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Chapter Text

- Story Start -

"Kan Jian, turn off the lights please."

The room plunges into darkness. Wu Xie switches on his torchlight and approaches the statue, careful to keep the light trained on her. She stands there, as still as... well, a statue.

He moves around to her back, peripherally aware of the others watching. Wu ErBai even takes a step closer to the statue.

Wu Xie is just reaching out to part the long hair when something leaps out from her head and lands on his chest. Sharp pinpricks dig past his shirt and into his skin. He freezes. His heart, already thumping in anticipation, skips a beat. Slowly, he tips the torchlight down until it illuminates a pinkish hand-shaped shellfish.

Kan Jian utters a cut-off scream. The room is flooded with light as he hits the switch.

Taking a step closer, Zhang QiLing unsheathes his knife and holds it up at shoulder height. The shellfish scuttles up Wu Xie's shoulder and hides behind his neck. It feels cool and damp against his skin. It's also trembling.

Or maybe Wu Xie's the one who's shaking. Having been caught by these creatures before, he's pretty nervous too.

Zhang QiLing takes another silent step closer and raises his left hand, long fingers lightly curled.

Wu Xie gulps as the shellfish slips under his cardigan and begins to make its way down his back, moving along his spine one vertebrae at a time. It's still shivering.

With another silent step, Zhang QiLing stands in front of Wu Xie, well into his personal space. Him with his perfect profile and those oh-so-pretty eyes that one can drown in. He opens his arms and keep them curled inwards, like he's coming in for a hug.

Wu Xie's poor heart now alternates between skipping beats and rushing them, pounding away in his chest and likely deafening the creature stuck to his back. His gaze flicks around the room, from Pang Zi's face set in tense lines, to Shades inching his way around the room to provide backup, to Liu Sang who looks worried with a knowing look in his eyes thanks to Wu Xie's traitorous heart.

Wu Xie glares at him before his gaze flicks back to Zhang QiLing who inches even closer. The shellfish starts moving quicker as if sensing the killing intent. It reaches the small of Wu Xie's back.

Of course. It's terrified and trying to escape. It'll try to find a hiding spot and the closest one is-

Oh. No.

A drop of sweat trickles down Wu Xie's cheek as a nail slides beneath the waistband of his trousers.

"Xiao-ge. Stop." He grits out.

Zhang QiLing freezes.

"Shades, you too."

Shades stops creeping around and holds up both hands with a shrug.

Wu Xie breathes out through his nose and decides the whole situation is ridiculous. For Heaven's sake, there's only one small shellfish compared to eight grown men!

"Right. C'mere, you." Reaching inside his cardigan, Wu Xie snatches the creature and brings it out.

Everyone takes a collective step back except for Zhang QiLing who holds his knife higher.

"Xiao-ge, wait." Wu Xie switches off his torch and tosses it to Wu ErBai. Keeping a firm grip on the shellfish, he turns it over to display its underside. Two bulbous eyes stare up at him, blinking in the bright light. There's a vertical mouth with parted red lips, displaying crooked teeth. It's still shivering.

"So you're the one pretending to be Princess Mute?" Wu Xie's voice comes out softer than expected. "Right. I'll flip you over, but don't bite me, okay?"

He places it on his right palm where it turns around so it can stare up at him with one eye. He lifts his hand up to eye level.

"You helped us before and you wanted to follow us up. Do you want to stay here? With me?"

The shellfish scuttles up his right arm and perches on his shoulder. He doesn't have to see the flabbergasted faces around him to know what it must look like, a dismembered hand gripping him.

"Alright," he says, striving to keep his voice steady. "You can stay with me if you promise not to harm me or my friends."

It presses closer to him.

"In return, no one will hurt you."

Wu Xie looks at the ring of faces staring at him.

"No killing this creature, alright? It's a friend."

The shellfish gives a little wriggle with its fingers.

"Now I've seen everything," Shades says, shaking his head.

"A-Xie, are you sure?" Wu ErBai asks.

Wu Xie grins at him.

"Er-shu, I'm a dying man. Surely you won't deny me a pet now?"

His words break the tension in the room. Zhang QiLing leans in to give a very stern look to the shellfish who presses closer to Wu Xie's neck. It smells somewhat briny, but not too bad.

"Huh." Pang Zi comes closer. "Trust you to get the strangest pets, Tianzhen. Are you sure you wouldn't want me to make you a shellfish soup?"

Wu Xie reaches up to stroke his new companion.

"Thanks, Pang Zi, but I'm sure."

"Up to you," Pang Zi says and narrows a glare at the shellfish. "Tianzhen here is my best friend. My brother. One wrong move and you're soup, you hear me?"

"I don't think it understands," Wu ErBai says, sounding resigned.

While the others joke about a crustacean's ability to understand human speech and tease Kan Jian about his earlier scare, Wu Xie carefully parts the statue's long hair. There's a hole at the back of her head and a black metal piece hanging from a string.

"Alright, it's late so let's get some sleep," Wu ErBai says. "Kan Jian, Liu Sang, keep the statue in that box. Be careful not to damage her."

Wu Xie can't help wondering if the black metal piece is similar to the ones used in Mute Village. He doesn't see the shellfish staring at Kan Jian and Liu Sang as they carefully pack the statue, or the slight drooping of its head when they finally shut the lid.

"Come on," Wu Xie says. "I'll find you a tank with some water to sleep in."

Perched on his shoulder, the shellfish continues to stare at the box until the door closes behind them.

- Chapter End -

Chapter Text

- Chapter Start -

Despite his words, Wu Xie spends the next hour watching the shellfish as it explores his bed from corner to corner, scuttling above the covers and below, trekking across his pillow and even making its way along the top of the bedframe, nails delicately click-clicking on the metal.

"Just so you know, this isn't your bed," Wu Xie tells it, arms folded over his chest. "You already gave me a scare earlier when you laid down beside me while inside that statue."

The shellfish droops at once, making Wu Xie sigh.

"You'll have to wait until we get home to unpack her. Meanwhile-"

A knock interrupts him. Wu Xie leaves the shellfish now balancing itself on two fingers - legs? tentacles? - and goes to open the door. Liu Sang stands there with a foot long glass tank in his hands and Kan Jian behind him.

"Lao ban, Liu Sang and I managed to find this," Kan Jian declares, flashing his signature grin. He holds up a a flattish stone. "And this!"

"Perfect, thanks." Wu Xie steps back and points to the small table set alongside one wall. "Set it down there. Now, who wants to move the shellfish to its new home?"

In a trice, the stone is deposited in the tank and the tank unceremoniously shoved in his chest.

"Hey, dying man here," he protests. "At least bid my new pet goodnight?"

"Er-shu said to to sleep early," Kan Jian said, backpedaling and pulling Liu Sang with him. "Goodnight, lao ban!"

"It's hiding under your pillow and biting a hole in the case," Liu Sang reports and turns his head. "Kan Jian, stop pulling me. I can walk!"

"I just don't want that thing to-"

Wu Xie kicks the door shut on the rest of Kan Jian's words. He sets the tank down on the table and looks over at the bed. The shellfish is sitting on his pillow again, wriggling its fingers at him.

"Don't think I don't know what you just did," he tells it and empties two bottles of water into the tank. "There you go, Nong Fu spring water, no less!"

The shellfish resists being picked up, digging its nails into the pillowcase until Wu Xie gives a stern 'tsk'. Then it loosens its grip and flops between his thumb and index finger like a wet cloth.

"Don't look so brokenhearted," he chides and lays it on the stone. "We'll find you some food tomorrow."

By which he means Pang Zi will, but the shellfish doesn't have to know that.

"Goodnight," he says. With a huge yawn, he gets into bed, first checking under his pillow - there's a tiny hole in one corner - and the blankets just in case the shellfish left a souvenir of any sort.

Nothing. Good.

"I'll see you tomorrow," he mumbles and closes his eyes. "And think of a name for you."

- o -

Wu Xie is dreaming of leather princesses and shellfishes all trying to tell him something except he can't make out the whispers.

A drop of water lands on his nose. He twitches it. Another drop. He opens his eyes.

It's not rainwater. It's not even water. It's a sharp nail that's attached to a long finger that's attached to a pinkish shellfish.

"Ahhh!" He scrambles backwards and falls out of bed, landing on the floor in a tangle of blankets.

"Tianzhen! Are you alright?" Pang Zi bursts into the room and looks around wildly. He scoops Wu Xie up, blankets and all, and deposits him back on the bed. "You fell out of bed! Bad dream?"

Wu Xie blinks up at him and looks over at the glass tank where the shellfish is perched on the stone, looking perfectly innocent. If it could whistle, it would be doing that right now.

"I'm fine," he says. "We'll call her Princess."

Pang Zi squints down at him and then at the tank.

"'Main soup ingredient' is better," he says, very seriously.

Wu Xie grins at him.

"Too long," he says. "Go find something for her to eat."

Pang Zi throws up his hands.

"Since when do we feed ingredients, huh?" He asks the room at large, hands on hips. "Unless," he spins back to Wu Xie, "you intend to fatten it up first?"

Wu Xie gives him a sunny smile.

"And why is it a 'her' now? Did you discover something? Or a lack of something?"

"Don't be silly," Wu Xie says at once, mildly horrified. "She's pink so she's female."

"Riiiight," Pang Zi says with a deadpan look. "Excuse me for being too distracted during their attack in the tombs to notice if there were any blue ones around. One was about to take out my eye!"

Wu Xie gives him another sunny smile.

"Food?" He prompts.

Pang Zi flings up his hands.

"For you, Tianzhen. You know that, right? Only for you. And Xiao-ge although I hope he doesn't acquire a pet. No, bad! I didn't say that!"

Slapping his mouth to negate his words, he leaves the room. Wu Xie turns to look at the tank where the shellfish is crawling along the top. It freezes and falls back into the water at once.

Wu Xie sighs.

- o -

The shellfish seems pleased with a choice of fish balls, squid balls, imitation crabsticks and mushrooms. In other words,

"All the ingredients for a good hot pot." Pang Zi shakes his head. "Good thing your Er-shu is a generous man and ordered extra otherwise tonight's dinner would be nothing but seasoned hot water."

Wu Xie nods absently, looking at the shellfish munching on a shiitake mushroom. It's eating on the table so that the water in the tank doesn't get dirty.

"Oh well, anything to keep you occupied." Pang Zi heaves a martyred sigh and leaves the room.

- o -

As soon as Wu Xie and Pang Zi reach home, they hatch a plan to break into Warehouse 11 to get back the Princess Mute statue. There, Wu Xie meets Bai HaoTian, an employee who's a petite tomboy with round shiny eyes and a huge crush on him. With her help, he escapes with the leather statue flung over his shoulder.

It's a miracle that he makes it all the way back to Wushanju with just a few odd looks instead of being arrested for possible kidnapping of an unconscious maiden.

Wang Meng greets him with relief only to get a scare when he gets a good look at the statue. Wu Xie is too relieved to find Pang Zi inside a large box that's just been delivered from Warehouse 11 to pay him any mind. There's a note with a stern message from Wu ErBai, stating that he won't help them in any further sheenanigans.

"Oh!" Wang Meng smacks his forehead. "Lao ban, I forgot to tell you that the fish tank is empty and your shellfish is missing!"

He gives a fearful look around.

"Don't worry. I'm sure she'll turn up soon," Wu Xie tells him with a laugh. He and Pang Zi are safe and sound, the statue is back with them and all is right with the world. Well, except for his terminal illness, but he won't think about that. "I'm going to take a shower first. It's been a long night."

"Me too," Pang Zi says. "I reek of alcohol and I'm starving."

"I'll go cook breakfast right now," Wang Meng assures them.

- o -

Wu Xie emerges from the bathroom to see the statue standing beside his bed.

"Wang Meng," he calls.

"Yes, lao ban?" Wang Meng pops his head in, chopsticks in hand. "Oh, I didn't know you carried the scary lady in here."

"I didn't," Wu Xie says. "I was going to ask you if you did."

Wang Meng shakes his head vigorously.

"I wouldn't touch her with a ten foot pole," he says in a stage whisper.

Pang Zi pops his head in, vigorously drying his wet hair with a towel.

"Pang Zi, did you move move her while I was showering?" Wu Xie asks.

"Nope. Just finished my own shower."

"In that case," Wu Xie turns to smile at the statue, "I think I know exactly where the shellfish is."

He walks up to her and holds out his hand. The shellfish appears and leaps onto it.

"Are you happy she's home?"

The shellfish gives an excited wriggle and leaps back onto the statue, disappearing inside her long hair.

"I think that's a yes," Wu Xie says with a small laugh.

- Chapter End -

Chapter Text

- Chapter Start -

Wu Xie doesn't realise how annoyed Wu ErBai is by their breaking into Warehouse 11 until Er Jing and a dozen underlings arrive that very afternoon to kick them out.

Wu Xie submits with as much grace as he can and insists on keeping the Princess Mute statue, the shellfish and her fishtank. He carts all three to the small apartment waiting for them. Pang Zi isn't there yet. Wu Xie sets the statue down beside the front door and the fishtank on the coffee table.

Compared to Wushanju with its many rooms, back gardens, covered walkways and even a koi pond, this apartment is... tiny. The front door opens straight into the living room with a single counter kitchen after that. The door between them on the left is a cramped bathroom while the one on the right is a bedroom with a desk, cupboard and a double bed set against the far wall where the window is.

Hopefully, this arrangement is a temporary one.

"At least it's cosy," he decides out loud and turns around. "Ahh!"

The Princess Mute statue stares back at him, just two feet away.

"Stop doing that!" He scolds it. "I'm going to die of fright before anything else."

He looks over her head at the empty fishtank on the coffee table. There's a wet trail leading from the fishtank to the floor near the door where he put the statue down.

"As you can see, the bedroom is much smaller than my old one and it doesn't look like there's another. It's better if you stay in the living room, alright?"

He carries the statue back to the front door and goes into the kitchen for a drink of water. When he turns around again, she's nowhere to be found. Shaking his head, he goes to peep inside the bedroom.

There she is, standing at the foot of the bed.

- o -

Wu Xie and Pang Zi are best friends who've lived together for almost two decades. Being in each other's personal space is nothing new. Having the Princess Mute statue there, on the other hand, is akin to having a third person in their small apartment.

One who seems to be continuously underfoot.

It takes some getting used to.

Pang Zi loses five years of his life when he reaches inside the tiny storeroom beside the kitchen for the bag of rice only to grab a handful of long hair instead.

Wu Xie loses five days of the remaining three months of his life when he drops his dirty clothes in the laundry basket only to realise someone's head and shoulders are already in it.

"Sorry!" He snatches back his underwear from the statue's head. "Why are you even - you know what? Never mind."

He picks her up and marches to the front door, depositing it there before putting his underwear in the basket. When he turns around again, she's missing.

Again.

No matter how many times he and Pang Zi move her, they still find her standing at the foot of their bed when they wake up. She seems to take a great interest in their phones, peering over their shoulders and startling them. She also seems fascinated by Pang Zi cooking their meals. One time, she peered so closely into the wok that her hair almost caught on fire.

It's too bad that the shellfish doesn't mind being seen out of the statue, but turns as stealthy as Xiao-ge when occupying its head. Wu Xie and Pang Zi try their best to catch her at it - staring at her for hours or spinning around to catch her off-guard - but to no avail.

- o -

The next morning, Wu Xie opens his eyes and feels like something's missing - the Princess Mute statue. He sits up and gets off the bed, slipping past a snoring Pang Zi.

The statue is kneeling beside the coffee table and gazing down at a row of photos. Frowning, Wu Xie tiptoes closer. He was already in bed last night when Pang Zi said something about the photos he took of their recent trip to the South Sea King's tomb. In particular, the murals on the walls. Wu Xie told him to leave them on the coffee table for him to look at before going to sleep.

Now, Wu Xie tiptoes closer. The photos are neatly lined up and in the correct order.

"I saw her like this when I went to the bathroom two hours ago," Pang Zi says, patting his shoulder on his way to the kitchen. He switches the kettle on. "Looks like she hasn't moved since then."

"Did you arrange the photos?" Wu Xie asks.

"Nope. Left them in the envelope."

They both look at the statue again who gives no indication of hearing them. The photo she's staring intently at is the one where the mute princess went out to sea in a boat and turned into a monster to fight the King who wanted to abduct her.

"She... it can't be the real mute princess, can it?" Pang Zi asks.

Wu Xie shakes his head.

"Of course not. It's just a figure made from leather." He keeps his voice low, just in case. "It only moves when the shellfish-"

They turn to stare at each other.

"She's the princess?" Pang Zi asks in shock. "She reincarnated into a shellfish?"

"Shh." Wu Xie frowns at him. "That... or the soul of the mute princess is somehow inside her."

He kneels down beside the statue and holds out his hand. After a few moments, the shellfish emerges from the long hair and crawls onto his palm.

"Hello, princess," he says quietly.

The shellfish looks up at him and turns around to disappear back inside the long hair.

For the rest of the day, the Princess Mute statue remains kneeling and looking at the photos. The two fish balls Pang Zi left on a small plate beside her remain untouched.

- Chapter End -

Chapter Text

- Chapter Start -

The next morning, Wu Xie wakes up to a familiar click-clicking sound.

When he opens his eyes, the Princess Mute statue is standing at her usual place, gazing at him from the foot of the bed. The smell of coffee in the air means Pang Zi is already preparing breakfast. Turning his head, he sees the shellfish crawling along the bedframe.

"Hey, princess," Wu Xie says softly. "Didn't Pang Zi and I tell you that our bed is off limits?"

She drops from the frame and starts trekking across Pang Zi's pillow and then Wu Xie's.

"So are our pillows."

She vanishes under the blankets. A small lump pops up and starts moving down to the foot of the bed.

"And our blankets." Wu Xie forces a sterner note into his voice.

The lump stops.

"Come here."

The lump turns around and travels back towards him. When it reaches the edge of the blankets, the shellfish reappears and crawls onto his waiting hand, scuttling up his shoulder and pressing against his neck.

"Is that supposed to be 'I'm sorry'?" Wu Xie asks in amusement.

She presses harder and he huffs.

"Or 'I'm hungry'?" He asks and plucks her off his neck. "Either way, you seem to be back to your playful self. I'm glad."

