Chapter 2169: Abyss of Death
Even so, getting upset was one thing; they still had to take care of what was in front of them. The creatures quickly came at them. They could only do their best to gather their subordinates to mount an organized resistance.
Even the Hell creatures reflexively chose to obey their orders. After all, they had already been abandoned by the Skin-Flaying King. If they continued to fight on their own, there was nothing awaiting them but death.
Zu An gave thebattlefield a look. The Bloodthirst Crocodile and Shadowhorror Devil were powerful. Even though they were at an absolute disadvantage, it wasn’t that easy for the creatures to win quickly either. This battle could continue for quite some time.
He withdrew his attention. With one arm around Shang Liuyu’s waist, he took her into his embrace and slowly proceeded toward the cave. Even though their auras were currently completely hidden, they would still end up exposing themselves if they uttered any sounds. There were too many severed limbs, as well as fallen weapons, strewn across the ground. Stepping on them would easily make noise.
After losing track of him, the reanimated creatures started growing restless. They frantically brandished their claws and weapons around them. Because the attacks were too concentrated, Zu An had no choice but to carefully avoid them.
As such, they moved really slowly, so slow that Shang Liuyu was on edge throughout the entire process. She was, after all, a young lady who had never experienced romance. And yet, she was being carried in the arms of a man and moving carefully. Their young bodies continued to grind against each other, and she could sense his masculinity. Shang Liuyu couldn't help but bite her lips.
Then, a single thought appeared in her mind.
Was he holding my sister like this a few days ago...
As soon as she thought about that, her face became bright red. Her heart rate sped up.
“Calm down,” Zu An quickly warned her. His skill could only barely cover Shang Liuyu. If her body’s reaction was too strong, they could still be discovered.
Shang Liuyu wasn’t the overly emotional sort. She quickly adjusted her thoughts and put such distractions away. Her aura quieted down again.
Zu An continued to sneak forward just like that, and finally managed to approach the cave entrance. Shang Liuyu looked up ahead worriedly. A dragon-tailed humanoid was blocking the path right in front of them. Its massive body didn’t leave much room to pass through at all. Moving past him seemed as if it would be a bit tricky.
With Zu An’s cultivation, he could defeat that creature, but that would only draw the attention of even more dragon-tailed humanoids. The Bloodthirst Crocodile and Shadowhorror Devil would experience less pressure too. At that point, they would definitely spare no effort to keep him here. While Shang Liuyu was feeling worried, she suddenly felt her eyes blur. Both she and Zu An instantly appeared in the cave, and the dragon-tailed humanoid was where the two of them had been.
Position exchange!
The dragon-tailed humanoid looked around it in confusion and quickly discovered what happened. It rushed at the two of them with a roar.
However, Zu An was faster. Once he left the hall, he had no more misgivings. He took Shang Liuyu with him and seemingly teleported ahead, immediately crossing dozens of kilometers. Still, the dragon-tailed humanoids and the three-headed, six-armed creatures weren’t slow either. They continued to chase after the two relentlessly. Even with Zu An’s speed, it was still hard for him to throw them off.
Only when they passed a long bridge extending off a cliff did the creatures seem to feel some reservations. They stopped by the side of the bridge and anxiously paced back and forth. They roared endlessly at the two.
“It seems they won’t dare to cross this bridge.” Shang Liuyu’s cheeks were a bit red as she finally separated herself from Zu An's arms.
Zu An said seriously, “There's probably something inside that they're scared of.”
Shang Liuyu was alarmed. “If it’s something that even they’re scared of, doesn’t that mean it’s even more dangerous?”
After all, these creatures were already strong enough to even kill earth immortals.
“We have to at least take a look, right? The Skin-Flaying King is just up ahead.” Zu An paused for a moment. His expression became a bit strange. “And it just so happens that the voice calling out to me is coming from the same direction.”
Shang Liuyu’s eyes widened. She felt that such a thing was a bit inconceivable.
Zu An didn’t waste any time, however. He continued to hold Shang Liuyu’s hand and continued forward. They soon arrived in front of a cliff. Zu An couldn't help but slow down. It turned out that the Skin-Flaying King was standing right at the edge of the cliff.
Ash-colored energy raged chaotically beneath the cliff like a sea of clouds. It was the aura of death!
Zu An and Shang Liuyu were both horrified. They had never seen death energy so dense that it seemed tangible.
Just then, a torrential current came from the ocean floor and pushed away some of the strong white energy, revealing the area below. In that place was a massive black vortex. They were already in the depths of the sea, and yet there was still such a massive abyss there! Just a single look at it made one feel as if they would be completely sucked in. It really was enough to trigger a phobia of the deep sea all by itself!
Zu An suddenly remembered Shang Hongyu mentioning that there was an ancient legend among the Ocean races. The Dragon Kings seemed like the rulers of the Ocean races, but in reality, they were just guardians watching over a mysterious abyss.
Could it be that the legends were real and that this was the abyss being guarded? Just what lay within?
The Skin-Flaying King noticed Zu An's arrival. He turned around and gave him a mocking look, saying, “You’ve finally arrived.”
Zu An chuckled. He put away his curiosity toward the abyss and said, “You don’t seem to be too surprised at my arrival.”
“Of course. You’re different from those idiots.” The Skin-Flaying King’s expression was a bit strange. “After all, you aren’t the real Lord of Myriad Transformations. Your performance as of late leaves me with nothing but astonishment.” Shang Liuyu’s expression changed. She looked at Zu An with worry.
Zu An remained completely calm. “Oh? So I’ve already been found out.”
There was already no point in continuing the act now. He and Shang Liuyu returned to their original appearances.
“You don’t seem to be surprised at all,” the Skin-Flaying King said in surprise.
“I might have really been fooled if you hadn’t put so many puppet-controlling corpse bugs in the Unleashed Dew and our normal food and drinks.” Zu An sighed.
When she heard that, Shang Liuyu almost vomited. The things they had been eating all this time had corpse bugs in them?
The Skin Flaying King’s face darkened. “It seems I still underestimated you. Since you’re putting it like that, you must have already eliminated those corpse bugs.”
Zu An chuckled. “But of course. I don’t want bugs to start growing in my brain, let alone the same happening to my women.”
Shang Liuyu immediately became really happy. But she quickly realized something.
Is the woman he is talking about my sister, or does it include me?
It’s definitely my sister. He's already completely become my brother-in-law, after all.
“Just when did you realize that I was fake?” Zu An asked curiously. He didn’t think he had given anything away the whole time.
The Skin-Flaying King didn’t mind answering his question. “Back then, I placed a curse on the Lord of Myriad Transformations because I wanted to eliminate him later. It was a pity that once he came out of the cave, the curse was gone. I naturally realized that he had already been replaced.”
Zu An was quite impressed. “So you already knew a long time ago. But why didn’t you expose me?”
“What benefits would there have been in exposing you? We couldn't find the Mermaid Queen, let alone a way to make her cooperate. However, you helped us accomplish something that we couldn't do. That’s why I just went with the flow.” The Skin-Flaying King smiled. “I have to admit that your acting is quite good. If I hadn't already used my secret technique on the Fake Dragon King, I would’ve really been fooled.”
Zu An sighed. “Your acting isn’t all that bad either. You clearly knew that I was fake, and yet you didn’t give anything away and played along. We were almost dancing in your palm."
“It’s a pity that even though they were fooled, you weren’t. You're also quite formidable. You actually managed to fool them the entire time without telling them the truth. You wanted to use this chance to take advantage of the sisters too, didn’t you?” The Skin-Flaying King smiled and continued, “So? The Mermaid Queen must’ve tasted amazing, no?”