Chapter 178: Unexpectedly Doing This To Me

"Thank you for participating... Thank you for participating... Vitality Fruit... Thank you for participating..."

In the past, Zu An would get incredibly depressed every time he drew "Thank you for participating," but now he had no time for such negative emotions. He simply kept pressing the lottery button rapidly.

Eventually, Zu An's expression grew increasingly grim. He hadn't drawn "Believe in Brother Chun" or any skills. He had, however, drawn quite a few Vitality Fruits, 49 in total, but that wasn't what he needed right now.

Only two more draws remained!

"Oh no, don't tell me I'm this unlucky! Jade Emperor, Buddha, and all the great gods of this world, please bless me so I can draw 'Believe in Brother Chun'!" Zu An prayed fervently.

Unfortunately, the next draw was still "Thank you for participating..."

With only one last chance, Zu An's face showed deep conflict. "If all you great deities bless me with a win this time, I swear I won't get anything good in my next draw!"

Just as he was about to press, he still felt uneasy and added, "Fine, I'll bet three draws' worth of luck. As long as I win this time, it's okay if I don't get any skills or items in the next three draws."

His face twitched with pain as he made the vow, clearly feeling the immense loss. However, thinking of Qiao Xueying sacrificing half her lifespan to save him, her vitality damaged and her life hanging by a thread, he felt his own loss was insignificant.

Never had he felt so anxious about a lottery draw.

Trembling, he pressed the Enter key. When the cursor finally landed on "1", tears streamed down Zu An's face. "Heaven, you really do love me after all!"

Yet, a thought crossed his mind: he couldn't win no matter what he did before, but as soon as he swore such a harsh vow, he won immediately. He almost felt a profound malice lurking in the unseen.

He had no time to complain. He quickly helped Qiao Xueying up. Her body was frighteningly limp, and her temperature was icy cold. Zu An's heart leaped, and he hurriedly held her, pouring the liquid from "Believe in Brother Chun" into her mouth.

But Qiao Xueying was in a deep coma and completely unconscious, unable to swallow. Soon, a trickle of the liquid medicine slipped from the corner of her lips.

Zu An watched, heartbroken. Left with no choice, he first poured the liquid from the bottle into his own mouth, then transferred the medicine to her mouth, lip to lip.

He gently guided her tongue to form a passage, enveloping the "Believe in Brother Chun" liquid, letting her swallow it little by little.

Fearing it would spill out again, Zu An didn't let go, remaining in that position.

"Believe in Brother Chun" proved truly miraculous. Not long after drinking it, Qiao Xueying slowly opened her eyes. Seeing Zu An so close, a flicker of confusion crossed her face, but she quickly reacted, pushing him away in a panic. "What are you doing?!"

She spoke while wiping her mouth, feeling the dampness around her lips.

Anger value from Qiao Xueying: 123!

"Why are you wiping? That was the medicine that spilled," Zu An rolled his eyes. "I didn't even mind your dirty saliva, and now you're complaining about me?"

Qiao Xueying, however, was trembling. "You pervert, how could you do such a thing to me while I was unconscious!"

Anger value from Qiao Xueying: 168!

Zu An looked dejected, wondering what was wrong with this woman. She was clearly so angry, yet the anger value she contributed was so little? It used to be 999 at the slightest provocation.

"What 'such a thing'? I was saving you! You couldn't swallow the medicine just now, and it all spilled out, so I had no other choice."

Qiao Xueying paused. There was indeed a medicinal taste lingering on her lips, and the scent clearly indicated a very high-grade medicine, better than anything she had taken before.

She could even feel that most of her injuries had healed; the arrow wound in her back no longer hurt, replaced by a tingling sensation, a sign of the wound closing.

Only then did she realize her misunderstanding. A hint of awkwardness appeared on her face. "Um... I'm sorry. I hope you understand, any girl would react strongly to such a situation."

Zu An couldn't help but say, "That's for strangers. We've kissed more than once or twice, do you really need to react so strongly?"

Qiao Xueying's face flushed. "Is that the same? Just now, I was saving you; I didn't actually want to kiss you."

Zu An also looked aggrieved. "I was also just trying to kiss you... Bah, I mean, save you."

A hint of discomfort flashed across Qiao Xueying's face. She untied the ropes binding her and moved out of his embrace. "Anyway, my kiss earlier was to activate 'Half-Life Bond,' and it didn't mean anything else. We are not a couple, so please don't just kiss me in the future."

"Can't just kiss?" Zu An immediately chuckled. "So, according to you, as long as there's a good reason, or you agree, I can kiss you?"

Qiao Xueying was almost dizzy from his words. She retorted exasperatedly, "How could I possibly agree!"

"You never know," Zu An smiled like an old fox.

Qiao Xueying grew increasingly uncomfortable with his smile and turned her face away. "Absolutely impossible... Huh, wait a minute..."

She suddenly turned back, glaring at him. "Since you had such a miraculous medicine, why didn't you take it out sooner? Were you intentionally tricking me into using 'Half-Life Bond'?"

Anger value from Qiao Xueying: 666!

She had already conjured up many conspiracies in her mind, thinking how she had fallen for his trick and given up the most precious thing in her life!

