Chapter 41: What You Picked Up Was a Monster Part 2

“Absolutely not.” Tao Fangyi said with a laugh.

Wang could no longer smile. “Why?”

“I’m his uncle. What would it mean if the two of us started dating?” Tao Fangyi asked.

“But you’re not blood-related. You’re just a friend of his parents,” Wang was getting frantic. So that meant Tao Fangyi had already blocked his path upward? All because Tao Fangyi had obtained a fragment of his former body?

“It’s precisely because I’m a friend of his parents that I can’t do that. Making a move on a friend’s child would be too much, wouldn’t it?” Tao Fangyi said.

Wang: …

Meanwhile, on the other side, Wenren Fu was finally able to see the screen clearly again. He typed furiously, his keyboard almost shooting sparks. A message almost every second, sending the person he was flaming into a stun-lock effect.

“I just want you to understand that your feelings aren’t real ‘like’.” Tao Fangyi stroked Wang’s head. “You can gradually adapt, and then slowly sort them out.”

Wang truly didn’t understand what was going on with his own feelings, because he wasn’t normal to begin with; it was hard to measure his emotions by ordinary standards. Right now, Wang had only one thought. He didn’t care whether his feeling was real love or not; he was going to occupy that spot beside Tao Fangyi. Sort out his emotions? No. He was going to drag Tao Fangyi down with him.

“I understand,” Wang’s tone softened. “I’ll work hard to sort out my feelings.” He tried his best to make his smile not so terrifying.

Tao Fangyi was gratified. They smiled at each other.

“If in the end I find that I really do like you, what then?” Wang asked Tao Fangyi.

“Ah, don’t worry. I’ll apply to change your guardian.” Tao Fangyi patted Wang on the shoulder.

Wang’s smile vanished again. “You’ll do what?”

“Change your guardian. I’ll choose one carefully.” Tao Fangyi had already considered this issue.

The red ring on Wang’s neck glowed faintly, indicating his power was on the verge of losing control. Tao Fangyi narrowed his eyes, ready to suppress Wang’s anger. But then he saw Wang shrink back slightly, and there even seemed to be a sob.

Tao Fangyi: ?

Wenren Fu, who was flaming someone, sneered. At a time like this, violence would only backfire. To win over Tao Fangyi, one had to appeal to the heart.

Although Tao Fangyi often got irritated halfway through a heartfelt talk, he wouldn’t leave the grieving Wang to cry alone here. He had guessed correctly; Tao Fangyi indeed walked toward him. At that moment, Wang muttered, “Am I going to be thrown away again?” Tao Fangyi’s movement froze for an instant. Then Tao Fangyi cupped Wang’s face with both hands.

“You won’t be thrown away,” Tao Fangyi said softly. But his tone seemed a bit unsteady.

Wang looked at Tao Fangyi in confusion. He felt Tao Fangyi’s dark eyes were much wetter than usual. Why was that?

“You won’t be abandoned.” Tao Fangyi gently caressed Wang’s face. Tao Fangyi was smiling, but his brows were slightly furrowed. He seemed sad.

Wang thought for a while, and it wasn’t until Tao Fangyi’s tears fell that he realized what was going on.

Tao Fangyi was also dumbfounded when the tears fell. “You! You—you—are you okay!!” Wang hurriedly crouched down, his hands flailing helplessly near Tao Fangyi’s face, not knowing whether he should help wipe the tears away. This wasn’t right.

“I’m fine.” Tao Fangyi reached up and wiped away his own tears. He looked at the liquid on his fingertips and couldn’t help but frown. He looked left and right, studied it for a moment, then asked Wang, “What’s this about?”

“I don’t know, it’s your body!” Wang inexplicably thought of that pile of toys for three-year-olds. “Oh! Now that you’ve also recovered your childhood memories, are you like a little kid? When you see someone cry, you start crying too?”

“I don’t know.” Tao Fangyi pressed his chest. “But it does feel a bit uncomfortable.”

