Yan Tuo rested at the villa for a day before driving to the farm on the morning of the third day. Before leaving, he hesitated for a long while but ultimately decided to leave Chen Fu’s “corpse” behind. He couldn’t keep carrying this ticking bomb around, especially not to the farm. He took the key with him and entrusted the storage room to Lin Ling, telling her there were things inside that couldn’t see the light of day—she must be vigilant and not let anyone enter.
This decision both reassured and worried him. He was confident Lin Ling would try her best to follow his instructions but worried that if something unexpected happened, she might not be able to stop others from entering.
So his heart remained suspended the entire journey: this was the biggest disadvantage of fighting alone—no reliable, capable helpers, constraints everywhere, and stretched too thin.
Near the farm, he received a call from Liu Changxi. Yan Tuo thought it might be about Nie Jiuluo finally waking up—she had briefly regained consciousness earlier, exchanged a few words with Liu Changxi, and then fell back asleep.
However, that wasn’t it. Liu Changxi was just informing Yan Tuo that he’d found a suitable caretaker for Nie Jiuluo.
Yan Tuo initially thought this was good news until he heard the details: “This is a postpartum care worker?”
Liu Changxi: “Yes, the agency said this would be most suitable.”
Was this suitable in some dream world?
Yan Tuo couldn’t help but laugh. “Childbirth and injury are completely different things.”
Liu Changxi explained that in small towns, they don’t differentiate so specifically. They either had pure housekeepers or hospital-style caregivers. The latter only handled personal care like sponge baths and back rubs, not cooking. So for someone who needed both personal care and the ability to make soup and steam dishes, a postpartum care worker was most suitable.
Fine then. Yan Tuo could only bow to reality and instructed Liu Changxi: “Make sure you explain clearly to the caretaker not to overfeed Miss Nie with tonics. She’s too weak for supplements right now—everything needs to be light.”
He remembered when his mother had just given birth to Yan Xin, she would eat several eggs a day, mixed into sweetened millet porridge. Just thinking about that sweet, eggy smell still made him slightly nauseated.
…
As he hung up the phone, the farm came into view.
This farm was 90% a normal plantation, and most people coming and going were ordinary folks. But because of those two underground levels and that small group of abnormal individuals, to him, it would always be a place of mysterious undercurrents, the source of all storms.
***
Yan Tuo parked in the parking lot and walked toward the main building. By coincidence, even from a distance, he saw Xiong Hei making a phone call outside the side door—the signal underground was poor, so people usually came up to ground level to make calls.
Yan Tuo lightened his steps while quickening his pace.
Xiong Hei appeared agitated, one hand holding his phone, the other propped against the wall, a cigarette between his fingers that had already burned halfway down, nearly reaching his fingers.
“Damn it, still no contact? Still haven’t reached them? Where the hell have these two bastards gone?”
He must be talking about Han Guan and Chen Fu.
“Did you check with the hotel? When did they check out? Fuck…”
As Xiong Hei turned sideways, since he would be discovered anyway, Yan Tuo took the initiative and patted Xiong Hei’s shoulder: “Brother Xiong, don’t focus only on the phone—your cigarette’s about to burn your hand.”
Xiong Hei yelped “Ah!” and quickly dropped the cigarette, while snapping into the phone: “Then keep looking! What good does it do asking me?” He hung up, still seething.
Yan Tuo read the situation and decided it was time to act “thoughtful”: “Brother Xiong, something wrong?”
Xiong Hei had been wanting to vent: “Damn it, everything’s wrong. Two brothers have lost contact in Shi He.”
Yan Tuo: “Two brothers? From the company? Have I met them?”
Xiong Hei waved his hand like swatting flies: “No, no, you haven’t met them. They’re field operatives.”
“Field operatives,” huh? Quite good at using technical terms to gloss things over. Yan Tuo smiled: “Shi He, isn’t that where we dealt with Board Tooth’s group?”
Xiong Hei sensed something in Yan Tuo’s words: “Yeah, what about it?”
“Nothing much, I just thought, we hurt their people, so they could hurt ours too.”
Xiong Hei froze for a moment, digesting these words, then shook his head firmly: “Impossible, impossible. You don’t know, those two brothers… they’re quite capable.”
Besides, these two had always been “hidden.”
They were indeed capable. On that Excel spreadsheet, Xiong Hei, Chen Fu, and Han Guan were considered the three powerhouses of the combat faction. Losing two out of three at once gave Yan Tuo an unprecedented sense of relief.
He replied lightly: “I’m just saying.”
His words left Xiong Hei unsettled. After a pause, he remembered to ask: “Why are you here?”
Yan Tuo said: “I’ve cleared it with Aunt Lin. Jiang Baichuan set me up—don’t I need to return the favor?”
