Take a Good Look, Mom

“Li Panlong” rose from the sofa and wandered around, looking for a finely made coat.

“Mom, what did that player say? How far along is he?”

Zhu Yan asked as he naturally used the coat to wrap up the memorial tablet.

This was to cut off the tablet’s senses.

The tablet’s senses were weak, and if Zhu Yan wanted to strip away the skin behind Li Daochang, he had to keep the tablet and that skin together.

Wrapped in cloth like this, everything was inside the same bundle. Who could tell whether they were in a basement or a living room?

“He’ll be here soon.” “Mother” gazed affectionately at Li Panlong’s skin. “Son, why are you wrapping up the tablet?”

Zhu Yan immediately began spouting nonsense. “Isn’t it for your sake? Your daughter’s wedding is coming up, and my brother-in-law will be there. Of course I have to personally go and welcome him.”

“That tablet isn’t something you can display in public.”

As Zhu Yan had expected, “Mother” did not care in the slightest about what her precious son said.

This Zhang Xiaohong was even more over-the-top than his aunt.

A single “Isn’t it for your sake?” was enough to turn it into an obedient baby.

“My boy has grown up. He’s such a thoughtful son!” 【Walking Corpse】 said happily. “Son, don’t worry. The fried meat will be ready soon. You can stay here and eat.”

“As for that man, Mom will keep an eye on him.”

“Li Panlong” grinned, the folds of fat on his face squeezing and spilling in all directions. Since he was already dead, the smile looked somewhat stiff.

This Zhang Xiaohong knew exactly how to be helpful. Whenever Zhu Yan felt sleepy, it handed him a pillow.

“Mom, how can you send only those few freaks?”

“That player is so proud his nose is practically pointing at the sky. If you don’t put on a proper show, how are you going to knock down his arrogance?”

Zhu Yan had seen it clearly from the start.

The Li family probably hadn’t enjoyed particularly good lives for a long time, yet they treated their only son like an emperor.

That was why “Mother” stubbornly wanted to occupy the body of a rich society lady, even though it did not know how to walk in high heels and insisted on wearing them anyway.

That was why Li Daochang had sold ashes for sky-high prices while he was alive, using such vicious and desperate methods to support his only son.

Now, this had become the leverage Zhu Yan could use to manipulate “Mother’s” obsession.

“Mom, if you ask me, just send out every skin you have. Let him see what a real spectacle looks like!”

The strand of 【Mist】 he had left behind was still drifting above Jin Rongxu’s head.

Judging by Jin Rongxu’s current pace, he would reach the outside of the mansion in another five minutes.

“Leave my dad in the basement to work. And don’t send that unlucky thing, Li Laidi, outside either.”

“And of course, I can’t go outside as the younger brother-in-law. I need to maintain a little dignity… Though I suppose I could go out too.”

Zhu Yan calculated silently.

If he were forced to go outside, he would have the Tuxedo Cat carry the tablet, wrapped in cloth, to the basement. He could also take out Zhu Zeyu’s puppet while he was at it.

That would accomplish his goal just as well.

“Mom, if you ask me, let’s settle it this way.”

“Mother” looked at “Li Panlong.” Not a trace of human emotion could be seen in its murky eyes.

Driven by its grand obsession and desire, it nodded and seized “Li Panlong’s” wrist.

“Since that’s settled, let’s go, son.”

“This is your big day. Come and see what Mom has prepared for you… That player will be absolutely delighted!”

Zhu Yan hid the bundle behind his back and nervously felt it.

After confirming that the coat had wrapped the tablet tightly, without leaving even the smallest gap, he patted the garment.

The Tuxedo Cat was hidden inside—its body in the form of 【Mist】, damp and soft, coiled against “Li Panlong’s” chest.

…

After “Li Panlong” left with “Mother,”

the strand of 【Mist】 hiding in the basement flowed into the unlit screening room next door. With a shift of thought, it brought out “Zhu Zeyu’s” puppet.

The 【Mist】 swiftly burrowed inside. The next second, Zhu Zeyu bent down, patted the Tuxedo Cat’s furry head, and picked up the tablet, still wrapped tightly in cloth.

“Well done,” he whispered. “We’ll have to sprint a hundred meters in a moment. Stay close.”

The Tuxedo Cat silently opened and closed its mouth once to show that it understood.

