Chapter 37: Mute Monster
The flying ship activated its autopilot mode and, through a special flight channel, went straight to the top floor of the military headquarters building.
The top floor of the military and political building was connected to another building, the military’s treatment center, by a transfer channel. This channel had been opened three years ago to connect the Marshal’s treatment room on the top floor with the treatment center, to achieve the fastest possible emergency rescue.
It was impossible for family members to enter the military and political building. The military’s family area could only be arranged in the treatment center.
Now, this channel was convenient for Deng Xi. He could ride his mobility chair back and forth between the two sides without going up and down the stairs.
After getting off the flying ship, the mobility chair swayed and floated beside Si Jisheng, like a small tail behind him, and it was pink, sparkling.
Because of this tail, the Marshal himself didn’t look like he was coming to the military for work, but rather like he was showing off in a shopping mall.
The secretary-general, who was waiting on the top floor, almost thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. He looked at the new species that had been the subject of rumors these past two days, a precious merman who looked like he was having a great time, turning the steering wheel in the mobility chair.
He couldn’t help but look at their commander, the Marshal, who was as cold and solemn as usual.
With a slight “thump,” Deng Xi hadn’t learned how to brake yet. Unable to dodge in time, the mobility chair crashed into the secretary-general’s leg.
Deng Xi looked up at this unfamiliar human in a panic, lowered his eyelids, at a loss, but still said politely in the human language, “I’m sorry.”
He was still not very good at it.
The golden-haired, blue-tailed little merman obediently raised his face to apologize.
A strange, benevolent expression appeared on the secretary-general’s serious face. He held a folder and bent down slightly. “My honor.”
Si Jisheng narrowed his eyes slightly, raised his hand and placed it on Deng Xi’s flying chair, pulling it back to his side. He said in a cold voice, “Where is the family area?”
The secretary-general suddenly came back to his senses and instantly returned to his usual solemn expression. “It’s on floor B of the treatment center. I’ll take the madam—” The word was cut off. Under the Marshal’s cold gaze, he forcibly changed his words. “Is the Marshal going personally?”
Si Jisheng nodded slightly. “Lead the way.”
The secretary-general reminded him, “In half an hour, you have a meeting with your therapist.”
Si Jisheng acknowledged with a sound, unmoved.
The secretary-general was secretly speechless. He had to believe that what the adjutant had said was actually true. Their Marshal wasn’t just an old tree blooming. How could he tolerate someone playing “bumper cars” in the military and political building? And wasting work time on such small matters.
The only problem was.
The secretary-general looked at the new species in the flying chair again, his eyes so benevolent his heart was about to melt.
He didn’t know if such a young merman was of age yet. He was too well-behaved. How could the Marshal’s partner’s style be so different from the Marshal’s own?
The secretary-general led the way in front.
Si Jisheng took Deng Xi and, without looking sideways, went all the way from the top floor’s channel to the treatment center, and down to the family area on floor B.
The mobility chair would spray a water mist at regular intervals. The water mist evaporated quickly, and there would be no water accumulation inside.
From the time he left until now, the touch of Deng Xi’s tail had been moist, and had not dried out.
He controlled the flying chair to follow the little mute closely, looking at the surrounding environment curiously. But besides the male human next to the little mute, he had not seen any other people.
It wasn’t until the tightly closed door suddenly opened before his eyes.
The pink and blue area was decorated like a children’s playground. Deng Xi’s eyes widened slightly as he looked at the room full of human cubs. The sound of the cubs’ chattering filled his ears.
The little merman reached out and nervously tugged at the corner of the little mute’s clothes.
Si Jisheng’s brow furrowed slightly.
The secretary-general explained, “The family area of the treatment center is mostly filled with children. They are the children of the female therapists who are too busy with work and have no one to take care of them at home, so they have to bring them to work.”
Si Jisheng: “Is there anyone looking after them?”
The secretary-general: “Yes, Marshal, rest assured.”
Si Jisheng bent down and checked the comm on Deng Xi’s wrist. “Do you remember where the water is?”
Deng Xi nodded, lowered his head, and took out a small bottle from the cabinet of the flying chair. At his strong request, when they had left, the little mute had replaced the water inside with sweet fruit juice.
Si Jisheng asked again, “Open it again.”
Considering that the merman had never opened a human bottle before and his strength was small, the water bottle Si Jisheng had prepared was one that a cub could open with a single press.
Deng Xi recalled and, imitating the actions the little mute had taught him, successfully opened the water bottle.
Si Jisheng said in a low voice, “Mmm, very good.”
Deng Xi’s eyelids curved, and he took the initiative to say, “Little Mute, you can go now. I’ll be fine!”
The secretary-general, who had heard the whole conversation, was thunderstruck. The majestic image that the Marshal had built up in front of him over the years suddenly collapsed. He coughed. “Marshal, it’s almost time.”
Si Jisheng straightened up.
Deng Xi waved his hand and watched as the little mute walked away, step by step. The wide-open door closed again. The moment he turned around, he met the eyes of the room full of little cubs.
Deng Xi nervously clenched the juice cup in his hand. He heard the human cubs, who had suddenly quieted down for some reason, start to whisper again. “That scary adult is finally gone!”
“This big brother is so pretty.”
“I want to play with him.”
“His car is so cool!”
“I want one too.”
“Let’s go and find him.”
The human cubs, one foot deep, one foot shallow, ran up crookedly. A little girl with pigtails was holding a doll and asked Deng Xi, “Big brother, can I trade my doll for your car?”
