Chapter 273: Everyone Is So Familiar Now

Chu Chuyan: "..."

Why did his words sound so strange coming from him? Yet, for a moment, she couldn't refute him, because treatment required her to undress. A trace of resentment flashed across her face as she turned around, her clothes slowly slipping from her skin, smoother than silk, revealing a beautiful, snow-white scene that could drive any man wild.

Zu An thought to himself, "This can't go on. Next time, I'll have to tell her that the acupuncture needs to be on the front of her body." But to avoid startling her, it was best not to rush things.

With great willpower, Zu An suppressed his nosebleed, finally completing the night's acupuncture session.

Chu Chuyan, her face flushed, thanked him, then very decisively ushered him out of the room.

"That woman truly changes her tune once she gets what she wants," Zu An grumbled resentfully after leaving her courtyard. At the same time, he glanced down at his "little brother," who was angrily showing its displeasure. He thought, "If this continues, my body will be the first to suffer." How did that saying go? "A single yang cannot last!"

Muttering to himself all the way back to his room, he suddenly felt a jolt and quickly dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding an attack from behind the door.

"Quite a quick reaction, an improvement over yesterday," a charming laugh echoed from behind the door.

Zu An looked in the direction of the sound, seeing Pei Mianman leaning against the door, watching him with a half-smile. As she laughed, her body swaying, her ample chest also heaved like rolling waves.

"Your eyes aren't behaving," Pei Mianman noted his gaze, scoffing lightly. With a flick of her fair wrist, her unadorned hand, like a white jade Guanyin, shot straight towards his vital points.

Zu An was startled. "We're all so familiar with each other, do you really need to be so aggressive just for an extra glance?"

Pei Mianman's originally peachy, charming face was now covered in a frosty expression, and a chilling killing intent flickered in her usually smiling eyes. Zu An's heart tightened. This woman seemed to be serious. He didn't dare to be careless and quickly reached for his Taia sword. Unfortunately, as soon as the Taia sword was one-third drawn, Pei Mianman had already closed in, reaching out to push his sword back into its sheath. Her other hand seized the opportunity to attack him.

Normally, Zu An would have showered praise on how fair and smooth her hand was, and might even have been unable to resist touching it a couple of times. But the destructive power emanating from her hand now scared him half to death, leaving no room for any romantic thoughts. He frantically tried to retreat and dodge, but his opponent consistently closed within three feet of him, preventing him from creating enough distance. He knew that his full ability lay in swordsmanship; his hand-to-hand combat skills were mediocre. Without his sword, he could only fight by instinct.

In almost the blink of an eye, he had taken several blows. If Zu An's cultivation hadn't greatly improved, and if the Primordial Chaos Scripture hadn't tempered his body, transforming him completely, he would likely have been severely wounded, spitting blood, and lost most of his combat ability by now. Even so, these blows sent his blood and qi churning. From the very beginning, her unprovoked attacks had confused him, but now he was starting to get angry.

He directly unleashed his improved "Sunflower Phantom" technique, and his entire body suddenly seemed to split into two. Pei Mianman was surprised, clearly not expecting this sudden change. Her hand speed quickly accelerated, striking a vital point on Zu An's chest. But she felt no joy, as the empty feeling in her hand in that instant made it clear that her strike had missed. Sure enough, the "Zu An" she hit dissolved into countless fragments of light and shadow. Her heart stirred, and just as she was about to dodge, a cold sensation touched her neck; a sword was already resting on her shoulder.

"What exactly are you playing at? Do you admit defeat now?"

In fact, during their recent exchanges, Zu An knew that although her every move seemed heavy, she hadn't actually used her full strength, deliberately holding back. So, this time, he also didn't go all out.

"It's not fun at all; I surrender."

The moment the word "surrender" left her lips, she suddenly twisted her waist, moving as gracefully as a beautiful serpent, and directly bumped into his embrace. Zu An was greatly surprised and instinctively tried to step back, but it was too late. He felt a sudden numbness in his wrist and could no longer grip the Taia sword. As the Taia sword clattered to the ground, Pei Mianman wrapped herself around him, almost instantly twisting Zu An's hands behind his back. Then, her toes hooked behind his knee, Zu An lost his footing and immediately dropped to one knee.

Pei Mianman, while twisting his hands behind his back and pressing her knee into his spine, smiled charmingly and leaned close to his ear, blowing softly. "How about it? Do you admit defeat now?"

"I surr... the hell I do!" Zu An roared, twisting hard. His arm dislocated with a "snap," freeing him from her hold.

Pei Mianman hadn't expected him to be so resolute. Her face drained of color, and her other hand instinctively loosened its grip. Zu An was already prepared. Like an enraged lion, he instantly pounced on her. Pei Mianman tried to dodge, but her foot was tripped by him, causing her to lose balance and fall to the ground. This time, Zu An didn't hesitate at all. He pressed his full body weight down, once again using the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu move he had seen on TV, firmly pinning her beneath him. Pei Mianman struggled several times, but the locked position prevented her from using most of her strength.

