We agreed to seek enlightenment together, but how did you end up seeking enlightenment for my mother

The flickering candlelight cast long, thin shadows of the three people.

A faint, sour smell permeated the air. Xu Zhou squinted and tightened his grip on Zhenyan's hair.

The butler was startled and quickly spoke up.

"A treasure trove, yes, a treasure trove."

At Xu Zhou's prompting, the butler trembled as he pulled out a hand and tore a necklace from his neck.

The ornament fell off with a snap, revealing a small, three-sided golden key that gleamed dimly in the light.

Just as Xu Zhou was about to receive the hair with the True Word, a familiar shout suddenly came from the corridor on one side.

"Boss of the Minions~ I'm back!"

Turning my head, I bumped right into Wu Lulu's face, which was filled with excitement.

The girl wagged her tail and waved her hands as she hopped and skipped toward them, her chubby ears bobbing as she ran.

Just as joy welled up in his heart, Xu Zhou suddenly felt time slow down, and he realized he had made a mistake.

Wu Lulu's expression, too, changed from cheerful to panic at a visible, slow pace.

Xu Zhou knew he was in deep trouble. He even knew where the danger was coming from, but while his mind was clear, his body couldn't react in time.

Out of the corner of my eye, a grayish-white glint was rapidly magnifying.

Just as he thought he was about to be hit on the head, a tremendous force suddenly came from behind, shoving him forward violently.

A sharp whooshing sound whistled past his ear, and his perception of time suddenly returned to normal. Without hesitation, Xu Zhou summoned the iron golem before even landing.

He arched his body and turned his head to look back in mid-air.

The butler's jaw was agape at an unbelievable angle, like a dislocated snake, with a thick, sharp, grayish-white bone protruding from his mouth.

The bone spurs extended several meters, piercing Lanzhi's shoulder and pinning her firmly to the wall.

The metal giant appeared out of thin air and delivered a simple, unadorned punch that shattered the bone spikes. Then, with another punch, it sent the butler flying, his figure shooting straight into the depths of the opposite corridor.

A heavy impact came from afar, accompanied by a muffled thud like a rubber ball bursting.

At the same moment the iron golem knocked the butler away, Wu Lulu, empowered by her supernatural abilities, rushed forward, her force so great that it even shattered the bandage on her left arm.

She grabbed Xu Zhou's shoulder, her eyes wide open, her gaze quickly scanning up and down, her ears pressed tightly to the sides of her head, clearly terrified.

"Xu Zhou, how are you!?"

"I'm fine."

Xu Zhou gently patted Wu Lulu's head, then turned back to look at Lan Zhi with a complicated expression.

Lan Zhi was leaning against the wall, her wine-red clothes stained even darker with blood. She held the remaining grayish-white bone spur in her hands, her face pale and stiff, but she still managed to force a smile at Xu Zhou.

That smile contained both unwavering resilience in the face of pain and the pride of celebrating victory.

She used her stand-in's arm to slap Xu Zhou away, but due to her poor positioning, she was unable to avoid the crucial blow.

Xu Zhou took a deep breath, nodded his chin at Wu Lulu, and the latter stepped forward without saying a word, grabbed the bone spur, and pulled it out sharply.

Lanzhi couldn't help but let out a muffled groan, her whole body sweating from the pain.

Wu Lulu wouldn't administer anesthesia to strangers, and now she no longer needed to hide her skills. Her movements were skillful and efficient as she directly treated the wound.

Lanzhi gritted her teeth and trembled all over, but she really endured it without saying a word.

Xu Zhou admitted that he had indeed underestimated this woman.

He thought he had the other party completely under his control, but unexpectedly, the other party still seized this opportunity, leaving him indebted to them.

"Being able to associate with someone destined for greatness shows that you are indeed very good at betting."

Xu Zhou said something seemingly out of the blue, but the deeper meaning behind it was clear to both of them.

