Bunny
Boss Xiang reacted as if someone had stepped on his foot, too agitated to care about whether he respected the master or not. He blurted out, “My wife won’t lie!”
Then, he turned to Madam Xiang, his face carrying an inexplicable plea as he trembled and asked, “Right?”
Madam Xiang’s face turned even paler—not out of feigned pity this time, but genuine fear.
“C-Can’t you just exorcise the ghost infant the normal way?” She twisted the fabric of her clothes nervously, avoiding Boss Xiang’s question and instead asked Lu Congxing in a small voice.
“No,” Lu Congxing tilted his head slightly, answering honestly. “This ghost infant is pretty powerful. I need to be prepared.”
“Zhenya, what exactly are you hiding from me?” Boss Xiang’s face was filled with disbelief. He couldn’t accept that the sinister object had been placed there by his own gentle and considerate wife.
Lu Congxing helpfully reminded him, “If you don’t want to talk, I can always take out the embryo from the rattle drum and see for myself.”
“No!” Madam Xiang cried out in terror, looking utterly frightened.
With a sob, she finally revealed the secret she had buried in her heart for years. “I had an abortion. Seven years ago.”
Boss Xiang’s eyes widened in shock. “When? Zhenya! Why did you never tell me?”
“Because the child wasn’t yours, of course I couldn’t tell you.” Her gaze carried a trace of self-mockery.
She looked as if she had given up completely. Ever since she had nearly fallen off the balcony that day, she had lived under the shadow of death. Now, speaking the truth felt like a form of release.
“Seven years ago… Seven years ago…” Boss Xiang muttered the words repeatedly like a madman. “That was right when we had just fallen in love.”
“I was already pregnant then. I just didn’t tell you. The day after you confessed to me, I went and had it aborted.” Madam Xiang’s tone was chillingly indifferent.
She had never regretted that decision. If given another chance, she would make the same choice again.
Boss Xiang was so furious that he stammered, “You… you… you…” incoherently for a long time, unable to form a complete sentence. His outstretched hand trembled as if he were about to strike, but in the end, it fell heavily to his side.
Meanwhile, Di Jiang was thoroughly entertained, as if watching a drama, only missing a bag of sunflower seeds to snack on.
Lu Congxing, however, had no interest in their domestic dispute. He only cared about one thing—the exorcism. “Did you have the abortion at a proper hospital? Was the fetus more than five months old?”
Madam Xiang frowned. “Of course, it was a proper hospital, and of course, it wasn’t more than five months. There’s no visible sign yet.”
Lu Congxing nodded. “I see. That answers my question. I can perform the exorcism tonight. Do you mind if I stay here until then?”
“Of course not,” Boss Xiang replied absentmindedly, still in a daze. He called for the butler to take care of the guest.
The butler respectfully led them downstairs.
Di Jiang had come well-prepared, taking extensive notes. From the moment he heard the sound of a baby crying at night, he had suspected there was a ghost infant involved, so all his research had been on that topic.
He took out a talisman he had drawn himself. One glance, and Lu Congxing could already tell that two of the details were incorrect.
Drawing talismans required not only the right materials but also precise accuracy—one small mistake could render it useless. But even a perfectly drawn talisman wouldn’t necessarily work; it depended on the spiritual energy of the one who created it.
Compared to demons, human spiritual energy was practically negligible, which was why exorcists relied on external tools like talismans.
Demons, on the other hand, never bothered learning to draw talismans. They didn’t need to exorcise ghosts, nor did they need external objects to channel their power.
Still, Lu Congxing didn’t have the heart to shatter Di Jiang’s naive confidence.
Di Jiang, completely unaware of his mistakes, was quite pleased with himself, thinking his talisman would be useful.
The butler led them to the dining hall, where dinner had been prepared.
“Having a private chef is truly something else,” Di Jiang said, happily chewing a piece of meat.
The table was nearly overflowing with luxurious dishes—premium steak, red wine, and an array of exquisite side dishes. Even though the host wasn’t present, the display was still lavish.
However, there was no wine in front of Lu Congxing.
The butler looked a little embarrassed as he explained, “We weren’t sure if you were of legal age.”
Di Jiang swallowed his food and said seriously, “He’s not! But he is over 18, so he’s allowed to drink.”
The butler seemed confused—if he was over 18, why wasn’t he considered an adult? Lu Congxing had no desire to explain, so he simply asked the butler to bring him milk instead.
As the warm, sweet milk went down, his entire expression softened in contentment.
If he were in his cub form right now, he’d probably melt into a fluffy little puddle.
