A hopeless situation?

Zhou Ziming would not mock the two's behavior, nor would he stop them.

Currently, the only thing that appealed to Zhou Ziming was the ancient-style architecture and the marketplace that resembled those of ancient times.

After wandering around for an entire day, Zhou Ziming still felt like he hadn't seen enough.

Of course, what attracted Zhou Ziming the most was the Brothel in this place.

"Senior Brothers, do you two have any more money?"

Zhou Ziming asked.

The two looked at the entrance of the Brothel, then at Zhou Ziming, their eyes instantly conveying understanding.

One of them directly handed Zhou Ziming a bag of gold leaves.

"Junior Brother, have fun!"

Zhou Ziming also smiled.

"Thank you, Senior Brothers, but are you two really not going to join in?"

The two waved their hands.

"We come here often. Looking at you, Junior Brother, it's likely your first time. You go ahead and have fun; we'll head to the mission site to scout things out!"

Zhou Ziming nodded.

"In that case, be careful!"

After saying that, Zhou Ziming took the gold leaves and walked straight into the Brothel.

"Oh my, Young Master, you're a new face. I wonder what you'd like to do today?"

Zhou Ziming grabbed a handful of gold leaves from his Storage Pouch.

"Get me three girls. I want them fresh and skilled. You understand!"

When the madam saw the gold leaves, her eyes widened.

"Understood! Sir, I'll arrange it for you right away!"

Before long, Zhou Ziming looked at the three fresh-faced girls and felt very satisfied.

As expected, you get the treatment you pay for.

"Hahaha, let's go, let's go. Let me see how skilled you really are!"

——————

In the blink of an eye, it was the next morning.

Zhou Ziming hurriedly came out of the Brothel.

The truth was, early in the morning, his Senior Brother had informed him through a sound-transmitting jade pendant that something had gone wrong.

Zhou Ziming quickly met up with the two.

As soon as they met at a tea stall, Zhou Ziming saw that their faces were grim.

Zhou Ziming asked in confusion, "What's wrong?"

As he spoke, Zhou Ziming also quickly sat down and poured himself a cup of morning tea.

Hmm?

Zhou Ziming was somewhat surprised because this so-called morning tea of ancient times was actually spicy soup?

Although it was different from the spicy soup on Earth, it suited Zhou Ziming's taste perfectly.

For a while, Zhou Ziming ate with great relish.

But his two Senior Brothers couldn't eat a thing.

One of them said, "Junior Brother Zhou, there's a problem with the intelligence for this demon-slaying mission. That monster's true strength isn't just at the Cultivation Level; it should be at the Sixth Layer of Qi Intake!"

Zhou Ziming: "Oh!"

The two were a bit dazed.

Wasn't Zhou Ziming's reaction a bit too nonchalant?

"Junior Brother Zhou, that's a monster at the Sixth Layer of Qi Intake. A Sixth Layer of Qi Intake monster can hold its own against a Human Race Cultivator at the Eighth Layer of Qi Intake."

Zhou Ziming continued eating.

He said indifferently, "So what? It's only at the Sixth Layer of Qi Intake now. Once that evil spirit eats the two of you, it will directly ascend to the Ninth Layer of Qi Intake Peak!"

Hearing Zhou Ziming's words, the two were momentarily stunned.

Wait, what do you mean by openly saying we'll be eaten?

The two thought they had treated Zhou Ziming well; why was he cursing them to die?

Zhou Ziming ignored their expressions and directly took out a paper crane, tossing it onto the table.

One of the Disciples instantly froze.

"This is my distress letter!"

Zhou Ziming nodded.

"That's right. When I just came out of the Brothel, this thing was lying in a trash pile."

The two Disciples had faces full of disbelief.

"This... I clearly sent it out."

The other Disciple also nodded, "Yes, I saw it with my own eyes!"

Zhou Ziming said calmly, "That was just your illusion. In reality, this thing was intercepted long ago."

The two looked at each other.

Subsequently, both of their faces became extremely unsightly.

Every Sect's distress letter is unique.

To be able to intercept their distress letter meant that the person behind this was one of their own.

"But why? We haven't offended anyone!"

Zhou Ziming had finished eating by now.

He then explained to them, "Didn't I say it? If the two of you are eaten by the monster, its strength will be able to rise to the Ninth Layer of Qi Intake Peak!"

Both of them looked at Zhou Ziming at the same time.

Zhou Ziming asked with a smile, "Did you hear the main point?"

Only then did it dawn on them.

"It's not uncommon for monsters to eat people, or even for Qi Intake Cultivators to be eaten, but it's absolutely impossible for their strength to increase that much. Yet, by eating us, its strength would skyrocket!"

The two suddenly remembered that Zhou Ziming had asked them earlier if they had come across any opportunities recently.

Thinking further, this demon-slaying mission was even specifically assigned.

The two understood instantly.

They were being set up.

And the person plotting against them even wanted to use them to feed the monster.

"Damn it, no, I'm going to go and demand an explanation!"

One of the Disciples said angrily.

Zhou Ziming didn't stop him, but just watched quietly.

The other Disciple quickly held him back.

At this moment, that Disciple bowed to Zhou Ziming.

"Junior Brother Zhou, I am Li Qingxuan, and this is Wang Shengnan!"

Zhou Ziming: "???"

He looked closely and finally realized that although Wang Shengnan acted very boisterously, her features were indeed somewhat heroic.

She was even quite delicate and handsome.

After all this time, she's actually a woman?

At this moment, Zhou Ziming couldn't help but complain that the cross-dressing in TV shows from his past life was so fake it was unbearable.

Look at Wang Shengnan; this was the real deal—she even had a fake Adam's apple attached.

Li Qingxuan explained at this time.

"That's right, Shengnan is indeed a woman. It's just that for many reasons, she had no choice but to dress as a man!"

Zhou Ziming waved his hand, "That's not the point."

Seeing how honest the two were being, Zhou Ziming spoke plainly as well.

"This is a dead-end situation, at least it's certain death for the two of you. As for me, I'm also one of the people being plotted against. Although I won't die, I'll wish I were dead!"

Of course, that was in the past.

Li Qingxuan and Wang Shengnan didn't quite understand.

Zhou Ziming spoke again, "Basically, the person behind the scenes wants the two of you to feed the monster. As for me, I'll either be forced into a master-servant bond by the monster, or I'll kill it and then be poisoned!"

"Of course, that's not the point either. The point is that the monster we're supposed to eliminate is actually guarding a spirit fruit called the gold spirit fruit. Eating that fruit can directly transform a person's body into an Incorruptible Body. The person behind the scenes is just using us as tools; their real goal is the gold spirit fruit."

"For the sake of this gold spirit fruit, do you think the person behind this would let you leave?"

Wang Shengnan grit her teeth, "Is there really no way for us to resolve this dead-end situation?"

Li Qingxuan also looked at Zhou Ziming.

Zhou Ziming was currently recalling the Original Owner's memories.

Actually, in one of the Original Owner's past lives, he had let the two of them leave.

The two did indeed leave.

But in the end, they still died.

Then their corpses were found by the monster and eventually eaten.

Zhou Ziming pondered.

Why did these two have to die?

What was the connection?