Chapter 1149: Old Friends Meet Again

Zu'an was greatly surprised. He had intended to secretly scout out the opponents, but it seemed he had walked into a trap.

Fortunately, his divine soul was now fully formed, allowing him to instantly recover from the piercing sensation of the wave-like sound. At the same time, he flicked his finger, deflecting the slender sword.

Just as he was about to seize the opportunity to attack, the figure retreated into the shadows and vanished.

At that moment, countless yellow and white paper money rained down from above. Though originally very soft, these spinning papers became incredibly sharp, leaving deep gashes on many nearby walls they touched.

Yu Yanluo reacted quickly, immediately conjuring her Thousand-Mile Mountains and Rivers Map above her head, absorbing all the scattered paper money.

Just then, a slender sword suddenly thrust out from the shadow beneath the Thousand-Mile Mountains and Rivers Map, aiming for Yu Yanluo's neck.

Zu'an's divine soul was incredibly perceptive. He immediately grabbed the sword, giving the attacker no chance to retreat, and pulled the person out.

Then he struck with a palm towards the person's head.

"Hold your hand!"

A startled cry rang out, and several figures swiftly approached.

Recognizing the figures, Zu'an frowned and altered the direction of his palm, striking the person's chest instead of their head.

With a muffled thud, the dark figure coughed up a mouthful of blood and stumbled backward.

At this point, several other figures also revealed themselves; they were all old acquaintances.

Leading them was Kong Qing, a Grandmaster from the demon race. Beside him stood a child holding a rattle drum, though Zu'an and Yu Yanluo knew this was no child but a dwarf, the infamous Serpent Poison Boy.

The piercing sound that had attacked their minds earlier was this fellow's sonic assault from shaking his rattle drum.

On the other side stood a woman in a bridal gown, the Paper Bride. The fluttering paper money they had just witnessed was her doing.

Zu'an had been trapped in her coffin for a long time during their last encounter, a memory still fresh in his mind.

As for the unfortunate fellow in the shadows who was spitting blood, he was a Dark Elf, though he seemed to look somewhat different from the last one Zu'an had seen.

He was now glaring at Zu'an with venomous eyes.

Zu'an ignored him directly and said, "So it's Master Kong. I really didn't expect us to meet here."

"I also didn't expect to see you here, young friend," Kong Qing replied with a slight smile. However, after glancing at the Dark Elf, he frowned and added, "But you're not very friendly, young friend. You clearly recognized us just now, yet you struck so hard."

Zu'an retorted, "Weren't you the ones who attacked me first? This guy always goes for the vitals. If I hadn't recognized you just now, I wouldn't have held back. Otherwise, he'd be dead by now."

In truth, he could have avoided injuring the opponent entirely, but first, he was annoyed by the fellow's vicious attack, and second, it was hard to tell if Kong Qing and his group were friends or foes, so weakening one of their combatants beforehand seemed like a good idea.

"You call that holding back?" The Dark Elf exclaimed, coughing up another mouthful of blood. He felt his qi and blood churning within him, as if his entire body was about to fall apart. This injury would be hard to recover from without ten to fifteen days of rest.

The Paper Bride giggled charmingly. "You should be thankful. If Young Master Zu hadn't held back just now, he would have shattered your skull with a single palm. You wouldn't be able to speak now."

Although the Dark Elf knew it was true, he was still annoyed. "Whose side are you on, you wretched woman?"

"I'm just helping what's right, not who's kin," the Paper Bride said, swaying her body as she approached him, her crimson fingernail lightly tracing his cheek. "And watch how you speak. In your current state, it would be as easy as turning over my hand for your granny to kill you."

Her hips swayed provocatively as she walked, exuding a rather seductive charm.

The Dark Elf was in no mood to appreciate her. Instead, he shuddered in fright and quickly recoiled, indeed not daring to say anything more.

The Serpent Poison Boy sneered, "Paper Bride, don't tell me you've taken a liking to that pretty boy?"

Having suffered a great loss at Zu'an's hands previously, he naturally felt resentful and seized the opportunity to taunt him.

"Young Master Zu is handsome, his cultivation is high, and his character is quite good. He's much better than any of you, so it's not surprising I admire him," the Paper Bride said, deliberately batting an eyelash at Zu'an.

