Chapter 2511: The Victim Comes Looking

The Mermaid Queen looked confused, asking, "Brother Zu, how did you know?"

"I don't know what's going on, but ever since I came to this world, everyone has been calling me Chang'e."

Zu An was speechless.

Yu Men Beiqing was also speechless.

Zu An clutched his forehead. How could such a melodramatic thing happen?

Just moments before, he had been wishing Brother Yi and Chang'e a happy and fulfilling life. Now, he suddenly discovered that Chang'e was none other than the Mermaid Queen.

How could he remain indifferent and wish them well as he had before?

Although he had always deliberately maintained his distance from the Mermaid Queen, she herself was unwilling, and he couldn't just stand by and watch her marry another man.

The thought of Yi angrily confronting him in the future, potentially turning them into enemies, gave Zu An a headache.

But at that moment, he had no time to ponder these issues; his gaze was fixed on the pursuers.

Twenty to thirty figures had surrounded the crystal boat, their eyes all fixed on the Mermaid Queen.

Zu An frowned slightly. He seemed to sense an aura similar to Er Fu's emanating from these individuals. According to Yi's previous description, this should be an aura unique to the demon race.

Fortunately, these demons were far from as strong as Er Fu, and not comparable to Wei Yueyan. Unfortunately, however, the energy fluctuations each of them displayed were not weak; they seemed to be at the level of the eighteen Demon Generals from the Imperial Tomb, specifically the strongest among them.

"Why are they chasing you?" Yu Men Beiqing's delicate brows furrowed as she asked the Mermaid Queen.

The Mermaid Queen shook her head, her expression equally perplexed. "I don't know either. I found out that as Chang'e, I seemed to have an engagement, and today that person was coming to propose. Of course, I didn't want that, so I secretly ran away. Not long after I escaped, I was surrounded by these mysterious figures. I used every trick I knew just to temporarily escape to this place."

"I was completely despairing, but then I saw the crystal boat flying in the sky. It felt like a dream. I tentatively asked, and to my surprise, it really was Brother Zu."

As she spoke, her beautiful eyes grew subtly moist, and her gaze towards Zu An became even more affectionate.

She felt that all of this was destined by fate.

Since Heaven was helping her so much, how could she shrink back as she had before?

Zu An and Yu Men Beiqing listened with strange expressions, secretly feeling sympathy for Yi, then looked at the people surrounding the crystal boat.

"Is there some misunderstanding, gentlemen? My friend here does not know any of you."

The men exchanged glances. Finally, the pig-headed leader at the front spoke, "How could we mistake Chang'e, the Saintess of the Chang clan? Our Third Prince of the Golden Crow wishes to see her. We advise you not to meddle in our affairs."

They noticed that the crystal boat was extraordinary and seemed to faintly emanate a dragon's aura. Unable to ascertain Zu An's background for a moment, they decided to leverage their powerful backing to make him retreat.

"Third Prince of the Golden Crow..." Zu An's expression turned cold. His fate seemed to be at odds with the Golden Crows; it seemed he clashed with them everywhere.

At that moment, Yu Men Beiqing snorted coldly, "Nonsense! How could you be the subordinates of the Third Prince of the Golden Crow?"

Zu An was momentarily startled, thinking that Sister Ling'er's reaction was a bit odd. Could it be because she had been a demon race saintess for many years and had a good relationship with the Golden Crow royal family?

Although the Golden Crows of this Celestial Court world were not the same as the demon race Golden Crows from that temporal fragment, they still shared a certain bloodline connection.

The pig-headed leader greedily eyed Yu Men Beiqing, chuckling, "My beauty, how else can we prove to you that we are the Third Prince of the Golden Crow's subordinates? Who in this world would dare to impersonate him?"

At the same time, he marveled inwardly that there was another beauty in this world no less stunning than Chang'e.

Yu Men Beiqing said coldly, "Chang'e is the fiancée of Yi, a powerful figure among the Witch race. For many years, the tensions between the Witch and Demon races have been high, a situation on the verge of eruption. For the Third Prince of the Golden Crow to seize the fiancée of a Witch race grand elder and offend the Chang clan at such a time would likely be enough to trigger a great war between the two races."

