“No, that’s not right. This isn’t the underground palace we were in earlier,” said Qiao Xueying with a shake of her head. Her cultivation was much higher than Zu An’s, so her senses were far sharper. “The place we were in earlier was filled with an aura of death, but it’s much weaker here.”

Zu An scanned their surroundings carefully, and his face suddenly scrunched up with bitterness. “If we aren’t in the underground palace, then what’s up with those things?”

Qiao Xueying followed his gaze and jolted in horror. Several hundred meters away from them stood an army of terracotta soldiers. They were identical to the army they had encountered back at the underground palace!

“The Earth Seal, huh? These terracotta soldiers are made out of mud and are buried underground, making them intricately related to the earth. They must be the enemies we have to face here,” said Zu An grimly.

Qiao Xueying suddenly thought of something and sighed. “It’s a pity that the bizarre light-emitting stick of yours fell into the lake earlier. With it, you’d be able to easily deal with these fellows and break the seal.”

A mysterious smile spread across Zu An’s lips as he summoned the Magical Flashlight. “Are you referring to this?”

Qiao Xueying widened her eyes in astonishment at the black stick in his hand. “Ah? Didn’t it fall into the lake earlier? How do you still have it? Wait a moment, does that mean that you have a lot of them in your possession?”

She was quite certain that Zu An hadn’t picked up the stick after it had fallen into the lake earlier on.

“How could I have duplicates of an artifact as precious as this? This is the same one that you saw earlier on,” replied Zu An. “It’s just that it is linked to me telepathically, so it automatically returns to my side.”

Qiao Xueying stared at Zu An, a complicated look on her face. Just a month ago, she still thought that this man was a good-for-nothing, but she’d been bombarded with one surprise after another. “Why are the undead in the underground palace so fearful of the light given off by that stick?”

Zu An chuckled softly and said, “You haven’t called me big brother yet. I’ll answer your question once you do.”

Qiao Xueying spat on the ground and said, “Pui, you sure are shameless! You shouldn’t be hooking up with other women behind the young miss’ back!”

“You’re a different case, though. Have you forgotten that Chuyan has already given you to me? Since my wife has already approved of this, how can this be called ‘hooking up’?” said Zu An. “Besides, if anyone is hooking up with someone, it’s you. You’re the one holding tightly onto my hand right now.”

In a flash, Qiao Xueying pulled back her hand. With a reddened face, she stuttered, “Y-you were the one who told us to link hands in case we strayed apart!”

It was quite entertaining to Zu An to see her blushing furiously. Despite her vile tongue, she does have a lovely face and an alluring figure. There’s no denying that she’s a beauty.

Becoming a wastrel of a rich family was a life truly suited to him. He would be perfectly satisfied living an idle life, spending his free time teasing women. It didn’t seem a terrible way to spend the rest of his life. 

Pui! Zu An, how can you be won over by her charms so easily? Have you forgotten how she tried to kill you time and time again? You mustn’t be so shallow!

Zu An covered himself in scorn.

Meanwhile, Qiao Xueying looked at him with a bizarre expression. “Why are you looking at me with such licentious eyes? You must be thinking of something perverted.”

“What do you mean, licentious eyes? Please watch your words, young miss. This is called a caring gaze!” corrected Zu An.

A sudden noise ahead drew their attention. The two of them quickly glanced over, only to see the terracotta soldiers turning in their direction.

“Hurry up and use that flashlight of yours to deal with them! It feels kind of weird getting stared at by so many eyes.” Qiao Xueying fidgeted uncomfortably under their stares.

“All right.” Zu An felt rather disturbed by their gazes as well, so he switched on the flashlight and directed the beam of light toward the terracotta soldiers.

A white pillar of light immediately stabbed at the army of terracotta soldiers, causing them to immediately break out of their neat formation.

“What do we need to do in order to break the seal? Do we really need to get rid of all of them?” Even with a rough sweep of the surroundings, Qiao Xueying counted at least a thousand terracotta soldiers. It wouldn’t be easy to deal with them all unless Zu An used the light-emitting stick in his hand.

Zu An also shared the same thoughts in mind. He continued shining his flashlight on the terracotta soldiers. Wherever the light shone, the terracotta soldiers in the area would quickly lose their color and crumble to pieces, like snowmen melting under direct exposure to the sun.

“No wonder we weren’t allowed to take pictures in museums. It seems light is quite a powerful weapon against antiques,” murmured Zu An as he walked into the enemy’s formation, flashlight in hand.

“So this is what it means for a person to single-handedly defeat thousands. Ah, what a pity that there are no spectators here to witness my greatness, or else my name would surely shake the world,” lamented Zu An. He suddenly remembered a song from his previous world and began singing it aloud. “Alas, how forlorn it is to be invincible~ Alas, how empty it is to be invincible~”

Qiao Xueying resisted the urge to smack him.

Why did he suddenly start singing? It has such a weird melody. Also, aren't the lyrics a little too arrogant? Hmmm, but it does leave quite an impact. 

I wonder which formidable expert composed this song. It’s impossible for an ordinary man to compose such a majestic song. Argh, but it sounds so incongruous, hearing such a song from a mere third rank cultivator!

Meanwhile, Zu An was still busy flashing his light at the terracotta soldiers, an excited smile on his face. “C’mon! I dare you to come nearer!”

