Chapter 4: Leadership in Trouble, Help in Time of Need
After a bowl of mixed egg fried rice, Jiang Louqi let out a satisfied belch. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Zhou Jiayi enjoying chicken wings with a Coke, downing half the bottle in one go—cool and refreshing.
Why did young people love carbonated drinks so much? No wonder he wasn’t growing tall.
Wait, he was already a dead ghost; how could he grow any taller?
Thoughts aside, having finished such a large bowl of fried rice, Jiang Louqi’s throat felt parched. He was thirsty.
He reluctantly stood up, grabbed his water cup, and walked toward the water dispenser with a cocky swagger.
However, because his eyes were fixed straight ahead, he nearly tripped over a pile of cardboard boxes and toolboxes that had been tossed carelessly on the floor.
“Holy crap!”
He stumbled but managed to steady himself immediately, barely avoiding a face-plant while clutching his porcelain cup. For a second, he was dazed, but then he saw his employees—the ones who were supposed to provide “help in time of need”—doubled over in laughter.
Jiang Louqi’s temper flared instantly. “What are you laughing at? Who the hell left these boxes here? Are you trying to kill me so you can usurp my position? Clean this up, now!”
The moment the words left his mouth, the group acted as if they hadn’t heard a thing, turning back to their own work.
Su Qian tapped away at her keyboard, turning a deaf ear while biting her red lips to suppress a laugh. “Whoever saw it should be the one to clean it. Anyway, I didn’t see anything.”
“A noble Duke of the Blood Clan does not perform such menial slave labor.” Xino Griffith was using a nail file to trim the black nails that vampires were born with—long, sharp, and thin.
His face, possessing the arrogant elegance of Western nobility, remained calm as he continued slowly: “Director Jiang, I have a suggestion. Why don’t you kidnap a servant to do the work?”
Kidnap? This was a society ruled by law! Randomly abducting someone would land him in prison for years!
Jiang Louqi covered his face, feeling that the man was beyond help and utterly exasperating.
He sighed and put on a professional fake smile. “We don’t have servants here. We only have nannies.”
Xino Griffith found this somewhat novel and immediately looked it up on the computer. “Nanny? This Duke’s dictionary does not contain such a word.”
“Brother Jiang, why don’t we hire one? I’m already sick of takeout. It would be so great to have someone to cook and sweep the floors!” Zhou Jiayi wore a miserable expression on his baby face. Even before the nanny had been hired, he was already fantasizing about it.
Thinking back to the days when he lived a life where he only had to open his mouth to be fed and stretch out his arms to be dressed—those days were so warm and wonderful…
Hearing this, Jiang Louqi nearly spat out the warm water he had just sipped. He waved his hands repeatedly. “The Underworld wages haven’t been paid yet, and our daily expenses are already so high. Where would we get the funds to hire someone?”
Chu Zhixing sat alone in a corner. His silent eyes were exceptionally cold, and he spoke as if his words were made of gold: “Stingy.”
“Exactly! You’re dead stingy!”
Su Qian slapped the desk to express her dissatisfaction. Once payday arrived, she was going to go on an online shopping spree and treat herself well.
“I serve you guys lavish meals every day, and you call me stingy? Dammit. You want to hire a nanny? Fine. I’ll post a recruitment ad tomorrow.”
Jiang Louqi pulled up a chair and sat down. Dropping his previous complaints, he triumphantly flicked his nose, a faint, imperceptible smile touching the corners of his lips.
Just as everyone was wondering why their dead-cheap leader had agreed so readily today, he spoke again with the air of a petty man who had achieved his goal: “I haven’t finished yet. The salary for the nanny will be deducted from your own wallets.”
The crowd: “…”
When things are abnormal, there must be a demon. As expected, one should never expect to squeeze a single cent out of this dog-like leader!
Finally, they reached the midnight closing time. Looking around, a large portion of the office was already fast asleep, with snores echoing one after another.
Zhou Jiayi was even pathetically drooling. Who knew what delicacies he was dreaming of…
Only Jiang Louqi was still forcing his nearly closed eyelids open, drifting between sleep and wakefulness.
His vision was beginning to double. His weary eyes followed the swaying pendulum of the clock on the opposite wall.
“Dong… dong… dong…”
At twelve o’clock sharp, the ancient clock emitted a clear, light chime that echoed in the silent corner.
Jiang Louqi jolted awake as if from a dream. He stretched his back, stood in front of his desk with his hands clasped, and then rapped a ballpoint pen against the cabinet, raising his voice: “Wake up, wake up! Stop sleeping. Shift’s over. Go home and sleep.”
The group, who had been sleeping like dead pigs, all bolted upright at once. They rustled about, briefly organizing their files, ready to leave at any moment.
Zhou Jiayi wiped the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand, smacking his lips as he savored the phantom taste of the dream-world food.
He didn’t even bother to tidy his desk, which looked like a trash heap, and simply shoved his phone into his pocket. “Brother Jiang, we’re off! To each their own home, to each their own mother!”
“Lazier than me at work, faster than me at leaving. You guys are hopeless.” Jiang Louqi shook his head, not even bothering to lift his eyelids. This batch of colleagues was truly hard to manage.
Su Qian grabbed her handbag and headed downstairs. As she walked, she turned back to blow him a kiss. “See you tomorrow~”
“Better if we don’t.” Jiang Louqi shuddered, his skin crawling with goosebumps.
Although Su Qian was fair-skinned, beautiful, and had long legs, he still preferred the petite and exquisite types who inspired a desire to protect.
Suddenly, the office phone on the desk rang. Jiang Louqi’s brows knitted slightly. Practical experience told him that a phone call at this hour never meant anything good…
He turned and picked up. “Hello, this is the SNE Special Agency. How can I help you?”