He slides off the bed, still carrying her in his palm.

"Pang Zi, I have a hungry shellfish here!"

"Tell her to wait or prepare her own breakfast," Pang Zi calls back.

Wu Xie pads out to the living room and places her back in her fishtank before heading to the bathroom. By the time he gets washed up and dressed, Pang Zi has coffee and a steaming plate of mantou waiting on the coffee table.

The shellfish is at her corner of the table, steadily making her way through a mantou with a tiny sauce plate of coffee beside her. Wu Xie looks at Pang Zi.

"Caffeine. Really? She'll be all over our apartment today."

Pang Zi shrugs, blowing the steam off his mug.

"Like she doesn't already act like she owns this place."

"True." Wu Xie bites into his mantou.

- o -

Unfortunately, he doesn't get to stay home for the whole of next week. He receives a text message from a Wang JunYi the next day, telling him to apply for a job at Warehouse 11 and promising him clues about his missing uncle.

Pang Zi agrees to keep the shellfish fed and watered. He can't help marveling at the fact that he - a bachelor at forty years old - now has three females to take care of. His old crush PiaoPiao who's now divorced, her daughter Xiao Mei, and the shellfish.

- o -

As a new employee, Wu Xie's unable to leave Warehouse 11 until he gets promoted. He keeps in touch with Pang Zi via phone. Pang Zi is fretting about PiaoPiao desperately trying to raise money for her daughter's operation. Wu Xie promises to help once he's done solving his current mystery at Warehouse 11.

"I miss her," he says apropos of nothing.

"Who, PiaoPiao?"

"No!"

Well, your shellfish misses you too," Pang Zi says dryly. There's a soft clicking sound on the phone followed by "Stop pulling my hair!"

"Is she there?" Wu Xie asks, grinning.

"What do you think? No, you can't speak to Tianzhen! What am I saying? You can't speak anyway!"

Wu Xie starts laughing.

- o -

A week later...

Pang Zi whistles to himself as he gets ready to go out. Wu Xie has solved the mystery of the Leaking Vase with Bai HaoTian's help. He's promoted to L4 which means he's no longer confined to Warehouse 11 twenty four seven.

"Right. Princess?" Pang Zi picks up the shellfish and holds her up to his eye level. "I'm off to meet Tianzhen for lunch and will be back in a couple of hours. Don't think I don't know why you've been sticking to me all morning. You know you're not supposed to be seen in public. What would people say if they saw you, huh? You'd cause a riot!"

He places her back in the tank and gives her a stern look.

"Stay there and be a good shellfish. Pang-ye will bring back something nice as a reward."

It's only two large steps to the front door. Pang Zi is through it and closes the door faster than you can say "Shellfish."

"There we go! That's how Pang-ye gives someone - or something - the slip." Chuckling to himself, he locks the door and goes to his van. He doesn't see the shellfish clinging onto the back of his leather jacket and keeping very still.

- o -

Twenty minutes later, Pang Zi is sitting opposite Wu Xie with two steaming bowls of soup noodles between them.

"She was in my hair all morning," Pang Zi complains and pauses to slurp the soup. "Ahh, this broth is tasty. But guess what? Your Pang-ye is way smarter than her. I managed to-"

He breaks off and frowns, feeling something crawling up his back.

"I managed to give her the-"

He breaks off again as that something runs down his arm and scuttles across the table to Wu Xie.

Princess!" Wu Xie laughs as the shellfish runs up his arm and presses against his neck. "So you got the better of Pang Zi after all?"

"Hmph." Pang Zi slurps a mouthful of noodles. "No treat for you, princess!"

- o -

By now, the shellfish is as familiar with their apartment as Wu Xie and Pang Zi are. Likely even more since she can and does investigate all the nooks and crannies that they can't. Or can't be bothered to. Too bad they're equally oblivious to how their home never has any ants, flies or roaches in it, even when they leave food out.

"I am so talented. Where can you find such a good man like me?" Pang Zi asks one evening. He's standing in their tiny kitchen, mixing a bowl of ground meat and some seasonings.

The shellfish jumps from Wu Xie's shoulder onto the kitchen counter and starts moving along it.

"PiaoPiao got herself a keeper!" Pang Zi continues, singing his own praises. "And I can cook too!"

"Come on, I need a helper," he tells Wu Xie. "Hurry up and peel some garlic for me."

Without missing a beat, he picks up the shellfish who's nearing the stove and turns her around. Wu Xie reluctantly gets up from his chair to join him. Picking up two cloves of garlic, he starts peeling them.

"I don't know if PiaoPiao likes to eat this or not," Pang Zi continues, shaping the meat into little balls. "I hope she will."

"Who are you cooking for so painstakingly?" Wu Xie asks, suspicious. Seeing the shellfish nearing the end of the counter, he picks her up and turns her around.

"PiaoPiao, of course."

Wu Xie tosses the two cloves in the air and goes off. Pang Zi stares after him.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He demands. Looking down, he sees the shellfish staring up at him with the two garlic cloves impaled on the tips of her nails.

"Thank you, Princess," he says and pulls them free. "You're a much better helper than Tianzhen. One extra meatball for you."

She wriggles her fingers in reply.

- Chapter End -

Chapter Text

- Chapter Start -

"Stop fretting! She's eating well."

"Good to know."

"Tianzhen. You do know by that, I mean she's eating us out of house and home, don't you?"

"Good to know."

There's a loud snort at the other end of the phone which just makes Wu Xie grin even wider.

"Ow, stop pulling my hair! I'll go bald, how will I patronise PiaoPiao's hair salon then? Tianzhen, scold her."

"Behave, princess," Wu Xie says sternly only to chuckle at the exaggerated sigh of relief. "Alright, I have to go now. Text me if there's anything."

"I will. You text me if there're any antiques for PiaoPiao to sell. You know she needs money for Xiao Mei's operation."

"I will. Bye." Wu Xie hangs up and slips his phone back in his pocket.

"Who's 'princess'?"

Swinging around, Wu Xie sees Bai HaoTian standing at the door of the outer corridor. Her large round eyes are bright with curiosity.

"Xiao Bai! Oh, a... pet I got recently." Wu Xie hopes she doesn't ask anymore. "My shift is starting soon. I have to go."

But she just falls into step with him.

"What kind of pet? A dog? Cat? Hamster?"

Wu Xie turns to her, prepared to say yes to one of the above. But he can't. He can't lie to her, especially when she turns the full force of those eyes on him.

"None of the above."

"Then what? A bird? Fish? Gecko?"

Wu Xie sighs.

"A shellfish."

When Bai HaoTian blinks in surprise, Wu Xie resumes walking at a noticeably faster clip, hoping to outwalk her. Hah - she's a diver with a good set of lungs while his are giving out. Of course she catches up.

"What kind? A crab? Shrimp? Lobster?"

Hands on hips, Wu Xie gives her his best 'Really?' look.

"A pink, hand-shaped shellfish who eats anything and especially likes crawling all over people. Scary, right?"

"I want to meet her!" Bai HaoTian declares without missing a beat.

Wu Xie stares at her. Right. He should've known better.

"Fine," he says and turns to start walking again.

"When?"

"One day," he calls over his shoulder.

"When's that?"

Wu Xie doesn't answer. He shouldn't have satisfied her curiosity in the first place because he seems to have made it worse.

- o -

"Then I saw that Princess had caught the garlic cloves. Both of them!"

"Oh, she's clever and she sounds so cute, Pang-shu!" Xiao Mei declares, smiling.

"She does indeed," PiaoPiao agrees, smiling while maintaining a white knuckled grip on the straps of her handbag.

It doesn't take a genius to know she's keeping up a brave front for her daughter. The three of them are at the hospital, waiting to see the doctor after Xiao Mei collapsed in school, bleeding from the nose.

"Princess also loves coffee. You won't believe how fast she moves after drinking just a spoonful!"

"I want to meet her!" Xiao Mei declares.

Pang Zi blinks. Oops. Perhaps he should've toned down the shellfish's daily adventures, but he was trying to cheer Xiao Mei up.

"Wait. I, uh, may have exaggerated things a bit," he admits, scratching his head. "She's actually uhm... quite scary looking."

"But she sounds adorable."

"Where did Wu Xie get her from? A pet shop?" PiaoPiao asks.

Pang Zi stares at both of them in dismay. He can't tell them that Princess came from an underground tomb and was hiding inside the three thousand year old leather statue of a mute girl from a legend. That would open up a whole can of worms including the fact that he and Wu Xie are tomb raiders.

"You don't have to tell us if it's a secret," PiaoPiao says, letting him off the hook.

Pang Zi realises he's been staring at her like an idiot and quickly pastes a smile on his face.

"Ah, it's just that she doesn't look like a - a conventional shellfish."

He wants to facepalm himself for sounding like an idiot as well. What does that even mean?!

"Well, whatever she looks like, we'd love to meet her," PiaoPiao glosses over it with a kind smile, proving she's a goddess.

"Can we, Pang-shu?" Xiao Mei wheedles with a winning smile, proving she's an angel.

Pang Zi wonders if he looks as wide eyed as he feels.

"You could bring her to my salon," PiaoPiao offers. "I'll cook dinner. Bring Wu Xie too, I'd like to meet him."

"Me too! Please, Pang-shu?"

Pang Zi sighs and dips his head in defeat.

"I'll check with Tianzhen, but it's probably better if you two come over to our place," he suggests. "Don't want princess making a mess of your hair products."

It's hopeless. He's too soft for these two. He shouldn't have satisfied their curiosity in the first place because he seems to have made it worse.

- o -

"Wait. You invited them for dinner?"

Pang Zi nods, chopping the meat with such vigour that Princess actually goes a little airborne above the countertop with each whack of the cleaver. She likes it, scuttling as close to the chopping board as Wu Xie's guarding hand allows.

"Just because they want to meet her?"

Pang Zi nods again.

"I can't be hard for PiaoPiao, alright?" He says and shakes his head. "I just can't."

"If you say so." Wu Xie continues peeling the garlic with intense concentration, not even looking up.

Pang Zi squints at him and then he turns bright red.

"No, wait! I meant I can't be hard on her. I meant my heart is too soft for her! That's what I meant!"

"I know what you meant," Wu Xie says and gives him a very solemn nod. Too solemn.

"Don't give me that look!" Pang Zi scolds him, face now hot enough to fry an egg. "I'm a decent man!"

Wu Xie starts laughing so hard that he drops the garlic clove which the shellfish catches on one nail tipped finger.

- o -

The knock at the door sounds as Pang Zi is getting dressed after a hurried shower. He's just grabbed a clean T-shirt and his hair is still dripping water.

"I'll get it," Wu Xie calls out from the living room.

"No! I will!" Pang Zi tells him, yanking the T-shirt over his head. Too late, he hears the bolt drawn back and the door opening.

"Sao-zi! And this must be Xiao Mei!"

It's six large steps from the cupboard in their shared bedroom to the front door. Pang Zi covers the distance in two panicked heartbeats, almost careening into the Princess Mute statue.

"Don't call her sister-in-law!" He scolds Wu Xie and pushes him aside before beaming at a flustered PiaoPiao and a giggling Xiao Mei. "PiaoPiao, just ignore him."

"I'm sorry, we're early-"

"No, you're not! I'm the one who's late. Here, let me introduce you two properly." The words come out in a rush as Pang Zi tugs a grinning Wu Xie forward. "PiaoPiao, this is sao-zi - ah! I mean, this is Wu Xie, my best friend and brother in all but blood. Tianzhen, this is Ye PiaoPiao and her daughter, Xiao Mei."

"Pleased to meet you two at last." Wu Xie shakes their hands with a charming smile. "Pang Zi just won't shut up about both of you."

Pang Zi hits him in the stomach with the back of his hand.

"Oof!"

"Tianzhen," Pang Zi bites out through gritted teeth, "go check on the soup."

"Oh, Pang-ge talks about you all the time too," PiaoPiao assures Wu Xie.

"Pang Zi!" Wu Xie's look of mock outrage sets Xiao Mei giggling again.

Pang Zi decides that now would be the perfect time to sink right through the floor in embarrassment.

"Wait, where did that statue go?" Xiao Mei asks suddenly. "She was standing here just a second ago."

Pang Zi exchanges a look with Wu Xie who smiles and turns to the bedroom.

"I'll go get Princess."

- o -

A few hours later...

Dinner is over and their guests have left after effusive thanks and promises to meet again soon. Wu Xie is pretty sure that Pang Zi means tomorrow.

"I knew Princess would love PiaoPiao and Xiao Mei," Pang Zi declares as he starts carrying dirty dishes to the kitchen. "They love her too."

"Sao-zi was nervous about touching Princess," Wu Xie disagrees, following him with more dishes in his hands.

"Don't call her that... yet," Pang Zi says, turning red again.

"And Princess only let PiaoPiao pat her because of the BBQ pork buns she brought."

When Pang Zi opens his mouth to argue, Wu Xie nods at the coffee table. The shellfish is practically draped over one of the mini buns, seeing as her mouth is located under her.

"Fine," Pang Zi concedes, "but she loved Xiao Mei from the moment she saw her."

Wu Xie wants to argue that Princess only let the teen pick her up after she applauded at how the Princess Mute statue could move without being seen, but decides not to.

"Anyway, I'm glad they've met at last," Pang Zi continues. "I'm exhausted, preparing a hot pot dinner is hard work!"

Wu Xie wipes down the coffee table and decides that that's his share of the work done. As soon as he sits down on the sofa, the shellfish makes her way to him at a waddle rather than her usual scuttle. He watches in amusement as she begins the laborious climb up his arm with more effort than speed.

"You'll give yourself indigestion, overeating like that," he chides, plucking her off his sleeve and placing her on his shoulder. She immediately flops over it, fingers hanging straight down, and gives a loud belch.

"Aiya!" Wu Xie snatches her off his shoulder, half expecting to see something brought up. Nothing. His grey shirt remains pristine.

Princess glares at him out of one baleful eye, still held between thumb and index finger.

"Sorry." Wu Xie places her back on his shoulder and offers an apologetic pat, wincing when she burps again.

- Chapter End -

Chapter Text

- Chapter Start -

Wu Xie is fine with Bai HaoTian, PiaoPiao and Xiao Mei knowing about Princess. He should've known it wouldn't stop at just these three.

When Director Ding instructs Li JiaLe to drive him to an external storage location, Wu Xie tells him to go to his apartment instead. He secretly informs Pang Zi that Li JiaLe is Director Ding's spy. When they get inside the car again, neither are aware that a certain stowaway is now hiding inside Pang Zi's leather jacket.

After turning into a side road leading to their destination, Li JiaLe suddenly slams on the brakes. They all jerk forward, restrained only by their seatbelts. Something pink flies past Wu Xie and latches onto the rearview mirror, swinging back and forth.

"Princess!" Wu Xie and Pang Zi exclaim at the same time.

"What the hell's that?!" Li JiaLe stares wild eyed at the shellfish, leaning as far back as possible until his head is pressed against the window. His voice is an octave higher than usual. "I saw it in the rearview mirror!"

With a sigh, Wu Xie detaches the shellfish and brings her up to eye level. He raises an eyebrow at her.

"Princess, you know very well why - wait. You're shivering. Are you scared?"

The shellfish jumps to his shoulder and dives under his collar, long fingers wrapping around his Adam's apple as she sticks to his neck.

"Wu Xie, that's your... pet?!" Li JiaLe pays no mind to the quiet knocking coming from the backseat. His eyes are still glued to said fingers.

Can we trust him?

Wu Xie glances at Pang Zi and nods.

"Right. Species, shellfish. Gender, female. Name, Princess," Pang Zi rattles off. "That's all you need to know. Oh, and no harming her. She's special to Tianzhen and me. Got that?"

"Who's 'Tianzhen'?"

Wu Xie swallows a groan and raps his knuckles on his door.

Please refrain from calling me that in front of everyone!

"I mean Princess is special to Wu Xie and me," Pang Zi says without missing a beat. "No harming her, understood?"

"Wu Xie is Tianzhen?" Li JiaLe eyes Wu Xie's neck. "She's not... poisonous, is she?"

Wu Xie couldn't resist.

"Only if she doesn't like you," he says solemnly. "Princess, say 'Hi' to this nice man."

The shellfish ignores her cue to appear.

"It's your fault for scaring her, slamming on the brakes like that," Wu Xie chides Li JiaLe and ignores his 'She scared me!' to look around. "Good thing we're not on the main road."

"Princess, come here," Pang Zi coaxes, holding out a hand. "Let's not freak out our driver anymore."

"I'm not freaked out," Li JiaLe mutters, side eyeing the shellfish when she crawls out and jumps to Pang Zi's hand.

"Sure you're not," Wu Xie says cheerfully. "Let's go, we haven't got all day."

He notes in amusement that for the rest of the ride, Li JiaLe relies on the side mirrors and avoids the rearview mirror entirely.

- o -

When they reach their destination, Li JiaLe is relieved to get out of the car and away from Pang Zi. He tries to follow Wu Xie, but Pang Zi flings an arm around his shoulders, stopping him in his tracks and sending a shiver up his spine.

Who knows where that shellfish is now?

Pang Zi steers him to a nearby Chinese apothecary, talking nonstop about a prescription for a lung tonic. He ignores Li JiaLe's shock at the prescription listing thirty six different kinds of Chinese herbs and purchases them all, insisting that Wu Xie needs the medicine to cure his lungs.

Li JiaLe finds himself led to a secluded corner and set up with a small stool, a charcoal stove and claypot. Pang Zi spreads a large piece of paper on a table and empties out the various herbs in neat little piles, still chatting. The shellfish pops up on his shoulder, startling Li JiaLe. She seems very interested in what's happening.

"Now, you are in charge of boiling the medicine for Wu Xie's cough since he compromised his lungs while on Warehouse 11 duty. He needs three doses a day. Each dose needs eight hours to boil. You're a young man so don't get lazy! Your main job is to take care of Wu Xie!"

Next, Pang Zi takes the shellfish off his shoulder and looks at her.

"As for you, Princess, your main job is to keep an eye on him. Make sure he doesn't shirk his duty to Wu Xie and to Warehouse 11."

"Wait. You're leaving her here? With me?" Li JiaLe hopes the alarm in his voice isn't noticeable.

