Chapter 376: Awkward Misunderstanding

Upon that thought, Zu An suddenly leapt to his feet and rushed out.

Jiang Luofu paused, startled. “What are you doing?” she asked.

Zu An frantically waved her away. “Stay back,” he said, “I need a moment to myself.”

Noticing his almost insane demeanor, Jiang Luofu wondered if she had spoken too harshly just now.

She couldn't help but feel a little guilty.

Meanwhile, Zu An ran to the courtyard, drew a bucket of water from the well, found a washbasin, and washed his face ten times in a row.

He then prayed incessantly in his heart before finally starting the lottery draw.

He had accumulated a total of 51,915 Rage points, which meant he could draw 519 times.

Just then, a golden light suddenly flashed in the keyboard system's backend, followed by a line of small text: “Accumulated Rage points have reached the threshold. The lottery system is now upgrading to allow merged draws. When remaining draws exceed 100, each draw will instantly reveal 100 results. When remaining draws are fewer than 100, each draw will reveal one result.”

“Note: In neither case will this affect the probability of winning prizes.”

Zu An studied it carefully and roughly understood. This upgrade feature was essentially designed to save time. It was already quite troublesome to draw hundreds of times with tens of thousands of Rage points; if he accumulated even more Rage points later, requiring thousands of draws, he’d be pressing buttons forever.

As long as it didn't affect the lottery probability, this upgrade was a good thing!

With a mix of apprehension and anticipation, he directly pressed ‘Start Draw’. He then noticed that 10,000 Rage points instantly disappeared.

A large stream of information began scrolling across the screen. His eyelids twitched, as he'd just caught a glimpse of countless “Thank you for participating” messages scrolling past.

Finally, the results of these hundred draws were tallied. He won 9 Primeval Qi Fruits; his luck was mediocre.

He then pressed the draw button again. Points of light quickly spun across the keyboard, and dense information scrolled across the screen. Finally, he miraculously drew 16 Primeval Qi Fruits; this hit rate was much higher than before.

Unfortunately, he couldn't bring himself to be happy, because this wasn't what he wanted.

He pressed the draw button once more. Another 10,000 Rage points disappeared, and the final result appeared: he drew 12 Primeval Qi Fruits.

Zu An began to feel anxious. He currently needed massive amounts of Primeval Qi Fruits for each array, and a few dozen more or less wouldn't make much difference.

Moreover, this time he needed to save someone, so he had to draw *that* item!

Just as he was about to make his fourth draw, he suddenly remembered something. He quickly ran off to wash his face again, then returned and solemnly pressed the draw button.

He finally drew 11 Primeval Qi Fruits and a red bottle!

Zu An cried out in excitement. It seemed washing his face really worked; he had actually drawn it!

This red bottle was, of course, the “Believe in Brother Chun” potion!

Like instant recovery potions in online games, whenever he suffered serious injuries before, taking this potion would instantly restore him to full health, no matter how severe his injuries were!

He didn't bother with further draws. He fumbled and rushed back into the room.

Ji Xiaoxi was examining Qin Wanru's wounds. Seeing him suddenly burst in, she was startled and quickly covered Qin Wanru with her clothes again. She said somewhat chidingly, “Brother Zu, why didn't you say something before coming in?”

Hearing her revert to her old address for him, Zu An knew she had moved past the previous incident and no longer blamed him. He felt increasingly happy. “Haha, I’ve found a way to save Madam Chu!” he exclaimed.

“Ah?” Ji Xiaoxi had just barely managed to pull Qin Wanru back from the brink of death. Strictly speaking, she hadn't completely pulled her back; most of her body was still at death’s door.

Now, hearing that Zu An had a way to save Qin Wanru, she couldn't help but be surprised.

Jiang Luofu, standing nearby, also looked astonished. Earlier, she had seen Zu An in the courtyard from a distance, drawing water and washing his face, thinking he had gone mad. Who would have thought he would suddenly run back saying he had a solution?

Zu An didn't bother to explain. He rushed over and helped Qin Wanru up. As he touched her, he felt nothing but smoothness. He was momentarily stunned, realizing Ji Xiaoxi had unfastened her clothes from behind and hadn't had time to put them back on.

“You!” Ji Xiaoxi stamped her foot, clearly a little annoyed.

Jiang Luofu also gave him a strange look. “Brat, you did that on purpose, didn’t you?” she said. “Go outside first and wait for us to get her dressed.”

