Chapter 2090: Provocation  

When she saw Yu Yanluo's reaction, the Second Empress felt strangely refreshed. She couldn't just suffer this kind of feeling all alone, right?

Unfortunately, she was disappointed, as Yu Yanluo didn’t act up. Instead, she looked at Zu An with her beautiful eyes and said, “Ah Zu, you’re finally back.”

Now, it was Jing Teng’s turn to be shocked. This woman’s eyes really were alluring! Even she, as a woman, was a bit moved. This woman was so beautiful, and the way she spoke to Zu An was so special. Jing Teng couldn't help but ask, “Who is she?”

Naturally, it was Dark Jing Teng. White Jing Teng definitely wouldn’t be able to cuddle up in Zu An’s arms in front of so many people.

“She's the Medusa Queen, Yu Yanluo. She's also my lover,” Zu An said, looking at Yu Yanluo with a smile. His eyes were full of warmth and gentleness.

The Second Empress immediately felt jealous.

Of course, she also knew that there was no way he would say that she was his lover in front of so many Fiend soldiers.

Yu Yanluo also felt warm inside. She'd thought that Zu An would hide their relationship because he had that woman in his arms, but he actually didn’t cover it up at all.

An ambiguous smile appeared on her face as she asked, “Did I come at a bad time?”

Zu An spread out his arms and replied, “No, you came at the perfect time.”

When they saw that, the others' eyes widened.

The Second Empress had been screaming inside, rooting for a hell battlefield between these women. After all, the Medusa Queen was a clan leader. Did she really not want any face? Also, there was that woman... Her fussy temper didn’t seem to be that agreeable. Perhaps Yu Yanluo could hold herself back, but she'd thought the other woman definitely wouldn’t be able to.

Yu Yanluo’s expression also became a bit reproachful.

Still, she couldn't embarrass him in front of so many people. Besides, after this recent crisis, they had almost beem separated forever by death. The only thing she'd wished for was for her sweetheart to come back safely. Now that her wish was satisfied, how could she still have such worldly misgivings? After just a moment of hesitation, she walked toward Zu An with a bit of embarrassment, then leaned into his arms.

When she saw Yu Yanluo walk over, Dark Jing Teng’s brows rose. She was about to act up, but after thinking about it, she felt that Zu An was quite amazing. She and her sister weren’t even a match for him when they worked together, so she felt that she needed to find some allies to help them out.

When she thought about these things, her brows relaxed a bit. In fact, when Yu Yanluo leaned against Zu An’s shoulder, Dark Jing Teng couldn’t help but touch her hair and exclaim, “Huh? Your hair is really a bit special. How is it so thick?”

Yu Yanluo was a bit surprised when she sensed the other woman’s strange friendliness. She reflexively replied, “That’s a special trait of my bloodline. They can turn into snakes. Does that scare you?”

“Snakes? They’re that interesting?” Dark Jing Teng replied, only becoming even more curious. “I want hair like this too!”

When they saw the two women chat as if they were sisters, the onlookers' jaws almost dropped to the floor.

The Second Empress was now feeling really depressed.

As for Hu Qianxiao and the other Fiend generals, they were already about to prostrate themselves in admiration to Zu An. They had already felt that he was awesome enough before, but they'd never expected that there would be no upper limit to that, only more awesomeness.

The Peacock Wise King couldn't help but turn around to look at his daughter. He knew that his daughter seemed to have some kind of mysterious good impression of the regent, but now, it seemed that she was most likely going to be left broken-hearted over this affair.

Kong Nanwu’s face darkened for a moment. But soon after, a smile appeared on her face. She was a smart woman. Since there were already so many outstanding women around Zu An, why would she bother joining the liveliness? Just watching them from a distance was already enough.

In the end, the Second Empress couldn't stand the jealousy anymore and remarked, “How about we enter the city first?” She really wanted to add ‘just how long do you three plan on hugging each other for’, but in the end, she didn’t.

Yu Yanluo finally became clear-headed. She gently pushed Zu An in embarrassment. Zu An chuckled and let go of her. Then, their group quickly entered the city.

...

Zu An and the Second Empress listened to the Peacock Wise King inside the city’s main hall. They all felt extremely gratified and relieved that the Second Prince’s plan hadn’t succeeded.

The Second Empress held Yu Yanluo’s hand and said, “Please don’t be so foolish in the future! If something really happens to you, just how am I supposed to compensate for the losses?”

