Chapter 1241: Assistance (Part 1)

"How is it, does Zhao Ziling know Fellow Daoist Han?" Hu Qinglei asked, his voice not loud, but it sounded like thunder in Zhao Ziling's ears.

"Correct, this concubine and Brother Han are indeed old acquaintances!" Zhao Ziling's dazed eyes seemed to wake up, and she hurriedly withdrew her gaze from Han Li and forced a smile. However, her heaving chest showed that she was extremely excited and couldn't control herself at all.

"Miss Zhao Ziling, I didn't expect to see you here." Han Li touched his nose and said with a bitter smile after a long while.

He was not an ordinary person, and his expression returned to normal in an instant.

"Oh, since Zhao Ziling and Fellow Daoist Han are old acquaintances, that couldn't be better. Zhao Ziling, you go and serve a cup of thin wine to Fellow Daoist Han Li first. Once you enter my Demon Palace, you must not have any connection with everything in the past. This cup of wine counts as an end to it." Hu Qinglei was silent for a moment, then said this lightly. It seemed he didn't want to ask what kind of relationship Han Li had with his future concubine at all.

Upon hearing this, the smile Zhao Ziling had barely managed to make froze.

A maid from the Demon Palace immediately handed a tray to the woman. On the tray were a pot and a jade cup.

Zhao Ziling looked down at the items on the tray, her jet-black hair covering most of her face, making it impossible to see her current expression, but after her graceful figure stood still for a moment, she slowly extended a jade-like wrist and picked up the handle of the wine pot.

The tense atmosphere in the hall relaxed with the woman's movements.

The old man with the wooden crown's face also eased.

Han Li watched Zhao Ziling pour a cup of rouge-colored fine wine, then hold the wine cup with her onion-white jade fingers, lift her head, and walk toward him with light steps without saying a word.

The strange look on Zhao Ziling's face had disappeared, and she returned to her cold and indifferent state, looking at Han Li as if he were a stranger.

Han Li's mouth twitched, but he returned to calmness.

"Fellow Daoist Han, please drink this cup of thin wine!" Zhao Ziling's voice seemed to come from very far away, extremely wooden, as if only a shell was speaking. The people in the hall heard it and actually felt a trace of pity for her.

Han Li looked at the wine cup close at hand, did not reach out to take it immediately, but instead narrowed his eyes and looked at the woman's arm, body, and finally stopped at her exquisite jade-like face.

His eyes narrowed at some point!

With this, the atmosphere in the hall, which had just relaxed, became heavy again.

But this time, the old man with the wooden crown's expression didn't change, but a cold light flashed in his eyes.

Xiang Xiang Zhili on the side seemed to sense something, frowned when he looked at Old Demon Hu, and Old Monster Feng looked at the strange situation between Han Li and Zhao Ziling, just chuckled, and no one could see what he was thinking.

The other Nascent Soul cultivators also had different expressions, but naturally, most of them were gloating.

Han Li raised a hand and suddenly took the wine cup from Zhao Ziling's hand, raised his hand, and drank it in one gulp.

This action of his made everyone in the hall stunned. Hu Qinglei raised his eyebrows, but immediately returned to normal.

Zhao Ziling's wooden face suddenly revealed a trace of complexity, stared at Han Li for a while, then took the empty wine cup without saying a word, and was about to turn around and leave slowly.

"Wait! If I am not mistaken, Miss Zhao Ziling has been placed under a restriction!"

Just when everyone thought that with Hu Qinglei's power, there would be no twists and turns in this matter, Han Li spoke calmly.

Zhao Ziling's graceful body, which was about to walk back, shook, and she actually stopped in her tracks.

The entire hall became silent instantly, and everyone held their breath, looking as if a needle could be heard if it fell to the ground.

"Fellow Daoist Han, are you drunk? Don't be drunk on wine, and don't be drunk on yourself!" Hu Qinglei had no expression on his face, and after drinking a cup of wine in his hand calmly, he actually said such a sentence.

The dissatisfaction in his words was already obvious.

"Brother Hu, please rest assured. Han Mou may have had two more cups, but I am very clear-headed and wouldn't talk nonsense." Han Li's eyes flickered, but he laughed indifferently.

"Is that so? Zhao Ziling, let me ask you one sentence. Do you think Fellow Daoist Han is drunk, but doesn't know it himself?" Hu Qinglei looked down at one of his hands wearing a crimson ring, and said indifferently without raising his head.

Zhao Ziling's expression changed several times upon hearing this, and her bright red lips moved twice, wanting to say something, but in the end, she didn't say anything.

