The first thing that surprised Zu An when he walked through the stone doors with Chu Chuyan in his embrace was that the interior of the cavern wasn’t as dark as he expected. 

A faint grayish light provided some illumination behind the stone doors, giving his surroundings a strange ashen hue. It reminded him of the smoke that drifted out from small villages, although this gray haziness did not suggest life, but death.

An eerie wind brushed his skin, causing Zu An’s goosebumps to rise. This cavern seemed to give off an aura that was hard to explain, which made him feel incredibly uncomfortable. At the same time, he was starting to feel a little weak from the extensive blood loss.

All of these observations made him realize that this cavern was probably hostile to any living beings. If he thought about this as a video game, it would be akin to a death aura that constantly gnawed away at the player’s health points. While the effects would not be too pronounced on strong cultivators, this aura could be fatal for Chu Chuyan, who was already in a weakened state.

Acknowledging this, Zu An quickly stuffed a couple of pills into Chu Chuyan’s mouth, and ate some himself as well. Thankfully, this helped to displess some of the discomfort that he was feeling.

He was relieved that he had found a decent amount of recovery pills from Jia Zhengjing and the other assassins. Added together with the medicine that Ji Xiaoxi had given to him prior to their separation, they should be enough to sustain the two of them—for a while, at least.

Chu Chuyan had never been treated so roughly by a man before, but she knew that he was doing it for her sake, so she didn’t lose her temper. Still, it wasn’t something she could just brush off. To turn her focus away from her awkwardness, she asked, “What’s this place?”

She realized that Zu An’s escape hadn’t been aimless; he had had a destination in mind right from the start.

“This is the cavern of the zombie army. I reckon that it’s a mausoleum…” Zu An quickly filled her in about what he had seen in the valley earlier on.

“The den of the zombie army…” Chu Chuyan’s eyes widened in shock. “Isn’t running in here the same as courting death?!”

She had already resigned herself to her death, so it didn’t matter where she was. However, she couldn’t stand the idea of Zu An putting himself into more danger for her sake.

“Instead of falling to Shi Kun outside, I figured we might as well gamble on this place. Perhaps, if we shake things up enough, heaven might just take pity on us and show us a way out.” Zu An’s tone was casual, but his nerves were tightly strung up, and his body was ready to react at the first sign of danger.

Chu Chuyan sighed deeply and said, “You didn’t have to go to such lengths to save me. You could have escaped on your own, but you’ve dived deeper into the abyss instead.”

“It doesn’t seem that bad to die together as a pair of lovebirds,” Zu An said with a chuckle. “Even though we weren’t born in the same quilt, we should die in the same grave as a couple.”

Chu Chuyan’s pale face blushed a little. “Pui. How can you be thinking of taking advantage of me at a time like this?”

“What can I do? I’m afraid that there won't be a chance to say these words in the future.” Zu An noticed that Chu Chuyan’s eyes were half-closed, as though she were about to fall into a deep slumber at any moment. In order to keep her spirits up, he was doing everything he could to hold her attention.

“If we do get out of this alive, won’t you consider living in the same room as me?” asked Zu An with a cheeky smile.

“Even at a time like this, you’re still in a mood to talk about such things?” remarked Chu Chuyan.

“It’s even more so during times of trouble that we need something to look forward to. This darned place is really terrifying.” 

While Zu An was chatting, he was proceeding further into the cavern, scanning the area carefully as he progressed. The gray fog lingered around the area, severely limiting his vision. Nevertheless, he could still tell that they were currently walking along an extremely long passageway.

This passageway was inclined downward, which suggested that they were heading underground. Perhaps they were heading into the depths of hell itself.

The walls along the passageway were dry and smooth to the touch, but covered with markings. On careful examination, these markings appeared to be murals, which depicted scenes of a gruesome battlefield.

However, Chu Chuyan paid no heed to all of this. She was brooding about what Zu An had said. Finally, she said in a soft voice, “Why are you so insistent about living together with me? You’re already…”

Her words trailed off halfway, perhaps out of consideration for Zu An’s feelings.

Zu An burst into laughter and said, “You’re my wife, after all. It doesn’t make sense for newlyweds to sleep in separate rooms. As for my physical condition, you need not worry about it. I’ve already consulted Divine Physician Ji about it, and he has prepared a cure for me. All that’s lacking is the main ingredient. Once I get my hands on it, I’ll be able to treat my affliction, and we’ll be able to complete our lives as a blissful couple.”

Chu Chuyan’s face reddened. She instinctively disregarded the final sentence and asked instead, “Are you referring to the Evanescent Lotus?”

“Indeed. Who knows? I might just find it here,” replied Zu An.

Chu Chuyan fell silent. A place suffocated with an air of malevolence such as this one couldn’t possibly give birth to a treasure like the Evanescent Lotus.

However, given the desperate situation they were already in, she knew better than to destroy his confidence. So, she replied, “All right. If we ever get out of this situation safely, you can move into the same room as me.”

She was well aware of her condition. It was unlikely that she would be able to walk out of the dungeon alive, so she didn’t mind giving him what little satisfaction she could before her death.

“Really?” Zu An was overjoyed. He never expected to hear such a response from Chu Chuyan.

Chu Chuyan was just about to reply when she suddenly caught sight of something. “What… is that?”

Zu An also raised his head to take a look, only to realize that the passageway was far taller than he had expected. The ceiling was thirty meters high, and there were countless rubies embedded within it, glowing with a faint red light.

“T-this…” Zu An was unable to see it clearly because of the dense fog concealing it. However, a sudden light breeze dispersed the fog slightly, granting him a much clearer view of the… things… that were on the ceiling. They weren’t rubies at all, but the eyes of countless bats!

