Chapter 41: Anomalous Time 07

In the silent world reflected in her light brown eyes, the frail little girl finally raised her hand—which had been trembling lightly at her side—after receiving the man’s sincere promise.

She solemnly extended her pinky finger and hooked it with the pinky of the handsome big brother smiling before her.

At the same time, she timidly glanced toward the adults in the room and said on her own initiative, “I… I’m He Xi.”

They had already learned her name from Yu Bai beforehand.

But aside from him, no one knew which “Xi” it was.

“That’s a lovely name!” Yan Jing sniffled, his eyes brimming with tears as he praised her. Then he followed up with a question. “Is it Xi as in evening? Xi as in hope? Or Xi as in stream?”

The little girl looked utterly baffled as he repeated her name three times in a row, but she still responded earnestly to each one. “Yeah, yeah, yeah.”

“…”

Yuan Yuxing, who had been hanging his head and furtively wiping the tears streaming from his eyes, shot him a speechless look. “You really are a big dumb guy! All you do is cry!”

Yan Jing still hadn’t caught on. “I was just asking which character it is, Uncle Yuan. Why are you cursing me out again? As if you weren’t crying too!”

“That’s because this poor little girl tugs at the heartstrings. What’s wrong with an old man like me shedding a few tears? You idiot didn’t even think about how you asked. How was she supposed to understand what you meant—”

It was the second time Yu Bai had heard this bizarre exchange where neither side understood the other. He couldn’t help laughing and answered for the bewildered He Xi.

“It’s Xi as in watermelon.”

As he spoke, a realization suddenly hit him, coming a bit late.

That very first day, he and Yan Jing had followed the sound of what seemed to be a little girl’s heartbreaking sobs coming from inside their apartment wall all the way up to the rooftop. There, they had found a watermelon the size of a yoga ball. Later, amid the sweet flesh that had accidentally split open and the strange events that followed, he had gradually forgotten to investigate the source of those cries.

At the time, he never imagined that he would later go out of his way to help the little girl downstairs who was suffering from domestic abuse—He Xi—because after adding soundproofing, whatever noises came from the walls no longer bothered him.

Yet these two events had actually occurred on the same night.

In the real world, it had been nine days ago.

In this timespace, it was happening right now.

Tonight, He Xi had been fated to be beaten by her father, after which she would sneak into the dark confines of the wall to cry, disturbing the third-rate magazine writer upstairs who was holed up at home churning out deadlines.

Yu Bai gazed at the little girl before him with some daze. Her face bore the marks of old wounds that hadn’t fully healed, but at least tonight, no shocking new bruises had been added.

He was just an utterly ordinary human being without any supernatural powers, someone who spent his days thinking only of minding his own business.

But at least in this moment, it seemed he had truly saved the world.

Or rather, the world of one little girl.

Just like his father, many years ago, who had saved countless tiny worlds in an instant.

The father who had charged at the offending sedan on his electric scooter, shielding the crowd from impact. In that moment when he sacrificed his life to save the world, what had been going through his mind?

Unfortunately, the son he had left behind on Earth would probably never know the answer.

Yu Bai finished the pinky promise with the little girl and stood up. His gaze instinctively turned toward the man behind him.

“Little Xie,” he called out familiarly. “Do me a favor.”

“Sure,” Xie Wufang replied. “What is it?”

Yu Bai gently pushed the little girl, who had just introduced herself, toward him. “Keep an eye on the kid outside for me. We’ll be out soon.”

With his eyes, he gestured toward the back of the room. “Before we go, we still need to take care of things here.”

The unremarkable middle-aged man was still slumped on the floor, making faint guttural noises from his throat. He looked like he was about to regain consciousness from his stupor.

Yu Bai intended to take He Xi away, but after calming down, he had no plans to slip out quietly.

He didn’t want to be chased by the police again.

He needed to have a word with this scumbag father first.

As for how they would communicate…

It wasn’t something for a child to see.

Even the non-human shouldn’t watch.

After all, he didn’t want to tarnish humanity’s image.

Xie Wufang glanced at He Xi and gave a slight nod. “I’ll wait for you outside.”

From inside the room, Yan Jing chimed in. “Right, are we just taking He Xi with us like this? What if her dad calls the cops?”

