10: I'm home. Aren't you touched?

The news of the exit from the No. 0 Forbidden Zone was like a depth charge dropped into a dry latrine, instantly stirring up a thousand waves.

Not only the two guards who were questioning their lives, but even Tianqiong City's intelligence network had its CPU fried.

A useless person with completely severed Meridians and no cultivation was thrown into that Vicious Beast meat grinder that even a Grandmaster would detour around, and he actually walked out unscathed two days later?

This could no longer be explained by science; it had to be categorized under the realm of Xuanhuan horror films.

Some even began to wonder if the Vicious Beasts in the No. 0 Forbidden Zone had collectively suffered from food poisoning and were on sick leave.

Meanwhile, at the Gu Family Manor, which was at the center of the storm, the atmosphere was exceptionally oppressive.

"Bang!"

A priceless Ming Dynasty blue and white porcelain teacup shattered against the wall.

Gu Zhan sat in a wheelchair—that's right, after yesterday's fall, his tailbone had suffered a devastating blow, and now he could only slump there like a paraplegic old man.

But he still stubbornly maintained his persona as the enraged head of the household.

"Rumors! Absolutely rumors!"

Gu Zhan waved his bandage-wrapped arms, spit flying everywhere, "That rebellious son is clearly dead! Even his Vital Signs Monitoring Bracelet went dark! How could he possibly walk out? Which competitor released this smokescreen? Is it to further drive down our Gu Family's stock price?"

Madam Li, sitting opposite him, was currently wearing a huge pair of sunglasses and a mask, her entire face wrapped like a freshly unearthed mummy.

Her pride and joy, her appearance, was ruined; now she looked at everyone as if they owed her eight million.

"Investigate! Investigate this to the end!" Madam Li's voice sounded somewhat muffled due to the stiffness of her facial muscles, carrying a sinister tone, "If I find out who is using that jinx to make a fuss, I will definitely tear his mouth apart!"

On the other end of the sofa, Gu Yu was lying on a stretcher bed, his right leg held high in a thick plaster cast.

His face was pale, and his eyes flickered uncertainly.

As the only one who knew the truth, he was very clear about the state Gu Fan was in when he was thrown inside.

Death had been a certainty.

But for some reason, since hearing that news, his right eyelid had been twitching frantically, at a frequency as fast as if it had a motor installed.

"Dad, Mom... could it be... a ghost?"

The third sister, Gu Linger, shrank into the corner of a single sofa, clutching an amulet tightly in her hand, her voice trembling.

She was the most timid in the family and also the most superstitious.

"Shut up!"

Gu Zhan and Madam Li roared in unison.

Just then, the eldest sister, Gu Qingluan, who had been silent all along, stood up.

She wore a solemn training suit; although she couldn't speak, her aura was cold.

She took out her phone, quickly typed a line of text, and showed it to everyone:

[Whether he is a man or a ghost, as long as he dares to come back, I can make him die once more.]

Seeing his eldest daughter so domineering, Gu Zhan's mood calmed down slightly.

That's right.

Even if that rebellious son really had Heaven-Defying luck and survived, so what?

He was still a useless person.

The Gu Family had a Grandmaster in residence and Genetic Warriors as guards; could they still be afraid of a stray dog like him?

"Master! Master!"

The butler stumbled in, the expression on his face extremely complex, as if he had seen an alien and Godzilla at the same time.

"What's the panic! Where are your manners!" Gu Zhan frowned and scolded.

"No... it's not..." The butler gasped for air, his finger trembling as he pointed toward the main gate, "Outside... outside..."

Before he could finish his sentence.

"Boom—"

The heavy mahogany doors were slowly pushed open from the outside.

The afterglow of the setting sun spilled in through the gap in the door, making the crystal chandelier in the hall seem dull by comparison.

A tall and straight figure, backlit and stepping on the golden-covered floor, walked in step by step.

His footsteps were light, but in the dead-silent hall, every step seemed to tread on the rhythm of everyone's heartbeats.

In the interplay of light and shadow, that face gradually became clear.

The features were still the same, but the temperament had undergone an earth-shattering change.

The old Gu Fan always kept his head down, shoulders slumped, his eyes submissive, like a punching bag always ready to be beaten.

But the person before them.

The corners of his mouth were slightly raised, his eyes bright and deep, and his whole being exuded a relaxed sense of "strolling through my own backyard in this world."

