Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Knock, knock, knock."

Three taps echoed on the door, followed by the butler’s cold voice from outside.

"Second Young Master, it’s time to leave."

Jiang Bingzhu opened his eyes. Half-reclined on the bed, his gaze fell upon a slightly yellowed diary.

Sunlight, filtering through a gap in the curtains, illuminated his bedroom. An open suitcase lay at his feet, half-read books were scattered across the bed, and his desk was piled high with exam papers… Everything was starkly different from the abyss he knew.

It took Jiang Bingzhu a moment to realize the butler was calling him.

He wasn’t the Jiang family’s original Second Young Master.

Jiang Bingzhu hailed from a dimension plagued by supernatural entities. He had lived in the abyss beyond the continent, his greatest pastime being to wander and "pet fish"—literally.

He kept a pond of goldfish in the abyss, each one obedient and beautiful. Simply watching them drift brought him profound enjoyment.

Jiang Bingzhu was perfectly content with his idle life of fishkeeping until, a few days prior, several spatial rifts suddenly tore open in the supernatural realm.

One of them, by unfortunate coincidence, materialized directly in the abyss, swallowing his entire pond of goldfish.

Jiang Bingzhu: "…?"

His fish! The fish he had painstakingly raised!!

Without a second thought, Jiang Bingzhu immediately pursued the spatial rift’s trail, arriving in this world where humans and superhumans coexisted.

The good news was that he confirmed his fish were still alive.

Spatial rifts connected to the supernatural world caused anomalies in their surroundings, so his fish were likely nearby.

But the bad news was that his powers were incompatible with this dimension. If he used them recklessly, it would most likely result in his fish dying unnatural deaths—and Jiang Bingzhu hadn't come all this way just to retrieve the souls of dead fish.

So, he split off a fragment of his consciousness and descended into this world, making a deal with a dying human youth. He took over the youth’s identity and became the current "Second Young Master of the Jiang family."

"Second Young Master, please stop wasting time."

The door was struck heavily again, the butler’s voice rising slightly, low and edged with warning.

…He truly wasn’t wasting time.

Jiang Bingzhu struggled a few times before finally managing to sit up.

To avoid expending too much power, he had created an avatar based on the original youth’s physical data. But separated by multiple dimensions, his consciousness projection was unstable, and he hadn’t yet fully adapted to this human body.

*Click.* The lock turned.

Before Jiang Bingzhu could respond, the butler had already pushed the door open without permission.

The butler scrutinized Jiang Bingzhu's chamber, his forehead creased into deep furrows resembling gullies. "What manner of disorder is this? The place is utterly disheveled."

The Jiang family was an exceptionally prominent superhuman clan, holding a prestigious position even in the capital, a place teeming with hidden dragons and crouching tigers. The butler had served the Jiang family for over twenty years and was himself a capable superhuman. His every movement exuded authority, and he made no effort to conceal his disdain toward Jiang Bingzhu.

This Second Young Master had spent his childhood in the countryside and was only discovered and brought back to the Jiang family at seventeen—and worse, he was an ordinary person.

Superhumans were rare. Ordinary people didn’t even know of their existence, let alone imagine the terrifying power they wielded.

Generally speaking, the stronger the superhuman bloodline, the more exceptional the offspring. But Jiang Bingzhu, who had been lost for seventeen years and found by mere chance, showed not a trace of superhuman ability. He was utterly ordinary.

This was nothing short of a disgrace to the entire Jiang family.

If word got out, even the butler would lose face.

Unlike the original second young master—the "False Young Master," Jiang Yining—the butler thought. Although Jiang Yining had been mistakenly adopted into the family, he was intelligent, kind, noble, and proper, with extraordinary superhuman talent. He had always been a great source of pride for the Jiang family.

"Don’t waste too much time cleaning up this trash," the butler said, looking at the completely useless Jiang Bingzhu before him, feeling deeply irritated. "Today is the first day of school. Young Master Yining has always been the center of attention on such occasions."

"Second Young Master… although you can’t match Young Master Yining’s excellence, you should at least avoid being late, shouldn’t you?"

Perhaps due to the limitations of the human body, Jiang Bingzhu was exhausted and yawned openly in front of the butler.

The butler’s face twisted in anger at his insolent attitude, but Jiang Bingzhu merely rubbed his drowsy eyes, unfazed.

