The mysterious woman was startled. Although she had held back, her weapon was incredibly powerful; it certainly wouldn't have only penetrated this far. How tough must the other person's body be?

However, she had no time to think about these things at the moment, because she knew she was in danger.

She hurriedly launched a counterattack, trying to take the opportunity to break free from the other party's control, but the other party's hand was like an iron clamp, twisting her hand behind her back, and then her neck tightened as a large hand gripped her neck.

In that instant, the hairs on her body stood on end. She knew her vital points were under control, and if the other person twisted her hand even slightly, she would perish. In that critical moment, she immediately shouted two words: "Xue'er!"

As expected, Zuan paused upon hearing this and did not continue his actions.

The two remained pressed tightly together. The mysterious woman was breathing rapidly, and her chest was heaving, clearly indicating that she had been quite frightened by the sudden movement.

"Let go of my young lady!" A pretty maid half-crouched at the doorway, baring her teeth and staring at Zu An. Her sharp teeth reminded her that she was not human, and a layer of snow-white down was gradually growing around her ears and neck.

Zu An's face darkened: "Demon race?"

The mysterious woman took a deep breath: "Huhu, don't reveal yourself, or you'll attract the attention of all sorts of human experts in the capital."

“But…” The girl looked at Zu An’s hand gripping her neck.

"I'm fine. He's Xue'er's good friend. He won't hurt me." After the initial panic, the mysterious woman had calmed down.

"Oh~" the girl named Huhu mumbled, then stood up and resumed her girlish appearance, but her gaze toward Zu'an was still somewhat unfriendly.

"What Xue'er are you talking about?" Zu'an actually believed it in his heart, but he deliberately said it that way just to be on the safe side.

The mysterious woman said calmly, "It is said that human men are the most unfaithful and fickle. I didn't quite believe it at first, but I didn't expect that after only a short time, you would forget your former lover so completely. Xue'er, Xue'er, you are really foolish."

Not many people knew about the relationship between her and Xue'er, unless Xue'er herself told her.

Based on this assessment, Zuan released his grip and coldly asked, "Who exactly are you?"

---

I've been combining two chapters into one lately, and many readers have been sending me private messages criticizing me for only updating once a day...

It's really unfair! You can't just look at the number of chapters; you also have to look at the word count.

Can I say that the combined word count of two chapters is actually higher?