Translator: Pika
You have successfully trolled Zombie General Zhang Han for +999 Rage!
Zhang Han?[1]
Zu An was taken aback. Why does this name sound so familiar?
However, he didn’t have any spare attention to be thinking deeper into this matter. Even the zombie soldiers were hard enough to deal with, and now a zombie general had emerged too. Without a doubt, this wasn’t someone whom he could deal with.
He was still perplexed as to why he could harvest the Evanescent Lotus so easily earlier. Such treasures tended to have powerful beasts protecting them.
Speak of the devil indeed!
Zu An quickly picked up Chu Chuyan with the intention to flee, but the zombie general was simply too fast. There was no chance for him to run away.
Black mist rose out of nowhere, and a black-armored general emerged from it. It scanned the surroundings before finally glaring at the terracotta soldiers by the side. “Why didn’t you stop the invader?”
“...” Terracotta soldiers.
We did try, alright! But that terrifying light in his hand is able to strip us of our colors easily...
It was then that Zu An noticed that the black-armored general was holding Qiao Xueying in his hands. Looking at the dazed look in her eyes, he couldn’t help but wonder what the black-armored general had done to her.
Ah, why isn’t Brother Shit anywhere to be seen? Is he dead? Also, why did this black-armored general spare Qiao Xueying’s life? Do zombies have lust too?
Zu An was impressed with how he still had the leisure to think about such random thoughts even when he was in such a dangerous position.
The black-armored general looked at Zu An and Chu Chuyan before turning his attention toward the lake behind them. His face warped in horror as he exclaimed, “No!”
His figure blurred, and almost instantaneously, he appeared right beside the two of them. He gazed at the disappeared Evanescent Lotus in the lake and shuddered fearfully. “You two actually... plucked the lotus out. Do you know how big of a calamity you’re bringing to the world?!”
You have successfully trolled Zombie General Zhang Han for +1024 Rage!
Zu An finally understood what Qiao Xueying and the others had gone through earlier. The terrifying pressure exerted by the black-armored general was so great that he was nearly rendered breathless.
He was still feeling confident from having raised his cultivation by a step, but cruel reality poured a pail of cold water over him.
He knew that there was a huge gap of power between him and the black-armored general, so he could only hope to use the Magical Flashlight to deal with it. He bit his tongue to regain his rationality before quickly aiming the flashlight toward it.
Noticing the white light in Zu An’s hands, the black-armored general harrumphed coldly before warping into a blur. As fast as the speed of light was, it was limited by the movement of Zu An’s hands. With its strength, it wasn’t too difficult for it to dodge the radiance coming from the flashlight.
Sensing that the black-armored general was right by his side, the alarmed Zu An quickly tried to turn his flashlight earlier, but a sudden numbing sensation in his arm caused him to drop the flashlight into the lake. Perhaps it was due to it falling into the water, its light flickered for a moment before switching off.
Zu An was relieved that he had kept the Magical Flashlight back into his keyboard’s space in the nick of time, or else he would have been pained by its loss.
Knowing that it was unlikely for him to be able to curb the black-armored general even if he brought out the Magical Flashlight again, he decided to just feign as if it had disappeared into the lake.
“Where’s the Evanescent Lotus? Bring it out!” The black-armored general glared at Zu An and Chu Chuyan coldly. By this moment, it had already tossed Qiao Xueying to the side.
Zu An gulped fearfully as he replied carefully, “What lotus? I didn’t see anything at all?”
At the same time, he cursed that feminine voice in his mind.
Why didn’t she warn me that there was such a formidable fellow guarding this place? I wouldn’t have come if I knew in advance!
Wait a moment, she lured me here before disappearing all of a sudden. Could it be that she has some other intentions in mind?
The black-armored general harrumphed coldly. It was just about to say something when it suddenly caught the scent of something. It immediately turned its sights toward Chu Chuyan and exclaimed, “You actually ate it!”
Chu Chuyan widened her eyes in astonishment. She quickly turned to Zu An and asked in disbelief, “You... The flower you fed me earlier is the Evanescent Lotus?”
Zu An nodded his head helplessly. The black-armored general was obviously no fool, so there was no point putting on an act anymore.
Chu Chuyan immediately lost her patience. “Weren’t you waiting for an opportunity to use the Evanescent Lotus to undo the seal on your body? Why did you give it to me?”
Zu An sighed deeply and said, “There’s bound to be another way out of this. Otherwise, I’ll just have to make do with it. I can’t simply watch as you die before my eyes.”
By the side, Qiao Xueying also snapped out of her daze, and a hint of astonishment surfaced in her eyes. She was also aware of Zu An’s affliction, and she couldn’t believe that the latter actually gave away something that could have cured his impotence to save the young miss...
To be honest, she had always looked down on this good-for-nothing ruffian, and she believed that he was nowhere in comparison to the young master. However, everything that had happened today made her doubt her judgment, especially when she remembered how Shi Kun used her as a shield earlier on. On the other hand, Zu An was actually willing to make such a huge sacrifice in order to save Chu Chuyan.
The contrast couldn’t be made more obvious here.
The black-armored general, however, had no interest in listening to their conversation. He stood by the side of the lake with a grave expression on his face. The calm surface of the water began to ripple as a light blue luminescence emerged from the depths of the lake.
It quickly raised its hands to form an incredibly complicated seal before spreading a layer of black aura over the surface of the water/
Some time later, the water surface finally regained its composure. Nevertheless, one could still vaguely see the light blue luminescence striking on the layer of black aura, seemingly intent on bursting forth.
