Chu Chuyan’s fair face tinged in red, and she began fidgeting awkwardly upon hearing those words.
“…” Zu An.
As a woman, don’t you feel embarrassed for asking about such a thing?
“What do you mean by I’m not ‘abled’? I’ve always been abled, alright?!” roared Zu An furiously.
“Heh!”
His remark was met with a roll of the eyes from Qiao Xueying. Please! All of us here know the truth better than anyone else!
Chu Chuyan eventually spoke up, “Divine Physician Ji has checked on his condition and prescribed him medicine to cure him. The main ingredient is the Evanescent Lotus.”
“You mean the legendary Evanescent Lotus that can raise a cultivator’s cultivation by a step for each flower petal consumed?” Qiao Xueying was shocked. “He gave that to you?”
As a cultivator, she knew better than anyone who difficult it was to raise one’s cultivation even by a step, especially when one got to the later stages. A single flower petal could offset years of hard work one would need to make a breakthrough. If a high-level cultivator were to consume it, it could easily offset decades or even centuries of hard work! That was just how formidable of a treasure the Evanescent Lotus was!
Chu Chuyan nodded in response as she looked at Zu An with a gentle look in her eyes.
“Rumor has it that the Evanescent Lotus has nine flower petals. How many of it did he give to you?” asked Qiao Xueying.
Now that she thought about it, she did recall hearing about the Evanescent Lotus from Zhang Han, just that she was too affected by Shi Kun’s betrayal and the despairing plight she was in that she instinctively ignored everything that was going on around her.
“He… gave it all to me.” Recalling how Zu An had fed her the flower petals mouth-to-mouth, her voice grew quieter and quieter.
Qiao Xueying glanced at Zu An with a complicated look in her eyes as she remarked, “You really went all out to win Miss Chu over.”
She had entered the underground palace together with them, but she ended up expending her most precious Half Life’s Fate and lost half of her lifespan whereas Chu Chuyan obtained the Evanescent Lotus and grew by almost one whole cultivation rank.
What’s with this huge contrast? Why is my life so tough…
Sensing Qiao Xueying’s downcast mood, Zu An remarked, “Don’t feel that it’s unfair. I gave up a lot for you too.”
I used up tens of thousands of Rage points there, and that’s not including the losses I made from the ‘three times draw nothing at all’ debuff! Otherwise, I might have just gotten something powerful or cool from this!
Qiao Xueying was displeased as she wondered what Zu An had given up for her. But all of a sudden, she remembered the mysterious medicine he conjured out of nowhere that saved her life.
Even though he didn’t explain it explicitly to her, she knew that the more valuable something was in this world, the harder it would be to obtain it. Without a doubt, he had to pay a hefty price to obtain such potent medicine.
Her memories were a little faint at the moment, but she had the impression that she was facing an incredibly terrifying opponent when Zu An rushed forward to stand in front of her and protect her.
Such thoughts brought back a gentle look on her face.
However, when her eyes swept across Chu Chuyan, the expression on her face grew gloomy.
But it’s already too late. They are already a pair. What a twist of fate this is. If only the two of them didn’t consummate their marriage earlier…
A thought suddenly flashed across Qiao Xueying’s mind as she remarked, “Wait a moment. Miss Chu was the one who ate the Evanescent Lotus, right? How did you manage to recover then?”
This fellow couldn’t do it with me, but he could do it when it’s with Miss Chu?
“I met with another fortuitous encounter in the seals and happened to release my seal,” replied Zu An vaguely. “Alright, let’s not talk about this anymore. Isn’t it embarrassing for a young lady like you to talk about such matters?”
Qiao Xueying turned her head away. She was indeed feeling a little embarrassed about this all. However, she still had some doubts in mind. I entered the seals with him too, but I don’t recall him stumbling upon any fortuitous encounter…
As for Chu Chuyan, even though she was officially his wife, their relationship was still in an awkward position at the moment, not to mention that they had just done that earlier on. There was no way she could bring herself to probe on more about this matter.
So, the trio continued marching on broodingly. Chu Chuyan was still on her guard, worried that more zombie soldiers would pop up on their way out, but surprisingly, those zombie soldiers were making sure to steer clear of her.
“Are they hiding in advance because they knew that they’re no match for me? That shouldn’t be though. They shouldn’t be smart enough to make such a call.” Chu Chuyan was perplexed.
It was then that she heard Zu An asked, “Snow, what do you intend to do from now on.”
Qiao Xueying shook her head and replied with a deep sigh, “I don’t know either.”
“Since you’ve already seen through Shi Kun’s true colors, you should return with us to the Chu clan. We’ll welcome you back,” said Chu Chuyan.
Zu An nodded in agreement. “Indeed. You’re betrothed to me after all, so it doesn’t make sense for you to stay elsewhere. We’ve already warmed to each other anyway; I trust that you wouldn’t have any problem warming up my bed in the future too.”
“…” Qiao Xueying.
“…” Chu Chuyan.
You have successfully trolled Qiao Xueying for +250 Rage!
You have successfully trolled Chu Chuyan for +250 Rage!
This fellow… Did his head get kicked by a donkey or something?
Qiao Xueying ignored him and turned to Chu Chuyan, saying, “Thanks for your offer, Miss Chu. I appreciate your goodwill, but there are still many things I have to clean up after severing my relations with the Shi clan.”
