Snakes don’t use their tongues to drink water; they submerge their heads directly. So Evelyn Foster, being thoughtful, switched it to a bigger basin, then sat back on the bed, listening to the black snake gulping down the bamboo sap.

Oh my god, it’s like I just got my life back. She wiped her sweat and lay back down on the bed.

From that day on, for several days in a row, the big black snake would come over in the middle of the night to ask for bamboo sap. Evelyn Foster gave it a basin and poured in a few buckets of bamboo sap every night before bed.

“Brother Snake, let’s make a deal. When you come at night, just help yourself, okay? Don’t wake me up, all right?”

Brother Snake couldn’t understand anything too complicated and kept doing things his own way. He was very polite, though—every night before his midnight snack, he would wake up his owner to greet her.

Once again woken from her sleep by the big black snake, Evelyn Foster barely opened one eye, mumbled a couple of half-hearted responses, then turned over and went back to sleep.

She hadn’t gone out at all these past few days. Every day, she just stayed here peacefully, took afternoon naps, watched the sunset, fully embracing the vacation lifestyle. She hadn’t interacted with anyone else, so she had no idea that in just a few days, over twenty people from the hundred-member girl group had already been eliminated.

The ancestor Brian Carter was the type who would stir up trouble even if no one provoked him, especially when he was in a bad mood. Not to mention, there were some restless schemers in the girl group who were eager to throw themselves at him.

The faction led by Lillian Clark, made up of high-ranking officials’ children, was eliminated the fastest and in the greatest numbers. As the leader, Lillian Clark took the lead and was the first to be eliminated.

On the third day, when Evelyn Foster didn’t see her, Lillian Clark took two junior sisters from her faction to the central tower to seek an audience with the ancestral master. If Evelyn Foster had seen her actions, she would definitely have praised her for bravely facing death head-on.

Brian Carter received them.

“What are you here for?” he asked.

Lillian Clark lowered her head demurely and gently said, “Disciple is here to serve the ancestral master in daily life.”

Brian Carter walked up to her. When he walked, he made no sound, just like that black snake. His wide robe trailed behind him like a snake’s tail, and his gaze was as cold as a snake’s eyes.

Lillian Clark tensed up, trying hard not to show any sign of abnormality. Brian Carter slowly reached out his hand, pointed lightly at her forehead, and then asked again, “What are you here for?”

Without realizing it, Lillian Clark opened her mouth and gave a completely different answer from before: “I’m here to become the ancestral master’s concubine. I want to have a child with Sima family blood. Once the Fengshan clan’s bloodline has another branch, we can trap and kill the ancestral master, solving a major problem for the Gengchen Immortal Mansion. The palace where our Yun clan resides can also become the master of the Gengchen Immortal Mansion…”

A look of terror appeared on her face. She wanted to stop, but couldn’t. Her body seemed to have a will of its own, spilling out all the thoughts she had hidden deep inside.

Brian Carter listened to Lillian Clark’s words without surprise. His expression didn’t even change. He simply pointed at another person and said, “And you, what are you here for?”

That woman was also full of fear and resistance, but just like Lillian Clark, she couldn’t control herself and told the truth, saying almost the same thing as Lillian Clark.

The third person couldn’t help but say, “I’m here to steal Lillian Clark’s opportunity, to win a chance for the Mo family to open another palace and surpass the Yun family.”

Lillian Clark glared at her with hatred. If she could move, she’d probably want to kill this usually docile follower with a single sword strike.

“After all these years, they’re still using the same old tricks.” Brian Carter said mockingly, looking at the three of them and clapping his hands in laughter.

“There’s only me left in the Sima family. Once I die, the entire Gengchen Immortal Mansion is finished. Palace master, bloodline master—every one of you, the whole Gengchen Immortal Mansion, will die with me. Do you understand?”

The three of them trembled, as if they could see the terrifying future in his words. But in the end, they didn’t get to see it, because after Brian Carter finished laughing, he casually sent all three of them on ahead to the afterlife.

Three life lamps in the lantern pavilion went out at once. Then, under everyone’s heavy gaze, several more lamps went out one after another.

“This soul has already dissipated.” The woman who spoke looked grim. Both of her disciples had died—she had chosen and trained them with such care!

She said bitterly, “Ancestral master… Brian Carter, is he really so utterly without scruples?”

“Heh, what scruples could he possibly have now? If he weren’t still recovering and unable to leave the Three Sacred Mountains, I’m afraid…” The old man didn’t finish, but everyone understood what he meant, and fell silent.

Evelyn Foster noticed there were fewer people when she went to fetch water. They needed water to live here, and in this huge palace, she had only found one source of running water, so everyone fetched water there. She counted and realized there seemed to be a dozen or so people missing, which made her feel a bit uneasy.

Except for those two people on the first day, she hadn’t come across any murder scenes since, because she wasn’t curious about this place, nor about the ancestral master or anyone else. She was just here to enjoy a solitary vacation.

As it turned out, having no curiosity was a good thing—she had managed to survive several days without even realizing it.

“How are you not dead yet?” A slightly familiar senior sister was surprised to see Evelyn Foster coming to fetch water.