Master Sullivan shook his head. “No, what if one day Emily Foster gets a sudden whim and comes to visit the young man she saved? It would be hard to explain if he’s gone. Just give her some face, take him in as an outer disciple and leave him there. Anyway, all the people you sent to The Carter Residence were killed by Emily Foster, and no one else in the manor knows about this. On what basis could he discover the truth?”

Ethan Sullivan muttered discontentedly, “Father is too wary of Emily Foster. I haven’t even mentioned avenging my subordinates yet… Her Luoxia Manor is just a ninth-rate sect…”

Master Sullivan sighed. “You are known because of the The Sullivan Family, but she is the opposite… It’s only because of Emily Foster that the world even knows there is a Luoxia Manor. If you really want to win her over, maybe you should take advantage of her humble origins… As for her personally, you’d better behave yourself.”

He ignored his son, whose eyes were now sparkling, put on a smiling face, and personally walked over to Charles Carter, kindly patting him on the shoulder. “Standing here at the door, are you reluctant to part with your sister?”

Charles Carter took a deep breath, then turned his head with a simple, honest smile. “Yes, Sister Foster is really beautiful.”

Master Sullivan burst out laughing. “Train hard in martial arts—your sister will be waiting for you in the jianghu.”

What a truly warm and genial elder… Yet he didn’t notice that Charles Carter’s fist was already bulging with veins.

Chapter 4: This Is Not a Dream

For a moment, Charles Carter almost thought, “Since this is a dream anyway, I might as well beat him up.”

But he forced himself to hold back.

The experience at The Carter Residence had taught him that acting on impulse was useless. He couldn’t win in a fight, so wouldn’t he just be throwing his life away? Even if he “died” and woke up in reality, the matter would still be unresolved—what would be the point?

Besides, he was starting to doubt whether this place was really a dream… With the way his mind worked, he couldn’t even imagine such disgusting people. How could he dream them up?

The villagers of The Carter Residence who were slaughtered, the innocent children… all just because someone was frustrated at being “blocked from playing with village girls.”

Emily Foster traveled a thousand miles to deliver the news, showing righteousness and loyalty, yet all they could think about was how to take advantage of her.

Charles Carter felt so sick he wanted to vomit. He had never experienced this before—so this is what “hatred” feels like, a violent emotion that had never arisen in his peaceful student life, now growing and spreading in his heart.

Whether this place was real or a dream, at this moment Charles Carter didn’t want to “wake up” so soon. He really wanted to kill this father and son pair first.

Maintaining his “simple and honest youth” persona, he joined the The Sullivan Family as an outer disciple. That very night, he was given a set of clothes, some daily necessities, and a temporary dormitory.

The temporary dormitory wasn’t actually assigned to him—it was the single courtyard where the outer sect Senior Brother lived. The idea was to have the Senior Brother guide Charles Carter for a bit, teach him some basic rules and common sense, and most likely, he’d be moved to a shared dorm in a day or two…

On the surface, the arrangement seemed quite considerate. If Emily Foster visited in the future, they could say, “He got his supplies the first night, and the Senior Brother personally took care of him”—which sounded like pretty good treatment… As for how he did later, whether he wasted his life away as an outer disciple, that was a matter of his own aptitude, and Emily Foster would have nothing to complain about.

Charles Carter could see through this kind of ploy at a glance, but it didn’t matter. As if he’d really want to take Master Sullivan as his master—how disgusting.

The outer sect Senior Brother was called David Sullivan, said to be a servant born in the household, taking the family name Sullivan after the master. He might have a position in the manor in the future. This was a typical martial arts family template, as could be seen here.

Although called “Senior Brother,” he was actually younger than Charles Carter, probably only sixteen or seventeen, with delicate features, red lips and white teeth—he looked rather effeminate.

“You’re Charles Carter? You’re tall and sturdy, look like you’ve got some strength.” David Sullivan’s expression was a bit cold and unfriendly. After all, having a stranger suddenly move into his private courtyard would put anyone in a bad mood.

His tone was a bit effeminate too, his voice thin… Charles Carter didn’t bother to suspect he was a girl in disguise. Seeing David Sullivan ask, he gave a simple, honest smile. “Yes, I just arrived. The master told me to learn the rules from Senior Brother first.”

“There aren’t really any rules.” David Sullivan’s tone was cold, but his curiosity was strong. “I heard Emily Foster brought you to the manor? Why didn’t you cling to her and ask to be her disciple?”

Charles Carter played dumb. “Maybe I’m just stupid.”

To his surprise, David Sullivan agreed, “That’s probably it.”

Charles Carter: “?”

David Sullivan said, “I don’t mean you’re stupid in the head, but in age. You’re eighteen or nineteen, right? Starting to learn at this age, what could you possibly achieve… At best, you’ll pick up some basic skills to guard a house and earn a living. Why would Emily Foster take a disciple like that? She’s about your age, but she’s already famous throughout the land… Sigh…”

Charles Carter was expressionless.

Too old… He’d heard that before. Even in sports, you had to start young to get good. He was a college student, nineteen this year, and had never heard of anyone starting at this age and making it to the national level.

There weren’t that many Kou Zhongs and Xu Zilings in the world.

But then again, putting aside the The Sullivan Family business, just considering his “dream” objective, it didn’t seem like killing that demoness required a high level. It was just a chaotic battlefield with a bunch of small fry hacking at each other. Even at his level, he could kill several. Since that demoness was mixed up in such a fight, she probably wasn’t that strong—at least, she didn’t seem to have Emily Foster’s ability to kill a group with a single sword strike.