Zu An was a little excited at the notion of someone as noble and powerful as Mi Li calling him master. Needless to say, however, there was no way someone as proud and lofty as Mi Li would do anything like that.

You have successfully trolled Mi Li for 888 Rage points!

The Rage points he received from Mi Li, sent a jolt of horror through Zu An’s heart. He suddenly remembered something incredibly frightening—he hadn’t yet removed the flag he’d planted, stating that he wouldn’t receive anything from his future lottery draws.

He’d previously sworn that he wouldn’t receive anything for the next three subsequent attempts. 

In truth, he hadn’t truly forgotten about this matter—he simply hadn’t been able to find an opportunity to draw the lottery. Ever since leaving the seal, he had been so preoccupied dealing with Mi Li and purifying the two hundred thousand evil spirits that he hadn’t been able to find any time to himself.

As a result, he was basically wasting every single Rage point he was earning right now.

“Why don’t you try saying that again?” dared Mi Li with tightly gritted teeth.

“Shouldn’t you call me ‘master’ then?” Zu An asked, then quickly added, “You’re the one who told me to say it again. I was just following your instructions!”

Mi Li stared at him, speechless.

In the past, if any man dared to speak to her in such a manner, she would have surely had him tossed out of her palace to be executed.

Zu An found the sharp blade of the Tai’e Sword pointed directly at his neck, and immediately recoiled in horror. “Our fates are linked together now!” he exclaimed. “You mustn’t kill me!”

“I might be unable to kill you, but I can at least sever your tongue or cut off your ears to satisfy my anger,” said Mi Li, her tone frosty.

“That won’t do! If I suffer any bodily harm, I’ll… I’ll kill myself right away!” replied Zu An with an indignant huff. “At the very least, we’ll both die together!”

Mi Li was at a loss for words.

She suddenly felt incredibly exhausted. This fellow is as obstinate as a mule, yet at the same time, he’s shameless enough to ignore social conventions and proper decorum. How am I supposed to deal with someone like this?

Zu An made use of this opportunity to add, “Also, you can’t kill them either. What’s the point of living in this world if I can’t even protect my women?”

“Your women?” sneered Mi Li. “It’s one thing to call that Chu woman yours, but why are you claiming that ponytail girl as your woman as well?”

“She isn’t mine yet, but it’s only a matter of time. After all, she’s already been betrothed to me,” murmured Zu An in response. And you might be next.

Mi Li glared at Zu An coldly as Tai’e Sword rose into the air. “What did you say?” 

“I’m saying that you shouldn’t get angry so often, big sis empress. Do you know that getting angry is bad for your skin?” Zu An explained cheekily, pushing the Tai’e Sword away from his face.

“Do I need you to teach me how things work?” Mi Li retorted, sounding extremely displeased.

“I’m just worried about you,” replied Zu An with a meek smile. “Things are different now. You used to have plenty of maidservants by your side, so you never needed to worry about this. However, now that you don’t have anyone to attend to you, you should start taking note of such things.”

“Hmph! I’m born with natural beauty. Why would I have to care about all of that?” said Mi Li. “However, what you said does make sense. I just happen to be lacking maidservants at the moment. These two women do look fairly decent. Shall I extract their souls and turn them into my maidservants?”

Zu An was appalled. He didn’t expect Mi Li to still be so determined to kill them, not after all that had been said. He decided to get straight for the point. “That won’t do. Absolutely not. If you take their lives, we’re done!”

Mi Li didn’t get angry this time around. She looked at him quietly for a moment before eventually letting out a deep sigh. “You’re still too young. You haven’t seen how hideous a human being can be, and you’ve never experienced betrayal from someone close to you before. You’ll surely regret this in the future.”

Zu An shook his head and replied, “I’m not the type of person who naively believes in human goodness. However, I’ve known them for some time, so I understand what sort of people they are. They would have to have a compelling reason if they do end up betraying me.”

Leaving Chu Chuyan aside, even Qiao Xueying—who had been after his life thus far—was obviously someone who tried to put on a brave front, but possessed a soft heart. She had even sacrificed half of her lifespan in order to save him. It went without saying that he could trust her at least this much.

Mi Li snorted coldly. “Sometimes, you’re as wily as an old fox, but on other occasions, you’re as dumb as a brick. Forget it, then. I’ll spare them on your account, but we’ll have to seal away their memories.”

“Seal away their memories?” Zu An was taken aback.

“Indeed. Your secrets are simply too dangerous. Even if they don’t intentionally betray you, there’s no guarantee that they wouldn’t accidentally let them slip in front of someone else. Right now, you don’t have the ability to protect yourself, and I don’t wish for anyone to know of my existence either,” said Mi Li. “This matter isn’t up for negotiation. Either I kill them, or seal away their memories. Make your choice!”

“Wow, I never thought that I would run into the amnesiac cliché.” Zu An thought about the drama serials he’d seen in his previous life, feeling a little wistful. They usually restored to such a plotline just for the sake of creating unnecessary drama to prolong the story and milk the audience further.

“I know what you’re thinking,” sneered Mi Li. “Don’t worry, they will remember whatever they need to. I’ll just seal off the portions regarding our secrets.”

Zu An smiled sheepishly, knowing that she’d deduced his real thoughts. However, he was satisfied with this outcome. From Mi Li’s perspective, she had already made a huge compromise.

“So, how are you going to seal off their memories? Would the process inflict any physical harm on them?” asked Zu An worriedly.

