Chapter 1071: Great Snow Mountain

As night fell, Zu An was in his room, nursing a headache. Zhang Ji had come looking for him again earlier, and her eyes, practically brimming with tears, were truly getting to him.

Objectively speaking, no man would refuse such a thing, but he knew he wasn't the real Duke of Yunzhong. Thus, he had to find an excuse to send her away.

Fortunately, that hurdle was cleared. What remained troubling was figuring out what to do next.

After all, even Liu Ji and Chu Ji had been looking at him strangely these past few days. The Duke's manor wasn't that big, and now that he was back, he had to show his face everywhere to win people over. Everyone was constantly running into each other.

Chu Ji would blush and lower her head whenever she saw him, and Liu Ji would guiltily avert her gaze. Neither displayed their usual cheerful and spirited demeanor.

Both women had wanted to say something to him several times, but in the end, they just opened their mouths, then blushed and left.

Zu An understood the complexity of their feelings at the moment. Wasn't he feeling the same way?

If he were to stay in the manor long-term, wouldn't he have to endure this torment every day?

Just as he was feeling agitated, there was a knock at the door.

His heart skipped a beat. They say widows fear a knock at the door in the middle of the night the most, so why was he also on edge now?

"Who is it?"

"It's me."

A gentle, pleasant voice drifted in, like a spring breeze rustling willow branches or clear, sweet honey. It instantly calmed his agitated heart.

Zu An breathed a sigh of relief and quickly went to open the door.

Yu Yanluo stood outside the door. She was wearing a white cloak today, and the fluffy white collar added a touch of delicate charm to her noble and elegant appearance.

"What's wrong? You look like you're facing a formidable enemy." Seeing his expression, Yu Yanluo smiled faintly.

Zu An couldn't help but give her a sideways glance: "You can still laugh? I truly can't stay in this Duke's manor much longer."

"The fact that you think this way proves you are a gentleman. Otherwise, you should be enjoying these days immensely." Yu Yanluo entered the room and closed the door behind her. At the same time, she instinctively blew into her palms, as if to gain a little more warmth.

Seeing how sensitive she was to cold, Zu An didn't know what else to say. "Are the warming patches I gave you still on?"

A heavy snow was falling outside tonight. In such weather, she usually slept in a room with underfloor heating. Yet today, she had braved the cold wind to come over. He wondered if something important had happened.

Speaking of which, Yu Yanluo was the most sensitive to cold he had ever met. Even Chu Yan, after suffering the backlash from her forbidden technique, didn't seem as exaggeratedly cold as Yu Yanluo.

Yet, her cultivation seemed perfectly normal, and there were no signs of injury on her body. It was truly strange.

"I put a few on my underclothes, on my lower abdomen…" Yu Yanluo answered subconsciously, but her expression froze midway through the sentence. She thought, *Why am I telling him such private things?* "Ahem, I came today to tell you that you've done very well these past few days. You've successfully confused Jian Taiding and Uncle Ming."

"Today, the two of them hid in a room and discussed for a long time. If I'm not mistaken, within the next two days, they might act just as we anticipated."

"That's good." A smile also appeared on Zu An's face. It was actually understandable. Anyone who saw someone they had killed return to life, and confirmed through multiple sources that the person wasn't an imposter, would also be terrified and lose their composure.

Suddenly, the smile on his face froze. Yu Yanluo noticed and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Speak of the devil. I didn't expect them to be so impatient. It seems they've already set off," Zu An said in a low voice.

Yu Yanluo wondered who Cao Cao was, but now wasn't the time to worry about such trivial details. She quickly pushed open the window and looked towards the distant direction of Jian Taiding's courtyard. Unfortunately, she couldn't see anything. "How do you know?"

She had also arranged for informants to watch them, but no news had come from that side yet, and Zu An already knew.

"I naturally have my ways. There's no time to explain. They've already left the Duke's manor walls. Should we call people to chase after them?" These past few days, Zu An had used his jade tablet to gather a large network of small animal informants within the Duke's manor. No matter how cautious Jian Taiding and Uncle Ming were, how could they know that the nearby small animals were actually surveillance cameras?

Although Yu Yanluo was beautiful, Zu An wasn't someone who would get sidetracked by a pretty girl. He still maintained his necessary discretion.

"There's no time. By the time we gather enough people, they would have long disappeared," Yu Yanluo shook her head. "Besides, their cultivation is so high; having too many people would easily alert them. If they knew our purpose, it would be too late to trick them again."

"Just the two of us, even if we see something, we can't use it as evidence." Zu An wasn't worried about the combat aspect. Although Jian Taiding was a Grandmaster, Zu An's own fighting strength was not inferior to his. Moreover, Jian Taiding was severely injured, and it was unknown how much of his power remained.