After wiping off a bit of milk from his lips, his delicate face grew serious again, as if he were a completely different person from the one happily drinking milk just moments ago. “Was all this food prepared in the kitchen?”
The butler nodded. “Yes, of course.”
“I wonder if I could meet the chef who prepared this meal.”
“I’ll call him right away.”
Di Jiang cut another piece of meat and asked, “Why? Is there something wrong with the food?”
Lu Congxing shook his head. He was still puzzled by what he had overheard in the kitchen about the missing meat.
At first, the chef thought his cooking didn’t suit the guest’s taste, but when he realized Lu Congxing just wanted to ask a few questions, he relaxed and spilled everything he knew in one go.
He speculated without reason, “I think someone with dishonest hands stole it. I mean, if it were a ghost, it wouldn’t make the meat disappear, right?”
“A regular haunting wouldn’t,” Lu Congxing murmured, almost as if talking to himself.
The butler had specially arranged guest rooms for them to rest. Di Jiang, however, was too nervous to sleep and kept pacing around the room.
“You think that ghost infant will show up again tonight?” he asked.
Though demons weren’t afraid of ghosts, this case was tied to their agency’s rent, so he seemed even more invested in it than Lu Congxing.
“It will,” Lu Congxing replied, sitting cross-legged on the bed and playing a match-three game. “The helper here disappeared a week ago, and the kitchen has been losing meat frequently in the past few days. Whatever it is, it’s definitely hungry.”
“Hungry?” Di Jiang muttered in confusion. “A ghost infant actually needs to eat?”
“It’s not a ghost infant.”
As soon as he said that, the game played a cheerful sound effect.
A faint smile of satisfaction appeared on Lu Congxing’s fair face.
“Not a ghost infant?!” Di Jiang’s eyes widened. “Then what is it?”
“A fetus less than five months old can’t form a ghost,” Lu Congxing explained calmly. “Madam Xiang wasn’t forced when she went to the hospital for an abortion. Without resentment from the mother, the fetus would simply reincarnate. Besides, she went to a legitimate hospital.”
He had only suspected it before, but after hearing Madam Xiang’s full story, he completely dismissed the idea of a ghost infant.
It’s obvious that someone deliberately misled Madam Xiang, making her believe that everything happening at home was connected to her. At the same time, they took advantage of her psychology and lies to manipulate the exorcists who came here, leading them by the nose.
Di Jiang sincerely asked, “What does this have to do with the hospital?”
Lu Congxing, without looking down on his companion’s ignorance, continued explaining, “Buildings like hospitals are quite special. When they’re constructed, exorcists are usually hired to draw protective formations to prevent resentment from taking root. No matter how strong newborn resentment is, it gets immediately dissipated in a hospital. So, in reality, hospitals are far safer than other places.”
“Oh, oh.” Di Jiang frowned in frustration. “Humans really are troublesome.”
Demons, after death, don’t enter reincarnation, nor do they leave behind lingering resentment.
“Besides ghost infants, what other vengeful ghosts cry like babies?”
Before his question could be answered, a scream rang out from outside.
Lu Congxing reacted even faster than him, grabbing a handful of talismans and dashing out, running down the stairs in one breath.
In the lobby, a shadowy black mass was clutching Madam Xiang’s neck, leaving dark imprints on her slender throat.
The scream had come from Boss Xiang, who had collapsed to the ground in shock.
Lu Congxing flung a handful of talismans toward it. The talismans floated in the air as if guided by an invisible force, then stuck to the black mass of resentment and immediately ignited.
A sharp infant’s cry erupted from within the black mass. Even in the darkness, two streams of blood-red tears were clearly visible.
Madam Xiang was released, crawling to the side while sobbing and repeatedly apologizing. Meanwhile, the black mass of resentment, seemingly terrified, frantically fled.
Lu Congxing told Di Jiang to stay put and chased after it without paying attention to the shouting behind him.
The resentment led him outside. Strangely, all the streetlights went out, and only the moonlight provided a faint, hazy glow.
He still had a few unused talismans in hand, but instead of using them, he tucked them away.
“So, this is how you tricked the exorcists who came here?” Lu Congxing tilted his head. “Made them think they successfully exorcised the ghost?”
The black mass no longer put on a threatening display. Instead, it slowly dispersed as a deep, muffled laugh echoed through the air. “Such a clever little cub.”
A figure stepped out from the dark mist. Lu Congxing recognized its true form at a glance.
His voice remained completely calm, devoid of surprise. “So, it’s a Ma Fu1.”
Ma Fu’s face twisted into a grimace. “I warned you—don’t stick your nose where it doesn’t belong!”
