“No!” Zhou Shu didn’t move. “Grand Craftsman Zhu just said that he’ll use me as a pledge of allegiance. I’ll die either way. I won’t leave!”
He sat on the ground and stuck out his neck, looking like he would rather die than submit.
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