Chapter 2531: Misunderstanding

"What happened?" The mermaid queen's mind was a blank at this moment; she couldn't react at all.

Zu'an pulled the wedding dress from nearby and draped it over her. "Put this on quickly. Something seems to have happened to the Chang clan."

The situation outside made him uneasy, but he didn't dare leave the mermaid queen alone, fearing something might happen to her too.

Seeing his grave expression, the mermaid queen didn't dare be careless. All her romantic feelings vanished, and she quickly put on her clothes.

Only then did Zu'an lead her out of the bridal chamber. The mermaid queen sniffed, and her beautiful face slightly changed. "There's a smell of blood!"

Merfolk value nature and are most sensitive to such scents.

Zu'an said nothing, holding her hand as he went to investigate outside.

Outside the courtyard, several young women lay sprawled, the same maids who had earlier escorted the mermaid queen into the bridal chamber.

Each of them was delicate and charming, but now they lay limp, completely lifeless.

"They're dead?" The mermaid queen was utterly shocked. She remembered how these young girls had been laughing and chatting, helping her get dressed, and even teasing her about Zu'an just a short while ago. Now they were cold corpses, and tears immediately welled up in her eyes.

Zu'an nodded gravely and continued his inspection outside. The Chang clan members were mostly gathered in the plaza. He had just found an opportunity to return to the bridal chamber, and when he left, the atmosphere there had still been lively, with young men and women singing and dancing.

However, when he arrived at the plaza now, the once bustling area had fallen silent, with only the crackling sound of dry wood burning in the bonfire.

All the Chang clan members lay slumped in chairs, on the ground, and on tables.

The air was thick with the smell of alcohol. Had the previous events not occurred, one might have simply assumed they were all drunk.

But seeing this quiet scene now, an unusually eerie feeling immediately arose.

Zu'an checked several people and found no pulse whatsoever.

Soon, he found the old patriarch, who was lying with a group of elderly women, seemingly enjoying their embraces.

However, there was no hint of a smile on his face; instead, it was contorted with terror, as if he had witnessed something utterly horrifying.

The mermaid queen knelt down to check their pulses, and her expression instantly changed. "How are they all dead? What happened?"

"I don't know," Zu'an replied, his expression shifting. His spiritual sense had just spread out, and it seemed there were no living people left in the entire Chang clan.

Although he had been somewhat distracted by the bridal chamber just now, with his current cultivation level, it was inconceivable that someone could silently kill every single member of the Chang clan without him being alerted.

Unless these people had died simultaneously in an instant, he wouldn't have had time to react.

But what kind of being could accomplish something like that?

Suddenly, his expression changed. "Oh no!"

He immediately began searching frantically within the Chang clan's grounds, his anxiety growing with each step.

"Husband, what's wrong?" the mermaid queen quickly followed him.

"Sister Ling'er is gone." Zu'an's heart sank. If everyone outside in the Chang clan was dead, wouldn't Sister Ling'er's fate also be grim?

In that instant, he didn't even dare to continue thinking about it.

The mermaid queen's expression also changed. If anything happened to the Demon Race Saintess, she would truly be a sinner.

However, she hadn't lost her composure. She quickly said, "The fact that we haven't found the Saintess's whereabouts yet is, in a way, good news. Let's keep searching together."

Zu'an understood her meaning. At least, they hadn't found Yu Menbeiqing's body yet.

He dared not waste a moment, frantically searching everywhere and continuously expanding the range of his spiritual sense.

Suddenly, his expression shifted, and he quickly took the mermaid queen and flew eastward.

They soon arrived at the town's entrance, just in time to see Yu Menbeiqing slowly entering from outside.

Zu'an was both surprised and delighted. He rushed over and pulled her into a hug. "Where have you been?"

Yu Menbeiqing never expected him to hug her so tightly. She instinctively tried to push him away, but couldn't. She finally answered coldly, "Do I need to report my whereabouts to you?"

"Of course not. It's just wonderful to see you unharmed," Zu'an said, feeling a sense of relief as if something lost had been found. He had truly feared the worst.

"Saintess, something major just happened here. Everyone else in the Chang clan is dead," the mermaid queen explained from the side. Seeing them hugging tightly, she wasn't angry, but rather relieved that the Saintess was safe.

"Oh?" Yu Menbeiqing's reaction was remarkably calm.

The mermaid queen couldn't help but frown slightly. Always perceptive, she immediately noticed that Yu Menbeiqing's reaction was too cold.

Although she hadn't officially become a member of the Chang clan, the days they had spent together, and the warmth and care she had received, had developed her affection for them. Seeing their tragic state naturally left her feeling distressed.

The Demon Race Saintess had also been hospitably treated by them, so her current demeanor seemed a bit heartless.

"Why are you returning from outside?" Zu'an asked, curious.

"While you two were canoodling in the bridal chamber, did you expect me to stay and cheer you on?" Yu Menbeiqing replied coldly.

The mermaid queen instantly felt extremely awkward, and Zu'an was also at a loss for words, thinking that Sister Ling'er seemed to have changed.

Just as the three fell silent, several powerful auras suddenly rose from a distance. They could vaguely see several tall figures striding rapidly across the flat ground.

A series of deafening voices boomed, "How about a wrestling match between us?"

"Good!"

The two tallest figures among them suddenly accelerated. Though they seemed to take only a few strides, they had already reached the town's entrance.

The one carrying a giant axe and a large shield was slightly slower, and he said, annoyed, "Kua Fu, your speed is truly admirable."

The other giant, who had a green snake coiled around his right hand and a yellow snake around his left, laughed heartily at this. "Xing Tian, you're only at a disadvantage because your Gan Qi (axe and shield) are too heavy, so I just got lucky."

The giant man named Xing Tian took his giant axe and large shield and swung them around, conjuring fierce gusts of wind. "A loss is a loss; there's no need for so many excuses. These weapons have long been integrated with my body; they wouldn't affect me."

Zu'an was shocked to hear this. Xing Tian and Kua Fu were both famous figures from myths of his previous life. Could it really be them?

At this moment, the two giants also noticed Zu'an's group. They were somewhat captivated by the beauty of the mermaid queen and Yu Menbeiqing, but quickly recovered. "Is this the Chang clan? Where is the patriarch? Tell him to come out and meet us."

Zu'an's expression was odd. "I'm afraid he can't come out to meet you right now. He..."

Before he could finish, the two giants' expressions changed. "I sense a strong aura of death."

"It seems there are no living people inside either."

The two strode with their long legs and appeared in the plaza in the blink of an eye. Seeing the scattered corpses, they couldn't help but gasp. They then exchanged glances and instantly returned to stand before Zu'an and the two women, staring at them with hostile eyes. "Did you destroy the Chang clan?"