Sang Qien was still in midair, so Zu An couldn’t just let go. However, it did not seem appropriate for him to keep holding onto her either.

Zu An gulped. “Would you believe me if I said that I thought you were someone else?”

Sang Qien’s face turned red. She found her feet on her own and gently pushed him away. She was as lithe as a swallow, and her movements were extremely graceful. “Who did you think I was, then?”

“I thought that you were…” Zu An started his reply subconsciously, but then realized that he probably shouldn’t bring up Zheng Dan. This was her sister-in-law, after all. Wouldn’t it be a slap to her face if he told her that he was looking for Zheng Dan?

He hastily changed the topic, pointing out her white outfit. “Why are you dressed up like this?”

Sang Qien’s eyes reddened. “Have you forgotten that my big brother was killed by Mosquito Daoist? When we were prisoners, we could only bury him in the wilderness. His corpse was only recently recovered, so we are currently keeping a vigil.”

“My condolences, Miss Sang.” Zu An sighed. Even though he and Sang Qian had been enemies, the man was already dead. All of it was in the past.

“Thank you.” Sang Qien’s mood remained downcast.

Zu An was reminded of something. He took out Mosquito Daoist’s corpse from the Brilliant Glass Bead. "This is the one who killed your big brother. I made sure to retrieve her corpse, knowing that you might have a need for it.”

It was normal for a corpse to shrivel up after a period of time, and he did not have to worry about others speculating if Mosquito Daoist had had her blood essence sucked out.

“Mosquito Daoist!” Sang Qien immediately recognized her brother’s murderer. She was both shocked and overjoyed. “How did she die?”

She had seen Mosquito Daoist in action before. Not even her father had been her match, and any thoughts of revenge seemed far-fetched. However, she had actually been killed!

Zu An said, “I was lucky, and managed to take her down. I wanted to burn the corpse on the spot, but I remembered that you all would surely want to see her corpse. That was why I kept it with me.”

Sang Qien was an intelligent woman. She did not ask how he killed Mosquito Daoist, because she knew that everyone had their own secrets. “Thank you, Brother Zu! You are truly a great benefactor of our Sang clan.”

She had offered her thanks halfheartedly earlier on, but this was full of sincerity.

“I’m just glad that you don’t hate me.” Zu An said with a bitter smile. After all, there was no way the Sang clan would let him go after uncovering his relationship with Zheng Dan.

Sang Qien’s thoughts headed in an entirely different direction. “Brother Zu, you cannot say that. We were only enemies because we were on different sides. Whoever won or lost was dependent on the other’s skill. We came out on the losing side because we were outplayed, and we will not hold that against you. Besides, strictly speaking, my father was the one who acted against you first. You only retaliated because you had no choice.”

Zu An was slightly taken aback. “Miss Sang, your open-mindedness truly surprises me.”

“Brother Zu, please enter as our guest. I will let my father know.” Sang Qien’s eyes suddenly lit up, and she waved to someone behind her. “Sister-in-law, please help me entertain Brother Zu. I am going to take Mosquito Daoist’s corpse to my father. He will surely be pleased.”

It wasn’t very proper to make a widowed sister-in-law receive an outsider, and a man at that, but the Sang clan was already in dire straits. They did not have many servants left, and there was no one better-suited to the task. She was also in a hurry to contact her father, so she did not consider the potential impropriety.

Zu An turned around and saw Zheng Dan standing not too far away, dressed in white mourning clothes as well. When she saw him, her face lit up with joy.

A classic dress was a timeless piece of fashion. Zheng Dan was already extremely beautiful, and her snow-white garments only enhanced her loveliness.

“No problem, little Qien. I’ll look after him.” Zheng Dan did her best to make her voice sound as calm as possible.

“Thank you, sister-in-law.” Sang Qien was focused on her task, and paid her little attention. She brought Mosquito Daoist’s corpse with her so that she could tell her father the good news.

When she left, Zheng Dan nodded towards Zu An. “Young master Zu, please follow me.”

Zu An couldn’t hold back a laugh. He knew that she was worried about being seen. It felt as though they were back in Brightmoon Academy. Back then, she used to pretend that she wasn’t close to him, and they used their identities as teacher and student to deceive everyone else.

Zheng Dan did not close the door when they entered the room. A man and a woman in the same room together, with the door closed, would only create unwanted rumors.

