Translator: Pika
When Zu An walked through the stone doors with Chu Chuyan in his embrace, he was surprised to see that the interior of the cavern wasn’t as dark as he expected.
There was faint grayish light providing some illumination behind the stone doors, making the surroundings look slightly ashen. It looked a little like the smoke drifting from small villages, just that this smoke depicted not of life but death.
An eerie wind blew over, causing Zu An’s goosebumps to rise up. The surroundings had an inexplicable atmosphere that made him feel incredibly uncomfortable. At the same moment, he was starting to feel a little weak from having lost too much blood.
All of these observations made him realize that the environment in this cavern wasn’t friendly to living beings. In the context of a game, it would be something like a death aura that constantly gnawed away at one’s health points. While the effects weren’t too pronounced on cultivators, this could be fatal for Chu Chuyan, who was already in a weakened state.
So, Zu An quickly stuffed a couple of medicine into Chu Chuyan’s mouth and ate some himself too. It was only then that the feeling of discomfort finally alleviated a little.
He was relieved that he had found quite some recovery pills from Jia Zhengjing and the other assassins. Together with the medicine that Ji Xiaoxi had given to him prior to their separation, they should be able to hold on in here for a while at least.
Chu Chuyan had never been treated so brashly by a man before, but she knew that he was doing it for her sake, so she didn’t lose her temper. Still, she simply couldn’t get used to it. To turn her focus away from her awkwardness, she asked, “What’s this place?”
She realized that Zu An’s earlier escape wasn’t aimless; he 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 at the valley earlier on.
“The den of the zombie army...” Chu Chuyan’s eyes widened in shock. “Aren’t you courting death by running in here?!”
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 danger for her sake.
“Instead of succumbing to Shi Kun outside, we might as well take a gamble here. 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 all strung up, ready to react as soon as any danger surfaced.
Chu Chuyan sighed deeply and said, “You didn’t have to force yourself to save me. You could have escaped all alone, but you leaped deeper into the abyss instead.”
“It doesn’t seem that bad to die together and become a pair of lovebirds.” Zu An chuckled. “Even if we aren’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. You’re thinking of taking advantage of me even at a time like this.”
“What can I do? I’m afraid that there wouldn’t be any chance to say these words in the future.” Zu An noticed that Chu Chuyan’s eyes were half-closed, as if she would fall into a deep sleep at any moment. In order to pique her spirit, he was doing everything he could to attract 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 still are in a mood to talk about such stuff?” 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 terrifyingly scary.”
While Zu An chatted, he was scanning the area carefully while proceeding forward. Due to the gray fog lingering in the surroundings, his vision was limited. Nevertheless, he could still tell that they were currently walking through an extremely long passageway.
This passageway was inclined downward, which meant that they were heading underground. Perhaps they were heading to the depths of hell itself.
The walls along the passageway were dry and smooth on touch. There were all sorts of marks on them, which on careful examination, appeared to be murals. It depicted the scene of a gruesome battlefield.
However, Chu Chuyan didn’t pay any heed to all of this. She was brooding about what Zu An said before replying feebly, “Why are you so insistent about living together with me? You’re already...”
Her words trailed off halfway, perhaps not wanting to hurt 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, no? As for my physical condition, you need not worry about it. I have already consulted Divine Physician Ji about it, and all that’s lacking is just the main ingredient. Once I get my hand on it, I’ll be able to treat my affliction, and we’ll be a pair of blissful couple.”
Chu Chuyan’s face reddened. She instinctively disregarded the final sentence and asked, “You’re referring to the Evanescent Lotus?”
“Indeed. Who knows? I might just find it here,” replied Zu An.
Chu Chuyan fell silent. A place that was creeping with an air of malevolence like here couldn’t possibly give birth to a treasure like the Evanescent Lotus.
However, with the despairing situation they were already in, she didn’t want to destroy his confidence. So, she replied, “Alright. 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 satisfying him a little 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 in it, emanating a faint red glow.
“T-this...” Zu An was unable to see it clearly due to the concealment of the fog. However, a sudden slight 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 other Zu An had ever seen before, each spanning the size of a bathtub. Their sinister appearances and sharp fangs were more than indicative of their vile nature.
