Li Shu protected Zhang Qiu behind him. The little Jiangshi, who had been dozing in his pocket, also poked out its head, its tiny face tensed, big eyes flashing as it eagerly scanned the chamber.
Zhang Qiu didn’t notice the little Jiangshi’s expression. In fact, no one did, because all the flashlights were pointed at the doorway.
Perhaps it was just their imagination, but it felt like there were footsteps in the passage. Yet when they listened carefully, there was no sound at all. The eerie silence was unsettling. In a tomb, noise wasn’t terrifying—what was terrifying was when it became too quiet.
Time passed—perhaps just a few minutes—but everything outside remained silent, as if the banging noises from before had never happened.
Zhang Qiu’s tense heart slowly relaxed. Just as he was about to speak, his chest suddenly tightened, and he heard a rushing sound, as if it came from above. Instinctively, he looked up—
And met a pair of eyes.
His mind instantly went blank.
“Ba-ba!”
A sharp pain shot through his hand. Zhang Qiu shook his head, finding that the little Jiangshi had jumped out of his pocket and was clinging to his hand, biting him. The pain made him regain his senses. Looking around, he saw everyone was still present. He took two steps back, avoiding whatever was above him.
“What is it?”
Zhang Qiu swallowed dryly, not daring to look up. “There’s someone above.”
The moment he spoke, everyone instantly scattered.
The panel above shifted, and a figure suddenly jumped down.
“I heard… you want to eat me?”
The “person” stared straight at him and spoke first.
Zhang Qiu’s scalp went numb—not because of the words, but because this thing was not human. It was dressed in an ancient servant’s robe, corroded by time. Its skin was gray, devoid of elasticity, its facial features stiff. It appeared to be in its fifties, with an honest-looking face. But in its arms, it held a human head—clean, with no flesh or blood. Upon closer inspection, the skull even had bite marks, as if something had gnawed away the flesh.
Guangtou, standing behind, was shocked. “It’s the house servant! But when I saw him, he was just a dried corpse—”
His voice was cut off by the servant’s sudden movement.
The servant stiffly turned its head, its hollow eyes locking onto Guangtou.
“You want to eat me?”
It spoke slowly, its voice dry and hoarse.
Sweat dripped down Guangtou’s forehead. Even Ping Quan, who had been in the tomb-raiding business for years and had seen Jiangshi before, had never encountered one that could speak or think.
No one spoke.
The servant’s empty eyes remained fixed on them as it continued to mechanically repeat:
“You want to eat me?”
Before it had appeared, Zhang Qiu had felt afraid of the unknown. But now that it was standing in front of him, the fear lessened. Its appearance was frightening, and it could speak, but…
Zhang Qiu thought about it—this was just a Jiangshi.
And he had an even higher-level Jiangshi by his side—one that could talk and even… do things.
Thinking this way, this lower-class Jiangshi didn’t seem so scary anymore.
But something was off.
If Guangtou wasn’t lying, then seven years ago, this servant had been a dried corpse. Now it had become a Jiangshi, its skin had somewhat recovered, and it even had basic cognitive ability. It had crawled through the ceiling and observed them before acting.
Zhang Qiu was still analyzing when Su Wanting suddenly snapped, “It’s just a Jiangshi! My father spent so much money on you people—why are you all just standing there?!”
The moment she finished speaking, the servant—who had been repeating itself mechanically—seemed to be triggered. It threw the skull it was holding directly at Su Wanting and lunged toward her with terrifying speed.
But Pei Qing was faster—he immediately stepped in front of her, instinctively shouting, “Tingting!”
From behind, Ping Quan pulled out his gun and fired twice. The servant changed targets, lunging at him instead. The Liu brothers and Guangtou rushed to help, and chaos erupted as the group struggled to subdue the Jiangshi.
Li Shu, moving with an almost supernatural speed, found an opening. In one swift motion, he plunged a dagger into the back of the servant’s neck. The blade sank in to the hilt.
The servant froze for a moment before collapsing to the ground with a heavy thud.
Ping Quan, still catching his breath, was visibly shaken. They had struggled for so long, and yet Li Shu—whom he had looked down on—had taken the Jiangshi down in a single move.
“There’s your servant,” Li Shu said coldly. “If you don’t want to die, don’t touch the dagger.”
Ping Quan, still drenched in sweat, quickly nodded. “Thank you.”
Su Wanting, smug, smiled. “I told you Li Shu is much better than you all. My father really worries too much.”
Zhang Qiu had no patience for Su Wanting and was afraid he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from hitting her.
They secured the servant Jiangshi, sealing it carefully in a bag. Zhang Qiu felt uneasy about Su Zhichai’s demand for the corpse.