"How else can she keep an eye on you?"

"But-but-"

Pang Zi looks around as if wondering where to set her down. There's no other furniture around except for the stool that Li JiaLe is sitting on and the small table on which the herbs rest.

"I'll be right back," he says and goes off.

In less than half a minute, he comes back with a larger table. He carefully transfers the herb filled paper onto it and sets the shellfish down on the smaller table. She immediately scoots to the side closest to the herbs.

Uh oh. Not good.

"There, all done!" Pang Zi says and dusts off his hands with satisfaction. "I'm a nice man so I'll give you some good advice. First, never show her you're afraid or she'll bully you. Second, never take your eyes off her since she's more curious than a toddler. Third... well, I'll think of something later. Now, don't waste time and get started!"

Whistling, he goes off.

Li JiaLe's eyes dart back to the shellfish who's moved to the edge of her table and now has one finger stretching out towards the paper. His heart skips a beat.

"Don't touch that," he says at once.

She lowers her nail tipped finger onto the paper. Li JiaLe glares at her.

"What did I just say?!"

Another long finger uncurls and stealthily reaches out to join the first one.

"No! Stop right there."

The second fingertip touches the paper.

"No! Bad shellfish!"

The third finger follows. Li JiaLe makes a strangled sound and wonders just how badly Wu Xie needs his medicine. Then again, the man did save his life.

"Right. Princess, is it?" Li JiaLe injects a harder note in his voice. "That's far enough. Don't you dare move another-"

She hops onto the paper, causing the herbs to scatter. Li JiaLe's heart attempts to hop out of his chest and when that fails, begins galloping like a racehorse.

"You're just as bold and disrespectful as your owner, you know that?" He scolds in a low voice. "I know you can understand me. Don't pretend like you can't."

He doesn't want to think about what he must look like, talking to a shellfish. Then he realises she's tidying the scattered herbs, using her fingers to move them back into tidy piles once more.

"Alright, at least you know-"

She's also moving closer to him, delicately picking her way through the herbs.

What're you doing? Stop. Stay where you are!"

She ignores him again. Li JiaLe fists his hands and squashes down a mad urge to flee. Pang Zi said that he shouldn't show fear.

"I'm not afraid of you," he tells the shellfish who wriggles her fingers merrily at him.

Pressing his lips tight, Li JiaLe squashes down another urge, this time to cry. Grabbing the palm leaf fan and wishing he could swat her with it, he starts fanning the stove briskly instead.

"I've got this," he mutters to himself. "I'm a grown man. I can deal with a shellfish even if I've never seen such a creature before. Where did Wu Xie find her anyway?"

When he glances over, it's to see her standing at the edge of the paper just half a foot away from him. She looks like she's about to hop right in his lap. He doesn't drop his fan nor does he scream, but it's a close thing.

Despite his long sleeved uniform and the heat of the stove, goosebumps ripple along his arms and cold sweat beads on his forehead.

"You - don't come any closer," he warns. Then inspiration strikes. Or more like desperation. "Look, I'm boiling medicine for Wu Xie to help his lungs. You do want him to get better, don't you?"

She moves back an inch. Then another inch. Oh, thank all the gods and deities in Heaven!

"You can understand me. That's great!"

He runs a hand down his face and looks at her again. She's picked up a dried leaf between two fingers and is waving it at him.

"Put that down! What if you contaminate - wait." He consults the paper Pang Zi handed to him earlier. Yes, that is the first herb to add to the pot. What a coincidence!

Holding his breath and taking a proverbial leap of fate, he slowly extends his hand to her, palm up, keeping it as steady as he can. Which is to say, not very.

Just as slowly, the shellfish places the leaf in his palm, careful not to touch him.

"Thank you," Li JiaLe says.

One by one, Princess picks up the rest of the leaves and drops them in his palm. Li JiaLe adds them to the simmering water and wonders how has his life come to this; boiling medicines for a sick man while being aided by the strangest shellfish he's ever seen.

- o -

When Pang Zi comes back to him two hours later, he's tickled pink at seeing the shellfish perched on the palm leaf fan and swaying happily as Li JiaLe moves it from side to side.

"Knew she'd win you over, just like how she won me over. PiaoPiao and Xiao Mei too!"

Li JiaLe doesn't know whose those two are, but he doesn't ask. He's had enough surprises for one day.

- Chapter End -

Chapter Text

- Chapter Start -

Over the next few days, Wu Xie succeeds in bringing down Director Ding in exchange for clues on his missing uncle. Before he leaves Warehouse 11, he promises to treat a despondent Bai HaoTian to a BBQ dinner as thanks for all her help.

Meanwhile, PiaoPiao invites Pang Zi to dinner at her hair salon. Xiao Mei is delighted to see him and Princess. She takes her off Pang Zi's hands, tells him to enjoy the food her mum cooked and goes up to her room where her own dinner is waiting.

Around midnight, Pang Zi receives a call from the BBQ eatery, asking him to take his drunken friends home. He kisses a sleeping PiaoPiao goodbye and leaves Princess snoozing in a bowl on Xiao Mei's bedside table.

- o -

PiaoPiao wakes up with a big smile on her face until she remembers she's still working for Xue Wu.

On the one hand, she's angry that he didn't correct her mistaken assumption when she thanked him - and so profusely too! - for finding a matching bone marrow donor for Xiao Mei. In fact, he used the opportunity to coerce her to spy on Wu Xie and Pang Zi in return. On the other hand, this would be the perfect opportunity to spy on him since Pang Zi is the one who painstakingly tracked down all the possible leads and found that one matching donor.

Besides, a job is a job and she desperately needs money for Xiao Mei's operation.

When she arrives at Xue Wu's shop, she sees his office is empty and slips inside. Something moves inside her handbag and a pink shellfish hops onto the desk, making her yelp in shock.

"Princess! Why're you - wait, you followed me here?" She eyes the creature, her nervous gaze darting to the open door and back. "I-I'll just be a moment. Don't touch anything."

Princess makes a beeline for the exquisitely carved mug full of expensive pens and starts taking them out one at a time.

"Stop that," PiaoPiao whispers and hurries around the desk. In a drawer, she finds a suspicious folder containing Wu Xie, Pang Zi and Wu Er Bai's photos. Just then, she hears Xue Wu's voice outside. Her rapidly beating heart lurches in shock and she quickly hides the folder behind her as he walks in.

Princess is nowhere to be seen.

"What're you doing here?" Xue Wu demands.

"Ah, Xue-laoban! I-I'm just... just tidying up." PiaoPiao grabs the strewn pens - some feel oddly damp - and jams them back in the container. Her hand's shaking. So is the rest of her. "I-I'm off to do my work now."

Rounding the desk, she sees Princess dangling from the edge by her fingertips and grabs her. As she edges around Xue Wu, she stuffs both shellfish and folder inside her handbag. Thank goodness it's her large one!

She can feel Xue Wu's suspicious gaze on her back as she walks out of his office on shaky legs, willing herself not to break into a run. Her heartbeat is pounding in her ears as she hurries through the courtyard, weaving her way past stacks of antiques.

A lorry draws to a stop just outside the gates, but she doesn't pay it any mind. She doesn't see Princess peeping at the driver who's dressed in a dark blue uniform and cap.

"Where is she?!" Xue Wu shouts, evidently noticing that his folder is missing.

PiaoPiao breaks into a run as she gropes inside her handbag for her phone, not even pausing when her fingers touch something cool and damp. Glancing over her shoulder, she sees two men coming out from the gate and looking around. They spot her at once.

"You there!"

"Stop!"

PiaoPiao flees. She calls Pang Zi, but he doesn't pick up the call. Something runs up to her shoulder and she turns to see a pink flash leaping to the ground.

"Princess! Come back!"

The shellfish scuttles back to Xue Wu's shop. PiaoPiao spins on her heel, but the sight of those two men makes her change her mind.

"Please be careful," she prays as she runs for the alley that's up ahead. It leads to a busy road and onto a park where she'll hopefully be able to escape Xue Wu's men... if her flagging stamina doesn't give out first.

- o -

"There's some commotion," Jia KeZi says as he and Li JiaLe open the back doors of their lorry. Their assignment today is to collect goods from Xue Wu's antique shop.

Li JiaLe did hear someone shouting, but his mind is on today's delivery. If they make it back to Warehouse 11 in an hour, he'll be in time to sign up for this afternoon's delivery job which has an added allowance. He sticks his head out from behind the lorry, but doesn't see anyone.

Jia KeZi is still listening, head cocked to one side.

"Two men are shouting and chasing after someone. That person's heartbeat is off the charts."

Li JiaLe just grunts. He prefers to mind his own business. Then he catches sight of something small and pink approaching him at high speed.

"What-" It climbs right up his trouser leg, arm and then shoulder. When he turns his head, he gets an eyeful of wriggling fingers, two bulbous eyes and an open red mouth.

The sound that emits from his throat is one he'll forever deny making. Jia KeZi winces at the high pitched screech and then his jaw drops.

"What's that?!"

"Princess." Despite the cool morning, Li JiaLe feels a bead of sweat rolling down his cheek as he keeps very still.

"Princess?"

Li JiaLe gulps and turns back to the shellfish, trying not to go cross eyed at how close she is to his face. He's also trying to suppress the shivers rippling up and down his spine. Princess moves back a bit and points a finger at the road.

"There are four men chasing after that same person," Jia KeZi reports, head turned in that same direction.

Li JiaLe looks at him only to have two spindly fingers grab his jaw and turn his head back.

"Is it Wu Xie?" He demands. He can't ignore this if Wu Xie's in danger.

Jia KeZi shakes his head, looking worried.

"Maybe it's Pang Zi," Li JiaLe mumbles to himself, paying no mind to the impatient fingernail tapping his cheek. "I'll go take a look."

He shoves the clipboard at Jia KeZi.

"Make sure the number of boxes tallies. I'll be right back."

Taking a few steps back, he looks around. As a Warehouse 11 driver, he knows this area pretty well. There's a shortcut leading to the place Princess is pointing at. As soon as he turns towards the shortcut, the finger tapping his cheek pokes it instead. He swats that finger away.

"Stop that! I know a shortcut."

The good news is, Princess releases his jaw. The not so good news is, she starts examining his ear. Then she slips under his collar and nestles against his neck.

Ignoring the goose bumps rippling over his body, Li JiaLe reaches the alley and peeks out. Ah, it's a woman in a dark blue coat, long hair flying behind her as she runs. He ducks back, waits until she's almost upon him and then he reaches out to grab her arm, spinning her around with one hand firmly over her mouth. She starts struggling at once, even trying to stomp on his feet.

"Stop moving," he says in a low voice. "I'm trying to help you. I'm Wu Xie's friend."

She goes rigid, breathing hard and fast through her nose. Li JiaLe tugs her into the shadows under the staircase, thankful that they're both wearing dark colours.

"Stop running!"

"Hey, where did she go?"

The footsteps get closer and four men hurry past.

"She's disappeared!"

"Maybe she's reached the main road"

"Let's go! Hey, watch out for that lorry!"

Li JiaLe waits until their voices fade in the distance.

"I'll let go of you. Please be quiet," he says and releases her. At once, she spins around to look at him with wide eyes, still breathing quickly.

"Who are you?" She bursts out.

"I'm-" Li JiaLe breaks off when Princess slips out from his collar. "Princess."

"Princess!" PiaoPiao exclaims at the same time.

"Wait, you know her?" They ask, again in unison.

Li JiaLe raises his arm when Princess runs down it and stops in his palm, making him shiver again. She's looking at PiaoPiao.

"You saved my life, Princess." The woman gives a shaky smile and holds out a trembling hand. "I'm glad you're alright. Come here."

The shellfish leaps onto her hand and scuttles up to her shoulder.

"You know her?" Li JiaLe asks again.

She looks at him, startled.

"Yes. You know her too? You're Wu Xie's friend?"

"Yes. I work at Warehouse 11."

"I'm Ye PiaoPiao. I'm Pang-ge's... friend."

"I've met him." Li JiaLe decides not to mention the boiling medicines episode. He's also curious as to why Xue Wu's men are chasing PiaoPiao, but that's none of his business. "Well, I need to collect goods so..."

"Oh, of course," PiaoPiao says and glances around. "Thank you so much for your help."

"Why were those men chasing you?" Li JiaLe doesn't know why he asked her that. He should be minding his own business.

PiaoPiao just shakes her head and smiles, paying no mind to the shellfish now playing with her earring.

"It's alright. I can take care of myself."

Li JiaLe isn't so sure. He escorts her to the main road, hails a taxi and waits until she gets in. Princess, who's been stuffed inside her handbag again peeps out.

"Thank you again," PiaoPiao tells Li JiaLe while Princess wriggles her fingers at him.

To Li JiaLe's embarrassment, he finds himself mirroring the gesture. Pulling his hand down, he waits until the taxi's out of sight before retracing his footsteps.

- o -

Jia KeZi is still standing outside the gate with a stoic face and clipboard in hand. Inside the courtyard, an irate Xue Wu is berating four men for failing to catch a woman. Li JiaLe gives a tiny shake of his head at Jia KeZi's questioning look.

When Xue Wu finally approaches them, face like thunder, Li JiaLe and Jia KeZi greet him politely and conduct their work as efficiently as possible. It's only when they're on their way back to Warehouse 11 that Li JiaLe relates what happened.

"So that's Wu Xie's pet? Where did he get her from?" Jia KeZi asks.

"No idea. Are you surprised?" Li JiaLe glances over at him and gets a headshake.

"Not really. Wu Xie always does the unexpected," Jia KeZi says with a smile.

Li JiaLe smiles back and continues driving. He won't be in time to sign up for the afternoon delivery, but at least he helped someone with Princess's aid.

He's not sure if he wants to see her again though.

- Chapter End -

Chapter Text

- Chapter Start -

During the taxi ride home, the events of the past half hour or so catches up with PiaoPiao, compounded by Pang Zi's emphatic warnings about Xue Wu. Delayed shock sets in and PiaoPiao starts trembling when she imagines what could have happened.

If Princess hadn't gotten the attention of that Warehouse 11 employee, could PiaoPiao have outrun Xue Wu's men?

If they'd caught up with her and dragged her back to him, what would Xue Wu do to her?

And if something happened to her, who would take care of Xiao Mei?

PiaoPiao almost bursts into tears right there and then, but the curious glances from the taxi driver through the rearview mirror makes her pull herself together.

"Thank you, Princess. You saved my life," she whispers to her handbag and pats the single finger waving about.

The taxi drops her off at her hair salon. While she's paying the fare, her phone rings. It's Pang Zi returning her call. As soon as he hears what happened, he tells her to pack a few things for herself and Xiao Mei. By the time she comes back downstairs with a hastily packed suitcase, he's waiting for her. They lock up her salon and go back to his apartment with Princess riding on Pang Zi's shoulder.

"Don't worry about a thing," he says once they're inside. "I've called a good friend of ours to assist."

"I can't possibly impose on anyone," PiaoPiao protests.

"I can," Pang Zi says very seriously. "PiaoPiao, I have to help Tianzhen look for his second uncle which means I can't be with you all the time. Working for Xue Wu is risky enough, but now that you've taken something from him, he's not going to let you go."

PiaoPiao stares at him. She's never seen this side of Pang Zi before - dead serious, grim faced and implacable. He holds both her hands in his large strong ones.

"PiaoPiao, I meant what I said last night after we... well, you know." His face grows bright red, but his eyes never leave hers. "I want to build a new life with you and Xiao Mei, but I can't just think of myself or us right now. Tianzhen needs my help. But I have to make sure that you and Xiao Mei are safe too."

PiaoPiao gulps and nods.

"I understand and I'm worried for Xiao Mei. I just don't want to cause problems for anyone."

Squeezing her hands, Pang Zi gives a reassuring smile.

"Xie YuChen and Tianzhen go way back. They're almost as close as Tianzhen and I are. We can trust him."

"But won't you and Wu Xie be in danger from Xue Wu too?"

All at once, Pang Zi's smile disappears and his eyes turn hard.

"We can handle him. Trust me."

Just then, his phone beeps with a text message. He reads it and nods in satisfaction.

"Xie YuChen's here. Let's go."

They go back downstairs to find a sleek black car pulling up. The front passenger window rolls down to reveal a handsome young man who exudes both wealth and charisma.

"Pang Zi, how've you been? And this must be Ye PiaoPiao."

"Yes, I am," PiaoPiao says faintly. "I'm so sorry to trouble you like this."

"Think nothing of it," he says, smiling. "My name is Xie YuChen. Wu Xie and Pang Zi are good friends of mine."

"Owe you one, Xie-ye," Pang Zi says, ushering PiaoPiao in the backseat before sliding in himself.

"No trouble at all," Xie YuChen assures him.

"Oh, this is Xiao Mei's school address." Pang Zi hands over a piece of paper. "She should be out soon."

Xie YuChen takes it and passes it to his driver.

"You have my word that PiaoPiao and her daughter will be protected until Xue Wu is taken care of," he promises.

- o -

A couple of days later...

"Huo DaoFu!" Pang Zi hollers. He's on his knees, ignoring the gawking onlookers and heavy rain alike.

Wu Xie collapsed after Xue Wu hired two trucks to surround them with cement dust. Wu Xie barely managed to stuff Princess inside his jacket before collapsing and vomiting blood. Before falling unconscious, he insisted that Pang Zi take him to someone called Huo DaoFu instead of the hospital.

"Please help Wu Xie!" Pang Zi screams. "He's dying! You're the only one who can save him!"

The tall and prissy looking man in a pristine chef's jacket continues to fry breadsticks while insisting that he's no doctor.

When Princess crawls out to Pang Zi's shoulder, Huo DaoFu blinks twice but still maintains that he can't help. Undeterred, Pang Zi starts kowtowing to him while shouting for his help. Princess copies each bow he makes, looking like she's about to topple off each time.

At last, Huo DaoFu wipes his hands on a towel.

"Bring him in. Leave the creature out."

Princess dives inside Wu Xie's jacket at once.

- o -

Pang Zi piggybacks Wu Xie upstairs into a sparsely decorated apartment and places him on a rectangular wooden table. Huo DaoFu frowns down at the shellfish emerging from Wu Xie's jacket.