Xiong Hei understood—he agreed with the principle of revenge: “Just go easy on him, don’t kill him. We still need him…”
Yan Tuo sneered: “What use is he?”
“Well, Sister Lin’s son…”
Xiong Hei suddenly stopped.
Yan Tuo smiled at him: “Aunt Lin’s son? Aunt Lin has a son?”
Xiong Hei quickly denied it: “No, no.”
Yan Tuo said: “I heard you. If you won’t tell me, I’ll ask Aunt Lin.”
Damn it, if this fool asks Lin Xirou, wouldn’t that get him killed? Xiong Hei quickly grabbed him: “You can’t ask! We’re not supposed to talk about it! Yan Tuo, haven’t I treated you well? Please don’t cause trouble for me, okay?”
Yan Tuo’s thoughts raced: Lin Xirou first asked Limp Father about her son, then kidnapped Jiang Baichuan’s group, and now wanted to keep him alive, also for her “son.” A Di Xiao’s son would be a Di Xiao, but Jiang Baichuan only had Grasshopper, one Di Xiao.
Could Grasshopper be Lin Xirou’s son?
He reassured Xiong Hei: “Don’t worry, Brother Xiong, I won’t be so tactless. By the way, how’s Dog Tooth recovering? I came this time wanting to see him too—been thinking about him.”
The mention of Dog Tooth only made Xiong Hei more upset: “What’s there to see? Looking won’t do any good… but you better look soon, or there won’t be anything to see later.”
Yan Tuo didn’t understand: “What do you mean ‘nothing to see’? Is he becoming immortal?”
Xiong Hei didn’t answer, just cursed “Fuck” and pointed to the side door: “Let’s go down first, it’s cold out here.”
***
Underground level one was still a mess as usual. Unlike when Lin Ling had stumbled in, there was now a nine-centimeter thick cast aluminum blast door between the first and second levels, in addition to the stairs.
Xiong Hei entered the password and led Yan Tuo inside.
Below was similar to his last visit, but being work hours now, the hallways were filled with staff in blue uniforms hurrying about.
Xiong Hei led Yan Tuo toward Dog Tooth’s cultivation room. As they approached, they heard screams and shouts, followed by a young woman tumbling out through the doorway.
“Tumbling” might be understating it—she was practically thrown out, flying straight toward Yan Tuo.
Though confused, Yan Tuo’s reflexes kicked in. He took two quick steps forward to catch her, but the impact was so strong that he couldn’t hold his ground, stumbling back three steps before steadying himself against the wall.
Another person burst out of the room, voice distorted with anger: “I don’t want to die! I don’t want to die!”
The person was naked but covered head to toe in mud, like someone who had just crawled out of a swamp.
Yan Tuo’s mind exploded: Dog Tooth! Dog Tooth was awake!
Though thinking about it, it wasn’t surprising—it had been over three months since Dog Tooth’s incident. He’d been soaking in mud long enough.
Xiong Hei was both shocked and angry, cursing: “You bastard, waking up so damn fast!”
He rushed forward to kick, but unexpectedly, Dog Tooth, upon seeing him, reacted like seeing family. He grabbed Xiong Hei’s kicking foot and fell to his knees, crying and pleading: “Brother Xiong, Brother Xiong, say something! I don’t want to die!”
What kind of scene was this?
Yan Tuo was confused. Just then, a sweet perfume wafted to his nose, and a delicate voice came from his arms: “Thank you.”
He had forgotten he was still holding someone.
Yan Tuo looked down.
She was a young woman in her early twenties, quite striking in appearance. Her black hair was styled in dreadlocks, some of which were pinned up at the back with shiny double hairpins, leaving several strands on each side. She had small diamond studs in her ear cartilage, an elegant nose, and long, alluring eyes. There was glitter powder beneath her lower eyelids, and when she spoke, her eye movements made the glitter sparkle, making her gaze even more mesmerizing.
Yan Tuo’s heart went cold.
He knew who this was—Di Xiao Number 009 from the Excel spreadsheet, Feng Mi.
He stepped back, responding: “You’re welcome.”
Feng Mi had been leaning against him, and his sudden withdrawal nearly made her lose balance, though she managed to steady herself after swaying twice.
Two more people rushed out of the room—Lin Xirou and Yang Zheng, another name from the spreadsheet.
Lin Xirou’s face was ashen as she shouted at Xiong Hei: “What are you standing there for? Hurry and—”
She stopped mid-sentence, having noticed Yan Tuo.
Xiong Hei grabbed Dog Tooth and twisted his arms behind him, dragging him back toward the room. Dog Tooth struggled desperately, and upon seeing Yan Tuo, shouted without restraint: “Yan Tuo, please put in a good word for me! I don’t want to die!”
