Chapter 2001: Conspiracy

Zu An's heart stirred, and he asked, "Why do you need to switch brides here, on the Yin-Yang Path, instead of at the Demonic Sect?"

Pan Qiaoqiao shook her head, "Do you think I don't want a complete wedding? Unfortunately, it's impossible; there are too many guards around Qiu Honglei."

Zu An let out a soft "Hmm," "Is the Saintess under house arrest?"

As soon as he said this, he couldn't help but feel a little regret. Asking such a question was too risky; it would be terrible if the others noticed something amiss.

Fortunately, the others didn't seem suspicious. Li Feiqing snorted, "Of course, she's being forced. I don't believe the Saintess would ever take a liking to a depraved man like Fang Long."

He paused, then added, "I'm not talking about you."

He probably thought that speaking ill of the Yin-Yang Path's people while cooperating might make the situation awkward for the others.

Zu An didn't mind. He heard Pan Qiaoqiao say, "But she did agree to this marriage herself. I was there, and many people in the Demonic Sect heard it."

Zu An frowned slightly. It seemed Honglei must have encountered an insurmountable problem.

At this point, Wang Cong said, "Stop dwelling on irrelevant thoughts. Let's stick to the original plan. Only during the wedding, when everyone is well-fed and drunk, will the guards be most lax."

"Alright!" The group discussed the various details, then dispersed.

After they left, Zu An put the boxes of primal stones into his Glazed Jewel Orb.

He then unfroze Zhang Zitong's acupoints and woke her up.

The first thing Zhang Zitong did upon waking was to check her clothes.

Zu An was speechless. "Are you still afraid I'd do something to you?"

Zhang Zitong's face flushed slightly. "It's not that I'm afraid of what you might do, sir. It's just that I'm afraid of what others might have done to me. After all, this is a den of perverts."

Zu An was speechless.

He had no choice but to change the subject and roughly recount the information he had just gathered.

Zhang Zitong listened, marveling, "I never imagined affairs within the Demonic Cult could be so complicated. It seems these different factions are constantly scheming against each other."

"I think this is a great opportunity. We can use it to completely disrupt the Demonic Cult, preferably by stirring up conflict among their various factions."

"Oh, right, why don't I scout the Yin-Yang Path's guard situation first? That way, we can better coordinate with those people when they switch the bride the day after tomorrow."

Zu An shook his head. "No, I have other plans."

"Oh? You're not going to use such a good opportunity? What brilliant plan do you have, sir?" Zhang Zitong asked, looking interested.

Zu An didn't answer. "I need to go out for a while. You stay here and be careful."

After a moment's thought, he handed her a talisman. "If you encounter any danger you can't handle, activate this talisman, and I'll rush over to save you as quickly as possible."

This was the Yin-Yang Path, after all, a place notoriously hostile to women. He was worried something might happen to her.

Zhang Zitong carefully took the talisman and put it into her bosom, a slight smile playing on her lips. "You truly care about me, sir."

"I'm just afraid you'll inexplicably get into trouble here," Zu An snorted.

"Don't worry," Zhang Zitong said, puffing out her chest. "I am a Silver Embroidered Guard, after all, so self-preservation isn't an issue. Even if that Fang Hu from earlier came, I could handle him."

"Then who was it who fell into Fang Biao's hands earlier? And this Fang Hu is much stronger than him," Zu An reminded her.

Zhang Zitong's face turned red. "That was because I didn't expect their medicine to be so potent. Please rest assured, sir, as the saying goes, 'a fall in the pit, a gain in your wit.' They won't be able to use such despicable drugs against me again."

"That's for the best," Zu An nodded, then vanished into the distance.

Watching his departing figure, Zhang Zitong took out the talisman and caressed it repeatedly with her fingers. A hint of peach blush appeared on her cheeks, but then, for some unknown reason, she suddenly let out a long sigh.

After leaving the room, Zu An headed straight up the mountain. Along the way, the guards were not as strict as when he first ascended, but there were Demonic Cult disciples everywhere. These disciples had decent cultivation, so if an outsider intruded, they would most likely be quickly discovered and surrounded.

However, with Zu An's current cultivation, he could often spot them from a great distance and easily avoid them in advance. Coupled with his lightning-fast movements, he didn't alarm anyone along the way.

In truth, the architectural design on the mountain was quite complex, with many areas resembling a maze. The reason it didn't trouble Zu An was that he had secretly left a spiritual mark on Pan Qiaoqiao earlier.

Although the others were among the best of the younger generation in the Demonic Cult, their cultivation was still far, far below Zu An's realm, so they couldn't possibly detect his actions.

Following that faint spiritual mark, he was able to accurately locate the Heavenly Demonic Sect's headquarters, even though he had never been to Mount Qiu Chi before.

Zhang Zitong was right; using their plan against them would indeed be the most straightforward approach. However, how could he possibly allow Honglei to genuinely marry that Fang Long?

Even knowing it was fake was unacceptable!

Soon, he vaguely saw Pan Qiaoqiao's figure. Since he was already at the Heavenly Demonic Sect, he was about to go look for Qiu Honglei.

Suddenly, he noticed Pan Qiaoqiao looking around cautiously, seemingly on guard against being followed. Only after confirming it was safe did she sneak into a courtyard.

Zu An's heart stirred, and he decided to go and see what this woman was up to.

He stealthily entered the courtyard. For some reason, there were hardly any Demonic Cult disciples here.

