Chapter 818: Still want to be shameless?

Bilinglong was taken aback. She hadn't expected them to be so resolute. She sighed softly. They had all grown up together; though there was no love involved, they shared some degree of affection. Reaching this point was something none of them wanted to see.

She quickly recovered and turned to Zuan, asking, "What did they mean by their last words just now?"

Zuan fell into thought. Not far away, Gao Ying said, "It was probably just a curse born of resentment. There are only so many people who came in this time, and Shi Tong and his group have already been exposed. There's no way the Prince of Qi could have secretly placed more masters here. If so, we might as well all just slit our own throats."

Bilinglong nodded. "Exactly. Our people this time were all hand-picked and underwent strict vetting. It was already an extremely low probability for Shi Tong to sneak in; it's impossible for other masters to have infiltrated. Artifacts that conceal cultivation are not easy to come by, you know."

Zuan nodded to himself. "I hope you're right."

What they said made sense. The emperor and the top masters aligned with the Crown Prince's faction were not fools; they wouldn't leave such a huge loophole.

Gao Ying smiled, a rare sight. "Besides, even if there were a problem, with Master Zuan here, it would naturally be resolved with ease."

Even Shi Tong, a peak eighth-rank expert, had been easily defeated by Zuan just now. Gao Ying couldn't imagine any danger Zuan couldn't handle.

Bilinglong had similar thoughts and looked at Zuan, saying, "Thank you."

Zuan smiled. "Now you know you didn't trust the wrong person, right?"

Bilinglong's face flushed slightly. This was a secret shared only between the two of them. When she had earnestly asked if she could trust him, he had said yes, but she hadn't been entirely confident, and he had probably sensed her apprehension.

As they gazed at each other, an unusual atmosphere gradually filled the air.

"Ahem, ahem..."

Gao Ying's light cough came from nearby. "Brother Pei is fading fast."

In truth, he wanted to say that he was also close to collapsing and that they were staring at each other so affectionately as if he didn't exist.

Bilinglong instantly snapped back to reality and, blushing, hurried over to check.

Zuan followed. Pei You had just been struck by Shi Tong, and his chest was clearly caved in, indicating severe injury. His ability to hold on until now without dying was a testament to his solid cultivation and strong will.

Bilinglong quickly took out a few pills and gave them to him. His complexion indeed improved slightly, but his injuries showed no sign of getting better.

"His injuries are too severe, I'm afraid..." Bilinglong couldn't help but feel a touch of sadness. He had been injured saving her, and she had previously doubted his loyalty.

It was a pity he hadn't reached the seventh-rank; otherwise, with the recovery abilities of a seventh-rank cultivator, his life at least could have been saved.

Zuan knelt beside him, examined him, and then suddenly asked, "Are you from the Pei family? Do you know Pei Mianman?"

Pei You was startled but still replied weakly, "Yes, I know her... She's... my cousin. When she was little... I even taught her a few moves..."

He didn't understand why Zuan would suddenly ask this. If it weren't for Zuan's lingering prestige from defeating Shi Tong, the dying Pei You would have been too weary to answer such an inexplicable question.

Zuan nodded, then took a pill from his pocket. "Try this."

Bilinglong couldn't help but say, "I just gave him the most potent trauma medicine from the Imperial Medical Institute..."

Her implication was clear: as the Crown Princess, she naturally carried the finest royal medicines. If her medicine couldn't heal him, then others' would be even more useless.

Zuan smiled. "Just try it."

He fed the pill to Pei You, then channeled his vital energy into Pei You's body to help dissolve the medicine and nourish his damaged internal organs, sternum, and other injuries.

Pei You tried his best to circulate his remaining vital energy to cooperate. A moment later, he opened his eyes in surprise. "It seems to be working. Master Zuan, your medicine is truly miraculous!"

Bilinglong was startled. She quickly checked his pulse through her sleeve, feeling that the injuries inside him had stabilized. And judging by the speed of recovery, as long as the treatment continued, his life would be saved.

"Good, as long as it works." Zuan also breathed a sigh of relief. This medicine was the Jade Marrow Resurrection Pill, obtained from Ji Dengtu, said to have the effect of bringing people back from the brink of death.

