Chapter 257

Gu Yuanyi felt all the hairs on his body stand on end. His mind, previously clouded by lust, instantly cleared. He quickly explained, "Junior Sister, I was momentarily confused just now; I didn't intend to offend you."

Qiu Honglei's voice turned cold as she retrieved her bright yellow lantern. "If there's a next time, don't blame me for disregarding our shared apprenticeship."

"Yes, yes, yes, this was an accident, there definitely won't be a next time." Cold sweat trickled down Gu Yuanyi's back as he hurriedly retreated. Although separated by a screen, he kept his head lowered as much as possible, fearing he might anger her into attacking.

Despite having tried to overestimate her power before, he hadn't expected her to be so formidable.

And what was with that lantern of hers? Did their master give it to her?

Their master was truly biased!

He secretly wiped away a bead of cold sweat, recalling how he had tried to flirt with her multiple times before.

Yet, a hint of confusion lingered in his heart. Usually, when he teased her slightly, she would always respond with a sweet smile. Why was she suddenly so angry today?

"One more thing: if you need to escape in the future, just escape. Don't use our own people as human shields," Qiu Honglei snorted, clearly displeased with his actions on the boat earlier.

"Yes, yes, yes, next time for sure." Gu Yuanyi nodded repeatedly.

Inwardly, however, he grumbled endlessly: *Since you're so powerful, why didn't you just act on the boat? If we had teamed up, facing Chen Xuan wouldn't have required such a messy escape.*

Of course, these thoughts remained strictly in his mind; he wouldn't dare show them in the slightest.

"You can go now." Qiu Honglei waved her hand, clearly in no mood to deal with him further.

Gu Yuanyi, as if granted a great pardon, quickly scurried out.

Qiu Honglei, meanwhile, toyed with the conch shell in her hand, a smile reappearing on her face.

This time, it was all Chen Xuan's fault for appearing out of nowhere and ruining their plans, but overall, it was still good. She had confirmed that the man was worth her gamble.

"Achoo~" When Zu An returned to the Chu residence, a gust of cold wind made him sneeze.

He went inside to find a clean change of clothes, then hurried towards Chu Chuyan's boudoir.

"I wonder if she remembered to leave the door open for me," Zu An thought, looking up at the high-hanging moon. It was already late.

He stealthily made his way to Chu Chuyan's courtyard. Due to the previous incident of an expert intruder, Qin Wanru had specifically increased the security.

Under normal circumstances, not even a fly should have been able to get through the current defenses. However, Zu An possessed an improved and enhanced version of "Sunflower Phantoms." When he couldn't dodge, he would directly activate his "Great Wind" skill to teleport, allowing him to forcefully sneak inside.

"What kind of world is this! Sneaking into my own wife's room like a thief!"

Zu An was indignant.

Arriving at the agreed-upon window, Zu An noticed the lights inside were off.

"My wife Chuyan is indeed timid, worried about the lights being seen from outside."

He looked around, confirming that no one was nearby.

Only then did he place his hand on the window and gently push.

Huh?

Why wouldn't it open?

Zu An, disbelieving, applied more force.

But it still didn't budge.

"Did I get the wrong window?"

Recalling his previous conversation with Chu Chuyan, perhaps they had misunderstood which window the other meant.

He quickly moved to another window and tried to push it, but it also remained completely still.

What the hell?

He tried every window one after another, but not a single one was open.

Zu An's face instantly fell. *What about the agreement?*

He had resisted temptation and turned down Qiu Honglei's offer, only to come back to this?

After thinking it over, it must be that Chu Chuyan was simply too shy and perhaps a bit uncomfortable at first.

But the initial few days were crucial for expelling the cold from her body; there was no time to delay.

He didn't dare call out to Chu Chuyan, fearing he might alert the guards outside. So, he took out his dagger, carefully inserted it into the window crack, and pushed the latch aside.

He tiptoed inside, then closed the window again.

"Why does this feel like I'm breaking in?"

This was clearly his own wife's room!

A wave of displeasure washed over Zu An. His previously hunched posture straightened, and he held his head high.

Walking towards the bed, he faintly saw a graceful, shapely figure lying on her side, facing away from him.

"This woman really needs a good talking-to; look how affectionate Qiu Honglei is!"

The thought of Chu Chuyan going back on her promise to leave the door open made Zu An's teeth itch. He felt it was time to assert his authority as a husband.

So, without a word, he slipped under the covers and wrapped his arms around her.

After all, they had already had the most intimate and profound interactions in the secret realm, and later, during healing, Chu Chuyan had even taken off her clothes in front of him.

He felt he should be more proactive; perhaps she was no longer as resistant to him.

What he embraced was soft, warm, and fragrant, yet Zu An felt a flicker of doubt. How could Chuyan's body have become so much fuller in just half a day?

"Yan'er, don't fuss~"

The beauty in his arms suddenly stirred, as if mumbling in her sleep.

"???"

Zu An was scared out of his wits, for the voice clearly belonged to Qin Wanru!

Just then, Qin Wanru seemed to sense something was amiss. She groggily woke up and was about to turn to check.

Suddenly, a slender, jade-like finger reached out from the side and pressed an acupuncture point on her.

Qin Wanru gave a soft moan, then drifted back into a deep slumber.