The Jiang family’s situation had been thoroughly documented in the original owner’s diary. Jiang Yining was receiving elite superhuman training at the capital’s top school and was highly favored by the Jiang family.

Meanwhile, because Jiang Bingzhu had no superpowers, he had been sent away from the capital to the Second City and enrolled in a boarding school for children of wealthy ordinary families.

Today was the first day of school. The entire Jiang family was attending Jiang Yining’s opening ceremony, leaving only the butler to escort Jiang Bingzhu. Once he was dropped off, that would be the end of it.

Otherwise, with his slovenly and uncultured demeanor, staying in the capital would only bring continuous shame to the Jiang family. That’s what the butler thought as he rolled his eyes.

He checked his watch and issued one final warning: "In ten minutes, no matter what state you’re in, we’re leaving immediately. Once we arrive at school, no one will have time to wait for you."

"And as Mr. and Mrs. Jiang specifically instructed," the butler added sternly, "do not mention superpowers in front of ordinary people, and especially do not mention the Jiang family. Young Master Yining is the pride of the Jiang family, while you…"

He paused, as if delivering a verdict.

"...are not worthy of this surname."

A surname? Since when does one have to be 'worthy' of a name?

Humans here are truly strict.

Jiang Bingzhu was mildly surprised. He picked up the original owner’s diary and placed it carefully into his backpack.

The butler had always been sarcastic toward him, but when relaying this message, he hadn’t exaggerated—one word for one word, exactly what the Jiang couple had told him.

The True Young Master, lost for seventeen years, had finally found his biological parents, yet he couldn’t even speak of his family in public.

This was far removed from the moral standards humans claimed to uphold.

After urging him a few more times, the butler slammed the door and left. Jiang Bingzhu wasn’t just a powerless waste—he also carried nothing but junk: oddly shaped broken stones, feathers burnt halfway through.

Items even a recycling station would reject, yet this True Young Master had somehow collected them in the capital. Truly "gifted."

Jiang Bingzhu remained in the room, packing his belongings one by one. He had been in this world for a week, spending most of his time learning to adapt to the human body, but he had also acquired some unexpected items.

He found a box and carefully placed the odd assortment into its compartments, then tucked it into a corner of his suitcase.

Jiang Bingzhu didn’t have much luggage, but he was still clumsy handling the human body, so it took him a while to make his way downstairs.

Meanwhile, the butler had already prepared the car.

In principle, a young master of the Jiang family should have a dedicated driver. But Jiang Bingzhu’s status was awkward—his identity hadn’t been officially recognized, and he was being "exiled" to the Second City. Clearly, he wasn’t considered a true young master, and taking care of him was a duty everyone avoided.

Why did such a tedious task fall to me? The butler cursed inwardly, sitting in the driver’s seat and coldly watching Jiang Bingzhu carry his suitcase.

The True Young Master, who couldn't even tie his own shoes, took far too long with this. Finally, a servant couldn't stand it any longer and stepped in, lifting the suitcase into the car before opening the door for him.

Jiang Bingzhu settled into the car, leaning back against the seat as if it were his right, his posture utterly lazy, showing none of the nobility he ought to have possessed.

The butler glanced at him and cursed inwardly once more: "Hopeless."

"Have a safe journey," the servant outside said mechanically. "The news mentioned some eerie creatures have been spotted in Second City recently. Please be careful."

The butler was aware that peculiar creatures had recently appeared in the capital.

But what could possibly be out in a backwater like Second City? Even if there were any, they’d be nothing more than small fry that could be taken out single-handedly.

The butler scoffed inwardly, too impatient to bother with pointless pleasantries, and started the car.

The sedan drove out of the estate and gradually disappeared into the distance.

The servant watched them leave, then pulled out a phone from his pocket and quickly dialed a number.

"Everything has been done as you instructed. That kind of eerie creature will easily take his life," he spoke into the receiver, his voice still completely calm. "No one will suspect you."

"You are the Second Young Master of the Jiang family. You always have been, and always will be."

***

There was some distance from the vacant villa to Clayton College. The butler began reiterating the Jiang family’s lengthy list of a hundred rules, adding unnecessary, tedious explanations for each one.

It had to be said, the recitation was quite hypnotic.

Jiang Bingzhu lounged lazily in the back seat, staring blankly out the window.

Skyscrapers and green trees blurred into streaks of color, vanishing rapidly behind them. A white mist gradually rolled in from behind, swallowing the road ahead as if it were alive. The fog engulfed the sky and the path forward, completely isolating them from the world outside the car windows.