"The Third Prince of the Golden Crow is renowned in the Celestial Court; he wouldn't fail to consider this. Even if he truly desired Chang'e, he would only secretly abduct her, never allowing you to openly declare his identity upon meeting someone."

The demons opposite them exchanged glances, their expressions visibly uneasy.

The Mermaid Queen couldn't help but gaze at Yu Men Beiqing with admiration, thinking, "As expected of the legendary Saintess, truly resourceful."

Even Zu An was greatly surprised. Sister Ling'er had indeed changed a lot.

At this point, the pig-headed leader, somewhat flustered and angry, retorted, "What would a mere woman like you know about the intentions of a celestial god? Hand over Chang'e immediately, or don't blame us for being impolite."

As he spoke, his companions, positioned around them, raised their weapons, poised to attack at his command.

Just then, a crisp sound of bells rang out.

The Fear Bell!

A sudden fear gripped the surrounding demons, making them wonder if their master's plan had been exposed.

Simultaneously, a giant black banner appeared in the air, exuding a chilling, ghostly aura. With a gentle sway, the surrounding demons felt their minds destabilize.

The Soul-Reaping Banner!

Both of these magical artifacts were spoils of war that Zu An had seized from top experts in the demon world.

Artifacts relied upon by such powerful experts were clearly extraordinary.

As expected, this group of mysterious demons was immediately affected.

Of course, their strength was formidable, so these two artifacts couldn't actually kill them.

Zu An didn't expect them to be killed; he merely needed them to be momentarily disoriented.

Just as he was about to act, his expression suddenly shifted. He immediately activated a teleportation array, sending the Mermaid Queen back into the cabin, and quickly instructed her, "Don't make a sound!"

Almost instantly, a red light shot from afar, effortlessly piercing the heads of the demons near the crystal boat, just as it had pierced the raptors in the sky earlier.

The speed was so immense that the demons were decapitated before they could even react.

Only the pig-headed leader managed to raise his weapon to defend, but he was half a step too slow. The red light pierced directly through his forehead, and he crashed down from the sky.

Soon, Yi's figure flew over from a distance. He looked down at the pig-headed leader's body, which was dissipating into a wisp of smoke, and frowned slightly. "This fellow has some skill; he had three boltholes like a cunning rabbit, allowing his primordial spirit to escape."

Zu An's emotions were quite complex upon their reunion. "Thank you for your assistance, Brother Yi."

At the same time, he was inwardly shocked. Although the demons had been momentarily slowed by his Soul-Reaping Banner and Fear Bell, Yi had instantly annihilated them all with a single arrow from a great distance, which was incredibly astounding.

It seemed Yi hadn't used his full strength in their previous competition.

"Actually, even if I hadn't acted, it wouldn't have been difficult for Brother Fengdu to deal with them. It's just that I'm in a terrible mood right now, and I needed to vent my anger on these hateful demons," Yi said testily.

Zu An chuckled, "Why are you so angry, Brother Yi? Weren't you quite happy when we parted ways not long ago? By the way, weren't you going to propose?"

Yu Men Beiqing, standing by, rolled her eyes, thinking, "This fellow is quite skilled at playing dumb."

"Don't even mention it, it just makes me furious," Yi said indignantly. "Chang'e was abducted by the Third Prince of the Golden Crow, and I'm currently pursuing them everywhere. By the way, have you seen any suspicious individuals?"

Zu An pointed to the scattered corpses on the ground. "They were..."

Yi looked puzzled.

Zu An then recounted the recent events. "They claimed to be subordinates of the Third Prince of the Golden Crow, but that can't be entirely trusted."

He then briefly explained the Saintess's recent analysis.

"Indeed, that's a possibility, but the Third Prince of the Golden Crow is still the prime suspect. After all, his unique Golden Crow feather was found at Chang'e's residence," Yi said, clenching his fists until they cracked.

Hearing his words, Yu Men Beiqing's expression hardened.