Unsheathed

Chen Ping'an exhaled and pointed at the young man in front of the cavalrymen, saying to Zeng Ye and Ma Duyi, "Perhaps the two of you didn't pay attention or didn't have the opportunity to see, but I've seen this person's appearance inside a residence at Bamboo Scroll Lake's Willow Catkin Island. I saw it twice, so I know that his name is Han Jingxin. He's the younger brother of Prince Han Jingling, and the two of them share the same father but a different mother. He's extremely well known in the capital of the Stone Brush Nation, and he's also the favorite son of the empress of the Stone Brush Nation."

Chen Ping'an rubbed his hands together and continued, "I once interacted with two princes who enjoyed similar statuses to Han Jingling and Han Jingxin. They were also brothers, and they hailed from a place called the Great Quan Empire in the Parasol Leaf Continent. However, these two brothers from the Parasol Leaf Continent seemed much smarter than Han Jingling and Han Jingxin. They would at the very least not scheme against other people regardless of whether they were performing good deeds or bad deeds. On the other hand, the youngest prince of the Stone Brush Nation in front of us appears to enjoy clashing head-on."

Ma Duyi's expression changed slightly.

Chen Ping'an smiled faintly and reassured, "There's no need to worry. No one knows your true identity, so you won't bring harm to your clan."

"Do I need you to tell me this?" Ma Duyi huffed. "I'm worried about you biting off more than you can chew and needlessly losing your life here. At that time... you'll screw me over as well and cause me to get kidnapped by that perverted prince!"

Chen Ping'an naturally knew that Ma Duyi was expressing sincere care for his safety and well-being. As for the second half of her final remark, this was most likely as a result of Ma Duyi being naturally shy and liking to purposely conceal her kind words, instead transforming them into mean remarks.

Chen Ping'an turned around and smiled at her, saying, "From the beginning to the end, I still haven't told the two of you to turn around and flee, right?"

Zeng Ye's entire mind was filled with Miss Su right now, and he was mulling over the premise that Mr. Chen had mentioned to him just then. How should he deal with such a situation? His thoughts were a complete mess, so chaotic that he didn't catch the implication in Mr. Chen's words.

Meanwhile, Ma Duyi was an intelligent and considerate young woman. Otherwise, she couldn't have advanced to the Abode Tier of the Middle Five Tiers at such a young age. If it weren't for the calamity that she had faced, and if she hadn't gone crazy and insisted on standing her ground against that flood dragon, perhaps she would have had the potential to slowly advance to the Dragon Gate Tier and become a lofty cultivator in Bamboo Scroll Lake. At that time, she could have forged some good relationships with her seniors and the cultivators of the other large islands, allowing her to obtain an island and establish her own force in Bamboo Scroll Lake.

Even though Ma Duyi understood Chen Ping'an's insinuation, she was still wracked with worry as she asked, "Mr. Chen, are you truly going to fight to the death with that prince?"

Ma Duyi hurriedly added, "I'm not speaking for those cavalrymen, of course, but Bamboo Scroll Lake had never really promoted fighting for the sake of one's emotions. Either one doesn't fight, or one completely exterminates their enemies if they fight. What will happen if we engage in a conflict with Han Jingxin here? After all, we still need to travel to the heartland of the Stone Brush Nation afterward, and we still need to visit many provinces and states in the north. Will things become very troublesome? Will this delay Mr. Chen's important tasks?"