Volume One, Chapter 13: The Coffin

As soon as Jiang Rui finished speaking, she saw a user named "I Am a Tycoon" immediately send a super rocket.

“Hello, streamer, I want to have a fortune told.”

[No way, could this be Fei Maoshou? Out of thousands, his speed is the fastest.]

[I see someone already sent a gift, so I won’t send one. Just here to watch.]

[Here’s a suggestion for the streamer: could you send out lucky bags next time?]

Jiang Rui happened to notice this message and thought the suggestion was quite good. If she sent out lucky bags, it would be a great idea. That way, those who grabbed the lucky bags could have their fortunes told, unlike now, where everyone is just sending gifts and it’s hard to tell who’s who.

“This user made a good suggestion. It’s a great idea, I accept it. Next time I stream, I’ll send out lucky bags—three fortunes a day, so three lucky bags.”

[Yes, the streamer is so kind and beautiful, such a lovely lady.]

Jiang Rui immediately sent a video link to the user. Once connected, “I Am a Tycoon” appeared on screen—a young man who looked quite ordinary, probably around twenty years old.

“Hello, fate master, what would you like me to tell your fortune about?” Jiang Rui asked.

The young man looked somewhat dazed and exhausted, as if he were ill.

[Why does this guy look so listless? Is he sick?]

[Maybe he’s just overworked. Heh heh heh…]

[Stop with those unhealthy thoughts, please.]

“Hello, streamer, my name is Yu Wenqiang. Glad to meet you and everyone here. I want you to tell me about what’s going on with my father.”

Yu Wenqiang spoke weakly but politely.

Jiang Rui didn’t say anything at first, just stared at him. Yu Wenqiang didn’t understand what she meant and remained silent, feeling a bit uncomfortable under her gaze.

[Hey, what’s wrong with the streamer? Has she taken a liking to this guy? Why else would she stare so intently? What’s going on?]

[Probably not. Didn’t the streamer’s boyfriend recently become quite popular in the entertainment industry? What’s his name again? Oh right, Yang Mo. Maybe she’s just looking at this guy’s face.]

[Yeah, I don’t think the streamer is that casual. Everyone, don’t judge her so quickly.]

[Cut it out, you talk too much. The streamer’s exactly that kind of woman—she used to stubbornly chase after Yang Mo.]

The chat room was lively, but Jiang Rui had no time to pay attention to it. She was utterly amazed because from this young man’s face, she saw a deathly aura, something only found in the deceased.

“No, there’s also a hint of corpse energy…” Jiang Rui was at a loss. What was going on? How could a living person have the aura of death?

Moreover, Jiang Rui was far from someone who couldn’t distinguish between the living and the dead. Given the strange circumstances, whatever Yu Wenqiang had encountered was definitely no ordinary matter.

“Streamer, streamer, what’s wrong? Why aren’t you speaking? What happened?”

Jiang Rui snapped back to reality and smiled. “Tell me about your father’s situation first.” She thought that since she couldn’t discern much from Yu Wenqiang’s face, it was better to hear about his father’s condition in case it gave her some useful clues.

Yu Wenqiang took a sip of water and began to speak.

“My father works as a construction worker…”

Yu Wenqiang’s father, Yu Ping, had been working on construction sites for years. Just recently, his boss took on a new project located in the outskirts, surrounded by cemeteries. The government planned to build a middle school there, a fairly large project.

Their job was to dig the foundations. Of course, the excavators did most of the digging; Yu Ping and a few others were tasked with handling places the machines couldn’t reach.

One day, the excavator accidentally unearthed a large black coffin, on which sat a huge rat gnawing on the wood. The rat’s fur was unusually long.

At a glance, it looked more like a hedgehog than a rat. Was this a joke? What kind of rat looks like a hedgehog?

The excavator driver was terrified. “Damn, what bad luck—digging up a coffin, I can understand, but why is there such a huge rat, or whatever it is, on top of the coffin?”

Yu Ping and his coworkers were working with shovels when they heard the excavator driver’s startled shout. They didn’t know what was happening and thought he might be in trouble.

They took up their tools and approached. “Hey, Old Chen, what’s wrong? Why aren’t you digging?”

One coworker was confused by Old Chen’s sudden stop. Old Chen pointed to the pit in front of him, where the black coffin lay. Strangely, a large rat was perched atop the coffin, nibbling at the wood.

“Can’t you see? I dug up a coffin, and there’s this huge rat on it. Isn’t that strange?”

Yu Ping also saw the rat gnawing on the coffin. As it chewed, it had nearly bitten a large hole in the wood, from which black liquid—likely corpse oil—was oozing out.

The rat seemed attracted to the corpse oil.

It opened its mouth, stuck out its tongue, and began licking the black liquid while making chirping sounds.

It looked as if it wasn’t drinking corpse oil but some exquisite nectar.

This eerie scene frightened everyone present. Yu Ping was from the countryside and quite brave.

“I say, it’s just a coffin and a rat. Why are you all so scared? You’re such cowards. Besides, there are countless graves around here. Digging up a coffin is nothing unusual. You’re all too jumpy.”

Yu Ping took his shovel and slowly walked toward the rat. Seeing this, the others panicked.

“Yu Ping, don’t kill that rat! We don’t know what’s going on; don’t touch it yet!” one coworker shouted anxiously.