You have successfully trolled the Terracotta Soldiers for 6… 6… 6… 

Why is this human so despicable? Why don’t you put down that light-emitting stick in your hand and settle for a proper fight? I swear I’d beat the shit out of you within seconds!

“Heh, a bunch of weaklings!” sneered Zu An.

However, he noticed that, while the flashlight could suppress them, it was severely lacking in killing potential. For one, he had to shine the light directly on them in order to deal damage, and the damage stopped as soon as the light moved away. 

“Wuwuwuwu~”

The sudden sound of a warhorn echoed through the chamber. The terracotta soldiers standing on war chariots waved the flags in their hands, and the other soldiers in the formation gradually calmed their frenzied attempts at flight. In moments, a row of warriors armed with shields had marched to the front of the formation, blocking the terrifying light shining down on them.

Zu An was stunned. Are these fellows actually capable of strategizing?

He tried shining the flashlight at them from different angles, but the light was completely blocked by the shields. The soldiers had wisely decided not just to put up their shields directly in front of them, but were shielding themselves from above as well.

This is ridiculous!

Zu An’s eyes suddenly narrowed in horror. He noticed that the archers standing at the far end of the chamber behind the ranks of terracotta soldiers were nocking their arrows on their bowstrings.

“Run!” Zu An immediately turned around and fled. He noticed that Qiao Xueying had yet to snap out of her daze, so he quickly grabbed her hand and pulled her after him.

“What are you doing?!” Once again, the sudden physical contact angered Qiao Xueying, but the whooshing sound above her soon silenced her rage.

Looking up, she saw the rain of arrows headed in their direction, and her face immediately paled in fright.

What the hell! One moment ago, this fellow was full of song, lamenting the woes of being invincible, and the next moment, he’s fleeing faster than anyone else. Know some shame!

“We won’t make it in time!” Zu An knew that they couldn’t possibly outrun the arrows, so he turned to Qiao Xueying and asked, “How long can your barrier last for?”

“Not too long,” replied Qiao Xueying, her face pale.

“Buy some time for me!” Zu An stopped running and began digging into the ground with the Poisonous Prick.

Qiao Xueying was unsure what he was up to, but she still waved her wrist and wove several tree vines together to form a shield. A moment later, the arrows began striking the vine shield squarely.

Qiao Xueying let out a muffled groan. Stubbornly bearing the powerful impact of these arrows was causing her to sustain severe internal injuries.

She was in no state to speak. She focused all of her ki on repairing her tattered vine shield. She should have been able to last several minutes, but for some reason, it felt as though an eternity had already passed.

“Ah!” Qiao Xueying suddenly cried out as she sensed one of the arrows pierce through her defenses and plunge into her shoulder. She gritted her teeth tightly to bear with the pain as she continued to focus her ki on her vine shield.

Nevertheless, she knew that she was swiftly approaching her limit. She could only last for another three more seconds before her defenses crumbled. When that happened, the two of them would turn into porcupines.

3!

2!

1!

Qiao Xueying felt her body finally caving to the exhaustion. Before she closed her eyes, she muttered, “I never thought that I would end up dying with this fellow.”

“Oh? I never knew that you were so interested to perform a lovers’ suicide with me,” said a teasing voice.

Stunned, Qiao Xueying hurriedly opened her eyes, only to see that she was lying in a shallow pit. The arrows flying overhead simply fell to the other side of the pit

So this was what he was digging all this while… 

Qiao Xueying finally understood what Zu An had been planning, but she soon became conscious of the fact that she was being held tightly in Zu An’s arms. They were directly in front of one another, so close that she could feel Zu An’s breath on her face. Just a little closer, and their lips would touch.

“What are you doing?!” In shock, Qiao Xueying began struggling instinctively.

However, Zu An held onto her more tightly and said, “Stop moving! It wasn’t easy for me to dig this trench! You’ll expose yourself and get hit if you continue struggling!”

As if to punctuate his words, an arrow just happened to brush her sleeve. Seeing this, she immediately ceased her squirming, not daring to move at all.

In order to alleviate the awkwardness she felt, Qiao Xueying turned her head sideways and asked, “What’s the theory behind digging this pit? Why do the arrows fly right past us without raining down on us?”

Zu An explained patiently, “This is what we call a trench. As you know, arrows usually fly in an arc, descending diagonally down on their enemy. However, this trench is dug in such a way that it’s impossible for any arrows to hit us unless they fall vertically downward. That’s why none of these arrows are able to hit us.” 

It was a relief that his dagger was able to slice through any material as easily as cutting through paper, and his strength had increased tremendously as well. Otherwise, there was no way he could have dug a trench big enough for the two of them to hide in, given that brief period of time.

Qiao Xueying still looked a little confused. She couldn’t help but ask, “Why do you know so much?”

“It’s taken you a while, but I’m glad that you’ve finally acknowledged my wisdom. You must have been blind not to have recognized my greatness in the past,” replied Zu An. Even though she’s hateful, I must admit that she really has a soft body.

Qiao Xueying resisted the urge to smack him.

Will you die if you just stop arguing with me for a moment?

The rain of arrows suddenly began to peter out. Clearly, the archers had realized that they weren’t able to hit them.

Just as the two of them were about to heave a sigh of relief, the ground began to shake, and a low rumble could be heard.

It was the cavalry! The cavalrymen had begun their charge!