"I thought I told you to leave that out."

Princess wraps her fingers around Wu Xie's throat and sticks close.

"It's fine, it's fine," Pang Zi says hurriedly. "Please save Wu Xie! He's dying!"

"I can't check his pulse with that creature choking him," Huo DaoFu says tightly.

"Ah. Right. Come here, Princess."

Princess ignores him.

"Princess, come here."

Pang Zi makes a grab for her, but fails when she scurries to Wu Xie's chest. He makes another grab for her and misses again. The two of them then engage in a brief bout of serpentine all over Wu Xie's prone body while Huo DaoFu looks increasingly thunderous, especially when Pang Zi grabs his hand by mistake.

Finally, Princess leaps to Wu Xie's head and clings to his bangs like a large pink hairclip. Pang Zi gives up.

"Fine. Stay there and don't move." Sweeping his wet hair out of his face, he turns to Huo DaoFu. "Right. Please go on."

"It's obvious who wears the pants in your strange family," Huo DaoFu sneers before nodding at Wu Xie. "What's his diagnosis?"

"Suspected pulmonary fibrosis," Pang Zi recites at once, letting the insult slide off him; Huo DaoFu isn't exactly wrong. He retrieves his phone from his leather jacket which he'd folded under Wu Xie's head earlier.

Meanwhile, Huo DaoFu carries in a large trunk from the next room, takes out a stethoscope and puts the ear pieces around his neck. Princess perks up at once and starts moving from Wu Xie's forehead down to his neck. As Huo DaoFu listens to his heartbeat and lungs, Pang Zi shows him a photo of Wu Xie's medical report and explains what happened today.

Neither of them see Princess stealthily making her way to Wu Xie's chest, keeping close to Pang Zi's side.

"He needs a long rest and lots of fresh, clean air," Huo DaoFu states. "He mustn't catch a cold or be exposed to dust."

He also says that Wu Xie is too weak to undergo surgery despite Pang Zi's generous offer of a lung and part of his liver.

"As for this creature, what exactly is it and where did he get it from?"

"It's a her. She's a shellfish. From a... tomb," Pang Zi says helpfully.

Huo DaoFu's eyebrows shoot up.

"I never would've guessed," he says dryly. "I take it she's reasonably clean?"

"She's been with us for several weeks so... yes. Yes, she is."

"Hm." There's a world of scepticism contained in that one word. "I'll make a reckless move for Wu Xie, but don't blame me if I can't save him."

"Anyway, we both depend on you," Pang Zi agrees. "You must save him."

"Don't touch anything," Huo DaoFu says and leaves the room.

"We won't," Pang Zi calls after him. He turns to see Princess happily sticking one of the stethoscope's ear pieces in her mouth. "Princess!"

- o -

The reckless move turns out to be flooding Wu Xie's lungs with oil to wash out the cement dust. Apparently, it's a native method used for miners in Borneo who have severe pneumoconiosis due to breathing in dust.

After hooking Wu Xie up, Huo DaoFu places his stethoscope in his ears again only to yank out both ear pieces with a grimace. He sticks his pinky in his right ear, takes it out and looks at the shiny residue in dismay.

"What-"

"Ah," Pang Zi says.

Huo DaoFu scowls at the very innocent looking shellfish sitting in Wu Xie's hair. He fishes out a packet of anti-bacterial wipes from his pocket and proceeds to disinfects the entire stethoscope very thoroughly before listening to Wu Xie's lungs.

The good news is, Wu Xie starts coughing a couple of minutes after that and vomits out the oil. The not so good news is, he remains unconscious.

"Tianzhen! Can you hear me? Tianzhen! Doctor, why doesn't he wake up?" Pang Zi cradles Wu Xie against his shoulder while Princess sits on Wu Xie's shoulder and pats his face.

"The next twenty four hours are critical," Huo DaoFu says, staring at the rather domestic scene. "Take good care of him. If this happens again... well."

When he turns to his trunk, Princess leaps onto the lid. The two of them trade stares for a long moment while Pang Zi holds his breath.

Then Huo DaoFu holds out a steady hand. As soon as Princess leaps onto it, he grabs her with his other hand and examines her closely. Princess doesn't struggle, but her eyes never once leave his face.

Finally, he sets her back down on the trunk lid.

"Interesting," he murmurs.

Emboldened, Princess leaps onto his chest and scuttles up to his shoulder. She attempts to squirm inside his turtleneck sweater, but fails and loses her balance, falling onto the trunk lid with a small thud.

"Is this a habit of yours?" Huo DaoFu asks with a smirk. "Sticking to people's necks?"

Princess very carefully turns her back on him. If she had a nose, it would be up in the air.

"Go on, take Wu Xie home," Huo DaoFu tells Pang Zi. "Don't let him die at my place."

Pang Zi maneuvers the unconscious Wu Xie onto his back and nods at Huo DaoFu.

"Thank you," he says gruffly. "Come on, Princess."

Leaping onto Wu Xie's shoulder, the shellfish casts a longing look at Huo DaoFu's well covered neck, making him huff in amusement.

"Keep me updated on his condition," he tells Pang Zi. "Now, go. I have hungry customers waiting."

Pang Zi carries Wu Xie and Princess downstairs, out into the rain and into the van, paying no mind to the curious onlookers.

"Huh. That Huo DaoFu has the worst bedside manners of any doctor I've met," he tells Princess on the way home. "Still, I'm grateful for his help. As for you, you're lucky you didn't end up swimming in his wok!"

Princess just dives inside Wu Xie's jacket and wraps her fingers around his neck again.

"Yeah, I hope he wakes up soon," Pang Zi says.

- Chapter End -

Chapter Text

- Chapter Start -

The first thing Wu Xie sees upon waking up is the familiar ceiling of his bedroom. The second thing he sees is Bai HaoTian's teary face peering at him from about two feet away. The third thing he sees is Princess staring at him from up close before an ear splitting shriek assaults his eardrums.

"Aaaaaaiiiiiieeeeee!"

Princess dives inside Wu Xie's sweatshirt at once, pressed flat against the side of his neck and trembling.

"What is that?! Where did it go? Where is it?" Bai HaoTian grabs the blankets and shakes them.

Still startled and now alarmed besides, Wu Xie sneaks a quick glance down at himself. He's very thankful to find he's decently clad, but he doesn't feel too good. Breathing makes his lungs feel squishy and oddly wet. His bladder is also full to bursting.

"Simei!" Pang Zi shuffles in with one hand to his back. "What is it? What's happened? Tianzhen, you're awake!"

Sitting on the bed, he grabs Wu Xie in a suffocating hug, making him gasp. Pang Zi's hugs are lovely and warm and full bodied, but not right now. Wu Xie pats him feebly on the back.

"I'm alive, now let me go. I need to breathe. And pee."

Princess squeezes out from between them with a 'pop' and flops onto the sheets, also gasping for air.

"Aaaaaaiiiiiieeeeee! There it is! Pang-ye, catch it before it hurts Xiao San-ye!"

The two men disengage to blink at her before following the direction of her shaking finger.

"Oh, you mean Princess?"

Bai HaoTian stares at them. Then she turns to the shellfish politely wriggling her fingers in greeting.

"That's Princess?"

"The one and only," Pang Zi assures her and turns back to Wu Xie. "Tianzhen, you scared me. We almost lost you! We would've lost you if not for that Huo DaoFu!"

Wu Xie stares at him, mind swirling with faint memories of choking on fine cement dust and collapsing on the road, being piggybacked in the rain, and the weird sensation of his lungs being filled with liquid.

"I'm still alive," he says and pats Pang Zi's shoulder. "I'm still here."

A wet sniffle makes him look over at Bai HaoTian's teary eyed face.

"Xiao Bai. I'm here."

"Why didn't you tell me you're so ill?"

"I wasn't planning on telling anyone," Wu Xie says, not daring to meet Pang Zi's very pointed look. Princess chooses that moment to scuttle up his arm so he grabs both her and the opportunity for a change in subject.

"You got your all important wish at last. This is Princess. Princess, meet Bai HaoTian. You can call her Xiao Bai."

"Like she can talk," Pang Zi says with a sigh.

"That's not my all important wish and you know it," Bai HaoTian says, but she gingerly shakes Princess' fingertips. "I've never seen any shellfish shaped like a human hand before."

Wu Xie sets Princess down on the blankets where she promptly leaps at Bai HaoTian who catches her with a shriek. With the two females being thus occupied, he turns back to Pang Zi.

"I plan to bring Xue Wu down in three days," he says in a low voice. "But first, help me to the bathroom before I flood our bed!"

- o -

The key to taking Xue Wu down is Wu Xie's grandfather's Grave Robber Chronicles, an old leather bound journal in which he detailed all his tomb raiding exploits since he was a young man.

Wu Xie knows that Xue Wu would do anything to get his hands on this one remaining heirloom of the Wu family. Putting it up for auction will make him believe that Wu Xie is desperate for money and would sell it to him.

It takes a few machinations, but Xue Wu falls for the trick and coerces the other three interested buyers to let him buy it. Meanwhile, Wu Xie gives an anonymous tip to the Tax Department who takes Xue Wu is for questioning on suspected money laundering. It leads to Xue Wu landing in prison for at least half a year. Wu Xie then gifts a genuine copy of the Grave Robber Chronicles to Curator Lim, one of the interested buyers with the advice to keep Xue Wu behind bars for the rest of his life, if he values his own.

With his mission accomplished in three days, Wu Xie is free to embark on his next adventure - traveling to Thunder City to look for Wu ErBai, his second uncle. With PiaoPiao and Xiao Mei now safe from Xue Wu and his goons, Pang Zi is free to accompany Wu Xie. And with no one at the apartment to take care of Princess, it's a given that she comes along too.

- o -

The following morning, Wu Xie and Pang Zi pack up their gear and load up their van.

Bai HaoTian shows up with Jia KeZi and Li JiaLe whom she's hired to accompany them. Warehouse 11 is still closed to facilitate a thorough investigation after Director Ding was arrested for illegal sale of goods.

Perched on Wu Xie's shoulder and turning around, Princess wriggles with excitement at seeing so many familiar faces. She leaps to Bai HaoTian's shoulder and gets a squeal and a laughing "Hi, Princess!" Then she leaps onto Li JiaLe's shoulder and gets a wary nod and a slightly strangled "Princess." Next, she leaps to Jia KeZi and gets a startled "Ahh! Princess?"

"Huh." Pang Zi shakes his head. "I swear, she makes friends even faster than you, Tianzhen."

"Why're you surprised?" Wu Xie chuckles as Jia KeZi gingerly pats Princess and then freezes as she starts crawling around his neck.

"I'm not," Huo DaoFu says, striding up to them with bag in tow. He doesn't blink when the shellfish pops up from Jia KeZi's collar and leaps to his shoulder, but he does grimace when she burrows inside his jacket collar. "Guh."

"Why're you here?" Pang Zi demands.

"You all still need one more person," Huo DaoFu says, digging inside his jacket and pulling Princess out although she continues to cling to his collar with her fingertips. "If I don't go with you, Wu Xie will die halfway on the journey."

Princess freezes and turns to stare at Huo DaoFu who ignores her. Wu Xie and Pang Zi exchange surprised looks. Bai HaoTian purses her lips while Li JiaLe and Jia KeZi look alarmed.

"Wu Xie?" Li JiaLe asks. "What does he mean?"

"It's nothing," Wu Xie says with a quick smile. "Huo DaoFu, this is Xiao Bai, Li JiaLe and Jia KeZi from Warehouse 11. This is Huo DaoFu, a doctor... friend of mine and a worrywart."

As the four exchange polite nods, Princess jumps back to Wu Xie and taps his cheek.

"I'm fine," he tells her absently.

"So, you're willing to go with us?" Pang Zi asks Huo DaoFu.

"We don't have much money to pay you," Wu Xie says bluntly.

"I don't need your money. Since I undertook Wu Xie as my patient, I'll be responsible for his treatment until the end," Huo DaoFu replies.

"Well then," Wu Xie says and smiles. "Let's get going."

Pang Zi whoops.

"Thunder City, here we come!"

- Chapter End -

Chapter Text

- Chapter Start -

The next morning...

Wu Xie wakes up to bright sunlight shining through the curtains of an unfamiliar room. Pang Zi's steady snoring from the other bed is familiar and grounding and Wu Xie soon recalls they're at Tianlin Hotel. Turning onto his side, he sees the large bowl sitting on the bedside table with long pink fingers draped over the edge.

Pang Zi swears that Princess snores too, but Wu Xie hasn't caught her at it yet. Leaning up on one elbow, he peers at the half submerged shellfish and grins at the tiny stream of bubbles rising to the surface every few seconds.

Yesterday afternoon, they arrived at Guozinau Mountain where Kan Jian last sent a text message to Wu Xie. While exploring the surrounding forest, Jia KeZi and Li JiaLe found a cave full of bronze pieces, but triggered a trap which caused poisonous gas to be released. Pang Zi came charging back to grab the Molotov cocktail Wu Xie made and went to seal up the cave while Huo DaoFu admonished Wu Xie for wanting to risk his life instead of letting his friends help.

As Huo DaoFu tended to the minor cuts Jia KeZi and Li JiaLe sustained, Princess crept closer to his opened medical bag, her eyes fixed on the stethoscope. Just as she stretched out a finger towards it, Huo DaoFu's head whipped up with a "Tsk!"

"Come here, Princess." Jia KeZi picked up the pouting shellfish to keep her out of mischief. He regretted it when she scuttled up to his shoulder and began examining his ear instead.

"Yeah, she does that," Li JiaLe confirmed with a resigned 'been there, had that done to me' air.

"It's as if we are the specimens instead of the other way around," Huo DaoFu said and obligingly added a deadpan "Ow" when Princess leaned over to poke him in the cheek.

Before checking into the nearby Tianlin Hotel where Wu Xie's uncle was last seen, Wu Xie and Pang Zi disguised themselves. Pang Zi donned a beret, sunglasses, moustache and a full beard while Wu Xie wore a cap, a wispy moustache and small beard. Bai HaoTian was taken aback at Wu Xie's change of appearance, but she giggled when Princess latched onto Pang Zi's beard and began swinging on it while he scolded her for not letting the glue dry yet.

That night, they looked for clues on the third floor which Wu ErBai had booked for a month before disappearing. Wu Xie was forbidden to take part so he stayed in his room and monitored their progress via small cameras linked to his laptop. When his friends fell under a hallucination spell, Wu Xie went to help. He found one of Zhang QiLing's symbols carved into the wall of one of the rooms, signifying there was nothing worth investigating on the third floor.

He also met Jiang ZiSuan, the sniper who'd tried to kill him back at Mute Village. It turned out that he was the younger brother of A-Ning who died ten years ago. Luckily, Wu Xie managed to escape when Jiang ZiSuan fell under the hallucination spell.

It looks like they not only have to contend with Mr. Jiao who'd hired all the notable names in the tomb raiding industry, they also have a sniper on their heels who blames Wu Xie for his sister's death.

With a sigh, Wu Xie gets out of bed and looks out the window. Mr. Jiao, looking incongruous in a white outfit and hat, is standing in the courtyard below, supervising a group of men carrying heavy bags of bronze pieces inside the hotel. Wu Xie turns to the lump of blankets on the next bed.

"Pang Zi, wake up. It looks like Mr. Jiao has collected all the bronze pieces from that cave in the forest."

"Don't worry, we'll beat him to Thunder City," Pang Zi mumbles.

- o -

After a quick breakfast in the hotel dining room, Jiang ZiSuan goes for a walk in the hotel corridors. He's still brooding over last night's events. Wu Xie's pathetic disguise didn't fool him at all, but the spell Jiang ZiSuan fell under - seeing an image of his beloved sister - still allowed the other man to escape.

Doesn't matter. Jiang ZiSuan is still determined to kill Wu Xie the first chance he gets.

"Hey, what's that?!"

Startled from his thoughts, Jiang ZiSuan looks up to see three of Mr. Jiao's men staring at the balcony railing on the first floor.

"Let's take a closer look," the first man says, taking out a knife from his belt.

"It must be from around here," another man says, staring in fascination at whatever it is he's seeing.

Jiang ZiSuan gets close enough to see something small and pink on the balcony railing, moving to the right and then the left as if sensing it's trapped.

"Don't be silly!" The third man scoffs. "How can a shellfish come from a mountainous region?"

"Who cares? I'll get the kitchen staff to cook it for my dinner." The first man smirks as he takes aim and throws his knife.

Clink!

Another knife hits his, causing both to clatter to the floor. The three men swing around to see Jiang ZiSuan standing there, hand still up.

"What the hell's your problem?!" The first man growls. "That creature's mine!"

The pink shellfish leaps past them and lands on Jiang ZiSuan's black jacket, scuttling up until it's behind his neck and under his collar. It feels cool and damp. It's also trembling.

"Give that back to me!" The first man orders.

Taking a step back, Jiang ZiSuan holds up another knife.

"Mr. Jiao won't be happy if you make a scene," he says and gives a smile that doesn't reach his eyes.

"Now, now, this isn't a person," the second man says in a placating tone. "Mr. Jiao won't mind if we have a bit of fun, right?"

"No," Jiang ZiSuan says.

"Why not? It doesn't belong to anyone. Do you see a collar around it?" The third man says, laughing at his own joke.

"It wasn't attacking you. No reason to kill it just for sport," Jiang ZiSuan says shortly. Using the toe of his boot, he flips his knife up from the floor and catches it in his other hand without looking. It's a trick that never fails to impress. Meanwhile, the shellfish is creeping inside the back of his jacket and slowly going down his back.

Urgh.

Raising an eyebrow, Jiang ZiSuan stares down the three men. The cold look is one he's perfected over the past decade and it's proven effective on bigger bullies than these three. True enough, they drop their gazes.

"You'd better get rid of it then," the first man mutters. "If I see it again, it's mine."

Jiang ZiSuan doesn't move a muscle until they wander off, still grumbling about arrogant snipers. Then he exhales.

"Did I say you could run all over me? Come out at once."

To his surprise, the shellfish actually climbs back up, out of his collar and goes down his arm. He raises his arm to study it and sees a bulbous eye staring back at him in return.

"Where did you come from?" He asks and makes a face. "Why am I talking to a shellfish?"

