The Monster Lord had to go after the one in the treasury, so he ended up letting Salamay’s group go instead. Both she and Mojard felt a powerful feeling of danger, as if the Monster Lord didn’t treat them with any importance. They knew that the longer they stalled, the more unfavorable it would be for them. They had to rescue the Lord of Slaughter as quickly as possible. Only he could face off against the Monster Lord.

Of course, there was no need to tell Zu An all of these things.

“Three days is too short,” Zu An said with a frown. He was actually already making the formation, but there was no way they could finish in three days.

“Five days is the maximum. If we delayed any longer, the Monster Lord could easily notice what is happening. Everything would be over then.” Salamay had a serious expression. Everything in the underground city was under strict control, and the smallest activity would be noticed by the Monster Lord. Five days was already the longest they could stall for.

Zu An knew the Monster Lord wouldn’t do much even if he found out, but he still agreed in order to avoid drawing suspicion.

Salamay nodded in satisfaction. Then, she discussed the details of their cooperation. In the meantime, however, she keenly sensed something and looked at him. “I seem to have sensed that you wanted to say something several times, but stopped. Did you want to say something to me?”

Zu An smiled. “The first miss is overthinking things. I just wanted to praise the first miss for her carefully prepared plan.”

He was actually considering whether to tell her that the Monster Lord already knew everything and see if he could borrow her strength to fight the Monster Lord. After all, there were three forces right now. Both he and Salamay were far weaker than the Monster Lord. But in the end, he still gave up on that thought. The Lord of Slaughter was already dead, after all, and he could even be considered to have died because of Zu An. Thus, in the end, they were destined to become enemies.

More importantly, the Monster Lord already knew all of her plans, and yet she and Mojard were still completely in the dark. The gap in strength between the two sides could be even worse than he imagined. It also implied that she probably had moles on her side. If he told her the truth, it would be difficult for herto not leak crucial secrets. That would only put him in more danger.

As such, it was better for Zu An to not say anything. Both of them remained allies, and he could still use her forces to wear down the Monster Lord; but more importantly, she wouldn’t be a hindrance to him.

When she heard his sincere praise, Salamay seemed to enjoy it a lot. “Haha, you are not too bad yourself. I thought that you were just a spoiled, perverted son, but it now seems that was just a facade you deliberately showed everyone.”

Zu An smiled and didn’t bother to explain things further.

The two sides separated after the conversation. As Salamay watched Zu An leave, her smile gradually disappeared.

Mojard, who was covered in bandages, appeared at her side. “First miss, do you truly believe this brat?”

“Of course not. He was hiding his real self so truly, so why would he obediently help us with what we need him to do?” Salamay sneered, her demeanor completely unlike the cheerful air she'd had just moments before.

Mojard secretly made a gesture. “Once he finishes the formation, should we…”

Salamay shook her head. “No, we'll still have more use for him later. We’ll make our decision once we’re in the Cultivation World. Once we meet my father, it will be useless no matter what kind of schemes he's prepared.”

Mojard had a fanatical expression as he said, “The late lord’s cultivation touches the heavens. How could that trifling Donaire do anything? But the Monster Lord’s strength has also risen powerfully over the years…”

“Don’t worry.” Salamay’s expression was calm. “Forget about the Monster Lord, even the Annihilation Beast outside is something father would be able to deal with.”

A bit of confusion appeared in Mojard’s expression. “I wonder how the late lord could defeat the Annihilation Beast?”

“You’ll naturally know when the time comes.” Salamay avoided the question, saying, “Let’s go. We should start doing what we need to do.”

“Understood!”

Mojard and Salamay disappeared into the distance.

…

When Zu An returned to the cave, he set up soundproofing formations and gathered the women for a meeting.

Because of how serious this matter was, Jiang Luofu also participated. At one point, Zu An gave her a look, but he saw that her expression was cold and that she didn’t look at him at all. His expression blanked, but he couldn't help but laugh inwardly.

It seems she still blames me quite a bit.

Of course, he couldn't afford to think of those things right now. Instead, he explained Salamay’s plans and his ideas with the rest. The women all had serious expression as they enthusiastically helped him consider things he could have overlooked. As they were all incredibly intelligent people with a lot of knowledge, the discussion made Zu An’s plan more complete and reliable.

…

In the following days, the group's members went to complete their respective tasks.

Zu An thus found a chance to return to his own room. He removed the pendant from his neck and entered the paradise dwelling inside. Compared to the poor environment of the underground city, this place had a small bridge and flowing water. The scenery was elegant and refreshing.

He then went to the wooden room at the center. There was a jade coffin resting upright there, and Qiu Honglei was lying inside quietly like a sleeping beauty. He hadn’t expected her to still be asleep even after so much time…

Zu An was lost in his worries when he suddenly heard a pretty voice by the door saying, “Lady Qiu’s complexion has improved a lot as of late. I believe she will wake soon.”

Only then did Zu An notice Qiu Honglei’s rosy complexion inside the jade coffin. It was already very different from the previous paleness that made her look as if she could pass away with the faintest gust of wind.

It seems I'm just overly on edge because of all the things that have happened recently.

He snapped out of his daze and looked at Jing Teng, who was dressed in a qipao. He had to admit that these clothes really showed off her amazing figure. Not only that, they made her assets even more noticeable.

Normally, such a thing could make people think vulgar things, but her graceful and poised face made her look like a tree peony. Thus, her outfit only made her look even more beautiful and glamorous, and didn't add any other associations.

Judging from her calm and composed appearance, Zu An immediately realized that she was the older sister. “Miss Jing, greetings.”

Jing Teng replied calmly, “With our relationship, isn’t this way of speaking a bit too strange?”

Zu An was a bit embarrassed. “It’s because there's a natural unapproachable presence around you that can’t be offended, so I inadvertently became a bit polite.”

“And you haven’t offended me enough?” The moment she said that, Jing Teng’s snow-white skin turned a bit pink.

Zu An couldn't help but feel a bit stirred too. The intimate scenes between them appeared in his mind.

“Do you feel a bit more comfortable talking to my little sister? Should I call her out?” Jing Teng asked suddenly.

If a man said yes to that, their brain would be no different from a pig trotter.

Zu An held her hand and said, “No, I like staying with you more.”

A pleased smile appeared on Jing Teng’s face; and yet a moment later, her expression became really dangerous, and she flung his hand away. “Hmph, men are no good after all. He shows one side in front of you and another behind your back.”

Zu An was stunned.

The classical and graceful look disappeared, now replaced with a flirtatious and dangerous expression. Dark Jing Teng’s personality had clearly appeared again.

Zu An sighed. “Are you sisters messing with me on purpose?”

White Jing Teng replied calmly, “How would we know if you were sincere or not otherwise?”

“How could I not know that your personalities can change at any time? I was just playing along with your game earlier.” Zu An hugged her and bit her ear while whispering about some things they'd done together before. Dark Jing Teng’s body immediately softened.

Right, we played with him together like that before. How could he not know about this?

“Then what did you come here today for? Did you come to make fools of us?” This time, the voice came from the proud older sister.

“Big sister, you really are unromantic. He definitely came here to unite on Mt Wu today. Same rules; we’ll do the finger-guessing game to decide who goes first.” This voice came from the crafty, unruly, and passionate little sister.

“No way, you always refuse to admit your loss.”

“Then I guess I’ll compromise a bit; let’s go together.”

…

As he listened to their conversation, Zu An was speechless. When he saw that it was going somewhere strange, he quickly told them why he'd entered. “Today, I came here because I have something special to entrust the two of you with.”