After I stopped trying, a rich woman trained me into a demon emperor.

"Your partner... let me tell you something."

"Among the group of people at the Tianjin docks, six were from our village, one of them was named..."

The call has ended.

Zhou Ran put his phone away and tossed it aside without even glancing at it again.

He bent down again.

The shadows completely enveloped Xiaorou.

Every word he uttered carried a chilling aura, each syllable carving its way into her very soul.

"From this day forward, you are no longer the Holy Maiden of Black Witch Village."

"You are my messenger dog, kept in southern Xinjiang."

"I'll tell you who to bite, and you'll bite that person."

"Be good, and you'll get a bone to eat."

Zhou Ran pointed his index finger at her brow.

"Disobedient—"

At the fingertip, a purple-gold demonic lotus quietly blooms.

There was no heat at all; instead, a chilling aura pierced to the bone.

It pierced through the skin and flesh, ignored the bones, and directly imprinted itself on Xiaorou's core consciousness.

The Talisman of Life and Death!

"Ugh—!"

Xiao Rou's bones were groaning, and every inch of her flesh and blood wanted to escape from this body.

That wasn't just simple pain.

That was the process of her will, pride, and dignity being forcibly melted by that force and then reshaped according to another person's preferences.

Her body went limp, and she collapsed into her own shadow.

Cold sweat mixed with mud slid down her pale cheeks and dripped into the dust.

She struggled to lift her head, looking up at the man who had utterly shattered her.

In those once venomous eyes, madness and scheming have turned to ashes, leaving only an ultimate reverence.

With her last ounce of strength, she nodded.

He squeezed out a syllable from deep in his throat, a sound filled with excitement and trembling.

"...Woof."

Zhou Ran straightened up and indifferently examined the newly completed piece at his feet.

He dropped a jade slip.

The jade slip was smashed into the muddy water in front of Xiaorou, splashing dirty water all over her face.

"The Yangtze River War will begin next month."

"Take all the remaining fighters in your village and gather them on the outskirts of Jiujiang, hiding them silently."

"I'll tell you to do it, so you'll stab the Pai Sect in the heart from behind."

"The jade slip contains communication array patterns."

Remember, you can't escape, and you won't outlive me even for a moment.

Zhou Ran's voice was devoid of any emotion.

"clear?"

Xiao Rou picked up the jade slip and pressed it tightly to her chest; it was her only divine decree.

"clear."

Her voice returned to calm, a kind of utter obedience born of a broken spine.

Zhou Ran turned around, without uttering a single unnecessary word, and walked straight out of the ruins.

"Wait a moment."

Xiao Rou's voice came from behind.

Zhou Ran didn't stop walking, but slowed down slightly, giving her a chance to ask a question.

"You don't have... "

Is there something superfluous you want to say to me?

wind.

The water seeped into the factory's holes, causing the steel bars to wail and moan.

The only response she received was a cold and distant voice.

"A dog that talks too much nonsense won't live long."

Zhou Ran's figure completely blended into the deep night.

Xiao Rou knelt on the spot for a long time.

Behind her, the twelve witches remained motionless, not daring to breathe.

"Get up, everyone."

Xiao Rou finally stood up, her bare feet stepping on the broken glass. Crimson blood seeped from the soles of her feet, but she felt nothing.

"Holy Maiden, your feet..."

"Return to southern Xinjiang."

She interrupted the snake-faced witch, her voice flat and devoid of any inflection.

"I want all the surviving fighters in the village to come to Jiujiang and await orders."

"But what about the Grand Elder..."

"If the Grand Elder asks..."

Xiao Rou gathered her disheveled black hair and carefully tucked the jade slip into her waistband.

Her eyes, illuminated by the moonlight, gleamed with an inhuman chill.

"Just say that I have found a better master than the Heavenly Demon's Divine Avatar."

......

Two o'clock in the morning.

Jiangcheng, Xiao Family Manor.

Outside the manor, Zhou Ran stopped in his tracks.

It was unusually quiet.

Even the chirping of insects disappeared, and there was a tense atmosphere in the air, making it hard to breathe.

