"Since there are traps, we must be careful and not wander around or touch anything." Yan Zhen casually plucked a thorn, and the huge ancient tree instantly cracked open.
"This thorn is poisonous." Yan Zhen flicked her finger, and it pierced the body of a panicked rabbit that was running away. The rabbit instantly foamed at the mouth and died.
Chapter 41: A Gathering of Masters
An Xin looked at the rabbit in shock. What kind of stupid mechanism was this? It even contained deadly poison.
"Let's find a way to get out of here first." Yan Zhen's expression turned serious, and she suddenly smiled as her gaze fell on An Xin's face. "Are you scared?"
An Xin stared at his eyes and brows for a moment, then looked away and said, "What's there to be afraid of!"
Yan Zhen raised the corner of his lips. He had no shortage of women under his command, and quite a few of them were fearless. Yet he had never found them particularly attractive. Why was everything different with this girl?
What's there to be afraid of... Ha, it really does reveal a person's character.
An Xin naturally had no idea what Yan Zhen was thinking. What a joke! In her previous life, she wasn't afraid of corpses when she was four years old, and nothing had frightened her since.
"The Ancient Spirit Jade is probably deep within the tomb." Yan Zhen raised his eyelashes and glanced into the distance, sensing an unusual aura.
An Xin's eyes twitched inexplicably. Wherever she looked, she saw that figure again, as beautiful as the moon and as radiant as a celestial being descended from the heavens. The person seemed to finally notice her gaze and turned slightly to look at her.
An Xin was dumbfounded.
Her long, ink-black hair cascaded down to her waist, her white robes fluttered even without wind, and a crescent moon adorned her brows... Her aura was cool and detached, possessing a profound understanding of the world and an otherworldly detachment.
She opened her eyes wide and subconsciously reached for Yan Zhen's sleeve.
Yan Zhen was taken aback: "What's wrong?"
An Xin suddenly snapped out of her daze, looked at him, and then pointed forward, asking, "Who is that person?"
Yan Zhen frowned and raised his eyelashes. There was nothing in front of him; not a single person was there.
An Xin's heart skipped a beat, and then she vanished into thin air again...
A mysterious glint flashed in Yan Zhen's eyes. It seemed that person had indeed arrived! The allure of the Ancient Spirit Jade was truly unexpectedly strong!
An Xin looked at Yan Zhen and said, "Those people are indeed after the Ancient Spirit Jade. We need to hurry over there; we can't let them get there first!"
Hearing the word "we," Yan Zhen felt inexplicably happy. She waved her folding fan and said, "We can't let them beat us to it!" With that, she put her arm around An Xin and swiftly darted forward.
The further they went, the more alarmed they became; the formation had clearly been compromised!
From afar, a dark tomb entrance could be seen, and several figures stood outside the tomb, seemingly facing off.
Yan Zhen suddenly opened his folding fan and landed on a high rock. An Xin glanced at the figures: a cold-looking man, a woman wearing a cloak, and Jing Lan were all there!
My heart was churning when suddenly a white figure slowly descended from the blue stone opposite me—it was the same person from before!
The white figure sat cross-legged, its overly perfect face revealing no expression, which made An Xin's heart flutter with a hint of suspicion.
"Hmm, what a day it is today, everyone who should come and everyone who shouldn't come has come!" Yan Zhen smiled lazily, seemingly unsurprised, yet also as if he knew everyone present.
In a good mood, Yan Zhen took An Xin's hand, closed her folding fan, and said with a smile, "Xin'er, there are only a few people in the world with great reputations. It's rare to have something happen that can draw them all out. Hmm, do you know who that ice block is?"
An Xin was initially a little nervous, but seeing Yan Zhen's teasing expression, she couldn't help but find it amusing and played along, asking, "Who is it?"
"He killed his mother at the age of three, his sister at the age of five, Zhang Guanlin, the number one martial arts master, at the age of seven, and was invincible in the Northern Desert at the age of ten. He is known as the 'Demon King' and is the number one expert in the Northern Desert. Because of his many killings, he is very unpopular. His reputation is no less than that of Yun Zhonglian and the other four."
