On the way back from Aunt Zhang's place, the sky suddenly turned overcast for some reason.

Heavy, dark gray clouds pressed down on the horizon, piling up layer upon layer, quickly drifting this way. In no time, the entire sky darkened. Muffled thunder rolled from the thickest part of the dark clouds, the low rumbling sound approaching from afar. Then, a loud crack exploded overhead, startling the passengers on the bus, who all looked out the window with some concern.

"The more it rains, the hotter it gets. What are we going to do when the sun gets so intense later on..." Su Kun heard a light, airy voice suddenly complaining behind him.

That tone... seemed... a bit familiar?

Before he could turn around to take a look, the bus stopped again. As the inertia from the brakes hadn't passed yet, he saw a little old lady behind him taking small, tottering steps towards the rear door. She was wearing wide-leg pants made of very flowy fabric, a bit long, with the cuffs hanging straight over her shoes. As she walked, the pant legs fluttered with her movements.

Su Kun watched the back of her head, trying to figure out where he had heard this voice before, but he just couldn't recall.

It wasn't until the little old lady got off the bus quite quickly, looked up at the sky, and then, as if not at all worried about the impending rain, sauntered off towards the nearby blocks. Next to her were people who had forgotten to bring umbrellas and were hurrying along for fear that raindrops would start falling soon. Her thin, small figure seemed particularly out of place among them, yet somehow not that conspicuous.

Blinking, Su Kun felt that the farther the little old lady walked, the more blurry her silhouette became. He finally withdrew his gaze. Just as he turned his eyes back to the gloomy sky outside the window, it suddenly dawned on him - wasn't this little old lady the one he had encountered in the alley that night?!

That incident had obviously left him with a bit of psychological trauma. Su Kun had thought at one point that the old lady was either a ghost or mentally ill. Otherwise, what normal person would grab a passerby in the middle of the night and ask if they were thirsty, and then leave with a nonsensical explanation of "my mistake" before running off on their own?

But now it seemed that since she could come out and ride the bus normally in broad daylight, she should be human... though her behavior was still quite odd, so her mental state was probably not very good.

This matter was like an interlude. Not long after the bus started moving again, Su Kun put the old lady who had passed him out of his mind, focusing all his attention on the weather.

He didn't have the habit of carrying an umbrella when he went out, and in this season, once it rained, it was always a downpour. He silently prayed in his heart: either let it rain right now, and hopefully the rain would stop before he got off the bus; or wait until after he got home to rain.

Under his prayers, the shrouded cloud layers grew thicker and thicker, the color turning more and more gloomy. Even though it was only a little past four in the afternoon, it looked as dark as it usually did at seven or eight in the evening. Thunder rumbled one after another, lightning flashing from time to time, making people's hearts tremble, but the rain just wouldn't fall. It wasn't until the bus finally stopped at the Guanyang New Town station and Su Kun had just gotten off, ready to run home, that the torrential rain poured down as if it cost nothing.

Having encountered this situation countless times, the unlucky Su Kun was on the verge of tears: "..." Damn it, can't you change it up every time?!

Even though he ran like mad, using the speed he had used in his school days to sprint fifty meters all the way home, by the time he entered the house, he was already drenched, soaked from head to toe, not even his underwear spared.

"What kind of water ghost crawled out?" Geng Zimo, who had returned home before him, stood in the living room holding a small half of a watermelon and a spoon. Seeing Su Kun, he clicked his tongue twice. "How do you manage to make it so miserable every time?"

Seeing that he was uncharacteristically not in his usual sickly state, Su Kun asked as he took off his shoes, "Your dad finally had a change of heart and let you in the door?"

Geng Zimo scooped a mouthful of watermelon in a good mood and nodded, then pointed to the kitchen with his spoon, "The other half is cut into wedges for you, in the kitchen. Clean yourself up and go eat it."

Grunting an acknowledgment, Su Kun didn't bother bantering with him. He went to the balcony to collect his underwear and towel, then hurried into the bathroom.

Finally done cleaning up his water ghost-like self, Su Kun, wearing just a pair of shorts, went to the kitchen to grab a basin of cut watermelon wedges and nestled into his own room.

Based on the attitude that it didn't matter whether he wore clothes or not in his own home, he just squatted on the chair in front of the computer desk like this, turning on the computer while grabbing watermelon from the basin to munch on. His entire body, except for that little triangle, was stark naked. The guy's posture while eating watermelon was very bold, basically burying his head and slurping and munching in one go, often smearing his face with watermelon juice.

Geng Zimo always despised his eating habits as too beastly, to which he retorted that Geng Zimo was too effeminate with his fastidiousness.

