After saying that, Zhou Xuan was genuinely surprised that he had said such a thing to An Jie.
Anjie paused, looking genuinely reluctant. After a while, she sighed, "That Miss Wei is also an exceptional woman. Whether it's her looks or her temperament, she's just as good as Miss Fu. If I had to choose, I really wouldn't have a choice; I can't bear to part with either of them."
Zhou Xuan sighed, "There's a saying, 'One's heart is devoted to another.' The most important word in that saying is 'devoted.' When you truly love someone, you can't be devoted to two people at once. This 'devoted' means unique and irreplaceable. 'One's heart is devoted to another' means there's no reason behind it. Similarly, loving someone is also without reason."
Anjie paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "What you said is very old-fashioned and outdated. In today's society, many people would think it's out of touch, but I really like it..."
He muttered to himself a few times, "My love is unique, my love is unique."
Of course, Anjie didn't mean she fell in love with Zhou Xuan. She just liked Zhou Xuan's way of speaking, his words and explanations. No wonder Zhou Xuan made people feel an involuntary sense of closeness to him.
After leaving the ice cream shop, Zhou Xuan wanted to go home. There was no point in staying with An Jie, so he immediately said to her, "Miss An, let's go back. Also, does Mr. An have any plans for today?"
“No, Chairman An has other matters to attend to. He asked me to come and keep you company, saying it would take anywhere from a week to two or three days, as he has some things to take care of,” An Jie replied, then shook her head and said, “What’s the point of going back to the hotel? It’s boring and pointless. Mr. Zhou, I’ll take you somewhere that I guarantee will be much better than going back to the hotel.”
After Anjie finished paying the bill, she urged Zhou Xuan to leave the store, hailed a taxi on the street, and pulled the hesitant Zhou Xuan into the car.
Zhou Xuan naturally wouldn't get into a physical altercation with An Jie on the street. Since there was nothing else to do, he didn't say anything more to An Jie. Let her go if she wanted; it was just for fun and to pass the time.
"Why are you carrying such a big backpack when you're out for a stroll? Isn't it a hassle?" An Jie asked curiously, staring at the backpack Zhou Xuan was holding. She had seen Zhou Xuan carrying it on his back the whole time, but he took it off and put it in his arms after getting on the bus.
The backpack contained the Nine Dragon Cauldron. This thing couldn't be lost. Leaving it in the hotel wouldn't guarantee its safety. Whether it was An Guoqing or someone else who stole the cauldron, Zhou Xuan could only sigh in despair. Whether he could return to the original time depended on the Nine Dragon Cauldron and the Nine Star Pearl; neither could be missing.
"I'm just out for a stroll. If there's anything I want to buy, I'll buy it. I'm used to carrying a bag; it's good for carrying things. I go everywhere with a bag."
Zhou Xuan gave a casual explanation. Judging from An Jie's expression and meaning, she obviously didn't know An Guoqing's secret, and she probably knew nothing about the Nine Dragon Cauldron.
"Where are we going?" Zhou Xuan looked at the road signs outside the car window, wondering where An Jie was taking him.
“Just follow me, I won’t sell you anyway,” Angela replied with a smile, then said something to the driver in local slang that Zhou Xuan didn’t understand.
The driver simply nodded and continued driving without looking back.
Zhou Xuan chuckled and said, "You want to sell me? Heh, I'm not handsome, I'm broke, and I'm not hardworking. Who would want me? This isn't the era of Wang Laohu kidnapping brides anymore. Poor single men are worthless."
Anjie couldn't help but laugh, and said with a grin, "I don't believe you, but let me tell you... among the ethnic minorities here, some ancient customs are still preserved in the old villages. If a girl here likes a young man, she will take him back to marry him, and the deed will be done... Hehehe..."
Seeing An Jie's smiling face, Zhou Xuan knew she was joking. Even the oldest villages in modern society don't have the kind of things she described. China isn't Native America; there aren't villages that old or places that primitive anymore. Besides, ancient customs are just old customs from ancient times.
Half an hour later, the taxi left the city. A highway, like a ribbon, wound its way through the mountains. It was visible ahead, but driving there would take a long time because what appeared to be a straight line was actually a winding road that meandered through the mountains.
However, this mountain is not on the same side as Sanmenhai, and the directions are not even the same. Sanmenhai is to the west, while this one is to the east outside the city.
Zhou Xuan really couldn't understand where An Jie was going to take him. This place was so remote, did she really want to sell him to some family to be their son-in-law?
Seeing Zhou Xuan's suspicious expression, An Jie immediately leaned close to his ear and whispered, "That family has three daughters. You have the right to choose which one to marry into the family. Once I receive the money, you will officially become their son-in-law."
Zhou Xuan naturally didn't believe his scare tactics, smiled faintly, and ignored him, knowing that An Jie was clearly joking.
Seeing that Zhou Xuan ignored her, An Jie felt awkward and muttered, "He has no sense of romance."