Soon, he was forcibly dragged back into the room by Xiong Hei and Yang Zheng. The underground rooms had good soundproofing—once the door closed, his screams faded to background noise.
Yan Tuo stood motionless, his expression blank, but his palms were sweating and his fingertips slightly trembling.
He still had a needle hidden in his phone case.
Three Di Xiao had been lying low, the farm, death sentence, and Dog Tooth repeatedly saying he didn’t want to die—could the death sentence be meant for Dog Tooth?
Would Lin Xirou ask about Dog Tooth’s previous injury?
Or perhaps Aunt Lin didn’t suspect him, and with the urgent matter of the “death sentence,” she wouldn’t dig up old issues?
…
Lin Xirou felt the previous scene needed explanation and laughed awkwardly: “Little Tuo, why are you here?”
Yan Tuo said: “I came to find Jiang Baichuan. Aunt Lin, what’s wrong with Dog Tooth? What problem is so serious it has to end in death?”
Lin Xirou couldn’t think of an excuse quickly. She walked closer to Yan Tuo and said softly: “Little Tuo, go wait in the restroom first. I’ll arrange for you to see Jiang later, okay?”
Yan Tuo nodded: “Alright.”
As he turned, he met Feng Mi’s gaze—bold and burning hot, staring at him without restraint.
Yan Tuo pretended not to notice.
After Yan Tuo walked away, Lin Xirou called Feng Mi: “Come in now.”
Feng Mi giggled, walked up to Lin Xirou, and hugged her coquettishly, whispering in her ear: “Aunt Lin, is that your godson? He smells so good.”
As she spoke, she lightly licked the inside of her lips.
Lin Xirou gave her a cold glance: “What, you want to die with Dog Tooth?”
Feng Mi laughed: “I wouldn’t dare. I’m not that stupid.”
“So you’re just in heat?”
Feng Mi’s face flushed red as she nuzzled against Lin Xirou: “Aunt Lin…”
Lin Xirou said: “If you have that much energy, go chat more with Han Guan. You two are better suited.”
Feng Mi was greatly disappointed. She snorted coldly and released Lin Xirou, dropping her clingy attitude.
Lin Xirou said: “Now get inside.”
***
Lin Xirou entered first, with Feng Mi reluctantly following behind, absently closing the door.
Just as the door was about to shut, Yan Tuo strode from around the corner, crouching halfway as if tying his shoelace, while flicking something toward the door frame.
It was a small piece he had broken off from the phone case Nie Jiuluo had modified for him. Almost weightless, it slid silently across the floor, but its slight thickness caused it to wedge under the door.
This wedge made the door appear closed while preventing it from fully shutting. Yan Tuo backed up a few steps, ready to flee instantly if anyone inside noticed, but fortunately, the door remained slightly ajar.
Yan Tuo held his breath and slowly approached the door, but instead of suspiciously pressing against it, he leaned casually against the wall, appearing to wait leisurely.
He had to take this risk: if Dog Tooth said anything, both he and Nie Jiuluo would be exposed. He needed to get ahead of it, even if only by seconds—if he heard anything concerning, he would flee immediately.
He had noticed earlier that despite Dog Tooth’s commotion, the few staff members hadn’t come to investigate. They must have been instructed to stay away from this area.
This section, and indeed the entire second underground level, had cameras, but their purpose was to detect anomalies. So he gambled that as long as he appeared natural and reasonable, even if captured on camera, he wouldn’t raise suspicions.
Voices gradually drifted through the door gap.
***
After being dragged inside, Dog Tooth still clung desperately to Xiong Hei’s leg: “Brother Xiong, Brother Xiong, please say something, please!”
He also pleaded with Yang Zheng: “Brother Yang, we’re all our people, Brother Yang!”
Yang Zheng’s face was slightly drawn, his expression wooden as if he were facing not the tearful Dog Tooth but the flowers and plants he tended daily and had grown tired of, ready to pluck their heads and leaves at any moment.
Xiong Hei had already spoken countless words on Dog Tooth’s behalf and saw no point in hitting that wall again. He gave Dog Tooth a look that meant: begging me is useless.
Dog Tooth understood and crawled on all fours toward Lin Xirou, who was seated in a chair: “Aunt Lin, Aunt Lin, I was wrong. Please give me another chance.”
Lin Xirou lowered her eyelids, her smile not reaching her eyes: “What other chance should I give you? I already gave you a chance at being human, but you didn’t want it.”
Dog Tooth straightened up and began slapping himself with both hands: “I just couldn’t control myself for a moment, Aunt Lin. Please consider that we’re all from the Zhu Ri lineage. In this world, there are so many people, but… we are few.”