Chapter 34 Appraisal Eye
As Lu Zhen entered the stronghold, he noticed that the bodies, which had been piled together, had all been cleaned up, as if nothing had happened.
"What happened here?" Lu Zhen thought to himself as he let the twins down from his arms.
The twins were visibly confused; the blood had flowed like a river and the corpses of all the bandits had disappeared in moments. Since Lu Zhen had chased the bandits and caught the twins, it had been approximately about 2 hours, and accomplishing this in such a short amount of time should not have been possible.
If it weren't for the clear signs of battle and the damages the stronghold had sustained, Lu Zhen might have doubted whether they were even in the same place anymore.
The only area he hadn't explored was the centre of the camp, where Chen Mo, the leader of the Silver Vipers, resided.
"I should head to the centre of the camp and see what's going on," he mused to himself, prompting him to move with rapid speed.
Leaving Lu Qing and Lu Zhi behind, Lu Zhen reached the camp's centre, where he found Yu Bai standing with an assured smile before the den.
However, an oddity caught his attention: Yu Bai resembled him in bulkiness, though there was no tail in sight.
Lu Zhen's eyes widened in shock as he realized that Yu Bai's appearance closely resembled his own, though Yu Bai was a bit smaller in stature. Yu Bai's white beard, and bald head contrasted with his more muscular build and extra arms. In Yu Bai's hands lay the head of a person which he was carrying casually.
Suddenly, Lu Zhen's arms twitched involuntarily, drawing his focus. His eyes widened as he noticed that his arms had become four.
A sense of bitterness washed over Lu Zhen; he was turning into more of a monster with each change.
"Young master," Yu Bai spoke respectfully, bowing with excitement in his voice, "here."
He handed Lu Zhen the head of Chen Mo.
While Lu Zhen hadn't seen Chen Mo personally, he recognized him from the information he had gathered.
From the memories he has Lu Zhen has never seen Yu Bai so excited till now Although he was always warm and caring to Lu Zhen, he was always calm and composed.
Before Lu Zhen could speak, Yu Bai intervened, "Young master, I know you have many questions, but I cannot explain. Madam will clarify everything."
The term 'madam' left Lu Zhen in a state of astonishment. The only woman Yu Bai referred to as 'madam' was his mother.
"It could be that my bloodline originated from my mother," a realization dawned on Lu Zhen. After all, bloodlines didn't materialize out of thin air; they were typically transplanted artificially or inherited.
"So that's the case," Lu Zhen thought to himself.
"Alright, we should leave now, Old Bai. But what about our appearances? Can we revert to our normal forms?" Lu Zhen inquired with a nervous undertone.
"You just need to read this, young master," Yu Bai said, handing Lu Zhen a black scroll.
When Lu Zhen unrolled the scroll, he saw a picture of a strong-looking devil. This devil had long black hair and golden eyes much like Lu Zhen however Lu Zhen had red eyes.
What made him stand out were his four big arms and muscular body which made even Lu Zhen's frame seem like a child. He had a thin tail that looked like a heart, and on his head were tough, dark horns that curved.
In a way, the image resembled an older version of Lu Zhen, albeit with distinct features like horns, different facial attributes, and golden eyes. Lower on the picture was an unfamiliar row of language that Lu Zhen had never seen before; it looked pretty gibberish to him.
However, that stirred a strange sense of recognition within Lu Zhen although he didn't know what it was. As he gazed upon it, his mind became calm and his originally boiling blood became calm again.
Gradually, he reverted to his human form.
"This…" Lu Zhen uttered in astonishment.
"Young master, this painting depicts our ancestors," Yu Bai explained with deep reverence in his voice. However, Lu Zhen was so absorbed by the language that he remained still, his gaze fixed on the scroll.
"Could you give it back, young master?" Yu Bai said, noticing Lu Zhen's fixation. Yet, Lu Zhen remained unresponsive, his attention entirely captivated by the painting.
After all, this picture was of their ancestor and held immense value to their race. Every individual, regardless of their status, was granted this image only once. If it was lost, they would likely forfeit the opportunity to transform into a human and be condemned to a life as a demon, with the risk of losing their sanity due to their demonic nature.
Observing Lu Zhen's motionless state as he stared at the painting, Yu Bai began to feel a sense of unease.
"Could it be…" a realization struck Yu Bai, his eyes widening in shock. He hesitated, waiting with a mixture of doubt and anticipation.
As time flowed by like a river, suddenly, Lu Zhen's crimson eyes transformed, shifting into a brilliant shade of gold.
Seeing this change, Yu Bai thought to himself, "Young master is truly a genius," a surge of excitement mixing with a tinge of guilt.
Slowly emerging from his reverie, Lu Zhen's attention turned to the system prompt that had appeared before him. As he thought of pressing the log button, the prompt opened.
[You have experienced the intent of Volgrith Emperor.]
[You have gained the Appraisal Eyes.]
A sense of pleasant surprise washed over him as he read the notification. However, his confusion grew as he saw the unfamiliar language in the system prompt.
While inheriting the previous host's memories granted Lu Zhen knowledge of the world's language, the memory of this particular language was absent. It seemed almost as if something was obstructing him from comprehending the name associated with it.
"Humph, you think you can stop me?" Lu Zhen thought resolutely.
Attempting to focus on the language again, the characters seemed to blur and elude him, as if deliberately resisting his efforts to uncover their meaning, particularly the person's name.
Frustrated, he was about to try once more, but suddenly, he coughed up blood. His internal organs seemed to rupture, causing his blood to convulse, and he collapsed unconscious.
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