Part 3
He had also looked up at this lamp from this same angle.
Influenced by his art major, Jiang Si was used to adding a bit of creative thought to every item placed in his home.
For instance, this lamp—it looked very ordinary in design, but there was actually a difference between the left and right sides.
If Jiang Si hadn’t said it himself, no one would ever have noticed.
The lamp before him was the exact opposite of his memory.
Hai Di endured the pain of his windpipe being constricted and let out a silent laugh.
At the moment he was about to be forced to touch the box, he didn’t hesitate. He raised his knife and stabbed it through the monster’s hand and into his own neck.
The intense pain nearly tore his nerves apart. His lying body convulsed twice.
Hai Di woke up with a start, sitting up on the bed, his clothes completely drenched in cold sweat.
A drop of cold sweat flowed down from his temple into his eye, stinging. Hai Di clutched his neck and gasped twice, only then coming to his senses.
He was still in Jiang Si’s bedroom.
The curtains tightly blocked all light; it was truly pitch-black.
Perhaps disturbed by Hai Di’s violent reaction, Jiang Si turned over in his sleep. An arm draped over Hai Di’s abdomen as he said softly, “What’s wrong?”
His voice was hoarse, filled with exhaustion.
“Nothing.” Hai Di breathed for a while, his palm stroking the other’s hair as if comforting Jiang Si, while also comforting himself.
After stabilizing his mind, Hai Di pulled the quilt back over himself to sleep.
Jiang Si leaned in and whispered, “I’m thirsty. Help me pour a cup of water. The cup is on the table on your side.”
“Mm.” Hai Di was about to get it. His hand hovered in mid-air, and he suddenly asked, “Do you want tea?”
“Mm.”
Hai Di didn’t show any emotion as he got out of bed. His hand grazed the edge of the cup, picking up an X-Acto knife used for sharpening pencils from the table in his memory.
He turned and pinned Jiang Si onto the bed, one hand completely encircling his slender neck. The unsuspecting Jiang Si was a bit surprised. “What are you doing?”
“Be good.” Hai Di said in a warm voice, his face devoid of expression.
He struck with the knife, plunging it into the other’s neck. Blood sprayed out, and a cold, sticky liquid splashed across his face.
Hai Di couldn’t see the thing in front of him; his vision was blocked, but his other five senses were more sensitive.
A hand reached out from the stabbed wound, directly grabbing Hai Di’s hand with a force that was almost enough to break his bones.
At the same time, he heard the sound of countless tiny teeth clattering nearby.
Hai Di’s heart plummeted to the bottom, knowing this monster could not be killed.
If he wanted to get out, he had to kill himself again.
Thus, while the monster hadn’t fully emerged from the skin, he plunged the knife into his own body again.
This time, it was his wrist.
The intense pain was accompanied by a beam of light hitting his eyes. From the halo of light, a small figure walked out.
Hai Di used all his effort to identify it and was surprised to find a youthful child’s face that was seventy to eighty percent similar to Jiang Si’s.
The child’s face, with its red lips and white teeth, came closer and closer until he was only a step away. He called out to him in a childish voice: “Hai Di, it’s time for you to wake up.”
“…”
Hai Di woke up again, his eyes meeting Jiang Si’s concerned gaze.
Behind Jiang Si was the bright light and the incredibly familiar bedroom ceiling.
Hai Di stared blankly for a moment, then closed his eyes again.
Jiang Si was startled: “Grandpa!”
“!” Hai Di was shocked. He instantly opened his eyes and said in an incredibly weary tone, “Are you blind? Who’s his grandpa?!”
He could be a brother, or even a “daddy,” but he definitely wouldn’t be a grandpa!
Jiang Si’s expression was complex. He reached out to touch the man’s forehead to check his temperature. He muttered to himself, “He doesn’t have a fever.”
A perfectly fine person, just like that, had gone crazy?
This tone was a bit familiar. Hai Di forced himself to grab Jiang Si’s wrist and asked, “Coffee or tea, which do you choose?”
Jiang Si was bewildered. “Coffee, of course. You know I don’t drink tea.”
Because his former boss, Ge Kai, had left such a deep shadow on him, Jiang Si would have a stress reaction whenever he saw tea. Over time, he kept a respectful distance from tea leaves.
Hai Di breathed a sigh of relief. Regardless of Jiang Si’s struggles, he pulled him into his arms.
He said a bit aggrievedly, “I was truly exhausted just now.”
