Edited
Second Young Master Zhang had indeed grown up as the king of children who copied homework, brawled with bricks, and cursed at mothers while dragging snot. If Li Hu hadn’t desperately held him back, he would have beaten Zhou Hui up today.
“How does my brother have a friend like this?!” Zhang Shun pointed at “Director Zhou of the National Security Ministry” in exasperation. “This guy doesn’t have a single serious word in his mouth. Seeing dead people and this is all the reaction he has. How does he look like someone who gets along with my brother at all?”
Li Hu said helplessly, “Boss, your glorious and heroic image is already completely ruined in the child’s heart… Can you pay some attention?”
Zhou Hui asked in surprise, “When was I ever glorious and heroic?!”
Everyone was speechless for a moment. Then they saw him suddenly smile that lazy smile again, the kind that made one want to take off their shoes and slap him in the face with them:
“But… even if I’m an idiot, you all still have to listen to me. I’m just the top, period.”
The scene fell into a strange silence. No one spoke.
Everyone’s face showed an indescribable expression.
“Don’t say big brother doesn’t teach you,” Zhou Hui seemed quite pleased with himself. He lit another cigarette and pointed at the several coffins: “I’ve seen this kind of thing before. It’s called a Seven-Laugh Coffin, a very sinister object. To make a Seven-Laugh Coffin, you need to kill seven adult men born at specific hours using very cruel methods, then use special techniques to make the corpses laugh, seal them in coffins soaked in cinnabar, sulfur, lead, mercury, and other alchemical materials, and bury them in yin-void land. This way the corpse resentment becomes extremely intense, and the corpses themselves become food for the thing underground…”
The police captain laughed incredulously: “Director Zhou, I didn’t expect a leader from Beijing to be so superstitious. Underground? What kind of thing is underground?”
Mayor Huang’s heart trembled with fear. He raised his hand and smacked the captain hard: “Old Wang, you unlucky bastard! How do you talk to a leader?!”
Zhou Hui smiled and didn’t bother to be mysterious. It was unclear whether he disdained being mysterious or was really pressed for time.
“This is a yin-void land,” he said. “This kind of place has been unsuitable for human habitation since ancient times, yet it often produces strange things. The most common is the Tai Sui that emerges from yin-void land. In ancient legends, eating Tai Sui grants immortality, but that’s all nonsense. Tai Sui and Seven-Laugh Coffins are both food for deeper-level underground creatures. It’s just that the former is naturally formed while the latter is artificially produced.”
“Sometimes, fearing being eaten, Tai Sui will slowly move through the soil. After several decades or centuries, it ‘crawls’ from one place to another, possibly closer to the surface, and finally gets dug up by people. But Seven-Laugh Coffins don’t move. Although they’re artificial, non-natural, non-green food products with additives, they ensure that the underground creature eats more stably and happily…”
Zhou Hui stood in the middle of the concave pit, looking at the soil beneath his feet, and smiled: “There’s an earth-born fetus underneath here. The corpses in the Seven-Laugh Coffins are food for it.”
Everyone found this absurd. Only Second Young Master Zhang couldn’t control his mouth. Hearing this, he asked in confusion: “Eat? But I don’t see any parts missing from these remains.”
“Brother-in-law, this ‘eat’ is not that ‘eat.’ For example, when I ‘eat’ your brother…”
Li Hu said helplessly, “Boss Zhou!”
“Fine, fine,” Zhou Hui raised his hands in surrender. “This ‘eat’ is not that ‘eat.’ As for the so-called earth-born fetus, it is the counterpart to the heaven-born fetus. The latter is a divine beast spirit fetus conceived by the Heavenly Dao through the union of energies among the sentient beings of the Six Paths—for example, the Four Holy Beasts, the Four Ferocious Beasts… Li Hu, don’t look at me like that. Foxes really don’t count. As for the earth-born fetus, it is a fetus-like thing conceived within mountains, rivers, or land when the feng shui of the earth is extremely yin or extremely yang. It generally appears in a curled-up form within a womb. The rare few that appear infant-shaped are considered top-grade. The extremely rare few that appear as giant toddlers are almost…”
Mayor Huang couldn’t help interrupting: “The greatest treasure under heaven?”
