Chapter 496: Obsessed Men and Resentful Women

“Huh?” Zu An was startled. He felt that this wasn’t quite right.

“Don’t move,” Qiu Honglei mumbled with her head down, sweeping the strands of hair that had fallen onto her cheek back behind her ear.

Zu An instinctively sat up straight. It was so quiet around them that only their faint breaths could be heard.

He could faintly smell her hair, and the subtle fragrance of a young woman from her body. Of course, what he felt most profoundly were her soft lips and agile tongue…

*Ahem*, where did my thoughts go? Calm down, calm down!

The two remained silently pressed together, Qiu Honglei spitting out the sucked-out poisonous blood bite by bite.

After an unknown amount of time, Qiu Honglei finally breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the wound’s color had completely returned to a normal red. “The poisoned blood is mostly out,” she said. “Thankfully, the poison on Mosquito Daoist’s fingernail wasn’t too potent.”

As she spoke, Qiu Honglei took a bottle of wound medicine from her pocket and applied it to him, then tore a strip from the clean lining of her skirt to bandage the wound.

Zu An took out a flask of water and offered it to her. “Here’s some antidote powder. Dissolve it in water, gargle, and then drink some. Don’t let the poison affect you.”

Qiu Honglei didn’t refuse, drinking the antidote powder without hesitation.

She was slightly surprised by the flask he conjured out of nowhere, but quickly realized he must possess a spatial artifact. She didn’t ask about it; after all, such items were personal secrets.

“Thank you,” Zu An said sincerely.

“Why thank me? You were the one who saved my life,” Qiu Honglei said with a soft smile. Her expression was much gentler now than her usual, practiced smile.

“You saved my life just now too,” Zu An chuckled. “If you hadn’t helped me suck out the poison, I probably would have died from it soon.”

Qiu Honglei gazed at him, stunned. This man, usually so unserious, was unexpectedly so gentle and considerate. He was even worried she’d feel perpetual guilt and deliberately said that to even the score.

But how could what she did be considered saving his life? Even without her, the poison in the wound would at most torment him for a while; it wouldn’t have been enough to kill him.

As she looked at Zu An, he looked at her, at her moist red lips. He suddenly recalled the scene of her sucking his wound, that feeling like a faint current flowing through his entire body, a tingling sensation that truly made every cell in his body cheer.

If just sucking a wound felt this good, what about sucking other places…

He gazed at her luscious red lips, unable to resist swallowing. Because their surroundings were so quiet, the gulp, though not loud, was extremely noticeable.

Zu An instinctively looked up at her, and their eyes quickly met.

Qiu Honglei’s face suddenly flushed. She spat, “Lewd!”

Then she shyly turned away.

Zu An: “…”

He cried out in protest, “I just swallowed! Does that make me lewd? Are you misunderstanding something?”

Qiu Honglei scoffed softly. “You know perfectly well what dirty thoughts you were having.”

Zu An: “…”

This woman truly had spent time at the Immortal Abode; she knew far more than an average young lady.

But even if I’m angry, why aren’t I getting any Rage points?

“Hehehe.”

Just then, a chilling laugh echoed from the distance.

Both of them started. The ambiguous atmosphere between them instantly vanished, replaced by tense alertness.

“What a devoted couple,” Mosquito Daoist’s familiar voice drifted, “still finding time for romance while fleeing for your lives.”

Mosquito Daoist’s familiar voice drifted over. It seemed distant at first, but by the last word, she was already close.

They looked up abruptly. A woman in an apricot-yellow Daoist robe stood atop a tree branch. The branch wasn’t thick and could hardly support a person’s weight, not even a small woman’s.

Yet, Mosquito Daoist seemed weightless, her toes lightly touching the treetop. The branch swayed gently up and down as if in the wind, but she stood completely undisturbed.

Qiu Honglei gasped in alarm. “My companions? Did you kill them all?”

Mosquito Daoist snorted. “This Venerable One leaves no survivors.”

