Chapter 1135: Medusa’s Gaze
Zu An was surprised. He asked, “You’re going to change just like that?” With me right here?
Only then did Yu Yanluo realize what was going on. She requested, “Can you please turn around?”
Zu An was speechless. He could only say, “I’ll wait for you outside.” Even though he really wanted to tease her and ask why he couldn’t just look at her, time was pressing.
“There is no need for all of that. Just turn around. I trust you,” Yu Yanluo said, her face reddening. When they had been in that frozen cave and he had treated her, never mind looking at her; he had already touched her in places he shouldn’t have touched. She obviously didn’t feel as guarded against him as she would with other people.
Zu An was a bit surprised. But he didn’t think too much about it and turned around. Then, he heard rustling from behind him. With how close they were, he could even smell the faint fragrance in the air.
He couldn"t help but recall a certain choice from the cla.s.sical scriptures of his world: To be a beast, or to be worse than a beast. He hadn’t expected he would really experience that for himself one day.
Yu Yanluo asked from behind him, “How are Maid Xing and the others?”
Zu An knew she was worried about the safety of her clansmen. He said, “Don’t worry; I’ve already sent them out of the city…”
He took the chance to give her a rough summary of how he had drawn Xu Yu’s attention elsewhere, and how the Zhenyuan Merchant Group had escorted them out.
Yu Yanluo was incredibly shocked. She exclaimed, “You are just too incredible! You have managed to come up with this ‘one stone, three birds’ tactic… But what I am more curious about is why the Zhenyuan Merchant Group’s Miss Tang would take such a risk for you, and why she would help you at such a crucial juncture.”
Colluding with the fiend races was something incredibly dangerous. A single slip-up and the entire merchant group might be done for. There was no way Tang Tian’er would help unless their relationship was really special.
Zu An replied a bit absent-mindedly, “Because she is my good friend.”
He was actually quite puzzled too. His relationship with Tang Tian’er really was too strange. If one were to say that she really did like him, there was no way he would believe that. After all, they had known each other for way too short a time.
And yet, he couldn"t explain her att.i.tude toward him otherwise. He couldn"t just say that she was really just doing it because of the happiness she felt when he treated her, right? In the end, he could only attribute it to her deliberately getting close to him, and that she hadn’t even hesitated to make it look as if she liked him to achieve such a result. But he couldn"t figure out her real objective at the moment.
“A good friend?” Yu Yanluo asked. Her movements had clearly stopped. Then, a hint of worry appeared between her brows. She continued, “Like our relationship?”
Zu An subconsciously replied, “Of course it’s not on our level.” He really couldn"t feel at ease before figuring out Tang Tian’er’s intentions.
A smile unknowingly appeared on Yu Yanluo’s sullen face when she heard that, like the first melting of snow, or a flower in full bloom. Unfortunately, Zu An had his back to her and couldn"t see it. She replied, “You should not say that. She has helped us so much and is taking such a risk. You have to properly thank her once all of this is over.”
“Got it,” Zu An replied, stunned. He thought to himself, Why was her tone so different before and after? It was almost as if she had been a good friend of Tang Tian’er for many years.
A sweet scent brushed past him, then Yu Yanluo appeared in front of him, saying, “I’m done.” She even did a little turn in front of him afterward, as if she were asking him how her outfit was.
Zu An propped his chin on one hand and sized her up, saying, “Your pectoral muscles are a bit exaggerated…”
“Pah, pervert!” Yu Yanluo scoffed, blushing. However, she continued, sounding wronged, “I already did my best to bind them with cloth; I cannot bind them any tighter…”
Zu An thought to himself, This woman really is astonishing… Just the thought alone was hard for him to endure. He coughed and quickly said, “I’ll undo your body’s seals first. Once you recover, you should be able to change your form a bit. Right, have you gotten rid of that poison you were affected by last time yet?”