Suddenly, several strange sounds came from inside the room, followed by a conversation between a man and a woman:

"You little slut, you're getting hotter and hotter."

"Master, you're amazing; you're pushing my soul right out of me."

Zu An: "???"

Hearing Pan Qiaoqiao's trembling, explicit words, how could he not understand what was happening inside?

His divine sense swept inside, revealing an old man in a brocade robe embracing the alluring Pan Qiaoqiao. The two were entwined like snakes, engaged in a passionate struggle.

Zu An was momentarily disoriented. Just a moment ago, this woman was telling everyone in the room how much she loved Fang Long and how she was willing to take such a big risk to be his bride.

And now she had turned around and was doing this with another man?

Were you being fair to Fang Long, or to the others who just believed you?

More importantly, judging from their recent conversation, the two in the room seemed to be master and disciple?

What a sin!

He had no interest in eavesdropping; after all, it was Fang who was being cuckolded. Just as he was about to leave, the old man in the room suddenly spoke, "How is the plan progressing?"

Zu An's heart stirred, and he decided to remain and listen.

"Phew... Hmm, that silly Fang Biao has agreed. But to get him to agree, I had to pay twenty chests of Heaven-tier primal stones. Master, you'll have to compensate me... *giggle*!"

"Alright, alright, I'll compensate you right now. What your master gives you is far more replenishing than those Heaven-tier primal stones."

"You're annoying."

Zu An listened, speechless. This woman was truly something, immediately doubling the cost in her mind.

Intermittent conversation then drifted out from inside:

"Who is currently involved?"

"Li Feiqing from the Carefree Path, Wang Cong from the Heaven and Earth Sect. Unfortunately, that Fatty Hu from the Tomb Raider Path doesn't seem interested."

"Hmph, the Tomb Raider Path has long been in decline, and that Fatty Hu is only interested in ancient tombs and female corpses. No matter how beautiful the Saintess is, she's irrelevant to him."

"You're annoying! You're with me and still thinking about that Qiu woman."

"Who said I was thinking about her? I merely happened to mention her."

"Hmph, you can't hide it from me. Your body clearly got excited when you mentioned her just now."

"Cough, cough, that was just an accident... Anyway, don't worry about Fatty Hu. The Tomb Raider Path was never going to amount to anything."

"Then I'll go check with the people from the Ethereal Path and the Pear Garden to see if anyone wants to join. As for Ding Xia from the Ruthless Path, I wouldn't dare approach him. That guy is so cold; he looks at me as if I'm a corpse, not a beautiful woman."

"Ding Xia is Lu Sanyuan's precious disciple, and his cultivation is close to Qiu Honglei's. He only has eyes for his master, so he's likely not interested in this plan. You don't need to approach him."

"Oh, Master, what exactly are you trying to do? I'm a bit confused now."

"Heh heh, I'm just identifying some potential troublemakers. It would be best to round them all up this time, otherwise, these restless fellows might not fall for it so easily in the future."

"Master truly is ingenious! But when that Qiu Honglei slut is swapped out, are you planning to take her for yourself?"

"You don't need to worry about that. Someone will handle it when the time comes."

Hearing their conversation, Zu An could roughly guess the old man's identity. He was likely Elder Xi, Cloud Moon's junior brother and an elder of the Demonic Cult.

It seemed he was the one behind this "substituting the plum for the peach" scheme. Poor Wang Cong and Li Feiqing were kept completely in the dark.

He probably intended to use this opportunity to weaken the influence of other factions and establish his own dominance.

But could a mere elder harbor such vast ambition?

After listening for a while and realizing they weren't discussing anything meaningful, instead indulging in their amorous activities, Zu An quietly left.

He decided to find Qiu Honglei first.

He circled the Heavenly Demonic Sect and subdued a few Demonic Cult disciples. Before Daji, they practically spilled everything they knew.

Soon, based on the information, he arrived at a secluded villa.

From within, a clear, ethereal sound of a bamboo flute suddenly drifted out. However, faintly mixed within the flute's melody was a hint of melancholy and vexation.

Zu An's heart filled with joy, for he recognized it as Qiu Honglei's flute playing.

However, he didn't rush forward, as he noticed that the area was heavily guarded, layer upon layer.

These guards were far stricter than those he encountered before ascending the mountain. Many hidden sentries seemed to possess warning devices, capable of immediately alerting others if an intruder appeared. Thus, even someone with very high cultivation would find it impossible to sneak in silently.

But this didn't pose a challenge to Zu An. He directly summoned Daji. With Daji's peak ninth-grade cultivation, she might not be able to handle top-tier masters, but dealing with these guards was effortless for her.

The guards in the courtyard soon noticed a woman in flowing white robes slowly approaching, holding a pipa. They all nervously gripped their weapons, and the hidden sentries prepared to sound the alarm at any moment.

However, once they clearly saw the woman's appearance, everyone was stunned. Could there truly be a woman of such captivating beauty in the world?

More importantly, she possessed a unique magical allure that made people irresistibly want to cherish her, protect her, and sacrifice everything for her.

At that moment, the woman in white suddenly plucked the strings of the pipa she held, sending out invisible sound waves that instantly clouded the eyes of everyone in the courtyard.

"Who's there?" Several sharp cries suddenly rang out from the courtyard, and several female disciples rushed out of the room.

Daji's abilities were, however, ineffective against women!

Seeing the situation in the courtyard, the female disciples' expressions changed, and they immediately fired signaling arrows into the sky.