Zu'an smiled slightly. "Paper Bride, with your graceful charm, I'm sure you've captivated countless young men... *Hiss~*"

Yu Yanluo was just thinking about how unrestrained these evil cult members were when she unexpectedly saw Zu'an flirting with one of them. She couldn't help but secretly pinch his waist.

A surge of anger from Yu Yanluo: +7, +7, +7...

Zu'an chuckled, realizing he had made the beauty beside him jealous.

Instead of being angry, he was quite pleased, and he secretly took her hand.

Yu Yanluo's pretty face flushed, feeling a bit embarrassed in front of so many people, and quickly pulled her hand back.

Zu'an reached for her again, and they playfully exchanged grabs, thoroughly enjoying themselves.

Fortunately, they were close together, their bodies obscuring their actions, and with the dimness of the mine, the others didn't notice their small gestures.

"Hehehee~" The Paper Bride covered her mouth, giggling so hard she trembled. "To receive such approval from Young Master, I'm truly delighted."

"However, I do know my place. When it comes to graceful charm, how could I compare to Lady Yu beside you?"

Hearing her praise, Yu Yanluo actually felt a little embarrassed, thinking she might have been a bit petty just now.

*Huh*, she thought, *I'm usually not like this. Why did I lose my composure just now?*

Kong Qing cleared his throat, evidently also having had enough of the Paper Bride's flirtations. He looked at Zu'an and said with surprise, "Oh, it's only been a few days, and your cultivation seems to have advanced considerably!"

It was well known that the further one progressed in cultivation, each small improvement was ten or even a hundred times harder than in the early stages. How could Zu'an have made such progress in just a few days since their last separation?

"It's also thanks to the experience from our last battle," Zu'an replied ambiguously. "Oh, Master Kong, it seems you're injured?"

He hadn't noticed at first, but the moment Kong Qing spoke, Zu'an could sense a slight lack of vital energy, despite his attempts to conceal it. Zu'an's divine soul perception was incredibly acute now.

Kong Qing was somewhat surprised that this had been detected. Since the cat was out of the bag, he admitted frankly, "Indeed, I've sustained a minor injury."

Zu'an was a little surprised. "Who could have injured Brother Kong?"

Kong Qing was a Grandmaster and a demon, and he had so many other experts with him. Could he have encountered Yan Xuehen?

"Just a small mishap," Kong Qing said, clearly not wanting to elaborate. "Why are the two of you here?"

Zu'an smiled. "This is the Yu family's mine. It's perfectly normal for her and me to be here. The question is, why are *you* here?"

Kong Qing gave an awkward laugh. "We've long heard of the Yu family's famous mine. We were just passing through Yunzhong Commandery and decided to take a look."

"I suspect you came here to steal primordial stones and, at the same time, investigate the secret passage to the demon territories, didn't you?" Yu Yanluo scoffed. As the head of the Yu family and the leader of the Serpent Clan, she naturally possessed a great deal of information.

Kong Qing's expression changed, and he quickly asked, "Is there really a secret passage to the demon territories?"

Yu Yanluo shook her head. "Of course not. I don't know where those rumors came from."

Naturally, she wouldn't tell them the truth.

Kong Qing frowned, not believing her words. They stared at each other, and the atmosphere grew tense for a moment.

At this point, the Paper Bride stepped forward to smooth things over. "The two of you coming at this time, you must have sensed something unusual about this mine and came to investigate, correct?"

Zu'an and Yu Yanluo exchanged glances, then Zu'an asked, "How long have you been here?"

"For quite some time," the Paper Bride sighed. "I really miss being above ground. Down here, I feel like I'm turning into dross."

Zu'an thought, *No wonder they don't know what happened to Yu Yanluo.* He then asked, "You've been here so long. Have you noticed anything strange, or encountered any powerful monsters?"

The expressions of the others changed simultaneously. Finally, Kong Qing spoke, "At this point, there's nothing left to hide. Young Master, have you noticed who is missing from our group?"

Zu'an looked around. "I've been wondering since just now, where's the Azure Wolf King?"

Kong Qing's face turned extremely grim. "The Azure Wolf King was eaten by that monster."