Everyone immediately turned to look at Shi Kun in astonishment upon hearing those words.

“???” Qiao Xueying.

“???” Shi Kun’s lackeys.

Qiao Xueying even began wondering if the young master had lost his sanity. How could he possibly be friends with Zu An? That’s impossible!

Chu Chuyan was utterly dumbfounded too. What is Shi Kun up to this time around?

But the one who was the most dumbfounded of all was no other than Shi Kun. He felt like his mind had turned into mush as two conflicting tendencies arose in his head. He even wondered if he had gone mad.

Meanwhile, Zu An heaved a sigh of relief. In this critical moment, he decided to use his skill ‘Befriend a Rich Man’!

Still, how does this skill take my money away though? Do my banknotes just mysteriously disappear or something? More importantly, do I need to bring my banknotes with me, or does it just apply to money that belongs to me?

Goddamnit! I lost 100,000 silver taels just like that! Even a firework goes off with a bam, but my 100,000 silver taels vanished without even a poof!

Just looking at the culprit who forced him to use the skill filled him with great fury, but he forced himself to put on a smile. He walked over to Shi Kun with his arms opened wide, as if preparing to embrace the latter. “Ah, my friend! My deepest apologies for the misunderstandings we had between us earlier!”

Qiao Xueying looked at Zu An as if he was an idiot. You want to hug the young master? Hah, your arms are going to be severed off!

Chu Chuyan also felt her heart thumping nervously. She silently approached the two of them, thinking that she would step right in to save Zu An in case Shi Kun attempted anything.

But to everyone’s disbelief, Shi Kun also opened his arms wide as well to invite Zu An in for an embrace, replying, “My friend, I’ve no idea what gotten over me earlier. Please forgive me for my earlier foolishness.”

Qiao Xueying rubbed her eyes in bewilderment.

Oh my god, I’m going to go blind. When in the world did the young master become friends with Zu An?! Did I get off the wrong side of my bed today? Or am I actually dreaming right now?

She looked at the lackeys around her, only to see disgusted expressions on their faces. Their reactions told her clearly that she wasn’t seeing things here.

Chu Chuyan also thought that the situation unfolding before her eyes was utterly ridiculous. It made her suspect if Zu An had been on the same side as Shi Kun right from the start.

No, that can’t be. Given Shi Kun’s personality, there’s no way he would tolerate his subordinate becoming my husband. If so, Zu An is likely sent by other clans. Is he from the emperor’s faction or the empress’ faction?

All of a sudden, Chu Chuyan felt her body turning icy-cold. She had tried her best to guard against them, but she still fell for their schemes in the end.

You have successfully trolled Chu Chuyan for +512 Rage!

She wasn’t the only one who felt despaired. The others were also contributing a lot of Rage points to Zu An too.

Looking at the inflow of Rage points in his system, Zu An silently thought, Honey, please calm down for now. I’ll explain it all to you later!

Just as he and Shi Kun were about to embrace one another, he summoned Poisonous Prick and aimed it right toward the latter.

He had been wondering how he could best use ‘Befriending a Rich Man’ since it was time-limited, and the concept of ‘friends’ was simply too vague. Everyone had their own interpretation of it, after all!

However, he figured that friends, regardless of what kind, would probably not have their guards up against one another, which created the perfect scenario for him to use Poisonous Prick. As long as he could get close enough to nick the other party with it, he would be able to carry out any assassination with ease.

As Poisonous Prick swiftly approached Shi Kun, a sinister smile suddenly crept on Shi Kun’s face. He deflected Poisonous Prick with his sword before abruptly sinking a punch into Zu An’s body.

Pu!

Zu An spurted a mouthful of blood as he staggered backward. It was fortunate that he had his guard up all along, such that he managed to use Sunflower Phantasm in the final moment to ward off the impact, or else that single punch would have been more than enough to end his life.

This was yet another scene that completely confounded everyone. It was just a second ago that they were friends delighted to reunite with one another, but in the next second, they fell out with one another and tried to take each other’s life. Just what kind of bizarre play was this?!

Chu Chuyan was bewildered, but she still rushed forward to catch Zu An and stop Shi Kun from launching any follow-up attacks.

Zu An fell right into Chu Chuyan’s embrace, but he was too bewildered by the happenings to enjoy her soft and comforting arms. Instead, he stared at Shi Kun in shock as he exclaimed, “Why?! We’re obviously friends with one another!”

He couldn’t make sense of the current situation. While the Keyboard system did often offer terrible prizes, he had never faced any trouble with the effectiveness of its tools before. So, why would it fail him now? Why would Shi Kun still be guarded against him and even attempt to take his life?

Shi Kun looked at Zu An with a smile and said, “We’re friends, but that doesn’t change the fact that your wife is pretty. As they say, true friends go through prosperity and suffering together, so I shan’t hold myself back either.”

“^&*%#@” Zu An.

If the system could collect his Rage points too, it would definitely rocket shoot through the limit right away.

He had never thought that his assassination attempt would actually fail due to this.

Indeed, ‘Befriend a Rich Man’ had turned Shi Kun into his friend, but this perverted bastard couldn’t curb his lustful thoughts for Chu Chuyan because she was too pretty! In other words, he was determined to lay his hands on Chu Chuyan regardless of whether Zu An was his friend or not!

Shit, how could I have overlooked such a possibility? Someone as cold-hearted as Shi Kun wouldn’t hesitate to kill his friend as long as he could gain something out of it!