“Be careful, those are Vampiric Boar Bats! They are known to be able to suck the blood of a 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.
Making a quick estimation 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 of them were to swipe down on them at once, the two of them would be instantaneously reduced to dry 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 move. 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 going to get troublesome.
One must know that both he and Chu Chuyan were coated in fresh blood at the moment. They must have looked truly delectable in the eyes of those vampiric bats at this very moment.
It was then that a peal of hearty laughter sounded behind, “Hahaha! Looks like I’ve finally caught up to you!”
Shi Kun and the others were around ten meters away from them at the moment, and he was staring at them with a cold sneer sitting on his lips. 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 toward the ceiling before hurriedly diving to the ground with Chu Chuyan.
The bats were still rousing from their sleep when the great reverberation from the sudden arrow agitated them, causing them to spread their wings and swipe downward right away.
“What are those?!”
Shi Kun was horrified to see a wave of black lifeforms swooping in his direction. He instinctively shot out the wind blades around him to stop them.
Bursts of blood exploded in the air as ten of the vampiric bats were immediately reduced to shreds. Unfortunately, such a course of action was no different from poking a hornet’s nest. All of the surrounding bats immediately identified Shi Kun as their enemies and charged toward him.
Shi Kun’s face paled. He quickly channeled his ki to summon even more wind blades around him so as to fend against the onslaught of the bats. At the same time, Qiao Xueying also anxiously summoned a swirl of green leaves around her so as to fend off the aggressors.
As for the two remaining fourth rank cultivators, they also did everything they could to hack down the vampiric bats heading in their direction. However, there were simply too many of them, and every single one of them was fairly strong.
One of the fourth rank cultivators made a slip-up and ended up getting his defenses breached by a vampiric bat. It immediately bit down on his neck and began sucking.
A miserable cry sounded. He anxiously tried to pull the bat away from his neck, but in an attempt to do so, he ended up forsaking all defense. As a result, even more bats swooped down and began sucking his blood.
His miserable cries didn’t last long, for his tall and brawny body dried up at a visible pace. It took just a few seconds before he was reduced to just a mere corpse.
Shi Kun was enraged and horrified. Knowing that the danger these bats posed, he dared not to hold back anymore. He immediately summoned a tornado filled with wind blades to massacre all of the massive bats around him.
Qiao Xueying’s face also turned frosty. She began flicking the green leaves outward 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, smacking them down.
The remaining bats swiftly realized that they had picked on someone beyond their means and hurriedly escaped the area, leaving behind just a couple of carcasses lying around.
Despite this, Qiao Xueying didn’t retract her hair right away. Looking at the bloodied bat carcasses hanging on the tree vines extending from her hair, she disdainfully raised her sword and chopped it off. In just a few moments, however, her hair grew back to its original length.
On the other hand, Shi Kun took a look around, but Zu An and Chu Chuyan were no longer anywhere to be seen. By this point, it was apparent that they had been done in by them, and he flew into a state of rage. “Bastard Zu An! Even if I have to chase you through the gateways of hell, I’ll mince you into pieces!”
You have successfully trolled Shi Kun for +999 Rage!
“Young master, this place feels sinister. I have an ominous feeling about this. Why don’t we retreat first and reassess the situation?” asked Qiao Xueying.
Shi Kun harrumphed coldly and said, “Are you getting worried 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 was earnestly saying those words out of worry for Shi Kun. As a wood element cultivator, she was able to sense the life force lingering around her, but this place exerted a strange pressure on her that made her unable to exert her ki smoothly. It felt like there was some sort of terrifying existence lurking in here.
Shi Kun belatedly realized that he had already lost a lot 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 so my words turned out harsher than I thought. Don’t take them to heart. While this place is a little sinister, it’s just filled with Vampiric Boar Bats and those sorts of monsters. As long as we keep our guard up, we shouldn’t face too much trouble. We can’t possibly watch idly while young miss Chu dies in Zu An’s hands. Let’s quickly find her and get out of here, alright?”
Qiao Xueying nodded. “Yes, young master. It was indeed my fault earlier. I was too soft.”
Shi Kun laughed heartily and said, “It’s fine. 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 be callous to young miss Chu instead.”
Hearing those words, Qiao Xueying, who was conflicted 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.
😉