Yuan Yuxing thought of something. “Little Bai, you’re not thinking of having the big dumb guy…”

Yu Bai didn’t answer them. Instead, he said softly to He Xi, who was standing beside Xie Wufang, “See you in a bit.”

He Xi’s eyes widened as she nodded.

The familiar apartment door closed in front of her.

The motion-sensor light flickered on. In the dimly lit hallway of the nighttime building, only she remained, along with…

Along with the blue-eyed god.

Being alone with a god made her a little nervous, and her fingers fidgeted restlessly.

Muffled voices drifted indistinctly from behind the poorly soundproofed door—not heated, and no loud noises accompanied them.

He Xi felt a bit surprised and murmured to herself, “Is Daddy not getting beaten…?”

Like the old man who treated her like a peer, she had assumed the brown-haired big brother would have the muscular big brother beat her dad again—until he was too scared to call the police.

But there was no response from beside her.

The motion-sensor light quietly went out.

In the spreading darkness, the god remained silent.

He Xi cautiously craned her neck to look up at him.

She was so short that it was a struggle, and with only faint moonlight in the hallway, she couldn’t make out the full expression on the man’s face. She could only glimpse that distant hint of blue.

Standing there in the pitch-black hallway, He Xi suddenly thought of the forest from her picture books.

A serene, mysterious forest that seemed endless, filling the entire world. Amid the lush, verdant trees, bright fireflies occasionally flitted by.

Blue fireflies.

This led her to recall her own wanderings inside the pitch-black walls.

Sometimes, she could hear sounds from other families outside.

Cheerful noises weaving through the walls like stars—hazy and indistinct, so close yet so far.

The stars streaked past her, but not a single one belonged to her.

The little girl, who usually seemed so timid, suddenly mustered her courage. With her childish voice, she turned on the hallway light.

“Excuse me,” she said, “are… are you a god?”

The light came back on, and the silent god beside her finally lowered his gaze to her.

He still said nothing, and there was no denial in his eyes.

The little girl knew this was called acquiescence.

“Can I ask you one more question?” He Xi asked softly. “What are you doing here in the human world?”

She held her breath after speaking, staring intently at the god as she awaited his answer.

This time, the god finally spoke.

“You already did.”

He said it faintly.

He Xi froze for a moment, then immediately apologized. “Sorry! Please pretend I didn’t… didn’t ask.”

She had been too curious and forgotten to wait for his permission.

However, the seemingly aloof god answered her somewhat rude question anyway.

“I’m traveling.”

He Xi was very surprised.

So gods went traveling too.

She couldn’t help but ask about his travel experience, worried he might be disappointed with Earth.

“Is the human world fun?”

At this question, a ripple passed through those unique gray-blue eyes. After a long pause, he replied, “I don’t know.”

He Xi, who had waited so long she feared Earth was about to receive a scathing review, blinked in astonishment and repeated, “You don’t know?”

How could it be “I don’t know”?

It should have been a definite yes.

Although in her short life so far, she hadn’t found the human world fun at all.

But the adults all said otherwise.

They said the human world was worth it, that life was splendid and full of wonders, regrettably too brief and fleeting.

To her, though, the days already felt too long and dragged on too slowly.

Perhaps sensing her confusion, the tall god fell silent for a moment before explaining softly, “Living in the human world is hard. There are so many things to learn.”

The little girl nodded deeply in agreement.

She sighed every day about how tough her homework was and how exhausting it was to study.

“Besides, I don’t find it lively… Not like it was described in the notes.”

The little girl didn’t understand the second half of his sentence, but she got the first part.

She echoed softly, “Do you feel lonely too?”

She didn’t find the human world lively or fun either. She just felt lonely.

Those gray-blue eyes flickered quietly.

He said, “At first.”

Hearing this, He Xi had a sudden realization. “But not anymore, so that’s why you don’t know.”

Why did he no longer feel lonely?

Had the god, like her, had some miraculous encounter?

The little girl thought for a moment, then asked, “Is it because you met that big brother?”

She didn’t specify which one, but it seemed they both knew exactly who she meant.

The god silently shifted his gaze away and fell quiet once more, resuming his aloof demeanor.

Oddly enough, He Xi no longer felt nervous. She rubbed her sore neck, which ached from craning upward for so long, and let out a long breath.

She understood now—this was his tacit approval.

Strangely, she even felt a little urge to laugh.