“What are you thinking, Old Huang?” Zhou Hui laughed. “This is great calamity, the ultimate calamity of heaven and earth. They are all to be thoroughly destroyed by heavenly tribulation. In the 1970s, in the primitive forests of the northeast, there was a giant earth-born fetus toddler ten zhang high and five zhang wide, crouching in a primitive cave, its entire body covered in thorns. It attracted heavenly tribulation that burned down several entire mountains. As a result, in ’76…”
Zhou Hui paused meaningfully and turned back, only to see Mayor Huang, Captain Wang, and everyone else instantly retreat half a step, trying to stay as far from the pit as possible.
Li Hu stood in the pit without concern, rubbing her chin and asking: “I wonder how far the earth-born fetus in H City has grown, and what does feeding it Seven-Laugh Corpses mean?”
“The Eastern Sea Marvels says that Seven-Laugh Corpses can make an earth-born fetus form fetal movement, causing the earth veins to collapse, and then people can go in and dig out the embryo.” Zhou Hui said: “Does your kid burp after eating too much? It’s the same principle with an earth-born fetus. When my eldest son was little, he even spit up milk, damn it, specifically on me. When I got mad I really wanted to hang him up and give him a beating. These days, earning money for baby formula isn’t easy…”
He squatted down, patted the soil beneath his feet, and showed a wistful expression: “Ah, I miss the feeling of being spit up on.”
Everyone: “…”
Li Hu tilted her head and explained in a small voice: “He investigated too many bloody cases in his early years and his brain has some issues. Don’t take offense…”
“Anyway, the criminal is an extremely cunning, ferocious, feudal-superstitious, and possibly mentally ill guy.” Zhou Hui clapped his hands and climbed out of the pit, completely oblivious to everyone staring at him: “Old Huang, please have the local police seal off the scene. Send the victims’ remains to the morgue for autopsy. Additionally, conduct screenings on all personnel with criminal records within a ten-li radius who match the above characteristics…”
Captain Wang was muttering: “Don’t bother screening. I think Director Zhou here matches the characteristics perfectly.” He shut his mouth after Mayor Huang stomped on his foot.
Zhou Hui raised his hand to look at his watch. “…People who had the opportunity to touch the coffins, or who have studied carpentry, are major suspects. If they have also recently purchased large quantities of traditional Chinese medicine, it’s almost certainly them. Hurry up and investigate immediately. Absolutely do not let a seventh corpse appear, otherwise…”
“Otherwise what?” Mayor Huang’s heart trembled at this meaningful pause.
“Relocate the city,” Zhou Hui smiled.
That smile was indescribably mocking, but for some reason, the yellow weasel only felt his heart shake, as if infinite coldness was gradually rising from his five viscera and six bowels.
“I still have some business to attend to. If there are any problems, don’t look for me. Look for Li Hu.” Zhou Hui waved his hand and walked out of the crime scene without looking back. Captain Wang anxiously chased after him for two steps, but before he could speak, he heard Li Hu sigh behind him: “Don’t chase. He really has urgent business…”
Captain Wang was facing a major case for the first time, his expression utterly at a loss: “Then… what do we do now? Should I dispatch a car to provide close protection for Director Zhou, so he can handle his business faster?”
Li Hu showed a strange smile and raised her chin in the direction Zhou Hui had left.
Captain Wang turned back and for an instant thought his eyes were failing him—in just a few short seconds, “Director Zhou” had already walked so far that even his shadow was gone.
Footsteps sounded in the darkness, gradually approaching from afar. Zhou Hui’s handsome face appeared at the boundary of the shadows like a demon.
Chu He lay on the ground, his hands bound by iron chains extending from the darkness. His thin, pale wrists within the rough, unrefined iron rings were stained with blood. Actually, the chains were irrelevant. His entire consciousness had collapsed, his body drenched beyond measure, only able to gasp helplessly, his fingers spasming as they clawed at the ground. In the air floated a bewitching, faintly sweet, slightly fishy scent.
That was the smell of lust.
Zhou Hui’s Adam’s apple slid violently. Although he had made ample preparations beforehand, the instinct of a demonic creature made it impossible for him to control himself well.
“Last thirty seconds,” he said hoarsely, stroking the side of Chu He’s neck, exceptionally soft and hot from the emptiness. “Either come clean with me, or I’ll inject the last dose too.”
·
At the same time, at the construction site, Li Hu retreated several steps, looking at the unfinished residential building, and said softly: “…Strange.”