The shellfish wriggles two fingers at him.

"I guess someone must've brought you here, huh?" He extends his arm towards the railing. "Right. Off you go and keep out of sight."

The shellfish looks at the railing and then back at him. It wriggles two fingers again.

Jiang ZiSuan frowns and tries to pull it off his sleeve, but it resists even when its fingers are stretched taut. When he releases it, all five fingers immediately wrap around his arm.

"Fine," he mutters. "I'll walk around for a bit. Let me know if you see your owner, alright?"

Turning around, he sees HongHong gaping at him.

"Wow! In all my years of diving, I've never seen such a creature!"

"It's a sea creature then?" Jiang ZiSuan can't help asking.

HongHong nods excitedly.

"Of course! Where did you get it?" He holds out an eager hand, but the shellfish turns its back on him at once.

Jiang ZiSuan can't help smirking at how fast HongHong's face falls as he walks past him. Then he realises the shellfish has pulled back his jacket sleeve and is gently tapping his beaded bracelet.

"Don't touch that!" His voice comes out sharper than intended. The shellfish retreats at once, head dropping.

Jiang ZiSuan grimaces.

"It belonged to my late sister. It's precious to me." In fact, this bracelet is his most treasured possession, but he doesn't know why he bothers explaining.

The shellfish carefully pushes his sleeve back down, goes up his arm and presses against the side of his neck. Jiang ZiSuan sighs.

"Forget it."

He walks around the first and second floor corridors, and even the courtyard. While he gets several curious stares and raised eyebrows from the other guests, no one approaches him to claim ownership of the shellfish.

In the end, he decides to try the dining room to see if he has better luck there. He's also trying very hard not to consider that he might have spent the past hour or so taking someone's pet for a 'walk'.

- Chapter End -

Chapter Text

- Chapter Start -

Some time earlier...

"Pang Zi. Pang Zi, get up!" Wu Xie continues poking at the pile of blankets on the other bed until his best friend emerges, tousle haired and bleary eyed.

After they take turns washing up, Pang Zi advises Wu Xie not to leave their room for anything. It's too risky since the sniper from Mute Village recognised him last night despite his disguise. Huo DaoFu drops by and agrees, repeating that their room has the optimum temperature and humidity for Wu Xie's failing lungs.

With a promise to bring back a good breakfast for Wu Xie and Princess, Pang Zi leaves with Huo DaoFu.

Wu Xie sees that the bowl on the bedside table is now empty and grins. No doubt Princess is hiding somewhere about Pang Zi's person. Hopefully, she won't cause too much of an uproar in the dining room.

- o -

Half an hour later, Pang Zi and co return with a bowl of soup noodles for Wu Xie and a lotus paste mantou for Princess. Only then do they realise she's missing.

After a round of Wu Xie and Pang Zi going "I thought she was with you!", Huo DaoFu adding fuel to the fire with "You two are not qualified to take care of anyone! Or anything!", Jia KeZi wincing and retreating to the furthest corner of the room, Li JiaLe double checking all corners for shellfish-sized hidey holes, and Bai HaoTian saying "We should go look for her now!" they all decide to do just that.

Well, everyone except Wu Xie who Huo DaoFu orders to stay put and eat his breakfast. When Wu Xie protests, Pang Zi shakes his head at him.

"I hate to say it but our bossy doctor is right. Text us at once if Princess returns."

- o -

Once outside the room, everyone splits up to look for the missing shellfish. Li JiaLe searches the first floor corridor, Huo DaoFu the second, Pang Zi the third, and Jia KeZi the grounds since his hearing is better. Bai HaoTian searches the lobby, whispering "Princess! Princess!" while ignoring the curious receptionist staring at her.

When no shellfish turns up, Bai HaoTian goes onto the dining room. The breakfast crowd has left so the room is quite empty. Two men sit at a table in a corner, sharing a bottle of wine. On said table is-

"Princess!" Bai HaoTian almost rushes over, but decides to hide behind a pillar to observe them first.

Princess is happily accepting pieces of mantou from one of the men. She's also drinking from a bottle cap. When the other man with a bowl haircut offers her a piece of his mantou with a "Look here" and a whistle - does he think she's a dog?! - she turns her back on him, making him frown.

It's the first time Bai HaoTian sees Princess rejecting anyone. She swallows a giggle and approaches them. They look up at once.

"Princess," Bai HaoTian says as sternly as she can. "Here we are looking for you while you're taking advantage of these two gentlemen."

Princess leaps to her shoulder at once and pats her cheek with a sticky fingertip. Bai HaoTian catches a whiff of alcohol and wrinkles her nose.

"Ah. Is it yours?" The taller man asks while the shorter man exclaims, "Princess?!"

"She belongs to a friend of mine," Bai HaoTian says with a polite smile. "Thank you for taking care of her. My apologies if she caused any trouble."

"No trouble at all," the taller man assures her.

"No trouble?" The other man repeats. "Jiang ZiSuan here saved her from from being skewered by one of Jia- our boss's men. They're a rowdy bunch. You and your friend should keep an eye on her."

Bai HaoTian's jaw drops in shock. She snatches Princess off her shoulder and holds her at eye level with both hands. Princess stares back, looking a little cross eyed.

"Is this true?" Bai HaoTian demands. "You were almost killed?!"

Princess flops over like a wet cloth and gives a forlorn little belch. With a sigh, Bai HaoTian places her back on her shoulder.

"In that case, thank you so much," she tells the two men. "Let me get your bill."

"Great!" The shorter man says at once. "I'm the famed Red Capped Devil, but you can call me HongHong."

"No need. We're fine," Jiang ZiSuan says and ignores HongHong's scowl.

"Well, I'm very grateful for your help," Bai HaoTian says, taking a step back. "I should return Princess so uh, see you around."

To her surprise, Princess leaps to Jiang ZiSuan's arm at once, scuttling up to his shoulder and patting his cheek. She misses and ends up patting his lips instead. He pushes her fingers away.

"Alright, off you go."

Princess starts patting his chin next.

"I said, off you go." Jiang ZiSuan tries to grab her, but she evades and slides down his arm. He shakes his arm to dislodge her, but she clings on tightly.

Bai HaoTian hears a soft rattling that sounds like... beads?

Frowning, Jiang ZiSuan shakes his arm again, harder. Princess slips off and dangles from it, fingertips digging in his sleeve, and looking even more cross eyed.

"She can be very tenacious," Bai HaoTian says, stifling a giggle.

Jiang ZiSuan just grunts and pulls Princess off, handing her to Bai HaoTian who clutches her in both hands.

"Be good, now," he tells the drooping shellfish. When she wriggles two fingers at him, he waves back with a little smile. Then he sees HongHong staring at him and coughs.

Bai HaoTian utters a final word of thanks and goes off. Keeping a firm hold on Princess, she fishes out her phone from her pocket and sends a quick text message to the others.

By the time she arrives at Wu Xie and Pang Zi's room, everyone is already there, waiting for her. Wu Xie holds out a hand with a relieved, "Princess." but he's too slow.

"There you are, you little rascal!" Huo DaoFu snatches Princess from Bai HaoTian's shoulder and starts examining her closely, even turning her this way and that.

Princess reaches out two fingers to tap his nose, misses, and almost sticks them up his nostrils instead. Huo DaoFu jerks his head back with a 'Tsk' and nods at the washcloth Wu Xie used earlier.

"Someone bring that. We have one sticky and slightly inebriated shellfish here."

"She's drunk?" Pang Zi exclaims.

Princess gives a tiny 'hic' and taps Huo DaoFu's nose again, causing a round of snickers. A smiling Li JiaLe passes the washcloth to Huo DaoFu who proceeds to wipe every inch of Princess clean despite her many attempts to squirm away.

"Gotten to you, has she?" Wu Xie asks in wry amusement and is judiciously ignored.

"Director Bai, where did you find Princess?" Jia KeZi asks after wringing out the washcloth and handing it back to Huo DaoFu.

"In the dining room," Bai HaoTian replies. "There were two men feeding her. Well, one of them at least. She didn't seem to like the other. He said he's the Red Capped Devil, whatever that means."

"HongHong!" Pang Zi exclaims.

"Yes! He said I could call him that."

"And who's the other? Did you get his name?" Wu Xie asks.

"HongHong called him Jiang ZiSuan."

Pang Zi chokes and Wu Xie pats his arm.

"What are the odds, huh?" He says with a sigh.

"Do you know them?" Bai HaoTian asks. She looks at Jia KeZi and Li JiaLe who shake their heads.

Meanwhile, Huo DaoFu is using his stethoscope on Princess. Or trying to, since she keeps tapping on the chest-piece whenever he tries to listen.

"I was going to recruit HongHong for this trip, but Mr. Jiao got to him first. As for Jiang ZiSuan..." Pang Zi trails off and raises his eyebrows at Wu Xie.

"It's a long story," Wu Xie begins and smiles.

"Forget it," Bai HaoTian says with a sniff. "I know you're not going to tell me the truth."

"We always tell you the truth," Pang Zi protests.

"No, you don't!"

Wu Xie wisely keeps silent.

- Chapter End -

Chapter Text

- Chapter Start -

Later that evening, everyone crowds inside Wu Xie and Pang Zi's room once more. The only difference is that they're all soaked to the skin from the heavy rain outside.

Wu Xie, who went out on a motorcycle earlier, is now wrapped up in blankets and tucked into bed. Princess is sitting on his shoulder. She spent the afternoon snoozing on his pillow, sleeping off the effects of the capful of wine Jiang ZiSuan gave her.

"If you still don't do as I tell you, I won't treat you anymore," Huo DaoFu scolds Wu Xie who gives him a placating smile.

"Don't be like that," Wu Xie cajoles him. "What would I do if you don't treat me? But you're so stingy in making the medicine. You said two hours and it was effective for two hours sharp. Couldn't you give me an extra minute?"

"If you'd returned a few minutes later, you might've died," Huo DaoFu retorts.

Pang Zi cuts in, scolding Huo DaoFu for not wanting to treat Wu Xie and then scolding Wu Xie for making all of them worry.

Wu Xie promises not to do that anymore and explains what he discovered; that the entrance to Thunder City is inside Tianlin Hotel itself which is how Wu ErBai and his men disappeared while staying here. They just need to find out its exact location. Mr. Jiao is likely looking for the same thing since he's offering generous compensation for all the guests to check out.

Pang Zi then drugs HongHong to get his room key and they move all their belongings to his room. Thanks to Jia KeZi's hearing, they discover that the entrance to Thunder City is likely inside Jiang ZiSuan's room. They get HongHong to lure Jiang ZiSuan to his room, taser him unconscious and strip him of his outer clothes.

Princess, who's now turning Huo DaoFu's medical bag upside down after he went out to get food, doesn't see the altercation. By the time he returns and chases her away, Wu Xie has already disguised himself as Jiang ZiSuan, complete with face mask and wig.

"Confused as to why there are two Jiang ZiSuans?" Wu Xie teases Princess who keeps looking from him to the unconscious man lying on the bed. "Well, I'm off to find the secret entrance. Wish me luck!"

The good news is, he finds the entrance. It leads down a tunnel to a hole in the ground surrounded with rocks.

The bad news is, he's captured by Mr. Jiao's men as soon as he comes back up and leaves Jiang ZiSuan's room.

- o -

Bai HaoTian watches with some trepidation as Jiang ZiSuan, seated in a chair with hands tied behind his back, slowly gains consciousness. The first thing he sees is the shellfish on her shoulder.

"Princess, you're-" He breaks off, eyes narrowing when he realises he's stripped down and tied up. He raises an eyebrow at Bai HaoTian, Li JiaLe and Jia KeZi.

"Let me guess. You lot are friends with Wu Xie and he asked you to do this," he says slowly. "Does the shellfish belong to him too?"

Princess wriggles two fingers at him, but he ignores her and continues to speculate that Wu Xie took his clothes to impersonate him so he can investigate his room. When Bai HaoTian doesn't reply, he states that Wu Xie is a manipulative person and that his older sister ended up dead because she insisted on following him.

Li JiaLe offers to take over guarding Jiang ZiSuan for Bai HaoTian, but she says she can manage. Jiang ZiSuan starts tearing up as he explains that his late sister fell in love with Wu Xie after working with him on several missions and died because of it. When Bai HaoTian insists that Wu Xie is kind and selfless, Jiang ZiSuan scoffs and insists that it just proves she's already fallen for his tricks just like his sister had.

Seeing the tears running down his face, Princess prepares to leap to him, but Bai HaoTian stops her.

"I wouldn't hurt her," Jiang ZiSuan says. "My vendetta is only against Wu Xie. Besides, I saved her from Mr. Jiao's men, remember?"

Bai HaoTian passes Princess to Li JiaLe and tells him and Jia KeZi to take her out of the room.

Jiang ZiSuan then says he's craving a cigarette. When Bai HaoTian relents and lights one for him, he stabs her hand with the lit butt, knocks her to the floor and cuts his bindings with the knife on the table, all in the space of a few seconds. Wrapping an arm around her neck, he goes out to the other room where Li JiaLe and Jia KeZi are. Pang Zi and Huo DaoFu are there as well, the latter meticulously cleaning his medical supplies with anti-bacterial wipes.

"Stay where you are," Jiang ZiSuan warns, pointing the knife at Bai HaoTian's throat. He inches towards the door. As soon as he reaches for the doorknob, a pink blur leaps from Li JiaLe's shoulder to his.

Bai HaoTian takes advantage of his momentary distraction and slips out from his hold.

"Ow!" Eyes widening in shock and pain, Jiang ZiSuan drops the knife.

Pang Zi grabs the nearest wine bottle and smashes it over his head, causing Jiang ZiSuan to slump to the floor, unconscious. Princess scuttles over and alternates between checking his forehead and his neck, both of which are bleeding.

"Thank you, Princess!" Still shaken, Bai HaoTian tries to pick her up, but the distraught shellfish backs away until she's sitting in the crook of Jiang ZiSuan's arm.

Huo DaoFu rolls his eyes and exhales, shaking his head.

"Never a dull moment with you lot around," he says dryly and nods to Li JiaLe and Jia KeZi. "Carry him to the sofa, please."

- o -

Huo DaoFu spends the next hour cleaning Jiang ZiSuan's wounds and scolding Pang Zi for breaking a bottle over his head.

"Do you know what a pain it is to pick out glass shards?! And these are tiny!"

Pang Zi scowls at him.

"Next time I'll tell him to freeze while I go look for a suitable weapon. He's alive, isn't he?"

Huo DaoFu pauses long enough to glare at him.

"By the way, Princess bit him," Pang Zi adds. "Why aren't you scolding her?"

"Because he deserved to be bitten," Huo DaoFu says with a smirk. "Right, Princess?"

Princess, head still drooping, continues to scrutinise Jiang ZiSuan's gash and point out bits of glass for Huo DaoFu to extract.

"Thank you. At least I have an assistant," he says to cheer her up.

Princess pats his cheek with two fingertips, leaving a few dots of blood on his skin. No one dares to point it out.

"For his sake though, I hope your bite isn't poisonous," Huo DaoFu continues. "I didn't bring any antidotes for shellfish bites."

Princess starts patting Jiang ZiSuan's cheek instead.

Meanwhile, the others are peering outside the window. Jiang ZiSuan's room is directly opposite theirs and they can see Mr. Jiao, his men and Wu Xie who's tied to a pillar.

"We have to do something or Xian San-ye will be killed," Bai HaoTian frets.

All of a sudden, a ruckus breaks out inside Jiang ZiSuan's room. In seconds, people are spilling out into the courtyard, fighting Jiao's men and throwing smoke bombs. Pang Zi catches sight of Er Jing and Liu Sang among them and whoops with joy.

When Li JiaLe, Jia KeZi and Bai HaoTian rush out the door to join the fight, HongHong tries to escape. Pang Zi knocks him out before joining the others, leaving behind Huo DaoFu, Princess and two unconscious men.

Shaking his head, Huo DaoFu turns back to Princess.

"Looks like it's just you and me, huh?"

- Chapter End -

Chapter Text

- Chapter Start -

Some time later...

Bai HaoTian wakes up to a delicate tapping on her nose and opens her eyes to see Princess staring at her before scuttling away. Then she remembers what happened and sits upright, looking around wildly.

"I'm alive! Didn't Mr. Jiao shoot me?"

They're still in the tunnel leading from Jiang ZiSuan's room to Thunder City. Princess is sitting on Li JiaLe's forehead and tapping his nose. He bolts upright with a strangled scream, causing her to tumble into his lap.

Bai HaoTian frees herself and goes to wake up the others - Jia KeZi, Huo DaoFu and Liu Sang - and untie them. She suspects they were all shot with fake bullets, but at vital points which caused them to pass out from the impact.

"But why did Mr. Jiao want to help us?" Liu Sang asks.

"Because it was actually Wu ErBai in disguise, not the real Mr. Jiao." Er Jing appears, pushing an unconscious Wu ErBai slumped in a wheelchair.

Bai HaoTian notes that Princess dives under Huo DaoFu's jacket collar and peeps out at Er Jing instead of trying to get his attention. That makes him the second person Princess doesn't like after HongHong. Huo DaoFu reminds them not to trust Er Jing since he's the spy they're looking for.

Er Jing insists that he's worked with Wu ErBai for more than twenty years and is loyal to him. Wu ErBai put himself at risk to save them all and was tortured by Mr. Jiao and his men until he's unable to speak or move. Er Jing urges them to go look for Wu Xie who's gone on ahead to Thunder City before Mr. Jiao and his band of elite mercenaries catch up with him.

Although Huo DaoFu is still suspicious of Er Jing's behaviour and Wu ErBai's injuries, he goes off with Bai HaoTian, Li JiaLe and Jia KeZi. Er Jing stops Liu Sang from following, saying he needs his help to get Wu ErBai out of the tunnel for treatment.

- o -

Li JiaLe, Jia KeZi, Huo DaoFu and Bai HaoTian succeed in meeting up with Wu Xie. A delighted Princess leaps from Huo DaoFu's shoulder to Wu Xie and pats his face before nestling inside his collar.

Wu Xie explains that Mr. Jiao and his men already came by earlier, but he hid underwater to escape detection. They start moving through the tunnels which were previously submerged in water. Along the way, they encounter the bodies of some of Mr. Jiao's men who were killed by strange long spikes.

