Mi Lu was completely stunned, wondering if he was hearing things.

But reality soon proved he wasn’t.

As the action on the other side intensified, the sounds grew louder and louder.

And soon, Mi Lu realized something was wrong.

He quieted his mind and listened carefully, only to discover, with much embarrassment, that the two people over there weren’t a man and a woman, but rather—

Two men…

In other words.

It was two men doing that kind of thing.

Mi Lu: “…”

In an instant, something in his brain exploded with a loud bang.

What the hell!

It was actually two men!

While he had heard of such things before, this was his first time actually witnessing two men in action.

If he were alone, eavesdropping wouldn’t have been as bad.

But there was a 14-year-old HuLü Yan standing in front of him!

Remembering HuLü Yan’s young age, Mi Lu felt so embarrassed that he could dig a hole in the snow with his toes.

Wasn’t this corrupting a child?

He hesitated about whether to leave, but HuLü Yan suddenly tilted his head, despite Mi Lu covering his ears.

Startled, Mi Lu thought HuLü Yan had heard something and hurriedly covered his ears even tighter.

Meanwhile, the sounds from the two men grew more passionate, causing snow to fall from the tree branches with a soft rustling sound.

The seductive male voice let out a low moan.

Mi Lu couldn’t bear it any longer. He lowered his hand from HuLü Yan’s ears, grabbed his wrist, and prepared to quietly sneak away.

But just then, the man with the seductive voice spoke up in a teasing tone, “Ah, Ming Sui, could you be a little gentler?”

The response came from a low, hoarse male voice. “Stop pretending. Don’t you like it when I treat you like this?”

“Heh,” the man laughed lightly, “You act so tough with me, but would you dare treat Lady Wan this way?”

“What does Lady Wan have to do with this?”

“Didn’t you enter the Pit of Ten Thousand Serpents for Lady Wan?”

“So what if I did it for Lady Wan? So what if I didn’t?” Ming Sui’s tone was harsh, clearly irritated. “Why bring up such a mood-killing topic now?”

“Me mentioning Lady Wan ruins the mood? Then what about when you used to follow her around like a dog? What was that about?”

Before the man could finish speaking, Ming Sui suddenly flew into a rage. He grabbed the man’s hair and slammed his head against a tree trunk.

“Ah!” The man cried out in pain, “Ming Sui, are you crazy?”

Ming Sui’s voice was full of menace. “With someone as lowly as you, you dare try to come between me and Lady Wan? If you mention her name again, I’ll tear your mouth off!”

The man, frightened, fell silent for a moment, then started whimpering softly.

Mi Lu: “…”

He was impressed.

How could they start fighting even while doing something like that?

Wait…

Ming Sui?

Was that man Ming Sui?!

As Mi Lu just realized this, and before he could react, HuLü Yan suddenly took a step forward, heading straight for the two men.

Mi Lu was shocked, his face turning pale, and he quickly followed. “HuLü Yan!”

But HuLü Yan completely ignored him, striding quickly toward the two men.

In the snow, the shadows of the two entangled figures cast long shapes, and the two men, startled by the sudden appearance of these unexpected guests, turned their heads in unison.

Mi Lu instantly recognized Ming Sui.

Ming Sui didn’t look much different from the man he had encountered in his past ten reincarnations. Although he was somewhat handsome, his indulgence in wine and women had left him looking frail and weak. His overall appearance could only be described as haggard.

Ming Sui still held the man pinned against the tree, gripping his hair with one hand, his expression fierce.

Even in that position, they were still connected below.

Mi Lu quickly averted his gaze after just one glance, feeling as if his eyes had been burned.

What an eyesore.

But Ming Sui seemed oblivious to how he looked at that moment. When he realized that the two uninvited guests were of a lower cultivation level than mid-stage Qi Refinement, a surge of rage flared up inside him.

“Who are you?” Ming Sui shoved the man on the ground aside and began pulling up his pants, his face twisted in fury. “Who gave you the guts to interrupt me? Do you want to die?”

“No, no, no,” Mi Lu waved his hand. “We don’t want to die. We’re just here to find someone.”

Ming Sui, baffled and furious, roared, “What does it matter to me if you’re looking for someone?!”

Mi Lu remained calm, patiently saying, “The person we’re looking for is you, so of course it matters to you.”

“You’re looking for me?” Ming Sui laughed angrily. “Who the hell do you think you are?”

Mi Lu: “…”

Wow.

Ming Sui, oh Ming Sui, you actually dared to refer to the protagonist as a “thing.” You’re the one looking to die.

Clearing his throat, Mi Lu calmly replied, “You’ll find out soon enough whether we’re nobodies.”

Ming Sui had never felt so humiliated in his 20 years of life.

He had spent all day in this godforsaken place, and just when he found a decent-looking man to use, these two had shown up and ruined it all.

And not only had they ruined his fun, but now they were spouting such nonsense at him.

Already quick-tempered, Ming Sui’s anger reached a boiling point. He summoned his life-bound magical artifact—a long, sturdy black whip, even longer and tougher than Wei Sheng’s, with barbs along its length.

