Chapter 1973:An Absolute Mess
Mi Li had been planning to play dead and not say a thing, but in the end, she couldn't handle Zu An’s threat of stabbing the Tai’e Sword into a pile of sh*t and came out.
“This is your sword too, for better or for worse, you know? Are there any swordsmen who would do that to their own swords?” a voice protested as a strand of smoke came out. Mi Li appeared and gave Zu An an angry look. Then, she moved over to the bed on her own to lie down, as if she could never get enough sleep.
You have successfully trolled Mi Li for +11 +11 +11…
She was dressed in black palace wear. One hand rested under her chin, while the other hand rested naturally on her thigh. She was alluring, yet elegant. Her lips were a captivating red, striking and beautiful. Her eyes gave off a slightly dangerous glint.
Even though this wasn’t the first time he had seen her, Zu An still couldn't help but sigh at her flawless beauty.
Mi Li's exquisite nose bridge drew a perfect arc, and she had a delicate and smooth jaw. Her neck was long and snow-white, adding an irresistible temptation to her already stunning features. Even though she was upset, her anger didn’t tarnish her beauty at all and instead added a special sort of feeling to her appearance, a kind of dangerous allure.
Zu An realized that Mi Li was dressed in the same thing she was wearing when he'd first met her in the first emperor’s underground palace. The black palace wear contrasted her skin that was fairer than milk. He wasn’t sure, but perhaps the time she had recently spent nurturing her body allowed her soul to become further condensed, making her skin seem to give off a white jade-like luster.
“Master empress, you’re becoming prettier and prettier,” Zu An couldn't help but say with a sigh of praise.
Mi Li harrumphed. “Hmph, do you think I’m as easy to fool as the little ladies you keep around you?!”
Even though that was what she said, she still couldn't hold back the signs of happiness between her brows. She was truly a woman whose mouth said one thing, but her heart thought another.
“I believe master empress knows about what I want to ask,” Zu An said with a sigh.
Mi Li put away her smile and said with a grave expression, “It's still not the time to tell you about many things."
“There are already monsters from another world invading, and this world is about to meet its end. What is there left that you still can't tell me about?” Zu An asked, feeling quite wronged.
“What significance does this bit of danger carry among the millions and millions of worlds in the universe? I believe that with your current abilities, you can handle it,” Mi Li said calmly. She clearly didn’t treat this monster invasion as a big deal.
Zu An frowned. “Is there really nothing that you can tell me? I feel as if you’re hiding a lot from me. You clearly weren't like this before.”
“I’ve awakened a portion of my memories…” Mi Li closed her mouth midway through her sentence. When she realized that she had misspoken, she quickly changed the topic. “After going through what you went through in that terrifying great tomb, you should know that there are many beings that can't be mentioned. Even if I tried to describe them using some ambiguous methods, it would still draw the attention of some beings you could never hope to face right now. You would be finished as soon as they knew about your existence.”
Zu An was speechless. Listening to how serious she was only made him even more curious. Still, he said, “Alright, I also trust that you wouldn’t harm me.”
Mi Li was really happy to hear him say that. She replied, “That’s more like it; good boy.”
“Can you answer one last question from me?” Zu An said with a darkened expression.
Mi Li harrumphed. “I just knew you wouldn’t be satisfied just like that. Just ask away then. If I can’t answer you, I won't no matter how much you ask me.”
“Was my transmigration not just some coincidence, but rather arranged by something or someone?” Zu An asked as he stared into Mi Li’s eyes.
In the past, he had never been too bothered by things like that, because transmigrations were a common occurrence in the novels he'd read and he just didn’t think too much of it. However, as his cultivation grew higher and higher, and he came to know of all sorts of terrifying beings, he had begun to doubt more and more whether his transmigration really was just a coincidence.
A hint of surprise flickered through Mi Li’s eyes. She replied, “That is something I can talk to you about. Indeed, it wasn’t a coincidence, but rather due to the arrangements of forces unseen.”
“Who arranged for it?” Zu An immediately asked.
Mi Li looked at him. She shook her head slightly.
“You can’t talk about it?”
“That’s right, I can’t.”
Zu An was speechless.
…
After that, no matter what Zu An asked, Mi Li simply didn’t answer. He knew he wouldn’t be able to get anything else and could only abandon the thought.
“I clearly already helped you treat the injuries to your soul, so why are you still always sleeping? Are you trying to accumulate power against certain dangers?” Zu An suddenly asked.
Mi Li thought for a bit to herself, then replied, “You can think of it that way.”
Zu An took a deep breath and said, “I’ll do my best to gather the other materials to help you reconstruct your body.”
“Okay," Mi Li said with a smile. “You should do your best too. You absolutely cannot restrict your view to this world alone. Don't become overconfident just because you're close to approaching an unrivaled position in this world. There are too many things that you still need to face in the future.”
“I wouldn’t go so far as to become a frog in a well like that,” Zu An said impatiently. “But what can I do right now?”
Whether it was the monsters’ invasion or future dangers, he could only passively guard against them all. Such a situation really didn’t feel good.
“Focus on getting stronger. That's the only foundational principle that holds consistent across the millions and millions of worlds,” Mi Li said, giving him a deep look.
“Fine!” Zu An’s expression became serious. If someone else had said that to him, he would only get irritated. He had finally managed to reach his current level, so shouldn’t he have been able to take some time to enjoy it? Otherwise, what meaning would there be left in becoming stronger?
However, now that there were all kinds of unknown dangers near, he couldn't help but feel a shadow over his heart. Whether it was for himself or to protect the people he cared about, he had to become stronger.
Mi Li yawned and said, “Then I’ll be returning to my beauty sleep. Please don’t call me out for no good reason in the future.” Her lazy figure quickly disappeared.