Jia KeZi says he hears thousands of breathing noises, but can't identify what they are.

Suddenly, Li JiaLe cries out in pain. They turn to see two large clams attached to his lower legs. He flails and falls into a muddy pond nearby. They quickly pull him out, but dozens of clams appear from the pond and from the shadows around them. In addition to pulling Li JiaLe to safety, they also have to keep batting and kicking away the clams. Huo DaoFu proves to be astonishingly good at the latter.

"The breathing sounds I heard are from these!" Jia KeZi exclaims.

"They're everywhere!"

"What do we do?"

"Hold him still!"

They try to pry the clams off a screaming Li JiaLe's legs, but to no avail. Even Huo DaoFu sliding a knife in between the shells doesn't work.

"They've bitten too deep, I can't pry them off!"

Even more clams are coming towards them. Huo DaoFu sees one flying straight for Wu Xie's neck. Before he can punch it away, Princess leaps from Bai HaoTian's shoulder and knocks it off course.

"Princess!" Wu Xie looks around, but doesn't see her.

"Where did she go?" Bai HaoTian cries.

"Aaahhh!" Li JiaLe screams, getting their attention once more.

Then Wu Xie has a brainwave and pulls out his lighter. He touches the flame to one of the clams. In a few seconds, it releases Li JiaLe's leg.

"It works!"

Wu Xie starts heating the other clams. One by one, they release their grip, leaving Li JiaLe groaning in pain.

"Look!" Jia KeZi exclaims.

Everyone turns to see three clams backing away from Princess while the rest stop approaching the group. Beside her is an upturned clamshell that's wide open and empty.

"Are you alright?" Wu Xie hurriedly goes over to pick her up. She waddles up to his shoulder, flops down and gives a truly horrifying belch.

"Ugh." Grimacing, Wu Xie turns away.

"Manners, Princess," Huo DaoFu chides.

Princess gives him a feeble wave and another belch.

"Watch out!" Jia KeZi says and knocks away a clam. The rest are starting to encroach once more.

While the others help Li JiaLe up, Wu Xie quickly makes a Molotov cocktail.

"Let's go!" He hustles them off before smashing the bottle on the ground, creating a barrier of fire.

- o -

Jiang ZiSuan wakes up to find himself lying on the sofa in HongHong's room, hands and legs tied with rope. He tries to sit up and slumps back with a groan. He has a splitting headache from that Pang Zi breaking a bottle over his head - that cut's going to be a pain and a half to clean. The side of his neck is also throbbing where Princess bit him.

His lips twist at the thought. He shouldn't be surprised. She's Wu Xie's, of course she's loyal to him. Just like every other female who's met him, whispers a voice in his head before he squashes it flat.

Wait.

Bringing his bound hands up, he touches the neat bandage on his forehead and the one at his neck. It looks like someone treated him after all. He spares a moment to wonder who before deciding he doesn't care. Sitting up, he looks around and squints. Apart from his headache, his vision - normally razor sharp - seems blurry around the edges and there's a faint ringing in his ears.

That Pang Zi must've hit him harder than he thought. Well. He'll be more than happy to return the favour when they next meet.

Just then, the door opens and two of Wu ErBai's men enter. They cut the rope around his ankles and drag him out into the courtyard where he's made to kneel on the floor with the rest of Mr. Jiao's men.

Jiang ZiSuan glares at Pang Zi and Er Jing who're in charge.

- o -

With Huo DaoFu and Jia KeZi supporting Li JiaLe, they continue on until the tunnel opens out into a large space. In front of them, separated by a deep ravine, is a stage filled with armed marionettes. It's an obvious trap.

Wu Xie suspects it leads straight to Thunder City. Bai HaoTian points out numerous footprints on the dusty wooden floor which indicate that Mr. Jiao and his men have already passed through.

Wu Xie states he'll go across first to find the mechanism that controls the marionettes and jam it so the others can pass through safely. Knowing what Wu Xie is like, Huo DaoFu keeps silent while the others protest. Wu Xie just smiles and insists that he's the best choice for this task since he's already dying. He passes a subdued Princess over to Huo DaoFu.

"Take care of her."

"Be careful, Xiao San-ye," Bai HaoTian says.

They start guiding Wu Xie past the almost invisible threads strung across the stage. When he's halfway through, a metal bolt embeds itself in the wall near him. They spin around to see Jiang ZiSuan aiming a crossbow at Wu Xie from behind some rocks.

"Watch out!" Bai HaoTian rushes onto the stage, triggering the trap as she tackles Wu Xie down to the floor. She gets a cut on her shoulder from one of the puppets as another bolt whizzes past them.

With Wu Xie and Bai HaoTian safely across for now, Li JiaLe and Jia KeZi decide to take down Jiang ZiSuan.

Huo DaoFu tells Wu Xie and Bai HaoTian to go on ahead before joining the other two. He warns them that it's risky to attack Jiang ZiSuan due to how narrow the tunnels are, but they insist and rush off. Rolling his eyes, Huo DaoFu turns to Princess on his shoulder.

"I have to do everything. Hide inside my jacket and make sure Jiang ZiSuan doesn't see you."

Princess dives in at once, ignoring his muttered "I can't believe I just said that."

She's a good shellfish.

She doesn't peep out when Huo DaoFu confronts Jiang ZiSuan and tells him not to waste time killing Li JiaLe and Jia KeZi.

She doesn't peep out when Jiang ZiSuan gets Huo DaoFu to tie Li JiaLe and Jia KeZi up.

She doesn't peep out even when Jiang ZiSuan hustles Huo DaoFu back to the stage, crossbow aimed at his back as they slowly wind their way past the marionettes.

Huo DaoFu spies a half hidden Wu Xie and prays that Jiang ZiSuan - who's been squinting and shaking his head - doesn't see him. Wu Xie signals that he's found the mechanism to control the statues. As soon as Huo DaoFu makes it past the last puppet, Wu Xie triggers the mechanism. The puppet nearest to Jiang ZiSuan swings and smacks him in the face.

A skirmish follows which ends with Jiang ZiSuan taking control again and holding Bai HaoTian hostage with a knife at her throat again. Huo DaoFu, who tries to help, is caught by one of the marionettes and regrets his life choices, also again.

Wu Xie is pointing a gun at Jiang ZiSuan. Well, this bit is new.

Jiang ZiSuan starts backing away to the front of the stage, bringing Bai HaoTian with him while Wu Xie follows, gun still trained on him. Princess pops out from Huo DaoFu's collar.

"No. Princess, wait-"

She pats his cheek and leaps after Wu Xie.

"Princess, get back here!" Huo DaoFu hisses, still trapped by the puppet.

She doesn't.

- Chapter End -

Chapter Text

- Chapter Start -

With one arm looped around Bai HaoTian's neck, Jiang ZiSuan drags her backwards to the front of the stage. Wu Xie follows and keeps his gun trained on him, aware of the knife pointed at her throat.

"Wu Xie, you know I only want to kill you," Jiang ZiSuan says. He's squinting and blinking, like he can't see well. "Or are you going to give up the woman again this time? It wouldn't be your first time anyway."

He gives a mirthless laugh.

"Let her go," Wu Xie orders and jumps a bit when something lands on his shoulder. "Princess! Go back to Huo DaoFu."

Instead, she crawls inside his jacket collar and peeps out.

"Your girlfriend isn't very obedient, is she?" Jiang ZiSuan sneers, voice slurring. "Just like this tomboy here. Jie Jie too. I should've known."

Wu Xie resists the urge to roll his eyes.

"A-Ning wasn't my girlfriend. Neither is-"

"Give me the gun," Jiang ZiSuan interrupts, holding out his free hand. It's not very steady.

"Are you alright?" Wu Xie asks, curious despite himself. "What happened to your head?"

"Your good friend smashed a bottle over my head, that's what!" Jiang ZiSuan snarls. He yanks aside his jacket collar, showing another bandage. "And your girlfriend bit me!"

Wu Xie huffs in surprised amusement.

"Who, Princess? She doesn't bite anyone. And she's not my girlfriend."

"Of course she is!" Jiang ZiSuan shouts. "She bit me when I pointed a knife at her!"

Wu Xie's eyebrows shoot up.

"You pointed a knife at Princess? But you saved her from Mr. Jiao's men earlier."

"Not her! Your other girlfriend here." Jiang ZiSuan tightens his grip around Bai HaoTian's throat, making her gasp and struggle.

"Ahh." Wu Xie narrows his eyes, fingers tightening on the gun in his hand. "She's my good friend so you shouldn't have done that."

"They're all your girlfriends! They follow you everywhere!" Jiang ZiSuan sounds a bit hysterical. "Now give me the gun!"

Wu Xie opens his mouth to argue and closes it again. He can feel Princess crawling out from his jacket collar.

"Stay inside," he mutters to her.

"Give me the gun now!" Jiang ZiSuan doesn't look very steady on his feet. He's also standing at the edge of the stage.

"Fine, fine. Take it." Wu Xie turns the gun sideways and holds it out.

As Jiang ZiSuan leans forward to grab it, Bai HaoTian sinks her teeth into his forearm, causing him to cry out. At the same time, Princess leaps from Wu Xie's shoulder to Jiang ZiSuan's.

"Ahhh!" Clapping a hand to his neck, Jiang ZiSuan stumbles backwards and trips over the raised edge of the stage.

Bai HaoTian hurriedly ducks out from under his arm. Wu Xie leaps forward to grab her as Jiang ZiSuan falls into the ravine, arms flailing.

"Princess!" Wu Xie yells.

- o -

Jiang ZiSuan gains consciousness and groans. Opening his eyes, he quickly squeezes them shut again with another groan. If his vision was blurry before, it's even worse now, tinted with neon bright colours. The ringing in his ears is louder, and his body feels like it's been run over several times by a truck.

He squints up at the faint light from far above. He'd be dead if not for the wooden boxes he'd smashed into on the way down, which served to both break his fall as well as give him a new set of bruises.

Something moves inside his collar and crawls over his chest. Raising his head, he stares at Princess who stares back at him. There's a smear of red on her lips.

"There you are," he says softly. "The one who bit me, and twice at that."

He frowns and raises his right arm.

"That tomboy bit me too, didn't she? What the hell is Wu Xie teaching you all?"

Princess reprimands him in the form of a sharp fingernail poking his nose.

"I didn't say anything wrong!" Jiang ZiSuan pushes himself to sit up and groans again, clutching his head. "Ugh, my head hurts."

Leaping to the ground, Princess continues to stare at him.

"I won't hurt you," he tells her, feeling a bit hurt. "I saved you from Mr. Jiao's men, remember?"

Princess regards him for a few moments longer before climbing onto his leg and scuttling up to his shoulder once more.

"That's better. I - ow!"

She bites him again.

"Princess!" He slaps a hand to his wounded neck, but she's back on the ground and watching him intently.

"What was that for?" He demands, scowling at her. His vision goes blurry again and the ringing in his ears get even louder. He squeezes his eyes shut, feeling rather sick.

"ZiSuan."

Jiang ZiSuan's eyes snap open at once.

"Who's there?" His mouth falls open at the figure standing before him. "Jie? Is that you?"

"Jie, I've missed you so much!" He scrambles to his feet, almost falling over, and rushes over to her.

"ZiSuan, what are you doing?" A-Ning looks sad.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, what are you doing with your life? You've only had one goal for the past ten years which is going after Wu Xie."

"That's because he killed you!"

"I died because I was careless. It had nothing to do with Wu Xie."

- o -

Bai HaoTian frees a frantic Huo DaoFu from the marionette while Wu Xie goes to find and untie Jia KeZi and Li JiaLe. They all search around the area and find another route off to one side of the stage. It leads all the way down to the ravine that Jiang ZiSuan and Princess fell into.

"Hurry up," Huo DaoFu urges the others. "Princess is with that deranged man. She could be injured. Or worse!"

"I'm sure she's fine," Wu Xie soothes him only to be glared at.

"She's your pet! You need to discipline her so that she doesn't go running off!"

"She's got a mind of-"

"Shh!" Jia KeZi hisses at them. "I can hear Jiang ZiSuan talking to someone - his sister? - but I don't hear anyone replying."

"What about Princess?" Bai HaoTian whispers.

"I can hear her heartbeat. She seems to be fine," Jia KeZi replies to everyone's relief.

"Jiang ZiSuan?" Wu Xie asks.

"His heart is racing, like he's anxious or upset."

They creep closer and peer around the corner. Jiang ZiSuan is standing with his back to them. Princess is a short distance away, staring intently at him. There's no one else there.

"I'll be good, I promise," Jiang ZiSuan says. "Wait! Don't go yet, Jie! Jie!"

He reaches out again, fingers closing over thin air. Then his arm falls back to his side and his head dips. Swaying, he falls to his knees.

"Princess," Wu Xie says quietly and smiles when the shellfish spins around and scuttles over to him, going up his leg and arm and then sticking to his neck. "Are you alright?"

She reaches up to pat his cheek, misses and pats his lips instead.

"Jiang ZiSuan? Are you alright?" Wu Xie asks. He curls his finger around the curious one slipping inside his mouth and pulls it out.

Slowly, Jiang ZiSuan gets to his feet and turns around. His face is wet with tears. Everyone except Wu Xie takes a step back at once.

"Are you alright?" Wu Xie repeats.

"Thank my sister, Wu Xie," Jiang ZiSuan says. "She made me promise not to go after you anymore."

Everyone exchanges glances at that.

"Well, that's good to know," Wu Xie says and shrugs. "Although I'm dying anyway so you'll get your wish soon enough."

"Are you planning to stab him in the back?" Huo DaoFu demands, point blank.

Shaking his head, Jiang ZiSuan runs a hand down his face.

"I never go back on my promise. Especially to Jie."

His gaze shifts to Princess and he hesitantly holds out his hand. Princess leaps to his shoulder and points to the new wound in his neck as she looks back at Huo DaoFu.

"Yes, yes, I noticed your handiwork right away," Huo DaoFu says dryly. "Please don't make this a habit, alright?"

"I... don't blame... her." Jiang ZiSuan's eyes close and he crumples to the ground.

With a put upon sigh, Huo DaoFu starts to shrug off his backpack.

"Wait. I think I hear those clams again," Jia KeZi says, causing Li JiaLe to look around in alarm.

"We need to get out of here," Wu Xie says. "Can you two...?"

"Alright," Li JiaLe says. He and Jia KeZi hoist Jiang ZiSuan up between them, pulling his arms over their shoulders.

"Let's go," Wu Xie says and leads the way.

- Chapter End -

Chapter Text

- Chapter Start -

Jiang ZiSuan opens his eyes and looks around, a puzzled frown pulling his eyebrows together. If he's not mistaken, he's back in his room at Tianlin Hotel. His vision is normal again and that ringing sound from before is gone. Instead, there's quiet clinking as if someone is moving glass bottles around with great care.

Turning his head to the side, Jiang ZiSuan sees a medical case lying open on the table. He sits up, uttering a groan as his body protests. Princess pops up from the case at once and wriggles her fingers at him.

Jiang ZiSuan stares at her, one hand going up to his neck to discover neat bandages on both sides. Then he realises he's only wearing his sleeveless top which means he's been stripped for the second time. At least they left on his trousers while his jacket and backpack are on the sofa.

Princess hops out of the medical case, causing a louder clinking sound, and leaps onto the bed.

"Princess! How many times have I-" Huo DaoFu appears at the door and breaks off, his resigned expression giving way to instant wariness. "Awake at last."

"What time is it?" Jiang ZiSuan asks.

"The next morning." Huo DaoFu enters the room, keeping eye contact with Jiang ZiSuan while stealthily beckoning with one hand to the shellfish who ignores him.

"I'm the one who should be worried," Jiang ZiSuan says dryly. "She's bitten me thrice."

Princess takes that as encouragement to scuttle up to his shoulder and pat the bandages on his neck.

"You're a mercenary," Huo DaoFu says, still watching him like a hawk from the foot of the bed.

"Whose only target is Wu Xie," Jiang ZiSuan counters and grimaces. "Well, was."

Huo DaoFu's narrow shoulders relaxes a little.

"So you meant what you said down in the caves?"

"Yeah. Is he really dying?" As soon as the words leave Jiang ZiSuan's mouth, Princess flops down on his shoulder, fingers hanging straight down.

"Yes. Lung cancer. He has a few days left at most."

Jiang ZiSuan frowns. He's not sure how he feels about this after his promise to A-Ning.

"Anyway," Huo DaoFu continues abruptly like he's changing the subject, "Wu Xie says lunch is on him to make up for Princess' exampl - uh, atrocious behaviour."

Jiang ZiSuan huffs in amusement and shakes his head.

"It's fine. I was being irrational. If Princess hadn't - wait, is she poisonous?"

They both turn to look at the shellfish who hides under the blankets with one eye peeking out.

"Shellfish venom," Huo DaoFu explains. "I've given you something to hopefully neutralise it since I don't make a habit of carrying around antivenom."

"Thanks." Jiang ZiSuan swings his legs out of bed and stands up with another groan as his various bruises twinge. "Where's Wu Xie?"

"Disappeared early this morning." Huo DaoFu looks and sounds annoyed.

Jiang ZiSuan raises an eyebrow.

"Let me guess. He's going back to Thunder City and his little friends followed him."

Huo DaoFu nods, lips pressed so tightly they all but disappear. Jiang ZiSuan huffs again.

"Idiots, all of them."

"Tell me about it," Huo DaoFu sighs. He watches as Jiang ZiSuan wears back his jacket. "So, what do you plan on doing now?"

"Mr. Jiao abandoned me so this job is over. I'll leave and look for another."

Huo DaoFu turns to Princess who's now sitting on his shoulder. She pats his cheek encouragingly.

"You're in luck. I have a job for you."

Jiang ZiSuan raises both eyebrows.

"If you're going to be an idiot as well, don't drag me down with you."

Huo DaoFu looks a bit discomfited, but tips his chin up.

"I want to be there when Wu Xie dies."

Jiang ZiSuan wonders how much of that annoyance is genuine concern. Princess wriggles her fingers at him again.

"She going with you?"

"Someone has to keep an eye on her," Huo DaoFu counters. "What's your fee?"

