Shen Leyuan didn’t turn back.
His trembling hand brushed over the young man’s abdomen and chest, and raging fury ignited in its wake.
It itched.
Lin Yao’s stomach tightened, and he uncomfortably retreated two steps to dodge.
“It’s just a minor injury. What’s there to look at?” He deliberately used a lighthearted tone to tease the fool who looked about to cry. “Keep touching, and I’ll think you’re taking liberties with me.”
There was nothing to see.
It was ugly.
Shen Leyuan’s breathing grew heavy. “It’s aversion therapy, isn’t it?”
An unignorable gaze came from close by. Lin Yao met his father’s eyes—those eyes that were always cold, calm, even ruthless—now flickering with a hint of panic, as if afraid to hear his answer.
Whippings, forced medication, electric shocks, piercings.
Lin Yuan had tried anything that could make him feel discomfort. Whenever he showed closeness or affection toward Little Deer, the punishment arrived right on schedule, determined to carve that aversion—something that didn’t belong to him—deep into his body.
Why?
He insisted on keeping his fondness for Little Deer, on flaunting his clinginess in front of Lin Yuan, even fantasizing about sleeping with Little Deer to utterly shatter everything Lin Yuan clung to.
Back then, Lin Yao was young; that was the only revenge he could think of.
And now…
In the eerily calm stare-down, Lin Yao suddenly smiled, malicious excitement rising in his eyes. “Yes.”
Old man, you’ve got a weakness.
You think I’m abnormal, that you’re in the right, that treating me that way is correct. So stick to it now. Keep saying it. Tell him you’re free of guilt.
Let me see if you’re really free of guilt.
He withdrew his gaze to look at Shen Leyuan, thinking he should stir things up—mock the Fox Spirit for his fake benevolence, for staying silent now instead of piping up with complaints.
But when he opened his mouth, all that came out was a stiff repetition: “It’s aversion therapy.”
His voice was slightly hoarse, the tone so aggrieved, so aggrieved, aggrieved enough that he shamefully turned his face away after saying it, wishing he could slap himself.
Fuck, why am I acting spoiled?
Shen Leyuan didn’t argue with Lin Yuan as he’d expected. Instead, he took his hand and started to leave. “Come on, let’s get you to a doctor.”
The burn marks were severe, and in such a spot—internal organs might be damaged.
Lin Yao froze.
Dazed, he let himself be pulled along, not understanding why Shen Leyuan suddenly wanted to leave. I’ve been punished like this, and he won’t even snap back at him a few times? Would he only fight with Lin Yuan over Little Deer?
A restrained, angry voice came from behind. “Stop.”
Shen Leyuan took a deep breath and halted, meeting the eyes of the nearest bodyguard, who looked worried. In a gentle tone, almost pleading, he said, “Could you do me a favor and take your young master to see a doctor first?”
The bodyguard gritted his teeth and supported the stubborn red-haired young master. “Alright, the young master’s in my hands. Take care of yourself.”
Angry as we are, don’t clash head-on with the boss.
Some bodyguards couldn’t stand by either and chimed in. “I’ll help too.”
He didn’t know much about “aversion therapy,” but paired with those electric shock marks, anyone’s mind would flash to Yang Yongxin.
It was supposed to be a high-paying, easy job. He… well, he was a bit reluctant to quit, but with Teacher Shen facing the storm head-on, were they just going to play deaf and dumb?
No way. Their consciences wouldn’t allow it.
Lin Yao was half-dragged, half-pulled away. Shen Leyuan met Lin Yuan’s furious eyes.
The man said coldly, “Explain.”
Ha? He has the nerve to demand an explanation from me?
Shen Leyuan nearly laughed from sheer anger. “Explain what? That I trusted you to know your limits, trusted you as a responsible parent, trusted you to be mature and reliable?”
His breathing trembled more. Shen Leyuan said, “I deserve an explanation!”
I thought I could handle this job. I thought I could teach and care for them. I thought it was within my power. I thought things were getting better.
But reality isn’t like that. I’m sinking in the mire without realizing it.
No, you never trusted me.
Liar.
Lin Yuan eyed Shen Leyuan coldly and had a bodyguard hand over a thick stack of A4 papers.
Shen Leyuan looked down at them stiffly. They were years of observations on Lin Yao, filled with comparisons of normal and abnormal. Aversion therapy that could change any normal person had no effect on Lin Yao.
Neither electric shocks nor silent, lightless environments sped up Lin Yao’s heart rate. Only things and events related to Little Deer affected his emotions—as if he were born for Little Deer.
Shen Leyuan’s brows furrowed tightly.
Lin Yuan’s voice cut in at the right moment. “He’s a monster. Not a normal person.”
Shen Leyuan’s hand, about to turn the page, paused, his cheeks tightening along with it. He bit back the urge to smash the papers in Lin Yuan’s face.
Hold it in. I’m not here to fight.
He took another deep breath and, before speaking, told the bodyguards to leave.
The bodyguards hesitated—half because the boss hadn’t ordered it, half from worry that Shen might get hurt once they were gone.
The boss was disabled, but Shen had struggled just to climb the wall…
If it came to blows, he probably couldn’t win.
Lin Yuan: “Leave.”
