The assassin’s grasp of timing was extremely precise. Yun Yuqing was in a critical stage, where her mind and body were both completely joined with Zu An. Her head went blank in that instant. Even though she could sense the approaching danger, her entire body was trembling in that instant, and she was effectively unable to respond.

The assassin was also aware that she was the biggest threat, which was why he had targeted her back. The power behind his sword thrust was enough to skewer both of them.

With her back to the assassin, Yun Yuqing was completely powerless. Zu An, however, saw everything with perfect clarity.

He immediately switched positions with her, using his back to block the assassin’s sword.

*Splurt!*

The blade pierced straight through his body, and even the tip of the blade emerged through his chest to stab Yun Yuqing.

Her snow white face was instantly splattered with blood, although it was unclear if it belonged to Zu An or her.

The assassin was shocked. Zu An’s constitution far exceeded his expectations! He had planned to skewer them both, yet his thrust had only been enough to penetrate Zu An’s body.

Yun Yuqing finally managed to react to what was happening, and she thrust a palm ferociously towards the attacker’s body.

Her level of cultivation seemed to take the assassin by surprise. He quickly leapt backwards to evade this lethal strike.

Yun Yuqing reached out her hand, and her clothes, which had been lying beside her, draped themselves around her again. The brief exchange was already enough to make her shake uncontrollably. She could only cling on to Zu An tightly, gritting her teeth and praying that she wouldn’t unwittingly let out any embarrassing sounds.

The assassin didn’t follow up his attack. He understood how strong Madam Wu was from that previous exchange, and he didn’t dare act carelessly.

He took in her snowy legs and slender arms, which remained exposed because of the hurried manner in which she’d re-dressed herself. The beautiful scene that he’d witnessed a moment ago reappeared in his head. Even though the assassin had only been able to see the back of her, since the two had been wrapped around each other, the image was enough to get his blood pumping.

“A dark elf! Who sent you?” Yun Yuqing had noted the assassin’s features and recognized what race he was. She was staring coldly at him, but because she was clinging tightly to Zu An and hadn’t yet recovered from whatever they were doing beforehand, her voice came out a little weird.

The assassin ignored her question. Instead, his voice became mocking. “The entire world praises Madam Wu for being as beautiful as a goddess, and for being pure and noble. It seems as though you truly are beautiful as a goddess, but as for pure and noble…”

He paused deliberately, his eyes sweeping across the two of them. He clicked his tongue. “Tsk, tsk, tsk, you truly are noble in public, but a slut in private. Then again, I can’t really blame you. That fellow’s body is quite hard, and even my sword almost failed to pierce through him. This probably holds true for the other parts of him as well. No wonder Madam was in such a trance!”

“Shameless!” Yun Yuqing erupted in fury. She instinctively got up to attack him, but her body trembled as soon as she moved. Her brows locked tightly together, and she sat back down.

The assassin seized this opening at once. He left an afterimage where he was standing, and his body quickly faded away. They could no longer see him. However, his unscrupulous laughter echoed through the room. “Hahaha, doing this sort of thing behind your husband’s back… Am I the shameless one, or are you?!”

He was clearly provoking her with these words, trying to make and opening for himself.

Unfortunately, Yun Yuqing wasn't the slightest bit affected. After all, she wasn’t going behind her husband’s back—it was he who had forced her to do it. That was why she didn’t feel the least bit apologetic.

The room suddenly erupted in a purple haze, and a giant pair of beautiful eyes appeared in midair. Although he had turned invisible a second ago, the dark elf now had nowhere to escape to when confronted with this world of purple. He cried out in horror. “Demonic Eye!”

He reacted as quickly as he could. He immediately closed his eyes, but he was still too late. He was caught by the Demonic Eye’s effects, and he froze.

A streak of purple light flew straight at him. All of his fine hairs stood on end as he sensed the threat of death.

There was no point in holding back any further. A mass of black shadows spread outward from his body, and he managed to rid himself of the Demonic Eye’s control at the last possible second. He dodged away immediately to avoid being struck in any vital areas.

However, he still wasn’t able to completely avoid the attack. His body was struck by that streak of purple light, which blasted open a bloody hole where it hit him.

He was horrified. Although Madam Wu seemed delicate and weak, she was far stronger than he had imagined. He didn’t dare stay here any longer. He summoned a black, mirror-like path next to him and jumped in.

Even though his assassination had failed, he knew about Madam Wu’s huge scandal, as well as the fact that she was of the demon race. These were both explosive pieces of information that would bring countless benefits to those backing him.

Yun Yuqing knew this as well. There was no way she could allow this to happen, which was why she had gone straight for the kill.

However, she never expected him to evade her sure-kill strike. That dark elf already escaped into the darkness. The reason why dark elves were so good at assassination was largely because of this secret technique. They could come and go without leaving any traces.

Most of his body had already entered the portal. There was no way to stop him now.

Her face went deathly pale when she thought about how this dark elf was going to spread the word regarding everything that he’d seen today. That would most likely seal her doom.

That dark elf turned to look at her. Yun Yuqing’s appearance had clearly left too deep of an impression on him. Just thinking about her half-nude figure was enough to make his heart pound again. He wanted to sneak in a final look, knowing that he might never get the chance to ever again.

Suddenly, he heard a dissatisfied voice. “Whatcha lookin’ at?!”

He knew that he shouldn’t stop, that he shouldn’t be wasting even a single second, but an irresistible urge welled up within him. He felt as though he absolutely had to reply, or else his entire existence would collapse.

As such, he turned around and said, “I’m looking at you, shithead!”

Yun Yuqing never expected him to be distracted in this instant. She didn’t give him a second chance. With a flick of her fingers, she shot a streak of purple light straight towards his forehead.

The light left the dark elf’s eyes instantly. He was already a corpse by the time his body hit the ground. The dark path that he’d summoned to travel through also gradually dissipated.

Yun Yuqing finally let go of the breath she was holding. “Madam, what happened?” The voice of a maid came quietly from outside.

The disturbance in the room had clearly startled them.

Even though a slew of things had happened, all of it had taken place rather quickly, which was why those maids were only reacting now.

“Everything is fine. Do not come in.” Yun Yuqing realized that she was still in Zu An’s embrace. Her face went red, and then she asked, “Has the situation changed in the banquet hall?”

“No. We set up a formation that cut off the ki fluctuations here. They shouldn’t be able to notice anything,” the maid replied.

“Good. Continue standing guard outside. Do not let anyone in.” Yun Yuqing ordered.

“Understood!” The maid’s quick footsteps slowly faded away.

Yun Yuqing finally looked at Zu An. She lowered her head to look at his chest, which was continuously dripping blood. She had a complicated expression on her face. “Why did you save me?”

Zu An looked at her with a smile. “I couldn’t just watch while a woman in my embrace died in front of me, could I?”

But you didn’t have to stop that sword with your own body…

She didn’t say these words out loud, but gently moved her fingers across the wound on his chest. “Does it hurt?”

“It didn’t hurt that much, to be honest. But now that you’re asking, I think it’s starting to hurt a little,” Zu An said with a laugh.

“You’re so annoying!” Yun Yuqing’s voice was no longer as cold as before. Instead, there was a hint of playfulness in it.