The butler droned on, his voice growing hoarse and dry until he couldn't get another word out.

It wasn’t until Jiang Bingzhu turned his gaze back to him that the butler finally stopped, licking his parched lips and frantically fumbling for the water bottle in the car.

The cup held only a small amount of murky liquid. He tilted his head back desperately, draining the last drop. But his unbearable thirst did not ease in the slightest—instead, it intensified, as if something were gnawing away at him from within.

So thirsty.

The butler’s fingertips trembled slightly, his grip on the steering wheel tightening until his knuckles turned white. Staring into the rearview mirror, his eyes held a disturbing greed: "Did you bring any water?"

Jiang Bingzhu lifted his eyelids: "I only brought a cup."

No water.

The butler froze, his mind blank for a moment.

He was dying of thirst—how could there be no water? They had been on the road for a long time; they should be nearing the school soon… Yes, the school!

The butler snapped back to attention, his gaze returning to the road ahead. But all he saw was an endless expanse of white.

—There was no wind, no light ahead. The thick fog spread in an unnatural form, like a heavy layer of gray gravel, pressing down firmly overhead.

The instrument needles on the dashboard didn’t budge. The air inside the car was stiflingly dry. Time seemed to stand still at that moment, and he felt an indescribable fear creeping over him from nowhere.

Suddenly, a faint yet familiar whisper sounded, as if emerging directly from his mind:

"Thirsty… I’m so thirsty…"

The butler’s spine stiffened abruptly. He whipped his head around to look behind him—

The back seat still only held the slender figure of the young man. There was no third person in the car.

But in the blurred reflection on the window, amidst the deathly still, white fog, he saw a mouth.

It was pressed against the back of his head, its lips cracked and streaked with blood. It slowly opened and closed, uttering the same words—

"Thirsty… I’m so thirsty…"

Wrong!

The butler’s mind jolted—this was an eerie creature!

As a high-level Superpower user from the capital, most eerie creatures would be eradicated by him if he used his Superpowers.

But the thing possessing him now was far stronger than he had imagined. It was seizing control of his body, and he was completely powerless to resist.

The butler could feel his consciousness gradually fading. If no one intervened, he might truly die at the hands of this eerie creature!

But who here could save him?

All around was a suffocating, thick fog. In this entire space, aside from himself, there was only…

The butler looked ahead despairingly. The rearview mirror reflected Jiang Bingzhu’s calm, expressionless face and his clear, dark eyes.

—There was only the utterly useless True Young Master, who didn’t even have any Superpower.

The "utterly useless True Young Master without a shred of Superpower" remained completely unaware, leisurely shifting into a more comfortable position.

He observed the butler, and also the new "mouth" that had grown on the back of the butler’s head.

It took Jiang Bingzhu a moment to remember what this was—a "Marrow Sucker," an eerie creature that wandered the edges of the abyss. Its true form resembled a small insect, a relatively cunning being skilled at hiding.

They had an incubation period of one to two days. Before successfully attaching to a host, almost no one could detect their presence. This was Jiang Bingzhu’s third day away from the capital; it wasn’t until this morning that he noticed something unusual about the butler.

The only habitat of Marrow Suckers was the abyss. For the butler to encounter one, he must have been near a spatial rift connected to the abyss—possibly the same one that had taken his goldfish.

He needed to know where the butler had been recently and what he had come into contact with. This was important.

As Jiang Bingzhu pondered, the "mouth" behind the butler stretched wider and wider, crushing his original features until they were almost invisible.

"Thirsty… thirsty…"

Hoarse, terrifying syllables rolled in its throat, forming fragmented phrases.

Obviously, now was not a good time for conversation. Jiang Bingzhu sighed.

A strong smell of blood suddenly filled the air—thick, sweet, and reeking of decay. Dragging the butler’s body, the "mouth" slowly leaned forward from the back seat, stopping only when it was about ten centimeters away from Jiang Bingzhu.

It greedily sniffed the air, its blood-soaked lips parting, its voice dripping with desire.

"You… you smell sweet."

"Can I… drink your blood?"

Jiang Bingzhu: "..."

"You’re quite polite," he remarked sincerely.

In response, the Marrow Sucker let out a frenzied roar.

"However, no," Jiang Bingzhu replied calmly. "I still have things to do."