An Xin's heart trembled violently, Zuo Luo...
"This gentleman was already famous throughout the land before he was even ten years old. He was proficient in all the arts, including music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. He was known as the Left Prime Minister, also called the Lotus in the Clouds. I'm sure Xin'er already knows about him."
Seeing Jinglan again stirred something within An Xin. If, as Yan Zhen said, this was an intuition that brought her this strange feeling, then this was the first time she had ever felt this way.
"As for the one in front of us... he spends his time catching insects, collecting corpses, and crafting puppets. He's as beautiful as a flower, but his interests are disgusting! It's because of him that the Southern Frontier is all so mysterious!" Upon hearing Yan Zhen's words, An Xin's lips twitched viciously.
"Born to be as beautiful as a flower... How can you say that when you're the one who's more like a flower, you have the nerve to say that about others?!"
According to Yan Zhenyi, this person was actually Yu Xian, the leader of the Holy Moon Sect in the Southern Frontier!
The ancient jade has actually attracted this person as well!
Southern Xinjiang is teeming with poisonous insects and plants, and naturally there are also priests, sorcerers, and shamans. Such things are mysterious and alluring, but none of them sound appealing to Yan Zhen!
"As for that effeminate guy with the straw hat... do you know why he wears a straw hat?" Yan Zhen looked at An Xin with a smile.
An Xin had a gut feeling that Yan Zhenyi's words were definitely not nice, but she still shook her head.
Judging from the person's appearance, he should be a woman. Why did Yan Zhen call him effeminate?
"It's all because that face is so womanly, so charming and alluring that it drives people crazy! Because it hates people saying it looks like a woman, and because it has committed countless sins, it simply wears a bamboo hat to cover its face, so as not to harm the world. It usually likes to play tricks and make a fool of itself. The once-great Fan Shen Cult has been poisoned by its members, and they are all neither men nor women!"
An Xin felt a chill run down her spine. She knew that people hated it when others said he looked like a woman, so Yan Gongzi, could you please refrain from being so annoying?
However, the leader of the Fan Shen Sect, Hua Rujin, who appeared in the Western Regions, was him...
She bumped into some big shots today; she encountered nothing but big shots in the tiny Yi'an County!
Sensing the chilling killing intent emanating from all sides, An Xin unkindly wanted to distance herself from Yan Zhen. She had come to find Gu Lingyu, and didn't want to offend these people!
It should be noted that although she was a soul transmigrated from another place, even if she were to go back, she would have to commit suicide. But suicide is something no normal person would do!
---Aside---
It will be available on the 26th. Ugh, I'm not ready yet, I'm so slow!
Chapter 42 You
No one had paid attention to An Xin before, but after Yan Zhen mentioned it, everyone's eyes naturally turned to An Xin.
Because An Xin has never been very emotionally intelligent, even though her beauty was dazzling, she could always control herself. However, her gaze seemed to fall on Jing Lan unintentionally, and she thought that a man with such beautiful eyes could not possibly have such an ordinary face.
The title "Lotus in the Clouds" is not given lightly.
But for some reason, the very appearance of that face filled her with a faint sense of anticipation, and the thought of what she was looking for made her heart beat much faster for no reason.
Jing Lan also looked at An Xin, but her feeling was slightly different from before.
Before meeting Yan Zhen, his eyes were gentle and slightly smiling. But after meeting Yan Zhen, he looked at her as if she were a stranger, and even his gaze was somewhat cold.
An Xin might not care about how others look at her, but Jing Lan felt something special about her ever since she learned the name, though she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was.
An Xin couldn't quite describe the inexplicable sense of oppression in her heart. Her gaze fell on the person opposite her, Yu Xian, the leader of the Holy Moon Sect.
This person was truly too eye-catching. Although his expression was as cold as ice, he inexplicably possessed an ethereal quality. Yan Zhen's words were smearing, as such a transcendent and otherworldly temperament could not be faked.
