Chapter 8 - 7: Demonic Aura!

Chapter 8: Chapter 7: Demonic Aura!

An hour later.

Liu Zimo sneaked out of the hospital, dragging his father, Liu Yi, along.

Liu Yi had been reluctant at first, wanting his son to fully recover before being discharged.

However, after seeing the special performance his son put on for him—poking a hole through a steel plate with a single finger—Liu Yi instantly lost his composure.

The steel frame under the hospital bed was three millimeters thick, yet Liu Zimo simply gave it a light poke with his right index finger, effortlessly punching a perfectly round hole straight through it!

Was he even human anymore?

A "what the hell" nearly slipped from Liu Yi’s lips.

He never would have imagined that his own son had actually become a Superman!

Poking through steel with a finger? Really?

After that, terrified that his son might be sliced up for research, Liu Yi finally stopped his nagging and took the initiative to drag his son out of the hospital.

"What?

"Are you saying you really were severely injured, and only recovered so quickly because you awakened a Superpower?"

Back at home, Liu Yi sat face-to-face with his son. Hearing the account of how he got injured at school, Liu Yi’s expression shifted constantly before he gritted his teeth and said,

"I knew it! Jiang Tianxiong doesn’t look like a reasonable man at all. Why else would he personally come to the hospital to apologize and even offer a million for a settlement?

Liu Yi had felt something was off at the time. His son clearly didn’t look like he had any major issues, yet Jiang Tianxiong was willing to cough up a million for a private settlement. And to think Liu Yi had assumed the man was just an easy mark.

Who could have guessed that his son had actually knocked on King Yama’s door?

Just thinking about it sent chills down his spine.

"So, your Superpower awakening is already exposed? At the very least, Jiang Tianxiong and Dr. Liu must have realized it by now, right?

"No wonder Dr. Liu adamantly refused when you asked to be discharged earlier. He insisted on prescribing so many test orders. Now I see he harbored ill intentions all along!

"No, we can’t stay in Sanyuan City any longer. If we stay, you’ll become a lab rat in someone’s cage!

"We must leave, and we must leave tonight!

"Wait at home. I’ll go pick up your brother, and the three of us will leave Sanyuan City tonight!

"Where should we go?

"Right, we’ll go to Luozhou to find your Uncle Hongzhang! We’ll stay with him for a while to lie low!"

Liu Yi was incredibly decisive. After muttering several guesses to himself, he made the immediate decision to take his sons and leave Sanyuan City.

This left Liu Zimo completely stunned. He had prepared a whole speech, planning to convince his dad to leave Sanyuan City no matter what. He hadn’t expected that without him even needing to persuade, his dad would make the decision to leave all on his own.

More importantly, his dad’s chosen destination perfectly coincided with his own!

It felt quite surprising.

Since when did his dad become so telepathic with him?

With the support of Liu Yi, the head of the family, everything that followed became simple.

After picking Liu Zihao up from school, the father and sons headed straight to the high-speed rail station, arriving in Luozhou City of Dongyang Province that very night.

Zhao Hongzhang, the maternal uncle of the brothers Liu Zimo and Liu Zihao, drove to the high-speed rail station in the middle of the night to pick them up.

"Uncle Hongzhang! Over here!"

Spotting Zhao Hongzhang, the teenage Liu Zihao excitedly waved his hand to call out.

Hearing the voice, Zhao Hongzhang smiled and waved back, walking straight toward them.

Looking from a distance, Liu Zimo saw a white Shadow Lock floating above Uncle Hongzhang’s head as well. Just like the vast majority of people around them, his uncle was only an Ordinary person.

Seeing his plump uncle in loose casual clothes getting closer, memories of Uncle Hongzhang quietly surfaced from the depths of Liu Zimo’s mind.

He was their mother’s only younger brother. Naturally plump with a cheerful and active personality, he was a firm bachelor. He acted like an overgrown child and had a fantastic relationship with the two brothers. Whenever a holiday came around, Uncle Hongzhang would take them out to eat, drink, and run wild everywhere.

In his past life, after the Demon Calamity struck, transportation was cut off and communication systems were paralyzed. Liu Zimo completely lost contact with his uncle. Although the Federation Government was established later and new transportation and communication systems were successively built, Liu Zimo never received even the slightest news of his uncle again.

"Haha, Zimo, Zihao! You guys finally deigned to come visit your uncle! Let’s go, I’ll take you home for some good food!"

Zhao Hongzhang greeted his two nephews affectionately while reaching out to take the luggage from Liu Yi’s hands, leading them toward the outdoor parking lot.

"Liu Yi, why the sudden visit? Did something happen at home?"

