Chapter Thirty-Seven: The Source—The Insect
Steward Ma’s words exploded in the dim room.
Immediately after, Hou Kui, standing to the side, let out a savage grin. He stepped forward like a tiger leaping from its cage, reeking of blood. With a violent motion, he drew a gleaming dagger from his waist and lunged at Boss Hu, whose legs had turned to jelly.
"Watch out!"
Le Dong roared, almost by instinct. He shoved the nearly unconscious Ma Wenwen into a pile of paper money in the corner and hurled himself at Hou Kui like an arrow released from a bow.
He could not stand by and watch Boss Hu be murdered in front of him. Even if the bastard deserved to die, Boss Hu’s death at this moment would only make Steward Ma’s framing scheme perfect.
Bang!
Le Dong slammed his body into Hou Kui’s brawny side. The immense impact made Hou Kui stumble, and the dagger intended for Boss Hu’s heart grazed across his chest instead.
"Rip—!"
The expensive silk pajamas tore instantly, and a line of blood bloomed across Boss Hu’s chest.
Excruciating pain and the terror of death forced a pig-like shriek from Boss Hu: "Ah! Murder! Help me!"
"Old Cai! Protect Master Ma!"
Le Dong bellowed without looking back. He grabbed Hou Kui’s knife-wielding wrist with both hands, pressing down with all his might as the two became locked in a desperate struggle.
But Hou Kui was as strong as an ox. The dagger carved cold, lethal arcs through the darkness, missing Le Dong’s throat by a hair’s breadth several times.
"You Ma bastard! I’ll curse your bloodline!"
Cai Kun’s eyes turned bloodshot. Fear was replaced by a towering rage. He snatched up a heavy copper incense burner from the small altar and roared as he smashed it toward Steward Ma.
"I’ll fight you to the death!"
Steward Ma clearly had not expected this fat man, who had always seemed greedy and cowardly, to be so violent. He dodged sideways in a panic, and the heavy incense burner flew past his shoulder, slamming into the wall behind with a thunderous crash.
"I didn't pay you this much to roll around on the floor!"
Steward Ma steadied himself in a disheveled state and barked sharply at Hou Kui, who was still grappling with Le Dong. At the same time, he cast a cold, sinister glance at Xiao Zhang, who had been standing silently in the corner.
"What are you standing there for?! Finish this quickly, and you’ll have plenty of money to escape abroad and live it up."
"I know, Boss Ma..."
A voice rang out—smiling, yet cold, devoid of a shred of warmth.
That voice... was it Xiao Zhang?!
Alarm bells rang in Le Dong’s mind. He managed to fend off a strike from Hou Kui and stole a glance during the chaos.
In the shadows of the corner, the college student Xiao Zhang, who had always worn glasses and appeared harmless, even somewhat timid, was slowly taking them off.
Behind the lenses, a pair of completely unfamiliar eyes were revealed—icy, sharp, filled with a cruelty that disregarded life and a numbness born of long-accustomed slaughter.
He still wore that shy smile, but in the darkness, it now appeared incredibly eerie and malevolent.
He tossed his glasses onto the floor, then unhurriedly reached into the pocket of his loose sweatpants and pulled out a pair of black, thin-skinned gloves—identical to those worn by Steward Ma and Hou Kui—and began to put them on with measured precision.
His movements were elegant, yet carried a lethal threat.
"Brother Le," Xiao Zhang tilted his head, looking at Le Dong, his tone mocking like a cat playing with a mouse. "Didn’t you ask if I believed in ghosts? I said ghosts are afraid of people with blood on their hands... especially human blood!"
As he spoke, he slowly drew a short, cold-gleaming stiletto from his waist. The sharp blade traced a ghostly arc through the darkness, aimed directly at Cai Kun, who was shielding Ma Wenwen and brandishing a candlestick in a futile attempt to hold them off.
It’s over! Le Dong felt his heart shatter.
He regretted not watching that video sooner when the signal was restored. He never imagined that Xiao Zhang was also a... murderer!
No wonder he insisted on them living separately from Cai Kun; Steward Ma was using two killers to monitor them!
