Zu An exhaled in relief. I guess another unlucky fellow got the short end of the stick. Didn’t I say it earlier? This Mirror Mirage really is quite dependable.

Then again, why does that figure look slightly familiar?

The instant that figure started running, a shrill scream rang out. A teacup lid shot out through the roof.

It was so fast that he almost couldn’t see it.

Almost instantly, the lid struck the black-clad figure.

“Ahhh!” With a cry, the black silhouette fell off the roof and into the air.

Zu An’s gave a start. This person’s voice sounded familiar! So was that impressive chest, which no stealth gear could possibly hide. All of this made it clear that this was a person he was close to.

The gloomy, raspy voice spoke again. “Dabao, I’ll leave the matter outside to you.”

“Yes, adoptive father should rest. Your son will definitely capture that assassin for father to deal with!” This was most likely Wei Dabao, of the Wei Clan of Brightmoon City.

Quick footsteps swiftly followed this pronouncement.

Zu An detached himself from the wall and moved away cautiously.

That dark and mysterious person surely possessed a terrifying level of cultivation. He could seriously injure someone from so far away with just the lid of a teacup! If he had been a little more serious, that intruder would have been dead for sure.

Only when he’d left the area completely did he finally let go of the breath he held. He rushed off in a certain direction.

A figure was limping towards a rock garden. She had made it through the guards with great difficulty, but she was already at her limit.

That mysterious strike had almost completely scattered her vital energy. Although she had survived it, she was still seriously injured. At this rate she probably wouldn’t make it out.

Just then, someone suddenly grabbed her hand. Horrified, she was just about to retaliate, when she saw a face she never expected to see.

“Follow me!” Zu An said.

She was masked, but those familiar eyes and massive chest still gave her away.

Who else could it be besides big Manman?![1]

He didn’t have time to ask her why she was here, because there were already guards nearby. He ran, pulling her behind him.

Once Pei Mianman recognized him, she stopped resisting, and fled with him into the dark night.

Zu An wasn’t familiar with the Wei clan estate. He sensed guards everywhere, and the master of the Wei clan was personally out searching for the intruder. He had no choice but to bring Pei Mianman back to his room.

Soon afterwards, the door to the room was slammed open. A group of people charged straight in, weapons drawn.

The one in the lead was a middle-aged man, who had a strong resemblance to Wei Hongde. He was most likely the Wei clan’s master, Wei Dabao.

“Brother Wei, what is going on…” Zu An had already stripped and jumped back into the tub. He looked at Wei Hongde, an ‘astonished’ expression on his face.

Wei Hongde said apologetically, “Sorry, brother Zu, but there is an intruder in the estate. We came here because we were worried that this intruder was coming to disturb brother Zu.”

“Who would possibly be so daring as to cause trouble in the Wei Estate?” Zu An was sneering inside. They clearly suspected that the assassin was here, or else they wouldn’t have barged straight in.

“We don’t know exactly, but we are certain that the intruder is a woman,” said Wei Hongde. At the same time, he began to make introductions. “This is my father. Father, this is Zu An. He saw my younger brother home tonight.”

Wei Dabao nodded. “The Chu clan’s young master is indeed a talent.”

“I greet uncle,” Zu An said quickly. “However, I fear that I’m not in a state to carry out a proper greeting. My apologies.”

Wei Hongde hurriedly said, “You don’t need to stand up!”

He really didn’t want to see that scene from the dungeon again.

Damn it, I’m thinking about it again!

Wei Dabao walked over to Zu An. “You’re too polite!” he said. “Our clan’s little Suo has been under your care in the academy. It is we who haven’t properly found a chance to thank you yet.”

As he said this his eyes darted around the room, clearly searching for something. Finally, he arrived in front of the tub and looked inside.

The last thing he expected to see was a large amount of petals floating on the surface of the water. He couldn’t see inside at all.

This didn’t trouble him however. He quietly sent his ki into the tub. When he didn’t detect anyone inside, he nodded inwardly. “All right, you should get some rest. We still need to continue searching for the assassin.”