After getting in the car, Zhao Hongzhang couldn’t help but ask Liu Yi. He had invited Liu Yi to develop his career in Luozhou more than once before, but Liu Yi had flat-out refused every time, stubborn as a mule. Now, on a random day that wasn’t a holiday or even a Sunday, Liu Yi and his two sons had suddenly come looking for him in the middle of the night. If something hadn’t happened, what else could it be?

"We did run into a bit of trouble. It’s not convenient to discuss on the road, so let’s talk when we get home!"

Liu Yi gestured for Hongzhang to focus on driving, then leaned back in the passenger seat and closed his eyes to rest.

Seeing this, Zhao Hongzhang couldn’t help but shake his head and chuckle. He asked no more questions and concentrated on driving.

[Your Good Brother Liu Siqi encountered a fortuitous opportunity and his comprehension exploded, taking his surgical skills to the next level. The ’Heaven-Stealing’ Talent Attribute has been triggered. The opportunity is shared equally. You receive half of his surgical comprehension. Surgical Skill +10.]

In the backseat, a new notification sounded in Liu Zimo’s ear.

Immediately after, a massive influx of medical memories regarding human anatomy, wound suturing, and the like suddenly flooded his mind.

At this moment, he felt as though he had transformed into a master surgeon, wielding a scalpel in an operating room and performing one surgery after another. Wound suturing, appendectomies, severed finger replantations, tumor removals, and so on. From easy to difficult, escalating level by level, every surgery played back and forth in his mind like a movie.

It took quite a while for the memory transfer to finish before Liu Zimo finally snapped back to reality.

"It can even equally share medical comprehension?

"Does it have to be this overpowered?!"

Liu Zimo marveled inwardly, once again amazed by his Heaven-Stealing Superpower.

Previously, he had been somewhat dismissive of this "Good Brother," Liu Siqi, thinking the man was just an Ordinary person who had wasted a binding slot for nothing. He had even wanted to unbind him.

Now, it seemed that keeping this Good Brother around was actually a great idea.

Liu Zimo knew profoundly well just how highly sought-after doctors, especially surgeons, would be in the major gathered cities of the future. You can never have too many skills, let alone a lifesaving craft that could prove crucial in critical moments. Liu Zimo would never complain about having more of it.

Ten minutes later, at Zhao Hongzhang’s house, after a hearty midnight snack.

Faced with Zhao Hongzhang’s repeated questions, Liu Yi silently pulled a finger-thick small steel plate from his jacket and placed it on the table. He patted his eldest son’s shoulder and encouraged him.

"Come on, son!

"Give a performance and open your Uncle Hongzhang’s eyes!"

Seeing this, Liu Zimo’s mouth twitched.

The man was decades old; couldn’t he act a little more mature and reliable? When had his dad even stashed this steel plate on him? Such a thick piece, at least five centimeters—and he was being asked to perform with it. Did his dad really think he was Superman?

"MEOW~"

Suddenly, a lazy, delicate cat’s meow drifted out from the inner bedroom.

Liu Zimo’s mind jolted. As a conditioned reflex, he channeled his energy throughout his body and whipped his head around, his gaze flashing like lightning toward the source of the sound.

Demon Power!

Having dealt with those little demons for thirty years, Liu Zimo was intimately familiar with this aura. He absolutely would not mistake it.

But it was only October! The Demon Calamity was still a month away! How were there already Demon Beasts appearing within the borders of Great Xia?

Sweeping his gaze over, Liu Zimo saw a plump tabby cat slowly walking toward them, swaying its little rear. The faint trace of Demon Power he had just sensed came entirely from this fat cat.

"Oh, I was so caught up in talking to you guys that I completely forgot about our Little Flower!"

Zhao Hongzhang stood up and scooped the little cat into his arms as it walked out of the room. He supported its belly with one hand while stroking its head with the other.

"Liu Yi, let me introduce you. This is the newest member of our family, Little Flower!

"I fell in love with her at first sight in a pet shop three months ago and adopted her. From now on, she’s part of our family!"

"MEOW~"

The little cat let out a soft cry at just the right moment in response.

Upon hearing the meow, Liu Yi and Liu Zihao’s eyes glazed over. They instantly felt an unparalleled affection for the little cat, experiencing a sense of love at first sight and a powerful urge to pull it into their arms and pamper it.

Only Liu Zimo slightly furrowed his brows after hearing the cry, a trace of icy killing intent quietly rising in the depths of his heart.

"It’s actually an Illusion Cat!

"Although its aura is weak and its Demon Power is only around level one, it has awakened the Enchanting Heart Talent. With just a single meow, it easily bewitched everyone present. If allowed to grow, it will inevitably become an endless source of disaster!

"In my past life, Uncle Hongzhang disappeared without a trace, his fate completely unknown. That must be inextricably linked to this Illusion Cat!"