Chapter 980: Seven-Mile Soul-Chasing Incense

After Zu An fell, Tang Tian'er still felt uneasy. She reached out and sealed several of his vital acupoints before finally sighing in relief.

She then sat down beside Zu An and reached her small hands into his chest, searching. After a moment, she muttered to herself in annoyance, "Hmm, where did those things go?"

Rage points from Tang Tian'er +888888!

She wanted to see if Zu An had any rare treasures or items proving his identity, but she found nothing except a few scattered silver coins and other miscellaneous items.

"Where's the bag I just gave him?" Tang Tian'er searched for a long time but couldn't find it. She immediately realized he must possess some kind of spatial artifact.

Unfortunately, she searched him thoroughly but found nothing.

"He truly is from the Sea Race, full of mystery," Tang Tian'er thought, staring at his mask. Suddenly, an idea struck her, "I wonder what he looks like?"

With that, she reached out and pulled off his mask. She then stood there, completely stunned.

Staring at him for a long while, a faint blush suddenly appeared on Tang Tian'er's cheeks. "He's even handsomer than I imagined. If I'd known, I wouldn't have hidden just now, hehe."

Just then, a knock sounded from outside. Tang Tian'er frowned. "Stop rushing me, I'll be out soon."

She then leaned down and gently blew a warm breath into Zu An's ear, whispering, "Have a good dream. Let's have a wonderful date in your dream."

After speaking, she left behind a string of bell-like laughter and walked out. Opening the door, she found Fat Venerable already waiting outside.

He then peered through the crack in the door and, seeing that Zu An was asleep, breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, did you find anything?"

"He is indeed from the Sea Race, and most likely of noble status among them," Tang Tian'er replied, closing the door. The man clearly didn't even put the Yan King or Sun Xun in his eyes, indicating a very strong background.

Fat Venerable nodded. "As expected. Our pavilion has never been able to establish ties with the Sea Race. It seems it will fall to him."

Just as Tang Tian'er was about to speak, her expression suddenly changed, and she and Fat Venerable ducked into a nearby corner.

No sooner had they vanished than a shifty-eyed man appeared nearby. Although he tried to conceal himself, his frequent glances towards Zu An's room betrayed his true purpose.

"Sun Ji's man," Tang Tian'er said, her delicate brows slightly furrowed.

"Precisely. Sun Ji just left, likely rushing to deliver that jade pendant home. But he doesn't intend to let guest number 333 go, which is why he sent someone to stake out the place," Fat Venerable explained.

Tang Tian'er expressed some worry. "Is the pavilion truly not going to intervene? Even if Young Master An is from the Sea Race, this place is far from the ocean. He could very well suffer a loss."

Although Zu An had been full of confidence earlier, she simply dismissed it as a young man boasting in front of a beautiful woman for the sake of his pride, not taking it too seriously.

Fat Venerable frowned. "Pleasure Palace has always refrained from interfering in matters between guests..."

Before he could finish, Tang Tian'er tugged at his sleeve and shook it. "Uncle Fat, Young Master An is different from the others! We finally managed to establish a connection with the Sea Race; we can't just let this opportunity slip away. I'm thinking of the pavilion's interests!"

Fat Venerable rolled his eyes. "You're probably just smitten with that boy, aren't you? Hmph, very well. Pleasure Palace will ensure his safety, but we mustn't intervene too early. Let him suffer a bit at the hands of the Sun clan; our timely assistance will make him even more grateful."

Tang Tian'er giggled, her eyes curving like crescent moons. "Uncle Fat truly has foresight; your niece is deeply impressed!"

"Enough flattery," Fat Venerable snorted. "Don't say I didn't warn you: playing around with him is fine, but don't get yourself truly entangled."

Tang Tian'er scoffed, "Do I look like that kind of person to you?"

"Indeed not," Fat Venerable chuckled wryly. Over the years, the young lady had played so many young masters like puppets, yet he had never seen her truly suffer any loss.