As for Uncle Ming, his strength was indeed not weak, but he wouldn't be able to influence the overall situation.

After all, Yu Yanluo was here, and her ability to create a universe within a painting had caused even him great trouble.

"It's fine, I have this." As Yu Yanluo spoke, she took out a smooth, transparent stone from her storage pouch, resembling a mirror. "With this audio-visual stone, everything that happens on-site can be recorded, leaving them no room to deny it."

Zu An was instantly relieved. Although audio-visual stones were expensive and rare, Yu Yanluo's family originally controlled the jade business and was immensely wealthy. It would be strange if she didn't have one.

After they finished their discussion, they quickly followed them out.

The cloak was inconvenient for movement, and wearing it would make her an obvious target, easily exposed.

So, Yu Yanluo left her cloak in Zu An's room. The clothing she wore underneath was neither quite a dress nor quite an outer garment. Although it was thick for winter, it still couldn't conceal her impressive figure.

The tight cinching at her waist was a masterful touch, accentuating her full chest and shapely hips. Her perfect curves looked as if they had been drawn with a single stroke.

Back at the manor, Liu Ji had a generous bosom, Chu Ji had a graceful slender waist, and Zhang Ji had long, well-proportioned legs. Each was a top-tier beauty, with distinct features.

But even if all three of their strengths were combined, they would still fall short of Yu Yanluo, who possessed an almost innate charm and perfection.

No wonder the Duke of Yunzhong could never forget Yu Yanluo. When Zu An was with Zhang Ji earlier, she had revealed that Jian Yanyou often made her dress up as Yu Yanluo.

In that situation, fortunately, Zu An was an experienced "old driver." He quickly reacted, which prevented him from revealing any flaws in front of Zhang Ji.

Chu Ji and Liu Ji had never taught him any of this. It must have been because both women were sent from Yu Yanluo's manor, and Jian Yanyou was worried the news would reach Yu Yanluo, affecting his gentlemanly image he had cultivated for years.

Zu An actually understood this very well. An absolute beauty like Yu Yanluo could make even a highly enlightened monk who had practiced for years want to return to secular life, let alone a gentleman.

The two carefully left the Duke's manor. Zu An followed the trail, guided by his animal informants.

"How do you always know which direction they're going?" After several turns, Yu Yanluo finally spotted the figures of Jian Taiding and Uncle Ming far in the distance. She couldn't help but ask curiously.

"It's a secret." Zu An smiled and offered no explanation.

"Stingy." Yu Yanluo huffed. But then she paused, surprised, wondering why her recent mindset was becoming a bit girlish.

Just then, a cold wind blew, and she shivered unconsciously. She was already sensitive to cold, and now she was traveling in a blizzard without her cloak. Even with warming patches, it wasn't enough.

Just then, a pair of warm large hands grasped hers. Yu Yanluo was startled. Having been constantly pursued by various men due to her beauty, she was quite sensitive about self-protection. She instinctively tried to pull her hand back, intending to rebuke him for being overly presumptuous.

Just then, waves of warm energy radiated from his palm. Only then did she realize he was trying to warm her.

She deliberately observed him, seeing the clear and sincere look in his eyes. In the end, she didn't pull her hand away. Her cheeks slightly flushed, she whispered, "Thank you."

"This cold weather is really bad for your health. Why don't you go back? I'll just go alone." Although Zu An didn't know why she was so sensitive to cold, it was clear she was suffering greatly in the blizzard.

Yu Yanluo shook her head: "I must personally uncover the truth behind Yanyou's death, or my heart will never be at peace. Besides, both of them are formidable individuals, and I'm worried something might happen to you."

"It's fine. Jian Taiding is severely injured, and Uncle Ming's strength is nothing extraordinary. I can handle them." Zu An was secretly amazed. He had channeled so much warmth into her, yet her hand remained icy and smooth, without any sign of warming up. Could it truly be the legendary 'ice skin and jade bones'?

"Don't worry, I am a cultivator after all. Although I'm sensitive to cold, I can still withstand this much wind and snow." Yu Yanluo tucked a strand of wind-blown hair behind her ear, revealing a bright smile.

Seeing her resolute attitude, Zu An stopped trying to persuade her.

The two carefully followed from a distance, moving further away from the town and entering the vast, snow-covered mountains.

After an unknown period of travel, Yu Yanluo instinctively leaned closer to Zu An. Her voice trembled slightly: "Don't you think the surrounding temperature is abnormally cold?"

Zu An nodded. "Ever since we approached this place, I've felt the temperature drop the further we go in, and it's colder than a typical blizzard."