A slender, graceful figure sat up beside them, revealing a pretty face that was both charming and slightly annoyed. Who else could it be but Chu Chuyan?

Zu An looked utterly bewildered. He lowered his head to gaze at the woman in his arms, who was clearly more voluptuous and striking than his wife. It could only be Qin Wanru.

"What is going on here?"

Zu An's mind went blank.

"My mother was worried about my health and insisted on sleeping with me to take care of me," Chu Chuyan explained, looking embarrassed. "I refused a few times, but she persisted, and I was afraid of making her suspicious, so I had to agree."

Zu An was speechless.

*What kind of plot twist is this? How could I have ever guessed!*

"Why didn't you tell me beforehand?" Zu An said faintly. Having just received a massive fright, his young, fragile heart had taken critical damage, and he still hadn't fully recovered his wits.

Chu Chuyan's gaze dropped, and she said with slight annoyance, "Aren't you going to take your hand off?"

Zu An looked down and instantly felt mortified. He quickly pulled his hand back as if shocked. "Uh... I panicked just now and didn't realize."

Chu Chuyan snorted, then said, "I asked Xiaozhao, and she told me you weren't at the mansion. How was I supposed to notify you? So I had to lock all the doors and windows to signal that things had changed. Who knew you'd actually force your way in!"

"I thought it was because you were a bit unaccustomed to it the first time, or perhaps shy," Zu An explained. "Your condition requires the removal of cold energy in the initial few sessions, which is very important, so I was eager to come in." He knew he would be ruined if she thought he was a pervert.

Chu Chuyan bit her lip, her expression hesitant. "Alright, but please don't be so reckless in the future. I can't always pinpoint Mother's acupuncture points so quickly every time. If she found out you were... disrespectful to her, you probably wouldn't be able to stay in the Chu residence anymore."

She knew her mother had never been particularly fond of Zu An, and if she discovered something like this, she would definitely go mad. That's why Chu Chuyan had to act first and incapacitate her.

"My dear wife, you truly do care about me," Zu An said, a faint smile appearing on his face. "My efforts to save you weren't in vain."

"Who cares about you?" Chu Chuyan's face flushed slightly as she quickly explained, "It's just that such a situation would be awkward for everyone, so I was just reminding you."

"Alright, alright, hurry up and undress," Zu An said, simultaneously spreading out the bag of silver needles he had prepared.

Chu Chuyan was speechless.

Could this guy ever have a normal conversation?

It was a perfectly normal treatment, yet why did it sound so strange coming from him?

With a quiet huff, she slowly unbuttoned her clothes and carefully removed them.

Having been a prodigy in the cultivation world since childhood, she certainly didn't want to spend the rest of her life as an invalid confined to her bed.

Of course, if anyone other than Zu An were performing the acupuncture, she would never have agreed.

Presumably, their intimate interactions in the secret realm had subconsciously made her less resistant.

Naturally, she was completely unaware of any of this.

Zu An once again admired Chu Chuyan's snow-white, delicate skin. She didn't have the rich fragrance of Qiu Honglei, yet her faint, subtle scent was still memorable.

He took out the silver needles and slowly inserted them into her acupuncture points, beginning to dispel the cold energy from her body.

...

Chu Chuyan suddenly spoke, "Don't disturb my mother."

Zu An paused, then shifted his body further away from Qin Wanru. "Alright!"

...

After an unknown amount of time, Zu An retracted all the silver needles and let out a long sigh of relief. "Mission accomplished. Today's task is done."

In his mind, however, he was already fantasizing about what it would be like to perform acupuncture on her from the front next time. *Hmm, can't scare her off right away. Slowly, slowly.*

"Thank you~" Chu Chuyan quietly put on her clothes. Turning back, she noticed the fine beads of sweat on his forehead. Her heart softened, and she took out a scented handkerchief, intending to wipe his sweat.

Suddenly, her movements froze, and her expression cooled slightly. "Where were you today?"

"I just went out for a stroll with Yucheng and Hongcai," Zu An said ambiguously. He certainly couldn't tell his wife he had gone to a brothel.

"Is that all?" Chu Chuyan snorted.

"What else?" Zu An felt a pang of guilt.

Chu Chuyan fell silent. After a long moment, she abruptly stated, "You have another woman's scent on you."

"Huh?" Zu An quickly lifted his sleeve to sniff it. *No, there isn't! And I just changed my clothes. As a keyboard warrior, how could I make such a rookie mistake?*

*But she still smelled it?*

*Are women really that sensitive to scents that aren't theirs?*

He still braced himself and said, "Are you sure you're not mistaken? Maybe it was just your mother's scent that accidentally got on me."

Chu Chuyan sneered, "And you still have another woman's lipstick print on your mouth."

Zu An was speechless.

He finally remembered: earlier, when Qiu Honglei had given him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation in the water, their lips had met.

*Fading lipstick is deadly!*

Zu An fled in a hurry, silently cursing the unscrupulous merchants of this world. Qiu Honglei undoubtedly used the most expensive cosmetics, yet even they had this problem.

"Wait, didn't she say she didn't mind if I found other women? Why am I feeling guilty then?"

Zu An instinctively wanted to turn back, but for some reason, after a few steps, he dismissed the idea.

"Never mind, I won't tempt fate."

When he returned to his own room, his body suddenly stiffened. A sword was pressed against his neck.