Yu Yanluo’s expression remained warm and calm as she said, “Compared to the safety of Primeval Iron City and the Fiend races, how much worth does my petty life alone carry?”

The Second Empress gave Zu An an unhappy look and said, “But I think a certain someone probably doesn’t think that way.”

Zu An was also still feeling a lot of lingering fear. Thank goodness he had created that protective talisman against parasites, or else he likely wouldn't have been able to see her ever again. When he thought about the main culprit, his expression turned ice-cold. He asked, “Where is the Second Prince now?"

“After that day, the Second Prince knew that he likely wouldn't be able to take down Primeval Iron City for now, so he secretly left under cover of night,” Kong Nanwu said.

“Did he head toward the King Court?” the Second Empress quickly asked.

“According to the information we received a few days ago, he didn’t. Je seems to have headed east. I don’t know just what his objectives are,” Kong Nanwu replied. “For safety’s sake, we had Princess Suolun contact the other clans along the way. The Second Prince didn’t press toward the King Court, so he probably wishes to occupy some remote place and go into hiding.”

When she heard that the King Court was safe, the Second Empress finally released a sigh of relief.

Zu An suddenly frowned slightly. He walked up to the giant map of the territory and asked, “According to your investigations, where has the Second Prince passed?”

“He passed through here, here, and here...” Kong Nanwu picked up a small rod and pointed at the map. They were indeed some remote and barren places that were difficult even for the Fiend races to survive in.

Zu An stared at the map and became quiet for a while. Then, his expression suddenly changed as he exclaimed, “He wants to attack the humans’ reinforcement armies!”

It wasn’t that Kong Nanwu and her father’s strategies were insufficient, but as members of the Fiend races, they naturally subconsciously prioritized the King Court. Besides that, their attention had been focused completely on the sealed land, so they didn’t understand the itinerary of the humans’ reinforcement army too well.

Meanwhile, Zu An just happened to know it well. After all, he was the one who had planned the route of the human reinforcement army, and he'd even had Tushan Yu coordinate with them. That was why he was able to guess what the Second Prince was doing from his movements.

Sure enough, Kong Nanwu’s expression changed. She immediately guessed the Second Prince’s schemes and cried, “Oh no! If the human reinforcements are attacked, that might trigger another war between our two sides! Then, the entire world will be in chaos, and the Second Prince will be able to benefit from the disorder!”

...

Meanwhile, the human reinforcement army had been traveling north. It was already dark, and the army had begun setting up camp.

In the main camp, an elder dressed in official robes was leisurely sipping on some tea, while two young individuals were debating something with reddened faces. One of them had thick brows and big eyes, while the other had fairer features.

“Respected king, we should assign more patrols around us. What if there’s an enemy attack in the middle of the night?”

The elder was none other than the leader of the human reinforcement army - King Liang, Zhao Yi. Meanwhile, the youngsters were brothers from the Qin clan, Qin Guangyuan and Qin Yongde. Naturally, they wanted to regain honor for the Qin clan. Thus, as soon as they recovered, they had volunteered to join the expedition north as part of the reinforcement army. Even Qin Yongde, who normally lived a life of debauchery, was now much more mature than before.

King Liang said in a calm and unhurried voice, “We’re all already really tired from this trip. The soldiers need to rest in order to preserve their fighting ability.”

“But no matter how tired they are, scouting isn't something that you can neglect!” Qin Guangyuan said nervously.

“This is the Fiend races’ territory, and Bluefield Country even escorted us along the way, treating us so well. If we sendt out more scouts, wouldn't that just show mistrust toward the Fiend races? What if we ended up ruining the hard-earned peace between us? Would you be able to handle the consequences?” King Liang replied, giving them a sidelong glance.

“We're soldiers and don’t know that much. We only know that as soldiers, we need to ensure the safety of the army,” Qin Guangyuan said stubbornly.

“If you're so worried, then you can bring your own men to go scout!” King Liang snapped impatiently.

The brothers exclaimed, “It has always been our own brothers who have been patrolling and standing guard the whole time! They're already incredibly exhausted, so we hope that the king can assign some more personnel...”

“Wasn’t all of that something you brought upon yourselves?” King Liang roared as he slammed the table. “This king has already tolerated the two of you for long enough. You two are full of criticism and keep throwing orders around as if you own the place. Are you the commander here or am I? Do you think the army is still your Qin clan’s territory?! Get out of my sight!”