She led Zu An behind the door, to a place no one else could see. She could no longer hold back her emotions, and threw herself into his embrace. “Ah Zu, are you really okay?” her voice was choked with emotion.

Even though he had told her over and over that he had a means to resolve his issue, he had been up against the emperor, the number one expert in the world. She did not believe that he could make it through the crisis safely, no matter how much she trusted him.

“Yup, I’m perfectly fine. I’ve dealt with everything already.” He could sense her body trembling, and he knew that she had been extremely worried all this time.

In moments, his clothes were drenched in tears. 

Zheng Dan really is a water element cultivator… is she made of water, or something like that?

The two of them exchanged several intimate words. They also discussed what had happened after they separated.

“Why are you wearing these clothes as well? Are you also mourning Sang Qian?” Zu An said, feeling slightly jealous.

Zheng Dan giggled. “No way. I didn’t want to wear them, but… Forget it, I don’t want any bad karma.”

Zu An’s heart softened. “I know what you were going to say. You were worried that I would die today, so you put them on for me.”

“But thankfully, you’re okay.” Zheng Dan helped him smooth out his messy clothes, feeling slightly embarrassed to see how his clothes were soaked in her tears.

Zu An was moved by her affection, and bent down to kiss her.

Zheng Dan moaned. She wrapped her arms around his neck and drew him in enthusiastically. She was much more proactive than the bashful Chu Chuyan. After all, they had done a lot of this back in Brightmoon Academy, so she was perfectly familiar with it all.

Zu An had been interrupted by Chu Youzhao while he was in the Qin Estate, and he wasn’t able to get it all out of his system in such a short amount of time. Now that Zheng Dan, this lovely and pitiful widow, was in front of him, Zu An felt more and more aroused.

There was a gentle cough, followed by Sang Qien’s voice. “Young master Zu, my father has invited you up for a chat.”

Zheng Dan gave a frightened start, and quickly pushed him away.

Zu An was also rather embarrassed, but his shameless nature allowed him to quickly recover his composure. He walked forward and said, “I wished to meet with Lord Sang as well. Hm? Miss Sang, why is your face so red?”

Sang Qien looked at him in annoyance. She opened her mouth to speak, then stopped. In the end, she did not mention anything about what had been going on. “Maybe it’s because I tried to get here as fast as I could,” she said instead.

Zu An obviously knew that her words were a coverup. Given her cultivation, she wouldn’t have broken a sweat even if she had been running at full speed.

 Did she see something?

That didn’t seem likely, though. If she had seen something, wouldn’t she have confronted him about it right away? He was messing around with her sister-in-law, after all.

Wrapped up in his own thoughts, Zu An quickly found himself in the main hall of the Sang Estate. Sang Hong was already there to greet him. “You are our benefactor. This old one offers his respects.”

Shocked by his display, Zu An quickly helped Sang Hong back up. How could he possibly dare to let him bow down to him? “Lord Sang, you’re being too formal! There’s no need for any of this.”

Sang Hong sighed. “My son lost his life to Mosquito Daoist. Her cultivation was too high, and none of us could even hope to stop her. There are many who want her dead, yet they all pursued her in vain. I never expected revenge to come within my lifetime, but she actually ended up falling to you. What else are you, if not our benefactor?”

“Mosquito Daoist’s cultivation was far greater than mine,” Zu An replied. “I was only able to kill her through sheer luck.”

Sang Hong did not ask him about how he killed Mosquito Daoist, either. “This is what heaven has ordained. Since you are unwilling to receive my respects, little Qien, please bow in your father’s and brother’s stead.”

Sang Qien bit her lip, her face grew flushed. She had been more than willing to bow her head towards this man before, but after what she had just seen, the act became so much harder.

Even so, she was still a smart and caring daughter. She knew that this had been a trying time for her father, and it would be best if she did not tell him the truth. She sighed inside. 

I’ll have to bear the burden of this truth alone.

Still rather embarrassed, she turned towards Zu An. “Our benefactor…”

Zu An quickly helped her to her feet. “Please, there is no need for this! I did not bring Mosquito Daoist’s corpse here to be repaid with gratitude. We traveled to the capital together, and even fought side by side. That makes us comrades. This was why I brought her corpse to you. I’ll only feel shame if you do this.”

Sang Qien blinked. This man wasn’t as disappointing as she imagined him to be.