Zhang Shun had been following behind her, tirelessly trying to get to the bottom of what happened last night. Hearing this, he casually asked: “What’s strange?”
But Li Hu didn’t answer him. She turned directly to Mayor Huang and asked: “Which company is contracted to build this residential building? How could such a huge incident happen, and yet apart from one site manager, no one has come to ask about it?”
“An out-of-province real estate development company called Tianqi Construction Industry,” Mayor Huang happened to finish a phone call and muttered: “But that was ten minutes ago.”
“What do you mean?”
“The Aida Consortium people want to take the opportunity to buy this construction site too, connecting it with the land they originally wanted to invest in to build a larger hotel and entertainment center. Tianqi Construction was probably scared by the coffins being dug up and actually agreed to sell the entire plot of land to them at a very low price.” Mayor Huang lowered his voice and whispered furtively: “Beautiful lady, could this have something to do with the Japanese? I mean, how did our city suddenly attract foreign investment…”
Li Hu smiled and asked: “How many years have you been an adult, yellow weasel?”
Mayor Huang’s pupils suddenly dilated. He could barely speak, only staring at her with a pale face.
“Don’t worry, I was just asking.” Li Hu said amiably: “Speaking of which, we both count among the Five Great Immortals. Five… five thousand years ago we could barely be considered family. I won’t hold a grudge against you yellow weasels for always stealing our chickens and only leaving us a nest of chicken feathers and bones.”
Saying this, she bared her teeth in a smile, revealing a mouthful of teeth as bright and sharp as knife points: “However, if this really does have something to do with the Japanese, you’d best cooperate honestly with our investigation. Otherwise I have a thousand ways to beat your face into a peach blossom, and even Chu He won’t be able to protect you.”
Mayor Huang was tongue-tied, bean-sized beads of cold sweat streaming down his fat face. “G-g-g-great… great immortal, this humble one had eyes but failed to recognize Mount Tai. How would you like me to cooperate?”
Li Hu hooked her arm around Mayor Huang’s fat arm, affectionately escorting him to the side, and whispered threateningly: “You should be able to find information on Tianqi Construction, right?”
“Huh?”
“I want the list of relevant responsible persons for Tianqi Construction and the specific blueprints for this construction building. Miscellaneous approval documents and transfer receipts too. Get them to me by today. If you can’t do it, or if you leak this to Zhou Hui, you’re dead.”
Li Hu’s eyes showed a fierce light. “I guarantee that even if you reincarnate eighteen times, you won’t grow teeth to eat chicken.”
“…” Mayor Huang said with a pale face: “I-I-I-I-I’ll go do it right now!”
Li Hu released Mayor Huang with satisfaction. Looking around, she saw that the police were all busy with their own tasks, so she strolled leisurely around the construction site for a while, slowly walking to the entrance of the construction building.
Zhang Shun followed close behind. Before he could open his mouth, he saw Li Hu suddenly turn around, affectionately thrusting out her chest: “Second Young Master Zhang!”
Zhang Shun nearly got poked by her D-cups and hurriedly retreated half a step: “What? I just want to know where my brother is. Also, what was that fierce ghost last night about, and this Buddha seal on my hand…”
“It means you are born with deep Buddha affinity, Second Young Master Zhang!” Li Hu dragged him, ducked down, and slipped into the half-concrete construction building, saying: “I have a question I want to figure out. You can break evil, so come help me add some insurance.”
“What? I told you I’m not a virgin. In the end, Zhou went to Mayor Huang for that!”
“Oh, I don’t need virgin blood. I only need…” Li Hu climbed over scaffolding in high heels, waved to indicate the police outside to move away, then jumped onto a patch of open ground in the middle of the building’s first floor.
“I want to see what this earth-born fetus looks like,” she said thoughtfully. “How could a yin-void land appear in a place like H City? And why did Feng Si, with the whole world open to him, just happen to hide here? Don’t you find all of this very strange?”
Zhang Shun instantly raged: “All of you people are strange, okay?! Ever since you came to my house, it’s been haunted! Even my brother fucking transformed like Sailor Moon! What else do you want?!”
Li Hu hurriedly placated him: “Shh—you’re the reincarnation of Buddha’s Bone. You need to stay calm… Speaking of beautiful girls, don’t I count? I’ve been a very beautiful fox since I was little.”