Perhaps it was because she and this godlike being had shared the same bizarre encounter.

He Xi decided to muster her courage and ask one final question.

“How long is your journey? Will you leave this place in the future?”

As she spoke, the door in front of her suddenly swung open from the inside. Behind it appeared a head of warm brown hair and a pair of bright eyes, unobstructed by anything.

“Alright, I’ve got it sorted,” the young man said. Then, with surprise, he added, “Huh? Were you two chatting?”

The man and the little girl outside the door simply stared at him in a daze, not responding right away.

The young man, who had always worn a pair of black-framed glasses before, had now taken them off. His pupils, lighter than those of an ordinary person, were fully exposed under the light, gleaming like cool amber in the dim yellow glow of the room’s ceiling lamp.

Without the black frames to conceal and restrain him, his light brown hair was casually tied back. His skin was cool and pale, his coloring faint overall, making him seem almost translucent. Yet his features were delicately exquisite and strikingly vivid, blending cold detachment with radiant beauty into a strangely contradictory aura, accompanied by an undeniable sense of pressure.

This impression was especially intense when his face held no particular expression.

He Xi couldn’t help thinking that he looked even better this way than before.

But… but why did she suddenly feel a twinge of fear…?

In the brief silence, Big Brother waved his hand in front of their faces.

“What’s up? Don’t you recognize me anymore?”

Yu Bai had opened the door just in time to catch the little girl’s final words, so he added, “We’ll be leaving this place soon, He Xi. Do you have anything you need to take with you?”

He Xi snapped back to her senses and asked softly, “My backpack… Can I go to school?”

Big Brother smiled. “We agreed on this before—it’s your freedom. Do you want to go?”

So she could decide whether to go to school or not?

He Xi was utterly flattered and blurted out on reflex, “I don’t want to…”

She really couldn’t do homework; it was too hard.

Halfway through her words, she remembered that inexplicable pressure from moments ago and quietly changed her tune. “Um, I’ll go grab my backpack first.”

Amusement deepened in Yu Bai’s eyes. “Go ahead.”

The vast blue sky had transformed into a grand lake, and the golden elevator carried them toward another point in timespace, while a god quietly concealed himself among mortals.

With the world in such a state, Yu Bai truly didn’t care about an elementary school kid skipping class for a few days. It wouldn’t destroy the world, after all.

Whether she wanted to go to school or not was entirely up to her.

More than that, Yu Bai was curious about what the big man and the little girl had been discussing outside the door.

The non-human, who had always seemed utterly indifferent up to now, had actually been willing to chat with this unfamiliar little girl.

Though Xie Wufang hadn’t been looking directly at the girl earlier, Yu Bai recognized the expression as one of genuine attentiveness.

So he asked curiously, “Were you two talking just now?”

“Mm,” Xie Wufang replied. “She asked me if the human world is fun.”

…It sounded like the perfect whimsical topic for a non-human and a child.

Yu Bai couldn’t help chuckling. “So what did you tell her?”

“I said I don’t know.”

A perfectly honest, classic Xie Wufang answer.

As Yu Bai spoke, the man’s gaze finally shifted from his face. It moved past his shoulder, landing on the two humans inside the room—the ones who usually bickered endlessly but were now unusually quiet.

Yan Jing and Yuan Yuxing were staring blankly at Yu Bai’s back.

Xie Wufang asked with faint puzzlement, “What did you do in there? Why aren’t you wearing your glasses?”

Yu Bai followed his line of sight and offered a calm, unflinching smile, without a trace of guilt.

“Nothing much. I just had a little chat with He Xi’s dad.”

He called out to rouse the dazed pair. “Hey, snap out of it. Time to get going.”

He Xi’s father had come back to his senses by now but was still half-lying, half-sitting in the spot where he’d collapsed earlier. A crumpled note—likely torn off on impulse—lay on his stomach.

He Xi’s footsteps were quick and light as she hurried back to her room for her backpack. She deliberately skirted around the middle-aged man on the floor, terrified he might suddenly grab her.

But when she rushed out with her backpack a moment later, her father remained in the same position. He even flinched instinctively as she dashed past him.

That was because the brown-haired young man was approaching. He reached out and took the backpack from He Xi’s hands.

“No need to rush. Did you get everything?”

