Zu An turned around. He saw a charming and graceful young lady standing by the entrance. She had a golden veil over her face, decorated with agates and rubies. It made her look glamorous and mysterious.
However, people’s attention was drawn more to the girl herself. Even though there was a veil covering her face, they could still see that her face was beautiful.
Underneath her simple and elegant brows was a pair of lovely misty eyes. Those who saw them couldn’t help but want to protect her. There seemed to be a faint smile resting on her lips. Those lips were soft and moist, as if they had been blessed by the sparkling dew of dawn, making all who saw them feel their throats go dry.
As the girl looked around, people would immediately feel the same thing. It was as if she were looking at them with tender feelings, full of friendly regard for them. It was as if she thought of them completely differently from other people.
If this were a different place, countless men would prostrate before her for her favor the moment they saw her. But this was a makeup store. There were only madams and young ladies present.
“Hmph, what a vixen!”
The madams and young ladies normally didn’t usually like each other all that much. Yet this time, they were surprisingly unified.
This woman was just too good at seducing others! They knew if their own men back home saw her, those men would definitely abandon them to pursue her. That was why all of them looked at the woman with unkind expressions.
Zu An was instead pleasantly surprised, exclaiming, “Honglei!”
He had never expected to run into Qiu Honglei in such a place! After their separation the previous time in Yi Commandery, he had thought it would be a long time before they would meet again.
“Ah Zu~” Qiu Honglei completely ignored the jealous eyes around her. She had a big smile on her face.
“He was a playboy after all!”
“He isn’t even looking away after he sees a pretty girl.”
“What was wrong with me for actually liking him earlier?”
…
Because of their dislike toward the woman, all of the women in the shop immediately began to dislike Zu An too.
Zu An suddenly felt as if he had just broken new ground when he saw the continuous stream of Rage points. Not only could he earn Rage points from men by having a pretty girl at his side, he could also make a killing from other women! Once women’s jealousy was stirred, they would become much more terrifying than men.
“Should we chat somewhere else?” Qiu Honglei asked with a smile.
“Sure.” Zu An also felt a bit uncomfortable from being surrounded and watched.
He was just about to leave when Qiu Honglei looked back and gestured, asking, “Are you not going to take your things with you?”
Only then did Zu An notice that he hadn’t taken those products he had purchased yet. He smiled awkwardly and quickly went back in.
“Young master, it isn’t convenient for you to carry all of these things now. We can deliver the goods to you,” the shopkeeper reminded him kindly.
“There’s no need.” Zu An chuckled. After paying the bill, he stored everything in his Brilliant Glass Bead.
“A spatial artifact!” Those who were knowledgeable quickly realized what had happened. They began to whisper among themselves. Anyone who had such a large spatial storage artifact was definitely no one ordinary.
Zu An couldn’t be bothered with what they thought, however. He left the store to meet with Qiu Honglei again.
“Ah Zu, you really are a big spender. You actually bought so many sets in one go,” Qiu Honglei said with an ambiguous smile.
Zu An took out a set and said, “You came at just the right time. This is for you.”
Qiu Honglei rolled her eyes and remarked, “Hmph, are the rest for other girls? I already saw you buy those earlier, so I don’t want it.”
Zu An was speechless. He knew that now wasn’t the time to try to reason with her, so he could only change the topic. He asked, “By the way, why are you in Cloudcenter Commandery?”
“How could I have seen that fantastic scene earlier if I hadn’t come here?” Qiu Honglei was clearly smiling, but there was a hint of danger in her gaze.
Zu An sighed and said, “After we separated last time in Yi Commandery, I thought it would be a long time before we would meet again. After we separated last time, I was held up by the people from the court. After I dealt with them, I went back to where your smoke signal was to see where you were, but I didn’t see anything.”
Qiu Honglei’s expression eased a lot when she heard the concern in his voice. She grabbed his arm and leaned naturally against his shoulder, saying, “But that’s why this is a fated reunion.”
When he felt that incredible sensation against his arm, Zu An didn’t think any strange thoughts and instead only felt warm inside. He asked, “When will you finish cultivating that rubbish technique of yours?”
“The Heavenly Devil Temptation is our Holy Sect’s supreme art. It’s definitely not a rubbish technique.” Qiu Honglei was clearly somewhat dissatisfied. Her playfully upset voice was sweet and intimate, drawing eyes all around them.
When they saw Qiu Honglei’s appearance, the onlookers were incredibly shocked. They immediately aimed envious looks at Zu An.
“Fine, fine. You still haven’t told me when you and I can have a proper relationship yet.” Zu An touched her nose with a smile. When he saw the Rage points that were coming in, he began performing more of those intimate actions to incite those fellows who could see, but would never be able to obtain someone like Qiu Honglei.
