In the darkness, Zhang Taiying transformed into a giant and was on a crazed and relentless pursuit of Xu Xiaoshou.

He jumped and hopped between every step and got closer to Xu Xiaoshou, who was weaker than he ever had been.

The humongous body of the giant leaped into the air and landed on one arm. It summoned Ye Xiaotian's Hand of Ripping Heaven and completely squashed Xu Xiaoshou with its hands.

"Whoa!"

Xu Xiaoshou jerked awake and straightened his body on his bed.

Woosh!

Mu Zixi, who was trying to change the warm towels, stood stunned at the headboard of the bed. Before Xu Xiaoshou could move, she immediately tilted her head back in defense.

Her expectations rang true. A strong gust of wind swept across the room.

If she had moved a little slower, her forehead would have been shattered on the spot by the wind.

"Clang!"

The basin of hot water was flipped over. The hot water was sent flying out of the container.

Xin Gugu already had the experience of hot water and pond water pouring down on him. He was too familiar with this scene. With a shake of his head, he transformed into a puddle of blood water and slipped away.

"Ho–"

The air was silent.

Xu Xiaoshou was dazed.

The two before him and the scene that unfolded gave Xu Xiaoshou a moment of deja vu.

"Xu Xiaoshou!"

Mu Zixi called out angrily with her arms on her hips. "You are trying to launch another sneak attack again, aren't you?"

Xin Gugu smiled and appeared in a human form carrying a smug expression on his face.

"Gotcha!"

Xu Xiaoshou stared silently.

He was rather speechless, but he was guilty as charged. However, the peaceful environment had warmed him up on the inside and smoothed his mood after waking up from the nightmare.

"Did you two stay up all night again?"

Xu Xiaoshou looked out the window. It was daytime. The two must have stayed within this room for the whole night again.

He was not anyone of any significance, so he wondered why they had to be so committed and concerned for him.

His thoughts wandered. He wondered if he had done something wrong that warranted this behavior from them.

He lifted his blanket and looked down.

It was a relief that his pants were still on.

He focused his vision. Something was different.

Someone had changed his pants.

Xin Gugu rubbed his eyes. "Did you see what you did last night?" He yawned and asked, "How could I leave you?"

"If someone had attacked or assassinated you while I left, what then?"

Xu Xiaoshou looked up quizzically. "Not necessarily."

Xin Gugu laughed coldly. "That's what I thought too, but you..."

He had followed along Xu Xiaoshou's journey as a form of assistance, but he never imagined he would become a bodyguard and how much pressure this would put on his mental state.

The young man was a simple person of the Innate stage, yet all of his enemies were people of the Sovereign Stage. All of his battles were with Sovereigns too.

It was a rather stressful and terrifying life to keep up with.

"How is Greedy the Cat Spirit? Is he alright?' Xin Gugu asked with worry.

Xu Xiaoshou gave Yuan Mansion a peek. The giant white cat was lying on the ground. It was unable to hold itself up.

"It's alright. It's in more comfort than you are right now, almost at the height of luxury. No, wait. It is at the height of luxury."

Xin Gugu did not get the subtle message behind Xu Xiaoshou's words, but the plain words were enough to let him heave a sigh of relief.

His greatest fear was that Xu Xiaoshou had destroyed Yuan Mansion and threatened the safety of Greedy the Cat Spirit.

Now that he knew all was well, he did not need to guard for much longer.

There were no Sovereigns who caught up and attacked them during the night. The Zhang family would have less inclination to attack during the day.

"I'm going."

He waved his hands and covered his mouth as he yawned. He was going to catch up on the sleep he had missed.

Xu Xiaoshou glanced toward Mu Zixi. Although he had not seen the girl for a few days, it felt like seasons had passed since they last met.

Her face was one he was familiar with, yet it felt so distant.

The long battles she had fought in the past two days did not seem to suit her adorable features.

"How long have I slept?" Xu Xiaoshou asked.

"Not long. It's just one night this time. The duration of your rests are getting shorter."

Mu Zixi's eyes had a particular look in them.

Honestly speaking, she quite liked it when Xu Xiaoshou was injured.

The scent of his body after an injury was truly heavenly.

Any injury on the body required life force to patch up the physical form, so it was hard to let go of and be nonchalant about.

Therefore, she was never able to stay away from Xu Xiaoshou every time he had himself and continuously tended to him.

Her worries were a natural reason, but she would be lying if attraction was not one of the factors as well.

Mainly it was worry. That was the factor that motivated her the most.

