Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Everyone turned to Meng Zhi with nervous expressions.
The lives of An Lin and everyone else were pretty much in Meng Zhi’s hands. Thank God the Great Empress wasn’t the type of person to kill then ask questions, otherwise, An Lin and the others would be well and truly in a dire situation.
From the Great Empress’ perspective, An Lin was definitely an enemy to the snow maidens, the kind which she would want to immediately get rid of upon encountering. However, they had appeared before her right now, but Meng Zhi wasn’t displaying any animosity toward them. This was quite a confusing scenario for the Great Empress.
It was exactly because of this that the Great Empress calmed herself down to try and figure out what had happened first.
An Lin and the others could only pray that Meng Zhi would tell the truth and nothing but the truth, which was that they had combined their forces to fight against a common enemy. Only then would they have any hope of escaping.
If a battle really did erupt, they were most likely screwed.
Dongfang Zhuangshi was a Dao Integration Stage mythological beast, but he was only a half-dead Dao Integration Stage mythological beast. From a combat prowess perspective, he was only a little bit more powerful than a mighty figure at the Return to Void Pinnacle Stage.
If the Great Empress really was to attack them, they would be in a dire situation.
Unless he suddenly made a miraculous breakthrough or something like that, it would be difficult for them to escape, let alone defeat the Great Empress.
Meng Zhi paused for a moment before speaking in a faint voice, “I had been forced to the brink of death by the Dark Sorcery Ghost when they stood up and saved me from a dire situation.”
An Lin’s eyes widened in shock. “???”
A slight blush appeared on Dongfang Zhuangshi’s face.
Xu Xiaolan and the others were all dumbstruck.
Had they heard her right? Had Meng Zhi just said that they had stood up and saved her from a dire situation?
Did they really take that much initiative? Dongfang Zhuangshi accidentally entered the battle, upon which they had no choice but to fight!
They were hoping that Meng Zhi would tell the truth, but they didn’t think she would weave such a moving story…
However, the Great Empress was not so easily fooled. She turned to An Lin and the others. She exuded a cold regal might as she said, “I don’t understand. Why would you save our High Priestess?”
An Lin and Xu Xiaolan all had vendettas against the snow maidens. Even then, they were still willing to help them. This was far too bizarre no matter how you thought about it!
An Lin replied in an indifferent voice, “That’s right, we are not fond of you snow maidens. However, the Dark Sorcery Ghost killed our great friend, the Divine Poison Frog! This is a heinous crime that it had committed against us, so we were determined to make it pay with its life!”
Grief-stricken expressions appeared on the faces of Dongfang Zhuangshi, Xu Xiaolan, Xiao Ze, Gluttony, and the Peerless Saber Demon.
Ao Niu even had tears flowing down its face in an extremely realistic display of sorrow.
Who said a simple-minded cow couldn’t act? Genuine grief instantly welled up in its heart when it thought about how the Divine Poison Frog had left them without even giving everyone a farewell. It could be said that these were academy award level acting skills, but it could also be said that this was not acting at all.
“The Divine Poison Frog?” The Great Empress’ brows furrowed in thought.
Meng Zhi took over from here. “I don’t know about that, but An Lin and that middle-aged man were all quite angry when they were battling the Dark Sorcery Ghost. So that was the reason why.”
“The enemy of an enemy is a friend,” Dongfang Zhuangshi chimed in.
The Great Empress: “…”
The Great Empress scanned her eyes across An Lin’s group with a smile before lingering on An Lin’s face. “The Dark Sorcery Ghost is already dead. Are you not afraid that I’m going to attack you now?”
An Lin chuckled lightly. “We’re not here for a fight, but if you want to fight, then a fight is what we shall have.”
“Big Sister, how about we just let things end like this?” Meng Zhi suggested.
The Great Empress turned to Meng Zhi with a hint of surprise on her face before turning to look at An Lin and the others, only to discover that their expressions had not shifted in the slightest.
She took another long look at An Lin before heaving a light sigh. “So be it. Seeing as you saved Meng Zhi, we’ll end things here for now. But the next time we meet, we’ll still be enemies.”
“I feel much more at ease hearing you say that,” An Lin replied with a smile.
“Are you relieved because I’m letting you go?” the Great Empress asked with a hint of a smile on her face.
“No.” An Lin shook his head. “What I mean is, I’m glad we’re all on the same page here. Next time we meet, we will indeed still be enemies.”
The Great Empress’ expression faltered.
Meng Zhi: “…”
Dongfang Zhuangshi: “…”
Xu Xiaolan turned to the calm and collected man beside her, and she felt that he was super cool at this moment!
The Great Empress came to her senses before speaking in an indifferent voice, “Alright then, my enemy. You better be careful next time.”
“Sure. Farewell.” An Lin joined his hands in a smiling salute before gesturing to Xiao Ze and the others. “Let’s go!”
In the past, An Lin was a no-name noob, and the Great Empress couldn’t even be bothered to remember his name. However, the fact that she was referring to him as an enemy indicated that she was holding An Lin in much higher regard.
An Lin was not pleased by this in the slightest. Instead, he felt like his heart was extremely exhausted from all these mind games, but he still had to act like he had everything under control in order to not blow their covers.
“Roar!”
The massive black dragon over ten thousand feet in length flew away into the distance.
The Great Empress did not stop them, and they made a graceful departure. Only An Lin and the others knew just how perilous the situation was. Now that they had a chance to leave, they were obviously going to take it with both hands.
The Great Empress looked on as An Lin and the others faded into the distance before turning to Meng Zhi with a curious expression. “High Priestess, can you tell me now why you decided to let An Lin and his party go?”
Upon hearing this, Meng Zhi faltered slightly before a bitter smile appeared on her face.
This was the Great Empress of the snow maidens here; she was not that easy to fool.
“An Lin is a Dragon Tribe mighty figure in disguise!” Meng Zhi finally confessed.
“Is he very powerful?” The Great Empress did not burst into laughter or refuse to believe this. Instead, she took Meng Zhi’s claim quite seriously.
After all, it would be unthinkable that a normal Soul Formation Stage cultivator could stand before her calmly and exchange what were essentially declarations of war with her.
Meng Zhi recalled the projection that had stood proudly above the stars, and her heart trembled as she nodded. “He is indeed extremely powerful… In fact, he is most likely an existence above the Dao Integration Stage!”
The Great Empress’ expression shifted minutely. “Even if a being like this has had his power restricted, it is still best not to mess with them. There are simply too many mishaps that can occur. You did well in taking care of this matter.”
Meng Zhi nodded. “We’ve made far too many enemies already. A mighty figure like An Lin really isn’t someone we can afford to mess with now…”
The Great Empress fell silent.
Meng Zhi: “Oh, right, this battle…”
The Great Empress said, “Ghost Emperor Po Jun agreed to hand over ten big cities and a hundred small cities as a temporary sanctuary for us snow maidens.”
“Isn’t that too little? Such a small area is not going to be big enough to house so many people!” Meng Zhi was a little distressed upon hearing this.
“Let’s settle everyone down first. We’ll think about what to do next from here.
“It’s alright as long as our brethren can all survive…”
The Great Empress turned her eyes toward the east, where a boundless realm of snow and ice lay, from within which something extremely terrifying seemed to be taking shape. “For the sake of our brethren, we have to constantly prepare ourselves to become the antagonists of this world. We… don’t have any other choice.”
Tears welled up in Meng Zhi’s eyes upon hearing this, and she nodded with a solemn expression. “I’m already mentally prepared to sacrifice myself!”