"Little brother, your sister Lanzhi has seen plenty of men in her life." Lanzhi's voice was weak, but still carried a faint smile. "Young men like you who seem selfish on the surface but are actually very loyal, I had my share of them when I was young."

These words struck a chord with Xu Zhou. He couldn't ignore Lan Zhi's selfless rescue, even though he knew she had ulterior motives.

This distinct emotionality is a personal trait etched into his very being, and cannot be easily changed no matter what.

Honestly, if he were in Lan Zhi's position at the time, he probably wouldn't have been able to be so decisive.

Xu Zhou shook his head, picked up the treasure vault key from the ground, and seeing that there were no special instructions on it, put it in his pocket. Then he looked at Lan Zhi again.

"I'll remember this favor."

Lanzhi smiled contentedly. She was actually a little apprehensive, but this time she had finally made the right bet.

She looked up at the metal giant with its red eyes, her throat bobbing slightly as she felt grateful for her good fortune once again.

She couldn't possibly have blocked the punch the iron golem threw at the butler; she would have probably exploded into a bloody mist on the spot.

Knowing that Xu Zhou possesses such a powerful weapon, it would be the most foolish choice to become his enemy.

At this moment, Lanzhi had already made up her mind that once she returned to Haojia's side, she would do everything she could to prevent the two sides from clashing again.

"What kind of destined woman is she? Is she more important than my life?"

Wu Lulu carried a medical kit with her, and the treatment was completed quickly. After simple suturing, Lanzhi's wound stopped bleeding.

His upper body was wrapped in bandages, which made movement somewhat inconvenient.

The three of them had just relaxed and thought the crisis was over when a sharp, piercing roar suddenly erupted from the end of the corridor.

"Gaaaaaaahh ...

Wu Lulu stood at the forefront with her spear, Lan Zhi drew two substitute arms from her back, and Xu Zhou protected the iron puppet in front of him. The three of them were ready for battle.

The corridor was dimly lit by candlelight, and the view seemed endless. Suddenly, three white dots appeared from afar and grew rapidly larger.

Whoosh whoosh!

Wu Lulu brandished her spear, deflecting the bone spikes that were heading towards her and Xu Zhou with two clangs. Lan Zhi then used her substitute arm to slam against the wall, barely avoiding the last one with the force of the impact.

"Gaaaaaaahh ...

A piercing roar echoed through the corridor once more, and the floor beneath their feet suddenly trembled violently as a massive, gray-white silhouette rapidly approached from the depths of the corridor.

Upon closer inspection, they discovered that it was an undead monster pieced together from several enormous bones.

Resembling an enlarged ant, its entire body is covered in the grayish-white color characteristic of aged skeletons. Several flat, slender bony spines stand upright on its back, and more than ten thin bony limbs extend from both sides of its body, supporting the massive skeleton as it crawls forward.

Its front end was topped with a jet-black head the size of a washbasin, with eerie blue flames flickering in its empty eye sockets, and it kept emitting mournful screams.

A sense of oppression washed over me.

Xu Zhou sensed something was wrong. The last time he felt this level of pressure was when he witnessed the giant bird descending from the sky, but the bird was already half-dead, while the monster in front of him was full of energy.

"Wululu, let the iron golem try it first!"

Seeing that Wu Lulu was about to step forward with her spear, Xu Zhou quickly spoke up to stop her.

The iron golem sensed the presence of the dark creature and strode forward, heading straight for the skeletal behemoth.

Metal has no fear of death, only the determination to annihilate the enemy.

"Xu, Xu Zhou, should we run first?"

With her companions not by her side, Lanzhi felt quite uncertain.

She was more worried that she would become bait left behind by Xu Zhou when he ran away. She had seen similar situations many times, and she had even done it herself.

However, the closer Xu Zhou got to danger, the clearer his mind became.

The butler's outburst gave him a flash of inspiration, and his thoughts gradually became clearer. In a daze, a sudden enlightenment struck him.

"No, we must finish this here!"