"This move again," Pei Mianman pouted, and simply stopped struggling. The last time, in Chu Chuyan's room, when they were still strangers and fighting for their lives, he had also pinned her with this very move.

Zu An gasped for breath; the immense burst of power he had just exerted left him more exhausted than if he had run a three-kilometer race in his previous life. "Woman, do you surrender?"

"I surrender, I surrender," Pei Mianman grumbled, giving him a resentful look. "You're a grown man, why do you have to be so forceful with me?"

The painful lesson from earlier made Zu An wary. He didn't dare release her, but continued to hold her down as he asked, "What exactly are you playing at? Why did you suddenly attack me?"

"Mainly, I wanted to train your reaction time. Aren't you being targeted by Chen Xuan for assassination? As a friend, of course, I'd want to train you in advance," Pei Mianman replied, her peach-blossom eyes seeming to speak, always filled with deep amusement, as if she didn't take the current predicament seriously at all.

"Is that all it is, really?" Zu An was still suspicious.

"Of course, there's also a bit of self-interest. I wanted to take the opportunity to test your hidden strengths, to see what makes you so daring in your daily life," Pei Mianman stated directly, without holding back.

Zu An fell into thought. In truth, he already believed her for the most part. Although her attacks had been fierce, they hadn't carried any real killing intent. Otherwise, when he had endured the pain of dislocating his arm to escape her control, she wouldn't have instinctively let go of his hands.

Seeing that he still hadn't moved, Pei Mianman finally became a little annoyed. "Get up quickly! How long do you plan to keep pinning me down? Does it give you a sense of conquest to pin your wife's best friend beneath you?"

It would have been better if she hadn't said that last part. Zu An's blood had already been boiling from his encounter with Chu Chuyan. Provoked by her suggestive words, his entire body instantly stiffened.

"What's poking me?" Pei Mianman's delicate brows furrowed. "I didn't expect you to have a hidden weapon on you! It seems you still have trump cards I haven't tested."

Zu An's old face flushed. What could he say in response at that moment? For a while, he didn't know how to answer. Pei Mianman instinctively looked back and suddenly her charming face flushed. How could she not know what was going on?

"You stinky boy, get up quickly, or I'll burn you with black flames!" Pei Mianman said, biting her lip. At the same time, she raised a finger, and a wisp of black flame flickered into existence.

Originally, if she had just spoken nicely, Zu An would have gotten up. But hearing the threat in her tone, his stubborn temper flared up.

"I won't let go. If you're so capable, burn me. Before I die, I'll drag you down with me. We can be a pair of ill-fated lovers." Zu An, fearing she would break free, instinctively pressed down on her tighter.

"You... rogue!" Feeling the oppressive pressure from him, Pei Mianman finally panicked a little. She couldn't possibly actually burn him for such a small matter, could she? "But if he dares to continue assaulting me, even if he's Chuyan's husband, I'll definitely burn him!" Pei Mianman kept setting boundaries for herself in her mind.

Seeing the usually alluring woman looking panicked now, Zu An found it quite amusing. He carefully observed the woman beneath him, noticing that her usually snow-white complexion had turned a peachy pink, her expression shy and exquisitely beautiful. His heart swayed, and he lowered his head to kiss her cheek.

"Ah!" Pei Mianman was startled, clearly not expecting such a sudden action from him. Her entire body trembled, and the black flames between her fingers flickered a few times before completely dying out. He heard her voice trembling slightly, and a faint mist even appeared in her peach-blossom eyes. Zu An was startled. Why was her body so sensitive?

The room quickly fell into an eerie silence, with only the sound of their ragged breathing filling the air.

After a long while, Pei Mianman finally calmed down. Her disheveled hair covered her face, obscuring her expression. "Get up!"

The recent impulse left Zu An secretly regretting it. Feeling guilty, he certainly didn't dare continue pinning her down and scrambled to his feet.

"Just now, I..." Zu An was about to apologize, but in his heart, he lamented, what good would an apology do after something like that?

But Pei Mianman directly interrupted him: "The reason I tested you just now was to fully understand your abilities, so I could teach you according to your strengths. Your movement technique and swordsmanship are quite good, but your hand-to-hand combat is too poor. I'll teach you a set of Feather Robe Entangling Silk Hands. This way, if you ever encounter an assassination attempt from Chen Xuan and can't use your sword, you'll still be able to defend yourself."

Zu An blinked. What did she mean? Was she just pretending nothing had happened? Seeing him remain silent, just staring fixedly at her, Pei Mianman couldn't help but get annoyed. "Are you listening to me?"

Pei Mianman's Rage Value: +111!

Zu An swallowed. "I heard you, but just now..."

"There are no 'buts.' Nothing happened just now, and today... don't tell Chuyan what I taught you, understood?" Pei Mianman glared at him resentfully, her eyes full of warning.

"Understood!" Zu An finally caught on. Since the young lady didn't want to mention it, he wouldn't be so tactless as to bring it up again. Besides... he hadn't lost anything.

"Watch carefully. I'll only demonstrate it once. If you don't learn it, then that's that!" Pei Mianman's face flushed slightly, clearly understanding that her recent actions were a bit like burying one's head in the sand.