As she said this, her face involuntarily flushed. While those demonic cultivators were not as powerful as her, each had their unique skills. As a group, they would have been difficult to kill quickly. Moreover, she was eager to capture the two, so she hadn’t entangled herself in a fight with them. Instead, she had left some of her disciples and grand-disciples to deal with them, taking the opportunity to pursue Zu An and Qiu Honglei herself.

Her true form was that of a Blood-winged Black Mosquito, naturally adept at flight and significantly faster than humans of the same cultivation level, let alone Zu An and Qiu Honglei, who were far inferior to her.

Furthermore, she was extremely sensitive to the smell of blood. Although the scent of blood in the air was faint when the two fled, it couldn’t escape her nose.

Thus, even though they had run a long distance, they were still easily caught.

Zu An whispered, “Honglei, I’ll do my best to hold her off. Take the chance to escape. It’s best if you run back to your Uncle Lu Sanyuan; he should be able to protect you.”

Qiu Honglei shook her head, gently gripping his hand. “I’ll face the enemy with you.”

Zu An grew anxious. “Are you crazy? She wants the Phoenix Nirvana Scripture from me, so she won’t kill me right away. But she won’t be so lenient with you.”

Qiu Honglei still didn’t move. “I won’t abandon you. At worst, I’ll wait for you on the Yellow Springs Road.”

She offered a faint, bittersweet, yet resolute smile, clearly prepared to die.

At this moment, Mosquito Daoist on the tree cackled. “What a touching scene! They say husband and wife are like birds of the same forest, flying off in different directions when disaster strikes. But I never imagined your feelings for each other run deeper than that of a married couple.”

Hearing her description, Qiu Honglei’s cheeks, which had been pale from nervousness and fear, now gained a slight blush.

Seeing her shy expression, even Mosquito Daoist, as fastidious as she was, had to admit that this woman was truly a peerless beauty.

Unfortunately, the more she saw this, the more jealous and furious she became. “It’s a pity this Venerable One enjoys breaking apart devoted couples the most!”

No sooner had she finished speaking than she charged towards the two.

Having learned her lesson, she knew Zu An was as slippery as an eel and would be difficult to catch quickly. Rather than chasing him, it was better to deal with Qiu Honglei first.

Given their previous habit of saving each other, she knew that if she attacked Qiu Honglei, Zu An would inevitably come to her rescue, which would at least halve the effectiveness of his elusive footwork.

Sure enough, seeing her attack Qiu Honglei, Zu An gritted his teeth and stepped forward to help her defend.

Mosquito Daoist snorted, taking a step forward with such speed that Zu An couldn’t react in time.

She suddenly appeared beside Zu An and struck his ribs with a palm. She had seen through his thoughts, how he was banking on her reluctance to kill him to tie her hands.

While she couldn’t kill him, disabling his mobility was surely acceptable?

The force of this palm strike was enough to completely incapacitate not just a fifth-grade cultivator, but likely even a peak sixth-grade one.

Zu An coughed up blood and fell to the side. He felt as if several of his ribs were broken, but the Primordial Chaos Scripture rapidly circulated, continuously repairing his injuries.

Mosquito Daoist didn’t look at him again, continuing her attack on Qiu Honglei.

“Ah Zu!” Qiu Honglei cried out in alarm, but she had no time to spare to look at him. She hastily conjured the Longevity Palace Lamp. Its pale yellow light spread out, enveloping Mosquito Daoist, whose movements visibly slowed.

Mosquito Daoist, however, showed no panic. “Hmph, your cultivation is too low; you can’t unleash the full power of this lamp.”

Its first use had been the most effective. Now, the lamp’s energy seemed much weaker, unable to truly bind Mosquito Daoist’s movements, only slow them down.

This allowed Qiu Honglei to barely keep up with her speed, and they exchanged several blows. However, while Mosquito Daoist’s movements could be slowed, a Grandmaster’s foresight and experience could not. She quickly found an opening and struck Qiu Honglei’s shoulder with a palm.

Qiu Honglei screamed and flew backward. Just as Mosquito Daoist was about to take her life, Zu An’s voice came from the side: “Trying to lay a hand on my woman? Did you ask me first?”