“You, you wait a moment.” Wang took out his phone and tapped on it. After a couple of taps, he suddenly pointed at Tao Fangyi’s face. “First, stop crying!” He wasn’t good at dealing with this kind of emotion.

“Okay.” Tao Fangyi clutched his chest and nodded seriously. Why had tears fallen? Why did his chest feel tight? Tao Fangyi recalled the scene just now. It seemed to be when Wang said tearfully, “Am I going to be thrown away again?”

【So you’re leaving again?】

The Big Wooden Cauldron felt a human palm caress its body. It was an old man, who smiled warmly at him and said nothing. When this old man first came in, he was a human who hadn’t yet come of age. He was very naughty and made many mistakes, but gradually, he became very steady and also taciturn. Until his hair turned white. When a human’s hair turned white, it meant they were about to leave. So this human was leaving again, just like all the humans before him. They left the Big Wooden Cauldron where it was and strode ahead themselves.

The old man’s child had passed away that year, his wife was also gone, and he was sick. He decided to find a good place to go. He said a lot to the Wooden Cauldron. Finally, the old man placed a small tiger carved from wood on the ground, turned around, and left. At that time, the Wooden Cauldron was thinking, what good place was that white-haired child going to? Why didn’t he take the Wooden Cauldron to the good place? By night, the Wooden Cauldron ran out the door once more, heading in the direction the white-haired child had left, searching for a long, long time. He found nothing at all.

“Oh, found it. This is a video of a child crying. If you cry when I play this video, then it means… Ah!!!” When Wang looked up, he found Tao Fangyi already in tears. Wang’s hand holding the phone trembled: “I—I haven’t played it yet.”

“No, it’s not because of you. I’m not a three-year-old child either.” It was just that after those memories were colored in, apart from joy, there was also belated sorrow. “Sorry, let me be alone for a while.” Tao Fangyi stood up. He felt his emotions were about to spiral out of control. Tao Fangyi turned and headed upstairs.

“Uncle Tao?! Tao Fangyi!!” Wang followed, but Tao Fangyi quickly shut himself in his room.

Tao Fangyi clutched his chest; his breathing gradually grew heavy. In that memory, he continuously gained, continuously observed. Likewise, he continuously lost. Come to think of it, when was the first time he walked with his Cauldron Legs? Oh, it was when someone who took care of him passed away. There were people chatting, saying that person had died. That person always liked to sit beside him, reaching out to knock on his cauldron body, like beating a drum. Even when that person grew old, they would still come and say many, many things. Tao Fangyi had memorized the days of each month he would come, because that person was truly too noisy. Whenever that person came, he would block his own hearing. But starting from a certain month, that person never came again. Where did he go? Why didn’t he come anymore? Did he go talk to someone else? The desire to explore forced the Big Wooden Cauldron to start moving. He slowly shuffled his body, reaching the threshold. He tried jumping many times. At that time, he wasn’t that agile, and the threshold was smashed to pieces. The Big Wooden Cauldron finally got out the door, but once outside, he was lost. It was so, so big. Where should he go to look?

“Haah… haah…” The rise and fall of Tao Fangyi’s chest became increasingly intense. It hurt so much. It hurt so much. Tao Fangyi had witnessed a lot and experienced a lot. He felt his steadiness should count as a form of reason. He had thought he was already used to parting. Happiness was as wonderful as he imagined, but he had underestimated the pain. Tao Fangyi’s tears were completely out of his control. “Ugh!!!” A low groan came from Tao Fangyi’s throat.

Outside the room, Wang was anxious, scratching his ears and cheeks, but he didn’t know what to do. Would Tao Fangyi go crazy? Meanwhile, Wenren Fu was searching online for how to comfort a sad person. But he felt the scenarios online couldn’t fit Tao Fangyi’s situation. Wenren Fu transformed back into his original form. If he hadn’t reacted fast enough, his True Form would have probably burst through the entire floor. One-meter-long Wenren Fu paced around the room. What to do? What to do? He anxiously scratched the sofa. What to do?! What to do!!!