“Who would want a Jiangshi instead of valuable antiques?”
And then there was what the servant had kept repeating—
“You want to eat me.”
Who wanted to eat the servant?
The thought was so grotesque that Zhang Qiu’s mind immediately jumped to Jin Laoda. But Jin Laoda was sealed in a coffin now, so why was Su Zhichai suddenly so fixated on getting this Jiangshi?
It was too much of a coincidence.
A regular person would want to stay as far away from Jiangshi as possible—who would go out of their way to buy one?
After securing the servant Jiangshi, they checked the adjacent main burial chamber. A decayed body lay on the ground—headless.
According to Guangtou, this was the squire whose head he had severed seven years ago.
The squire had been extremely wealthy. Back then, Guangtou had only managed to grab two items before fleeing, but now the tomb was still filled with treasures. The Liu brothers and Ping Quan, forgetting the earlier danger, eagerly searched for valuables.
Zhang Qiu, as an archaeology student, found this unacceptable. He had only ever entered tombs under special circumstances. Xiapi Huiwang and Li Shu never took anything except necessary items, and now, watching these real tomb raiders in action, he couldn’t help himself.
“These are all cultural relics. This is illegal.”
The group paused, and Big Liu sneered. “Then why are you here with us? Acting all righteous after joining in?”
Before his words had fully landed, a shadow flashed—
PA!
A slap sent Big Liu flying.
Blood dribbled from his mouth as he looked up in shock—Li Shu stood over him, his face cold and indifferent, exuding a terrifying killing intent.
Zhang Qiu, afraid Li Shu would actually kill someone, quickly stepped in. “I shouldn’t have said that. They’re just—whatever, forget it.”
Guangtou, sensing the tension, quickly tried to smooth things over. “Look, we’re all in this together. You guys don’t have to take anything, but we at least need to bring a couple of items. We can’t go home empty-handed.”
Zhang Qiu sighed. He regretted speaking up—these people were professional tomb raiders, and interfering with their income was like making an enemy for life.
He tugged on Li Shu’s sleeve. “Let’s just go.”
Su Wanting was impatient and shouted, “Has my father not paid you enough?! How long are you going to drag this out? Getting excited over a bunch of worthless junk! Hurry up and move!”
The Liu brothers still held a grudge against Li Shu for hitting Big Liu, but Ping Quan, remembering that Li Shu had saved them earlier, said, “Forget it, let’s just take two things and leave.”
As they emerged from the water, Zhang Qiu noticed that the strange, sickly-sweet scent in the river was gone. However, he could feel the burning stares from the raft behind him—he knew Guangtou and the others were still angry at him.
Zhang Qiu felt a little down.
In their first archaeology class, the professor had emphasized the difference between archaeology and tomb raiding, stressing the immense damage looting caused to historical relics. Yet here he was, involved with actual tomb raiders.
Li Shu squeezed his hand. “You weren’t wrong.”
“But it still feels bad,” Zhang Qiu muttered. He looked at Li Shu pitifully. “Can I have a hug?”
Li Shu chuckled and pulled Zhang Qiu into his arms, kissing the top of his head.
Zhang Qiu was truly upset, but he didn’t want Li Shu to feel down too. He knew this kind of situation couldn’t always be avoided, so he deliberately acted a little clingy, trying to let Li Shu know that he was okay.
As they cuddled, Zhang Qiu didn’t notice the little Jiangshi peeking out from his pocket. Its dark circles deepened, tiny fangs flashing as it glared at the people behind them.
Li Shu met the little one’s gaze and nodded slightly.
The little Jiangshi quickly retracted its fangs, its expression instantly turning lively again. It grinned happily, flashing its teeth in a mischievous smile.
After arriving at their hotel in Changsha, they left the servant Jiangshi in the car trunk. Moving it carelessly was too risky—after all, it was human-shaped. If someone saw it, they’d all end up in jail, and the next day’s headlines would probably be:
“Shocking! Changsha police bust major tomb-raiding gang!”
Or worse—
“Unbelievable! What these men did to it will shock you!”
Zhang Qiu shuddered at his own imagination and quickly shook his head, following Li Shu into the hotel to rest.
After showering, Zhang Qiu lay on the bed, pulling out his phone. He had been about to message Pei Qing to check on his senior brother, but then he remembered that his senior was still in the hospital—and he didn’t even have Lu Feng’s contact.
Might as well wait until he got back.
“What are you doing?”
Li Shu’s voice came from behind, startling Zhang Qiu. He turned around to see Li Shu, fresh out of the shower, wrapped in only a loosely tied towel. Water droplets trickled down his toned body, disappearing beneath the fabric.