The man restrained his temper, feeling he’d made a huge concession. Explaining the reasons amicably to the young man, clearing the room now was prep for an open, honest talk.
Shen Leyuan just didn’t want to lose control and curse, or make Lin Yuan lose face.
Losing face was fine—he didn’t care about that busted mug—but it’d ramp up communication difficulty, making the man dig in harder from humiliated anger.
Clutching the stack of documents, Shen Leyuan asked, “Lin Yao’s abnormal, like Little Deer’s guard, nourishment, or something else, so you want to sever their connection, right?”
Lin Yuan gave a faint “Mm.”
He simply couldn’t kill Little Deer. Lin Yao was another story. He’d raised him well for years, restrained from striking—more than merciful enough.
Shen Leyuan: “He’s abnormal, a monster, so you imprison, test, and hurt him, right?”
The words unsettled Lin Yuan.
It sounded like the young man still blamed him?
He stared into Shen Leyuan’s eyes, searching for even a trace of agreement, and repeated firmly, “He’s a monster.”
Not like a monster—Lin Yao was one.
Shen Leyuan’s grip on the documents lifted then dropped. He forced the next accusation through clenched teeth.
“But your logic is wrong. You’re not testing to confirm he’s a monster.” Shen Leyuan said gravely, “You prejudged him guilty, then used the tests to justify hurting him without restraint.”
Lin Yuan was disappointed. The young man seemed bewitched by the monster too.
Stubbornly, he added, “Lin Yao’s never been normal. Not from the start.”
Not since birth.
“Before you noticed this abnormality, he was no different from anyone else, but you still tortured him.” Shen Leyuan didn’t get pulled into his flawed logic. Calmly, he said, “You have an extraordinary aversion to him.”
“I could barely understand doing this to Little Deer, but Lin Yao… what did he do? He just likes Little Deer. He hasn’t done anything heinous. Even if he’s ‘nourishment,’ isolating him should suffice. Is ongoing aversion therapy necessary?”
Especially since the initial therapy could pass as treatment. But after? Now?
You’ve confirmed he can’t change, has no special powers, can be isolated. Sending him abroad beats locking him up for this twisted shit, right?
Lin Yuan remained unmoved. “I’ve tried killing Little Deer.”
But at most, non-lethal shocks—no further. That was probably the monster’s core; needed another way to kill it.
He’d thought the young man was that “way.”
Apparently not.
“You fucking—” Shen Leyuan lost it, swearing as he crumpled the documents in his fist. “What you’re doing is inhuman. Does that mean I can deem you abnormal too?”
In his rage, words tumbled out. “Can I do anything to you?!”
Lin Yuan met his eyes directly. “Yes.”
He paused, then said, “But you can’t. You’re not normal either.”
Shen Leyuan froze slightly.
Lin Yuan said, “I paid top dollar to hire ‘you,’ not a tutor. But you have no memory of that, do you?”
“You occasionally slip and mention the past, but the old ‘you’ wasn’t a teacher.”
“You’re not swayed by Little Deer, but you have excessive responsibility toward them, eager to shelter them under your wings. You have this inexplicable pull on people around you.”
Lin Yuan nailed it. “You’re not normal.”
Oh.
He’d half-expected it, so Shen Leyuan wasn’t even surprised. Mockingly, he said, “Then lock me up too. Give me the aversion therapy treatment?”
Lin Yuan replied lowly, “I couldn’t bear to.”
It sounded like a confession at first, but Shen Leyuan knew it was an accusation—resenting him for having the same “magic” as Little Deer, making it impossible to act.
“Fine, sure. Let’s say none of us are normal.” Shen Leyuan couldn’t explain easily and didn’t bother. “Let’s have a monster-to-monster talk, starting from my beginning.”
“The first day I met Little Deer, you examined me. Find anything?”
Lin Yuan fell silent.
Normal heart rate fluctuations, no bodily oddities.
Shen Leyuan: “Then I tutored Little Deer. Did I teach him anything I shouldn’t?”
Lin Yuan stayed silent.
No, he taught well. Little Deer was just too rotten to learn.
Shen Leyuan: “My student was locked in confinement, possibly suffering inhuman treatment. I came to save him. Wrong?”
Lin Yuan kept silent.
Far from it—even better than most. He could enter the “Most Moving Youth in China” contest.
Shen Leyuan: “So whose fault is it, exactly?”
Lin Yuan: …
Lin Yuan said deeply, “I did nothing wrong.”
The harsh punishments were justified, correct. Some unknown link existed between Lin Yao and Little Deer—punish one, the other quieted temporarily. Years of stability proved his methods worked.
The young man’s anger stemmed from not seeing that page yet.
Lin Yuan analyzed calmly, hoping he’d read more, see the reasons for his actions. It wasn’t “excessive aversion” toward Lin Yao. The young man should understand, support him.
He hadn’t gone overboard.
But before he could speak, Shen Leyuan’s disappointed gaze pinned him.
“You’re more like the monster than Lin Yao is.”
He strode past Lin Yuan. From behind came the man’s steady, calm voice. “I should have reported your existence.”
But he hadn’t. Yet.
Ha?
You think I’m scared of that?
Shen Leyuan mocked back, “Better report me quick then—before I report you first!”