Zhang Shun only felt a wave of dizziness, unsure whether it was from anger or from her swaying D-cups.
“Come, Second Young Master Zhang, lend me the Buddha seal on your hand, in case the earth-born fetus suddenly crawls out… Oh, be careful. My essence is demonic, so the Buddha seal is harmful to me.” Li Hu carefully pressed her palm against Zhang Shun’s palm. Her red nail polish made her hands look quite nice. This palm-to-palm posture was actually quite ambiguous. If not for the wrong time and place, Zhang Shun might have enjoyed it. Unfortunately, the atmosphere was completely ruined by Li Hu’s tension.
Zhang Shun only felt a stream of heat being “sucked” away from their pressed palms. A few seconds later, as if a faint light flashed, Li Hu released her hand. On her fair palm, a faint, insubstantial golden swastika seal floated in suspension.
“Fucking hell, this is truly good stuff…” Li Hu murmured. She bit open the tip of her tongue and sprayed a mouthful of blood on the ground, then flipped her hand and pressed the replicated Buddha seal into the earth:
“—As a mirror reveals form, a hundred ghosts shall not invade!”
Zhang Shun only felt a buzz! in his ears, as if countless bronze gongs had simultaneously sounded in his brain, shaking him so much that he instantly retreated several steps.
Li Hu ignored him. He saw the soil beneath her hand bubble as if boiling, then with a swish transform into a mirror image, flashing and refracting through the interconnected earth veins. After who knew how many folds, a chaotic, unclear black shadow finally appeared.
“How…” Li Hu frowned. “How is it so small…”
Earth-born fetuses were generally massive. Some grew in the heart of great mountains, their wombs large enough to fill an entire mountain. But the fetus beneath her feet was human-sized and had already emerged from the womb. Its entire form was… thin and elongated, very similar to an adult.
Li Hu’s heart skipped half a beat, thinking: Could it have already become a person?
No, impossible. The oldest recorded earth-born fetus was in the Kunlun Mountains. After tens of thousands of years, it had only grown to about five or six years old.
The mirror surface continued to refract. Li Hu narrowed her eyes and finally saw the specific shape of the earth-born fetus within the chaos.
Her face instantly turned completely blank.
Second Young Master Zhang had finally managed to climb up, baring his teeth as he rubbed his ears and wanted to curse. He walked to Li Hu’s side and casually glanced over, also stunned. In the mirror image, a faint reflection showed a person with bound hands, long hair hanging down, gender indistinguishable—but even under such blurry visibility, the profile alone gave one a soul-stirring, breathtaking beauty.
In stark contrast, this person’s entire body was covered in bloodstains. Their robes were painted with densely packed blood runes, so dense that one glance made a bone-chilling cold rise from the marrow.
Li Hu retreated several steps in succession and fell to the ground with a crash.
“Beautiful lady, are you okay?” Second Young Master Zhang turned to help her up, but only saw her gaze stunned, her expression horrified, her lips seeming to tremble slightly.
“Fuck,” she said trembling: “It actually… it’s actually an acquaintance.”
“The Six Paths refer to the sentient beings of the Six Paths. The Heavenly Path and Human Path are called the Two Good Paths. The Asura, Hell, Hungry Ghost, and Beast Paths are called the Four Evil Paths. That fierce ghost hunk you saw last night is the current representative figure of the Four Evil Paths.”
On the way back, Second Young Master Zhang kept asking about the earth-born fetus. Li Hu refused to say anything, only saying some details about that night when pressed.
“Zhou Hui and I both come from a unit directly subordinate to national security. This unit has no name, only the code number 574, specifically responsible for handling mysterious incidents within China. For example, if somewhere suddenly collapses for no reason and a hundred-meter-deep sinkhole appears, if unidentified flying objects are sighted on a large scale at night, or if a large lake dries up and reveals an unknown prehistoric creature with massive killing power… A small haunting at your house, even if it made the newspaper headlines, we wouldn’t bother with it.”
Zhang Shun sat in the car, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly: “So you guys are like secret agents? And that lunatic Zhou can do this job?”
“Don’t underestimate Zhou Hui,” Li Hu said. “There are only six team leader-level personnel in total. Each person guards a region of China. Zhou Hui is responsible for the Beijing area. Do you know how many crises the capital faces every moment? That’s why everyone calls him Boss Zhou.”