…
Just then, there was suddenly a knock on Zu An's door. A voice called, “Big brother Zu, are you inside?”
Zu An could tell that it was Xie Daoyun’s voice. With a wave of his hand, the door opened on its own as he said, “Come in, little sister Ling’er.”
A gentle and refined figure quickly walked in, saying, “Big brother Zu, I heard that you were fighting on Copper Gong Mountain. Were you hurt?”
“I wasn’t. Aren’t I still fine and dandy here?” Zu An replied as he spread his arms with a smile to show that he was fine.
Xie Daoyun sighed in relief, saying, “That makes sense. With big brother Zu’s cultivation, how could you possibly be easily hurt?” And yet, her beautiful brows quickly furrowed. She continued, “Still, judging from how serious teacher looked when he returned, and how all the martial uncles and aunts are busying about, could it be that something major happened?”
Zu An had initially wanted her to not worry, but after thinking about it, those Heart-Devouring Demon Spiders were really hard to defend against. If she didn’t know the truth at all, it would be really bad if she ended up encountering them. He was about to say something when he was startled. He looked in the direction of the entrance.
Xie Daoyun also followed his gaze and saw a beautiful young lady with a perfect oval face, who was looking at her with an ambiguous smile. She exclaimed in alarm, “Junior sister!”
The one who had appeared was none other than Zheng Dan. She was also studying under Yan Xiangu, so they were martial sisters.
“I was wondering what important event it was that made senior sister leave so secretly. So it turns out it was to meet the libationer,” Zheng Dan said with a big smile.
Xie Daoyun’s face heated up. She said, “I saw that you were focused on completing the homework teacher assigned you, so I was too embarrassed to disturb you.”
Even though the two hadn’t publicly announced their relationship, since they both came from Brightmoon City and they met day after day, she naturally knew that Zheng Dan and her big brother Zu had a special relationship. In that instant, she felt as if she had been caught in an affair.
“Senior sister really is considerate. I just happened to finish my work, so I brought my sister-in-law out with me to get some fresh air,” Zheng Dan said as she turned around and tugged a figure behind her. “Qienqien, don’t be scared. The libationer is actually really kind.”
Sang Qien staggered inward, appearing by the entrance somewhat awkwardly. She and Zheng Dan had been planning to meet Zu An here together, but now that there was an outsider inside, she could only pretend to not be close to Zu An.
Zu An was speechless.
“So it was junior sister Little Qien,” Xie Daoyun said. She looked at these pretty young ladies who stood side by side like twin lotus flowers and sighed at their beauty. For some reason, they were clearly two young ladies, and yet they both gave off a mature charm.
They’re nothing like my underripe self. Maybe I should consult them about this in the future…
Suddenly, there was a burst of noisy chatter. It turned out out Huanzhao and Youzhao were bickering with each other again, but their noisy argument quickly stopped; it was because they saw Zheng Dan and Sang Qien by the entrance.
“Hm? Brother-in-law’s place is so lively,” Chu Huanzhao said with a mischievous grin.
Even back in Brightmoon City, she knew about the vixen Zheng Dan who had come to seduce her brother-in-law. She hadn’t expected that Zheng Dan wouldn't come by herself, even bringing her own sister-in-law with her. When she saw Sang Qien’s small, beautiful face, as well as her long and charming eyes, she immediately thought that the woman looked just like a fox spirit of legend. She was even more convinced when she looked at Sang Qien’s waist that was bound incredibly tightly, which further offset her graceful waist and bottom.
If this woman claimed not to have done this for brother-in-law to see, I’d never believe it!
Chu Youzhao and Chu Huanzhao were blood sisters, after all, so the former immediately understood what the latter was thinking. She immediately felt a powerful sense of danger too. At that moment, she had never found her second sister to be so agreeable!
When she sensed their hostility, Sang Qien felt extremely embarrassed. Her relationship with Zu An wasn’t public, and the other two were Chu First Miss’ siblings. She felt as if the main wife had caught her in an affair. She really felt a bit sullen…
Zheng Dan stood protectively in front of Sang Qien and shot Chu Huanzhao a look, remarking, “Oh? Isn’t it little Huanzhao? You're just as small and adorable as before.”
Chu Huanzhao was speechless.
Lethal attack!
This woman is terrible! She's clearly praising me on the surface, but she’s actually calling me flat.
Do you really think you’re that great just because you’re big?!
Fine, being big is amazing… Ah, I want to cry out of envy…
When she saw how dispirited her second sister became, Chu Youzhao immediately felt anger against a common enemy. She harrumphed and said, “I heard that the Zheng clan in Brightmoon City has long been wealthy in business. Rumor has it that you developed your family fortune from raising dairy cows...”
“When did our clan raise dairy cows?” Zheng Dan replied, stunned, but she noticed how the other woman was looking at her and immediately understood. She immediately became embarrassed and angry.
Sang Qien also snapped out of her daze. She had been mysteriously attacked out of nowhere, and now, Zheng Dan’s reputation was also being tarnished, so she was getting a bit upset too. She remarked, “I heard that the Chu clan has a literary reputation, so they should attach importance to etiquette. A few years ago, the Chu clan feared being implicated with big brother Zu and seemed to have divorced him from the clan. Why are the two of you still enthusiastically calling him brother-in-law and running over to his room all the time? If news of that got out, wouldn’t it be quite the scandal?”
“You…!” Chu Huanzhao and Chu Youzhao’s faces both became red. “You… Aren’t you the same?”
Xie Daoyun and Murong Qinghe watched this with stupefied expressions. Why had the gunpowder suddenly become so vicious?
Zu An was also getting a huge headache. He immediately coughed and said, “Ahem, stop fighting, everyone, and come in. I have something important to tell all of you!”