“Do you need my help?” Chu Chuyan was well aware that powerful clans had many means to keep their subordinates in check, such as to use their kin as hostages.
Qiao Xueying shook her head and replied, “It’s fine, I can handle it myself.”
Chu Chuyan sighed deeply and said, “When did the two of us grow apart?”
Qiao Xueying remembered how the two of them nibbled on melon seeds while reading romance novels together over the years, and it suddenly left her in a wistful mood. Great emotions welled up in her heart, and she suddenly found herself with so many words she wanted to say. Yet, the only words that eventually came out of her mouth were, “I’m sorry.”
“There are far too many things that are beyond our control in life. I don’t blame you for that, Snow,” replied Chu Chuyan gently.
The two of them fell silent afterward.
Zu An wasn’t too sure what was wrong with their relationship, but he felt that they were making a big fuss out of nothing.
Didn’t we get along fine all this while? Why are they suddenly acting like characters in a melancholic soap opera? Y’know, they always say that any arguments can be easily solved in bed at night.
Of course, considering the disparity in their cultivation at the moment, Zu An wisely chose to hold his tongue out of consideration of his own safety.
All of a sudden, the surroundings began to tremor as silt and rock fragments fell from the sky. The last time such a tremor occurred was when the 200,000 evil spirits rushed out from their seal, but the tremor this time around was even stronger than before.
The zombie soldiers lurking in the surroundings immediately darted around fearfully like panicking flies.
“The underground cavern is going to collapse! We need to hurry!” shouted Chu Chuyan in astonishment. She could feel the elemental ki in the surroundings falling into disarray, a sign that the place was going to collapse inward.
Zu An reckoned that it might be due to the undoing of the Soul Suppression Seal, as well as the disappearance of the Evanescent Lotus, Tai’e Sword, Zhang Han, and the 200,000 evil spirits. All of these caused the balance in the underground cavern that had been delicately sustained over the past several thousand years to suddenly shatter, resulting in massive instability.
“What a pity!” remarked Zu An as he glanced backward reluctantly. He was still thinking of returning back to this underground cavern to take a second look after seeking treatment for Qiao Xueying.
One must know that this was the empress mausoleum of the Qin Dynasty; there were bound to be countless treasures in here! The fact that the Heiress’ Ball of Delights worked earlier was more than enough to show that there was at least several hundred thousand silver taels worth of treasures in here.
Putting all things aside, just the weapons and helmets the zombie soldiers were wielding were already of higher quality than those sold by the Chu clan, and the Chu clan’s weapons were well-known for their quality in the Great Zhou Dynasty.
Damn it! Am I going to lose such a huge fortune just like that? Argh! Forget it, I should be satisfied with having unsealed ‘little Zu An’, obtaining the Tai’e Sword, and learning the upper half of the Primordial Origin Sutra. At the very least, all of my efforts and sacrifices weren’t in vain.
Besides, the greatest treasure in this underground palace is probably Mi Li. Not only is she knowledgeable about everything, but she has an amazing body to match her wisdom…
As soon as those thoughts surfaced in his mind, Zu An suddenly felt a little guilt-conscience. He subconsciously glanced at the Tai’e Sword and was relieved to see that it wasn’t reacting in any way. It would seem that Mi Li was really in deep sleep at the moment.
I wonder if she’s really able to read my thoughts…
Zu An was quite amazed at his ability to think about all sorts of useless stuff even when the cavern was collapsing on him right now.
Anyway, with Chu Chuyan leading the way, the three of them soon saw a speck of light in front of them. Rushing forward, they finally managed to escape through the entrance of the cavern.
It was a rule of thumb whenever a cavern started collapsing, the protagonist and his team could only make it out the nick of time. True to the prophecy, barely a few seconds after they ran out, a deafening rumble sounded behind them as the underground cavern finally collapsed entirely. Even the massive stone gates at the entrance were unable to withstand the pressure and were destroyed too.
A cloud of smoke rose into the air, forming a mushroom in the sky.
The ground also began to tremor under the impact, quaking up and down. On top of that, there seemed to be some sort of shockwave that was swiftly rippling outward in their direction.
“Be careful!”
Chu Chuyan rushed forward to grab Zu An before fleeing toward the distant forest. She was already nearing the seventh rank by now, so naturally, she was able to move far quicker than Zu An.
The sudden intimate contact caught Zu An off guard. He could smell her fragrance and feel the softness of her body.
Wow, to be holding a beautiful woman in my arms while being held in the arms of my wife; is this what the pinnacle of harem looks like? I wonder how many men in the world is as blessed as I am!
Perhaps it was due to her feeling Zu An intentionally leaning as close as he could to her, as soon as they arrived at the safer forest, Chu Chuyan tossed him to the side before harrumphed angrily.
Zu An was rendered speechless. Is it that big of a deal for me to snuggle up to you? I mean, I was even inside you earlier!
However, his attention was soon caught by the cloud of dust in the distance. Seeing how such a massive hill had collapsed within moments, he found himself impressed once more by the prowess of nature.
Chu Chuyan’s head tilted to the side before murmuring, “Someone’s here. There are quite a few of them.”
“A lot of people are heading our way?” Zu An instinctively searched the area for a place to hide. “Quick, let’s find somewhere to hide and watch the situation first.”
“Hide?” Chu Chuyan’s voice carried a hint of pride. “I’ve already recovered my cultivation. Why should I hide?”
