Su Kun had always been a light sleeper, so light that he could hear Geng Zimo from the next room getting up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom or get a drink.

There had been several times when Geng Zimo went to class reunions and played until the early morning before coming back. He tried to keep the sound of closing the door as low as possible, but every time he would still see Su Kun floating out of the bedroom with his hair sticking up from sleep, asking a bit groggily, "You're back?"

"How did you wake up?" Once or twice, Geng Zimo thought he just happened to run into him when he got up to go to the bathroom. But after it happened many times, he didn't think so anymore. It couldn't be such a coincidence every time, right?

"I heard you using the key to open the door, so I came out to take a look."

Geng Zimo, who could sleep through anything once asleep, found it very creepy. "Were you even asleep? You and your dog ears can hear the sound of a key being inserted into the lock?"

Su Kun could only explain helplessly, "Try having a thief climb through your window ten or eight times in the middle of the night and see if you can still sleep soundly. If so, I'll take your last name."

Geng Zimo nodded, "I could."

Su Kun: "......"

Compared to usual, Su Kun had already fallen asleep slowly tonight with an uneasy feeling in his heart, so naturally he was more easily startled awake. That slight "click" sound, to his ears, was like a clap of thunder striking his head, exploding his soul.

His consciousness became clear almost instantly, but he maintained the curled up posture of sleeping, eyes tightly shut, not daring to move a muscle, his body stiff and tense. It was already a hot summer where he often felt hot. The layer of cold sweat that burst out all over his body the moment he woke up slowly turned hot, stickily wrapping his skin, very uncomfortable.

The thin blanket draped over his stomach, the corners lifted by the breeze blowing through the screen, rubbing back and forth against his legs. The ends of his sweat-dampened bangs were also blown by the wind, lightly brushing against his eyelids...

Damn it itches! TAT

Su Kun wanted to lift the blanket, brush away his hair, change to a more comfortable position, or simply get up to see what that "click" sound from earlier was all about. But his hands and feet were so stiff they didn't feel like his own.

In this situation, even one second was stretched out to feel longer than a minute. After Su Kun lay there with tense nerves for a few minutes, he felt that if he didn't move a little, his hands and feet would go numb.

Besides the continued long drawn-out chirping of the cicadas taking a breath between each call, and the occasional light barking of a dog kept by someone in the neighborhood, almost no other sounds could be heard. And that very faint "click", it was as if it had never happened.

Could it be that because he put a coffin by the head of the bed, he was overly nervous and mixed up the sounds he dreamed with reality?

Both Su Kun and Geng Zimo had picked up the coffin and shaken it. At the time, they didn't hear the sound of anything moving inside, indicating that the coffin was really just for show and didn't contain any random things.

Su Kun waited a few more seconds, feeling that he had probably gotten it wrong in his startled state, and while mocking himself in his heart, he tried moving his fingers, then manipulating his already stiff joints, intending to change to a more comfortable position.

Just as he lifted his arm at that moment, from the place at the head of the bed where the coffin was placed directly facing his head, a violent shaking sound suddenly came, as if something was trapped inside, anxious to break free. The wooden coffin base kept colliding with the bedside table, making urgent noises. At the same time, some other sounds seemed to be mixed in from inside the coffin...

It was like—

It was like someone gasping from extreme fatigue or pain, rising and falling with the colliding motions of the coffin, sometimes light, sometimes heavy.

Damn it, didn't you say the coffin was just for show and didn't really contain anything inside?! Bad review! TAT

Actually, before going to bed, when he and Geng Zimo confirmed that this thing really had nothing special besides its appearance, that it was just a simple decorative imitation coffin, probably taking the meaning of "promotion and wealth", to give people some peace of mind, the two of them had somewhat mixed feelings. Especially Su Kun, spending a painful 1,300 yuan to buy this thing back, on one hand he was relieved it had no problems, at least there was no need to really be afraid. On the other hand, because it was too normal, he felt a bit of hidden disappointment.

But at this moment, Su Kun sincerely just wanted to kowtow to this coffin and beg it to continue being normal! Ah!

Unfortunately, the heavens obviously didn't hear his inner thoughts, and of course, neither did the coffin.

Its shaking amplitude grew larger and larger, as if the thing inside was getting a bit impatient from struggling. Mixed in the slightly pained and tired gasping, there were also some indistinct murmurs. Fragments like "where", "Yin underworld" could vaguely be heard, as well as a "dog XX", with the last two words unclear. That voice was probably dry for a long time, sounding low and muffled, seeming to be... a man's voice?

No, wrong focus!

These few words were totally giving off vibes of a vengeful ghost seeking retribution! TAT

With those occasional murmurs, the sound of the coffin knocking against the bedside table got louder and louder, noisily making Su Kun's heart jump faster and faster along with the "clattering" movements, practically able to jump right out of his throat if he opened his mouth.

Layer after layer of cold sweat continuously burst out of his body. The sweat on his forehead had even gathered into beads, rolling down the sides of his face onto the mat, making a muffled sound. Some soaked into the area around his closed eyes. With the trembling eyelids, it seeped inside through the cracks, the salty feeling making his eyes a bit uncomfortable.

If it was the kind of fear from scaring himself on normal days, Su Kun could still self-regulate it in his heart to suppress it, then turn over and continue sleeping. But now, the fear brought by this very real bizarre event happening before him, it was like an airtight net. Shrouded over him in this scorching season, it was so stifling it nearly made one suffocate.

Su Kun felt his little heart could hardly keep fluttering. With a couple more fierce jumps like this, he would kick his legs and pass away.

Just as he was almost unable to bear the fear in his heart, that coffin suddenly quieted down. The violent shaking stopped abruptly, as if the constantly playing horror movie was suddenly paused by someone. The long-neglected cicada cries instantly cut in.

The lingering echoes of the earlier commotion had barely faded away when the sudden silence mixed with the chirping of cicadas created an eerie and spine-chilling effect. Startled, Su Kun, who had been keeping his eyes closed and not daring to move, instinctively opened his eyes and looked towards the coffin.

The coffin lid, which he and Geng Zimo had verified to be tightly sealed to the coffin, was now open. It seemed to have been pushed to one side during the earlier shaking, with only one corner still resting on the coffin's edge, swaying silently in the evening breeze blowing through the gauze window.

Above the open coffin stood a tall, shadowy figure with its back to the window, its face obscured in the shadows. The only thing that was disturbingly clear was the crisscrossing scars that covered every inch of the figure's skin, as if it had been slashed countless times. The wounds looked so fresh that they seemed to be still oozing dark red blood, making one's scalp tingle just by looking at them.

The figure faced Su Kun for a moment, then suddenly lunged at him as if it had discovered something on Su Kun that infuriated it immensely.

The wind carried the stench of blood and dust, so thick that it was almost suffocating. As it approached, Su Kun heard a hoarse, deeply resentful growl: "Fatuous emperor! Return the lives of the 179 members of my Gu family!"