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Chapter 1246: Succeeding Through a Lucky Stroke
Zu An was starting to have thoughts of killing this damn fatty. He had finally dealt with that issue with great difficulty, and yet now, they had run into him and it was brought up again? He retorted coldly, “What romantic calamity? Your divinations weren’t correct at all. You should be glad that I’m not asking you for compensation, and yet you have the nerve to act all cocky here!”
Yu Yanluo nodded inwardly. Zu An had indeed never left his room over the past few days, acting the part of a proper gentleman. How could there have been any romance?
However, that wasn’t what Yan Xuehen and Yun Jianyue thought. They had personally witnessed Zu An and Yu Yanluo having a secret meeting in the middle of the night!
Still, the two were lovers anyway. If even that could be called a love affair… That would be pushing it a bit, right?
Wu Liang voiced his surprise. “But that should not be. How could I possibly have made a mistake?” He made some finger seals and began to carry out a divination again.
Zu An’s scalp turned numb when he saw that, so he quickly changed the topic. “Damn fatty, what were you selling just now?”
Wu Liang’s eyes lit up when he heard that. He offered, “Does young master want one? This is a treasure map I obtained with great difficulty! Recorded on it is an important treasure that can completely change one’s fate! I will only charge you 100 taels of silver. There is no better deal than this! Do not miss this chance!”
Zu An was speechless. He replied, “But I clearly just heard you selling it for ten taels of silver just now. Why are you selling it to me for 100?”
The women’s expressions became unkind. This guy is a swindler after all. Does he think we’re easy to cheat? Because of that, the credibility of the romantic calamity dropped considerably.
Even though his scheme had been seen through, Wu Liang didn’t seem nervous at all. He said in a calm and unhurried manner, “The young master might not know, but the one I am selling them is a copy. It is missing a lot of details and information! This one is the original, and the fact that I am only charging you 100 taels is only because you are a repeat cus… ahem, because you and this poor daoist share affinity.”
Zu An laughed out of annoyance. He grabbed Wu Liang’s hand and shouted loudly, “Everyone, come and look! The treasure map he sold all of you is a sloppy version!”
The people nearby cried out in alarm, feeling scammed when they heard that. Then, when they saw the expressions of the people around them, they quickly realized that he had scammed more than one person. They flocked over furiously, about to skin the fat daoist alive.
Wu Liang was so scared that his soul almost left his body. He exclaimed, “Young master, you are killing me here! How about I just give you this treasure map for free?”
Afterward, he flung the map into Zu An’s hands. Suddenly, his wrist became incredibly slippery, sliding out of Zu An’s grip. He vanished around a street corner in the blink of an eye.
Zu An was a bit stunned. Even though he hadn’t used that much strength when he grabbed Wu Liang, hadn’t this guy slipped away too easily?
“It seems to be a kind of extremely profound bone-withdrawing art.” Yan Xuehen remarked. “It is more profound than any other I have seen. I wonder which sect he is from.”
Yun Jianyue said coldly, “If it were me, I would’ve just seized that guy and interrogated him a bit. We would have found out everything then.”
Zu An shook his head. “We don’t know whether he’s a friend or foe yet. There’s no need to offend him for no reason.” Even though he had exposed Wu Liang’s scam, the fatty hadn’t given him any Rage points. That meant there wasn’t much resentment involved at all.
Yu Yanluo walked over to his side and said, “Let’s take a look at this map first.”
Zu An voiced his agreement. He unfolded the map in his hands. The material looked similar to sheep skin, but it had clearly been processed through a special method, making it hard to damage by water or fire.
“Hm? This thing appears to be pretty old. Don’t tell me what he said about it being the original is actually true?” Yun Jianyue remarked, having noticed that as well.
“But if it really is the original, why would he give us something so precious?” Yan Xuehen wondered, feeling extremely confused.
Zu An thought for a bit and said, “Judging from the earlier situation where he sold the treasure map to many people, there are two possibilities. The first is precisely that this treasure map is a scam, and he only wanted to make a profit.”
Yu Yanluo shook her head and sasid, “That isn’t too likely. That person carries something that hides his aura, to the point where none of you are able to see through it. That means he’s indeed extraordinary. Ten taels of silver might be a considerable amount for ordinary people, but even if he sold a few thousand copies, it wouldn’t be all that significant to someone like him.”
Yan Xuehen and Yun Jianyue both nodded. Even though they weren’t happy about her being sneaky the previous night, they still approved of her deduction. With the ability the fatty had displayed, earning tens of thousands of silvers should be effortless. Why would he have to go through all of this trouble?
Zu An said seriously, “Then that means it’s the second possibility. This treasure map is real, but for some unknown reason, he needs more people to help him out.”
Yun Jianyue said, “Perhaps he can’t open up that treasury by relying on his own strength alone. That’s why he distributed the treasure maps to many people, to lend him a helping hand. Meanwhile, you’re clearly extraordinary at first glance, so he wanted to bring you over somehow too.”
Zu An chuckled and replied, “I’m just an ordinary guy; what do you mean extraordinary? It’s probably because I had three goddess-like beauties at my side that he gave me a second look.”
“Look at how slick-tongued you are,” the three women cursed. Still, having been praised like that, they found it hard to not feel happy. The strange atmosphere between the three of them finally disappeared.
…
After teasing each other for a while longer, they all began to research that map.
Even though Yan Xuehen and Yun Jianyue were full of ability and wisdom, they didn’t know much about the fiend races’ world. They couldn't figure anything out even after staring at the map’s  lines for a long time.
Yu Yanluo was the Snake race’s Lord, but she had spent more time in the human world. Even though she knew more about the fiend races than Yan Xuehen and Yun Jianyue, she didn’t know that much more.
Zu An stared at the map too. Suddenly, he voiced his surprise. “This place seems familiar. It’s that way, about eight hundred li from this place.” He pointed roughly in its direction.
The women all blinked. They asked, “How were you able to figure this out?”
Zu An’s expression froze. It was because, while he had been playing around with Tushan Yu in the skies above, they had just happened to pass by that area. He had been admiring the majestic mountain ranges below while subduing one of the fiend races’ most famous beauties. He had felt a great sense of achievement at that moment, so his impression was rather deep.
Of course, those mountains were indeed quite unique. That was why he had been able to quickly match them up with the map. He hadn’t expected his romantic adventure to actually help with important matters…
How was he supposed to explain things to the women, though? He couldn't just say that he had been doing some bondage exercise in the skies above with Tushan Yu right?
“Ahem, I was testing out the Wind Fire Wheels before and noticed it from above,” Zu An explained.
“Wind Fire Wheels?” Sure enough, that drew the women’s attention.
“Ah, did I not tell you yet?” Zu An pretended to be shocked and said, “Back then, the price Chi Wen paid for his life…” He gave them a rough account of the entire process.
When they heard that, the women’s expressions immediately became brilliant. Yun Jianyue didn’t carry many misgivings and said, “Brat, you really do know how to mooch!”
Afterward, she even gave Yu Yanluo a look, making her face turn entirely red.
What are you looking at me for? Didn’t you two let him mooch off you too?
…
The group then hurried in the direction where the map pointed. Even though it was eight hundred li away, it wasn’t too far for them.
When they were about to reach their destination, Yan Xuehen’s expression became a bit serious. She remarked, “There seem to be many strong individuals from different clans around us; they have even higher cultivation than the ones we saw before in Bluefield City.”
There were many individuals at the seventh or eighth rank, and even some at the ninth rank. The most important part was that none of them seemed to be that old, so who knew if there were seniors hiding and watching from the shadows.
These people had clearly all come for a similar objective.