Mrs. Lewis was in a good mood today: Edward Lewis, that rascal, actually brought a girl home today. No wonder he always turned his nose up at the girls she had introduced before—turns out he already had such a beautiful girlfriend. And this kid didn’t even tell his mother, what’s there to be shy about? Thinking of this, the smile at the corner of Mrs. Lewis’s mouth grew even more obvious. Realizing that her son’s marriage was finally perfectly resolved, her hands became much more nimble as she chopped vegetables.

When Edward Lewis left the house this morning, he didn’t have a girlfriend, but by noon, he did. The idea of finding a girl to pretend to be his girlfriend had crossed his mind before, but it wasn’t until he met William Quinn this morning that he actually put it into action. William Quinn was the daughter of the boss of the company that Henry King and his group wanted to acquire, and she was also the deputy general manager of that company. She came to negotiate on behalf of her company this morning. Halfway through the talks, Edward Lewis suddenly thought she was a good candidate: by human standards, William Quinn was a classic beauty, just the type his mother liked. So after some negotiation, Edward Lewis gave up on acquiring their company, in exchange for William Quinn pretending to be his girlfriend and coming to Edward Lewis’s house once a week.

The first time her son brought a girl home, Mrs. Lewis was overjoyed and quickly invited William Quinn to stay for a meal. Edward Lewis and his father watched football in the living room, while Mrs. Lewis and William Quinn cooked in the kitchen. Watching William Quinn help out, Mrs. Lewis liked her more and more—the girl was sweet and had even taken a couple of days of cooking lessons, handling everything in the kitchen with ease. Seeing this, Mrs. Lewis felt reassured about entrusting Edward Lewis to her; at least, she thought, he’d never go hungry in the future. What she didn’t know was that Edward Lewis was only eating this food to keep his parents from getting suspicious—whether it was delicious or not, he didn’t care at all these days.

In the living room, Edward Lewis kept sneaking glances toward the kitchen. Seeing the wide grin on his mother’s face, he finally let out a sigh of relief: good thing Mom’s satisfied, otherwise he’d have to find someone else.

For a while after that, Edward Lewis finally escaped his nightmare—his mother no longer tormented him with blind dates. Edward Lewis also found a chance to tell his parents about starting his own company, but after they found out, they refused to let him “waste his life” at home and forced him to go to work at the company every day. Of course, he had no intention of actually going to work obediently. Every morning, after leaving the house, he’d find a secluded spot and soar into the sky, flying to the villa the old gentleman had left him, where he trained every day. Ever since forming his Daoist Golden Core, he had systematically summarized everything he’d learned: the “Blood Corpse Technique”—nine days of blood corpses, flying through the sky and burrowing through the earth, powers rivaling creation, lifespan as long as the sun and moon; the “Blood Refining Method”—using blood as a guide, capable of destroying heaven and earth, with boundless power; the “Great River True Explanation”—profound and mysterious, containing hidden truths and ultimate principles. And once high-level spells and large-scale dark magic were unleashed, their terrifying power was beyond imagination. Now, he believed that if he returned to Cangshan, with those twenty-odd zombies, he could definitely give Elder Grant a good thrashing.

Chapter Seven

Walking down the street, watching the snowflakes drifting from the sky, Edward Lewis wrapped his trench coat tighter around himself, recalling how lush and green the mountains had been when he came down. He wondered what things were like up there now. It had been two years since he returned to Xi’an; it was about time he went back for a visit. He wondered how his master was doing on the mountain, and whether he’d come up with any strange ideas lately. Was Elder Grant still as restless as ever, with no one willing to keep him company, complaining about being bored all day? Bloodhead always kept his own powers locked and stagnant, unwilling to undergo tribulation, but that wasn’t a long-term solution.

When he got home, his dad was out playing mahjong, so only his mom was there. As soon as Edward Lewis came in, he greeted his mom and went straight to his room. His mom came in and asked, “Xiao Lei, did you and William have a fight? Why hasn’t she come over these past two weeks?” Edward Lewis had never really cared about William Quinn; her coming to his house was just part of their original agreement. Now that he thought about it, she hadn’t come last week, and she was supposed to come yesterday but didn’t. He hurried to explain to his mom, “It’s nothing, she’s just been busy expanding her company’s business lately. You know she’s the deputy general manager, so of course she’s busy. If you miss her, I’ll ask her to come over tonight.” But in his heart, he wondered what was up with that girl—why had she suddenly stopped coming? They had agreed on this from the start, after all, Edward Lewis thought to himself.