After the two outside had departed, Zu An opened his eyes. He had only been feigning unconsciousness with Tang Tian'er, not truly enchanted by her beauty. Instead, he planned to use her as a time witness to clear his name later. After all, this was the territory of the Yan King and Sun Xun; causing a big scene would still be troublesome.

However, he had been troubled by how to deceive Tang Tian'er. Knocking her out was easy, but she would surely know what happened upon waking, rendering her useless as a witness.

Originally, if the other party had been a man, he could have used Daji to mesmerize him and alter his memories without much difficulty. Unfortunately, she was a woman, and Daji's abilities were ineffective on women.

He had even considered using the 'Key Come' ability, but he hadn't tried this type of memory alteration before and didn't know its effectiveness or how severe the backlash might be.

He never expected the other party to drug him first!

When he saw pink smoke escaping her lips, he almost burst out laughing.

He felt very cautious at the time, so he didn't inhale any of the smoke.

Although he was now immune to all poisons, who knew the nature of her sleeping powder? If it wasn't a poison but an aphrodisiac, that would be truly troublesome.

After hearing Fat Venerable and the others leave, he summoned Daji, draped his jacket over her, put the mask on her, and finally had her lie on the couch, pretending to be asleep.

Having done all that, he went straight out, sealed the acupoints of Sun Ji's subordinate who was left to stake out, and had Daji use her "Bewitching Charm of the World" skill on him.

This way, the Pleasure Palace, and even Sun Ji's own subordinate, could serve as witnesses, and no one would suspect him.

Without informing Gao Ying or Pei You, he quietly slipped out of the Pleasure Palace.

The Pleasure Palace's security was stricter on the outside than on the inside; it primarily focused on preventing outsiders from entering, and checks for those leaving were not as stringent.

Using the jade cong to interact with the surrounding animals, he was able to consistently track Sun Ji's party in the direction they had left.

After a little over half an hour, he finally caught up with the Sun clan's carriage procession.

He circled ahead in advance, planning to choose an opportune moment to strike.

This was Yi Commandery, after all; if the delay was too long and something unexpected happened, it would be troublesome.

Just for his personal grudge with Sun Ji, he wouldn't necessarily resort to robbery, but to save Mi Li, he had to disregard such scruples.

Moreover, he had just learned from Sun Ji's subordinate that the man intended to gather people to ambush and kill him upon returning. He wasn't a saint, so naturally, he would retaliate in kind.

Watching the carriage rapidly approaching from not far away, he was about to make his move when he suddenly had a thought and looked in another direction.

A series of piercing sounds of air being torn filled the air, and dozens of bamboo stalks shot out. In almost an instant, nearly half of Sun Ji's guards were killed or wounded.

At that moment, a figure shot out from the carriage; it was Yang Long, the cultivation master guarding Sun Ji.

He saw Yang Long press his hands together, and a transparent qi force instantly crushed the incoming bamboo stalks into splinters. "What rat dares to ambush the Sun family's carriage!"

Sun Ji also emerged from the carriage then, and his surrounding guards hastily encircled him in the center.

"Don't keep bringing up the Sun family. What I hate most in this life are clans like yours who rely on their family background to bully ordinary people," a sinister voice rang out, followed by a black-robed figure slowly emerging from the bamboo forest ahead.

"It's you!" Yang Long clearly recognized the person as the one who had appeared at the Pleasure Palace auction before. He could feel that the opponent's vital energy fluctuations seemed to be above his own, but his side had more people, so they might not necessarily lose if they truly fought.

"Leave the item, and perhaps I can consider sparing your lives," the black-robed man's voice was devoid of emotion.

"How did you track us?" Yang Long's expression was grim. He knew that the Pleasure Palace kept every guest's identity confidential. Although his young master was high-profile, his departure from the palace was done secretly, and only the Pleasure Palace staff knew the route. Other guests shouldn't possibly know it.

Could it be that someone from the Pleasure Palace intended to double-cross them?

"By planting Seven-Mile Soul-Tracking Incense on you, I can find you with my eyes closed," the black-robed man said proudly.

"Seven-Mile Soul-Tracking Incense? It's you!" Yang Long's face instantly changed drastically.