With a look of absolute horror, Shi Kun bellowed at Zu An ferociously to stay away.

Of course, there was no way Zu An was going to listen to him. Holding Chu Chuyan in his arms, he ran right toward where Shi Kun was.

Looking at the zombie spearmen trailing behind him, Shi Kun felt something explode in his mind. Never had he ever hated a single person in his life so much as he did at this moment.

However, the situation didn’t allow him any chance to wallow in his emotions. He hurriedly called upon every means available to him to fend off the zombie spearmen and escape. If he failed, he would be swamped.

“Young master, be careful!” 

Qiao Xueying directed some of her vines toward Shi Kun to block some of the zombie spearmen that were charging toward him. Her wood element seemed to be at an advantage when it came to curbing the undead, possibly because of how it was attuned to life-force. 

As powerful as Shi Kun’s Tempestuous Blades were, there was no flesh or blood for him to shred off from the bodies of the zombie spearmen, even if he could somehow get past the shields they were wielding. As a result, he found himself in a rather hopeless position.

If even I am struggling against them, Zu An should be dead by now, given how weak he is, right?

At this point, he couldn’t care less whether Zu An was dead or not; his focus was on Chu Chuyan. He quickly scanned his surroundings, and his eyes widened in shock. He saw Zu An weaving around the zombie spearmen in a blur, waiting for his opportunity to land a strike. Amazingly, every strike he dealt resulted in the death of a zombie spearman.

That doesn’t make sense! His strength and speed are at most on par with mine!

 Shi Kun was bewildered. He had tasted the defensive prowess of the zombie spearmen personally, and they were definitely not the kind of trash that could be killed with a single strike.

Wait a moment. Is that a spear?

Shi Kun suddenly noticed that Zu An was wielding a spear which was identical to those of the zombie spearmen. It seemed like he had just picked it up from the floor. A thought surfaced in his mind, and he immediately hollered to his other two companions, “Use the zombies’ weapons! They are effective against them!”

Right after saying those words, he immediately picked up one of the spears that had fallen on the ground and started brandishing it about him. Despite his lack of proficiency with the spear, he found that any zombies he managed to hit were instantly slowed by about fifty percent, thus relieving the pressure on him. 

Who could have thought that this spear would actually wield such great prowess!

Shi Kun considered taking a batch of these spears with him when he left. They might just be some sort of incredibly powerful weapon!

Qiao Xueying and the remaining fourth rank cultivators quickly followed suit. They all grabbed a spear each and began fighting back. It looked like they would be able to hold on, at least for the time being. 

While Zu An had successfully lured most of the zombie spearmen towards Shi Kun, five of them had insisted on chasing him. 

“Put me down,” said Chu Chuyan feebly.

Zu An shook his head, refusing to let her go.

Chu Chuyan sighed helplessly. “It won’t be easy for you to deal with so many zombie spearmen while holding onto me,” she explained. “You can put me down in a corner first and fight them off. Once you’re done, you can just… just pick me up and leave.”

“Ah, I misunderstood your words,” Zu An replied with a soft chuckle. He gently put her down in a corner of the cavern, making sure she was safe. Then, he turned around and charged towards the five zombie spearmen.

He exerted his Sunflower Phantasm to its very limits, dancing around as he thrust the spear in his hands at his opponents. However, due to his lack of proficiency with the spear, he found it hard to circumvent the shields of the zombie spearmen and strike their bodies. 

“Time your attacks carefully. Wait for the precise moment that they try to strike,” said Chu Chuyan. 

She had already resigned herself to fate, but she didn’t want to see Zu An dying for her sake. As the number prodigy of Brightmoon City, her combat sense and experience far surpassed that of Zu An’s.

Zu An nodded. He flitted around the zombie spearmen, baiting their attacks. He waited until the moment one of them lowered their shield slightly to thrust their spear forward, then swiftly thrust his own spear into the opening, striking it squarely in the chest. 

Using the same trick, he struck another one of the zombie spearmen squarely in the chest, killing it on the spot. However, while his spear was still lodged inside its body, one of its allies suddenly charged forward and grabbed the other end of his spear, attempting to pull it off his hand.

“Let go!” bellowed Zu An as he attempted to retract the spear by force.

The zombie spearman lurched forward from the sudden tug, but it still insisted on hanging onto the weapon. Just like that, the two of them started a ludicrous tug-of-war match in the middle of the battlefield.

While his hands were busy, the remaining two zombie spearmen moved in from the sides, trying to take him down.

Just as it looked like Zu An was going to be done in by this coordinated attack, he suddenly raised his arm and shot an arrow right into the head of the zombie spearman tugging on his spear.

The zombie spearman stared at him stupidly.

What happened to sportsmanship?! This is supposed to be an honorable battle. How can you resort to using hidden weapons?

You have successfully trolled Zombie Spearman for 6… 6… 6… 

Zu An couldn’t hide his amusement. He didn’t expect these zombie soldiers to possess sentience. It was a pity that they didn’t seem too smart, which would have let him earn a larger amount of Rage points.

Then again, if they really were smarter, it would have been much more difficult for him to deal with them

Although his mind was wandering a little, his body hadn’t stopped moving. After shooting down the zombie spearman before him, he swiftly retracted his spear and stabbed its point into the bodies of the remaining two zombie spearmen approaching him in quick succession.

After eliminating the five zombie spearmen, Zu An turned around with delight to report his success to Chu Chuyan, only to be almost scared out of his wits.

