Chapter 310: Great Surprise

Zu An was speechless. "My lady, your thought process is truly… unique."

"Isn't that right?" Zheng Dan sneered. "You said before that once you transformed into human form, you would come… you would come…" Her face flushed as if covered with rouge, and she finally couldn't bring herself to say the rest: "How could A'Zu have withstood that blow from you? Poor A'Zu, for my sake…"

As he watched tears stream from her eyes, Zu An realized she was likely disoriented, a combination of the medicinal effects and the recent shock.

Zu An pointed to the mountain-like corpse nearby. "Look over there," he said, "that wicked dragon is dead."

Zheng Dan was momentarily stunned. She instinctively turned her head and saw the red dragon's corpse, a mix of shock and joy washing over her. "It's really dead?" she asked.

"Of course, I killed it," Zu An said, puffing out his chest. He thought it was a shame there was no one to praise him and elaborate on the dragon's cultivation level; explaining it himself would diminish his prestige.

He hadn't even considered asking Mi Li to praise him; compared to saving face, his life was far more important.

"A'Zu, it's really you!" Zheng Dan's voice choked, and she threw herself into his arms. "Are you really alright?" She spoke while checking his back, clearly still deeply traumatized by the earlier events.

Feeling the astonishing warmth and elasticity of the delicate body in his arms, Zu An's heart quickened. Concerned she might overthink, he quickly composed himself, gently patting her back to comfort her. "I have a protective artifact that blocked that attack for me," he explained.

"So that's what happened…" Zheng Dan pursed her lips, then quickly buried her head in his chest again.

Zu An channeled the Snowfall Divine Sword energy, sending wisps of cold air into her body to neutralize the medicine's effects. However, his cold energy was immediately devoured by an overwhelming heat. He spoke with some hesitation, "This poison you've taken is quite problematic…"

Zheng Dan murmured softly, "Mmm, I know."

Zu An looked utterly confused. "What do you mean, you know?" He had expected Zheng Dan, with her higher cultivation and as the leader of the Giant Whale Gang, to be more experienced and perhaps know of other antidotes. Yet, she said nothing.

"Empress Sister, do you know if there's any other way to cure this poison?" Zu An called out to Mi Li in his mind, thinking that if Ji Xiaoxi were here, she would surely have a solution.

"The poison she's taken is uncommon, far more potent than the Red-Scaled Python's venom from the last secret realm. There's probably no other cure," Mi Li said with a cold laugh. "Don't act so innocent, boy. You clearly know there's only one solution, yet you deliberately ask like this. It's quite shameless."

Zu An looked crestfallen. "I only asked because I genuinely am a gentleman," he argued.

Mi Li: "Hmph."

Zu An could only say to Zheng Dan, "To cure your poison, we can only… we can only…"

Zheng Dan bit her lip, her voice barely audible. "I'm bothering you," she whispered.

In truth, her willpower was remarkably strong. Any other woman, having been poisoned like this for so long, would have completely lost consciousness, acting only on instinct. This was, of course, also thanks to the fright from the dragon and the ice elemental energy Zu An later channeled into her, allowing her to barely retain a shred of consciousness. Yet, the more aware she became, the shyer she grew.

"No trouble at all, no trouble," Zu An chuckled awkwardly. What man would find such a thing troublesome? After all, those people who had been relentlessly chasing them earlier would have practically begged to do this 'troublesome' deed.

Hearing this, Zheng Dan lowered her head even further, unable to speak.

Zu An looked up at the nearby cave, remembering that the environment inside was quite good. He then carried Zheng Dan and walked in. With the red dragon's corpse outside and its lingering presence, no fierce beast would dare to approach. As for humans, this was already deep within Dragon Hidden Mountain, making it highly unlikely for anyone to be here. Even if someone did arrive, they wouldn't be able to carry away such a massive dragon corpse.

Halfway there, Zu An suddenly asked Mi Li, "Empress Sister, you won't be peeking later, will you?"

Mi Li's anger surged (+513)!

"What kind of person do you take me for, to peek at your sordid affairs!" Mi Li's voice, full of exasperation and indignation, rang out. "I'm going back to sleep. Don't bother me again." After that, she fell silent.

He quietly called out to her a few more times, and when there was no response, Zu An finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Carrying Zheng Dan into the cave, Zu An was about to speak when a pair of soft, red lips pressed against his. Clearly, the medicine's full effects had taken hold of Zheng Dan. With the warm, fragrant beauty in his arms and feeling her initiative, Zu An would hardly be a man if he remained indifferent. Their breathing and movements both grew more intense.

Zheng Dan's dress was already thin, and a large section had been torn away by the red dragon earlier, leaving very little of it. In what seemed like an instant, her dress fell away like scattered butterflies, revealing the perfect body that countless members of the Giant Whale Gang fantasized about nightly.

Suddenly, Zheng Dan seemed to regain a sliver of clarity. She quickly pressed against Zu An, her eyes glistening with tears, mixed with struggle and fear, and pleaded softly, "No… no, I can't compromise my body before marriage." Her upbringing as a well-bred young lady had deeply ingrained many principles into her soul, allowing her to remember her years of adherence even in this situation. It would have been better if she had remained silent; her words only made it more unbearable for Zu An. Last time, her hesitation had led to failure; how could he make the same mistake again?

