Chapter 805: Dead

"What!" The Gu brothers were both shocked and enraged to hear that Zu An had even embraced Bi Linglong.

The two brothers had grown up with Bi Linglong, practically childhood sweethearts. In truth, both had secretly admired the beautiful, noble young girl since childhood. Unfortunately, due to their differing family statuses and her marriage into the imperial family as the Crown Princess, their unspoken affection never materialized. Yet, their admiration was merely buried deep in their hearts, not truly gone.

They had grown up together, yet never even touched fingertips, but now that Zu An fellow had actually embraced her?

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Zu An, standing nearby, was astonished. What was wrong with these two, suddenly generating so much rage?

The Gu brothers ignored him, staring blankly at the Crown Prince beside them, taking a long time to process what they were seeing. What kind of reaction was this from the Crown Prince?

Your wife is being intimate with another man, and you don't care? Instead, you respond by saying that man has also embraced your wife.

Can a person be so utterly unfeeling?

Or does this guy have some special fetish?

The mere thought made their breathing quicken, and their previously dormant hearts stirred. Did this mean they, too, could...

Seeing the Crown Prince's indifference, the two quietly moved away, lest Bi Linglong notice their behavior.

Their hidden gazes, fixed on Bi Linglong's graceful and beautiful figure, became intensely fervent.

Suddenly, a small commotion erupted ahead. Various elemental skills were instantly unleashed in a barrage, and then quiet quickly returned.

It turned out a group of fierce beasts had just appeared. The young masters of the noble families were already on edge, and seeing this, they immediately took action, quickly dispatching the beasts.

Zu An couldn't help but chuckle. The fierce beasts that had appeared this time were old acquaintances: a pack of Ferocious Jackals.

Back in Brightmoon City, he had been put in a tight spot by that pack of Ferocious Jackals and had to rely on strategy to defeat them. Now, he didn't even need to lift a finger; others easily dealt with them.

It made sense. Ferocious Jackals were only around rank three in strength, their advantage being their large numbers in a pack. However, this Imperial Exam team for the Crown Prince comprised numerous rank five and six experts, and their numbers were also considerable. Facing a pack of Ferocious Jackals, it was naturally an overwhelming victory.

Further along the path, they encountered a few more small groups of fierce beasts. These caused no disturbance and were easily dealt with by Zhao Xi and the others.

The young masters of these noble families were immediately greatly encouraged, feeling that what Zu An had described as dangerous was actually nothing of consequence.

Meng Pan sneered, "That fellow is barely rank six; of course, these would seem dangerous in his eyes."

"Exactly, we don't need Zu An for this trip at all." Pei You was also displeased. He was clearly capable of finding traces of the Azure-Moon Measuring Dragon, and by rights, he should be setting the route. Yet, now he had to consult Zu An on everything.

Afterward, when the Crown Prince awards merits based on the Imperial Exam, wouldn't Zu An receive the greatest credit without doing anything at all?

Gao Ying, the Liu family's nephew, couldn't help but say, "But the Crown Princess said Zu An's strength is far more than that. And you also saw it before in the academy's back mountain – all those teachers there were fawning over Zu An. That can't be fake, can it?"

Liu Xian chuckled, "Perhaps he bribed those teachers to put on a show with him. The Chu family has the salt and iron monopoly; they must be very rich."

"Absolutely impossible!" The others, for once, reached a consensus. "Those teachers in the back mountain of the Imperial Academy hold extraordinary status; they cannot be bought with money. Even King Qi cannot command them, let alone Zu An?"

"But it's also true that they respect, even fawn over, Zu An. Why is that?" Liu Xian wondered.

Meng Pan said, "As far as I know, those teachers in the back mountain are very strong, but each has their own strong preferences. For example, Old Black-and-White loves chess, Yin Shi enjoys debating, Wang Weiyang likes gardening... I suppose Zu An, coming from the common folk, might have some knowledge of these miscellaneous arts and happened to cater to their interests, which is why they value him so much."

"Most likely! Meng boy, you actually had a good point for once." Zhao Xi clapped his hands and burst out laughing.

"Crude," Meng Pan snorted.

Gao Ying frowned, "Those teachers in the academy's back mountain don't even have enough energy to specialize in one field each. Why does Zu An understand so many areas?"

"Broad but not refined, knowledgeable but not specialized," Pei You sneered. "That's why his cultivation is so ordinary."

The others nodded, thinking this was likely the case. Their initial concerns about Zu An, sparked by the solemn declarations of the academy teachers and Bi Linglong, gradually vanished.

It was unknown how much time had passed, but night gradually fell. It was common knowledge that mountains were more dangerous at night, so everyone stopped traveling and set up camp, planning to continue after dawn.