Three zombie axemen had somehow reached her, and their axe blades were already descending towards her. Despite this, Chu Chuyan was looking on with a peaceful expression, not making the slightest noise at all.

Zu An immediately threw the spear in his hand forward like a javelin, killing one of the zombie axemen instantly. Then, he raised his hidden crossbow and shot another one down.

Pushing his Sunflower Phantasm to its very limits, he managed to close the distance between himself and the last zombie in the nick of time, blocking the axe at the very last moment. Picking up one of the spears lying around, he ended the zombie axeman’s life.

After all this was done, he examined Chu Chuyan carefully. “Are you injured? Why didn’t you ask for help?!” he exclaimed.

“You were in a dangerous situation earlier, and I didn’t want to distract you. Besides, I’m already done for. It makes no difference whether I die right now or a little later.” Chu Chuyan’s face slowly reddened, and she quickly added, “By the way, can you stop touching me?”

Zu An scratched his head sheepishly as he quickly pulled his hand away. “I’m just checking if you’re injured. I’m not trying to take advantage of you.”

Chu Chuyan replied with a nod before falling silent.

Meanwhile, the other zombie spearmen had witnessed the tragic plight of their comrades at Zu An’s hands, and quickly charged toward him. By his count, there were about thirty or forty of them.

A deep furrow immediately formed on Chu Chuyan’s forehead. “Hurry up and put me down!”

“That won’t do. I can’t keep so many of them at bay simultaneously. If I leave you here, you’ll surely be killed!” Zu An shook his head. He knew that he couldn’t leave her alone anymore, not since she refused to speak up despite being in imminent danger earlier on.

He quickly picked her up and charged right into the midst of the oncoming zombie spearmen. He had to seize the initiative and strike first, instead of allowing them to surround him. If that happened, things would get very dicey.

His movements were unpredictable, and he was swiftly getting more and more adept at using the spear in tandem with his Sunflower Phantasm. He struck quite a number of the zombie spearmen squarely, their bodies falling to the ground, dead before they could even react.

“You can only use one hand while you’re holding me, and your speed and form are affected as well. You can’t use a spear properly with just one hand. On top of that, you’re also depleting your ki at a faster rate. If you go on like this, you’ll die for sure!” said Chu Chuyan anxiously.

“Don’t worry. Didn’t you say that vermin plague the land for centuries? I won’t die that easily!” said Zu An. “I’m glad that my wife isn’t a pig, though. Fighting while holding her in one arm would be a pain otherwise.”

“You’re the one who is a pig,” Chu Chuyan grumbled coyly.

Seeing that Zu An had already made up his mind, she chose not to say any more, lest she distracted him. Nevertheless, worry traced a constant, deep furrow on her forehead. It wasn’t easy for him to deal with so many zombie spearmen simultaneously, even in his peak condition, let alone now, when he was handicapped by carrying her.

As the fight wore on, however, Chu Chuyan realized that she had still been underestimating Zu An’s strength. Even while he was carrying her, he was still able to move elusively, and every strike of his spear was precise, claiming the life of a zombie spearman with each thrust.

In fact, he seemed on par with her at her peak, at least in terms of strength and speed. Factoring in his powerful movement skill as well, it was likely that she wouldn’t be a match for him if she didn’t resort to her elemental powers.

After killing twenty-three zombie spearmen in succession, Zu An’s movements began to slow down. The constant exertion was starting to take a toll on him, evidenced by his heavy breathing. Carrying a person in one arm and brandishing a spear in the other was exhausting, and Zu An’s right arm was aching terribly, almost to the point of numbness.

To make things worse, the more zombie spearmen he killed, the more of them turned their attention towards him. More and more of them were peeling off from their fight with Shi Kun and his entourage to attack him instead.

Damn it! Are zombies attracted to my charm too?

“Brother Shit, you always talk as if you’re the greatest in the world, so why aren’t you pulling your weight right now? All of your zombie friends are coming my way now!” Zu An yelled.

Shi Kun immediately yelled back without bothering to put on his usual mask of politeness. “Screw you! We were the ones who were dealing with the bulk of the zombies earlier, leaving you with an easy time. Stop grumbling and do your part!”

He was clearly the one who was suffering the brunt of the blow here, and yet, the one who was holding onto his beloved goddess still dared to claim the greatest credit while complaining about it. Shi Kun felt as if he was about to burst.

You have successfully trolled Shi Kun for 999 Rage points!

Pressured as he was, Zu An wasn’t able to check his stock of Rage points right now. He tightened the grip of his left arm, pulling Chu Chuyan closer to him, as he continued brandishing his spear at those zombie spearmen with his right arm.

Unfortunately, both his speed and strength had dropped off greatly. Barely after he had killed a zombie spearman and was about to retract his spear, one of its allies immediately thrust its spear toward Chu Chuyan. Clearly, they had realized that Chu Chuyan was his greatest weakness right now.

Zu An gritted his teeth as he twisted his body again, taking the blow for Chu Chuyan.

*Puchi!*

The spear plunged into Zu An’s flesh, and blackness flickered at the edges of his vision, threatening to steal away his consciousness. He was already in a weakened state to begin with, and this attack had nearly taken him down for good.

“Ah Zu!” Chu Chuyan cried out anxiously.

Zu An squeezed out a smile and replied, “It’s almost as if I’m putting my life on the line in order to court you. Have you considered betrothing yourself to me in return?”