The sight was downright sinful.
Zhang Qiu swallowed hard. Damn, no matter how many times I see him, I can never get used to it.
Truly, a hopeless simp.
“Can’t you just put on some clothes?” Zhang Qiu muttered, but his eyes remained glued to Li Shu. He even threw in a half-hearted insult, “Peacock.”
Li Shu smirked, slowly loosening the towel as he leaned in. His voice, low and teasing, sent shivers down Zhang Qiu’s spine.
“Peacock? Hmm?”
Zhang Qiu’s heart pounded. He pushed against Li Shu’s chest in a weak attempt to resist, only to be distracted by the solid, firm muscles under his fingertips.
Damn it. This is dangerous.
To avoid the inevitable, he quickly changed the subject.
“I was just thinking… Pei Qing and Su Wanting seem really close.”
Li Shu’s expression darkened. “Not just Pei Qing. The Su family has ties to someone we’ve encountered before.”
Zhang Qiu instantly realized. “Jin Laoda’s master?”
Li Shu nodded.
Zhang Qiu was a little happy that he had guessed correctly. He immediately told Li Shu about his suspicions, explaining that the servant Jiangshi’s words—“You want to eat me.”—had triggered his thoughts.
Su Wanting also seemed odd. When they first met at the Barbie shop, she had acted like a naive little princess, but her aura didn’t match that of a simple girl. At the auction, she had spoken and dressed like someone older than her supposed eighteen or nineteen years. In the tomb, she had even pulled out a gun.
Even though she always acted disgusted by Jiangshi, when facing them directly, she showed no fear. Instead, she seemed eager to grab them and take them back as soon as possible.
“Do you remember the hallucinations caused by the scent in the water?”
“You mean there’s something suspicious about it too?”
“The first one to fall in was Guangtou. Su Wanting jumped in right after him. I don’t know what happened underwater, but when Guangtou climbed back up, his face had deep scratch marks. And Su Wanting… had flesh and blood under her nails.”
“You think she hallucinated and fought him?”
“Su Wanting was completely conscious. Guangtou didn’t die because Pei Qing saved him.”
Zhang Qiu felt even more confused. He had thought Su Wanting was just an arrogant young lady, but now it seemed she was much more involved in this than he had assumed.
“Don’t overthink it.” Li Shu kissed him lightly. “The people behind this are getting desperate. They’ll slip up sooner or later. As for Pei Qing, he may know Su Wanting, but I don’t think he’s involved with them.”
Zhang Qiu agreed. Pei Qing didn’t seem like a bad person.
But before he could think further, he suddenly noticed the way Li Shu was looking at him—his intense gaze sent a shiver down his spine.
A pleasant shiver.
“I-I mean, we still have a long journey tomorrow—” He was about to refuse, but somehow, his hands slid down Li Shu’s chest.
“…Maybe relaxing a bit wouldn’t hurt.”
Li Shu smirked. “Good boy.”
Zhang Qiu suddenly had the feeling that he had just walked into a trap.
Just as things were about to escalate between them, Zhang Qiu suddenly snapped back to reality. “Wait! Where’s Little Jiang?”
He had a bad feeling—Li Shu looked like he was about to pull out some kind of “big move,” and now he regretted agreeing too soon.
Recalling what happened last time in the kitchen… The more he thought about it, the more embarrassed he felt. Maybe it was better to just go to sleep early.
We could just cuddle under the blanket and chat—yeah, that sounds nice.
It was a shame to waste Li Shu’s handsome face, though. If only they could swap roles…
Zhang Qiu let his imagination run wild, picturing himself pinning Li Shu down and making him cry out. He was so caught up in his fantasy that he nearly started drooling.
But before he could fully indulge in his thoughts, Li Shu suddenly bit his ear.
Zhang Qiu shuddered. Damn, that felt good.
Still, he stubbornly resisted. “My son!” It’s not that I don’t want this, but we can’t do inappropriate things in front of a child! Where is your sense of morality, Li Shu?!
Li Shu’s smirk widened, looking entirely too dangerous.
“Little Jiang is in the bathroom, playing with the rubber duck.” He added, “He’s very happy.”
Meanwhile, in the Bathroom…
Inside the bathtub, the tiny Jiangshi sat in the water, riding a bright yellow rubber duck.
So cute and well-behaved!
Completely unaware of what was happening outside, he happily paddled around on his little duck.
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Pinky says: For fuck’s sakes, could you take a break from bonking to supervise the child. You set up an episode of proving a jiangshi couldn’t drown just so you could throw the child in a bathtub alone, I don’t know whether to be impressed or revolted.
Little Pink Starfish 
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