Damn it, that’s 100,000 silver taels over there! It’s all going to waste just like that!

Zu An thought that there was no greater misery in life than losing 100,000 silver taels in an instant, but it turned out that he was gravely wrong. Even the saddest songs in the world couldn’t hope to describe the anguish he was feeling at this very moment!

It looks like even though the skill can change my affection meter with an individual, it cannot change the individual’s personality. Betrayal does happen between friends after all, so I shouldn’t hope to think that everything would be fine just because I become friends with someone.

Damn it, is there a rewind button in this world? Let me do it all again!

Shi Kun slowly walked over to Zu An and said, “I don’t know why you’re suddenly a friend of mine, but as a fellow friend, allow me to reassure you that you can leave in peace. I’ll take good care of your beautiful wife after your death.”

Ever since he obtained the Rage system, he had been the one to anger others and make them stamp their feet maddeningly, but for the first time in forever, he was actually the one getting angry this time around. Shi Kun was simply too depraved and warped that he couldn’t stand it at all.

It wasn’t just Zu An who was angered here. Chu Chuyan also looked at Shi Kun with a frosty look on her face. “The world praises the Sixth Young Master of the Shi clan for being a humble gentleman, but who could have thought that a depraved beast hides beneath his cover of eloquence!”

Qiao Xueying also silently nodded in agreement. The current Shi Kun was indeed very different from the man in her memories. She could understand him for resorting to some underhanded means to court the woman he fancied, but ever since arriving in this dungeon, perhaps it was due to him knowing that nothing would get out, he lost the morals he usually shackled on himself and began acting as he pleased.

The current Shi Kun felt incredibly foreign to her, leaving her with a great sense of loss.

Shi Kun sneered ruthlessly, “Chu Chuyan, you were the one who forced me to do this. If you hadn’t gotten overly intimate with other men, I wouldn’t have anxiously resorted to such means either!”

“You lunatic!” bellowed Chu Chuyan.

“Well said, honey!” complimented Zu An with a thumbs up. Then, he added his own share in too, “You fucking pervert!”

Initially, Shi Kun didn’t pay much heed to Zu An’s criticisms at all. In his view, Zu An was already a dead man, and whatever insults he hurled were nothing more than the death throes of the weak. In fact, Zu An’s shoutings only further proved his strength and power, which left him with immense satisfaction.

However, it was a different thing to see him doing it together with Chu Chuyan. It felt as if they were the real couple here, and it ignited the pot of envy in his heart.

You have successfully trolled Shi Kun for +996 Rage!

“Bastard Zu An, I’ll slice you into pieces!”

The light around Shi Kun suddenly distorted. Taking a closer look, many translucent wind blades were floating around him, ready to strike forth at any moment to splatter blood.

Tempestuous Blades!

With a furious howl, the wind blades began revolving furiously in Zu An’s direction. Even without trying out their sharpness, Zu An had no doubt that he would be sliced into sashimi pieces at this rate.

Naturally, Chu Chuyan wouldn’t leave him to the lurch. With a bellow, she transformed everything within a three meters radius into ice, shrouding the two of them amidst a blue barrier reminiscent of an eggshell.

It was just that this blue barrier was much more resilient than mere eggshells. The onslaught of wind blades produced ‘kacha kacha’ sounds upon striking the barrier, but they were unable to breach its defense.

However, Zu An wasn’t optimistic about the situation they were in. He noticed that Chu Chuyan’s face was turning pale, and her breathing was getting more and more irregular.

Shi Kun burst into laughter and said, “Young miss Chu’s ‘Blue Guardian’ is indeed as spectacular as the rumors put it out to be. I just wonder how long can it last. It looks like it’s diminishing at a visible pace.”

Chu Chuyan’s blue barrier had been six meters wide at the start, but it had diminished to just around two meters now.

“The young master is truly formidable!”

“Looks like even the number one prodigy of Brightmoon City is nothing before him!”

“No matter how formidable she is, she’s just a woman. Before our dashing young master, it’s inevitable that she would succumb! Hahaha!”

…

Laughter roared in the surroundings as Shi Kun’s lackey cheered loudly for him by the sidelines. It was apparent to anyone with eyes that Shi Kun had the advantage here. The only one who remained silent was Qiao Xueying, who watched the scene with a brooding look on her face.

A moment later, the blue barrier grew even smaller, becoming just a meter wide. It left the duo inside with no choice but to huddle closely together.

Had it been on any other occasion, Zu An would surely have been delighted to get so intimate with Chu Chuyan, but looking at her ghastly pale face and the sweat dripping profusely from her cheeks, he couldn’t remain in his merry mood anymore.

Meanwhile, Shi Kun watched as the cracks on the blue barrier grew more and more numerous, and a smile finally broke on on his face.

It’s all finally going to be over. I’ll first deal with Zu An before sealing the deal with Chu Chuyan.

Chu Chuyan is a prideful woman though. If I force my way with her, it’s unlikely that she’d agree with it. Perhaps I should spare Zu An and use his life to threaten her to submit to me?

Shi Kun was a little conflicted. The notion of Chu Chuyan submitting to him for another man displeased him greatly, but the thought of the lofty beauty kneeling before him for her husband felt incredibly enticing too. Ahhh, my heart is racing now.

All of a sudden, Zu An asked, “Brother Shit, are you filial to your mother?”