Another little boy held up his toy car. “Can I trade my car for your car!”
Deng Xi was still in a daze when he was surrounded. The chattering cubs were holding their own toys, their faces full of awe as they stared at the chair the little mute had given him, all asking if they could play with it.
“No.” Deng Xi shook his head firmly. This was given to him by the little mute; he wouldn’t let anyone else play with it.
The cubs’ mouths turned down, and they looked like they were about to burst into tears.
The corners of Deng Xi’s lips curled up, and his eyes curved. “But, I can share my juice with you.”
The cubs’ eyes widened as they looked at the juice cup in Deng Xi’s hand. The girl with pigtails swallowed. “But my mom won’t let me drink juice.”
The little boy: “My mom won’t let me either.”
“Then let’s drink it secretly behind our moms’ backs.”
The cubs made up their minds.
The older child took the initiative to get the water cups from by the water dispenser and handed them out one by one. They lined up in an orderly fashion, looking at Deng Xi expectantly.
Because there were too many people and only a small bottle of juice, Deng Xi could only give each cub a little bit. In the end, all that was left for Deng Xi himself was a little bit of juice at the bottom of the bottle.
But Deng Xi had received a lot of toys, almost filling his flying chair.
While all the cubs were holding their paper cups and drinking juice, a lonely human child in a corner, with empty hands, caught Deng Xi’s attention.
His hair was white, and he was sitting alone in a corner, his head lowered. Because no one was playing with him, he could only pick at his hands out of boredom.
He looked lonely and pitiful.
Deng Xi controlled the flying chair and came to the side of the white-haired cub. He held out the last bit of juice and asked softly, “Do you want some?”
The white-haired cub, who had his head lowered, slowly raised it. Deng Xi’s breath hitched. Where a human’s ears should be, this human had a pair of fluffy, drooping ears.
Deng Xi remembered.
He had seen an animal with such ears in the research institute. They were a pair of rabbit ears.
The white-haired cub only looked at Deng Xi timidly, without reaching out or making a sound. He was frighteningly quiet.
Deng Xi pursed his lips. “You don’t want to drink juice?” He looked down and searched in his flying chair, took out a toy that the cubs had just given him, and handed it over. “Then do you want this?”
Before the white-haired cub could move, Deng Xi’s extended hand was suddenly slapped hard. He curled his fingers in pain, and the toy in his hand fell to the ground with a “clatter.”
The girl with pigtails rushed over like a firecracker and said angrily, “Big brother, you can’t give my doll to the monster to play with!”
Deng Xi’s hand was red from being hit. Before he could react, the cubs behind him began to pull at his flying chair, making the flying chair in mid-air sway. The little merman almost fell several times, and he gripped the control panel in fear.
The cubs’ voices were piercingly loud. “Big brother can’t play with the monster either!”
“My mom said that if you play with the monster, you’ll be infected!”
“Don’t become a monster!”
“He’s a mute monster!”
Just as Deng Xi was about to be pulled away from the corner, the entire flying chair was about to tip over backwards. The toys from before had all fallen to the ground. Just as Deng Xi in the flying chair was about to fall out, the white-haired cub in the corner, who had been silent all along, suddenly rushed out and silently pushed down all the children who were pulling at the flying chair.
The sound of crying and shouting instantly became a chaotic mess. The sound of “the monster is hitting people!” rose and fell.
After the flying chair automatically regained its balance, Deng Xi looked around in a panic. The cubs who had been pushed down got up and, in anger, immediately picked up the toys on the ground and threw them at the white-haired cub.
“Wait!” Deng Xi propped himself up with his arms. He pulled the white-haired cub, who was standing there foolishly, behind him. “Don’t fight.”
The blue-tail, which had been hidden under the flying chair, was exposed to the air, faintly visible under the Jiaoren silk.
The cubs’ crying and shouting suddenly paused, and then they let out a panicked scream. “He has a tail!”
“Big brother is also a monster!”
Monster.
Deng Xi’s movements froze in mid-air. His blue eyes blinked with difficulty. He lowered his eyelids to look. The cubs who had just been happily surrounding him were now looking at him with fear, and even the juice he had shared had been thrown to the ground with great force.
The paper cup was trampled into a dirty mess.
The juice that the little mute had given him, which Deng Xi himself hadn’t even drunk, was all spilled on the ground, becoming dirty.
The door to the family area was suddenly opened, and a middle-aged woman in a white coat appeared at the entrance. The white-haired cub, who had been standing there blankly, suddenly ran into the woman’s arms. From the time the incident had happened until now, he had finally said a single sentence, “Mom.”
A few minutes later, Deng Xi was taken to a new room. The flying chair was stopped opposite a table. He held the cup of hot water that the human woman had handed him and lowered his eyelids uneasily.
The middle-aged woman was holding the white-haired cub. She said in a low, apologetic voice, “I’m sorry, my son is an alien. Usually, when he’s alone, those children don’t deliberately target him. I don’t know what happened today. I’m sorry you were frightened, and thank you very much for protecting my son.”
Deng Xi clenched his fists and shook his head. “It’s okay.”
The middle-aged woman smiled. “I know you. Your name is Deng Xi, right? My surname is Li.”
The white-haired cub hugged the middle-aged woman tightly. The middle-aged woman comfortingly squeezed his rabbit ears, coaxed him in a gentle voice, and then looked at Deng Xi again.
Deng Xi always felt that this human’s eyes seemed a little sad, with a hint of helpless sorrow.
“I am the Marshal’s therapist.”
