Yan Ruyu: What Exactly Does "Husband" Mean?

The Secret of the Past was a method for cultivating the primordial spirit. Once cultivated to a profound level, it could produce vague premonitions of the future and unleash terrifying power in battle.

Lu Zhou remembered that in the original novel Covering the Heavens, the Secret of the Past had first appeared on Wang Teng, the man said to possess Great Emperor Bearing.

Legend had it that it was created by Tribulation Transcending Heavenly Venerate, one of the Nine Heavenly Venerates.

Watching Immoral Taoist's figure gradually vanish from sight, Lu Zhou wondered whether his ability to sign in for the Secret of the Past was related to the man's appearance here at this moment.

Still in that mountain pavilion, Lu Zhou, Yan Ruyu, and Ye Fan sat around a table while beautiful female demons poured them spiritual tea.

After taking a sip of tea, Ye Fan impatiently brought up Pang Bo.

"Is Pang Bo here?"

"How is he now?"

"Is he still himself?"

"Lu Zi."

As he spoke, his gaze shifted from Yan Ruyu to Lu Zhou, and the meaning in his eyes was obvious.

Lu Zhou cut him off directly and said to Ye Fan,

"Pang Bo is fine. Don't worry, he'll be all right. This is also a great opportunity for him!"

Wasn't it a great opportunity indeed!

Though Pang Bo had faced the danger of having his body taken over, he had ultimately survived without incident and obtained both the Demon Emperor Scripture and the Demon Emperor Nine Slashes.

Compared to Ye Fan, who had struggled so much without ever obtaining a complete Emperor Scripture, Pang Bo was simply too lucky!

Seeing Lu Zhou's certainty, Ye Fan's heart finally settled.

Although Lu Zhou seemed somewhat mysterious to Ye Fan, they had fought side by side on Mars and later spent time living under the same roof. Ye Fan still had some understanding of Lu Zhou's character.

He believed Lu Zhou would not harm Pang Bo!

Even so, Ye Fan still asked,

"Can I see Pang Bo?"

Lu Zhou looked toward Yan Ruyu.

Yan Ruyu's red lips parted slightly, her pearly teeth seeming to gleam.

"I did not deceive you before. His current condition is somewhat unstable. He is in seclusion, and I estimate that he cannot be disturbed for the next two years."

Lu Zhou remembered that this seemed to be the case in the original novel as well. Pang Bo's condition had indeed been poor, and it was only after arriving at the Palace of Immortality of the Azure Flood Dragon King in the Northern Region that he had gradually stabilized.

Hearing Yan Ruyu say this, Ye Fan's heart, which had only just settled, rose again. He was worried about Pang Bo.

However, before he could say anything else,

Yan Ruyu looked at Lu Zhou and continued,

"Husband, you just said that the Nineteenth Ancestor was destined to fail and would end up benefiting Pang Bo. You also said that Pang Bo's body was unsuitable for the Nineteenth Ancestor, and that you could provide him with a better body."

"Husband? You two... Lu Zi, you're married?"

It was Ye Fan. He had heard Yan Ruyu call Lu Zhou husband.

He was somewhat shocked. They had only been apart for four years, yet Lu Zhou had actually gotten married—and to such a flawless woman as the Demon Princess!

Lu Zhou nearly cursed aloud.

The instant he heard Ye Fan blurt that out, he decisively swept Ye Fan away with a flick of his sleeve, sending him flying and leaving him hanging from a distant cliff.

After hearing Ye Fan's cry, Yan Ruyu was initially a little dazed. But the next instant, her beautiful eyes fixed directly on Lu Zhou.

"What do you mean, 'you two'? What do you mean, 'married'? What exactly does 'husband' mean?"

She fired three soul-searching questions at Lu Zhou.

At that moment, even if she had been a pig, after hearing Ye Fan's sudden outburst and seeing Lu Zhou send Ye Fan away before he could finish speaking, leaving him hanging from another mountaintop,

she would have understood that the word husband was no ordinary form of address. It had to carry some special meaning.

Lu Zhou had long anticipated that, when he tricked Yan Ruyu into calling him husband, he would inevitably face this situation someday.

He had been mentally prepared for it.

Facing Yan Ruyu's limpid eyes head-on, he said,

"In my hometown, officially speaking, 'husband' is how a wife addresses her own husband. More generally, it is also an affectionate term a woman deeply in love uses for her boyfriend!"

"To put it plainly, I want to marry you. Very much. I've wanted to for a long time!"

Lu Zhou's final words were absolutely the truth. When he had read the original novel Covering the Heavens, he had fantasized about this very thing.

There were simply too many outstanding women in Covering the Heavens: Yan Ruyu, the Jade Pool Saintess, Huo Lin'er, Yao Xi, Yi Qingwu, Xia Jiuyou, An Miaoyi, the Dragon Girl, and some imperial princesses from the Central Continent, among many others.

There were far too many.

In the end, for one reason or another, they either grew old alone or accompanied only the ancient Buddha's lamp before perishing midway through their paths. It was deeply regrettable!

While reading, Lu Zhou had fantasized that if he could one day transmigrate into the world of Covering the Heavens, he would absolutely give those women some warmth.

If they truly had no intention of marrying and wished only to pursue the Dao, Lu Zhou would not force them. But if they ever developed mortal feelings and wished to marry, he would never let them go!

"Ah, you... this..."

Yan Ruyu was flustered, her mind buzzing.

Lu Zhou's two sentences had struck her hard.

As a peerless Goddess famed throughout the Eastern Wasteland, with the added halo of being the Demon Princess, she had never lacked admirers or suitors.

Countless young talents considered marrying her a point of pride.

Yet without exception, although those gifted young men expressed their admiration for her, they were always courteous and never dared act rashly. They did their utmost to display their extraordinary bearing and elegance.

They hoped to win her favor and make her see them in a different light.

It could be said that none of them had been as shameless and direct as Lu Zhou.

They had only known each other for a short while—not even a full day, all told. Yet Lu Zhou had not only tricked her into calling him husband, but now he was directly telling her to her face that he wanted to marry her!

That was truly direct!

It was the first time she had encountered such a situation!

Lu Zhou's burning gaze made Yan Ruyu unable to withstand it.

She averted her eyes, her thoughts in turmoil!

In the end, she suddenly drifted away, leaving behind only four words that reached Lu Zhou's ears on the wind.

"You're so boring."

In the mountain pavilion, Lu Zhou stood with his hands behind his back. Watching Yan Ruyu disappear from view, he smiled!

Shortly afterward, Lu Zhou found Ye Fan in a peach blossom grove, flirting with Qin Yao.

Seeing Lu Zhou appear, Qin Yao bowed to him, then gracefully took the chance to leave.

She knew Lu Zhou was an honored guest of their princess, and Ye Fan's boldness had also left her somewhat unable to cope.

"Not bad, Lu Zi. You actually managed to win over the Demon Princess."

Ye Fan stepped forward and punched Lu Zhou lightly in the chest.

"Don't talk about me. Weren't you getting pretty heated with Qin Yao just now? I even heard someone shamelessly say he wanted to talk to Qin Yao about life and discuss what it meant to be a man."

Lu Zhou smiled and returned the punch to Ye Fan's chest.