"For what?"

"Bringing all of us back alive."

Jiang ZiSuan doesn't want to ponder on the irony of that.

"I haven't paid you for treating me."

"I'm willing to forgo that if you-

"Let's sort it out after we all get back," Jiang ZiSuan interrupts him. "Including Wu Xie."

"Agreed." Huo DaoFu gives an approving nod.

- o -

After Jiang ZiSuan and Huo DaoFu help themselves to an astonishing amount of gear left behind by Mr. Jiao, they and Princess enter the secret entrance from Jiang ZiSuan's room once more. They make their way past the tunnels with the holes in the walls and the pools with the vicious clams. To Jiang ZiSuan's surprise, no creatures attack them. When he points this out, Huo DaoFu just smiles, his fond gaze straying to Princess who's leading the way.

After ducking past the unmoving marionettes on the same theatre stage - Wu Xie had jammed the controlling mechanism earlier - they make their way outdoors. The surrounding forest is filled with poisonous gas so they dig out two hazmat suits and gas masks and put them on. They traverse the forest without any issue aside from Jiang ZiSuan almost walking headfirst into a tree when Princess sticks her head out from his hood and knocks his goggles askew.

After going underground again, they come across two familiar figures lying on the ground, hands bound behind their backs.

"Jia KeZi! Li JiaLe!" Huo DaoFu rushes over to them, horrified.

Jiang ZiSuan recognises them as the duo he fought back at Tianlin Hotel and near the marionette stage yesterday. It looked like they had run afoul of Mr. Jiao and his men. Pulling out the knife stuck in the ground nearby, he slashes through the ropes binding their wrists.

"How are they?"

"Barely alive. Someone slit their throats and they've lost a lot of blood." Cursing under his breath, Huo DaoFu shrugs off his backpack and almost wrenches the zipper open in his haste. Princess is darting back and forth between the two men, patting their faces and looking just as frantic.

"I'll help. Tell me what to do." Jiang ZiSuan kneels beside Huo DaoFu and takes out his own medical kit.

- o -

Huo DaoFu works in a tense silence as he cleans and stitches the wounds, lips pressed tight with anger. Jiang ZiSuan holds his torchlight in his mouth and passes him items, his gaze lingering on those long, skilled fingers. Princess sits on the current patient's chest and offers pats whenever they grimace and twitch in pain.

It's an odd medical team, but no one is in any frame of mind to point it out.

When Huo DaoFu is finished and the two men are lying to one side, he sits back and rolls his shoulders with a sigh.

"That's all I can do for now," he mutters. "The rest is up to them."

Jiang ZiSuan passes him some water to clean his hands.

"It's best not to move them for a few hours," Huo DaoFu continues

"So we wait here?" Jiang ZiSuan asks, passing him more water and food rations.

"Correct." Huo DaoFu gives him a small smile. "Thanks for your help. Princess, you too."

He closes his eyes to rest them and doesn't see Princess nibbling away at his energy bar.

- o -

Jiang ZiSuan wakes up from a light doze to a tap-tapping noise. Princess is sitting on his arm and happily playing with his bracelet, tapping on each bead as if counting them. Huo DaoFu is sitting beside Jiang ZiSuan, close enough that their shoulders touch.

"Why is he here with Huo DaoFu?"

"Maybe Huo DaoFu brought him along? But I don't trust him."

Ah. It seems their two patients are awake.

"That's good because I wouldn't trust myself either," Jiang ZiSuan says, leaning forward to look past Huo DaoFu to the other two. They freeze at once.

Huo DaoFu stirs and opens his eyes. Then he inhales sharply, turning to them.

"Jia KeZi, Li JiaLe. Don't move. How do you two feel?" He presses his fingers to their inner wrists in turn.

"Alive, thanks to you and Princess," Jia KeZi says with a tiny smile.

"Yeah," Li JiaLe echoes. "But why is he here?"

"I hired him. We need muscle to reach Wu Xie and I'm no fighter," Huo DaoFu replies. "So far he hasn't tried to kill us yet."

Jiang ZiSuan just huffs and makes no comment while Huo DaoFu passes water and energy bars to Jia KeZi and Li JiaLe.

"If you two can walk, we should get going."

"Are we going to look for Wu Xie?" Li JiaLe asks with an eagerness that makes Jiang ZiSuan scowl.

"It's because of him that you two almost died," he growls. To his surprise, Huo DaoFu nods in agreement.

"We still want to look for him," Jia KeZi says.

"No. You two will go back to the hotel and rest," Huo DaoFu says sternly. "Wait for us there."

"But-" Li JiaLe begins.

"Put these on before going through the forest," Huo DaoFu continues, holding up the hazmat suits and gas masks.

"But Wu Xie-"

"Won't be distracted if you two aren't there with him," Jiang ZiSuan says firmly and adds under his breath, "It looks like the tomboy isn't Wu Xie's only fan."

Huo DaoFu coughs to hide a snort.

- Chapter End -

Chapter Text

- Chapter Start -

Princess gives Jia KeZi and Li JiaLe effusive 'See you later' pats on the cheeks before Jiang ZiSuan and Huo DaoFu help them into their hazmat suits.

"Back to the hotel. No detours. When we get back, I expect to see you two in bed," Huo DaoFu says sternly. At their startled looks, he hastily adds "resting."

It's Jiang ZiSuan's turn to disguise a snort as a cough. He waits for Jia KeZi and Li JiaLe to leave before nodding at Huo DaoFu.

"Let's go."

- o -

Not long after, they find themselves following a large group of soldiers into a large chamber filled with gigantic bronze pillars.

"Two of your little friends are over there," Jiang ZiSuan says in a low voice, pointing to where Bai HaoTian and Liu Sang are hiding behind some rocks. "Follow me."

They look surprised to see Jiang ZiSuan with Huo DaoFu. When Princess pops out of Jiang ZiSuan's collar, Bai HaoTian's face lights up while Liu Sang leans backward, eyes widening in alarm.

"Isn't that Wu Xie's pet?"

"Yes, her name's Princess. She won't bite you, don't worry." Bai HaoTian gives his arm a reassuring pat while winking at a scowling Jiang ZiSuan. "By the way, Liu Sang's hearing is shot, but he can read lips. Who are those men?"

"Another group of people," Jiang ZiSuan replies, making sure to face Liu Sang as he talks. "They're setting up explosives."

"We have to warn Xiao San-ye right away!" Bai HaoTian jumps up only to stop, eyeing Jiang ZiSuan with ill-concealed wariness.

"We can trust him," Huo DaoFu assures her. "I'll stay here with Liu Sang. Xiao Bai, you and Jiang ZiSuan go warn Wu Xie since you know where he's gone."

"No tricks," Liu Sang says, staring intently at Jiang ZiSuan. "And take care of Xiao Bai."

"And Princess," Huo DaoFu adds as the shellfish leaps to Jiang ZiSuan's shoulder.

Jiang ZiSuan can't help rolling his eyes.

"Guard the two females. Got it."

"I've changed my mind," Huo DaoFu decides. "Princess, take care of them both."

"We'll see you two later," Bai HaoTian says, trying not to laugh at Jiang ZiSuan's incredulous expression.

As they go off, Liu Sang starts questioning Huo DaoFu about Jiang ZiSuan.

"What is he doing here? Doesn't he have something against Wu Xie?"

"I blame you for getting me involved," Jiang ZiSuan scolds Princess. "And you don't have to take care of me."

The shellfish just pats his cheek in a 'there-there' manner.

- o -

As they're sneaking around the soldiers, the bronze pieces on the walls start clattering and the pillars amplify the sound of thunder overhead. Jiang ZiSuan and Bai HaoTian wince in pain and clap their hands to their ears, but the sounds prove to be deafening. Even the soldiers are writhing in pain on the ground.

As soon as the sounds die away, Jiang ZiSuan helps Bai HaoTian up and they rush inside the next room. Pang Zi is lying unconscious by some steps while Wu Xie is on his hands and knees by a pillar, coughing. Mr. Jiao is there, wet from head to foot. He seems to be in a trance and walks off without saying anything to Jiang ZiSuan or even noticing him.

"Xiao San-ye!" Bai HaoTian falls to her knees beside Wu Xie and starts thumping his back. Princess jumps to his shoulder and starts patting him all over his face.

"Xiao Bai? Princess?" Wu Xie looks surprised to see them there. His eyebrows go up when he notices Jiang ZiSuan. "Oh. You're here too."

"We have to leave this place," Jiang ZiSuan says. "There are explosives outside. Let's go."

"Tianzhen, you're healed!" Pang Zi rushes over, beaming even though his hands are bound behind his back. "The South Sea King didn't trick us after all!"

"Xiao San-ye, is this true? You're healed? You're really healed?" Bai HaoTian's eyes grow shiny with joy.

Jiang ZiSuan sighs when Pang Zi and Bai HaoTian start cheering while Princess leaps from shoulder to shoulder in excitement.

"Oi." He pitches his voice louder. "Explosives. We have to leave."

"Wait. Why're you here?" Pang Zi squints at him.

"He's our guide!" Bai HaoTian says brightly as she starts tugging on Wu Xie's hand. "Let's go!"

The three of them hurry off. Shaking his head, Jiang ZiSuan starts to follow when someone calls his name.

"ZiSuan?"

He turns to see Sanye stepping out from a corner. The trepidation in her face pricks his curiosity.

"Why didn't you shoot me earlier?"

"Why didn't you accept my advances all this while?" She counters, tipping her chin up.

Jiang ZiSuan supposes she deserves an explanation at the very least.

"You look like A-Ning, my older sister. She died ten years ago."

Sanye rolls her eyes.

"So that's why you kept your distance. Does this have anything to do with Wu Xie?"

"I..." Jiang ZiSuan hesitated. "He wasn't quick enough. Anyway, I'm leaving. You should too."

In the chamber with the bronze pillars, he finds another mini celebration happening. The Iron Triangle is in a three way hug while Princess runs around from head to head to hood. Bai HaoTian is staring at them with a hopeful smile on her face which turns to giggles when Princess gets tangled up in Pang Zi's hair.

"Princess, ow! Stop struggling, you're gonna pull all my hair out! PiaoPiao doesn't want a bald Pang-ye!"

That brings an end to the three way hug.

"Xiao-ge, please free my hair from this little rascal," Pang Zi begs Zhang QiLing

"Take Xiao Bai back to Liu Sang," Wu Xie tells Jiang ZiSuan. "We'll look for Hei XiaZe and join your guys."

"Huo DaoFu is with Liu Sang now," Bai HaoTian says. "What about Princess?"

"She goes with you." As soon as the words leave Wu Xie's mouth, Princes pauses while halfway up Zhang QiLing's arm. She leaps to Wu Xie and dives inside his jacket.

"Princess, come with us. It's safer," Bai HaoTian cajoles.

"Simei's right. Be a good shellfish and listen to her," Pang Zi tries.

"Princess, out you come," Wu Xie says. Nothing happens so he reaches inside his jacket and pulls her out. "Go with Xiao Bai. We'll be with you all as soon as we can."

Bai HaoTian accepts the drooping shellfish and holds her firmly with both hands.

"Be careful, Xiao San-ye. You too, Pang-ye, Xiao-ge."

- o -

Huo DaoFu and Liu Sang greet them with smiles of relief which turn to alarm when an explosion rocks the place, knocking them off their feet.

As soon as the tremors die away, Bai HaoTian jumps up and insists on going back for Wu Xie. Princess scampers up to her shoulder and points a long finger in that direction. Liu Sang also insists on looking for his ouxiang.

"No. We should get out of here. Right?" Jiang ZiSuan turns to Huo DaoFu who returns his gaze with a raised eyebrow. "What?"

"Bring all of us back alive, remember?"

Jiang ZiSuan stares at him in shock.

"You're kidding."

"Look at Princess."

Jiang ZiSuan glances at Princess who continues to imitate a pointer dog and swears under his breath.

"Fine. Don't blame me if we all end up dying."

- o -

As luck would have it, the explosion caused the entrance of the chamber to be blocked with rocks. Removing a few of those rocks allow poisonous gas to filter through, making them cough.

Jiang ZiSuan has newfound respect for Liu Sang who, although deafened and swaying on his feet, leads them to another opening which leads aboveground. He and Bai HaoTian seem to be familiar with the place since they plunge into the nearby pool without hesitation.

Jiang ZiSuan and Huo DaoFu call out in alarm before exchanging startled looks.

"Can you swim?" Huo DaoFu asks.

"Yeah. Let's go."

The water is icy cold. They wriggle through a hole, surface inside another tunnel and make their way to a chamber with four carved pedestals. Three of them have Thunder God statues glowering down at them.

The four of them begin knocking on the bases and hollering. Finally, they hear a voice, faint and muffled.

"We're here!"

It's coming from the base without a statue.

"We're here!"

It sounds like Pang Zi. Princess hops onto the base. Bai HaoTian crouches beside her, face lit with excitement.

"Xiao San-ye! Pang Ye! Xiao San-ye! Can you hear me?"

"Yes! We're down here! Xiao-ge too!" Wu Xie answers.

"Xiao San-ye, you guys stay there and wait!" Bai HaoTian shouts and turns to the others. "We need rope!"

Liu Sang produces the rope and Jiang ZiSuan helps to tie it around the base. The four of them then pull it aside to reveal a hole. Princess leaps into it at once.

"Oh." Zhang QiLing sounds mildly surprised.

"Of course." Wu Xie sounds resigned.

"Hei XiaZi, are you groping me?!" Pang Zi sounds indignant. "I can feel you tickling my thighs! You're approaching dangerous territory here."

"I didn't touch you at all!" Hei XiaZi sounds annoyed before following up with a startled yell that echoes up the hole.

"Princess." Huo DaoFu shakes his head and tosses down another rope.

Zhang QiLing is the first to appear. He turns to lend a hand to Wu Xie and the two of them help to pull out Pang Zi. His left leg is splinted from the knee down, but he rolls on the floor, laughing, like he hasn't a care in the world. The last one to emerge is Hei XiaZi who gingerly points to Princess on his shoulder in a mute plea for help.

Huo DaoFu goes to his rescue while Bai HaoTian hugs Wu Xie and Liu Sang almost hugs his ouxiang. Jiang ZiSuan turns his back on the hugs and backslaps taking place. He jumps when someone clasps his shoulder.

"Mission accomplished. Thank you," Huo DaoFu says with a small smile.

Jiang ZiSuan gives an awkward nod, not quite knowing what to say. Princess chooses that moment to reappear, leaping to his shoulder and stroking his face with great enthusiasm.

"Stop that. I know where those fingers have been," he scolds her and is ignored. "You give new meaning to the word stubborn. Must've gotten it from this doctor, huh?"

"Me? You're pretty obstinate yourself. Maybe she got it from you," Huo DaoFu shoots back.

"Hey, she's Wu Xie's."

"Fair enough," Huo DaoFu agrees.

A peal of delighted laughter makes them blink and turn to see the others staring at them.

"You two sound like a quareling couple!" Bai HaoTian teases them, still giggling.

Ignoring each other, Huo DaoFu and Jiang ZiSuan glare at Wu Xie who blinks at them.

"Why do I get the feeling this is my fault?" he asks warily.

"This is all very amusing," Hei XiaZe drawls, "but can we leave this place now?"

"Right. We need to look for Li JiaLe and Jia KeZi," Bai HaoTian says at once.

"They should be back at the hotel, waiting for us," Huo DaoFu says.

"Thank you." Wu Xie's smile widens when Princess leaps back to his shoulder. "Let's go back, everyone."

- Chapter End -

Chapter Text

- Chapter Start -

Wu Xie decides to go back to Tianlin Hotel using the route through the tunnels back to Jiang ZiSuan's room.

"It's a much shorter route," he explains. "Er Jing would've gone aboveground to escape the explosions. He's going to have to trek through the poisonous forest and find the road where he'll have to get transport back to the hotel."

"We have a stretch of forest to traverse ourselves, Tianzhen," Pang Zi points out. "Not to mention I have a busted leg."

"The first one is taken care of," Huo DaoFu assures him and gives the splint Wu Xie put on Pang Zi's leg an appraising look. "That should hold for a while."

"I'll stay with Pang Zi," Hei XiaZi adds with a grin, flinging an arm around him and almost causing both of them to lose their balance. "The rest of you go on ahead."

- o -

When they reach the poisonous forest, they put on face masks and make a run for one of the shelters with Jiang ZiSuan leading the way. Wu Xie whistles at the stack of hazmat suits and goggles that Huo DaoFu and Jiang ZiSuan stashed there earlier.

"There's water and rations as well," Jiang ZiSuan says, nodding at another backpack.

"You two carried all these here?" Bai HaoTian looks impressed.

"Jiang ZiSuan did most of the carrying," Huo DaoFu replies and gives him a sideways glance. "Like I said, I needed muscle."

Jiang ZiSuan gives a snort of amusement.

"A pack mule, that's what I am."

"No, you're more than-" Huo DaoFu snaps his mouth shut when he notices the others staring at them.

"Let's get going," Wu Xie says. "I want to reach Er-shu before Er Jing does."

- o -

They're traveling along the tunnels leading back to the hotel when Zhang QiLing holds up a hand.

"I hear something." He presses his ear against the nearest wall.

"Iron Triangle Knocking language?" Bai HaoTian asks. "But we're all here, even Liu Sang."

"Who still can't hear anything," Liu Sang says, reading her lips.

"It's Li JiaLe, using Morse code," Zhang QiLing replies, making sure to face Liu Sang as he talks. "Er Jing and his men have just arrived at the hotel in two vans. They're unloading several boxes."

"That was quick," Liu Sang says.

"Jia KeZi heard Er Jing telling his men that he'll take control of the Wu family businesses as soon as they get back."

"Not if I can help it," Wu Xie says grimly. "Xiao-ge, tell JiaLe we're on our way up."

"And to stay put and not do anything stupid," Huo DaoFu adds, looking annoyed and worried. "They've lost a lot of blood."

- o -

Li JiaLe and Jia KeZi are hovering anxiously by the wall when Wu Xie and co emerge one by one.

"Thanks for the warning, JiaLe, KeZi," Wu Xie tells them, clapping them on the shoulder. "Xiao-ge and I will take care of Er Jing."