Sure enough, those people’s faces turned green. Those who were more fiery-tempered even rolled up their sleeves, as if they were going to come over and start some trouble.
Unfortunately, Qiu Honglei clearly didn’t want their alone time to be disturbed by such side characters. She released her ki aura and scanned them coldly with her gaze. As the Saintess of the Devil Sect, she could even make all of the fierce and tough Devil Sect soldiers docile, let alone such ordinary local ruffians.
Sure enough, those individuals immediately felt chills run through their bodies, and they all withdrew. When they saw that Zu An hadn’t done a thing, and that it was instead the girl who had stepped forward, they all cursed inwardly, This guy is a complete mooch!
But why did they feel so envious while cursing Zu An?
Zu An’s previous overcast mood immediately became much better when he saw another huge wave of Rage points come in.
Only then did Qiu Honglei reply, “I don’t know either… I need to wait until I receive my master’s approval.”
“Where is Yun Jianyue? I’ll go and have a talk with her,” Zu An said unhappily.
Qiu Honglei jumped in fright. She quickly reached out her hand and covered his mouth, exclaiming, “Don’t talk nonsense! If master heard what you said, she’d definitely give you a proper beating.”
“I don’t think she’d do that.” When he remembered all of the things that had happened between him and Yun Jianyue back in the Imperial Palace, a gentle smile couldn’t help but appear on Zu An’s face.
“Huh?” Qiu Honglei was confused. She just felt that something wasn’t quite right.
Zu An coughed lightly out of awkwardness. He said, “Ahem, what I’m saying is that I’m her precious disciple’s lover, so why would she hit me?”
“Even if you were her disciple, wouldn’t she still discipline you properly? Let alone the fact that you’re just my lover,” Qiu Honglei said. Despite her words, she was still extremely happy.
The two teased each other for a bit, but then Zu An suddenly remembered the matter of Yi Commandery. He asked, “Right, what happened in your sect last time anyway? Why was there such a rushed signal for all of you to return? I was worried that something major had happened to you guys.”
Qiu Honglei hesitated for a moment, but then she said, “This is actually something we can’t tell outsiders, but you aren’t an outsider. It won’t matter even if I tell you.” She continued, “One of our elders was killed by a fiend race expert.”
“Huh?” Zu An was somewhat shocked. He had never expected the fiend races and Devil Sect’s relationship to be bad. He asked, “What level of cultivation did your elder have?”
“Eighth rank, I reckon,” Qiu Honglei said with a grave expression. “Most importantly, he died in a rather strange way. He was controlled by a fiend race individual’s evil method, then suddenly attacked his own companions in the sect. Fortunately, the sect master arrived promptly, or else our entire base might have been completely destroyed.
“Out of wrath, my master killed that elder. However, that elder woke back up moments before his death. Only then did my master realize that he was being controlled.”
Zu An’s expression changed when he heard that. Why did the story sound so similar?
Wasn’t Pei You also controlled by someone to kill Zuo Su? He quickly asked, “Which fiend race individuals are that powerful?”
Qiu Honglei replied, “Master immediately traced their aura and fought a great battle with that fiend race cultivator. However, that fellow’s cultivation is extremely strange. Even though master was able to injure him, he was still able to escape.”
“Just how high would his cultivation need to be to escape from someone like your master?!” Zu An was really shocked.
Qiu Honglei said quietly, “My master was wounded by that dog emperor the last time we invaded the Imperial Palace. She hasn’t fully recovered since then. Furthermore, she fought against King Yan not too long ago, or else she wouldn’t have let that fiend race bastard escape. The reason I’m here is also because I’m trying to track him down.”
“Oh, do you know any more details about that fiend race cultivator?” Zu An quickly asked.
Qiu Honglei nodded and said, “Master fought against him, and with her experience and methods, it wasn’t difficult to track down his identity at all. That guy’s name is Kong Qing, one of the fiend races’ three fiend kings. He’s one of the most powerful subordinates of the Peacock King. He excels in invading the target’s soul and controlling their body in battle.”
“Kong Qing?” Zu An had a weird expression on his face. That fellow’s surname was also Kong! Didn’t that mean he was a fellow clansman of Kong Nanwu?
No wonder Kong Nanwu had given him a feather. It turned out she had already known that there was an expert from the Peacock Race in Cloudcenter Commandery. She had been worried that he might be targeted by them, which was why she had given him that identifying symbol. He had to admit that the girl was pretty loyal.
“Then do you know where that Kong Qing is hiding?” Zu An urgently asked.
Qiu Honglei replied, “According to the most recent news, he seems to have appeared at the Zhenyuan Merchant Group. However, I haven’t had time to investigate that yet.”
“It’s the Zhenyuan Merchant Group again?” Zu An exclaimed, his eyes widening.