“I’ll be using a skill known as ‘River of Forgetfulness’. It won’t hurt their soul or body, so you need not worry.” Mi Li raised her hands and quickly formed a few complicated hand seals.

Zu An had to acknowledge that Mi Li’s hands were indeed very pretty. Her fingers were long and slender, and her red fingernails gave them a dangerously seductive allure.

Soon, Mi Li finished forming the hand seals. A river seemed to flow out from between her hands, bearing the word ‘Forgetfulness’ on it. It washed over the bodies of Chu Chuyan and Qiao Xueying before gradually disappearing.

Zu An stared at the two women intently, afraid that something would go wrong. Fortunately, the two of them remained calm throughout the entire procedure, neither showing any unusual or alarming reaction.

A moment later, Mi Li finally put her hands down and said, “It’s done. They’ll forget everything about both our secrets once they rouse from their slumber.”

“Big sis empress, are you a runemaster?” Zu An couldn’t help but ask.

The beautiful sight of Mi Li forming seals with her hands continued to linger within his mind’s eye. He’d heard that becoming a runemaster was an alternative route that a cultivator could specialize in, and that it was a mysterious but powerful occupation. Runemasters were capable of achieving feats that would otherwise be impossible for cultivators.

He regretted not being able to make the acquaintance of a runemaster thus far. The Chu clan did have a runemaster, but his skills clearly paled in comparison to Mi Li’s, as he was only able to inscribe runes on weapons to enhance and enchant them with auxiliary effects. 

“Of course! I’m the greatest runemaster of the Great Qin Dynasty!” replied Mi Li proudly. Her aura of pride was so great that Zu An could not help but feel impressed. 

It’s amazing how some people are able to look cool even without trying. Haa, looks like I’m still far below her level.

“The Life-and-Death Contract and Life Gate you taught me earlier were abilities of a runemaster, right?” asked Zu An.

“Indeed!” Mi Li said, puffing her chest up.

Zu An pondered for a moment, then said curiously, “If you’re the strongest runemaster of the Qin Dynasty, you should be familiar with formations and the like. It sure is ironic that you ended up getting sealed away in the end!”

Mi Li’s mouth fell open, but no words came out.

Do you have to mock me at every turn? I really want to give this infuriating bastard a good pummeling!

You have successfully trolled Mi Li for 233 Rage points!

Noticing Mi Li’s awful complexion, Zu An wisely changed the subject. “Speaking of which, why didn’t you seal a Life-and-Death Contract with Ying Zheng? You wouldn’t have had to worry about him turning his back on you if you’d done so, right?”

“He believed that his merits surpassed those of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, and believed that he would live as long as the heavens themselves. How could he possibly allow his own fate to be bound to another person’s, as an equal?”

Zu An nodded in realization. “So you asked him to sign the contract, but got rebuffed?”

Mi Li resisted the urge to slap him.

“Ridiculous! The Life-and-Death Contract is a vow that is only made between two people who are deeply in love with one another. I was in a political marriage with him. Why would I even offer to make such a contract with him?”

You have successfully trolled Mi Li for 567 Rage points!

This new wave of rage points renewed Zu An’s exasperation. Argh, what a waste!

“Hold on a moment,” exclaimed Zu An. 

He decided to draw the lottery then and there to cut his losses. Based on his previous experiment, Wei Suo hadn’t been able to see his Keyboard. The same might apply to Mi Li as well, though he wasn’t too sure about that.

Speaking of Wei Suo, he was starting to miss that fellow. I wonder if he’s been secretly checking on Principal Jiang’s stockings while I’m away.

Zu An quickly shook the miscellaneous thoughts out of his mind and sprung into action. He was determined to get rid of the flag he had planted as soon as possible, to minimize his losses.

He quickly checked on his Keyboard, only to be shocked to realize that he’d actually accumulated a staggering amount of 34,584 Rage points, which meant that he could draw the lottery 345 times!

This was the first time he felt hatred towards how proficient he was at drawing the ire of others. 

Damn it! Snow, do you know how huge of a loss I’ve made because of you? You’d better bear me a soccer team’s worth of children in the future. Your conscience will never be able to rest easy otherwise!

After a quick assessment, he realized that the largest sum he’d received was from the evil spirits. It was fortunate that only one or two thousand evil spirits had been near the surface of the lake to witness his shamelessness and contribute Rage points to him. Otherwise, his Rage points balance would have been even greater.

If all two hundred thousand evil spirits had contributed 6 to 9 Rage points each, he could have easily accumulated a million points or more. Just how huge of a loss would that be?!

It suddenly dawned on Zu An that he should bring around a huge megaphone wherever he went, just so he could taunt everyone properly and squeeze them dry.

With a heart bleeding with pain, Zu An began drawing the lottery. As expected, all he got this time was ‘Thanks for participating’. He didn’t receive a single thing at all! 

It seemed he was fated not to receive anything until he finally removed the flag.

Seeing Zu An prancing around like a clown, Mi Li asked doubtfully, “What are you doing?”

“Nothing much. Let’s continue our previous conversation. Where were we again? Ah yes, I remember now.” Zu An looked at the imposing figure of Mi Li and blinked several times before remarking, “You mentioned that the Life-and-Death Contract was something that only a couple deeply in love would turn to. The fact that you used it on me… doesn’t that mean that you’ve already fallen for my charms?”

Mi Li was stunned speechless.