He Xi was always a bit timid in front of her father. She murmured softly, “Yeah, I’ve got it all.”

At that, the young man’s gaze shifted from the little girl to the middle-aged man.

He Wentao watched, wide-eyed, as the amusement vanished from the young man’s eyes.

He leaned down slightly and picked up the discarded note with his fingertips. His pale pupils held no emotion whatsoever, though his voice remained mild enough.

“He Wentao, I’m taking your daughter with me.” His words came neither too fast nor too slow. “Do you remember what I told you earlier?”

The note, with its single line of writing, swayed gently in the air. He Wentao shuddered and stammered, “Y-Yes, I remember!”

“Really?” The young man suddenly smiled. “Then repeat it back to me.”

His lips curved upward, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes at all. They remained utterly cold.

Amid the whirlwind of tonight’s sudden upheaval, He Wentao’s mind had gone nearly blank. Now, he struggled to recall. “Call you… to come pick up my daughter.”

With that, the note—still pinched between pale fingers—was flicked right into his face. It fluttered down lightly, like a puff of ash caught in the wind.

“Don’t forget,” the young man said with a smile. “Taking care of a kid is exhausting work.”

Then he took He Xi’s hand, shouldered her backpack for her, and turned to leave the chaotic home behind.

The others followed in his wake.

The middle-aged man, slumped on the floor, didn’t dare make a peep.

Only after the footsteps faded did he exhale in profound relief, scrambling on hands and knees to the door. He slammed it shut in a panic and fumbled with the lock.

The group left that floor and returned to Yu Bai’s place on the 12th floor.

Along the way, Yan Jing eagerly swooped in to take the backpack from Yu Bai’s hands. “Let me carry that! Let me!”

Yuan Yuxing was still struggling to process it all. He muttered, “I can’t believe you pulled that off. My god, that guy wouldn’t dare call you—even calling the cops is off the table for him.”

The little girl kept glancing back in a daze, as if she couldn’t trust her own eyes. “My dad… he looked…”

Just as weak and helpless as she did.

Big Brother ruffled her hair and finished her thought for her. “He’s not strong at all. He’s just bigger than you—but nowhere near as brave. You don’t need to be afraid of him.”

People like that, who bullied the weak and feared the strong, didn’t require any real effort to handle. Simply appearing tougher than them was enough to make them crumble.

Yan Jing couldn’t resist chiming in. “But seriously, Little Bai, I was scared of you back there too. Now I finally get why Tian Ge asked back in the day if we should round up a crew to run with you. That aura of yours is totally innate—and you look like you’ve actually been out there living that life…”

Yuan Yuxing was stunned. “What’s this about Tian Ge? Running with him? What ‘life’?”

“Little Bai, what exactly do you do for a living? I’m not kidding—you looked way too smooth kidnapping that little girl and holding her hostage—”

“…” Yu Bai shot Yan Jing a glare and corrected Uncle Yuan’s misconception. “No kidnapping, no hostage—don’t spread nonsense. I’m a law-abiding citizen.”

He was just taking He Xi out to have some fun for a few days and had politely left her father his number as a reminder to come pick her up later.

It was impeccable, both emotionally and legally.

His sharp glance made Yan Jing shiver for no reason. “Whoa, even your glare’s scary now. Maybe put the glasses back on?”

Yuan Yuxing nodded vigorously. “Yeah, yeah—put ’em on. Don’t wanna spook the little one; she’s got a delicate constitution.”

The little girl, still holding Big Brother’s hand, blinked in confusion. “I’m not sca—”

She didn’t get to finish. Yu Bai released her hand and reached for his glasses with a helpless expression.

“Fine, you guys think I’m ugly without them, huh?” he grumbled lightly at his friends. Then, in a quieter mutter, “Whatever, I’ll put them on.”

He came to a stop. The little girl kept walking ahead, so their positions swapped.

The man who had been at the rear caught up to Yu Bai’s side and paused as well, waiting for him.

Yu Bai heard a serious voice murmur close to his ear.

“Not scary. Very good-looking.”

Xie Wufang had taken his offhand comment at face value.

The cool metal frames paused midway in Yu Bai’s fingers as he turned his head in mild surprise.

His pale gaze collided abruptly with a rippling blue lake.

The man, now mere inches away, hesitated a moment before adding, “A different kind of good-looking.”