“Fine, let me see just what you’re made of.” Ming Sui sneered as he cracked the whip, producing a sharp snap in the air.

The whip lashed out like a snake darting through the air, sweeping towards HuLü Yan with the force of a cold wind.

Ming Sui laughed maniacally, his eyes glinting with malice.

However, his laughter froze after just a moment, and his expression twisted in disbelief.

His eyes widened in shock as he stared at HuLü Yan’s hand, which had effortlessly caught his whip. He looked as if he had just seen a ghost. “You… how…”

How could this be?

How could someone so easily catch his life-bound magical artifact?

But that person clearly had no cultivation!

Or… was this person’s cultivation higher than his?

No.

Impossible.

With his current level of cultivation, even if the other person’s cultivation was higher, he should have at least been able to sense it.

Fear of the unknown washed over Ming Sui like a tidal wave, and his throat tightened as he stammered, “You…”

Before he could finish his sentence, HuLü Yan yanked the whip toward himself.

The force of the pull caused Ming Sui to stumble forward. He gritted his teeth, channeling spiritual energy into the whip, but before he could put any strength into it, HuLü Yan took a step forward and flicked the whip from the other end.

Ming Sui’s life-bound magical artifact, which was originally under his control, began to wildly thrash under HuLü Yan’s power, even wrapping back around to entangle Ming Sui’s arm.

Ming Sui’s heart pounded with fear, and he instinctively tried to throw the whip away.

But the whip no longer listened to him. Not only could he not throw it away, but it quickly coiled up his arm, its barbs tearing through his clothes and skin.

In the blink of an eye, Ming Sui’s entire arm was covered in blood.

The pain twisted his facial features, and his body trembled uncontrollably. The more he struggled, the tighter the whip coiled, driving the barbs deeper into his flesh.

Finally, Ming Sui collapsed to the ground, writhing in agony.

HuLü Yan tightened the whip and, without saying a word, stepped forward and grabbed Ming Sui by the collar.

Ming Sui was instantly consumed by overwhelming terror. Forgetting about the pain in his arm, he began to frantically struggle. “Who are you? Let me go!”

HuLü Yan dragged Ming Sui away without a word.

“What are you doing?” Ming Sui screamed in horror. “My father is Ming De Yi, the master of the Medical Hall! If anything happens to me, my father won’t let you get away with it!”

But HuLü Yan seemed deaf to Ming Sui’s voice, as well as blind to his struggles. His expression remained blank as he dragged Ming Sui along like a hunter pulling his prey.

Ming Sui’s struggles left a trail of chaos behind them.

He couldn’t believe that someone as slim as HuLü Yan possessed such terrifying strength. Even more frightening was the fact that…

Where was his spiritual energy?

Why did his spiritual energy vanish as soon as he released it, like water disappearing into a lake without a ripple?

Could this person…

Could this person absorb his spiritual energy?!

Who was this person?

The man Ming Sui had pushed down earlier watched in shock as HuLü Yan dragged Ming Sui away. It took him a long time to recover from the shock.

Panicking, the man scrambled to his feet and clumsily tried to chase after them, but Mi Lu blocked his path.

Mi Lu said, “If you don’t want trouble for yourself, just act like none of this ever happened.”

The man’s eyes filled with tears at Mi Lu’s words, and he shook his head as he sobbed, “I can’t. I’ll die in the Pit of Ten Thousand Serpents if I’m left alone.”

Mi Lu frowned, finally noticing that the man was only at the early stage of Qi Refinement. With such a low cultivation level, getting through the Pit of Ten Thousand Serpents would indeed be as difficult as ascending to the heavens.

“Did you come here alone?”

“I came with four others,” the man said, hugging himself as he sobbed. “But we were unlucky. We ran into a pack of Sky Spiders hunting for food not long after we entered. There were too many of them, and when we ran, we accidentally stumbled into a swamp. I was the only one lucky enough to be saved by Ming Sui…”

At this point, the man couldn’t continue and broke down in tears, his thin shoulders shaking with his sobs.

Mi Lu still didn’t understand. “You’re only at the early stage of Qi Refinement. Why did you come in here with them?”

The man managed to choke back his tears and, through sobs, explained, “They said they could protect me. As long as we let Young Master Lin be the first to make it out of the Pit of Ten Thousand Serpents, we’d each get a thousand taels as a reward.”

Mi Lu was even more confused. “But with your level of cultivation, how could you protect Young Master Lin?”

“I…” The man bit his lip, clearly reluctant to speak, but eventually answered Mi Lu’s question awkwardly. “I wasn’t supposed to protect him. I was just supposed to keep him entertained.”

Mi Lu: “…”

Alright.

Now he understood.

He cursed himself for being nosy and asking so many questions.

Feeling a bit awkward, Mi Lu cleared his throat and said, “We just came in not too long ago. You might still have time to make it out if you leave now.”

The man quickly asked, “What about Ming Sui?”

Mi Lu replied, “We have some unresolved personal matters with him. Either way, you can’t follow him anymore.”