Just as the beast was munching on watermelon while waiting for the computer to boot up, he probably finally realized that his appearance was unsightly, so he raised his hand and pulled the wide open curtains in front of him closed. Outside, the dark clouds had gradually begun to disperse as it had rained. The originally slightly brightening sky was instantly blocked out as the curtains were drawn, and the bedroom suddenly darkened.

At the same time, the coffin, which had been quiet all day, made a slight sound, and the lid opened in the dimness. Gu Yan floated out with an expressionless face, seemingly habitually frowning slightly, his deep-colored eyes staring at Su Kun.

Su Kun's watermelon slurping motion abruptly paused, then he stiffly turned his head. Having been running around all day and then being drenched by the rain, he had almost forgotten that he wasn't the only one in this bedroom now... oh right, the other one didn't count as a person. He stared at the ghost-state Gu Yan for a few seconds, twitching his bloody mouth, waving his paw, and stiffly greeted, "Hi, hi--"

The watermelon juice flowing on his hand splattered out with his movement, drawing a small arc in the air, passing through Gu Yan's blurry face and body, and falling on the floor.

Su Kun sheepishly withdrew his paw.

Gu Yan looked at his face covered in watermelon juice, as well as a black watermelon seed stuck to his right cheek, his face growing even more expressionless: "..."

If the similarity between Su Kun with his eyes covered and the muddle-headed emperor could reach one hundred percent, and the similarity under normal circumstances was seventy percent, then at this moment, after being smeared with watermelon juice all over his face, Su Kun was worlds apart from that muddle-headed emperor.

Therefore, temperament is a very important thing. Su Kun should be thankful that he doesn't have it.

Looking at his face, the first thought that flashed through Gu Yan's mind was not the face of that foolish emperor, but rather: how could this person eat to such a state?

This reminded him of the little kitten in his residence a long, long time ago. At that time, he had just won a great victory in his first battle, and the old emperor in power had praised him greatly, granting him a long vacation to stay in his own residence for a while.

It was during that time that the little wild kitten had snuck into his courtyard. When he saw the kitten, he thought its black stripes were beautiful, and the white fluffy fur on its belly was soft and warm. It was a tiny little thing, just the right size to curl up in the palm of his hand, looking adorably cute, so he had someone get it some food.

The little thing would also eat with gusto, burying its head in the bowl and not lifting it until it was finished eating.

He didn't really keep it as a pet. The little thing would always finish eating, wrestle with him for a while, then leap onto the courtyard wall and bounce away, only to come back sauntering the next day. Day after day, without fail. Until he put on his armor and left home, gone for several years. When he returned, he never saw it again.

Su Kun squatted there dumbfounded, feeling the hairs on his back stand up from being stared at by the little ghost in front of him. He didn't know what it was thinking, its dark eyes staring unblinkingly, looking so deep that it made people wary. He noticed that the little ghost seemed to always have a slight frown, never relaxing. He didn't know if it was a habit from when it was alive, or if it was because of deep grievances after its tragic death...

But damn it, you staring at me with that frown and deadpan face, I really can't take it! Can't you have a little self-awareness that you're a ghost, and that your very existence is creepy?!

Su Kun silently roared in his heart. Just as he was about to say something, unable to hold back, the little ghost's action completely stunned him.

He saw the little ghost stare at Su Kun for a long time, then suddenly reach out its hand and touch his cheek.

Although it could pass through walls and doors without obstruction, when it passed through Su Kun, it wasn't as if it was nothing. At least to Su Kun, although not obvious, there was still a slight sensation. Just like now, he stiffly held his neck, not daring to move, watching the little ghost's hand approach his face. His eyes were about to roll out as he felt something cool lightly touch his right cheek.

With a "plop", a black watermelon seed fell down, landing on the floorboard at his feet.

Su Kun: =口=

He almost tumbled off the chair from his squatting position, then scrambled out of the bedroom. With an expression as if he had witnessed a comet hitting the earth, he pointed at his head and wailed to Geng Zimo, "Quick! Get a stick and hit me! I think I've been shocked! I must have eaten the wrong medicine and am hallucinating, please wake me up!"

Geng Zimo looked the guy up and down with the gaze of appreciating a lunatic, then got up to rummage through the toolbox, "Do you prefer a hammer or are you more used to an iron rod?"

Su Kun: "..." QAQ

Left alone in the room, the great General Gu: "..."

He kept his deadpan face, withdrew his hand, then silently thought to himself: just now, I must have been possessed by something dirty.

General Gu, who had already forgotten that he was not human and could not be possessed, expressionlessly turned around and drifted back to the coffin. He climbed in and once again closed the lid. He now needed some time alone - oh no, some ghostly peace and quiet. =_=