Hu Qinglei seemed to sense the hesitation in Zhao Ziling's heart and raised his head to look over.

As a result, everyone was startled when they saw the old man with the wooden crown's face at this moment, and they felt a chill in their hearts.

Because although Hu Old Demon's expression was the same as before, a layer of faint black gas appeared on his face, and at the same time, his pair of eyes turned reddish at some point, flashing with strands of cold light, not looking like human eyes at all.

"Fellow Daoist Hu, you..." Xiang Xiang Zhili wanted to say something on the side, but the old man's cold words immediately interrupted him.

"Even if this person was brought by Brother Xiang, do you think I would pretend not to know if I were bullied to my head? If he doesn't give me an explanation today, don't think about walking out of this place."

Xiang Xiang Zhili could only smile bitterly and stop persuading Old Demon Hu. Instead, he shook his head at Han Li:

"Junior Martial Brother Han, you should know very well what you are doing. I cannot clean up this mess for you. You should think about how to give Brother Hu an explanation yourself! I think Junior Martial Brother should have something to say to Brother Hu."

After saying this, Xiang Xiang Zhili didn't look at the two anymore, leaned back, and closed his eyes to rest.

Although Xiang Xiang Zhili didn't say much, Han Li could hear a hint of protection in his words. It was just that as Spirit Transformation cultivators, Xiang Old Ghost obviously didn't want to conflict directly with Hu Old Demon. So he reminded him a few words and could only watch from the sidelines.

Han Li smiled slightly, turned his head, and asked Zhao Ziling on the side:

"Miss Zhao Ziling, you and I have known each other for many years. You can be considered one of the few good friends of Han Mou. Since you have a restriction in your body, there might be some coercion. Although Han Mou doesn't want to offend Fellow Daoist Hu, I cannot be so indifferent as to sit idly by. However, before that, I hope you can give me an honest answer. Are you willing to marry Brother Hu as a concubine? If it is a matter of your own free will, I naturally won't do anything to spoil the scenery. If you are unwilling..." Han Li didn't finish his sentence, but the meaning was obvious.

"I..." Zhao Ziling's face was filled with joy, hesitation, helplessness, and other expressions intertwined, seemingly eager to answer, but not knowing how to speak for a while.

"No need to ask her. Is it up to her whether she wants to become my concubine after entering my Demon Palace? But even if she is unwilling, what can you do? Do you want to forcibly take her away from my Demon Palace?" Hu Qinglei sneered, his words full of sarcasm.

"So that is how it is! Is this true?" Han Li sighed, but finally confirmed it to Zhao Ziling again.

"I accidentally revealed my true appearance a few years ago, and then I was captured by several elders of the Heavenly Demon Sect and forcibly taken up the mountain. Naturally, it is not a matter of free will." Zhao Ziling's gaze fell on Han Li, and seeing that he had now reached the late stage of Nascent Soul, and was so calm in the face of the Demon Palace master who made her afraid, she didn't know why her heart warmed, and she gritted her teeth and told the truth.

Hearing this, Hu Qinglei just sneered. The other cultivators in the hall also didn't reveal any strange expressions.

Such things as forcibly capturing female cultivators, if it were in righteous sects like the Taiyi Gate, might be severely criticized. But in the demon path and some side-door loose cultivators, it is just a common occurrence, seemingly justified.

And the cultivators who can come to this Demon Palace naturally have nothing to do with righteous sects. No wonder they are indifferent to this kind of thing.

"With Miss Zhao Ziling's words, that is good. Brother Hu, no need to be angry. I don't mean to oppose you. Everything in the world can be exchanged equally. I don't know what conditions I can use to exchange for Fellow Daoist Zhao Ziling's freedom." Han Li nodded, and actually said this to the old man with the wooden crown. It was as if he was turning a blind eye to the other party's unkindness.

"Exchange! By you?" Hu Qinglei was stunned at first, then a strange expression appeared on his face.

"Why, does Brother Hu feel that I am not worthy?" Han Li said expressionlessly.

"Not bad, you are not worthy to exchange things with Hu! Even if you are stronger than ordinary late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators, in my eyes, you are not worth mentioning. Or do you really think that because Fellow Daoist Xiang brought you here, you can truly sit on equal footing with Hu? Moreover, what other treasures in this world can move Hu? By the way, I heard you have two spirit treasures. But as long as I am willing, if I kill you, won't these two spirit treasures belong to me?" Hu Qinglei said gloomily, and at the same time, a layer of substantial black light appeared on his body, seemingly having a hint of killing intent toward Han Li.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 1242 =====