Zhang Shun’s mind was a chaotic mess. After a long while he squeezed out: “Then… what does this have to do with my brother? Don’t tell me he’s also one of your agents?”
Li Hu looked at him, his entire worldview being refreshed, and seemed somewhat sympathetic, but still told the truth: “Your brother was once our Team Leader Four, responsible for guarding the northwest. Later he defected.”
Zhang Shun: “…”
The blow came too fast. Second Young Master Zhang’s heart was extremely dazed.
“My brother… why did my brother defect? Colluding with foreign powers? Are you here to arrest him?”
Probably seeing that Second Young Master Zhang was a perfectly good rich second generation, usually spending money and chasing girls, accustomed to a peaceful little life, and suddenly thrown into a cruel reality was too pitiful, Li Hu couldn’t help feeling some pity: “Colluding with foreign powers is the most trivial kind of defection for people like us. Although we serve this human society, our loyalty is limited. If your brother really defected to America or Japan, at most he would have buried a few curse seeds in the northeast with Japanese onmyōji, or released some large-scale mutation arts in the East Sea or something. In thirty to fifty years it would be metabolized by nature. That wouldn’t be a big deal.”
“Then what the hell did he do?!”
Li Hu sighed and said solemnly: “He… defected to the Four Evil Paths.”
Looking at Second Young Master Zhang’s expression, it was probably the same as hearing Li Hu say “Your brother is the Dark Great Demon King, and we Sailor Moon warriors will destroy him on behalf of the moon.”
“Over ten years ago,” Li Hu said, “Zhou Hui planned an operation against the Demon Venerable—that fierce ghost bro who almost killed you—with the goal of temporarily sealing the Four Evil Paths. For this he brought the elites of all six of our teams. After several years of long investigation and operations, they finally encountered the Demon Venerable’s true form head-on in the final fierce battle. The danger of that battle was unimaginable. To avoid unnecessary sacrifices, we six team leaders didn’t bring any team members and went into battle personally. Unfortunately, four were severely injured and fell by the wayside. In the end, only Zhou Hui and your brother successfully reached the Demon Venerable.”
“…” Zhang Shun blinked, thinking: Is this an RPG game narration? Is this a Dungeons & Dragons game narration?!
“If both Zhou Hui and the Demon Venerable were at their peak, it really would be hard to say who had the upper hand. At this time, your brother was the decisive tipping point. But unfortunately, this crucial tipping point turned traitor at the most crucial moment. According to Zhou Hui’s later account, not only did he refuse to act, he also took the opportunity to viciously kick Zhou Hui while he was down…”
Zhang Shun thought this really didn’t sound like his brother’s style. Zhou’s words were of very low credibility.
“Zhou Hui said that later, enduring the heartache of being betrayed by your brother and the pain of being kicked while he was down, he was heroic and fearless, bleeding and sweating, defeating the Demon Venerable with an indomitable, unyielding spirit—I believe the truth was probably exactly the opposite.” Li Hu said: “But one fact remains unchanged: when the Demon Venerable was half-sealed, your brother suddenly attacked, knocked out Zhou Hui, rescued the Demon Venerable, and from then on we completely lost his trail.”
Zhang Shun remembered the Demon Venerable’s phantom shadow on the night of the haunting and thought: So that’s how it was. This person has been in my house all along… But why would my brother do this?
He asked Li Hu, who spread her hands: “You ask me, who do I ask? What’s in your brother’s heart, only the heavens know. And after the news spread later, everyone believed the real situation was that your brother fought the monster with all his might while Zhou Hui slacked off on the side, resulting in your brother being destroyed. Only then did Zhou Hui panic and kill the Demon Venerable to silence him, coming back to make up a lie to clear his responsibility… Don’t you think this fits Zhou Hui’s character much better?”
“…” Many complex black lines popped up above Zhang Shun’s head. “But… but my brother has always been at the Zhang family. He… he never left after he was ten years old. Are you saying he became a secret agent when he was seven or eight?”
Li Hu curved her lips in a smile. Her bright red lips looked very pretty and sexy, but for some reason Zhang Shun felt this smile reminded him of Zhou Hui.
Unlike Zhou Hui, that sense of adult superiority over a child was not hidden very well, even revealed somewhat in her tone of voice that carried a trace of pity. “Can you… still remember the first time you saw your brother?”