The voice on the other end seemed to belong to a middle-aged woman. She paused for several seconds, only managing to explain the situation after piecing her words together. Her voice was trembling with fear.
Jiang Louqi licked his molars, his face taking on a strange, heavy solemnity. He briefly asked for an address and then told her to find a safe place to hide and wait for him to arrive.
The group from a moment ago hadn’t rushed down yet; they all stopped to watch. Upon hearing that there was overtime, Zhou Jiayi was the first to sense trouble and scrambled downstairs.
“Um… Good luck, Director Jiang! I still have laundry to bring in, so I’ll head out first.” Su Qian followed closely behind, taking three steps at a time, oblivious to the fact that she was wearing high heels.
Seeing the two of them shoving each other to escape, Xino Griffith quickly grabbed a nearby sun umbrella, not forgetting to wave back as he left. “Goodbye!”
“You bunch of useless gluttons.” Jiang Louqi’s face was dark with despair. He hurriedly grabbed his windbreaker from the back of the chair, put it on, and lowered his head to search for his motorcycle keys.
Without even looking, he called out to the Zombie King who had been squeezed into the back: “Chu Zhixing!”
Chu Zhixing stopped in his tracks, his limbs stiff. Even if he had a thousand complaints in his heart, he could only swallow them.
He didn’t mind the night shift, but he didn’t want to spend a single second with Jiang Louqi!
To think that the once-mighty Zombie King had fallen so far as to bow his head to a mortal—and the grandson of his enemy at that…
Jiang Louqi saw through the other’s thoughts at a glance, but he didn’t care. Since he was at the agency, he had to behave and do his job properly.
“What are you doing? Staring at me won’t help. You’re coming with me whether you like it or not. If you have the guts, go catch those three idiots and bring them back to cover the shift.”
Those colleagues had run faster than rabbits; who knew where they were enjoying themselves now? How was he supposed to find them?
Chu Zhixing had no choice but to follow him, keeping a short distance behind.
As they walked down the stairs, Jiang Louqi informed him of the situation from the phone call: “She said her husband has been lethargic lately. He doesn’t eat or drink and has become a completely different person. He only likes to hide in the bathroom at night to eat filth. To put it simply, feces, urine, things like that. I asked just now, and he has no history of mental illness.”
Seeing that Chu Zhixing remained silent, he rounded the corner of the stairs and quickened his pace. His magnetic voice didn’t stop: “What do you think it is?”
“Ghost possession.”
“What kind of ghost?” Jiang Louqi asked again.
Chu Zhixing thought for a moment. “A Zhu Bujing Xiangmo Gui.”
“Smart.”
Hearing those words, Chu Zhixing couldn’t help but let out a cold snort, showing no sign of joy. Hearing a compliment from Jiang Louqi’s mouth for the first time was truly a rare thing.
A Zhu Bujing Xiangmo Gui is formed from the souls of people who were extremely unhygienic during their lives. After becoming ghosts, they maintain this “glorious tradition.”
As long as a place is filthy and unbearable to normal people, that is where such ghosts reside, and they often feed on disgusting filth.
Because they cannot eat after becoming ghosts, they possess humans, relying on the host to consume the filth for them.
They have little offensive power; they simply seek a suitable successor to make that person as slovenly as themselves.
Jiang Louqi swung his leg over his Kawasaki, tossed a helmet to Chu Zhixing, and tilted his head to signal for him to get on.
However, Chu Zhixing tossed the helmet back. He had no desire for any physical contact with Jiang Louqi, let alone sitting together. “No need. I can move across walls and rooftops.”
“Look, big brother, you’re a zombie, not Spiderman. Besides, it’s all skyscrapers now, not the old tile-roofed houses. Where exactly are you going to fly?”
Jiang Louqi turned the key and gripped the handlebar. The distant neon lights reflected off his helmet’s visor, his entire being exuding a calm yet cool aura.
“I am a Feijiang. You lead the way.” Chu Zhixing’s face was as cold as frost as he suddenly leaped upward with light agility.
Only the sound of the wind breaking could be heard as his feet hit the rooftop silently. He landed steadily on the edge of the roof’s railing, while a dozen meters below, the streets were teeming with traffic!
At this sight, Jiang Louqi let out a shallow sneer and started the engine, the roar winding rapidly into the distance.
He didn’t forget to give Chu Zhixing a parting jab: “Hey, remember to buy some workers’ compensation insurance!”
Translator’s Note:
We’ve got our first real case! And it’s… well, a bit messy. Here are some notes for this chapter:
- Snow Charcoal (雪中送炭 – Xuězhōngsòngtàn): The title refers to the idiom “sending charcoal in the snow,” which means providing help in a time of dire need. Jiang Louqi uses it ironically here because his “help” is actually a salary deduction.
- Zhu Bujing Xiangmo Gui (住不淨巷陌鬼): In Buddhist and Chinese folklore, this is a “Ghost Dwelling in Filthy Alleys and Streets.” These ghosts are said to inhabit filthy places like toilets or garbage heaps and feed on excrement.
- Feijiang (飛僵): Literally “Flying Zombie.” In Chinese mythology, a jiangshi (zombie) that has cultivated for hundreds of years can become a feijiang, gaining the ability to fly and move with extreme speed.
- Kawasaki Ninja 400: As established, Jiang Louqi is a man of culture who loves his bikes more than his toothpaste.
- Head & Shoulders (海飛絲): Just a reminder that Jiang Louqi still calls Xino Griffith by the shampoo brand name because he can’t be bothered with his real name.
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