Zu An waved his hand with a smile, as if he had no idea what was going on. “I won’t see everyone out then.”

The Wei clan contingent left, tactfully closing the door on their way out.

When they had left, Wei Hongde asked, “Father, did you notice anything?”

Wei Dabao shook his head. “There was no one else inside. I was probably just over-thinking.”

“That assassin is indeed female. There’s no way she would have anything to do with him,” Wei Hongde echoed in agreement.

“We’ll continue looking elsewhere. I refuse to believe that a wounded female assassin can run that far.” Wei Dabao grunted. He continued with his search, his subordinates trailing behind him.

When he was sure that they had left, Zu An quickly lifted Pei Mianman out of the bathtub. “Are you all right?” he asked.

Seeing that she was still only half-conscious, he began chest compressions.

“Cough cough…” Pei Mianman coughed out a few mouthfuls of water, and she finally came back to her senses.

Zu An smiled. “If you still hadn’t woken up, I would’ve had to give you mouth-to-mouth.”

Pei Mianman gave him a weak look. “Why do you always have to be so indecent?”

She leaned against the edge of the tub. “Just how did you fool them just now? With the Wei clan master’s level of cultivation, there should have been no way he couldn’t see through the water.”

Zu An laughed loudly. “Who knows? Maybe he saw how large my chest muscles were and suffered a huge mental blow, and his mind became so alarmed that he wasn’t able to carry out a careful observation.” He had actually used Blue Mallard's mastery over water to seal off her aura—however, such a thing was too hard to explain.

Pei Mianman turned around and saw his naked body. Her cheeks blushed a rosy pink. “Help me out of here already.”

“Oh, okay.” They couldn’t stay in the tub forever.

Because she had always been soaking in water, Pei Mianman’s entire body was drenched, and her clothes were sticking to her body, showing off her figure.

Zu An supported her to her feet. The warm, soft feeling of her body made him instantly hard.

Pei Mianman subconsciously looked downwards. She was given the fright of her life, and her heart pounded frantically. Are men all… all…

Zu An had the decency to be embarrassed. “Sorry about that, it’s not on purpose.”

Pei Mianman didn’t reply. She crawled out of the tub red-faced. It took her some time to overcome her embarrassment. “By the way, why are you here too?”

“I brought Wei Suo back home, but he vomited all over my clothes. I decided to take a bath and change my clothes here. By then, it was already dark. When I heard that the clan was out hunting an assassin, I went over to take a look out of curiosity. I never expected that it would be you.” Zu An said, shading the truth slightly.

“It seems as if our fates are somehow tied together.” Pei Mianman sighed. “If it wasn’t for you, I might already have been buried here.”

Zu An laughed. “This is what it means to be brought together by fate!”

Pei Mianman leaned against a pillar and gave him an annoyed look. “Does Chuyan know that you are flirting with me like this behind her back?”

Zu An laughed. “You were clearly the one who flirted with me first.”

Pei Mianman snorted. “Then why do I feel as if I was the one who fell into your trap?”

In the beginning, she’d been confident that her charm and skill at seduction would make taking down a drafted son-in-law an easy task. She thought she would have him eating out of the palm of her hand with no effort at all.

Who knew that she would end up being the one who felt like she was being toyed with instead?

Zu An supported her to a seated position. “So what brought you all the way to the Wei clan estate?”

“I was searching for something,” said Pei Mianman.

Zu An was startled. Were the two of them after the same thing?

“What were you looking for?” he asked quickly.

Pei Mianman’s reply was also direct. “I’m not telling you.”

Zu An grew gloomy. “Didn’t I just save your life? Besides, we’re such good buddies. How can you do this to me?”

Pei Mianman looked at him. Her injuries had made her face extremely pale. Her eyes, which were always hard to read, were no longer smiling. “You haven’t been straight with me either, have you?”

1. This isn’t a typo but a pet name.