Zu An shook his head. “No,” he said, “we can't waste even a second now.”

Qin Wanru's life was hanging by a thread. He figured if even this tiny delay caused her death, he would regret it deeply.

After speaking, he quickly took out the “Believe in Brother Chun” potion and fed it to Qin Wanru.

As the red liquid was poured into her mouth, a hint of rosy color visibly spread across her skin.

A moment later, Qin Wanru slowly opened her eyes. She realized she could no longer feel the searing pain from before. “Am I dead?” she asked, somewhat bewildered.

Zu An chuckled. “Of course not,” he said, “I've brought you back!”

“Brought back?” Qin Wanru was stunned for a moment. She suddenly recalled the method of salvation he had mentioned earlier. Combined with noticing her clothes were half undone at the moment, she felt both shame and anger. “You scoundrel!” she cried.

With that, she raised her hand and slapped him.

Rage points from Qin Wanru: 1024!

Zu An was still immersed in the joy of saving her, never expecting her to suddenly strike. The slap left him bewildered.

Ji Xiaoxi and Jiang Luofu, standing by, were equally bewildered.

They couldn't understand why Qin Wanru would hit Zu An. Shouldn't she be happy about being saved?

Qin Wanru trembled all over. She pushed Zu An away fiercely. “How can you do this to Chu Yan? To Xiao Zhao? To Zhong…”

Mid-sentence, she suddenly noticed the wide-eyed Jiang Luofu and Ji Xiaoxi standing by. She quickly stopped herself.

Since the scandal had already occurred, the immediate priority was to keep it from others to avoid shaming the Chu family.

Zu An was about to step forward to explain, when Jiang Luofu quickly stopped him. “Madam Chu might be a little disoriented from her severe injuries,” she said. “She's too emotional right now. You should go out first.”

Zu An was confusedly pushed out, and it wasn't until he reached the courtyard and felt the cool breeze that he came to his senses.

What did I do to deserve this?

After all my efforts, this was the outcome.

Inside the room, Ji Xiaoxi found an outfit to replace Qin Wanru's dress, which had been cut open at the back. Jiang Luofu also asked curiously, “Madam Chu, Zu An saved you, why did you hit him?”

“I…” Qin Wanru's face flushed. Her mind was in a turmoil. He had done *that* to her; shouldn't she have hit him?

She should have killed him immediately, but he had, after all, been trying to save her.

Her mind went blank, and various thoughts swirled through her head.

For a moment, she didn't know how she would face Zu An, how she would face Chu Yan, or how she would face her husband…

Also, with Jiang Luofu and Ji Xiaoxi present, they likely knew what had happened between her and Zu An.

Oh god, just let me die…

Just as she was feeling utterly distraught, she suddenly heard Ji Xiaoxi say, “I wonder where Brother Zu found this miraculous medicine. It actually has the power to bring people back from the dead.”

Qin Wanru's body stiffened. She looked back to see Ji Xiaoxi holding a crystal-clear bottle, examining it from all angles. Even Jiang Luofu leaned in to look.

Qin Wanru asked, somewhat incredulously, “He… he healed me with this?”

“What else could it be?” Ji Xiaoxi blinked her large eyes at her, not understanding why she would ask such an obvious question.

Qin Wanru was speechless.

Oh, how utterly humiliating!

Even after more than an hour, Qin Wanru still couldn't bring herself to look at Zu An. It was simply too awkward and humiliating that she had harbored such a misunderstanding.

Zu An also understood by now. The woman had most likely misunderstood. He couldn't help but secretly feel lucky that she hadn't just stabbed him on the spot.

What surprised him, however, was that Qin Wanru had not fully recovered. He figured it was because her cultivation had reached the sixth rank, and the “Believe in Brother Chun” potion had a “small” annotation. It seemed this potion couldn't fully restore those above the fifth rank.

Even so, the potion was enough to get Qin Wanru through the critical period. With Ji Xiaoxi's medical skills, the rest could be managed.

After a quick examination, Ji Xiaoxi said, “I’ll prescribe some medicine. Madam Chu should rest well. In half a month, she should make a full recovery.”

Qin Wanru shook her head. “No,” she said, “I must return to the Chu Manor immediately to suppress the rebellion.”

If she really lay here for half a month, everything would have settled. What good would it do to go back then?