But after emotions were pushed to the peak, the sadness began to decline. Tao Fangyi felt his breathing gradually calm. In his mind, the images of those people when they were young reappeared, along with the spring, summer, autumn, and winter he had seen inside that door. All things cycle endlessly. Tao Fangyi’s deep breaths gradually came under his own control. He closed his eyes, feeling those memories now refilled with emotion. His jaw slowly relaxed, and the corners of his mouth slightly lifted. Only after several thousand years had he truly seen their final moments. Tao Fangyi had continuously watched them step out of that door, and now, he himself had stepped out too.

Tao Fangyi slowly stood up. He walked to the door and pulled it open. Wang, who was leaning against the door, rolled in with a thud. “Ah!” Wang was startled awake. On the other side, Wenren Fu had almost scratched sparks out of the sofa, he was anxious. How should he comfort Tao Fangyi?! He hadn’t even figured out why Tao Fangyi was crying. But before he could speak, Tao Fangyi’s hand was already on his head.

“I’m fine now,” Tao Fangyi said with a smile. Wang clearly didn’t believe him.

“I just saw a few old friends,” Tao Fangyi said.

“You’ve been haunted by vengeful spirits?!” Wang’s body began emitting black smoke.

“Not vengeful spirits, just my own memories.” Tao Fangyi helplessly tapped his temple. “This feeling of sadness is really unpleasant.”

Wang was stunned.

“But I’ve kept the happiness they gave me,” Tao Fangyi said. “It’s a good thing.”

“You’re… not sad anymore?” Wang asked. Tao Fangyi’s speed at regulating his emotions was astonishingly fast.

“I’m still sad.” It just didn’t carry that kind of overwhelming, disorienting impact it had in that instant.

“Wang,” Tao Fangyi called.

Wang: “Huh?”

Tao Fangyi crouched down, once again cupping Wang’s cheeks. Wang’s mouth was slightly open, looking a bit dazed. His True Form was even more speechlessly stunned. Two tiger paws tightly hugging the sofa, eyes wide open, pupils perfectly round, looking utterly helpless. Tao Fangyi knew that the end of any relationship was inevitably endless sorrow, the pain of separation.

“If there truly comes a day of parting, I hope the happiness I’ve given you will be enough to let you bear it all.” Tao Fangyi gently held Wang in his arms.

Wang: …

“Don’t worry, I won’t actively throw you away.” Tao Fangyi changed his mind. He decided not to give Wang’s guardianship to anyone else; the child would be sad.

“I won’t let you fall for me.”

“You can’t do it…” Wenren Fu slowly slid off the sofa. “This will only make things worse and worse…” The computer was still ringing with a group of people cursing Wenren Fu online. But Wenren Fu couldn’t get angry, nor did he want to insult them anymore. Good heavens, when had he ever been so kind?

And Tao Fangyi was unaware of Wang’s silent breakdown. After his emotional outburst, he needed to rest. Tao Fangyi ordered takeout for Wang, letting him try the cuisine of the restaurants in The Nineteenth Level, and then he lay down in bed and fell asleep. Wang sat by Tao Fangyi’s bedside, sitting on the floor, hands on his knees, closely watching Tao Fangyi’s face. Their faces were very, very close. Wang tilted his head and pursed his lips. Then he carefully, slowly leaned his head forward. Wang’s forehead gently bumped against Tao Fangyi’s forehead. Then he quickly shrank back. Tao Fangyi had no reaction. Wang observed for a while, then stealthily leaned his head forward again, gently touching Tao Fangyi’s forehead once more. After the touch, he quickly recoiled. He couldn’t help but let out a soft “hehe” laugh, filled with a sense of luck. It was as if he had done some terrible thing behind Tao Fangyi’s back.