There was no one else in the room. Charles Gray sat there like a stage prop, silent and dazed, looking utterly lost. Carter Shaw casually asked, “Why are you still here?”

Charles Gray snapped out of his trance as if waking from a dream, shuddered violently, and accidentally knocked over the aquatic plant on the desk, spilling water everywhere and soaking the whole desktop.

Carter Shaw subconsciously touched his own face, wondering if his cultivation had regressed and corpse spots had appeared, scaring this unlucky kid into such a state.

“I-I-I-I’ll go now.” Charles Gray stammered as he hurriedly tried to clean up the mess.

Observing him, Carter Shaw asked, “Are you planning to storm a bunker or something? Why do you look so tragic?”

If Charles Gray had a pair of dog ears, they’d probably be drooping by now.

Twenty minutes later, the two of them walked out of No. 9 Daxue Road together. Carter Shaw frowned and came to a conclusion: “So, your second uncle wants you to go on a blind date.”

A small spark burst from the opening of Charles Gray’s pocket.

Carter Shaw quickly took a step to the side. “Watch it! Why are you so nervous? Is your date a tigress or something?”

Afraid of burning his pants, Charles Gray quickly cradled his little electric baton in his hands, instantly attracting a lot of stares. Before he could even reach the parking spot, a traffic warden at the intersection shouted, “What’s going on! No setting off fireworks or firecrackers in the city! So inconsiderate!”

Carter Shaw silently covered his face, pretending to gaze at the sky.

The corpse king was cold and aloof. Except for a few sarcastic remarks with acquaintances, he exuded an aura that kept strangers at bay. As a result, he was often lonely and bored, with nothing to do in his long free time except cultivate. His secret gossipy curiosity was never satisfied. Suddenly, he became curious about how humans went on blind dates, so he volunteered, “Alright, stop playing with that thing, or you’ll get fined. How about this: I’ll sit next to you and pretend to be a passerby, and accompany you through the whole blind date, okay?”

Charles Gray gave him a miserable look, and for a moment, he saw a gossipy eagerness on the usually stern face of Brother Carter.

They arrived more than half an hour early. Carter Shaw, with nothing to do, finished reading an entire old magazine before the girl finally arrived.

Carter Shaw watched as Charles Gray stiffened into a human stick, marveling at how he hadn’t seen a mortal with such zombie potential in years.

Carter Shaw’s gaze drifted downward and saw Charles Gray’s pant legs trembling uncontrollably. The whole person looked like a quail sitting on broken glass. He was glad he’d confiscated Charles Gray’s little electric baton first, or the plain-looking girl across from them would have been electrocuted into curly hair.

“Tsk, useless,” Carter Shaw thought, annoyed at his lack of backbone.

Fortunately, the girl had a good personality and didn’t immediately post a Weibo titled “Met a rare specimen on a blind date.” She was open and kept trying to start conversations. Charles Gray acted like a criminal under interrogation, trembling at every question and constantly sending distress signals to Carter Shaw—but Carter Shaw pretended to be engrossed in the menu and ignored him completely.

He trembled like this for over ten minutes before the girl finally couldn’t help but ask, “Are you… a bit nervous?”

Charles Gray blushed and nodded.

The girl smiled. “It’s okay, let’s just chat casually.”

Charles Gray blushed even more, nodded again, and glanced at her cautiously before quickly looking away.

Logically, faced with someone who couldn’t even speak properly, the other party should have stormed off. But this girl had a strange sense of affection; faced with Charles Gray, she inexplicably felt a desire to protect him.

“You really remind me of that little Indian guy from ‘The Big Bang Theory,’” she said happily. “So cute—my aunt said you’re a police officer, is that true?”

Charles Gray replied in a mosquito-like voice, “Mm.”

Girl: “Really! I couldn’t tell at all. So what do you do when you run into bad guys?”

Charles Gray thought for a moment and honestly described how he caught “bad guys.” He made a grabbing gesture, pretending to pick up his “secret weapon”: “Like this, and s-s-say, ‘Y-y-you, don’t come any closer,’ and then I catch them.”

The girl was stunned for a moment, then realized it was a joke, and burst out laughing, rocking back and forth: “Hahahahaha, you’re too cute!”

Charles Gray stared at her with blank, innocent eyes, not understanding why she was laughing.

Carter Shaw propped his chin and watched coldly. Recalling the reality of their work, he actually found a trace of what could be called “adorably dumb” in all this. But looking at the cheerful girl and the out-of-it Charles Gray, he glanced at his watch and felt that sitting there was getting boring.

But those two seemed to be chatting endlessly. Carter Shaw patiently took out his phone and played games for a long time, until his eyes started to blur. Finally, he couldn’t take it anymore and raised his hand to call the waiter: “Order, please.”

The waiter trotted over, only to hear Carter Shaw say in a light but sinister voice, “One Kung Pao chicken, please. Make the meat rare, with blood still in it.”

Waiter: “……”

Charles Gray heard this from afar, immediately turned to look at Carter Shaw, and, seeing the corpse king’s deathly pale face, instantly realized he’d gotten carried away.

But just as he was racking his brains for a way to end the conversation, the girl suddenly became serious and said to him, “By the way, there’s something I still want to say…”

She paused, seeming a bit embarrassed.

Charles Gray: “What is it?”

The girl lowered her eyes and thought for a moment. “It’s not really appropriate to say this on a first meeting, but I really do like you…”

Charles Gray turned as red as a sorghum stalk, his eyes going blank.

The girl continued, “So I want to be upfront. Honestly, I wasn’t really planning to come today, because my aunt said you’re a criminal police officer. I feel like living with a cop would be really unsettling, honestly. I’d be on edge every day, and over time… sigh. So, do you really want to do this job?”

Charles Gray was stunned and hadn’t had time to answer when a hand suddenly reached over, grabbed his shoulder without warning, and yanked him out of his seat.

Charles Gray: “Brother Carter?”

The girl looked at Carter Shaw in confusion.

Carter Shaw gave her a smile that didn’t reach his eyes, then turned to Charles Gray and, in a very ambiguous tone, said, “Going on a blind date behind my back? You sure are something!”

Charles Gray: “……”

Wh-what’s going on?

The girl’s eyes widened, completely stunned by the corpse king’s aura and the melodramatic scene. Carter Shaw directly pulled a few bills from Charles Gray’s pocket, pressed them under the cup, and, without giving anyone a chance to object, tucked Charles Gray under his arm and carried him away.

Charles Gray froze on the spot, and didn’t come back to himself until Carter Shaw stuffed him into the car, stretched out his legs like a lord, and ordered, “Drive. Take me somewhere first.”

Charles Gray looked at him, torn.

Carter Shaw: “What are you looking at? I’m doing this for her own good. Trying to steal Warden of Highspire’s man—she sure has some nerve, really…”

He paused, then, as if inspired, blurted out, “Foolish humans.”

…Foolish human Charles Gray said nothing, blushing as he quietly started the car.

In his satchel, a small, scale-like disc was transmitting a signal from a hidden spot.

The next day, rumors spread everywhere: “Brother Carter and little Gregory are up to something, No. 9 Daxue Road is a den of gays.”

And… what about the fate of Julian West, who just happened to overhear something he shouldn’t have and spread the rumor?

Oh, Amitabha, he ended up with a head full of bumps, looking like an Indian guy from a cartoon.