“That poison lost its effectiveness a few days after, but the Embroidered Envoy set a special seal on me. This seal might not be so easily undone.” Yu Yanluo sighed. The Embroidered Envoy were known for their Soul Reaping Chains. Once bound, there were some who were never able to use their cultivation again for the rest of their lives.
For some people of special status, being bound by those Soul Reaping Chains wasn’t the prettiest sight, so the Embroidered Envoy would instead use a higher-level seal. Those seals had an even stronger restrictive effect than the chains.
“The Embroidered Envoy…” Zu An muttered with a strange expression. His finger shot out like lightning, striking several of her body’s acupoints. He said, “This should do the trick.”
Yu Yanluo was confused, but her expression quickly changed. She could sense that her sealed acupoints had begun to recover their usual flow!
“Why do you even know how to undo the Embroidered Envoy’s seals?” she exclaimed. She really was shocked now. After all, the Embroidered Envoy was different from the other branches; they were the emperor’s loyal hounds. No one else could influence them in any way.
This man is way too mysterious.
“Shush!” Zu An covered her mouth and said through ki, “They’re changing the watch now. We have to restrain them immediately and can’t let the people outside hear anything. Be careful; none of these people are weak.”
Yu Yanluo was also extremely intelligent. She immediately understood why he had made her change into a guard’s uniform. But the hot sensation coming from his hand made her expression complicated. No one else would ever have a chance of covering her mouth, and yet he had done it. She clearly didn’t feel the slightest bit of rejection toward him. Don’t tell me I’m already used to his touch?
But in order to hide her embarra.s.sment, she quickly said through ki, “Leave them to me.”
Zu An was stunned. He clearly hadn’t expected her to say that. Yu Yanluo moved his hand away with reddened lips. Then, she kicked off the ground lightly and landed in the guard room outside.
Zu An quickly followed along, but he saw that her expression had already returned to normal. Instead, there was a mysterious, awe-inspiring sensation in the air.
“Do not look into my eyes,” Yu Yanluo warned him.
Zu An was alarmed. Don’t tell me…
The guards pushed open the door and entered. When they saw the situation inside, however, their expressions changed greatly. Some drew their blades, and others prepared to sound the alarm. But when they saw Yu Yanluo’s eyes, all their movements stopped.
Yu Yanluo’s normally beautiful eyes now carried a hint of harsh intent. Waves of yellow light flickered in her eyes. Then, the guards began to visibly petrify, turning to stone a moment later.
Even though he had had his suspicions, Zu An still sighed inwardly when he saw it for himself.
Yu Yanluo retracted her gaze. When she opened her eyes again, they were once again clear. When she saw Zu An’s complicated expression, she quickly explained, “I only petrified them temporarily. They will return to normal in an hour, but they will be sick for a few days.”
Zu An was stunned. He asked, “You can even control the power of your skill?”
Yu Yanluo nodded. “I still have human blood within me, after all. I do not want to kill people either.” However, she looked at him nervously and asked, “Do you not feel disgust now that you have seen me use the Medusa’s ability?” After all, in this world, the Medusa was synonymous with the word ‘wicked’.
Zu An subconsciously replied, “Why would I? It’s pretty stimulating, actually.”
Yu Yanluo was stunned.
Zu An’s face heated up and he said, “I’m saying that I’m different from other people. I don’t care about what others think when I make friends with someone; I instead look at one’s character. Even if they’re of a different race, we can still be friends. Otherwise, if their character is vile, they’ll be my enemies even if they’re human.”
Yu Yanluo wasn’t stupid; she obviously wouldn’t be fooled by his explanation. She said with a strange expression, “Why do I feel as if you are only incredibly daring because of your perversion?”
Zu An said with an upright expression, “You’re misunderstanding! I’m just face blind; I can’t tell what is pretty and what isn’t. For example, my wife was clearly Brightmoon City’s number one beauty, but I didn’t stay with her just because I thought she was pretty. I just didn’t know if she was pretty or not!”
?