"What about his men?" Jiang ZiSuan asks.

"I'll call the police," Bai HaoTian offers.

"Good. The rest of us will stay here with the door locked." Huo DaoFu gives Jia KeZi and Li JiaLe a stern look.

"Be careful, Xiao San-ye, Xiao-ge. Take care of Princess," Bai HaoTian says.

"More like she'll take care of us." Wu Xie grins at them while Princess waves from his shoulder.

"Don't jinx it!" Jiang ZiSuan and Huo DaoFu shout after him.

- o -

Wu Xie and Zhang QiLing sneak into Wu ErBai's room, knock out the lone guard there and drag him inside the adjoining bedroom. Seated in his wheelchair, Wu ErBai watches the action with relief in his eyes.

"Don't worry about Er Jing, Er-shu," Wu Xie says, patting his shoulder. "We'll handle him."

Footsteps sound outside, followed by the scrape of a key inserted into a lock. Wu Xie and Zhang QiLing quickly slip inside the bedroom.

"Er-ye, I'm back from Thunder City." Er Jing enters with a pleasant smile. "My apologies for keeping you waiting."

His eyes flick around the room as if searching for someone.

"I'm afraid I have bad news for you," he says, closing the door behind him. "Your precious nephew and his friends are dead. They were trapped in Thunder City without protective gear and have succumbed to the poisonous gas. I'm all you have left, Er-ye. I'll be the one in control from now on."

"He doesn't think much of us, does he, Xiao-ge?" Wu Xie can't help saying, channeling a bit of Pang Zi in his anger.

Er Jing's gaze snaps to the bedroom at once, his smirk vanishing.

"Xiao San-ye. Xiao-ge." He forces a smile. "You guys are back so fast. How did you survive the poisonous fog?"

"And the explosives your men planted?" Wu Xie asks, one eyebrow raised.

Er Jing glances around the room again, frowning a little.

"If you're looking for your goon, he's out cold," Wu Xie says. Princess chooses that moment to crawl out from his jacket collar.

Er Jing whips out a gun and points it at Wu ErBai's head. He smirks at Wu Xie.

"Doesn't matter. I still have the upper hand," he says. "Now, I want you two - ahh!"

Princess leaps to his wrist and latches on. Er Jing drops the gun with a shout, fingers spasming. Princess then leaps up to his neck and bites down again.

"It bit me! Twice!" Growling, Er Jing yanks her off with his other hand. "You'll pay for this!"

Hand held high, he starts squeezing her, his eyes fixed on her bulbous ones and the open red mouth smeared with his blood. Princess struggles in his grip.

"Princess!" Wu Xie shouts in alarm. He leaps forward only to jerk to a stop. "Xiao-ge, let go!"

"Wait." Keeping a tight hold on the back of Wu Xie's jacket, Zhang QiLing slips out a knife from his belt and flings it. Sunlight from the window glints off the blade before it embeds itself in Er Jing's neck.

With a choked scream, Er Jing flings Princess away. A gurgling sound emerges from his lips before he crumples to the floor. Zhang QiLing darts forward and catches Princess neatly in his cupped hands.

"Got you."

Meanwhile, Wu Xie crouches beside Er Jing and presses two fingers to his bloodied neck.

"He's dead," he says, feeling an odd mix of relief and sorrow. Getting up, he goes to Wu ErBai. "Er-shu, are you okay?"

Wu ErBai gives a tiny nod.

"What about you, Princess?" Wu Xie looks over at Zhang QiLing who's still cradling the shellfish. "Princess?"

He could swear he hears her cooing.

- o -

Two days later, Wu Xie and co board the train and leave Guozinao Mountains. Hei XiaZi left yesterday with Wu ErBai and promised to wait for Wu Xie at the hospital.

Er Jing's men were rounded up by the police pending future investigation while Er Jing's body was cremated. Despite his crimes, Wu Xie finds he can't bring himself to leave the other man behind. He packs the small urn containing Er Jing's ashes among his luggage.

- o -

The next day, Wu Xie unlocks his apartment door and pushes it open. He looks around and pays no mind to Princess leaping down from his shoulder and running inside the bedroom.

He's only lived here for two weeks, excluding his stint in Warehouse 11, before going to Thunder City. It doesn't feel like home, unlike Wusanju with its ancient walls and many rooms, interconnecting walkways with cracked tiles, huge old fashioned kitchen, antique furniture, pool table, back gardens and even a delightful little fountain.

With a small sigh, Wu Xie drops the two bags on the floor. With Pang Zi admitted to the hospital, Kan Jian looking after Wu ErBai and Wang Meng assigned to another of Wu ErBai's managers, there's no one to help him unpack all his things.

Turning around, he comes face to face with the Princess Mute statue instead.

"Princess! Please don't give me a heart attack now that my lungs are healed."

Two long fingers emerge from the long hair and wave at him. Wu Xie waves back and then he pauses.

Wait.

Er Jing hadn't transferred control of the Wu businesses and assets to himself before he died. With Wu ErBai now incapacitated, wouldn't Wu Xie be in charge of everything?

"Don't get too comfortable, Princess," he says with a grin. "We're moving back to Wushanju!"

- Chapter End –

Chapter Text

- Chapter Start -

Wu Xie is under no illusions as to what his strengths and weaknesses are. And more importantly, his likes and dislikes.

Exploring ancient tombs with Pang Zi, Zhang QiLing and Princess? Great!

Solving mysteries and murals and murders? Fantastic!

Running an empire? Not so much.

Pleasing stakeholders? Even less.

Managing accounts and assets and equities? Nope, nope, nope.

He prays that Wu ErBai will make a swift and complete recovery. Apart from it being a load off Wu Xie's mind, it would also allow him to go back to doing whatever he likes. Namely, nothing.

However, Wu ErBai's lawyers contact him that same day with the surprising news that Er Jing's will has been found. It bequeaths all his assets and monies to Wu Xie in the event of his death. Wu Xie whistles softly, looking from the document in his hands to the shellfish on his shoulder.

"Are you surprised, Princess? I know I am."

She pats his cheek as he wonders why. Maybe Er Jing wanted to show Wu ErBai how loyal he was. Maybe he was simply drunk at the time. Or maybe there was a time when he actually... cared.

Whatever the reason, it's still a valid and binding document. Er Jing has accumulated a small fortune over the years. Even after hiring mercenaries and buying equipment, explosives and weapons for his recent adventure to Thunder City, there's quite a bit leftover.

Wu Xie doesn't know if he can forgive him for deliberately injuring Wu ErBai, but he purchases a niche at the local columbarium for Er Jing's ashes and offers a quick prayer of thanks for the unexpected windfall.

Then he stops by a fast food outlet before making his way to the hospital.

- o -

The first person Wu Xie visits is Wu ErBai. He's sleeping soundly, but Kan Jian greets him with a wide grin.

"Laoban, thanks for coming! Er-shu just fell asleep so - ahh!" He jerks back when Princess sticks her head out of Wu Xie's jacket collar. "She's here too."

"Stay hidden, Princess. This is a hospital," Wu Xie chides before handing Kan Jian one of the many bags he's carrying. "Bought you some lunch. I'm off to see the others and will pop by again later."

"Thank you, laoban. See you later." Kan Jian gulps and clutches the bag to his chest as Princess wriggles her fingers at him.

Next, Wu Xie goes to see Jia KeZi and Li JiaLe who were also admitted for the slashes on their necks. They thank Wu Xie for their lunch, greet Princess, and promise to drop in on Pang Zi later.

Finally, Wu Xie makes his way to Pang Zi's room. Zhang QiLing is in the hallway outside Pang Zi's room door, leaning against the wall with his hands in his jeans pockets. He turns his head to smile at Wu Xie and Princess. Wu Xie smiles back while Princess waves back so enthusiastically that she almost topples off his shoulder.

"Stay hidden," Wu Xie hisses and sighs when Princess leaps to Zhang QiLing's hood and vanishes under it.

"Pang Zi has a visitor," Zhang QiLing says without batting an eye.

- o -

The visitor turns out to be PiaoPiao who's fussing with Pang Zi's blankets and smiling. There's a delicious aroma which Wu Xie suspects is coming from the thermal food jar on the bedside table.

"Sao-zi, you're here!" He greets in a louder than usual voice, chuckling when Pang Zi and PiaoPiao turn pink in unison.

"I'm working on it," Pang Zi mutters.

"It's good to see you again, Wu Xie," PiaoPiao says with a bright smile. "Where's Princess?"

"Outside with her current favourite," Wu Xie says. No, he's not rolling his eyes.

"Well, Xiao-ge did save her from a nasty fall back at the hotel." Pang Zi nods like he's not in the least bit surprised.

Traitor.

"Jiang ZiSuan saved her from Jiao's men," Wu Xie points out.

"But this is Xiao-ge, Tianzhen," Pang Zi counters. "He's special."

PiaoPiao looks from one to the other, a tiny frown pulling her delicate eyebrows together. Then the door opens a crack and a dark blue clad arm appears with Princess sitting on it. There's a whispered "Go on."

The shellfish leaps to Wu Xie's shoulder and pats his cheek as the door closes again.

"Princess!" PiaoPiao beams as the shellfish jumps to her shoulder and starts playing with her earring. "Thank you to you and Wu Xie for looking after Pang-ge."

"Hey, I was the one who looked after them," Pang Zi protests. "Ooh, is that a burger? And fries? Bring them here!"

Catching PiaoPiao's raised eyebrow, he gives a sheepish smile.

"Your braised pork trotter was delicious, PiaoPiao. But Tianzhen will be sad if i don't give him face."

PiaoPiao shakes her head and helps herself to a French fry. She passes one to Princess who holds it delicately with two fingertips... before shoving it in her mouth.

"I owe Xie YuChen one for taking care of PiaoPiao and Xiao Mei while we were at Thunder City," Pang Zi says, busily chewing. "I'll treat him to a nice hotpot dinner - no expenses spared - once I get out of here."

"Sounds good," Wu Xie says.

Sitting down, he grabs the newspaper and pretends to read it while PiaoPiao and Pang Zi have a whispered conversation. After PiaoPiao leaves to fetch Xiao Mei from school, Zhang QiLing enters the room again. Wu Xie tells them about Er Jing's unexpected good news and promises to split it equally between the three of them. Pang Zi gapes at him in shock, mouth falling open when Wu Xie discloses the amount.

"Tianzhen, that's more than half the amount needed for Xiao Mei's bone marrow transplant!" He almost upends his Coke in his excitement. "I'll try to scrape up the rest as soon as I get out of here!"

"Just split it between you two," Zhang QiLing says, passing Princess another fry. "I don't need it."

"Thank you, Xiao-ge!"

"Tell you what," Wu Xie suggests. "We'll use it to pay for Xiao Mei's operation and use what's left for our daily expenses at Wusanju. It's our home from now on. PiaoPiao and Xiao Mei's too. Agreed?"

"Agreed," Zhang QiLing says with a smile, passing Princess another fry.

"Agreed!" Pang Zi shouts, grinning from ear to ear with his eyes welling up. He flings his arms out wide. "Bring it in, you guys!"

The three of them share a long hug before stepping back. Wu Xie's eyes are wet and even Zhang QiLing's are suspiciously bright.

"I guess deep down, Er Jing still cared for you, huh, Tianzhen?" Pang Zi mutters, wiping his eyes. "After all, he watched you grow-"

He breaks off at a rustling sound coming from the packet of fries.

"Oi, leave some for me, Princess!"

- Chapter End -

Chapter Text

- Chapter Start -

PiaoPiao breaks into tears of relief and joy once she learns that they can afford Xiao Mei's bone marrow transplant. She promises to light incense for Er Jing every year even though she's never met him. When a vexed Pang Zi starts to protest, Wu Xie nudges his arm and shakes his head.

"As far as Saozi is concerned, he was a longtime employee of Er-shu and provided the means to save Xiao Mei," he tells Pang Zi later. "There's no point in explaining Er Jing's crimes."

"But-"

"All we can do is cherish what and who we have - that's the most important thing. For you, that's Saozi and Xiao Mei," Wu Xie continues.

"And you and Xiao-ge," Pang Zi corrects.

"Right," Wu Xie agrees and winces when a sharp nail pokes his cheek. "And Princess, of course."

She slips under his jacket collar again and presses close to his neck. She's more clingy now that Zhang QiLing has gone traveling.

- o -

Over the next week, Wu Xie and Princess visit the hospital daily. Pang Zi will be discharged in a few more days, PiaoPiao is camping beside her daughter's bed after her operation, and Wu ErBai is also recovering from surgery to repair his throat and spine.

To everyone's relief, both surgeries are successful.

As per the doctor's advice, Wu Xie works out a schedule with Kan Jian to ensure that someone is with Wu ErBai at all times to support and encourage his recovery. Pang Zi alternates between spending time with Wu ErBai and Xiao Mei while a happy PiaoPiao brings extra portions of home cooked dishes everyday.

Wu Xie is pleasantly surprised to see familiar faces in Wu ErBai's room each time he visits. Apart from Pang Zi, PiaoPiao and Kan Jian, Liu Sang turns up from time to time. Bai HaoTian drops by whenever her schedule permits and drags along Jia KeZi and Li JiaLe who have since returned to work.

But the real surprise is seeing Huo DaoFu and Jiang ZiSuan there, and smelling freshly fried bread sticks.

"Just checking on my patient," Huo DaoFu says loftily, his steely gaze daring Wu Xie to protest.

Wu Xie decides not to point out that Huo DaoFu doesn't work at this hospital and therefore, doesn't have any patients. He also decides that Huo DaoFu and Jiang ZiSuan sitting so closely together is none of his business.

- o -

When Wu ErBai kicked Wu Xie and Pang Zi out of Wushanju before their Thunder City adventure, he placed Wang Meng under one of his supervisors, a strict man who frowns on his subordinates playing computer games. Needless to say, Wang Meng is ecstatic to learn that he'll be moving back to Wushanju together with Wu Xie and Pang Zi. He'll be able to hone his Minesweeper skills once more!

The next morning, he goes to Wushanju bright and early to air out the place and sweep the courtyard with an alacrity he seldom displays. His euphoria lasts until Wu Xie walks in the gates with the creepy Princess Mute statue over his shoulder, her arms and waist-long hair hanging straight down.

"L-laoban, welcome home! Ahaha, I didn't know you're still keeping... her," Wang Meng says with a nervous smile.

"Of course I am. This will be her home from now on." Wu Xie sets her down beside Wang Meng. "Take her to my room. I'll help Pang Zi get the rest of our-"

"I'll get your things!" Wang Meng all but shouts, but Wu Xie's already walking back to the van parked outside.

Gulping, Wang Meng turns around only to find that the statue has vanished.

"Here's a tip from Pang-ye," Pang Zi says as he strides past with two bags hanging from his shoulders and an empty fish tank in his hands. "Don't let her see that you're afraid."

"I'm not afraid," Wang Meng says at once, voice cracking at the last word. He turns around, comes face to face with the statue and lets out a blood curdling scream.

"Too late." Pang Zi shakes his head with a sigh.

- o -

Princess is more than happy with her new home. She helps to clean up the place, visiting nooks and crannies and getting rid of bugs and spiders.

"I expected you to dispose of the spiderwebs, not wear them," Wu Xie says in a resigned voice as he holds a furry shellfish under the kitchen tap to rinse her clean.

"Spider-shellfish, spider-shellfish," Pang Zi sings, cutting up vegetables beside them. He leans back when Princess hops onto the counter and proceeds to shake herself dry like a dog.

"Stop that, you're getting me wet!"

- o -

It turns out that one of Princess' favourite hobbies is terrorising poor Wang Meng.

"I don't think he's finished a single Minesweeper game ever since we moved back here," Wu Xie says to Pang Zi as they watch Wang Meng peering all around the counter and even shaking the cushion on his chair before gingerly sitting down.

He's not the only one spooked by Princess.

Kan Jian drops by one morning to deliver some documents from Wu ErBai. He lets out an ear splitting scream when he's met at the door by the Princess Mute statue and almost flings the envelope at her. The next time he comes by, he brings Liu Sang with him.

"For shame, Kan Jian. What are those bulging biceps for then?" Wu Xie asks in amusement. "Not that you should use those on Princess, of course."

"She wouldn't tease you so much if you didn't jump into Sang-bei'er's arms each time she startles you," Pang Zi says, cracking groundnuts between his teeth.

"I do not," Kan Jian protests, going pink around his ears. Liu Sang pointedly looks away, ears turning the same shade of pink.

"Do you know why she doesn't tease him?" Pang Zi continues with a wink. "It's because he ignores her."

"It's because he can hear her approaching while I can't!" Kan Jian protests.

- o -

Princess enjoys spending her days exploring Wushanju and and riding on whoever's shoulder is available. She's usually with Wu Xie, but leaps to Pang Zi and PiaoPiao's shoulders when they return from grocery shopping. She greets Xiao Mei happily when she comes back from school and Zhang QiLing when he drops in from his travels. Even Wu ErBai who's moved back to his own home has grown used to her playing with his scarf or clinging to his walking stick whenever he visits.

The Princess Mute statue is only used to give jump scares to Kan Jian and Wang Meng. When someone enters the front gates, Princess peeps out to see who it is. If it's a customer or delivery person, she'll ignore them. If it's one of their friends, she'll go out to greet them herself.

Bai HaoTian, Jia KeZi and Li JiaLe are happy to visit with snacks for Princess to munch on despite Wu Xie playfully protesting that they were his friends first.

Huo DaoFu holds a piece of breadstick ready in his fingers after Princess kept diving inside his bag of fried breadsticks and scattering sugar everywhere. Meanwhile, Jiang ZiSuan holds out his right arm for Princess to hang off it and play with his bracelet.

Hei XiaZi is resigned to Princess sitting atop his sunglasses and, if he visits with Xie YuChen, to being ignored while she strokes Xie YuChen's cheek. Not that he can can blame her, but still...!

And Zhang QiLing doesn't mind Princess watching with rapt attention whenever he does his sword practice in the early morning, especially if he's shirtless. Nothing Wu Xie does can tempt her away so he inevitably ends up sitting on the same bench with her and sipping from a hot mug of coffee while she does the same with the small saucer beside her.

- Story End -