Although this is a mountain road, the road is still well-built, with a uniform asphalt surface and a width of twelve meters. For a mountain road, this standard is quite good, and it is well-maintained. Although the mountain road has many curves, the road surface is good, and you can hardly feel any vibration when sitting in a regular Jetta taxi. Although there are not many cars passing by, there are still quite a few.
After driving for more than an hour on the mountain road, they still hadn't reached their destination. Zhou Xuan glanced at An Jie again and saw that she was smiling and seemed to still be thinking about the jokes she had made to him earlier. So Zhou Xuan felt embarrassed to ask her any more questions and decided to continue waiting.
However, after driving for another ten minutes or so, Zhou Xuan suddenly felt the supernatural power in his body move, and immediately felt something was strange.
Generally speaking, Zhou Xuan had experience with automatic actions like this before, and they were almost always dangerous. The ice energy ability seemed to have the ability to sense danger in advance, and when the ice energy went automatic, it meant danger was imminent.
However, Zhou Xuan doesn't feel any danger at all right now, but what does it mean for his superpower to move like that?
At this point, the mountain road forked, and the taxi driver didn't ask, but drove directly into the left direction, where it seemed to be a mine or coal storage area.
The energy in the pill in Zhou Xuan's left wrist also started to move more intensely. The closer the car got to the front, the stronger the supernatural energy in his body reacted.
Zhou Xuan had never experienced anything like this before. In the past, before danger appeared, the ice energy would suddenly pulsate as a warning, but it would never move incessantly like this.
Zhou Xuan couldn't figure out what was going on and was filled with doubt and uncertainty, but he kept a straight face and secretly glanced at An Jie. An Jie, however, acted as if nothing had happened and was still smiling as she looked ahead.
Zhou Xuan narrowed his eyes. This An Jie was either as innocent as a young girl, or as cunning as an old fox. If what lay ahead was a trap, then her acting skills were truly superb.
The driver slowed down, seemingly indicating they were nearing their destination, but Zhou Xuan suddenly felt an overwhelming surge of flames rushing towards him.
Volume One: The First Budding Buds, Chapter 383: The Blazing Sun and the Eternal Ice
(Before this chapter, let me first explain that there was a break today because the telecom company in our town was moving to a new server room and would be shut down for two days. The official notice said two days, but it was back online at 4:15 AM today. I was planning to make up for today's and tomorrow's issues at an internet cafe in the city tomorrow morning, but it seems I won't need to. So, before posting the chapter, I want to clarify that, except for the Chinese New Year break, I never miss an update. I apologize for today's situation! Finally, I wish all readers a pleasant reading experience. Also, please note that the words before the chapter title are not counted in the paid chapter count. Thank you!)
Zhou Xuan was immediately taken aback and almost couldn't resist the urge to grab An Jie and take her hostage.
However, Anjie seemed completely unguarded towards her, still smiling and looking ahead, while the driver brought the car to a complete stop.
Zhou Xuan was filled with doubt and unease. The invisible, raging flames seemed to be closing in from all directions. He could clearly feel the heat penetrating his body through all the surfaces of his skin.
Anwa was paying the driver, then opened the car door and got out. Zhou Xuan gritted his teeth and followed her out of the car, using his supernatural abilities to resist the raging flames.
Zhou Xuan found it strange. Aunt An had already figured it out under his supernatural detection. Anwa was not a martial artist, but just an ordinary person. So why wasn't she affected by this raging flame?
And that driver, he must have just been an ordinary person. He even got out of the car and used a ladle to fill the water tank with water to add water to the car's water tank. Why wasn't he affected by the flames?
There are only two possibilities in this situation. One is that An Jie and the driver are both far more powerful than Zhou Xuan, so the flames pose no threat to them. The other possibility is that someone is secretly targeting him with the flames, so Aunt An and the driver did not sense them.
However, Zhou Xuan found it very strange. A dozen meters away from here was a kiln, and next to it were several simple sheds. There were two or three workers working there. There was no one else besides these few people. Moreover, Zhou Xuan used his special ability to detect that there was no one else within a fifty-meter radius of him, and no one came to attack him!
Although several unexpected things happened, Zhou Xuan said that he had only encountered one person with superpowers besides Ma Shu. He had never met another person with superpowers. Moreover, Ma Shu's abilities were not on the same level as his. He had only stolen the memories in Zhou Xuan's mind to learn the origin of the ice energy and found a way to obtain it. In the end, he did indeed obtain superpowers. However, such people and events are extremely rare, and some people may never encounter them in their entire lives.
Zhou Xuan found it strange that not having superpowers was a relatively normal outcome; having superpowers would be abnormal. An Guoqing had such a powerful aura, but he was just a formidable martial artist without any special abilities whatsoever!
No matter how powerful a martial artist is, they could never reach Zhou Xuan's level of supernatural ability, let alone possess an unimaginable ability like Zhou Xuan's, which allows him to transform and devour people at will within a range of fifty meters. Zhou Xuan also detected that there was no one else within that fifty-meter range except for the three workers, and the fiery aura was not coming from those three people, which is why Zhou Xuan found it strange!