Good Things Are Afoot in the Imperial City

That year, Zhuang Hechu was imprisoned and had given up on life. When Qian Zhong saw him, heavy chains hung from his pale, thin limbs. He was covered in blood, yet still smiled gently as he always had, and softly asked her which creatures of the world she feared most: birds, beasts, insects, fish, or plants. Qian Zhong held him close, afraid that squeezing too tightly would hurt him, yet also afraid that if she held him too lightly, he would vanish the next moment. Without stopping to wonder why he had asked, she said she was afraid of rats. Back when she begged on the streets, she had been most afraid of rats biting her in her sleep. “All right. In my next life, I'll be reborn as a rat.” Qian Zhong still remembered how Zhuang Hechu had carefully held her in his arms as he said this, gently stroking her with such reluctance. “I've killed too many people. I'm afraid I won't be allowed to be human again. When I stand before the King of Hell, I'll ask him to let me be reborn as a rat, the strongest rat of all, so every rat will obey me and none of them will ever appear in front of you again.” “See? Even my dying isn't such a bad thing, is it?” If that didn't count as a bad thing, then everything in the world was good. In the moonlight, Qian Zhong gazed at the person sleeping beside her, her heart in turmoil. It was that very promise of his that had made her determined to save him. How could someone so handsome ever be allowed to turn into a rat?