He pushed open the heavy, ornate iron gate.

The soft creak of the door hinges turning was particularly jarring in the silence.

The next instant, two intersecting sword lights tore through the shadows of the hallway, hovering steadily at his neck, one on the left and one on the right.

The sword's edge exuded a chilling aura, carrying the unique resolve of a young girl.

Su Qingwu and Su Qingling, like two female leopards guarding their nest, were breathing rapidly, with fine beads of sweat on their foreheads.

They stayed up all night.

"it's me."

The sword flashed and then disappeared.

Su Qingling's eyes were red and she bit her lip hard to keep from crying out.

"Boss, Qin San has been here."

Su Qingwu's voice was steady, but the slightly trembling sword hilt betrayed her inner thoughts.

"Something's wrong with him, that smell on him..."

Unlike during the day, we didn't let him in.

Zhou Ran's gaze swept across the doorway.

There was a very thin sword mark on the edge of the concrete steps, next to a pool of semi-solidified black liquid.

That's not blood.

It was a sticky substance with a rancid smell of engine oil.

"The bodily fluids of the Gu puppet."

He squatted down, picked up a small amount with his fingertips, and gently crushed it.

"You made your move?"

"He...he seemed normal when he started knocking."

Su Qingling's voice trembled with lingering fear.

"Later, when he said he wanted to check Sister Xiao's room, his voice changed and didn't sound human."

His sister thrust her sword at him, and he…

He just fell apart.

"It turned into a pile of dried-up parts."

Su Qingwu added.

Zhou Ran stood up.

"It was handled very well."

He repeated it again, emphasizing it.

"very good."

Su Qingling felt a lump in her throat and finally couldn't hold back any longer, hurriedly wiping away her tears with her sleeve.

Zhou Ran walked into the manor and went straight to push open the door to the master bedroom.

Xiao Hongli remained asleep, her breathing deep and even. Her face was healthy and rosy after the Gu poison was completely gone. Her extremely Yin constitution had become even purer after this cleansing.

He closed the door, sank into the living room sofa, shutting out all the noise from the outside world.

The call connected on the phone.

"Has Xiaorou's intelligence arrived?"

"We've arrived. All six hidden stakeouts have been located. Tianjin is closing in."

Chen Ya paused for a moment, her voice tinged with surprise.

"Why is that crazy woman suddenly being so cooperative?"

"I got a new dog."

There was a full three seconds of silence on the other end of the phone.

"...Fine, whatever makes you happy."

"I'll wrap things up in the capital within three days. As for Hongli..."

"She's in Jiangcheng, she's fine."

You should focus on managing the capital.

Zhou Ran interrupted her.

"In a while, I will be moving the training schedule."

The Tianjin waterway must be restored within 48 hours, doubling its freight capacity.

Time is a bit tight.

"...Okay, give me two and a half days."

The phone hangs up.

Night fell again.

The Su sisters leaned against the corner of the corridor, clutching their swords, and fell into a deep sleep in extreme exhaustion.

Zhou Ran closed his eyes, his consciousness sinking into his sea of ​​consciousness.

Within his sea of ​​consciousness, Ye Futian, who was pinned down by one hundred and eight Soul-Suppressing Nails, suddenly roared violently.

"Little beast!

What the hell is on you?!

The old devil's voice was full of vigilance and disgust.

"Be specific."

"That golden elixir..."

No, it's not the Golden Core!

The remnant soul of the Night Bearer trembled incessantly.

"It's the Qilin bone from your left arm!"

What did it resonate with tonight?!

"This smell..."

It's so ancient, so old that even I thought it was extinct...

Zhou Ran opened his eyes, his purple-gold pupils calm and still.

"What's that aura?"

Ye Futian remained silent for a long time.

So long that Zhou Ran thought he was faking his death again.

An ancient, almost forgotten word was squeezed out with difficulty from the depths of his lingering soul.

"Dragon Corpse".

For the first time, the old devil's voice carried a genuine sense of solemnity.

"You are tainted by the death aura of a dragon's corpse."