Chapter 825: King Qin’s Mirror of Souls
Bi Linglong was completely drenched. Her hair was messy and there wasn’t as much of a noble air around her as usual, instead being replaced with a bit of loveliness. Because her clothes were damp, they stuck to her skin. That gave her a feminine charm she had never possessed before.
Zu An suddenly thought of the phrase ‘innocent temptation’.
Bi Linglong was the crown princess, so she had to make sure she presented herself as a noble and dignified person. She paid close attention to her bearing and didn’t show any elements of sex appeal. But it was different right now. She really displayed both innocence and seduction perfectly.
Bi Linglong was getting more and more flustered from his gaze. “Why are you staring at me like that? You better not have any weird thoughts! I just want this mission to be completed; I would’ve jumped in if it were someone else too.”
She immediately became embarrassed when she thought of that. She had clearly come to save him, yet she ended up being the one who had been saved instead. She had lost control as soon as she entered the water, and then powerlessly sank to the bottom. If Zu An hadn’t hurried over, she might have already been sleeping with the fishes.
“Is that so?” Zu An chuckled. “But why do I feel as if you wouldn’t sacrifice yourself like this if this happened to anyone else?”
Bi Linglong jerked her head unnaturally to the side. “It’s because your cultivation is the highest. Only with your cooperation could I even have a chance of completing the mission of defeating the Jade Moon Serpent. That’s why you shouldn’t overthink it; this was just for the sake of completing this mission.”
Zu An sighed and said “I thought I was already someone special to you. So it was just because of that.”
Bi Linglong felt a bit sorry when she sensed the dejection in his voice. However, she understood their statuses clearly. She hardened her heart and changed the topic, asking, “Right, you’re okay now, but what about that Jade Moon Serpent? We should hurry outside, right? The others have no chance of defeating it!”
Her eyes were full of worry as she spoke. The Jade Moon Serpent was at the ninth rank, so they had a justifiable reason even to abandon this mission. However, if all of the young masters who followed her perished, that would be a huge loss.
“Ah, that loach? I already killed it,” Zu An said while waving his hands casually.
Bi Linglong looked at him in shock, speechless.
“Even though that loach was pretty tough, it couldn’t hold itself back from talking while it was charging its dragon breath, so its attack exploded in its own mouth. I used that chance to close in on its reverse scale and kill it,” Zu An said. “Then, when I dragged its corpse out, I learned that you jumped down to save me, so I came down to find you.”
Bi Linglong gave him a serious look. “You actually single-handedly killed a ninth ranked beast. Everyone in this world has underestimated you… Just how many secrets are you hiding?”
Zu An chuckled. “My greatest secret is precisely the fact that I spent a night with the stunning crown princess naked in my arms.”
Bi Linglong’s face turned red. She panicked and exclaimed, “Didn’t I say you weren’t allowed to mention that again?”
“What are you so scared of? There’s no one else here,” Zu An said nonchalantly.
“Am I not a person?” Mi Li remarked in dissatisfaction.
“You’re not even an outsider anyway.” Zu An quickly tried to justify himself. He began to sweat as he muttered, “Why are you still here?”
He had forgotten that Mi Li was still watching everything from a corner. He immediately felt embarrassed and ashamed when he recalled everything he had just done.
“How would I learn how a playboy plays around with the heart of a young lady if I didn’t come out and watch?” Mi Li stretched as she continued, “But to be honest, I’m still a bit disappointed. If you ended up doing her, my opinion of you would’ve improved a bit. But even after playing around all this time, this is it?”
Zu An was speechless.
Bi Linglong suddenly said, “I’m going to get mad if you keep doing that… Huh? What are these things?”
Zu An followed Bi Linglong’s gaze when he heard her voice. He saw a pile of sparkling goods. He had been so busy rescuing her that he didn’t even notice them. He replied, “This is the Jade Moon Serpent’s nest. The dragon race loves to hoard all sorts of shiny objects. Even though that serpent isn’t a dragon, it’s still a relative of the dragon species and has their habits. These are probably the treasures it’s collected over the years.”