Even though he was wearing tattered beggar-like clothes, he somehow managed to wear them with the high-end feel of a Paris Fashion Week runway.

It was indeed Gu Fan.

He stood still in the center of the hall and looked around at this group of familiar "family members."

At this moment, the facial expression management of the Gu Family members completely collapsed.

Gu Zhan's eyeballs were about to pop out of their sockets, his mouth hung wide open, and a strange "gurgle" came from his throat.

Madam Li's eyes behind her sunglasses were filled with terror, and her body shrank back uncontrollably.

Gu Qingluan's originally crossed arms froze in mid-air, and her signature cold expression instantly cracked.

Gu Yu was so scared he almost rolled off the stretcher, the muscles on his face twitching wildly.

As for Gu Linger, her eyes rolled back, she let out a short scream, and nearly fainted.

Only the second sister, Gu Wanqing, stood in the corner, her whole body trembling, her hands tightly covering her mouth as tears welled up in her eyes.

That was a physiological reaction to extreme fear.

Looking at this room full of various forms of "performance art," Gu Fan nodded with satisfaction.

He raised his hand and gave an extremely natural greeting:

"Yo, everyone's here?"

His voice was clear and full of vigor.

"Looking at this setup, are you holding a feast for me?"

Gu Fan pointed with a smile at the cold dishes and fruit on the table that hadn't been cleared yet, his tone as relaxed as a corporate slave who had just returned home from work, "Why didn't you wait for the main character? That's not very nice of you."

"You... you..."

Gu Zhan finally found his tongue, but he found his voice was shaking violently, "Are you a man or a ghost?!"

"Dad, your materialist values aren't very firm."

Gu Fan stepped forward, casually picked up an apple from the table, and took a bite. The crisp sound echoed in the hall.

"I have a shadow, I have warmth, and I can eat things."

He took another bite and said indistinctly while chewing, "Although the food over in Hell might be okay, I'm a homebody and couldn't bear to leave you, so I crawled back."

"This is impossible!"

Gu Yu screamed, his voice sharp and piercing, "Your Meridians are severed! Your Dantian is ruined! You were thrown into the core zone! How could you possibly come out alive!"

Gu Fan turned his head and looked at this fake younger brother who had occupied twenty years of his life.

He looked Gu Yu's cast-covered leg up and down and marveled:

"Oh, little brother, your look is quite unique."

"What happened to this leg? You managed to fall like this even on flat ground? Is it because you usually do too many bad things that even gravity finds you unpleasant?"

Gu Yu was poked in his sore spot, his face turned red, but he couldn't say a word in rebuttal.

Yesterday's fall was indeed bizarre to the extreme.

"And Mom."

Gu Fan turned his gaze to Madam Li, "What happened to you? Just finished some cosmetic surgery? The way these bandages are wrapped, it really gives off a 'Return of the Mummy' vibe. What, did you feel your old face wasn't worthy of your noble Soul and planned to change skins?"

"Shut up! You rebellious son!"

Madam Li was so angry her whole body trembled; she wanted to curse, but thinking of that inexplicably shattered mirror, a strange chill welled up in her heart.

"Don't be so angry."

Gu Fan waved his hand with an innocent look, "Eldest sister too, stop glaring at me, be careful your eyes don't cramp. Oh right, I heard eldest sister's throat is uncomfortable? True, scolding people is too tiring, and vocal cords need rest. Turning into a frog's croak is also a gift from nature."

The whole room was stunned.

Not just because of Gu Fan's return from the dead.

But also because of his mouth.

The old Gu Fan wouldn't fight back when hit or talk back when scolded; he was just a mute gourd.

The current Gu Fan—how did every word and sentence seem like a knife stabbing into people's hearts?

And every single sentence accurately hit a nerve.

This wasn't just throwing an ult in their faces; this was practically dancing on their graves.

"Enough!"

Gu Zhan slammed the armrest of his wheelchair, forcing himself to calm down.

Since he was back, he would just deal with him again.

As long as he was in the Gu Family, he was just a piece of trash at their mercy!

"Gu Fan, since you're not dead, honestly crawl back to your doghouse! Don't think that crawling out of the forbidden zone makes you anything special!"

Gu Zhan's eyes were sinister, "In this house, as long as I'm not dead, it's not your turn to act wild!"

