As he left the meeting room, Yuan Ting exhaled deeply, feeling the pressure lift from his shoulders.

The young master of the Fu family was someone beyond reach, in terms of either his personal power level or his prestigious family background. Instead of seeing him as just some rich second-generation heir, anyone who came face to face with him would inevitably feel the same pressure as that of confronting a superior.

Yuan Ting's gaze swept past two bunny girls as they walked by. They were in the prime of their youth, with perfect curves and beautiful faces. The villa housed seven or eight bunny girls, each one a beauty.

Despite being surrounded by gorgeous women, Yuan Ting knew this wealthy young master from a prominent family had no interest in women.

The bunny girls in the villa had already been changed twice over since their introduction. The initial batch of girls who had been recruited thought they'd been given their chance to rise from sparrow to phoenix, and, unable to suppress their restless hearts, they'd tried to seduce the Fu family's young master. All of them had been politely dismissed.

The girls that were in the villa now were much more well-behaved, doing their jobs properly without any unrealistic fantasies. They seemed like a status symbol of sorts, or perhaps Fu Qingyang's personal quirk.

As he slid into his private car and left the villa, Yuan Ting reflected on the information revealed during the meeting. His first priority was to report important intelligence such as the death of Ghost Eye Judge back to the Taiyi Sect.

After attending to his official duties, he sent a message to his friend Jian Ji.

Yuan Ting: Something major happened in Songhai. Ghost Eye Judge is dead. His trusted subordinate Black Wuchang has gone into hiding with the Holy Grail and the Registry.

Jian Ji: I'm so shocked I'm speechless. Ghost Eye Judge died inexplicably, just like that? It's like waking up to find an entire country wiped off the map.

The two exchanged feelings about this development, then worried about what would happen if the Fallen Ones recorded in the Registry collectively lost control.

Jian Ji: What else?

There was more. That Nocturnal Specter who cleared Sheling Tunnel just killed a level 3 Enchanting Demon. But he couldn't say that. If word got out, Elder Sun would kill him.

Yuan Ting's expression twisted slightly as he typed out his message.

Yuan Ting: There's one more piece of news. Just listen and don't spread it around. Elder Sun is truly confused. That Nocturnal Specter he didn't want...

***

A dark bedroom, somewhere in Songhai.

The room lights weren't on. The only illumination came from three candles arranged in a triangle on a table. A red lacquered box was placed in the center of the triangle, with the relief of a strange-looking insect carved on its surface.

A figure wearing a silver mask knelt beside the table. He used a small knife to cut his fingertip, and dark red blood seeped out.

He pressed his bloodied finger to the mouth of the insect, and the insect came to life, greedily sucking the blood as the lacquer on the wooden box grew increasingly crimson.

A sudden gust of wind rose from nowhere. The candles took on a bloody hue, and the scarlet flames shot high, forming a blood-colored vortex above the wooden box.

A cold and imposing voice came from within the red flame vortex.

"What is it?"

"Your subordinate has already released the bait as you instructed," the silver-masked man answered. "The Five Elements Alliance will be searching for Black Wuchang at all costs. However, I cannot guarantee Black Wuchang will continue to hide out in Songhai."

The imposing voice said slowly, "I divined that Black Wuchang is in Songhai. He has to be hiding in Songhai for a reason. That specific reason remains to be verified."

"What else do you need me to do?"

"Secretly cooperate with Five Elements Alliance in searching for Black Wuchang. Report any news immediately. During this period, I'll be in the Spirit Realm and may not be able to respond promptly."

"Do you have a quest?"

"No, I'm searching for Ghost Eye Judge's place of death. Coincidentally, I encountered that person from the Taiyi Sect. Heh, there truly are deeper secrets buried behind Ghost Eye Judge's death."

The voice gradually faded as the blood-colored flame vortex extinguished.

***

Two knocks sounded at the door, followed by Grandma's voice.

"Yuanzi, time for dinner," she called from outside.

There was a certain cheerfulness in her tone, as if she was in a good mood.

Zhang Yuanqing opened his eyes. The bedroom was completely dark, with curtains blocking the light from outside.

He felt refreshed. His energy expenditure from earlier that day had finally been replenished. Too bad it was hard to see the moon in Songhai, otherwise basking in the moonlight would be perfect.

Zhang Yuanqing yawned, put on his cotton slippers, turned the bedroom door handle, and went into the living room.

A rich aroma wafted into his nostrils. The dining table was covered in various dishes: sweet and sour pork, braised pork, roast duck, black chicken soup, asparagus, bamboo shoots, and more.

Grandma wore an apron, bustling about between the living room and kitchen, with his cousin helping out in the kitchen.

Grandpa sat upright on the living room sofa, his graying hair neatly combed, watching TV with complete focus.

At the dining table sat a middle-aged couple—Zhang Yuanqing's uncle and aunt.

His aunt had delicate features and fair skin. Though no longer young, she still maintained herself well. She wore a fitted white dress, and her hair cascaded down her back in waves. There was a touch of petulance in her expression.

Beside his aunt sat a man whose features resembled Chen Yuanjun's quite closely. He wore a purple suit with fitted purple pants and a rose-colored shirt, looking flashy like a young master—no, old master—of a nightclub.