Ever since the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs was established a hundred years ago, demons were strictly forbidden from eating humans. But there were always some who insisted on following the crooked path.
Such demons weren’t recorded in the Bureau’s archives. Instead, they were secretly monitored. The moment an opportunity arose, the Bureau would execute them.
“I’m not one of those brainless great demons. I have no pity for little cubs. If you don’t want to end up as my next meal, get lost and forget what happened today. I might just let you live.”
Ma Fu didn’t actually intend to let Lu Congxing go. But he knew that if he harmed this cub here, the entire demon world’s high-ranking demons would hunt him down. Even if he had godlike abilities, he wouldn’t escape death.
Ignoring the ominous aura radiating from Ma Fu, Lu Congxing continued speaking like a student earnestly answering a question.
“You mimic an infant’s cry and absorb the resentment of wandering ghosts to disguise yourself as a ghost infant. Then, you infiltrate human homes to feed on them. This way, exorcists can’t catch you, and the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs won’t intervene. It lets you evade both sides while still feasting on humans. So, the missing servant from Boss Xiang’s household—was that your doing?”
“Are you asking how I ate?” Ma Fu showed an amused expression. In his eyes, Lu Congxing was just a tiny cub, while he himself was a demon who had lived for hundreds of years. This confrontation was utterly meaningless.
As long as he left now and found another place, he could continue living freely. With so many ghost infants in the world, even if the cub reported him to the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs, they still wouldn’t be able to catch him.
However, instead of showing frustration as Ma Fu had expected, Lu Congxing curved his lips into a slight smirk, as if he had just cleared a level in a game. To him, this was nothing more than a game.
“What are you smiling at—AHHHHHH!” Ma Fu’s words were cut short as ghostly blue flames suddenly ignited all over his body.
The more he screamed in agony, the higher the flames rose. He never expected to be so utterly powerless before a mere cub.
His initial terror was soon consumed by unbearable pain, leaving him incapable of thought—his only instinct was to beg for mercy.
Lu Congxing raised his right hand, a small cluster of flames flickering playfully in his palm. As the flames in his hand grew and shrank, so did the fire engulfing Ma Fu.
Even when the flames burned Ma Fu back into his original form, Lu Congxing didn’t stop.
His true form was twice Lu Congxing’s size—a tiger-bodied creature with a human face. That human face twisted in agony, its features barely discernible through the fire. From his mouth came an eerie chorus of infant cries—sometimes weak and pitiful, sometimes piercing and filled with agony.
No one knew how many people Ma Fu had devoured. Lu Congxing held nothing back, completely unmoved by his deceitful wails.
Just as Ma Fu was about to be burned alive, a thick black smoke suddenly erupted from his stomach, momentarily dampening the flames. His tail lashed out violently, forcing Lu Congxing to instinctively twist away. By the time he regained his focus, Ma Fu was already fleeing.
His entire body was burned beyond recognition, and even running seemed difficult for him.
Lu Congxing was about to give chase when a familiar sense of heart palpitations surged through him.
To avoid reverting directly into his cub form, he had to pull back some of his demonic power, trying to stabilize the spiritual energy within him.
But after being suppressed all day, his once obedient spiritual energy now seemed ready to rebel, surging wildly through his core.
By the time he steadied himself, Ma Fu had vanished without a trace.
All his efforts had been wasted.
Frustrated, Lu Congxing let his energy spill out, allowing himself to transform into a palm-sized ball of fur.
A little, lop-eared rabbit sat gloomily in the middle of the road. It tried to kick away a small stone in frustration, only to trip over it instead.
The ball of fluff collapsed into a fluffy puddle.
“Heh.”
Amused by his clumsiness, a man chuckled softly from behind him.
The little rabbit immediately perked up his ears in alertness and let out a chirp as he turned to look behind him.
And there he was—the last person he wanted to see right now.
The man raised an eyebrow at him and, in a deep, seductive voice, uttered the most infuriating words a rabbit could hear: “How can you be this dumb?”
Lu Congxing had originally planned to pretend he hadn’t seen him, but the moment he heard those words, he exploded. He let out a flurry of indignant chirps, wishing he could sink his little rabbit teeth into the man right then and there.
He Zhouyan, still holding a half-dead Ma Fu in his hand, looked down at the fluffy little creature on the ground with amusement in his eyes.
——Yet another animal cub that wasn’t afraid of him.
- 马腹 (mǎ fù) is a mythical beast recorded in the Chinese mythology “Classic of Mountains and Seas”. It refers to a monster with a human face and a tiger body. It sounds like a baby and eats people. ↩︎
