Chapter 185: Wielding the Sword to Dispel Floating Clouds, All Lords Come from the West

The woman, dressed in black palace robes, lay quietly in the crystal coffin, her hands elegantly folded over her lower abdomen. A touch of vivid red on her lips made her alluring and beautiful, subtly radiating a dangerous glow.

She had a flawless, exceptionally beautiful face. Logically, after spending years in this sunless underground palace, her skin should have been somewhat unnaturally pale, but there was no sign of that on her. He wondered if it was due to the black palace robes, but her exposed skin was whiter than milk and possessed the translucent luster of white jade.

A delicate, straight nose sculpted a perfect curve, and her soft, pink lips seemed to shimmer with an enticing glow. Her delicate, rounded chin and snow-white, slender neck added an irresistible, captivating allure to her radiant face.

Although he had never seen the black palace robes she wore before, his first thought was that it must be the Empress's phoenix robe. Made of black silk, it was embroidered with auspicious beast patterns in gold thread. Every stitch spoke of its preciousness and elegance, imbued with an inexplicable grandeur.

The outfit wasn't form-fitting; in fact, it was somewhat loose. Yet, it subtly accentuated her slender and tall figure, revealing her captivating curves beneath.

Her clothes covered her very thoroughly; besides her head, only her hands and a small portion of her fair, delicate ankles were visible. Even more striking was that her wrists and ankles were bound by red circular restraints.

He had initially expected a mummy or a bony old woman. Even giving it the benefit of the doubt and assuming a human form, it would likely be a middle-aged woman. After all, she was Fusu's mother, and Fusu was an adult when he died!

By this calculation, she would have been around thirty or forty years old when she was deposed, not to mention being sealed here for thousands of years.

But now, seeing her, there was no trace of an older woman about her. At most, she seemed like a vibrant, elegant woman, and one could even faintly discern traces of her past youth.

She looked incredibly young, and incredibly beautiful!

"Have you seen enough?" the woman in the crystal coffin suddenly asked, opening her eyes and looking at him coldly.

Zu An's heart skipped a beat. When her eyes were closed, her alluring charm had evoked a mix of pity and fanciful thoughts in him. But the moment she opened her eyes, her entire aura instantly changed. Her phoenix-like eyes revealed an inexplicable majesty, and her demeanor became unapproachable, as if he were merely a commoner fit only to prostrate himself at her feet in worship.

"You're so beautiful, of course I haven't seen enough," Zu An said, leaning against the crystal coffin, propping his chin with one hand, and grinning at her.

He disliked being looked down upon like an ant. *Even if you are an empress,* he thought, *the Qin Dynasty collapsed ages ago. What are you putting on airs for?*

Mi Li was speechless.

She was also somewhat surprised. Which man, besides Ying Zheng, didn't approach her with fear and trepidation, barely daring to breathe?

Someone like him, who could still joke and flirt with her so casually, was truly an anomaly.

"Enough with the nonsense," Mi Li said. "Bring the contract for me to sign." *I'll deal with this guy properly once I'm free,* she thought.

"Oh," Zu An replied. Worried about Chu Chuyan's safety, he dared not delay further. He pushed off the lid of the crystal coffin and was met with a bone-chilling cold that made him shiver involuntarily.

"It's so cold," Zu An said, rubbing his shoulders. "Lying here for thousands of years must have been tough, right?"

"Tough..." A flicker of confusion suddenly appeared in Mi Li's eyes. It had been so long that she had forgotten such emotions herself, and now, being cared for by a young man, a mix of complex emotions welled up within her.

But she didn't show it. Instead, she said coldly, "If you want to know, you can lie down and try it yourself."

"Can I really lie down?" Zu An asked with a look of pleasant surprise. "I don't think this crystal coffin is big enough for two people. If I lie down, I might end up on top of you. Are you sure you don't mind?"

Mi Li was speechless.

Rage points from Mi Li: 444!

She didn't understand how this guy's mind worked, daring to flirt with her.

"Do you know the consequences of flirting with me?" Mi Li's voice turned cold, and a hint of severity entered her eyes.

"That's just a normal reaction to seeing someone as beautiful as you," Zu An said with a smile. "Besides, you wouldn't kill me, would you?"

"Dying won't be that easy," Mi Li said, her voice laced with murderous intent. "I'll gouge out your eyes first, then cut off your tongue."

"But aren't you about to sign a contract with me?" Zu An said, completely unfazed. "Then you won't be able to harm me."

Mi Li was stunned. "So you're just taking advantage of this contract to be so reckless?" she asked.

Zu An nodded. "Exactly. I need to test if your contract is reliable. If you're going to threaten to kill me over a few casual words, then if I save you, won't I have no guarantee at all?"

Mi Li was speechless.

This guy truly was a master of tricky logic, leaving her momentarily speechless, unable to retort.

After a long pause, she snorted irritably. "I can't be bothered talking nonsense with you," she said. "Hurry up and bring it for me to affix my mark."

"Oh," Zu An said, and handed the prepared contract to her. But she remained motionless, staring back at him.

