Chapter 131
Xing Nuo, looking at the crying An Zimuo, his face filled with confusion, then, realizing what had upset him, giggled.
“I really not sad! My daddies made up!”
An Zimuo, his wails abruptly ceasing, scratched his head, clutching his bag of chips, and chuckled sheepishly.
“Oh, that’s good. I thought your daddies were fighting again.”
Xing Nuo, thinking about his daddies’ polite but distant behavior towards each other lately, swung his legs and smiled, revealing his pearly white teeth.
“Daddies no fight now. They must miss each other!”
“Achoo!”
Wen Xingxue, working diligently at his company, suddenly shivered, feeling like someone was talking about him behind his back.
A sense of unease settled over him, and he asked his boss for the day off, planning to pick up Xing Nuo from school early.
Xing Nuo, holding his dad’s hand, skipped along, humming cheerfully, on their way home.
During lunch, Wen Xingxue’s unease intensified, and he looked at Shen Wen.
“Do you feel like something’s wrong?”
Shen Wen nodded, looking around their apartment, a similar feeling of dread washing over him.
“Yes, something…”
“Fire! Fire! Get out!”
“Run! It’s spreading!”
Before he could finish his sentence, panicked shouts from outside echoed through the windows.
The wail of sirens filled the air, the world outside suddenly plunged into chaos.
Wen Xingxue, ever practical, sensing the rising heat from upstairs, grabbed a wet towel and covered Xing Nuo’s nose and mouth.
“Let’s go! Get out!”
Shen Wen nodded and quickly followed Wen Xingxue.
Xing Nuo, carried by Wen Xingxue, his arms around his daddy’s neck, stayed quiet and still, not wanting to be a burden.
Flames, like a fiery dragon, licked at the doorway as they ran out, Shen Wen and Wen Xingxue working together, one retreating, the other slamming the door shut.
In a split second, they had momentarily contained the fire.
They stepped back from the hot door and, exchanging glances, their unspoken agreement clear,
yelled, “The balcony!”
Shen Wen ran to the balcony and quickly moved the plants.
Xing Nuo, following him, struggling to carry a small pot of daisies, placed it on the floor out of the way.
Wen Xingxue, having tied bedsheets together to make a rope, tossed it down.
“You take Xing Nuo down first.”
Shen Wen, not arguing, picked up Xing Nuo, gripped the rope with one hand, and effortlessly slid down.
Xing Nuo, looking at the approaching ground, his curls flying in the wind, the adrenaline pumping, gasped.
“Wind so cold!”
Shen Wen landed safely and, patting Xing Nuo’s head reassuringly, looked up at the balcony.
The flames behind Wen Xingxue were growing stronger, the red glow reflecting off his hair.
“What are you waiting for?! Jump!”
Shen Wen’s heart leaped into his throat, thinking Wen Xingxue was about to be engulfed by the flames.
But just in time, Wen Xingxue jumped, sliding down the rope.
Xing Nuo sighed in relief, his face smudged with soot, looking at his dad’s dust-covered golden hair and Other Daddy’s torn clothes, and giggled.
“We look so messy!”
He hugged his dad’s neck, his eyes crinkling into a smile, thinking that nothing was more precious than being alive.
Wen Xingxue gently patted Xing Nuo’s back, his hoarse voice soothing.
“Daddy’s here. Always with you.”
Shen Wen, looking at the burning buildings in their complex, turned and saw a blue rose.
“Only one left in your pot. Fire spreading…it would have died.”
Shen Wen stared at him, then slowly looked up, meeting Wen Xingxue’s gaze.
He noticed that Wen Xingxue’s eyes were remarkably similar to Xing Nuo’s.
Both had round, cat-like eyes, the corners slightly upturned, their pupils clear and bright like glass beads.
But Wen Xingxue’s eyes were colder and more distant, his expression grim, lacking Xing Nuo’s warmth and sweetness.
Shen Wen took the blue rose and, looking into Wen Xingxue’s eyes, remained silent.
Wen Xingxue, unfazed, glancing at the spreading flames, led Shen Wen and Xing Nuo to a more open area.
Many people, their faces pale with fear and soot, some with burns, had gathered there.
“Why are so many buildings on fire?”
“It’s so strange! The fire extinguishers are locked! We can’t open them!”
