The infinite sword system has been mastered, and you say this is the dragon clan?

Chapter 266: Not Dead
The warm sun shines on the excellent port of Lisbon, Portugal, and retro Portuguese buildings are lined up in the mountain city.

The extraordinary sunshine brought by midsummer delayed the sunset time here to after 9 pm. Even though it was late, the sun was still shining brightly. This scene made Su Xiaoqiang, who was unable to adjust to the jet lag for a while, yawn and walked off the ship leaning on the handrail.

She had come here during the summer vacation to visit her mother's family. She had originally planned to bring her father along, but the coal mine owner, who was always busy with his work, was still unavailable. Su Xiaoqiang criticized her for working overtime despite her health.

Su Xiaoqiang thought that if he couldn't do it himself, he should ask his mother to persuade him instead. His father's last physical examination didn't look very good, and he also had been attending social events and drinking heavily for a long time. If this continued for a long time, his body would definitely not be able to bear it.

It just so happened that my cousin Mariana Santos had recently sent me a rare letter, saying that there was a happy event in their family and she hoped that Su Xiaoqiang's sister would come over to celebrate...

She was a little puzzled. What could this be? Why was he so secretive and had to wait until they met to tell her...

"Xiao Qiang!"

As Su Xiaoqiang walked into the crowd, a blonde woman with a Western face soon waved and shouted. Although the other party must have practiced the pronunciation of Chinese names in advance, Su Xiaoqiang couldn't help laughing when he heard the strange tone.

"Cousin!" Su Xiaoqiang responded in Portuguese, but soon saw her cousin Mariana running over and leaning close to her face.

Su Xiaoqiang dodged slightly to the side nimbly. His cousin did this not because she had any special hobby, but because it was a popular etiquette of cheek kissing among relatives in Portugal.

Although this is very popular among relatives and friends here, Su Xiaoqiang thinks that she doesn't have much daily contact with her relatives from her mother's side, and she really can't adapt to it.

Mariana noticed Su Xiaoqiang's agile reaction and was surprised, but not embarrassed. "Let's go! The car is ready."

The two started their journey to Santos's home. Along the way, Mariana said to Su Xiaoqiang that it was a pity that they arrived too late and missed the Santo Antonio Festival in Lisbon. Otherwise, they would have seen the entire district decorated with ribbons, rosemary, and carnations, and tasted grilled sardines and green wine on the street.

Su Xiaoqiang waved her hand, she couldn't come earlier - if she came earlier, it would still be summer vacation before her!

However, the two of them never stopped eating on the way. Mariana bought cinnamon egg tarts and some sardine snacks for Su Xiaoqiang to fill his stomach and keep him awake.

After getting off the car, the two walked into a manor that exuded an ancient atmosphere. Finally arriving at her mother's house, Su Xiaoqiang couldn't help but ask, "Cousin, what's going on that needs to be said in person?"

"Well..." Mariana hesitated for a while and was about to explain, but when she walked to the main entrance and met an elderly man in formal attire, she suddenly shut her mouth.

"Grandpa!" Su Xiaoqiang called politely. The wrinkled old man was named Alfonso Santos, Su Xiaoqiang's mother's biological father and the owner of this estate.

"It's Xiaoqiang. Your mother, Beatrice, is still at the office. I'm afraid she won't be home until after sunset."

Grandpa Alfonso shook his head. "Beatrice and your father, Su Jiannan, are the same. Once they have a job, they forget everything else. I don't know how these two got together in the first place."

Su Xiaoqiang felt that she couldn't laugh anymore. It sounded as if this was the result of "an accident outside of work".

Mariana asked cautiously, "Can I tell Xiaoqiang about that?"

Alfonso took a look and said, "Tell me, the success of our business might be related to Xiao Qiang."

He took out a letter and said, "You should take a look at it too. This is really strange. Even the cardinal sent a letter."

Mariana took it and unfolded it. Sure enough, it was the Latin used in official church documents. "...Oh, it's actually true. Xiao Qiang was mentioned too."

"Cardinal?" Su Xiaoqiang was confused. What was going on?

"Actually," Mariana thought for a moment and said, "Xiao Qiang, do you believe that there are all kinds of legendary monsters in this world?"

Although Mariana discovered that Su Xiaoqiang had some skills, he was probably still an ordinary person with no experience.

"..."

Su Xiaoqiang was silent for a moment, her cousin's words bringing back memories. One night, she had witnessed those terrifying monsters with human heads and snake bodies. Such creatures were definitely not something an ordinary person could deal with, nor did they exist among the diverse animal species in nature.

