Fifth Master Liu

It was dusk.

In the clear sky,

only a few crimson clouds drifted by.

They resembled relief carvings of galloping horses.

On the banks of Little Turtle River in Tianjin City's western suburbs stood an imposing four-story luxury villa.

In truth, judging by the estate's size,

it was less a villa than a castle.

As far as the eye could see, the suburban villa

was surrounded by dense woods.

It looked particularly gloomy.

According to regulations set by the local government, all land within a two-kilometer radius belonged to the villa's owner.

Dense barbed-wire fences

guarded the territory, keeping outsiders away.

Within the estate,

there were also many kennels.

Each of them housed over a hundred Tibetan mastiffs.

As for those living nearby,

they were all farmers who grew vegetables.

They did not dare approach the fences.

All they knew was that a wealthy family named Liu lived in the villa and had made a fortune breeding Tibetan mastiffs.

Zhou Xiao'an, whom the Liu siblings had brought back, was currently lying on a sofa in the Liu Family villa's reception hall.

His consciousness was hazy, and he could not open his eyes.

Only his ears, through the fog in his mind, heard an old man and a middle-aged man talking.

"Zhou Xiao'an's wounds can no longer heal on their own. That means the Corpse Ancestor is no longer inside him."

"Did this boy really enter a Divine Relic?"

"Hehe! There can be no mistake..."

"Our informant in Bureau 107 is reliable."

"If he had not been protected by the Corpse Ancestor..."

"How could he have entered a Divine Relic and survived?"

"Do you think... he might have already grasped the power of the Serpent God Treasure Ring?"

"That can't be right! If he could use the legendary Serpent God Armor, Liu Shuangshuang could never have stabbed him."

"Maybe he hasn't fully mastered it yet..."

"Or perhaps he still can't use it freely."

"That is possible!"

As he listened to their conversation, Zhou Xiao'an thought:

Who are these people talking?

The Serpent God Armor they mentioned... could it be

the snake scales that once grew on my body?

Zhou Xiao'an wanted to open his eyes and see

who the speakers were.

But his body would not obey him.

Neither asleep nor awake, he drifted in a daze.

All he could see was darkness.

Then, a new voice joined in:

"Dad, Grandpa, since Zhou Xiao'an is unconscious right now, and the Corpse Ancestor isn't inside him either."

"Why don't we just take the Serpent God Treasure Ring off his hand and wear it ourselves? Wouldn't that make us powerful?"

Though Zhou Xiao'an's body was not under his control,

his ears still worked.

Thus, Zhou Xiao'an recognized the voice.

It should have belonged to that bastard Fatty Liu.

He could not help cursing inwardly: You dead fatso! If you've got the guts, you should've worn it yourself back then!

Why the hell did you use me as an experiment!

"Fugui! You're truly muddleheaded! Only our Corpse Ancestor, Di Xin, is qualified to wear the Serpent God Treasure Ring!"

"If the Corpse Ancestor truly wanted to take the ring from this boy, he would have done so long ago! Since he didn't, the old master must have his reasons."

"How can we descendants act recklessly!"

Zhou Xiao'an guessed that the elderly voice

probably belonged to Fatty Liu's grandfather.

"Hmph! Liu Fugui! You think you're so clever!"

"Your grandfather was right!"

"We still need him to search for Star City."

The one speaking now was Fatty Liu's father.

After a pause, he continued:

"Shuangshuang, spit out one of the Crimson Mountain Corpse Gu you refined in your stomach."

"Then feed it to this brat!"

"Dad! I've refined those for ten years!"

"Why should I give one to that Rambutan for free?"

Liu Shuangshuang spoke in a coquettish tone upon hearing this.

"Hehe! Your Crimson Mountain Corpse Gu can turn a person into a corpse just like a Corpse Pill, and it can also control whoever consumes it."

"Zhou Xiao'an may not sincerely wish to join the Corpse Tribe. Only this way can we make him truly work for us."

Liu Fugui's father spoke to Liu Shuangshuang with a sinister air.

Zhou Xiao'an was instantly horrified when he heard this, and inwardly cursed:

Fuck! I've had enough. I'm not letting you venomous bastards plant a gu in me!

Then he tried to struggle again.

But his body

still could not move at all.

He thought of activating the power of the ring on his hand again, only to discover in despair

that he could not use it at all now.

At that moment, he was like a wild bull trapped in a dark swamp, able only to quietly await whatever fate had in store.

Soon after, he felt Liu Shuangshuang's small hand roughly pry open his mouth.

Then her finger extended again

and shoved something the size of a marble

straight into his stomach.

After that terrifying thing entered his stomach, his body began to writhe.

Not long after,

amid wave after wave of agonizing pain,

Zhou Xiao'an lost consciousness once more!

Just then, a knock sounded outside the main door, one that Fifth Master Liu found familiar.

Fifth Master Liu immediately had a rough idea.

It was probably that strange old man Hai Bodong again, showing up uninvited.

Seeing this, Fifth Master Liu did not bother hiding anything and directly told the servant beside him

to bring Hai Bodong in from outside.

"Hehe! Fifth Master Liu!"

"I came uninvited this time!"

"I hope you won't take offense!"

After entering the reception hall and seeing Fifth Master Liu, Hai Bodong was the first to speak with a smile.

"Hehe! It's good enough that Elder Hai came!"

"I told you long ago, as long as you're willing, the doors of the Liu Family will always be open to you!"

Fifth Master Liu replied with a smile.

"Fine. Then I won't stand on ceremony this time!"

After saying that, Hai Bodong did not wait for Fifth Master Liu to say more.

He directly used the unique method of the Divine Blood People

to condense an energy mass in his right hand, formed around a small number of Divine Blood particles.

"This is..." Fifth Master Liu, standing nearby, saw this.

Although he had known about it for a long time, he still pretended to know nothing as he spoke.

"Hehe! Fifth Master Liu!"

"At a time like this,"

"stop playing dumb with me!"

"I'll tell you the truth! This is a special ability that only Divine Blood People like me can use!"

Seeing the old man Fifth Master Liu

still pretending to be clueless,

Hai Bodong spoke bluntly.

However, Fifth Master Liu was an old hand after all!

In response to Hai Bodong's questioning,

Fifth Master Liu had no intention of saying anything further.

He merely pointed at Zhou Xiao'an, who was sleeping on the sofa nearby, then said to Hai Bodong in a low voice, "Hehe! How about this? If you want to know more secrets about this world, then from now on..."

"Spend more time following this boy and take a good look for yourself!"

"As for what I know, when the time comes for you to know it, I will naturally tell you!"

Hearing this, Hai Bodong could not say much else. He merely glanced at Zhou Xiao'an, who lay sleeping on the sofa in the reception hall.

Then, under Fifth Master Liu's arrangements,

he began cultivating his battle qi in one of the Liu Family's guest rooms.

After all, Fifth Master Liu had no obligation to tell him the secrets about this world that he knew.

Before this,

Hai Bodong and Fifth Master Liu had gotten along rather well.

Therefore, even though Fifth Master Liu had not said so openly, Hai Bodong had no intention of pursuing the matter any further.