Piao Duandiao and Jiao Sigun were Crown Prince's guards, having received rigorous military training. Therefore, Zu An assigned them to arrange for the various experts to stand guard around the camp.

As for the young masters of the noble families, they naturally didn't need to do such rough work. They all gathered around the Crown Prince and Crown Princess, recounting their victorious exploits against the fierce beasts during the day. The Crown Prince exclaimed repeatedly, declaring that he must personally capture and defeat a fierce beast tomorrow.

The Gu brothers seized the opportunity to hand their meticulously roasted chicken to Bi Linglong:

"Crown Princess (Linglong), you've had a tiring day, have this roasted chicken."

Both saw the roasted chicken in the other's hand, and their eyelids twitched involuntarily.

The brothers truly had a telepathic connection.

"Thank you!" Compared to the carefree Crown Prince, who seemed to be listening to an opera from afar, Bi Linglong was not so relaxed at this moment.

She took the roasted chicken and casually handed it to Zu An: "You must be hungry too. Here."

Zu An didn't stand on ceremony, taking the roasted chicken and biting into it. He cultivated the *Hongmeng Primordial Scripture*, so his physical strength and recovery ability far surpassed ordinary people. Similarly, his appetite was much larger than average, requiring frequent energy replenishment.

Though these two brothers were rather annoying, their roasted chicken was genuinely good.

Seeing Zu An eat with such relish, a faint smile appeared on Bi Linglong's face: "Don't choke. There's more; this chicken is for you too."

The Gu brothers: "..."

The two brothers wanted to cry but had no tears. "We worked so hard to roast these for you!"

Zu An couldn't help but chuckle. Their expressions reminded him of online posts from his previous life, where men would save up months of living expenses to buy a precious gift for their goddess, hoping to earn a smile, only for the goddess to immediately give it to her own male idol.

Indeed, no matter the world, sycophants have no future.

Considering how these two brothers had been constantly backbiting him along the way, Zu An wouldn't be Zu An if he didn't get a little revenge.

He dangled a chicken bone in front of them: "Your cooking is pretty good. How about you roast two more for me? I haven't had enough."

"We're not chefs!" The Gu brothers indignantly flung their sleeves and stormed off.

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Bi Linglong couldn't help but roll her eyes: "You just had to deliberately provoke them."

"Isn't it better with two fewer flies?" Zu An said with a grin.

Bi Linglong's face flushed. This fellow was getting bolder and bolder; she needed to find a time to put him in his place.

As time passed, night deepened quickly, and the young masters of the great noble families gradually fell asleep in their respective tents.

As for the Crown Prince, after eating his fill, he was already snoring loudly in his tent.

Bi Linglong and Zu An sat discussing the details to pay attention to in the coming days. However, she had barely slept last night, and as they talked, drowsiness overcame her. Unknowingly, she leaned on Zu An's shoulder and fell asleep.

Smelling the faint fragrance from the young woman, Zu An also began to cultivate in meditation. His cultivation had jumped two ranks, and he still needed time to consolidate it.

Piao Duandiao and Jiao Sigun had finished a patrol outside and were about to return to chat with Zu An. They entered, chatting and laughing, but then saw the scene before them, their smiles instantly freezing on their faces.

The two exchanged glances and hastily retreated outside.

Piao Duandiao wiped cold sweat from his forehead: "It's over, it's over. What are we going to do?"

Jiao Sigun was also pale, but he remained relatively calm: "What's over? Nothing actually happened between them anyway."

"That's not nothing? If others found out, not to mention Brother Zu, even the Crown Princess herself might not be able to escape trouble," Piao Duandiao murmured. "How could Brother Zu be so foolish? Is the Crown Princess someone you can just touch?"

"I don't think it's as serious as you say," Jiao Sigun swallowed. "I imagine they were just too tired and unconsciously fell asleep."

"Do you believe that?" Piao Duandiao looked at him pointedly.

Jiao Sigun gave a bitter smile: "Believe it or not, we have to. If this gets out, Brother Zu is finished."

Piao Duandiao hesitated: "But if we know and don't report it, that's a capital crime punishable by clan extermination."

"Brother Zu has been so good to us; we can't harm him. How about this: since nothing truly happened, we'll pretend this never occurred, and then quietly advise him later," Jiao Sigun said.

"That's all we can do," Piao Duandiao said, thinking for a moment before standing up. "I'll move the patrolling guards further away. You stay here and keep watch, lest anyone else sees."

"Alright!"

The night soon passed as the two remained in anxious trepidation.

The next morning, as sunlight filled the mountain forest, a shrill scream suddenly echoed through the camp: "Someone's dead!"