He had used it a few times himself and felt it was second only to the "Believe in Brother Chun" red bottle he got from the system.

He had originally obtained twelve of these precious miraculous pills from Ji Dengtu and now only had six left. Naturally, he couldn't waste them casually, which was why he had inquired about Pei You's relationship with Pei Mianman. If their relationship had been poor, he would have had to apologize.

In fact, he still had a "Believe in Brother Chun" red bottle in his possession. As long as someone still had a breath in them, no matter how severe the injury, it could bring them back. However, he wouldn't use such a life-saving item on someone with whom he had no significant connection.

He then went to Gao Ying. Relatively speaking, Gao Ying's injuries were a bit lighter, so Zuan took out some spiritual medicine Chu Youzhao had prepared for him and told him to take it.

"Thank you!" Gao Ying quickly sat down to meditate and regulate his breathing. His aura gradually became solid and stable.

Bilinglong came over to Zuan, looking at him with some curiosity. "Where did you get this medicine? Why is it even better than the Imperial Medical Institute's?"

"From a lecherous middle-aged doctor," Zuan replied. He was actually quite surprised himself. He had thought Ji Dengtu was merely a renowned physician in the Mingyue City area, but it turned out his medical skills surpassed even those of the imperial physicians in the palace. His origins were worth pondering.

"Ah?" Bilinglong's expression was odd. She thought, *Birds of a feather flock together indeed.*

Hearing it was from a lecherous middle-aged man, she lost interest in inquiring further.

She then hurried to wake up the others in the camp. These people had been drugged by the Gu brothers and couldn't be woken by normal calls. However, she had come well-prepared for this secret realm, bringing the corresponding antidote with her.

She first woke the Crown Prince's guards, and then they proceeded to wake the rest of the people.

Soon, Zhao Xi, Meng Pan, Liu Xian, and others woke up. Seeing Pei You, they were all greatly alarmed and assumed attack postures.

They were stopped by a figure. The gravely wounded Pei You couldn't withstand even a single blow from them.

"Zuan?" As they recognized the figure, they became even more shocked.

Bilinglong stepped out in time to stop their aggressive actions and briefly explained what had just happened.

"I told you the Gu brothers had shifty eyes; they clearly weren't good people," Zhao Xi grumbled.

Meng Pan, standing nearby, sneered. "When did you ever say that? Back then, you were suspicious of Master Zuan."

Zhao Xi became annoyed. "Wasn't it you who led the effort to drive Master Zuan away?"

Seeing the two of them about to start arguing again, Bilinglong coldly snorted, "At a time like this, are you still going to squabble amongst yourselves? If Master Zuan hadn't arrived in time today, the Gu brothers and Shi Tong would have killed us all."

"Shi Tong? He was here too?" The group was all greatly alarmed, anxiously looking around as if facing a formidable enemy.

Everyone in the capital knew that Shi Tong was a peak eighth-rank expert, someone they couldn't possibly handle.

At this moment, Puduandiao walked over, carrying Shi Tong's corpse. "Crown Princess, what should we do with Shi Tong's body?"

"Throw it into the wilderness for the dogs," Bilinglong said coldly, clearly disgusted by what had just happened.

Seeing Shi Tong's corpse, everyone was stunned, turning to stone. One by one, they asked in trembling voices, "Who could have killed Shi Tong?"

Bilinglong looked at Zuan, her gaze exceptionally gentle.

Gao Ying's injuries had now recovered considerably. He opened his eyes and said, "Of course, it was Master Zuan..."

He then vividly described how Zuan had soundly defeated Shi Tong, and though he was not usually eloquent, he made the account come alive, even exaggerating Zuan's prowess slightly beyond what was shown.

"What?!" The group's jaws almost dropped to the floor. Learning that Zuan was so powerful shocked them even more than knowing Shi Tong had been killed.

Shi Tong had been a peak eighth-rank expert for many years. So, what rank was Zuan now?

It was Liu Xian whose attitude changed the quickest. He immediately declared, "From the moment I first saw Master Zuan, I felt he was exceptionally handsome and extraordinary. Now it's clear he truly concealed his true abilities. My admiration for Master Zuan is genuinely like an unending river!"

Zhao Xi, standing by, was speechless.

Meng Pan was also speechless.

"Have you no shame?"