Looking at it this way, the fact that Hou Kui was washing his hair that night and Xiao Zhang’s phone screen had just gone dark when he returned—none of this was a coincidence!
Le Dong was filled with regret and despair.
Hou Kui was already strong and vicious, and Le Dong was at his limit just holding him off. Now, with the addition of the hidden Xiao Zhang, Cai Kun and Ma Wenwen were in mortal danger!
"Old Cai, watch out!"
Le Dong’s eyes were bloodshot. He wanted to break away to save him, but Hou Kui’s savage grin kept him pinned, the dagger dancing relentlessly. "Get lost!"
Just at this critical juncture!
"Cough... cough, cough, cough..."
A faint, rattling cough, as if the person were on the verge of breathing their last, came from behind Le Dong, from the direction of Ma Wenwen and the pile of paper money.
The sound was extremely weak, yet it carried a strange, piercing quality that instantly drew everyone’s attention. Even Xiao Zhang’s movement toward Cai Kun faltered.
Ma Wenwen slowly lifted his head, his gauze-covered eyes staring fixedly at a certain spot.
He looked at no one, his expression vacant as he "gazed" toward the large wooden bed in the center of the room. His lips moved, and he used his final ounce of strength to squeeze out a few broken words:
"...The... source... has... escaped..."
What source?!
Le Dong and Steward Ma froze simultaneously!
But the next second, Steward Ma’s face changed drastically!
He abruptly looked down at his chest—at the wriggling thing he had carefully hidden there, tightly wrapped in black cloth!
During the chaos and violent movements just moments ago, the fabric covering his chest had somehow been torn open!
A beetle, the size of a thumb, pitch-black but with a strange, translucent body that seemed to be made of solidified resentment, was struggling to crawl out from the rags!
The insect’s form was bizarre and distorted, lacking clear eyes or mouthparts; its head possessed only a few thin, twitching black antennae.
In the center of its body, it seemed to contain a mass that constantly shifted shape, emitting a faint red glow. Countless tiny, almost invisible black filaments were constantly secreting and drifting from its translucent body, swaying in the air as if they were alive!
Suddenly, an indescribable, evil aura—a mix of fishy sweetness and rot—permeated the room as it appeared!
"Damn it!"
Steward Ma let out a frantic, exasperated cry. Ignoring the situation at hand, he scrambled with his hands, trying to grab the bizarre insect that was crawling down his shirt!
However, it was too late!
The black beetle seemed to have been stimulated by something intense. Its whole body shuddered, and its thin antennae whipped around frantically. Like a streak of black lightning, it shot out from Steward Ma’s chest!
Its target was clearly the center of the room—the wooden bed holding Old Master Hu, which radiated an ominous aura!
Plop!
A sound so slight it was almost negligible.
The translucent, malevolent creature landed precisely upon the corpse of Old Master Hu, which was covered by a yellow cloth.
Its long, thin antennae twitched frantically, as if it had caught the scent of something lethally tempting. Its entire translucent body writhed desperately, forcing its way through the yellow cloth and dropping into Old Master Hu’s half-open mouth!
The moment the insect vanished, the entire mourning hall seemed to have been pressed on pause.
Steward Ma’s hand remained frozen in mid-air, his face a mask of extreme shock, anger, and a trace of... instinctive fear that even he hadn't realized he felt!
That insect... crawled into Old Master Hu’s mouth?!
Le Dong and Hou Kui’s struggle ground to a halt; both men subconsciously looked toward the deathly silent wooden bed.
Cai Kun held the candlestick high, his mouth agape, forgetting to move.
Xiao Zhang’s hand, clutching the stiletto, also stopped mid-air. The savage grin on his face solidified, replaced by a look of gravity and confusion.
Boss Hu clutched his bleeding chest, forgetting to scream, his eyes vacant.
Even Ma Wenwen, lying in the corner on the verge of death, seemed to have exhausted his last breath. His head lolled to the side, and only the faint rise and fall of his chest proved he was still alive.
Silence.
A suffocating silence enveloped the entire hall.
There was only the sound of everyone’s heavy, labored breathing, and... on that wooden bed, the corpse of Old Master Hu seemed to shift... ever so slightly.