These bats were larger than any Zu An had ever seen before, each with a wingspan that was easily the size of a bathtub. Their sinister appearance and sharp fangs were strongly indicative of their vile nature.

“Be careful, those are vampiric boar bats! They are known to be able to suck the blood of cattle dry within seconds!” Chu Chuyan warned Zu An anxiously.

Even though she had already resigned herself to fate, she was still innately disgusted by such creatures.

Based on the number of red eyes on the ceiling, there had to be at least a thousand of these vampiric boar bats above them. Zu An gulped. If all these bats were to swoop down on them at the same time, the two of them would be instantaneously reduced to dried-up corpses.

Isn’t this place the base of the zombie army? Why would there be vampiric bats here too?

All of a sudden, the hibernating bats began to stir. They seemed to have caught a whiff of blood in the air. As more and more of them woke up, Zu An realized that things were about to get rough.

Both he and Chu Chuyan were coated in fresh blood at the moment, and there was no question that they smelled truly delectable to those vampiric bats.

Just then, a peal of hearty laughter sounded from behind them. “Hahaha! Looks like I’ve finally caught up to you!”

Shi Kun and his lackeys were about ten meters behind them, and the young man was staring at them with a cold sneer. He had already summoned dozens of wind blades around him, ready to end Zu An’s life at any moment.

Zu An knew that it would be hard for him to deal with Shi Kun in his current condition, so he decisively shot an arrow towards the ceiling before hurriedly diving to the ground with Chu Chuyan.

The bats were still rousing from their slumber when the great arrow struck home, sending a shudder through the ceiling. Suddenly agitated, they spread their wings and swooped down right away.

“What are those?!” 

Shi Kun was horrified to see a wave of black lifeforms launching themselves in his direction, and he instinctively sent out the wind blades under his command to meet them.

Blood exploded in the air as ten of the vampiric bats were immediately torn to shreds. Unfortunately, all Shi Kun had done was poke a hornet’s nest. The surrounding bats immediately identified Shi Kun as their enemy, and charged toward him.

Shi Kun’s face paled. He quickly channeled his ki to summon even more wind blades around him in an attempt to ward off the onslaught of the bats. At the same time, Qiao Xueying anxiously summoned a swirling host of green leaves around her to fend off those attacking her.

The two remaining fourth rank cultivators also did everything they could to hack down the vampiric bats that had targeted them. However, there were simply too many of them in the air, and every single one of them was fairly strong. 

One of the fourth rank cultivators slipped up, and his defenses were breached by a vampiric bat. It immediately bit down on his neck and began sucking. 

With a miserable shriek, he anxiously tried to pull the bat away from his neck, but in an attempt to do so, his defense crumbled, and even more bats swooped in to begin sucking his blood.

His miserable cries didn’t last long, as his tall and brawny body shrank at a visible pace. In just a few seconds, he was reduced to a dry and shriveled corpse.

Shi Kun was both enraged and horrified. Now that he knew the danger these bats posed, he dared not hold back anymore. He immediately summoned a tornado filled with wind blades to massacre all the massive bats around him.

Qiao Xueying’s expression grew frosty as well. She began flicking the green leaves outwards like sharp daggers, sniping down the massive bats one by one. At the same time, the little ponytail on her head began to grow, extending into countless vines filled with green thorns. These vines lashed through the bats mercilessly, thrashing them out of the air.

The remaining bats swiftly realized that they had chosen the wrong quarry and hurriedly escaped the area, leaving their dead behind.

Despite this, Qiao Xueying didn’t retract her hair right away. She examined the bloodied bat carcasses hanging on the tree vines extending from her hair, then disdainfully raised her sword and chopped her hair off. In just a few moments, however, her hair had grown back to its original length.

Shi Kun looked around desperately, but Zu An and Chu Chuyan were no longer anywhere to be seen. By this point, it was apparent that they had been given the slip, and he flew into a state of rage. “Bastard Zu An! Even if I have to chase you through the gates of hell, I’ll mince you into pieces!”

You have successfully trolled Shi Kun for 999 Rage points!

“Young master, there’s something sinister about this place. I have an ominous feeling about this. Why don’t we retreat and reassess the situation first?” asked Qiao Xueying.

Shi Kun snorted coldly and said, “Are you starting to worry about your young miss now? Did you think that I didn’t notice that you went easy on them earlier on? Whose fault do you think it is that they were able to get here in the first place?”

“I…” Qiao Xueying felt a little indignant. She had only suggested it out of genuine worry for Shi Kun’s well-being. As a wood element cultivator, she was usually able to sense the life force of the living things around her, but this place exerted a strange pressure on her which affected her ability to exert her ki smoothly. It felt as thought there was some sort of terrifying existence lurking in here.

Shi Kun belatedly realized that he had already lost most of his subordinates, and it would be unwise for him to fall out with Qiao Xueying at this point in time. So, he mellowed his tone and said, “Snow, I was a little too agitated, and my words came out harsher than I wished. Don’t take them to heart. While this place is a little sinister, it’s probably just filled with vampiric boar bats and other such monsters. As long as we keep our guard up, we shouldn’t face too much trouble. We can’t possibly stand idly by while young miss Chu dies in Zu An’s hands. Let’s quickly find her and get out of here, all right?”

Qiao Xueying nodded. “Yes, young master. I was truly at fault earlier on. I was too soft.”

Shi Kun laughed heartily and said, “That’s all right. This shows that you’re a sentimental person who values loyalty. I would have been far more worried if you were able to bring yourself to act callously towards young miss Chu.”

Hearing those words, Qiao Xueying, who had been plagued by inner conflict all this while, was finally able to squeeze out a smile. “Thank you for your understanding, young master.”

Shi Kun nodded before beckoning her deeper into the passageway.