Chapter 194: Mercy

“Indeed, that’s a formula that I happened to stumble upon. By circulating her ki according to the formula, she fully opened up her heart and body, resulting in the weakening of her will. That made it much easier for me to enter her body.” 

Even though it was Chu Chuyan’s body, the other party was speaking with the same tone and attitude as Mi Li.

“Why did you possess her body? You already have your own, and in terms of beauty and cultivation, you don’t lose out to her either…” A thought suddenly arose in Zu An’s mind then, and he exclaimed, “Wait a moment, could it be that poison Zhang Han used earlier?”

‘Chu Chuyan’ nodded in response. “The Red Tears of Lady Xiang was far more potent than I thought. Even with my cultivation, I was unable to resist the terrifying lethality of the poison. It took just a few moments for the poison to fully scourge my body. I only managed to escape with my soul through using a secret art I’ve learned by chance, but even so, my soul is also afflicted with a tinge of the poison. I’m in a far weaker state than before.”

She paused for a brief moment before supplementing, “Of course, it’s more than enough to deal with you.”

“That’s why you chose to take Chu Chuyan’s body for your own?” Zu An couldn’t believe how that dastardly Zhang Han still continued to haunt him even after his death! His mind swiftly whirred into action as he tried to figure out a solution.

“Indeed,” replied Chu Chuyan with a sneer. “I told you that we would meet again very soon, but you didn’t believe me.”

Zu An finally understood why Mi Li would say those words earlier on, even emphasizing that their reunion might be less than pleasant.

“Big sis empress, we did have a good partnership with one another earlier, no? There’s no need for us to turn against each other. Why don’t I find another host for you to possess instead?” said Zu An.

‘Chu Chuyan’ shook her head and said, “I’m satisfied with the body I have now; I don’t want to switch into anyone else’s. Besides, did you think that it’s easy to assimilate a soul into a body? My soul has already sustained some damage earlier on; if I were to switch into another person’s body, my soul will sustain irreparable damage, perhaps dissipating even. Why should I take such a risk?”

The realization that there was no win-win solution out of this made Zu An’s heart sink. His voice also turned cold as well, “You signed a contract with me earlier. You can’t hurt us. Aren’t you afraid of divine retribution?”

‘Chu Chuyan’ burst into laughter, causing her originally cold face to suddenly appear a little seductive. “But I’ve already saved her in accordance with our promise. Besides, Mi Li is already dead now. Even if there’s divine retribution, it should all be over by now.”

“Did you think that your deeds can be concealed from the eyes of heaven?” Zu An figured that since even the Keyboard was able to sense that she was Mi Li, surely heaven, whatever it was, would be able to tell the same too.

Heaven was a very abstract concept to him, but this world seemed to believe in its existence. He was just worried that the divine retribution would accidentally hurt Chu Chuyan too.

“Are you trying to stall for time to see if the contract would be evoked?” ‘Chu Chuyan’ could see through his thoughts right away. “You need not bother. The contract we signed was null.”

“Null?” Zu An was stunned.

‘Chu Chuyan’ sneered coldly, “Did you think that I would shackle myself so easily? I wasn’t the one who personally placed my thumbprint on the contract; you took my finger and pressed it down on it. Since the contract wasn’t sealed on my own accord, it goes without saying that it isn’t binding.”

“???” Zu An.

Wait a moment, is there such a rule to it too? The hell! 

Zu An felt deeply remorseful. Now that he thought about it, it did make much sense.

‘Chu Chuyan’ raised the sword up high and said, “I’ve only explained everything to you out of gratitude that you’ve freed me from my seal. It should all come to an end now.”

“Wait a moment!” Zu An suddenly shouted out. “I have a suggestion!”

“What is it?” Perhaps it was due to her long isolation that resulted in her desire for human contact, ‘Chu Chuyan’ actually decided to listen to him. In the past, she would have never bothered exchanging so many words with a mere ant.

Zu An put away his enraged expression and said, “Well, big sis empress, why don’t you continue living on as Chu Chuyan then? Chu Chuyan and I are just a couple in name anyway. As long as you’re willing, I’ll get a real wife whereas you’ll get someone to conceal your identity. You’ve been alone several thousand years now; the lonely nights must be hard for you to bear. We happen to get along just fine anyway, so why don’t we just make do with one another?”

“…” Mi Li.

“…” Chu Chuyan.

You have successfully trolled Mi Li for +666 Rage!

You have successfully trolled Chu Chuyan for +666 Rage!

Upon seeing Chu Chuyan’s name in the system, Zu An heaved a sigh of relief. He had intentionally said those words in order to see if the real Chu Chuyan was still conscious inside her body. It seems like her soul is still around. That means that there’s still hope here.

However, Mi Li was unaware of Zu An’s real intention. She never thought that there would be such a shameless man in the world. She was still feeling touched by the deep feelings they harbored for one another a moment ago, but as soon as danger struck, he immediately abandoned her without second thoughts!

Pui! Men are all the same!