Zhang Shun’s first reaction was: What’s there to not remember? Wasn’t it when he was five or six years old, just returned from abroad, and heard that his father’s remarried wife had died, then came home and met his brother?
He still remembered that day was especially gloomy. After he came home, he lay in bed, terribly ill… Huh, why was he terribly ill?
What did his brother look like at ten years old? A vague image appeared in Zhang Shun’s mind of a beauty in white robes with hair tied up, gentle and graceful—but who was that? His brother should have only been ten years old at the time.
No, no, his memories were all jumbled. It must be because he had never carefully recalled and organized them over the years. But wait, why had he never thought about when he first saw his brother? Even when people are spacing out, they would subconsciously recall some childhood memories, right?
Zhang Shun sat in the wide, comfortable leather back seat, his face alternating between green and white. Now he suddenly realized that Chu He seemed to have naturally appeared in his childhood memories. He couldn’t say when he appeared, nor could he say what he looked like when he appeared. It was as if he had invaded his memories in a slow, silent, moisture-seeping manner.
“Memory manipulation.” Li Hu still wore that smile that made people very uncomfortable. “You are born with deep Buddha affinity and can alleviate your brother’s pain of being eroded by the Demon Venerable, so he went to great lengths to stay by your side. But speaking of which, over all these years he must have lived very painfully—his primordial spirit gone, his heart’s blood exhausted, even his true form suppressed. And now he’s been caught by Zhou Hui again…”
When she got in the car, she had instructed the trusted driver she brought from Yunnan to drop Second Young Master Zhang off at the hotel along the way. Now the flashy black Mulsanne had already driven to the hotel entrance. But Zhang Shun completely didn’t notice, only sitting pale and rigid in the back seat.
“Your brother is in grave danger,” Li Hu’s expression was somewhat compassionate for the world. “Given Zhou Hui’s temper, he might hang him up and beat him to death. But you don’t need to be too sad. You don’t have a blood relation anyway, and he only stayed by your side to use you…”
Second Young Master Zhang was at a moment of extreme emotional confusion. Hearing this, he blurted out: “No!”
“Oh?”
“My brother isn’t like that!” Zhang Shun paused, seeming unable to think of words to refute her, but only shook his head firmly: “My brother isn’t like that. He… you don’t understand. He protected me many times… Where is he now? What will Zhou Hui do to him?”
Li Hu looked at Zhang Shun with great interest for a while, then turned to look out the car window and said: “I don’t know, but according to our protocols, Zhou Hui will definitely find an absolutely safe place to hang him up and first extract everything he knows…”
Her words were very suggestive. Zhang Shun couldn’t help thinking of what he had just seen: the hanging earth-born fetus, and the word “acquaintance” that Li Hu had blurted out upon seeing it.
—”Your brother’s Dharma Body is one of the Ten Great Beauties of the Heavenly Dao. It’s quite rare…”
—”Zhou Hui will definitely find an absolutely safe place to hang him up…”
“That… that earth-born fetus is my brother’s true form?” Zhang Shun was as if struck by enlightenment, his entire voice trembling: “So that’s why you were so shocked just now?!”
Li Hu didn’t speak.
She faced the window. Zhang Shun saw half of her face reflected in the car window, looking somewhat inscrutable.
“He’s buried underground? How do I dig him out?!” Zhang Shun’s entire person was wrong: “That Zhou guy will kill him, right? Fuck, that Zhou guy is definitely capable of it, right?! Driver! Driver, turn back! Back to the suburban construction site, right now!”
The driver showed a helpless expression and didn’t move. Li Hu immediately turned back and cursed: “That’s not your brother at all. Don’t let your imagination run wild!”
“But you…”
“How could Zhou Hui do such a thing? Do you think he wouldn’t be sanctioned by his superiors? You young people just love to overthink these random things.” At this time the car had completely stopped in front of the hotel. Li Hu immediately reached out to shoo him: “Get out, get out. Go back and sleep, and your brother will be back soon. This old lady has talked too much with you today. I need to find a few handsome guys to properly replenish myself. Don’t delay my golden nightlife.”
