Chapter 2610: Mysterious Person

Zu An gazed at the two slightly scrawled words and fell into deep thought. Betrayal. Who betrayed whom, and who was betrayed?

These two simple words held too many possibilities. Many scenarios had already surfaced in Zu An's mind, but he couldn't deduce further due to a lack of information.

Why did Ox-Head and Horse-Face leave such vague words? Was it because time was too pressing, allowing them only to leave these two words? Or were they discovered by an enemy mid-writing? Perhaps they couldn't leave more detailed information, and only such ambiguous intelligence was permitted by some rule or entity.

It seems the disappearance of the other deities in the Underworld was likely related to this upheaval.

"Empress Houtu?" Zu An tried to call out to Houtu, but the Six Paths of Reincarnation continued to operate silently, offering no response.

Houtu had transformed into the Six Paths of Reincarnation. Perhaps, at first, due to her power, she could retain a wisp of divine consciousness.

However, after countless years of operation, her personal aspect had completely vanished, leaving behind only the pure laws of the Heavenly Dao.

He then pondered for a long time by the Reincarnation Platform; no one knew what he was thinking.

Next, he went to visit Chu Chuyan beneath the Bridge of Forgetfulness. He sat by the bridge, talking to himself and to her. Though he knew she wasn't awake, he didn't mind. Instead, speaking with her brought him a long-lost sense of inner peace.

The next day, he returned to the Dragon Palace. Unexpectedly, Shang Liuyu was waiting for him nearby.

"Sister Shang!" Zu An was delighted. He had thought she would avoid him because of their last encounter.

A faint blush crossed Shang Liuyu's jade cheek, evidently recalling the same incident. She gave him a sidelong glance before saying, "Don't misunderstand, I didn't come looking for you. It's just that my sister cried terribly after returning yesterday, and she wouldn't tell me what happened. Didn't she go with you happily to the Tomb of Ten Thousand Dragons? What exactly happened?"

Zu An was startled. "I'll go see her."

"The message has been delivered; the rest is up to you," Shang Liuyu said before hastily departing.

Zu An gave a wry smile, knowing she likely hadn't recovered from the shyness of their last encounter. However, the immediate priority was to address Shang Hongyu's problem.

Following Shang Liuyu's hint, he went to a small island near the Dragon Palace and finally found Shang Hongyu on a beach.

She was leaning against a reef, staring blankly at the horizon. The rising sun cast golden light upon the azure sea, the shimmering waves making her graceful curves seem to glow, creating a beautiful tableau.

"You are truly beautiful," Zu An said, walking over and complimenting her sincerely.

"No matter how beautiful, it holds no weight in your heart," Shang Hongyu sighed faintly.

This hurtful response made Zu An break out in a cold sweat. He sat beside her, holding her hand tightly, about to speak, but she interrupted him: "Do you think I'm jealous of my sister?"

"Of course not," Zu An replied, examining his own feelings. He knew he would likely be angry in such a situation too.

Shang Hongyu looked a little self-pitying. "Actually, I'm not angry with you, nor am I angry with my sister. I'm just angry with myself."

Zu An hesitated, but Shang Hongyu gave a desolate smile. "I'm not throwing a tantrum; I truly am angry with myself. I'm angry that I always meet you so late. In this world, I met you after my sister, and in that world, I met you after the Mermaid Queen."

Hearing this, Zu An immediately smiled and pulled her into his embrace. "You're mistaken about that. I knew Xihe long before Su Yin."

"Really?" Shang Hongyu's eyes showed doubt.

"Of course it's true. I met Xihe a long time ago in a secret realm..." Zu An then recounted his first encounter with Xihe in that secret realm, where she chased him relentlessly, leaving him nowhere to run or hide.

Shang Hongyu's expression suddenly became quite remarkable. "You scoundrel, using the Golden Phoenix's ability on her the moment you met, making her fall in love with you."

Zu An also felt a bit apologetic. "What else could I do at the time? She was about to kill me; I had no choice but to protect myself."

"You didn't use that ability on us too, did you?" Shang Hongyu suddenly looked at him suspiciously.

Zu An's face darkened. "Of course not. I told you, it was out of desperation."

Shang Hongyu then breathed a sigh of relief. "It seems you did know my previous life earlier than Gong Suyin. Perhaps because your first meeting involved being hunted, you viewed Xihe more as an enemy, unlike the pure feelings you had for Gong Suyin."

"That's true," Zu An also opened up. "Your previous life was formidable. The first time we met, she chased me like a dog. The second time in the secret realm, she set up a grand scheme, and I almost got sold without even realizing it."

Shang Hongyu suddenly said, "I, on the other hand, think Xihe played herself into it."

"What do you mean?"

"Do you think a woman who doesn't like you would willingly sleep with you without your knowledge?"

Zu An fell silent. He had actually considered this question himself.

Shang Hongyu continued, "Do you think she was influenced by your Golden Phoenix power?"

Without waiting for an answer, she shook her head directly. "While the Golden Phoenix's ability is powerful, it can at most make a woman fall in love with you, but she still retains rational judgment. During the time she impersonated Yumen Beiqing, she could have completely avoided any intimate contact with you, yet she still chose to be with you. Perhaps there was indeed an initial influence from the Golden Phoenix, but after spending time together, you should have been able to feel whether her feelings for you were genuine or feigned."

Zu An hummed in acknowledgment. "True, she had many opportunities to act against me, but she never harmed me."

He recalled the Witch Mountain Goddess's recordings, where Xihe, the Mermaid Queen, and herself had become inseparable confidantes, which indeed explained a lot.

"I don't care about past lives," Shang Hongyu said, looking up at her beloved, her gaze gentle and firm, "but in this life, I truly love you."

Zu An could no longer resist, pulling her tightly into his embrace and kissing her.

The two embraced affectionately, various memories of their acquaintance and love flashing through their minds. They felt their hearts closer than ever before.

Suddenly, Zu An pushed Shang Hongyu away and coldly stared in a certain direction. "Since you've arrived, why are you lurking secretly instead of revealing yourself?"

Shang Hongyu, initially confused by being pushed away, immediately grew tense upon hearing this. There was someone else here, yet she hadn't sensed anything at all.

"Oh, you can actually sense me? How is that possible?" As a voice sounded, a figure gradually appeared not far away, dressed in a scholar's robe and wearing a strange mask.