Jiang Si didn’t know if he was exhausted, but he was certainly about to feel pain.
Because Old Man Jiang was already standing close by, holding his walking stick. Seeing his grandson being forcibly hugged by a “wild man,” anger rose in his heart, and he struck the man’s back with his stick.
He warned in a harsh tone: “Let go of him!”
Hai Di felt the pain, and he became even more certain this was not some weird dream. His heart felt much steadier.
After letting the person go, he looked back. Only then did he realize who Jiang Si was calling “Grandpa.”
Hai Di stood up as if nothing had happened. “Hello.”
Old Man Jiang examined the young man, his face stern as he asked Jiang Si, “What’s going on between the two of you?”
Jiang Si: “…”
He looked left and right, not feeling there was anything embarrassing to say. He introduced him openly: “This is the boyfriend I told you about.”
Jiang Si’s introduction was: good-looking, rich, and well-proportioned.
Old Man Jiang was very happy at first, but he had forgotten to ask the most important thing.
He had forgotten to ask about the other person’s gender.
Seeing that he was about to get angry, Jiang Si hurriedly reminded him: “Now isn’t the time for this. There’s still something waiting to be dealt with.”
“…” Old Man Jiang gave a fierce flick of his sleeve and strode out of the door.
In the living room stood a familiar-looking Underworld messenger, holding a soul-hooking chain that was pulling a lump of black, coal-like humanoid thing.
The messenger’s pale face was much more serious and official than when he saw Jiang Si.
Jiang Si clicked his tongue; it seemed the Underworld also had this kind of bureaucratic atmosphere.
Seeing the pitch-black thing, Hai Di realized that the thing that had been haunting him in his dreams was this creature.
He couldn’t help but ask: “What is this thing?”
Old Man Jiang didn’t have a good look for this person who had “arched” his own “cabbage,” so he didn’t bother to respond.
Jiang Si took the initiative to explain: “Didn’t I say I was attacked by a black monster at Shi Danxing’s house? This is that monster’s original form. There’s a type of ghost that isn’t formed from a person’s death, but rather from a human shadow becoming an elemental spirit. It has a human shape but is entirely pitch-black with no features. Its state is similar to water, able to mimic all forms and attach itself to anything. Folklore calls it a ‘Shadow Ghost.’”
“This kind of thing lives in the shadows year-round and can appear as long as there is light. It’s also extremely good at deluding people’s hearts, weaving layers of nested dreams to trap people and achieve its goals within the dream.”
“So that’s how it is.” Hai Di understood. “No wonder I couldn’t wake up no matter what.”
“It lied to you?”
Hai Di nodded. “It pretended to be you and kept trying to make me touch something.”
Jiang Si said: “It wanted you to touch the Tang Sancai figurine so the Gu insect could enter your body and control you.”
“But how did it follow us home?” Hai Di didn’t understand.
Jiang Si’s expression became even more unsightly. He pursed his lips, truly not wanting to admit it was due to his own negligence.
“I brought the blood that sprayed on my body back home, and it followed me in. Fortunately, I was clever enough to ask Grandpa for help, otherwise, we would have been in trouble today.”
Hai Di gripped his hand and looked at Old Man Jiang without showing it. He felt the man looked a bit familiar.
Wearing a crimson official robe and a black hat, he was clearly a modern person, yet he carried the air of an ancient official.
At this moment, Jiang Si seemed to remember he had forgotten to introduce him. He leaned in and whispered, “You saw him in Ning City. He’s the newly appointed City God of Ning City.”
Translator’s Note:
Wow, things got intense! We have a “Inception”-style dream-within-a-dream sequence. Hai Di’s way of breaking the illusion by noticing the flipped lamp and the “tea” trick is quite clever. Also, Old Man Jiang is the “City God” (城隍)! In Chinese folk religion, the City God is a deity who protects a specific city and judges the dead. The “arched his cabbage” (拱了白菜) is a common idiom meaning a guy has “stolen” a precious girl (or in this case, a grandson).
Hope you all enjoyed this spooky and humorous arc!
Recommended Reads
![[ABO] President Shou Is Not a Total Shou](https://beereads.space/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/the-shou-is-not-a-total-shou-214x300.jpg)
![Those Years When the Son of Destiny Was Severely Scammed [Quick Transmigration]](https://beereads.space/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/QUICK-TRANSMIGRATION1-214x300.jpg)
