However, before William Carter could act, the skeleton slowly opened its mouth. A hollow voice came out, speaking in a slightly strange accent of the common Penglai tongue, yet it was clear and distinct.

  “Penglai native?”

  William Carter knew it was referring to him—black short hair, black pupils, gently curved features... except for the skin that was overly pale from years without sunlight, every trait on William Carter marked him as having Penglai blood.

  But before he could reply, the skeleton suddenly asked in confusion, “Alive?”

  “An alive Penglai native... damn, Charles Reed’s offspring!”

  As soon as the words fell, a fierce blade wind came crashing down from above.

  William Carter had never seen a blade move so fast. By the time he realized the enormous skeleton had already swung its blade down, the long knife in the skeleton’s hand was less than a meter from William Carter’s forehead. Even with ten years of reflex training in the underground labyrinth, he had never been caught so off guard.

  William Carter believed that for the vast majority of people in the world, standing in his place would mean only one outcome: being sliced in two. The blade was simply too fast and too fierce—there was no way to dodge, no way to block.

  But William Carter was not like most people. Before the skeleton had even lashed out, he had already finished warming up. The trembling of his body had every muscle primed and ready. The moment the signal to dodge was sent, William Carter drifted aside like the wind.

  Boom!

  The long blade struck the ground, sending shards of stone flying. A bottomless crack was left in the hard rocky floor, but not even a corner of William Carter’s clothing was touched.

  At the last moment, all the speed he had honed over the years exploded forth. William Carter dodged faster than ever before. Yet as he landed, his face was full of astonishment, because in the final instant, the skeleton’s blade had actually shifted slightly off course.

  In fact, even if he had stood still, the long blade would not have touched him at all. The fierce flash of the blade seemed more like a joke.

  “That’s strange. Why did he suddenly change his mind? And what is this Charles Reed anyway?”

  William Carter was full of doubts, realizing it was probably a misunderstanding, and all hostility faded away. Ever since entering the forbidden ground to clear it out, a series of bizarre events had unfolded for no apparent reason... Then, before he could act, a vigorous yet elderly voice suddenly sounded from behind him.

  “Old Thompson, that’s a living person! And you actually tried to chop him?”

  The giant skeleton called Old Thompson suddenly raised its blade. “Charles Reed! This is your offspring!?”

  Following the direction of the skeleton’s long blade, William Carter turned his head and saw an old man in Penglai Daoist robes. His beard and hair were both silver, but his face was ruddy and his spirit vigorous. Just looking at him, one could feel a surging vitality.

  “...What a stark contrast to that half-dead Old One-Eye.”

  The old Daoist, hearing the skeleton’s question, looked William Carter up and down, then chuckled, “I’d love to have a child like this, but unfortunately Rebecca Clark hasn’t agreed yet. Still, if we have a son in the future, we could ask you, Old Thompson, to be his godfather!”

  “Screw you!” the skeleton roared, and the long blade slashed at the old Daoist like lightning, even faster than before. William Carter widened his eyes, carefully tracking the blade’s path.

  But the long blade stopped abruptly above the old Daoist’s head. A talisman, floating in midair and shining with golden light, blocked the blade without yielding an inch.

  “Old Thompson, don’t be so rash. If Rebecca Clark sees this, neither of us will have a good outcome. Why bother?”

  As soon as he finished speaking, a lazy female voice sounded not far away: “Oh, I’ve already seen everything.”

  In an instant, the skeleton Old Thompson and the old Daoist both turned to stone.

Chapter 7: Oops, Sorry, Forgot to Write the Title...

  William Carter turned his gaze in the direction of the voice, and what entered his sight was a woman—an exceptionally alluring woman.

  For someone who had lived in the underground labyrinth for over a decade, understanding of the opposite sex was still in its infancy. At the very least, William Carter still hadn’t figured out why, when he suggested to Kelly that they close the dorm room door and play chess, Kelly got so angry. He also didn’t understand what other differences there were between men and women besides some physical ones.

  But even so, when William Carter saw this woman, he couldn’t help but think of the word “alluring.”

  This woman seemed to exist solely to embody something—her curvaceous figure, skin so delicate it seemed to glisten, and eyes that seemed to speak. William Carter vaguely sensed something, but couldn’t quite put it into words.

  Thinking of this, William Carter deeply regretted not having stolen those erotic magazines that Old One-Eye had hidden away to study, leaving him woefully ignorant about this creature called “woman.”

  After the woman appeared, the skeleton Old Thompson and the Daoist Charles Reed both turned to stone, as if struck by some great terror, not daring to utter a word.

  “Why so quiet? Don’t you two love to bicker when you’re together?”

  The woman laughed as she walked over, her jet-black hair cascading over her shoulders like a waterfall, swaying gently with each step. Two inwardly curled bangs brushed lightly past her smiling lips. Her arms, white as jade, were bare and crossed over her chest, her posture exuding complete ease and confidence.

  “Ah, Rebecca Clark, we, we weren’t, we didn’t...”