The more nonchalant she acted, the more suspicious it was. Zhang Shun grabbed the car door handle, refusing to get out, struggling: “Then tell me what that earth-born fetus actually is…”
“Scram. I live my little life well. Why would I go looking for trouble for myself?” Li Hu pushed with her hands and squeezed with her chest, her round D-cups forcing Second Young Master Zhang to retreat out of the car: “Go, go. It’s so late already. If you still don’t leave, are you trying to freeload a meal? Dream on!”
Second Young Master Zhang was forcibly pushed out of the car by her. Before he could ask a couple more questions, the door slammed shut, and immediately the car turned around and sped away.
Second Young Master Zhang ran after it for several steps, but finally had no choice but to watch helplessly as the black Bentley disappeared into the flow of traffic on the street.
In the rearview mirror, one could see the figure of Second Young Master Zhang standing lost by the side of the street. The driver withdrew his gaze and sighed helplessly: “Team Leader Six…”
“Hmm?”
“Isn’t this a bit not good?”
Li Hu was taking out red nail polish from her small bag, carefully filling in the small missing piece on her pinky nail. Without raising her head, she said: “Don’t worry. No matter who dies, it’s acceptable.”
She raised her hand and admired her perfect nails against the light, not a trace of expression on her face: “After all, it’s Buddha’s Bone…”
The national security special dispatch personnel were staying at a four-star hotel assigned by the H City government. To maintain operational secrecy, they had specially booked an entire floor. When Li Hu returned, the sky was already dark. She walked on the corridor covered with thick carpet. Her high heels made no sound, like a cat walking.
When passing in front of Zhou Hui’s door, she suddenly paused, showing a puzzled expression, then took out a spare room card and swiped open the door.
—Zhou Hui stood by the bedside, bending down and injecting a syringe into the side of Chu He’s neck.
“Fuck! Stop quickly!” Li Hu immediately strode in with three steps as two: “Injecting too much will kill someone!”
Zhou Hui inserted the needle into Chu He’s blood vessel, not even raising his head as he mocked: “What are you thinking?”
Only then did Li Hu notice that the liquid in the syringe was blood-red. Chu He sat cross-legged on the bed, the ends of his hair slightly damp, his eyes tightly closed. Zhou Hui concentrated on injecting the last drop of liquid before pulling out the needle and snorting: “I’m not an undying phoenix. This tube of heart’s blood is roughly a quarter of the total… Where else can you find such a good husband?”
“…” Li Hu said through her nose: “Heh heh!”
Chu He’s lowered eyelashes trembled slightly. It was hard to describe that languid, warm aura of lust being released and after bathing, as if a soft light radiated from beneath his skin. Li Hu instantly collapsed onto the bed like her bones had been removed, pillowing her head on his thigh affectionately. She looked at Zhou Hui and asked with a grin: “So? Who won the tug-of-war between you two in the end?”
Zhou Hui asked while disposing of the used syringe: “Have you heard the story of Zhang San playing chess?”
“How does it go?”
“There was a man named Zhang San who especially loved playing chess, losing repeatedly yet fighting repeatedly. One day he came home after playing chess, and his wife asked: ‘How were the wins and losses today?’ Zhang San said: ‘First round, I didn’t win. Second round, he didn’t lose. Third round, I wanted a draw, but he didn’t allow it.’—What conclusion can you draw from this story?”
“That Zhang San is truly terrible at chess?”
“No,” Zhou Hui said. “What I want to say is that this wife who gets to the bottom of things is very annoying. If I were Zhang San, I would definitely divorce her.”
“Hahaha, oh, that’s truly a pity,” Li Hu immediately clapped her hands and laughed wildly: “Fortunately I’m not your wife, just your rumored mistress, hahaha!”
Zhou Hui’s face darkened, glaring fiercely at both Li Hu and Chu He.
Unfortunately, Chu He sat peacefully with his eyes closed, while Li Hu rolled around laughing on her own, her chestnut curls spreading across the bed. After finally finishing laughing, she climbed up, rested her chin on Chu He’s knee, and asked in a very coquettish voice: “Hey, you two. If I did something that might make you two lovebirds feel a bit fucked over, what would happen?”
Zhou Hui asked: “Don’t you often do fucked-over things?”
“I said what if?”
Before Zhou Hui could speak, Chu He, with his eyes closed and without moving, said: “I’ll kill you.”
Li Hu laughed again, blew him a flirtatious wink, and propped her chin without speaking.
