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

Beta & Co-author: jeangirlmy

- 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 whips out 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 -

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