“What is he doing?” Zu An noticed the unnatural actions of the black-armored general too. He was thinking of making use of this opportunity to flee, but the pressure crushing down on his body kept him firmly in place, leaving him unable to move at all.
“He seems to be setting up some kind of formation to seal something beneath the water,” replied Chu Chuyan distractedly. Her mind was still an utter mess from having learned that Zu An had used the Evanescent Lotus to save her, such that she couldn’t even focus on the current situation they were in.
Despite being a young lady who had never done that kind of thing, she was still aware of how important a man viewed potency to be. In some cases, they might even value it even more than their life.
He made such a huge sacrifice for me...
Chu Chuyan stared at Zu An in a daze as many thoughts flashed across her mind.
Meanwhile, the black-armored general finally turned its attention back to Zu An and Chu Chuyan. It looked considerably more exhausted than before, but its face warped in ferocity as it bellowed, “You actually dared to foil the Soul Suppression Seal here. It’s fortunate that it hasn’t been long since you consumed the Evanescent Lotus, so its medicinal effect hasn’t receded entirely. As long as I use your body as a tribute, I should be able to calm those rampaging dead souls beneath!”
With a wave of its hand, Chu Chuyan immediately flew out of Zu An’s grasp and into its hand.
Alarmed, Zu An roared, “What are you doing?!”
“As I’ve said, I’m going to use the blood and flesh of you invaders to repair the formation so as to appease the rampaging souls of the dead!” The black-armored general waved its hand, and the terracotta soldiers rushed forward to hold Zu An and Qiao Xueying down. “Bring them over to the altar!”
With a flit, it immediately arrived outside a circular platform around a hundred meters away. It placed Chu Chuyan down on top of a stone table.
Chu Chuyan’s ki meridians were currently all severed, so she couldn’t even struggle at all. She wasn’t afraid of death, but she couldn’t help but worry for Zu An. He had sacrificed so much for her that her conscience wouldn’t rest easy if she were to die right now.
Zu An’s heart was in disarray as the terracotta soldiers pushed him and Qiao Xueying over to the circular platform. He thought of what the black-armored general said about them breaking the Soul Suppression Seal, which sounded like some sort of sealing formation.
However, they didn’t do anything after entering this place other than to harvest the Evanescent Lotus.
Wait a moment!
He quickly turned toward the lake and saw that the verdant lotus leaves had lost their luster and had started withering, and the mist shrouding the water surface had vanished too.
Could the lotus leaves be the formation, and the Evanescent Lotus is its formation core? Goddamnit!
Zu An cursed angrily in his mind. If it’s such an important formation, why didn’t you protect it well? You shouldn’t have allowed me to get close so easily!
But then, he caught sight of the huge army of terracotta soldiers by the side and went completely silent.
Ah...
Those terracotta soldiers were obviously here to protect the formation. With their prowess, even Chu Zhongtian wouldn’t have been able to get close to the Evanescent Lotus. Yet, who could have thought that Zu An would have a tool that could suppress all of these undead beings...
I wonder what’s sealed at the bottom of the lake that even this powerful zombie general is so afraid of it. Could it be that woman named Mi Li?
Thinking back, there was no way the feminine voice would have lured him here without any reason. Most likely, this was what she was aiming for.
But again, given how melodious that woman’s voice was, it was hard to imagine her as some sort of terrifying monstrosity.
“What are you thinking of?” Qiao Xueying’s voice suddenly sounded at this moment.
Zu An turned over and saw Qiao Xueying looking at him with large eyes. “Ah, you aren’t dead yet?”
“...” Qiao Xueying.
Why is this fellow so hateful? I really feel like pummeling him every time he opens his mouth.
But to her own surprise, she didn’t get mad at Zu An this time around.
“Why did you give the Evanescent Lotus to the young miss?” asked Qiao Xueying.
“She’s my wife. Do you expect me to watch as she dies before my eyes?” Zu An harrumphed in response.
To that, Qiao Xueying replied calmly, “Others might not know better, but I know how the relationship between the two of you are. You can’t even be considered a proper couple.”
“Will you cut it out?” Zu An spat venomously. “I was already regretting it, but you just have to continue harping on it, huh? Are you here to rub it on me?”
A faint smile finally emerged on Qiao Xueying’s lips. “That sounds much more like you.”
She previously thought that Zu An’s ruffianlike attitude was hateful, but in a change of circumstances, she felt that he looked authentic instead. There wasn’t that disgusting layer of hypocriticism around him.
Shi Kun surfaced in her mind, and her face darkened once more.
By then, the two of them had already arrived on the circular platform.
“Honey!”
“Young miss!”
Upon seeing Chu Chuyan on the stone table, the two of them called out worriedly.
“I... I’m fine,” replied Chu Chuyan feebly, though she knew that she wouldn’t be very soon.
Zu An finally got a chance to assess this place carefully, and he noted that the area looked very alike to those tribute altars he had seen on television in his previous life. The altar was circular in shape, filled with all sorts of esoteric runes. At the center was the stone table where Chu Chuyan was lying on. Around her were all sorts of jars and vats that seemed to be filled with all sorts of horrors.
At the perimeter of the altar, there were nine massive pillars that were sculptured with a coiling dragon often seen in eastern legends. Even the scales of the dragon looked incredibly lifelike.
Zu An and Qiao Xueying were tied to two of the pillars.
The black-armored general walked over with a saber in its hand and said, “Let’s start with your blood to warm up the altar. So, who shall be going first this time around?”
1. He’s a famous military general in the Qin Dynasty in its waning years.
😉