Fifty-six, the old man has disappeared.

"Achoo!" Su Wan sneezed fiercely.

She rubbed her nose. "How odd, I’m not even coming down with a cold."

"The weather's been getting colder these days; you should put on an extra layer," came the old man's voice from the side.

Su Wan nodded. "I know. But you should take care of yourself, too."

The old man lay in bed flipping through a book. "I spend all day lying here. I hardly need to."

Su Wan picked up the basin of water and walked into the bathroom. "I think..."

So I quietly went to inquire about his situation and found out that his family circumstances were truly dire. His parents had passed away early, and he'd been living with his uncle’s family. His uncle already had many children, and if it weren't for his good grades and the teachers’ repeated home visits, his uncle would have made him drop out of school long ago.

Liu Qitian cheered loudly, "Aunt Lan, you’re amazing!" The others all shouted in unison, "Aunt Lan, you’re amazing!"—even though most of them were older than Yi Lan. Yi Lan smiled sweetly and waved at everyone.

The vague shadow of Tang Jiao had completely disappeared, and as Tang Zhen turned around, tears rolled down his cheeks in large drops.

When she reached the doorway, she didn't forget to turn back with a cold sneer. "Yuan Ziling, just you wait." With that, she strode out the door.

"Daye..." Seeing Xing Daye's mood suddenly drop, Xia Ranmo knew he must have thought of Lan Yumo again. But after calling his name, she could think of nothing to say to comfort him, and could only look at him with concern—after all, that was a truly sorrowful story.

As for Li Feng, after transforming into his demonic form, he seemed completely unharmed. Clearly, this new form made him even stronger and more domineering than Dante.

"This barrier—I can barely even sense the energy fluctuations on it... Truly worthy of a senior!" Liu Piaocheng praised as he reached out to touch the smooth stone wall. Aside from the faint, powerless ripple, he felt nothing. Liu Piaocheng pressed harder, a flicker of blue light flashing across his face, but the stone wall remained utterly untouched.

Upon entering the City of Exile, a bleak atmosphere swept over them. There were shops lining the streets, but not a single pedestrian in sight, and the whole city was shrouded in a ghostly aura, making one's skin crawl.

Deep within the cave, a surging power seemed to be suppressed, yet on the verge of breaking free. It thrummed with a buzzing sound of delight, as if the entire Tianzhu Mountain was trembling.

Liu Qitian hadn't even had the chance to tease her when Yilian spoke, "Lina hasn’t said a word yet! And you call yourself a man." Yilian knew in her heart how difficult this must be for a mage, so she carried Lina on her back. Lina, already spent, didn’t refuse.

With a violent explosion, a black figure was flung from the blast, crashing headfirst into the ground not far away. At this moment, Zhou Tong’s face no longer held any composure; he looked somewhat disheveled, but apart from a few minor injuries, he was fine.

Chen Zhuolin nodded, gesturing for the servants to lead the way, and then he and Wen Weizhi went off together to attend the meeting.

Wen Aniu said, "So what if you can see it? I heard those flying fans whoosh and the screams..." Before he could finish, Zhao Lingling spat a mouthful of saliva right into his mouth, choking him silent.

Around him, countless motes of dust drifted visibly in the air. He seemed like the master of this room; everything around, even the dust, circled around him.

As for over in Fujian, on the construction sites, they offer pig heads as sacrifices to the mountain god. There’s a certain custom passed down by word of mouth there.

Ever since Xiao Yu came aboard, the helmsmen had felt an unbearable sense of oppression. They wished fervently for him to leave as soon as possible.

Though in this world it’s rare to find someone truly ugly, occasionally there is one whose ugliness is truly earth-shattering. Take Sai Jiuhua of Wangyue City, for instance—her body is shaped like a meatball, her huge teeth jut out beyond her lips, her eyes are like mung beans, her face is pockmarked, her head is round as a millstone with enormous ears. Altogether, she looks like a snowman that's been ruined.