Author Notes: Hello again, everyone! Enjoy the next chapter :)

Beta & Co-author: jeangirlmy

- 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 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 it 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," Liu Sang says 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 as he lays it on the stone. "We'll find you some food tomorrow."

By which he means Pang Zi, 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. 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 and stands up.

"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 squints at him. "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.

- 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 Wusanju 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. 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 -

A/N: Thank you for reading! Please leave a comment if you enjoyed it :)