An Xin looked at him, and he was looking at her too.
For a moment, I had the illusion that my soul had been seen through.
This feeling made An Xin both alarmed and guilty. Everyone said that the leader of the Holy Moon Sect in the Southern Frontier was a god-like figure on land, whose abilities were beyond words. What if he could see through her past and future lives at a glance?
An Xin calmed her emotions, looked back at him expressionlessly, and then suddenly frowned.
If you want to appear unfathomable in the eyes of others, you still need to do some subtle things. Her furrowed brows were so obvious that even a celestial being like her probably couldn't figure out why.
In fact, An Xin was just being mysterious; she felt incredibly pressured in front of these experts!
Their gazes then shifted to the cold, aloof man, Zuo Luo.
Killing his mother at three and his sister at seven—what ruthlessness and outrageousness! Such a person may have been born heartless, and that icy demeanor was not something cultivated, but rather something innate!
When An Xin looked at him, he didn't even glance at her, his indifferent attitude remaining unchanged from beginning to end.
The only one whose face was obscured was Hua Rujin from the Western Regions! She was more beautiful than any woman; how could she be so beautiful!? Even through the bamboo hat, An Xin could still feel two venomous gazes piercing her body and deeply embedded in Yan Zhen. This woman, no, this man, probably hated Yan Zhen to the core.
Why did Yan Zhen, that bastard, have to offend so many people?! If they join forces, they won't be able to escape! Thinking of this, An Xin couldn't help but feel annoyed. She grabbed Yan Zhen's hand and said through gritted teeth with a smile, "Look what you've done!"
Yan Zhen covered her face with her folding fan and said with a smile, "Everyone has their taboos, so don't worry."
An Xin still gritted her teeth and pinched him hard: "Then you lure them away, I'll go find the Ancient Spirit Jade!"
Yan Zhen praised, "Xin'er understands me best!"
An Xin glanced at him, but she knew that these people were wary of each other and probably wouldn't make a move easily. However, this was Dayi after all, and these people would have to be careful if they made a move. If they really caused a mess, it might lead to a confrontation between countries, which would be terrible!
An Xin cleared her throat and deliberately spoke loudly, "Yan Zhen, do you know what the future holds?"
Yan Zhen's eyes flashed, and she looked at An Xin, asking, "The future?"
An Xin said, "In the future! You'll be looking at the stars and the moon at night, right?"
Yan Zhen, unusually feigning ignorance, said: "Stargazing and moon-gazing, though elegant pursuits, are..."
An Xin continued, "Did you know that some of the stars you see actually died hundreds of millions of years ago?"
The Holy Moon Cult member's gaze indeed flickered, and he locked onto An Xin almost instantly.
An Xin knew that the leader of the Holy Moon Sect must be knowledgeable in astronomy and geography, or even able to observe celestial phenomena at night, so she decided to say something to provoke him! However, she was afraid that people would think she was crazy for saying such things in this time and space, but she couldn't care less about that in order to obtain the Ancient Spirit Jade!
Yan Zhen's folding fan concealed her face, leaving only her shimmering eyes gazing at An Xin.
An Xin sighed, thankful that he didn't refute her on the spot!
"Then do you know that the moon is actually not even a fraction as big as the stars? Or do you know that the moon doesn't actually emit its own light, and that its light is all borrowed?"
Yan Zhen remained silent.
The leader of the Holy Moon Cult on the other side was clearly provoked!
The Holy Moon Cult worships the moon, regards the moon goddess as their ancestral deity, and devoutly believes that the moonlight is the most sacred radiance in the world. However, An Xin says that the moonlight is borrowed!
Yan Zhen looked at An Xin with a radiant gaze and asked, "Who told you these things?"
An Xin said, "You!"
Yan Zhen looked as if she had seen a ghost.
The one from Fan Shen Sect remained expressionless, but his gaze shifted to Yan Zhen.
An Xin suddenly ran away, rushing to Jing Lan's side with lightning speed, and said with a smile, "If it weren't for you, my father would have been killed by him. Thank you so much."