"You can't move?"

"Nonsense!"

Zu An gave an awkward smile. "Then I'll help you," he said, taking her hand to press it against a bloodstain on his body. But the moment his hand touched hers, an astonishing, bone-deep chill radiated from it.

"Are you human or ghost?" Zu An asked, swallowing.

"What do you think?" Mi Li said, looking at him with a half-smile that wasn't quite a smile.

After the initial bone-chilling cold, Zu An gradually felt the astonishing elasticity of her hand. After squeezing it a few times, his gaze suddenly fell to her chest. "I'll only know if you're human or not if I try," he said.

However, he ultimately gave in under her murderous gaze. Withdrawing his hand, Zu An muttered irritably, "Well, you wouldn't tell me when I asked."

He took her finger, dabbed it in some blood, and pressed it onto the contract.

Mi Li was about to say something when her body suddenly trembled. Her gaze fell on the bloodstain on his body, and she wore a thoughtful expression.

Zu An, however, didn't notice. Instead, he let out a sigh of relief and put the contract into his pocket. Then he looked up at the ceiling. "I just need to get that sword down, right?" he asked.

"Correct," Mi Li replied. "Be careful when you take it; don't let it fall. I wouldn't want to be stabbed to death at the last moment."

Zu An was puzzled. "If this sword can kill you, why didn't Ying Zheng just kill you back then instead of going through the trouble of sealing you?" he asked.

Mi Li snorted coldly. "You ask too many questions. If you waste any more time, your wife will be beyond saving."

Thinking of Chu Chuyan, Zu An's heart pounded. Indeed, he dared not delay any longer. He tapped his toes and leaped into the air, grabbing the iron chain with one hand and slowly reaching for the hilt of the Tai'a Sword with the other.

The moment his hand touched the hilt, he suddenly felt a jolt throughout his body. A brief moment of confusion flashed before his eyes, and when he regained his senses, he found himself no longer in the underground palace, but in a magnificent palace.

He couldn't describe the grandeur of the palace before him; in that instant, he felt utterly insignificant.

"You're here," a majestic and distant voice rang out.

He looked up and saw a large dragon throne at the head of the great hall. A man in black robes sat there, his back ramrod straight. His posture was unlike that of an ordinary person, menacing as if ready to devour someone, yet at the same time exuding an aura of vast ambition, as if capable of devouring the world.

Zu An watched, filled with admiration. *Look at his charisma,* he thought. *Just sitting there, he exudes such an imposing presence. If I could learn half of that—no, even just a little—I'd be the coolest guy on the whole street.*

"Who are you?" Zu An squinted, but the man's face was obscured by mist, impossible to see clearly. However, he then noticed the five-clawed golden dragons embroidered in gold thread on the man's black robes. A thought suddenly struck him. "Are you Qin Shi Huang?"

"Who I am is not important," the man in dragon robes replied, not directly answering. "What's important is that you are here."

Zu An swallowed. *What kind of riddles are you speaking to me here?* he thought.

*It's over,* he thought. *He must know I'm here to save his Empress. Wait, I just flirted with Mi Li. Didn't he see all of that? I'm dead, utterly dead.*

The man in dragon robes slowly stood up. Zu An was so scared that he quickly retreated several steps. Unfortunately, this palace was incredibly vast; he looked around but couldn't find any exit.

"You don't need to be afraid; I won't kill you," the man in dragon robes said, as if seeing through his predicament. "Being able to break the three seals of Heaven, Earth, and Man proves your exceptional intelligence and deep fortune. Therefore, you are worthy of this task."

Zu An swallowed and hastily said, "Well... this junior is of shallow learning and truly unworthy of your high expectations. Perhaps you should find someone else, senior?"

The way the other party spoke so solemnly meant the task must be quite difficult. It might be another life-or-death situation, and he dared not risk it again.

"Very well," the man in dragon robes slowly said.

Zu An was startled, not expecting him to be so agreeable. He quickly said, "In that case, this junior will take his leave." After speaking, he turned to leave.

Just then, a clear dragon's roar echoed. The man in dragon robes drew the sword from his waist, and in that instant, a vast expanse of rolling mist surged before Zu An. Within it, he could faintly discern thousands of soldiers and horses silently watching him.

*He swung his sword to disperse the floating clouds; all the lords came from the west!*

For some reason, this poetic line appeared in Zu An's mind.

At this moment, the man in dragon robes' cold and majestic voice rang out: "No one in this world can refuse me. There is only one outcome for refusal: death!"

"I was just joking with you earlier," Zu An hastily said. "Please tell me what the task is, senior. Even if it means climbing a mountain of blades or diving into a sea of fire, I won't flinch. I will definitely complete the task."

Suddenly, a dark object flew towards him. He instinctively caught it and realized he was holding a precious sword. When he looked up again, he saw that the man in dragon robes' hand was empty; it was the very sword he had been holding.

Upon closer inspection, the sword was none other than the Tai'a Sword!

"Take the Tai'a Sword, find Xiquanqiu, and then you will naturally know what you need to do," the man in dragon robes slowly said.