“Li Panlong” did not walk very quickly.

Zhu Zeyu waited silently in the darkness.

Only when the garden gate of the mansion appeared in “Li Panlong’s” field of vision, and Jin Rongxu’s figure could be seen approaching from the far end of the road, did Zhu Zeyu feel his way through the darkness to the door. He raised his hand and knocked on the wooden door.

Li Daochang stopped what he was doing.

Knock.

The brief sound was far too conspicuous in the empty basement. It startled him into raising his head and looking toward its source.

It seemed to have come from the private home theater.

But how could that be…?

All of his skins were outside, and his precious son, Li Panlong, was outside as well. There couldn’t possibly be anyone in the basement.

Li Daochang lifted his nose and sniffed. Yet he distinctly smelled the sweet scent belonging to a player.

What was going on?

He slowly straightened his hunched back, suddenly realizing something.

One player was missing.

Earlier, that player had even tried to take his tablet, but had failed.

The screening room ahead was pitch-black. Li Daochang narrowed his eyes and saw a vague figure inside.

Could it be… him?

Crack.

Li Daochang’s neck gave a sharp crack.

His head whipped toward Zhu Zeyu, while the rigid muscles of his dead face tugged forcefully at the corners of his mouth.

“You’ve got some tricks,” he said indistinctly. “These old bones of mine can still tear you apart. You want to—”

Li Daochang began walking forward, his drooping eyelids covering half his eyes.

Zhu Zeyu stepped out from the shadow behind the door and watched a cloud of gloom spread from the depths of its pupils.

Standing before the wooden door, he gripped the key in the lock and gave Li Daochang a radiant smile.

“Oh, I’ve been found out.”

Zhu Zeyu gently exerted force with his wrist and, using the cover of his voice, pulled the key free.

“You’re right.”

Zhu Zeyu kept his eyes fixed on Li Daochang’s footsteps as he slowly retreated into the darkness.

He was ready to draw the Level 13 military knife from his ring at any moment.

In this performance, he was the bait.

All he needed was for Li Daochang to enter the room, after which the door would be locked from the inside…

“…I did come here to look for clues. Where’s the tablet?”

Zhu Zeyu made conversation for the sake of making conversation, asking a question whose answer he already knew.

He kept his voice very soft.

The tablet was in the depths of the small room behind him, hidden behind the cushion of a sofa.

Outside the mansion,

“Li Panlong” nervously turned his head to look at 【Walking Corpse】. From the corner of his eye, he saw that Jin Rongxu had already arrived.

Fortunately, 【Walking Corpse】 showed no signs of restlessness or anger—

it merely smiled cruelly and said “Welcome” to Jin Rongxu with that dead man’s face.

…

“The tablet?”

One of Li Daochang’s feet stepped into the darkness.

Zhu Zeyu stared fixedly at its face. Then he suddenly reached out and yanked it inside!

Shhk—

In an instant, the Level 13 military knife pierced through Li Daochang’s rotten flesh.

Li Daochang’s eyes widened. “You…”

Now!

Zhu Zeyu gripped the knife handle tightly and dragged its body through a half circle, positioning himself with his back to the door that could isolate space.

The basement’s warm white lighting swept across Li Daochang’s murky eyeballs. Then the wooden door was slammed shut, and the lock clicked into place twice.

Li Daochang let out an enraged howl, his hand clamping around Zhu Zeyu’s left shoulder like an iron vise, all five fingers sinking deep into the flesh.

“You’re not getting off easy!”

Amid the searing pain, Zhu Zeyu drew his knife with his uninjured right hand.

“You ruined my son’s wedding. You’re not getting off ea—”

Slice!

A clean cut appeared across Li Daochang’s neck.

Zhu Zeyu seized Li Daochang by the hair and yanked. With a wet pop, the head tore free from the neck.

“Who said I was ruining your son’s wedding?”

Zhu Zeyu kicked the head aside, then kicked Li Daochang’s body away.

He ran to the sofa and pulled out the memorial tablet. Ignoring the blood dripping from his left shoulder, he used his military knife to cut open the clothing on Li Daochang’s back.

“You have a son too?”

Zhu Zeyu flashed the memorial tablet a vicious smile.

“Turn around and take a good look, Mother.”

“Isn’t your son already dead?”