The rain had thinned to a mist by the time they left the Gu House.
Ethan walked with Liu Tieshan and Liu Lan, Xiaofan perched on his father's broad shoulders, swaying lazily like a young prince atop a moving fortress. Their pace was steady, but unhurried, as they followed the winding forest path toward the Liu Clan's heartland.
The air smelled of wet moss and tree bark. Every now and then, strange chirps echoed from deep in the woods—too rhythmic to be birds, too mechanical to be beasts.
Ethan had never felt more out of place.
As they moved, he noticed something strange.
Liu Tieshan would occasionally flick his fingers, and the mud on the road dried instantly.
At first Ethan thought it was some passive effect of being Rank 3. But then he saw it again—this time, Liu Lan touched a tree branch overhead and whispered something. A small, shimmering insect crawled out from her sleeve and into the bark. A moment later, the entire tree bent slightly, as if bowing to her.
Ethan slowed his steps, watching carefully.
"You noticed?" Liu Lan asked without turning around.
"Yeah," Ethan said. "You're… not using that primal energy. Or something. It's always with those little bugs."
Liu Tieshan grunted. "We are Gu Masters. That's how we fight, travel, live. Without Gu, we are no better than mortals. And as for primal energy its nothing as to channel it we need Gu."
Xiaofan piped up, clinging to his dad's head. "Mama has a Leaf Glide Gu! That's why she never gets wet or dirty!"
Liu Lan gave a soft laugh. "It's just Rank 1. Useful for long travel."
Ethan furrowed his brow. "So… you're not cultivating your own strength? It's all about… borrowing strength?"
Liu Tieshan stopped walking.
He turned to face Ethan, his gaze calm but heavy.
"Not borrowed," he said. "Refined. Controlled. Subjugated."
He raised a hand. A flash of cold light gleamed, and a thin silver Gu worm coiled up between his fingers like a metallic snake.
"This is Bone Strength Gu. I feed it beast marrow. It strengthens my limbs—but only if I balance it with Muscle Harmony Gu. If I fail to manage them properly, they clash. My arm could twist itself apart due to one of them being too strong."
Ethan stared.
"This is normal?" he asked.
Liu Lan nodded. "Power comes with a price. Some Gu are mild, others dangerous. Some require blood. Some feed on your thoughts. One mistake… and your own Gu can kill you."
Xiaofan, unbothered, pulled a nut from a pouch and started munching.
Ethan glanced at him. "Does he know how crazy this all sounds?"
"We were born to it," Liu Lan said simply. "To us, it's normal. Mortals cook. Plant. Farm. Gu Masters… risk their lives every day just by cultivating."
She paused.
"That's why mortals fear us."
As if on cue, they passed a small settlement off the trail—a cluster of clay huts, with ragged cloth canopies sagging under rain.
A few old peasants stood outside, heads bowed respectfully as the group passed. A boy barely older than Xiaofan peeked from behind a wall, staring wide-eyed at Tieshan's armor and the Gu sigils etched into his bracers.
Ethan felt it like a physical pressure.
The gap.
The Liu family wasn't just stronger—they were otherworldly. Living by rules so far removed from ordinary people that even their presence twisted the atmosphere.
"Mortals don't awaken apertures," Liu Lan said quietly, noticing his expression. "No aperture, no Gu. No cultivation. They live. We walk the path of power."
Ethan looked down at his hands.
He thought of all the games he'd played, the skill trees, the class picks, the min-max builds. But this world… there were no safe tutorials. No sandbox mode.
Just Gu.
Living power, with a hunger of its own.
The forest trail widened after a few more li. The mist thinned, revealing a second group waiting beneath the boughs of a massive spirit tree.
Liu Tieshan raised a hand in silent greeting.
The group ahead responded with minimal ceremony. About six Gu Masters in Liu Tribe colors—three men, two women, and one tall elder—stood around a makeshift perimeter. Bound within the ring of tree roots and Gu threads were nearly two dozen people: ragged, mud-streaked, and defeated.
Mortals.
Their wrists were bound with thick grass ropes. A few had swollen faces, signs of rough treatment. Most kept their eyes downcast.
Ethan slowed his steps.
"...Slaves?"
Xiaofan looked confused. "What's that?"
Liu Lan didn't answer immediately. But Liu Tieshan gave a grunt.
"Captives from a lesser village. Bandit sympathizers. The clan has use for them. Labor, mostly."
A sharp realization settled over Ethan like a cloak of cold water.
They weren't just going back to a clan. They were going back to a society—one where power was everything and mercy was a foreign word.
As they stepped closer, one of the Gu Masters—broad-shouldered and wearing a serrated bone token—called out, "Tieshan! Lan! You found the kid?"
"Safe and sound," Tieshan replied, lifting Xiaofan slightly with one arm.
Xiaofan grinned and waved proudly from his perch. The patrol members smiled, clearly relieved.
