“So many of my disciples are here, aren’t they? Your Ethan Clark brother is here too, so why worry about not having anyone to look after you?” Henry Carter laughed heartily. “You should worry about yourself instead. Hurry up and find me a granddaughter-in-law, have a great-grandson for me to play with.”

William Carter chatted casually with his grandfather. It had been many years since he’d had such a good conversation with the old man.

Usually, he was either busy studying or working.

As night deepened, the moonlight, thin as gauze, shone down. The old man stood for a while, let out a drunken burp, and, seemingly in high spirits, began to ramble animatedly with his grandson.

During the chat, William Carter tried several times to hint at something, but didn’t know how to bring it up.

When he finally managed to say it, the old man just took his words as a joke or a dream, waved his hand dismissively, and didn’t take it seriously.

William Carter could only feel helpless.

“Let me tell you, what you’re studying has no future at all. That so-called internet job is just working for others. What’s a few thousand yuan a month good for? It’s not even enough for my drinking money.”

The old man burped again and continued.

“If you ask me, you should just come back to the martial arts school and learn martial arts properly. Even if you don’t do well, I still have some businesses you can take over in the future. That’s way better than working for others and being exploited.”

William Carter felt annoyed by his words, but after all, this was his own grandfather, so he had to endure it.

But as a young man, his temper flared. After being lectured for so long about how his studies and hard work were useless, he couldn’t help but retort.

“Actually, I’m not doing as badly out there as you think.”

He was born into an average family. His parents were travel journalists, a relatively new profession in recent years, specializing in visiting tourist attractions for testing and verification, then writing feature articles.

His parents didn’t earn much and were rarely home.

So he was basically raised by his grandparents.

Later, as he grew older and hit his rebellious phase, he clashed with his grandfather every day and got beaten up all the time.

William Carter could be very stubborn when he set his mind to it. No matter how badly he was beaten, he never gave in.

Then one time, Henry Carter, drunk, beat his grandson so badly that William Carter suffered a ruptured spleen and nearly died. His grandmother beat the old man up on the spot.

After that, he never hit William Carter again. Nor did he force his grandson to practice martial arts.

Later, as William Carter matured, he started studying hard on his own initiative and went to a better school in the city.

Gradually, the grandfather and grandson grew distant.

It wasn’t until William Carter went to college and had more free time that they started to reconnect.

In fact, since high school, William Carter had been managing everything in his life by himself. Other than sending him money every month, his parents rarely got involved.

He was well-behaved and sensible, never causing trouble that required his parents to be called in.

Later, he went to college even farther away, and contact became even less frequent. Usually, they’d talk on the phone once a month at most.

After graduating, William Carter didn’t go on to graduate school but instead found a job related to his major—an internet product evaluator.

“Not that bad? Aren’t you that so-called product evaluator? Heh, I checked—at most five thousand a month.” The old man held up five fingers, his face full of mockery.

“……” William Carter was at a loss for words.

Snapping back to reality, he quickly described in detail to his grandfather the strange feeling he’d had earlier.

“You were just startled by something, your spirit stirred your qi.” Henry Carter frowned. “It’s nothing serious. Just watch fewer horror movies and scary films, and steady your mind.”

“What do you mean by ‘steady your mind’?”

“When your spirit is strong, watching horror movies is a way to use stimulation to train your mind.

But if your spirit is weak, watching those things will shake your very core.

If your spirit isn’t stable, your qi won’t flow smoothly, and your body will naturally be affected. Then even the slightest thing will make you timid and fearful.”

“Got it…” William Carter nodded in understanding.

“All right, all right, go to bed now. It’s getting late.” After chatting for a long time, the old man finally grew tired, put his hands behind his back, and staggered back to his room.

William Carter watched him leave, feeling a mix of emotions.

……

……

Inside the house.

Ethan Clark stood by the window, his expression calm and indifferent.

His strong body was like a human sculpture in the darkness, hard and carrying a certain inexplicable menace.

‘Has William Carter noticed something?’ —Black Ethan.

He lowered his head, looking at the glow of his phone screen, his fingers flying over the keys as he sent out encrypted messages.

Beep, a reply came to his phone.

‘Should we kill him early? To avoid any slip-ups.’ —David.

‘He’s leaving the day after tomorrow. We’ll do it on his way back.’ —Black Ethan.

‘You or me?’ —David.

‘You. If I do it, Henry Carter will notice.’ —Black Ethan.

‘Fine, just make it look like a car accident.’ —David.

‘All right, but if he really has noticed something, I’ll act directly. You all be ready to cooperate at any time.’ —Black Ethan.

‘Of course.’ —David.

Pa.