"Unjust!" Zu An cried out. "This medicine was something I just exchanged at a great cost to save you. If I had it earlier, I would've given it to you already. Besides, how would I know you had something called 'Half-Life Bond' in the first place, let alone trick you?"

Qiao Xueying considered this. Half-Life Bond was her biggest secret; even Shi Kun didn't know about it, so it was impossible for this guy to have known in advance.

She felt somewhat relieved, but then she looked around at their surroundings, still suspicious. "Where did you exchange for it in this place?"

"I naturally have my ways. Just as you paid a great price to use 'Half-Life Bond,' I also exchanged for this at a huge cost." Zu An wasn't lying. The thought of not drawing anything good in the next three lotteries made him feel a pang of pain.

Qiao Xueying, however, misunderstood, thinking he had also used some once-in-a-lifetime skill like she had. For a moment, she felt both touched and flustered. "Actually, you... you don't have to be so good to me."

Zu An waved his hand. "You saved my life, so how could I abandon you? I'm known for being clear about favors and grievances."

Qiao Xueying stared at him blankly, and suddenly, her eyes shimmered with tears.

Why was such a simple principle so hard for some people to grasp? In a crisis, they only thought of themselves.

Seeing her staring blankly with teary eyes, Zu An couldn't help but say, "That's enough to move you? You're too easily impressed."

"Nonsense, who's moved? I just got sand in my eyes! Who told you to smash these terracotta warriors to pieces and kick up all this dust?" Qiao Xueying turned away, wiping her eyes as she spoke defiantly.

"Since you've recovered, go deal with the remaining terracotta warrior. I'm too tired; I need to rest for a bit." Zu An sat down on the ground.

"Okay!" Qiao Xueying, avoiding his gaze, guiltily rushed towards the remaining terracotta warrior.

"Poor guy, he's become her punching bag," Zu An thought, secretly clicking his tongue. He then took out the 49 Vitality Fruits he had drawn earlier and consumed them. Streams of warmth coursed through his meridians, making him feel as if he were soaking in a hot spring, utterly warm and comfortable.

He suddenly discovered an astonishing fact: after consuming these 49 Vitality Fruits, his sixth array was completely filled!

It was known that the sixth array should theoretically require 610 Vitality Fruits!

He had just filled the fifth array by consuming a petal of the Traceless Illusory Lotus. How could he have filled the sixth array so quickly?

He immediately thought of the numerous life-and-death battles he had endured recently, several times narrowly escaping death, and suffering countless severe injuries. If not for Qiao Xueying's "Half-Life Bond," he didn't know how many times he would have died.

The Phoenix Nirvana Sutra fundamentally relies on taking damage to increase cultivation. It seemed the suffering from these battles wasn't in vain.

Of course, the most gratitude was owed to Qiao Xueying. The thought of unexpectedly gaining several hundred years of lifespan left him speechless.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" By this time, Qiao Xueying had destroyed the remaining terracotta warrior and returned. Noticing his gaze, her expression turned strange.

"I suddenly realized you're quite beautiful," Zu An replied with a grin. It was initially just a casual compliment, but on closer inspection, he saw her skin was as white as snow, and her starry eyes sparkled like waves. Before, her maid's attire often made people overlook her beauty, but now, in normal clothing, she was indeed stunningly gorgeous and incomparably charming. No wonder she could be ranked alongside Chu Chuyan on the Beauty Scroll in the academy.

Hearing his words, Qiao Xueying's face flushed slightly, and she spat, "Save those lines to trick Chu Chuyan. Don't use them on me."

"Huh, why aren't you even calling her 'Miss' anymore?" Zu An looked at her in surprise.

"I infiltrated the Chu family with a mission; I'm not really their maid, so why would I keep calling her 'Miss'?" Qiao Xueying said, inexplicably annoyed. "Besides, I made such a huge sacrifice to save her this time; it pretty much repays years of kindness."

"Alright..." Zu An wanted to say more, but suddenly a fierce wind blew through, and the terracotta warriors' bodies on the ground instantly turned into fine dust, vanishing without a trace. Immediately after, the space before them twisted, and a familiar sensation of weightlessness returned.

When they came to their senses, they found themselves back inside the underground palace.

Noticing they were standing on the center of the Earth Seal, their previous experience prompted both of them to simultaneously shout, "Be careful!"

As they spoke, they reached out to pull each other to jump away. However, seeing each other's actions, they both paused in surprise, and then the Earth Seal beneath their feet opened, dropping them once again to the third underground level.

"Oh, you two were arguing fiercely before you went in, and now you're holding hands and caring for each other. I wonder what happened inside the seal to cause such a big change in you two," Mi Li's teasing voice echoed from all directions.

Their hands retracted like lightning. Qiao Xueying uncomfortably turned her face away. "Who cares about him? Even if it were a pig here, as long as it was my companion, I'd lend a hand."

Zu An looked dejected. "I wouldn't be so kind. If it were a pig next to me, I definitely wouldn't pull it."

Qiao Xueying suddenly turned back. "Who are you calling a pig?"

"Didn't I pull you? That proves you're not a pig," Zu An shrugged.

"I don't need you to prove I'm not a pig..." Qiao Xueying paused as soon as the words left her mouth, realizing how strange they sounded.

"Men really are no good. His own wife is on the verge of death, yet he still has the mood to flirt with another woman, *heh heh*," Mi Li sneered repeatedly.