"Lord Wang."
Chen Zhuo released his hand, calmly tucked the Inheritance Manual back into his clothes, then expressionlessly cupped his hands in greeting.
"Master Chen, you certainly seem to be enjoying yourself."
Before Registrar Wang could speak, Huang Yuan'er suddenly stepped out from behind him, sizing Chen Zhuo up with a faint, mocking smile.
Chen Zhuo said nothing. Instead, his gaze shifted to the half-gray-haired middle-aged man standing beside Huang Yuan'er.
The man bore some resemblance to Huang Yuan'er. His back was extraordinarily broad, as if he had two fleshy wings growing from it.
"Demon aura..."
Chen Zhuo's nostrils twitched. He seemed to catch a whiff of blood and rot.
No, there were two demon auras!
The rot came from the middle-aged man, while the bloody smell came from Huang Yuan'er.
"Changed his demon blood, has he..."
Chen Zhuo's gaze fell on Huang Yuan'er, but he looked away almost at once.
One glance was all it took.
A row of whiskers had appeared on Huang Yuan'er's formerly smooth face. He looked much older, but there was something more demonic in his eyes.
How interesting. He could have been a decent man, but instead he chose to be a beast...
"I'm just an ordinary nobody, and I can't even truss a chicken. I'm only fit to work in the kitchen, so naturally I can't compare to Squad Leader Huang, who's busy from dawn to dusk."
Chen Zhuo gave Huang Yuan'er's teasing no quarter.
Even with Wang Mingyuan standing nearby, he wasn't the least bit intimidated.
Since the two of them were already sworn enemies, there was no need to hold back—not even with their words.
"You..."
Huang Yuan'er was left speechless, his expression turning particularly ugly.
Registrar Wang abruptly cut in, changing the subject. "Did you go to the Ghost Market yesterday?"
Chen Zhuo gave a slight nod, not at all surprised.
Three "important figures" had come together to find him. It could only be about that house.
"Heh..."
Registrar Wang let out a cold laugh, his face darkening as he stepped aside. He asked nothing more.
He had moved away, but his gaze remained fixed on Chen Zhuo's face without the slightest attempt to hide it.
After replacing his blood, Chen Zhuo had attained the Stainless Body. His skin was even smoother and finer than before. Feeling Registrar Wang's burning stare, a murderous urge suddenly stirred in his heart.
Old bastard...
"My name is Huang Tiansheng, and I'm the second-in-command of the Long River Gang."
As he introduced himself, the middle-aged man strode toward Chen Zhuo.
"The Long River Gang?"
Chen Zhuo asked with feigned confusion.
Huang Tiansheng gave a slight nod and stopped only when he reached Chen Zhuo.
Chen Zhuo kept his gaze level, tilting his head slightly. "The Long River Gang... What's that got to do with me?"
At his words, Huang Yuan'er gave a cold laugh. But before he could speak, Huang Tiansheng spoke first.
He smiled faintly. "I wonder why you bear such deep hostility toward the Long River Gang, young brother. If we've done anything wrong, I hope you'll forgive us."
Chen Zhuo glanced at Huang Tiansheng in surprise, then swept his gaze over Huang Yuan'er and chuckled.
"Hostility? I'm just a cook. You're joking, Second-in-Command."
Compared with Huang Yuan'er, Huang Tiansheng was far more seasoned.
"Hahaha... It's all a misunderstanding. When the Long River Gang does business, we believe in making money through peace and harmony."
Huang Tiansheng laughed heartily, then seemingly casually patted Chen Zhuo on the shoulder.
Chen Zhuo didn't dodge.
Not because he couldn't have, but because the rotting smell he'd caught just now had somehow appeared on his own body without his noticing.
Right at the back of his neck.
The next moment, he felt a faint prickling pain there.
It was as if some foreign object were forcing its way into his flesh.
Without his Stainless Body, he never would have noticed.
The Immaculate Body could bear not even a feather, nor let a fly or bug alight upon it.
As the forty-eight thousand pores across his body opened and closed, each one was his "eye."
"Second-in-Command is right. Harmony brings—"
Chen Zhuo had a vague idea what that foreign object was.
Without changing expression, he tightened his skin, trapping the object between the layers. He played along with Huang Tiansheng, but before he could finish his sentence, his eyes went vacant.
He seemed to turn into a wooden puppet.
Registrar Wang cast him a curious look. As he pondered, a strange smile of desire crept unconsciously across his face.
Huang Yuan'er's expression was ugly. Murderous intent suddenly flared in his heart, and his body instinctively shifted half a step forward—only for him to stop himself at once.
"Don't touch him."
Huang Tiansheng glanced behind him. When he turned back, the smile had gradually faded from his face, and a cold sneer tugged at his lips.
"Did you go to that hidden house in the center of the Ghost Market? Did you kill Zhou Sheng inside?"
"No."
He really hadn't?
Huang Tiansheng glanced at Huang Yuan'er, then furrowed his brow and thought for a moment. Still unwilling to give up, he asked, "Then what did you do at the Ghost Market yesterday?"
Like a wooden man, Chen Zhuo answered word by word.
"I used the excuse of going shopping to visit the Ghost Market and buy Demon Blood from Old Blind Man."
Demon Blood?
At those two words, it wasn't only Huang Tiansheng who was taken aback.
The other two were equally shaken.
In their eyes, someone like Chen Zhuo, a White-Uniform Runner, was no different in status from a country bumpkin.
In this day and age, Demon Blood was an outstanding aid to martial cultivation. Yet most low-level martial artists knew only of pills such as Blood Vitality Pills, brewed from herbs and plants.
How had a mere White-Uniform Runner even heard of Demon Blood?
"It seems this fellow has stumbled into another opportunity."
After a moment's thought, Registrar Wang looked at Chen Zhuo with a different light in his eyes.
Before, it had been desire. This time, it was greed.
"No wonder he had the nerve to oppose me. Turns out he's been accepting alms from someone."
Huang Yuan'er sneered again and again.
Huang Tiansheng furrowed his brow. Chen Zhuo's answer had surprised him, but it still wasn't what he wanted to hear.
He asked again, "While you were buying Demon Blood, did you go anywhere else?"
Chen Zhuo answered woodenly, "I did."
"Where?"
Huang Tiansheng's breathing grew a little quick.
"I went to the latrine three times, bought two big steamed buns, and bought three fish..."
Chen Zhuo spilled out every trivial detail, one after another, like a running account.
"Enough!"
Huang Tiansheng shouted, finally stopping Chen Zhuo's rambling.
After a moment's thought, he decided to ask in a different way.
"When you went to buy Demon Blood, were you secretly planning to do something big?"
"Yes."
At this answer, Huang Tiansheng broke into an excited grin.
"Good. Then tell me: was this big thing going to involve killing someone or rescuing some girls?"
This time, Chen Zhuo didn't answer right away. Instead, he stiffly strode over to Huang Yuan'er.
As the three of them watched in confusion, Chen Zhuo suddenly raised a hand and slapped Huang Yuan'er across the face.
With a sharp smack, five finger marks appeared on one side of Huang Yuan'er's face.
As he stared in a daze, another slap rang out.
The other side of his face suffered the same fate.
"This is the big thing I wanted to do."
Huang Yuan'er's eyes widened in disbelief as he felt the burning pain in his face.
After a moment of stunned silence, a burst of rage surged through Huang Yuan'er and shot straight to his crown. The fury twisted his round face out of shape.
"I'll... kill you!!!"
Before you continue