There were all kinds of sparkling treasures, as well as many ki stones.
“Oh.” Bi Linglong wasn’t all that interested. As the daughter of a distinguished clan, and now the crown princess, these things didn’t hold much meaning for her. She was more concerned with something else right now. “Let’s hurry and go back to the shore then. Otherwise, the others still won’t know if I’m okay. They might send some people to look for me.”
Her words also clearly implied that there would be some damage to her reputation if she stayed with another man alone for too long and got caught. Furthermore, she had even jumped into the waters to save him earlier. She felt a huge headache when she thought of that, wondering how she was going to explain the situation to everyone else.
When he saw her stare absentmindedly toward the surface, Zu An used the Brilliant Glass Bead to store everything. Bi Linglong didn’t care about money, but he still needed it.
He actually had quite a bit of wealth saved up, and normally, it would already be enough for him to use for the rest of his life. But that simple pill refinement last time had already used up twenty thousand taels of silver, and that was just the cost of an upgrade and didn’t include the price of the medicines.
He needed to refine more things in the future, so his consumption would only increase. He had seen for himself just how poor that Shen Xuzi was; the profession of alchemy was absolutely one that burned money.
Suddenly, Mi Li voiced her surprise. She stared at something in a daze. “That’s…”
“What is it?” Zu An was alarmed. With Mi Li’s background and experience, there weren’t many things that could draw her interest. He followed her gaze and saw that after the treasures had been taken away, there were some scattered things left in the corner.
One of those things was a small and exquisite bronze mirror. It was square, and the surface was made of a special material that seemed like bronze, yet wasn’t. It looked more like a type of gemstone. Both sides shone, yet when Zu An picked it up, it couldn’t reflect an image at all.
A mirror that doesn’t reflect… Zu An turned to Mi Li and asked, “What’s up with this mirror?”
Mi Li reached out her hand and took it from him. Her fair, slender fingers were trembling a bit. “It’s been so many years… I didn’t expect to see it again.”
Zu An was shocked as he asked, “This is yours?”
Mi Li shook her head. “It’s not mine, but rather Ying Zheng’s.”
“The first emperor!” Zu An exclaimed, shocked. He had never expected to find the first emperor’s belongings in a serpent’s nest within a dungeon.
Mi Li’s fingers passed over the mirror’s surface. A nostalgic expression appeared on her face. “This item is called King Qin’s Mirror of Souls. It’s four feet wide and five feet nine inches tall; it’s a spiritual item inside and out. When shone upon people, their shadows emerge. When one’s hand covers one’s heart, the internal viscera of the body will be revealed. If one is sick, covering up one’s heart will reveal the illness. If a woman has nefarious intent, the truth will come to light. The first emperor often shone this mirror on everyone in the palace, and all those with impure motives were killed without exception…”
Zu An was doubtful. “Are you sure you’re talking about this thing? This little thing isn’t anywhere as big as that four feet wide, five feet nine inches tall item you’re talking about?”
Mi Li shook her head. “There’s no mistake. I can sense its aura. There must be a reason that caused it to shrink in size.
“Back then, Ying Zheng, the first emperor, was a mistrustful person by nature. He liked to shine this mirror on everyone in the palace. Whether it was the princes, dukes, concubines, or maids, as long as they were disloyal, they wouldn’t be able to escape from this mirror. Once he found out, Ying Zheng would look for a chance to execute them.”
“It has this kind of use?” Zu An was stunned. He hadn’t noticed anything special about it all this time. “It doesn’t seem that special to me… By the way, did Ying Zheng use this mirror on you back then?”
Mi Li sighed. “Why else do you think I was sealed up?”
Zu An was speechless.
“Put it away; that thing should be of use to you in the future.” Mi Li’s gaze was a bit distant. She thought to herself that she had always felt a bit uneasy ever since they came inside this dungeon. Could it be that it was because she had mysteriously sensed this thing?