“I tried out so many strange abilities just now, how did I forget to test out walking through walls?”

Brian Carter discovered the secret of the black light and immediately danced with joy, almost bouncing up to the ceiling in delight.

Brian Carter’s mom heard a noise behind her and turned around. He quickly withdrew the black light into his body, making sure not to scare her with the image of the Black Lord. Brian Carter’s mom looked at her flustered son and asked teasingly, “Why are you so happy today?”

Brian Carter grinned and said, “It’s nothing! Just something at school.”

Brian Carter’s mom didn’t pay much attention and went back to her chores. Brian Carter, feeling light on his feet and in a great mood, went over to the dining table, finished his breakfast at lightning speed, slung on his backpack, and dashed out the door. Usually, Brian Carter was always in a rush to get to school, but today, since he got up early and was feeling good, he took his time along the way.

Brian Carter really wanted to try out his new ability, but as soon as he thought about the street cameras, he dismissed the impulsive idea. If he got caught on camera displaying supernatural powers, it would definitely be the prelude to being dissected by the government. He decided to find a secluded place after school to test the black light’s wall-walking ability.

He had walked this route to school nearly a thousand times and knew it like the back of his hand, but today, after crossing one street, he suddenly realized he’d taken the wrong path.

Brian Carter distinctly remembered that there were only two cross streets on his way to school: Wanshou Road and Cuiwei Road. After Wanshou Road came Cuiwei Road. Neither of these cross streets was a commercial street—though they were busy with traffic, there weren’t any storefronts. He had just crossed Wanshou Road, but now he found himself on a bustling commercial street. This street was definitely not Cuiwei Road; there was simply no such street on his way to school. Realizing how unfamiliar this street was, Brian Carter at first thought he’d just taken a wrong turn, but soon he sensed something was off.

The architecture on this street was old and peculiar. No matter which direction he looked, he couldn’t see any of the city’s tall skyscrapers. On both sides of the street were mostly single-story houses with small courtyards, and only occasionally a two- or three-story building. The tallest and grandest building on the street was only five stories high, completely unlike the style of a big city.

Brian Carter had never heard of such a street existing in the city he’d lived in for over ten years.

The buildings were one thing—after all, Beidu is a city with a long history, once the capital of six dynasties, and ancient architecture isn’t rare—but the pedestrians on the street were even stranger.

Most of the people on this street were dressed like ordinary city folk, and there were even students around Brian Carter’s age. But a small number of pedestrians and shopkeepers were wearing ancient clothes that didn’t seem to belong to any particular dynasty or country. They moved about naturally, clearly used to it, and were definitely not doing Cosplay like Lily Carter and her friends.

The buildings and outfits were secondary—the most important thing was… Brian Carter had only been spacing out for a minute or two when he saw several living, breathing monsters! A burly man with a pig’s head chugging beer, a beautiful woman with a tail playfully curling behind her, and even a giant with an elephant’s head over three meters tall, wearing a moving company vest and carrying a huge crate… There were even people riding beasts down the street as casually as if they were on electric scooters. These monsters looked so “real” that no mask or makeup could possibly explain it.

“Am I hallucinating?”

Brian Carter completely forgot about going to school, staring blankly at everything. He rubbed his eyes over and over, still unable to believe what he was seeing.

“Brian Carter, time for school! Why are you just standing here spacing out?”

Someone patted him on the shoulder. Brian Carter instinctively replied, “Oh, okay!” The person behind him gave him a gentle push, and Brian Carter unconsciously walked across the street. As soon as he crossed, his vision blurred, and the modern city’s skyscrapers reappeared. The strange atmosphere from before was gone. Brian Carter turned around and saw that the street behind him was also normal; he could even see the Wanshou Road intersection not far away, with no sign of that bizarre street.

“Brian Carter, Brian Carter! Why are you spacing out again?”

Brian Carter turned and saw the girl behind him, and couldn’t help but exclaim in surprise, “Lily Smith? Why is it you!”

This girl was his classmate—not pretty, not ugly, not a bad student but not a great one either. She was always quiet and unremarkable, rarely interacting with classmates. After more than two years in the same class, Brian Carter couldn’t even remember if he’d ever spoken to her.

“Why can’t it be me? How long have you been awakened? This is the first time I’ve seen you on Demon Locust Street.”

“Awakened? What’s that supposed to mean? And what’s Demon Locust Street?”

Lily Smith rubbed her forehead, a bit helplessly, and said, “Didn’t your parents ever tell you?”

Brian Carter couldn’t help but exclaim, “My parents are just normal people, okay?”

Lily Smith looked a little surprised and said, “Your parents don’t know? Oh, oh, oh! So you’re a case of inherited traits skipping a generation! But surely some elder in your family should have told you about this? Don’t tell me you don’t even know you’ve awakened a monster bloodline?”