Chapter 1241: Unexpected Success

Zu'an was so annoyed he felt like killing the chubby man. He had just managed to let the topic fade away, and now, after running into him, the man brought it up all over again?

"What nonsense about luck or misfortune in love," he said coldly. "Your predictions are completely off. It's a good thing I haven't asked you for compensation; how dare you still gloat here?"

Yu Yanluo secretly nodded. For the past few days, Zu'an had indeed stayed strictly indoors, upholding the paragon of masculine virtue. How could he have possibly encountered any romantic entanglements?

Yan Xuehen and Yun Jianyue, however, thought otherwise. They had personally witnessed Zu'an and Yu Yanluo secretly meeting late at night. However, since they were already a couple, counting that as a "romantic encounter" would be a bit of a stretch.

Wu Liang exclaimed, "Huh? That's not right. How could I have miscalculated?"

As he finished speaking, he began to count on his fingers again. Zu'an's scalp tingled, and he quickly changed the subject. "Hey, fatty, what were you just selling?"

Hearing him mention this, Wu Liang's eyes lit up immediately. "Young Master, would you like to buy one? This is a treasure map I acquired through immense effort. It contains invaluable treasures capable of changing one's destiny. I'll only sell it to you for 100 taels of silver. Where else in the world could you find such a deal? Miss it, and it's gone forever!"

Zu'an was speechless. "But I clearly just heard you selling it to them for ten taels of silver. Now you're selling it to me for 100?"

The women standing nearby also looked displeased. This fellow was indeed a swindler, treating them like easy prey to fleece? With this revelation, the credibility of his earlier "misfortune in love" prediction plummeted.

Despite his trick being exposed, Wu Liang showed no embarrassment and calmly said, "Young Master, you don't understand. What I sold to them was a copied version, missing many details and much information. This one, however, is the original. I'm only charging you 100 taels because you're my old cust... bah, because you and this humble Taoist priest are destined."

Amused, Zu'an immediately grabbed his hand and shouted, "Come here and take a look! He says the treasure maps he sold you were shoddy, stripped-down versions!"

As soon as Zu'an said this, many people immediately cried out that they had been swindled. Then, seeing the expressions on others' faces, they realized he had sold the same thing to multiple people. A group of infuriated individuals rushed towards him, looking as if they wanted to flay him alive.

Wu Liang was scared out of his wits. "Young Master, you've ruined me! Here, take this original treasure map as a gift." With that, he shoved the map into Zu'an's hand. His wrist then suddenly became impossibly slick, and he effortlessly slipped from Zu'an's grasp, disappearing around the street corner in the blink of an eye.

Zu'an was somewhat stunned. While he hadn't deliberately used much force when grabbing the man, the ease with which the man broke free was truly remarkable.

"That appears to be an extremely advanced bone-shrinking technique," Yan Xuehen commented from nearby. "It's more sophisticated than any I've ever known. I wonder which sect he trained under."

"Given my usual disposition," Yun Jianyue said coldly, "I'd simply capture this fellow and torture him until everything was clear."

Zu'an shook his head. "We don't know if this fellow is an enemy or a friend. There's no need to rashly offend him." Even when he had deliberately exposed the man's trick earlier, the chubby man hadn't displayed any anger, indicating he likely held no significant malice.

Yu Yanluo leaned closer to him. "Let's first examine the map."

Zu'an hummed in agreement, unrolling the map in his hand. Its texture was similar to parchment, but it had clearly undergone special treatment, making it less susceptible to damage from water or fire.

"Huh, this indeed looks quite ancient," Yun Jianyue immediately noticed. "Could that fellow have been telling the truth about it being the original?"

"But if it's truly the original, why would he give something so valuable to us?" Yan Xuehen asked, quite puzzled.

Zu'an pondered for a moment before saying, "Based on what just happened, he sold the treasure map to many people. So there are two possibilities: one, the treasure map is a scam, and he merely intended to profit from it."

Yu Yanluo shook her head. "That's unlikely. The man was wearing an item that concealed his aura, which even the two of you couldn't penetrate, proving he's truly extraordinary. While ten taels of silver per map is a significant amount for ordinary people, even selling thousands wouldn't generate an income that means much to someone of his caliber."

Yan Xuehen and Yun Jianyue both nodded in agreement. Although they were slightly irked by her romantic involvement with Zu'an, they still highly valued her judgment. Given the chubby man's displayed abilities, acquiring tens of thousands of taels of silver would be effortless for him, so why would he go through such a convoluted scheme?

"Then it must be the second possibility," Zu'an said gravely. "This treasure map is indeed real, but for some unknown reason, he needs many people to go and help him."

Yun Jianyue speculated, "Perhaps he can't access the treasure with his own abilities alone, which is why he distributed treasure maps everywhere, hoping to leverage the strength of others. And you, clearly an extraordinary individual, he would naturally find a way to entice you."

Zu'an chuckled. "I'm just an ordinary fellow; there's nothing extraordinary about my appearance. He probably thought highly of me because he saw me with you three ladies, who look like celestial beings descended from heaven."

"You rascal, always so glib," the women playfully scolded him. Yet, praised by him in such creative ways, they couldn't help but feel pleased, and the strange atmosphere that had lingered between them finally dissipated.

After some playful banter, they began to examine the map.

Although Yan Xuehen and Yun Jianyue were exceptionally intelligent, they were unfamiliar with much of the information regarding the demon race. They stared at the lines on the map for a long time but struggled to make any sense of it.

Although Yu Yanluo was the clan leader of the snake tribe, she primarily identified as human and mostly lived in the human world. While she knew more about the demon race than Yan Xuehen and Yun Jianyue, her knowledge wasn't significantly greater.

Zu'an, however, stared intently at the map, then suddenly exclaimed, "Huh? I think I know this place. It's about eight hundred li from here, in that direction." He then roughly pointed.

The women blinked, asking, "How can you tell?"

Zu'an's expression stiffened. Last night, while soaring through the clouds with Tushan Yu, they had happened to pass over that very area. At the time, as he admired the majestic and unique mountain ranges of the demon race below, he was also engaged in an intimate encounter with a famously beautiful demon woman, which gave him a profound sense of accomplishment and left a very deep impression. Of course, those mountain ranges were indeed very peculiar, which allowed him to quickly match them with the map. He never expected that his philandering could actually prove useful for a serious matter. But how could he explain this to the women? He certainly couldn't explain that he had discovered it while engaging in a certain intimate activity with Tushan Yu high in the sky, could he?

"Ahem, I discovered it while testing out the Wind-Fire Wheels and flying through the sky," Zu'an explained.

"Wind-Fire Wheels?" The other three women's attention was indeed drawn to this.

"Oh, I haven't told you about this yet?" Zu'an feigned surprise. "This was the ransom money Chiyi paid earlier..." He then briefly recounted the entire process.

After listening, the women's expressions immediately became quite colorful. Yun Jianyue, having fewer inhibitions, directly said, "You rascal, you really know how to be a kept man!" After speaking, she even glanced at Yu Yanluo, making her flush bright red. Yu Yanluo thought to herself, "Why are you looking at me? Don't you all let him do the same?"

***

The group then set off in the direction indicated on the map. Although the distance was eight hundred li, it wasn't too far for them.

As they neared their destination, Yan Xuehen's expression became somewhat solemn. "It seems there are more experts from various races around, and their cultivation levels are higher than those we saw earlier in Qingqiu City." There were many Rank Seven and Rank Eight experts, and even some at Rank Nine. Crucially, none of them seemed very old. It was unknown if there were any older, more powerful masters hidden in the shadows. These individuals were clearly all here for the same purpose.