Zhang Yuanqing's uncle was an unreliable person. In his youth, he played in a band. Then, claiming a desire to pursue his dreams and for poetry and distant places, he'd packed his bags, put on bell-bottomed pants, and ran away from home with several "like-minded" friends to become a wandering musician.

A few years after that, he had yet to find his dreams but had been thoroughly beaten down by society. When he returned, bruised and battered, he didn't go out to work. Instead, he carried a boombox around every day, acting like a street punk, dancing wherever he went, either singing karaoke or hanging out with various fair-weather friends.

Of course, young people in the city were all like that in those days—all they did was fool around.

Because he was good looking and had a sugary tongue, he managed to marry a well-off girl. After marriage, he did settle down for a few years, but after his wife gave birth to his son, his true colors quickly revealed themselves again.

He spent all day loafing around. Simply put, he didn't work, just played.

Uncle was very happy to see his successor.

"Yuanzi, did you miss your uncle?" he asked Zhang Yuanqing.

Uncle loved singing, dancing, and rapping. His favorite song was Yo, Yo Check It Out, Gimme A Jianbing Set, which he paired with his own choreography.

Besides Zhang Yuanqing, no one in the family was willing to join in his singing and awkward dancing. As a result his uncle valued Zhang Yuanqing greatly, seeing him as his successor.

He gave his uncle a perfunctory response, then greeted his aunt warmly.

"Uncle brought you a gift," his uncle said.

Zhang Yuanqing's attitude changed completely.

"Oh, my dear uncle, you're finally back!" he crooned, his voice dripping with intense and heartfelt emotion. "Why didn't you tell me in advance? If you'd told me ahead of time, I definitely would have gone to the airport to pick you up, God be my witness!"

Uncle and nephew laughed heartily as they shook hands and bumped shoulders. Uncle put his arm around his successor's shoulder as they sat down.

"Yuanzi, I was traveling abroad recently and specifically learned some rap techniques from chimpanzees. We should add tongue rolls and lip trills when singing to make it more impressive."

Zhang Yuanqing stared at his uncle in amazement. I know about tongue-rolling, but what the hell are lip trills? 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"Amazing!" he exclaimed aloud. "Truly, I have a worthy uncle with such incredible talent. Uncle, I'm short on pocket money lately."

"No problem. Your aunt has money. I'll have her give you some later."

Soon enough, his cousin and grandma brought out the last few dishes and called everyone to eat.

"Why isn't little aunt back yet?" Zhang Yuanqing asked.

"She said there was something going on at the hospital. She'll be back later," grandma replied.

Uncle raised an eyebrow and chuckled, saying, "Hospital business? Or is she on a date with her boyfriend?"

Grandma snorted in response and replied, "I'd thank heaven and earth if that were true. Look at her, she won't get married before she turns thirty. What's wrong with young people these days? Not a single one wants to get married."

Grandma was very dissatisfied with the state of the world.

"Speaking of which, Yuanjun is still single too," said Uncle. "Yuanjun, why don't you bring your boyfriend home for dad to meet sometime?"

The serious and steady cousin was stunned by his father's remark. "What?"

Uncle shrugged. "You're already thirty and still don't have a girlfriend, so dad can only look forward to meeting a boyfriend."

As soon as he'd finished speaking, Grandma rolled up her sleeves, ready to strike down Uncle.

"Mom, mom, I'm just joking!" Uncle protested, doing his best to stop her. "How can you have no sense of humor? Shipping boys together is popular now. Young people really like this stuff."

Aunt kept her head down and continued to eat, saying nothing.

She didn't get along well with her mother-in-law. Harmonious relationships between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationships were exceedingly rare in the world.

Grandma had a fiery temper, while Aunt had a strong personality. One complained her daughter-in-law couldn't do housework, the other complained her mother-in-law was too meddlesome.

When Zhang Yuanqing was still small, his Aunt and Grandma often fought. Whenever those two got into it, Little Aunt would watch the show from the sidelines, munching on sunflower seeds.

Zhang Yuanqing would be the one to mediate, telling them to "please stop fighting" while taking sunflower seeds from Little Aunt's hand.

His cousin would usually be there doing homework while also sharing Little Aunt's sunflower seeds.

At that moment, his cousin looked over and said, "I heard something happened at your school today."

Zhang Yuanqing played dumb.

"Huh? I don't know anything about that. I came home very early to sleep."

Grandma quickly asked what had happened, and Chen Yuanjun briefly explained the news. When Grandma heard that criminals had infiltrated the school, she became even more dissatisfied with the state of the world.

Just then, the front door beeped and opened.

Zhang Yuanqing, sitting at the far end near the entrance, glanced over and saw that his little aunt had returned.

Little Aunt's outfit for the day was an off-shoulder hollow-knit sweater that revealed her round, fair shoulders. She wore a black camisole underneath, with light-colored spring jeans and small white shoes.

Zhang Yuanqing's gaze lingered on her calves, and his eyes suddenly narrowed.

Clinging to Jiang Yu'er's calf was a plump little baby.