Then, she miraculously survived, rescued by a red-haired man. She didn't know who he was, and later, despite her best efforts, she couldn't find any information about him, just like that person and the events of that day, shrouded in an invisible fog, with an unseen barrier blocking Su Xiaoqiang's excessive curiosity and inquisitive mind.

Su Xiaoqiang started to practice martial arts on her own since that day, but she still didn't know if she could deal with the monster at this level... No, she still didn't know if she could struggle a few more times in front of the monster.

With her temperament, she has always been brave and fearless in facing the world. However, facing this monster that is not understood by ordinary people, Su Xiaoqiang still feels at a loss.

Could it be that I don’t have the same magical power as that red-haired man, so I will never be able to resist that monster in my entire life?
"I believe."

"You might not believe it...eh?"

Mariana thought to herself, "Why don't you speak according to the routine?" ...Oh, yes, Xiaoqiang is young and should still be at the age of fantasy, so it makes sense that he believes it.

"Okay, okay, if you believe me, that's all. Then let me explain to you the so-called truth of the world..."

So, Su Xiaoqiang listened to her cousin's explanation of the dragon clan, the half-bloods, the secret party, the Holy Church... The more she listened, the wider her eyes widened. So there was a hidden "inner world" beneath this surface world?
No wonder every time Su Xiaoqiang wanted to look up some information, he always got no results for some unknown reason. Could it be that these people in the other world had joined forces to completely deceive ordinary people and fooled the people all over the world?
No, even if that's the case, doesn't the Santos family on my mother's side know about this? So you, my mother, cousin, and grandfather, were also deliberately hiding this from me?
"...It wasn't intentional," Mariana said embarrassedly.

"You know, mixed-bloods... people with rare bloodlines are not uncommon, but the concentration of most people doesn't reach the standard for awakening. For example, our family has been unable to awaken since our grandfather's generation. If this continues, we will become ordinary people and have no right to participate in the affairs of the other world."

Our family has fallen?

This thought flashed through Su Xiaoqiang's mind, and then he heard Mariana say:
"I mentioned celebrating something earlier, and that's actually it. It's said that the Holy Church is recruiting and training believers skilled in combat to become 'Agents.' They prioritize talent, gifts, and faith over bloodline."

"Luckily, I was selected not long ago!"

"Is that so? Congratulations, cousin!"

"No, no, no, I feel like it's all thanks to you, Xiaoqiang," Mariana waved the letter in her hand. "For some reason, the new Cardinal Cervantes specifically mentioned that if you're interested, Xiaoqiang, you can make an exception and obtain the agent's training method..."

Although he had not yet entered the Holy Church and was not clear about its rules and regulations, it was a bit too much to give such preferential treatment to a newcomer who had not yet joined and a relative.

Even though his cousin said so, Su Xiaoqiang couldn't understand why he was treated specially.

"Is it that good? Then can I start going tomorrow..."

"You are too happy too early." Grandpa Alfonso said suddenly.

"Take a close look at the back of the letter. It contains the latest news from Cardinal Cervantes. The diocese has been experiencing unrest lately. People have been missing in the countryside of Lisbon and other parts of Western Europe. In some areas, large numbers of mummified corpses have been discovered, suggesting the area has been infested by vampire monsters."

"The Cardinal will probably be too busy with these matters to take time off to look after you. At that time, the best you can do is take the letter to the church to receive the training method. The church is currently short of staff, so it's impossible for them to arrange for someone to guide you. Otherwise, you can just practice on your own."

"Ah? How could this be..." Mariana was disappointed after reading the rest of the letter.

"Then just practice on your own. What are you afraid of, cousin!"

Su Xiaoqiang was quite interested.

When she was practicing martial arts before, her martial arts master praised her for her extraordinary talent and rapid learning, so she was very curious about the real practice methods in this world.

"That's too inefficient. If I have to figure it out on my own..." Mariana's eyes lit up. "By the way, Xiaoqiang, you're here and I didn't have time to entertain you. Let's plan a trip tomorrow!"

Alfonso frowned and said, "Have you forgotten what I just said? It's not peaceful outside right now. Although there is no big news in Western Europe, it is suppressed by local organizations..."

"Oh, it's okay!"

Mariana said, "I'll ask Aunt Beatrice if she can arrange some luxury cruise tickets. We can take advantage of the warm weather and go straight to the Arctic! Vampires wouldn't visit the uninhabited Arctic, would they?"

(End of this chapter)