Chapter 146: Men Are All Big Pork Knuckles! (Request Monthly Tickets! Request Follows!)

As she thought this, Zhao Ying suddenly frowned, sensing something was off—as if her subconscious was resisting her current thoughts, telling her that an assassin shouldn't be like this.

Zhao Ying didn't dwell on it, dismissing it as a side effect of the "Empty Plan."

After all, facts speak louder than words; if she still couldn't let go and walked down the old path, she'd be a fool.

"I should find a chance to properly thank him—otherwise, if I keep walking down this wrong path, I won't know how long it'll take to gain the power to kill that man."

Zhao Ying muttered to herself, then suddenly remembered something, her cold, beautiful face flushing slightly.

There was one thing she had never told anyone: during that year in the Curse World, she often felt Wu Xian watching her with a strange gaze.

Not lecherous, but far from innocent.

Besides that, her sleep quality during that time was excellent—she always woke naturally, unaware of any external changes.

Amazing! Especially for an assassin trained since childhood, it was unthinkable.

Intuition told Zhao Ying there was something suspicious, so on several nights she deliberately closed her eyes and feigned sleep, hoping to catch someone doing something to her.

As expected, on one dark, windy night, her door was quietly opened, and she felt a large hand placed on her head, gently stroking it.

Then… Zhao Ying knew nothing more.

When she opened her eyes again, it was already daytime—as if the events of the night had been a hallucination; even her hidden surveillance footage showed no anomaly.

But Zhao Ying didn't believe she'd been dreaming—after all, the sensation had been too real, and as an assassin, she was acutely sensitive to energy signatures; she was certain the hand's owner was Wu Xian.

As for why the surveillance showed nothing… wasn't there Friday?

Who didn't know Friday was Wu Xian's AI? Only he and Chu Xuan had full access; everyone else had only the most basic permissions—hiding something was effortless.

So during that time, Zhao Ying was deeply conflicted: she wanted to confront Wu Xian face-to-face, but her pride held her back.

Besides, her relationship with Zhan Lan was quite good; she didn't want to ruin their sisterly bond over this.

Moreover, though she'd never said it aloud, Zhao Ying knew she did have feelings for Wu Xian.

There was no helping it—admiring strength was human nature, especially for an assassin like her, raised to worship power; a mature older brother like Wu Xian, who was powerful, good-looking, and reliable, was simply irresistible…

As she thought this, the voice from her subconscious spoke again, urging her to wake up: men are all big pork knuckles; believe nothing, not even love.

Zhao Ying frowned, unable to bear it, and quickly suppressed the "subconscious" with focused will.

At that moment, two roars suddenly echoed behind her—two werewolves were sprinting across the snowy distance, both massive, at least twice the size of the one Wu Xian had killed before.

Zhao Ying narrowed her eyes, stamped her right foot hard, leaving a deep crater in the ground, then shot forward like an arrow released from a bow.

In a bad mood? Perfect—I'll take out my frustration on you two!

…

On another front, as Alice was beheaded by Zhao Ying, the other two vampire brides faced their own opponents.

The most vicious, Marika, was targeted by Cheng Xiao, the talkative fellow, accompanied by Wang Chaozong and Du Gu Feng, two newcomers.

During battle, the two newcomers handled the attacks while Cheng Xiao watched from the sidelines, only stepping in when they nearly collapsed—clearly treating Marika as a sparring partner to train the novices.

Meanwhile, the last vampire bride, Vinona, faced a similar situation, surrounded by Mou Gang, Qi Tengyi, and Zhu Peng.

The two unorthodox cultivators provided ranged support; Mou Gang, as the tank, absorbed damage and pinned Vinona outside the castle, preventing her from even touching the gate.

"Average at best—worse than the headless knight. At most, they're vampire counts, and weak ones at that."

Watching the two female bat demons below, constantly suppressed and helplessly raging, Wu Xian instantly lost interest and was about to order his team to end the fight when Zhu Peng's voice echoed through the mental network.

【Mr. Wu, this Daoist has an awkward request.】

Below, Zhu Peng stood atop a flying sword, hovering midair, surrounded by a long, black, scaled serpent with horns; its serpent eyes glowed crimson, its open maw revealing rows of white, sharp fangs, constantly spewing black-red mist—clearly authentic dark Daoist sorcery.

I observe that these two vampires are of excellent quality, ideal for corpse cultivation. I'm willing to pay one C-rank side quest as team funds, as long as you preserve their full corpses for me.

Hah! You're quite the businessman—one C-rank side quest to trade for two vampire corpses with B-rank bloodlines… No, wait—once I agree, you'll immediately kill this vampire bride and use the C-rank side quest reward you gain as payment.

【Rounded off, that's essentially getting something for nothing—your abacus beads are practically slapping me in the face.】

Wu Xian sneered. Although the kill reward for vampire brides is only one C-rank side quest, their bloodline rank is genuinely B-rank.

Even if inferior to the main god's mutated versions, after being modified by Zhu Peng, the Daoist fanatic, they might even surpass their living state—significantly boosting his power.

To be fair, he was clever—but Wu Xian simply disliked the man, always feeling like a venomous snake lurked behind his back, ready to strike at any moment.

Annoying. Maybe I'll find a chance to kill him during the fight with Dracula.

【I need those two vampire corpses, and I don't want them killed yet—at least one must remain alive.】

At that moment, Chu Xuan's voice suddenly spoke, saying only that, then falling silent—no need to elaborate.

As a veteran and the intellectual core of the Zhongzhou team, Chu Xuan held immense authority, second only to Wu Xian.

His wisdom earned deep respect from all members; every veteran's equipment had been refined and forged under his guidance—they all owed him favors.

Thus, whenever Chu Xuan made a request, as long as it didn't harm team interests or member safety, it was almost always approved unanimously—especially since Zhu Peng was merely an unapproved newcomer.

To be blunt, he had no right to compete with Chu Xuan for anything.

Zhu Peng clearly realized this; he chuckled softly and abandoned further argument, though a sharp glint flashed in his eyes as he immediately ordered the venomous dragon to launch a fierce assault on Vinona.

【Ah Xian, this guy seems a bit restless…】

Zhan Lan sent a private mental message, warning Wu Xian; her tone suggested she, too, disliked this Daoist who practiced dark arts.

【Don't worry—I've got it under control. He won't cause trouble.】

Wu Xian replied, then shifted his focus to the ancient town, activating super vision to check on Zhao Ying.

But then he suddenly let out a soft "huh?" and leapt straight off the castle toward the ancient town.

Moments later, Wu Xian slowly descended from the air, looking down at Zhao Ying, who had already finished her battle; at her feet lay two corpses, reverted to human form from werewolves.

"This is…"

Simultaneously, upon recognizing the two faces, both Wu Xian and Zhao Ying narrowed their pupils in shock.

Yes—they knew these two people. Or rather, every member of the Zhongzhou team recognized them.

Lu Renjia! Li Xiaoyi!

————

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(End of Chapter)