Gu Fan didn't get angry upon hearing this; instead, his smile grew even more brilliant.

"Dad, you've got one thing wrong."

Gu Fan withdrew his smile, leaned over slightly, and met Gu Zhan's gaze at eye level.

He looked at Gu Zhan's panicked face.

"I didn't come back to listen to your lectures."

"I came to take back what belongs to me, and incidentally..."

"To see how you all get your retribution."

As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere suddenly became heavy.

An invisible pressure emanated from Gu Fan.

It wasn't the pressure of a strong person, but a hair-raising palpitation, as if being locked onto by some kind of Causality Weapon.

The third sister, Gu Linger, who had been hiding in the back without speaking, finally broke down.

Although she was a spoiled little princess at home, she had actually awakened a rare S-rank Mental-type Ability.

This ability made her perception of emotions exceptionally keen.

She could feel that the Gu Fan before her, though appearing harmless, was practically a monster in human skin on a spiritual level.

That unfathomable sense of dread caused her spirit to completely collapse.

"I don't believe it! You're fake! You're a monster!"

Gu Linger suddenly screamed, her features twisting as she thrust both hands forward.

"Go die! Mental Piercing!"

Buzz—!

An invisible mental wave, carrying the power to tear the Soul, slammed hard toward the center of Gu Fan's brow.

This was her famous finishing move.

If an ordinary person were hit by this move, they would at least become an idiot, or at worst, suffer brain death.

A hint of joy appeared on the faces of Gu Zhan and Madam Li.

Good daughter!

Well done!

As long as this rebellious son was turned into an idiot, all problems would be solved!

Gu Yu was also screaming frantically in his heart: Kill him! Finish him off!

Facing this sudden mental attack, Gu Fan didn't even blink.

He even let out a helpless sigh.

"Sigh, really... why must you force me to use cheats?"

The next second.

The System notification sounded as expected, carrying a hint of annoyance at being disturbed.

[Ding! Detected an S-Rank malicious mental attack from 'Gu Linger'.]

[This level of Mental Energy isn't even as strong as the radio gymnastics at the Alzheimer's rehabilitation center in my era.]

[Malice Level: B+.]

[Karmic Backlash triggered! Multiplier: Fifty times.]

[Random effect generating... Congratulations, selected: Your brain needs a restart; it's best to format it.]

[Effect Description: Reflects the mental shock and adds an 'Intellectual Regression' effect. Since you like being an unreasonable child so much, I'll let you truly experience what it means to 'see the old man in the three-year-old'.]

Gu Fan stood where he was. The mental spike that was enough to destroy an ordinary person's consciousness, the moment it touched his forehead...

...was like a clay ox entering the sea.

It vanished without a trace.

Immediately after.

"Ah————!!!"

Gu Linger let out an extremely shrill scream.

She clutched her head tightly with both hands, her whole body curling up like a shrimp as she rolled frantically on the ground.

Bleeding from all seven orifices.

That intense pain was as if someone had taken a blender and turned her brains into a pulp.

"Linger!"

"Third Sister!"

The Gu Family members were in a complete panic, just about to rush forward to check.

Suddenly.

Gu Linger's screams stopped abruptly.

She stopped rolling and slowly crawled up from the ground.

The pain, distortion, and fear on her face had all vanished.

Replacing them was an extremely innocent, extremely dull expression, her eyes completely unable to focus.

She looked around blankly, then stuck her finger into her mouth and started laughing foolishly.

"Hehe... Aba aba..."

She looked at Gu Zhan, suddenly opened her arms, and stumbled over, grabbing Gu Zhan's bandage-wrapped thigh.

"Daddy... huggy..."

Then, under the horrified gazes of everyone.

A stream of warm liquid flowed down her skirt, quickly forming a puddle on the floor.

She had wet herself.

Not only that, she excitedly stepped in the urine a couple of times, clapping her hands happily:

"Water! Play with water!"

The whole place was deathly silent.

Even Gu Fan couldn't help but raise an eyebrow and give the System a mental thumbs-up.

"Systemy, this move of 'returning to youth'... isn't it a bit too thorough?"

Gu Zhan looked at his foolish daughter who was hugging his thigh and still drooling, feeling as if his skull was about to explode.

This was his proud mental-type Genius daughter?

This was clearly an imbecile with the IQ of a three-year-old!