The elder Gu Master, a woman with grey eyes and a wooden cane carved with beast patterns, narrowed her eyes at Ethan. "And this one?"
Before Tieshan could answer, Ethan stepped forward, nodding respectfully the way he'd seen Liu Lan do.
"Zhang Wei," he said, using the alias he'd given back in the Gu House. "I helped return the young master to his parents."
There was a moment of silence.
The elder studied him a moment longer, then gave a curt nod. "Mm. You look like a stray mortal, but… there's luck in your bones."
One of the others muttered, "That's rare these days."
Ethan pretended not to hear them. He kept his head down slightly, arms relaxed. Inside, though, he was buzzing.
Zhang Wei. That was the name he'd given when Liu Lan had first asked back in the Gu House. He hadn't wanted to explain "Ethan" or where he was really from—especially not in a world like this.
Now, it was more than just an alias.
It was his mask.
"Come," the elder said, gesturing to the rest of the group. "We'll move together. The weather's clearing. Camp is half a day away."
As the two squads merged into one caravan, Ethan glanced at the bound mortals, noting how they avoided looking at the Gu Masters directly.
He couldn't blame them.
He didn't know what the Liu Clan would do with them—only that this world didn't shy from cruelty. Might have been made right here. That much was clear.
Still, he walked with the Liu family in silence, his mind already spinning.
He was no longer just a stranded gamer.
He was Zhang Wei now.
And if he was going to survive here… maybe even thrive…
Then he'd need more than kindness.
He'd need power.
The winding forest path finally gave way to open plains.
In the distance, nestled between a river bend and a ridge of low hills, the Liu Clan settlement revealed itself—tall timber walls reinforced with jade-colored bark, watchtowers topped with signal smoke Gu, and a scattering of Gu Houses humming with faint pulses of light.
Ethan's eyes widened slightly. It wasn't huge—certainly not a city—but it felt alive. Every structure buzzed with cultivation activity, from defensive Gu arrays to guards patrolling with beast bone spears.
"That's it," Liu Lan said softly beside him. "Home."
Xiaofan was already bouncing with excitement, while Liu Tieshan wore his usual unreadable expression.
As they passed through the gates, the guards barely spared Ethan a glance—too focused on the group of chained mortals being herded in.
The slavers pulled their prisoners toward a fenced-off section beside the outer barracks. Ethan noticed that some of the captives were crying quietly.
Then he noticed something else.
Among them—two people had a strange shimmer around their necks. A dark, metallic collar, pulsing faintly.
Liu Lan followed his gaze. "Those two... they were Gu Masters before capture."
Ethan turned sharply. "They're being enslaved?"
She nodded once, slowly. "With Slavery Gu. A cruel thing. It seals a person's aperture and binds their mind to obedience. They can still use Gu—if ordered to—but they have no will left of their own."
He stared, lips parted.
"You can enslave Gu Masters?"
"Mm." Liu Lan's tone was grim. "It's not common. Most Gu Masters die before allowing it. But sometimes… if they're caught in an ambush, weakened, or betrayed—yes. It happens."
Ethan looked at the two collared Gu Masters again. Both had dead eyes. No spark. Just… tools now.
"Why not just kill them?"
"Because a Rank 1 or 2 Gu Master might still be useful," Liu Tieshan cut in. "Fighting beasts. Hauling cargo. Refining basic Gu. It's efficient."
"Another reason being gu masters are rare while mortals are common so we need to make full use of our resources" Liu Tieshan said as he gave a cold reply as if it was a normal thing
Ethan felt something twist in his stomach.
Not because it was surprising—but because it wasn't.
He'd played dark RPGs. Strategy games where you could conscript enemy units, break them, turn them into resources. But this wasn't a game.
These were people.
And no one here seemed to bat an eye.
"You'll find," Liu Lan said quietly, "that in the plains… slavery is as old as cultivation. Tribes rise and fall. Villages are wiped out overnight. The defeated are taken in chains. Sometimes sold. Sometimes branded. Sometimes fed to Gu."
"Children too?"
She nodded, expression unreadable. "Especially children. They're easier to mold."
Ethan was silent for a long time.
"So..." he finally said, "what happens if a tribe is completely destroyed?"
Tieshan spoke again. "The lucky ones become slaves. The unlucky… vanish."
His tone made it clear that "vanish" didn't mean escape.
They reached the inner compound shortly after. Liu Xiaofan dashed ahead, greeted by a trio of laughing clan kids and an older woman with a crooked back.
Ethan walked behind Liu Lan, still processing everything.
The Liu Clan was strong—but it wasn't invincible.
And in this world, power was everything. Without it, your freedom could be taken, your name erased, your will broken.
He clenched his fists lightly.
"Slavery Gu," he whispered under his breath.
His Gamer System chimed faintly—recording the term as new world knowledge. He dismissed the prompt.
He didn't need a pop-up to tell him what he already understood.
This world had no safe zone. No respawn. No pause button.
Only one rule:
Win. Or be broken.