“Chen Gang!”

“Chen Gang, are you here?”

Chen Gang’s two brothers had come looking for him.

The sound of their voices instantly ignited a spark of hope in Chen Gang’s heart, and he began to struggle frantically.

He opened his mouth to yell, only to be silenced by a firm hand.

“You want me to capture them as well?” Chu Qiguang threatened menacingly.

Chen Gang stiffened at the threat, and he didn’t dare to struggle any further.

A black dog trotted onto the scene. It had been named Little Black by Qiao Zhi, and it was the same dog that had attacked Wang Cailiang.

It had been recovering from its injuries on the rear mountain this entire time, and it had been brought here today to provide blood for Chen Gang.

Qiao Zhi cut a small incision into Little Black’s back to draw some blood, then force-fed it to Chen Gang before beginning the Heavenly Fiend Foundation Establishment Technique.

To Chen Gang, each paw strike felt like a charging bull slamming into him, and he felt as if his body were about to fall apart. Before long, he lost consciousness.

***

By the time Chen Gang woke up, it was already late at night.

He clambered to his feet in the pitch-black forest, his mind a jumbled mess.

A sense of foreboding welled up in his heart, and he emerged from the undergrowth to stand beneath the cold moonlight. Only then did he realize that his limbs were covered in black fur. When he raised a hand to his face, he found the same black fur covering it as well.

Knowing this, he naturally didn’t dare to go to the Daoist temple. If he did, he would be beaten to death on the spot.

Should I go home then?

Chen Gang was afraid of being seen, so he could only sneak his way back home. Thankfully, it was already late at night, and the entire Wang Clan Village was shrouded in darkness, allowing him to slip by unnoticed.

All the while, Fine Silk and Fish Egg tailed him from a distance, their eyes glowing green in the night.

***

After returning home, Chen Gang didn’t dare to enter the house in his current state, so he remained outside the courtyard and snuck a glance inside.

As soon as he did, he spotted the orange cat laying on the roof of his house, curled up into a ball.

His first instinct was to raise the alarm, but he quickly stopped himself. In his current state, doing that would be a death sentence.

What do I do?

Chen Gang was anxious and terrified, but he was powerless to do anything about the ordinary-looking orange cat.

At that moment, a pair of hands pressed down onto his shoulders, and Chu Qiguang’s gentle voice rang out from behind him.

“What a disobedient little troublemaker you are.”

Chen Gang was horrified, and he wanted to say something, but fear tightened his throat so completely that he couldn't make a sound.

There was a mysterious allure in Chu Qiguang’s voice as he said, “Being born as a human is the greatest fortune in this world. It allows even someone with a will as weak as yours to see the wonders of this world. However, the power of demons and fiends is your true essence. It lies within your flesh and blood, helping you perceive the true nature of this world.”

Chen Gang was deeply unsettled by Chu Qiguang’s seemingly incoherent ramblings, and he asked uneasily, “What do you want?”

Chu Qiguang merely smiled and offered no response.

Before Chen Gang had a chance to say or do anything else, he had lost consciousness once again.

***

When Chen Gang woke up, he sat bolt upright, only to discover that he was back to normal. All the black fur that had previously covered his body had completely disappeared.

I’m back to normal?

He jumped down from his bed to discover that he was back home. He rushed out of his room to find his mother cooking, while his two brothers were resting outside beneath the eaves.

Everything was so normal that it felt like the events from the previous day had been nothing more than a dream.

Could it have all just been a dream?

Feeling both hesitant and relieved, Chen Gang turned around, intending to lay down for a bit longer, only to instantly stiffen.

He spotted some tufts of black beast fur on the bed he had been laying on just a moment ago, but they were quickly blown away by the wind.

***

Meanwhile, a tabby cat jumped down from the roof of Chen Gang’s house before rushing to Zhou Ergou’s house, where it rubbed against Qiao Zhi as it delivered its report.

Qiao Zhi yawned lazily, then turned to Chu Qiguang and said, “Chen Gang just woke up. He’s still in his room.”

Chu Qiguang emerged from his meditative state and declared, “Chen Gang has already realized that if we can turn him into a fiend, then we can do the same to his family. In just a few more days, we'll be able to use him. He’ll make a good henchman.”

The Heavenly Fiend Foundation Establishment Technique was like a supernatural surgical procedure, and in the modern world, perhaps people would pay good money to undergo the procedure. However, in this world, humans had extremely deep-rooted biases against fiends, so there was no way they would be able to accept such a transformation.

This is a good thing. It turns the Heavenly Fiend Foundation Establishment Technique into something I can use as leverage against others.

Unfortunately, given the limited power and status that Chu Qiguang currently had at his disposal, he could only extort people like Chen Gang. Trying to extort a more powerful force like the Wang Clan would still be too risky for him, and with his current resources, it simply wasn't advisable.

Just then, his sister ran into the room with an ecstatic expression as she shouted, “We’re rich!”

“What do you mean we’re rich?” Chu Qiguang asked.

“I just dug up some silver in our yard!” his sister replied.

Shit! That’s the silver that I buried!

Before long, a little girl’s scream rang out from the backyard.

***

That night, Chu Qiguang returned to the Wang Manor for Wang Cailiang’s scheduled treatment.

After waking up from the treatment, Wang Cailiang exclaimed excitedly, “Brother Zhou, My father just gave me another three hundred taels of silver. Can you get me some more of that brain platinum?”

In response to this request, Chu Qiguang let out a long forlorn sigh with a dejected look on his face.

“What’s wrong, Brother Zhou?” Wang Cailiang asked.

“My master has ordered me to leave the Spirit Province,” Chu Qiguang sighed resignedly. “He doesn’t have time to instruct me every day, so he wants me to go attend a martial arts academy in a different province to prepare for the imperial martial examination.”

“What? You’re leaving the Spirit Province?” Wang Cailiang exclaimed in alarm.

“There’s no need for you to be too worried,” Chu Qiguang consoled. “The canine poison in your body should be suppressed for now, and you should be able to keep it that way as long as you continue to cultivate diligently and steadily improve your physical constitution.”

“What if it recurs? How am I supposed to find you then, Brother Zhou?” Wang Cailiang asked frantically.

I still want to continue our treatments! I don’t want to have to work hard if I can keep improving my physical constitution without any effort!

“My master ordered me not to tell you where I’m going, so I can only tell you that I’m going somewhere far away to prepare for the martial examination,” Chu Qiguang sighed.

Wang Cailiang was becoming more frantic by the second, and he grabbed Chu Qiguang’s hand as he asked, “Why do you have to go to another province to prepare for the martial examination, Brother Zhou? Can’t you just go to Azure Sun County’s Wise Hero Academy instead?”

“As I’m sure you know, some connections are required to study at Wise Hero Academy. My master has a lot of enemies, and he doesn’t want to expose his connection to me in Azure Sun County, so he’s arranged for me to attend a martial arts academy in another province,” Chu Qiguang explained with a shake of his head.

Wang Cailiang’s eyes instantly lit up as an idea sprang to his mind.

“Brother Zhou! If your master doesn’t want to reveal his connection to you, then you can just use my father as a connection instead! He can write letters of recommendation for both of us to attend Wise Hero Academy! You don’t have to worry about anything, Brother Zhou. With my father vouching for you, your secret is safe.”

That’s exactly what I was waiting for you to say!

However, the troubled look on his face remained unchanged as he said, “But if I do that, I’d be going against my master’s orders.”