Zu An gently kissed her. Soon, her eyes glazed over, and the hand pressing against him became less resolute. Sensing her hesitation, Zu An moved decisively. A single tear fell, and the two became one.

***

After an unknown amount of time, a hint of clarity returned to Zheng Dan's eyes.

Zu An said apologetically, "You won't blame me, will you?"

Zheng Dan shook her head slightly, and her two fair arms gently embraced him, her body language conveying everything.

After a while, she suddenly felt a surge of heat within her body, just like when she was first poisoned. She couldn't help but recall Chen Xuan's arrogant words from earlier. Her beautiful face was flushed and alluring, but since things had come to this, she no longer cared. She leaned into his ear and whispered, "A'Zu, the poison I took is called 'Eighteen Degrees of Spring Breeze'."

"I know," Zu An said, startled, not understanding why she suddenly brought that up.

Seeing that he didn't understand, Zheng Dan's face flushed even deeper. She had no choice but to explain, "As the name suggests, it requires… eighteen times…" She cursed Chen Xuan to hell in her mind, wondering where he had acquired such a despicable drug.

Zu An's eyes widened, but he quickly smiled. "It would be my pleasure to serve you, my lady!"

***

After another unknown period of time, Zheng Dan held Zu An tightly, her body trembling. After a long while, she finally caught her breath and thoughtfully wiped sweat from Zu An. "Aren't you too tired?" she asked.

Zu An laughed heartily. "With such a beautiful woman before him, no man in this world would ever tire," he replied.

Zheng Dan smiled captivatingly, the lingering glow on her face making her even more alluring than usual. She was not a conventional person by nature, and the 'Eighteen Degrees of Spring Breeze' combined with their recent intimacy fully ignited the passion that had been suppressed deep within her for years.

Holding Zu An tightly, she whispered softly in his ear, "A'Zu, don't you think our relationship right now is like that of a lake and the moon?"

"A lake and the moon?" Zu An looked confused, thinking, *Do all these high-born young ladies have a poetic heart?*

"I am the lake, and you are the moon," Zheng Dan said with a sweet smile. "The lake is beneath the moon, the moon is within the lake. I am beneath you, and you are within me…" She smiled seductively, her sentence trailing off.

Zu An felt a surge of heat rush through his limbs, as if his entire body was about to explode. *This woman is truly a temptress among temptresses,* he thought.

***

After a long pause, Zu An stiffened, seemingly hesitating. After all, she was engaged; what if something unforeseen happened? As if sensing his apprehension, Zheng Dan gazed at him tenderly, her eyes full of affection. "It's alright," she whispered. "Brother, you can enter places where even the sun's rays cannot."

Zu An let out a low growl, no longer able to restrain himself.

***

In a corner of the cave, Mi Li's ethereal soul projection flickered, and even two patches of blush appeared on her face. "If this woman were in the imperial harem," she mused, "she would undoubtedly be a femme fatale, showered with endless favor." The key was her unique temperament, capable of seamlessly switching between dignity and seduction; probably no man in the world could withstand it.

Suddenly, she noticed Zu An was ready once more and couldn't help but gape. "It really is eighteen times… This guy would definitely be a huge success as a male escort." The term 'male escort' was something she had learned from Zu An during their recent interactions. Her face grew increasingly red, and she finally couldn't bear it. She immediately sealed off her five senses and re-entered slumber.

***

"Stop sleeping, wake up!"

The next morning, Zu An was woken by Mi Li's displeased voice.

"What's wrong, Empress Sister?" he asked, looking somewhat sleepily at Mi Li's translucent soul body nearby. At the same time, he glanced at Zheng Dan, finding her nestled in his arms, sound asleep, with a sweet, contented smile on her lips.

Mi Li snorted coldly. "Take out that pearl of yours for me to examine. Let's see what kind of treasure it really is." This fellow had been at it all night, preventing her from resting at all. Even with her five senses sealed, her mind was still filled with the images she had witnessed. Yet, this guy himself was sleeping soundly! Thinking of this, she was extremely displeased, so she brazenly found an excuse to wake him up.

"Oh~" Zu An was also curious. He fumbled through his clothes and quickly found the pearl.

"Let's go outside and talk," Mi Li huffed, flying out first. "I don't want to see another woman in a state of disarray."

He lowered his head and looked at Zheng Dan's rosy-white skin, thinking, *It's more than just disarrayed clothes.* Zu An chuckled awkwardly and quickly followed her out. The moment his feet touched the ground, he felt light-footed, as if he were walking on cotton.

Mi Li shot him a sidelong glance, evidently having guessed the reason.

Zu An gave a sheepish grin.

"Channel your primal energy into the pearl, then slowly extend your spiritual consciousness into it," Mi Li instructed with a cold snort, beginning to guide him on how to use his spiritual consciousness.

Zu An nodded, following her instructions. After extending his spiritual consciousness into it, he was greatly surprised.