Zu An acted as if he was oblivious to Mi Li’s anger as he continued on, “Big sis empress, you might be strong, but you’ve been sealed for over a thousand years now. The world has changed greatly since the Qin Dynasty, so it’s only normal for you to be unfamiliar with how things are now. It’ll be hard for you to move around in your current state. If you were to accidentally let it slip that you’re actually a soul forcefully possessing Chu Chuyan’s body, the cultivators of the world would surely raise their arms to subdue you. I know that you have the strength to deal with it, but surely having such flies buzzing around you must be annoying, no?”

A mocking smile crept onto Mi Li’s face. “Your words are indeed persuasive. However, you’re simply too despicable of a person to trust. Even Zhao Gao doesn’t hold a candle to you.”

Zu An’s face immediately collapsed. “Can you not compare me to a eunuch? It really raises my goosebumps.”

Mi Li’s heart suddenly skipped a beat. Ah, there’s one aspect which he’s unlike Zhao Gao. At least he’s not impotent.

That thought barely flashed across his mind for a moment before she quickly snapped out of it and said, “Are you done yet? If so, it’s time for you to get on your way.”

“W-wait! I still have more to say!” exclaimed Zu An. “Big sis empress, won’t you at least consider it? I mean, it’s not your body anyway, so you have nothing to lose. In fact, I’ll make you savor every moment of it… Cough cough, I mean, you can count on me to take good care of you and familiarize you with the new world!”

“…” Mi Li.

“…” Chu Chuyan.

You have successfully trolled Chu Chuyan for +1024 Rage!

Zu An was overjoyed to see that. He felt that he might just be able to provoke Chu Chuyan enough for her to gain sufficient strength to wrestle back control over her body.

Mi Li took in a deep breath before saying, “You’ve really reached a new peak of shamelessness here. Since I’ve taken over her body, I’ll do her favor and help her get rid of the bane of her life.”

Zu An was displeased to hear that. “You were the one who took her place and ruined our love for one another. Yet, you still want to stand on the moral high ground and criticize me for my actions. If anyone is shameless here, it’s indubitably you!”

Mi Li was enraged by those words. “You’re courting death!”

You have successfully trolled Mi Li for +730 Rage!

Her sword rushed forth toward Zu An.

Zu An immediately used the Sunflower Phantasm to dodge her attack, but as soon as he summoned his ki, he suddenly felt an unbearable heat assaulting his abdomen, causing his ki to suddenly go into disarray. This resulted in a significant slowdown in the flow of his ki.

He suddenly remembered how Old Mi suddenly trailed off while talking about the requirements for cultivating this technique and put it together with all of those movies he had seen in his previous life. In just an instant, he had already figured out what was going on. 

Most likely, Sunflower Phantasm was a technique that could only be practiced by eunuchs. He was only able to fulfill the condition previously due to ‘little Zu An’ being sealed, but the release of the seal had made him a real man. As a result, he couldn’t use Sunflower Phantasm anymore.

That moment of daze bought enough time for Mi Li’s sword to rush forth and pierce right into his chest.

“Gah!” 

The powerful force thrust Zu An across the air, pinning him to the other end of the underground hall just like Zhang Han.

Mi Li shot him one last glance and murmured, “You should learn to quieten down once you get to the underworld.”

After saying her piece, she was about to turn around and leave when she suddenly heard a strained voice coming from behind, “I count on my face and my words to make a living, so how could I possibly quieten down?”

Mi Li turned around and gasped in shock, “Y-you… You aren’t dead yet?!”

She was able to kill even Zhang Han with a single blow, though a huge part of the reason was due to Zhang Han losing his will to live. Nevertheless, the fact still stood that Zhang Han was a ninth rank cultivator whereas Zu An was only at the third rank!

“As the saying goes, a couple for a day, a hundred days of gratitude. You must have subconsciously gone easy on me out of consideration of the deep bond we shared earlier.” Zu An pulled out the sword lodged into his chest with a smile.

At the same time, he patted his chest in relief that he had activated the Heiress’ Ball of Delights in advance earlier, thus allowing him to avert the fatal blow. 

He was worried for a moment there that his wealth might exceed Mi Li’s. After all, he was a hundred thousandaire now. If Mi Li was really poorer than him, not only would he be wasting a precious use of the artifact, he would also die here!

He had never hated himself for being rich so much in his entire life, but fortunately, everything went well.

Mi Li was the empress of the Qin Dynasty after all, a person of great wealth and prestige. The Qin Dynasty might have fallen, but this mausoleum was supposed to belong to her, which meant that everything that was buried here was her possession.

Besides, Mi Li was possessing Chu Chuyan’s body, who probably had a fortune of at least a million silver taels, considering how she was actively involved in all of the businesses of the Chu clan. So, regardless of whether the Heiress’ Ball of Delight was taking Mi Li or Chu Chuyan’s wealth into consideration, they ought to be richer than him.

Mi Li was completely stunned by this development. 

Did I really fall for him, such that I subconsciously went easy on him? How could that be possible?!