Xu Xiaoshou looked at the strange expression on her face and picked up the bronze mirror on the table. His face was in good shape.

"What's wrong?"

"Do I look extra good today?"

Mu Zixi looked at him in silence.

Cursed, Passive Points +1.

Without a word, she blushed and left the room.

"Oi!"

Xu Xiaoshou called out. He felt strange when the girl did not reply.

There was something very off about the situation, but he could not put a finger on what it was.

He thought he might have spoken less than usual this time.

Xu Xiaoshou eyed the notification banner. The Cursed notification remained amongst the banners.

'Was my intuition wrong?'

He stroked his chin in thought. The situation was hard for him to understand.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to him. His pupils lit up.

'Wait… Does this girl like me?'

Coming to that conclusion, Xu Xiaoshou grabbed the bronze mirror again.

'Huh, but it's not like I got handsome overnight...'

'That's impossible!'

He quietly put down the mirror and closed the compact with a wave of his hand.

'They all left, and I wanted to share the joy with them...'

Xu Xiaoshou reached into his chest. He transformed into a bright spot of light and disappeared from the spot.

...

In Yuan Mansion…

The Chaos Space remained filled with grey and murky fog. Within them was a thick and vigorous life force that unfurled itself from the fog with unstoppable energy and force.

The newly dug spirit pond had immediately transformed overnight. The vitality spiritual energy it contained had almost doubled.

Xu Xiaoshou was in for a shock when he got closer to the pond.

The spirit fishes had jumped excitedly above the surface of the spirit pond. It was as if they had all been shot with steroids. They jumped and flopped with intense vigor.

If the fish were to keep up the pace, they would have been able to launch themselves into the sky and the moon sooner or later.

"Oh my, isn't this a bit too much?"

He had never stayed in Yuan Mansion for a particularly long period of time.

However, he understood the moment he laid his eyes on the scene.

The overwhelming vitality spiritual energy was not necessarily a good thing. If an ordinary person stumbled across the place, that person would have exploded on the spot within a day or two.

Even worse, the person would have suffocated to their doom.

The thought sent a shiver down Xu Xiaoshou's spine.

'Yuan Mansion is much more dangerous than I thought.'

'However, I can't waste the vitality spiritual energy. I should only use it, though that sounds dangerous too. Like growing spiritual herbs...'

The money-making prospect lit Xu Xiaoshou's eyes up.

A vitality spiritual energy of this level would accelerate the growth of spiritual herbs by more than 10 or even a hundred times in comparison to the outside world.

'If I plant them, would they evolve to become spiritual creatures?'

Xu Xiaoshou thought hard about the decision. His eyes were locked onto the flopping and overly enthusiastic spiritual fishes.

'Cooking Expert, piranha, dryads... or something like them?'

He was dumbstruck by the combination. He was convinced and ready to transform Yuan Mansion into a horror theme park.

In future encounters with enemy forces, he could invite them into Yuan Mansion for a fight or as a guest.

Bringing a guest into this dangerous place would make the battle easier for him.

"Heh. That girl Mu Zixi might like this place too," Xu Xiaoshou commented with a laugh. "I should invite her over when she's free."

"She might like it so much that she doesn't want to leave..."

Xu Xiaoshou was lost in his happy thoughts as he picked up the drunken white cat from Yuan Mansion.

"Wake up!"

He inhaled and sucked the excessive life force out from the cat's body. The cat's white eyes returned to normal.

"Meow."

The meow was low. There was a deep-seated fear in its tone.

"Go play on your own," Xu Xiaoshou said with a smile. "You can't stay in Yuan Mansion forever, but you can stay here for the time being."

"The life force in Yuan Mansion is too strong too. Use this as a transition."

The white cat determinedly tried to prop up its body.

However, its four legs went in different directions. None of them were moving in sync under his command. The cat lose power in its legs and collapsed onto the ground.

"You got this!"

Xu Xiaoshou raised his fist encouragingly and gestured to the spirit pond. "Your reward is over there!"

Fish jumped out from the pond full of life. The cat's eyes glimmered at the sight of them. It struggled for a while, but it remained sprawling on the ground without strength.

Xu Xiaoshou ignored the Greedy the Cat Spirit and retrieved Aje from his chest. Aje formed into a human form as he emerged.

This was his territory, so all the tricks and secrets had revealed themselves to him one by one.

"Ma Ma..."

Aje tilted its head and called out.

Waving his hand, Xu Xiaoshou turned toward the ruined remains of the four-story tower close to the spirit pond.

"Come on, let's go treasure hunting!"