An elderly woman, clutching her arm, a bandage wrapped around a burn, suddenly exclaimed:
“I remember! This morning, I saw a group of suspicious-looking people sneaking around the buildings! I was on the rooftop, hanging laundry!”
Wen Xingxue’s ears perked up, and he turned to her.
“What were they doing? Were they from our complex?”
The woman, usually intimidated by Wen Xingxue, but now her fear overshadowed by anger and suspicion, said:
“They said they were inspecting some real estate project. I was busy with my laundry and didn’t pay much attention. But now that I think about it, they were acting very strangely!”
“They were carrying some weird devices and mumbling about ‘not here’ and ‘not there’!”
Wen Xingxue glanced at Shen Wen, about to say something, when a loud explosion echoed from their building.
The entire building started to collapse.
The deafening roar, the dust cloud rising, their home reduced to rubble in seconds.
Xing Nuo, watching his home disappear, his eyes filling with tears, wiped his cheeks with his hand.
“Our house…gone…”
Wen Xingxue’s expression turned even colder, his eyes like chips of ice.
“This was deliberate.”
Shen Wen’s voice was cold and flat, his face covered in a layer of dust, his usually impeccable appearance now ruined.
“If I find out who did this…” His eyes narrowed menacingly.
Wen Xingxue, asking someone for tissues, handed them to Shen Wen and Xing Nuo.
“Clean your faces. I have some cash. I’ll go buy some food.”
They had been interrupted during lunch and hadn’t eaten much.
Xing Nuo carefully wiped his dad’s face, then turned to Wen Xingxue and said:
“Other Daddy, come back quick. It’s dangerous now.”
Wen Xingxue, looking at Xing Nuo, his eyes softening, then glancing at Shen Wen, said:
“I will.”
Shen Wen, finding Wen Xingxue’s gentle demeanor irritating, frowned.
“Why are you looking at me? Just go.”
Wen Xingxue nodded and went to a nearby shop that hadn’t been damaged, buying some biscuits and water.
Thinking that Shen Wen and Xing Nuo must be shaken, he decided to buy something sweet.
He stood in front of the shelves, comparing different brands of marshmallows, when someone tapped his shoulder.
“God Wen (Wen-shen)! It’s really you!”
[TN: “Wen-shen” is a nickname for Wen Xingxue. “Shen” means “god” in Chinese, used here as a term of admiration.]
“Holy crap, we randomly entered a dungeon and ran into Wen, the Big Boss!”
“What mission are you on, Big Boss? This dungeon is so easy, you must be on a different one.”
Two or three people stood in front of him, their faces filled with excitement, their words a jumble of gamer jargon Wen Xingxue didn’t understand.
Wen Xingxue, his eyes narrowed, his voice hoarse, asked after a moment:
“Why are you here?”
A low-level player, eager to gain favor with the Big Boss, quickly explained.
“We were looking for an easy dungeon to earn some points. We heard this ‘Happy Family Residence’ dungeon was new, only C-rank, with easy monsters, so we came.”
“What about you, God Wen (Wen-shen)? Are you also in this dungeon?”
“Of course not! Some complex, high-level dungeons have smaller dungeons inside. God Wen (Wen-shen) only challenges A-rank and above. His mission must be different from ours.”
“Maybe his dungeon is the entire city!”
“That would be insane! A city-level dungeon is at least A-rank!”
Wen Xingxue, listening to them, holding the bag of marshmallows he had chosen for Xing Nuo, his mind racing,
looked up and asked:
“Did you start the fire in the complex?”
Their leader, walking over from another aisle, saw Wen Xingxue, his face showing a flicker of surprise, then indifference.
“Yeah, the monster in this dungeon is afraid of fire. It’s been hiding in the buildings. We chased it for days. This was the only way to force it out.”
Wen Xingxue’s grip tightened on the bag of marshmallows, a faint crackling sound.
“Many people died in that fire. Buildings collapsed. Didn’t you see?”
The player leader, finding Wen Xingxue’s concern strange, looked at him, puzzled.
“Why are you being so sentimental, God Wen (Wen-shen)? You’re usually ruthless when killing monsters. And they’re just NPCs.”
Wen Xingxue, suppressing his anger, thinking of his own home being destroyed, these people acting so carefree, wanted to punch them.
“What’s an NPC?”
The leader, finally realizing something was wrong, but still wary of offending the powerful Wen Xingxue, frowned.
“Even if they’re not NPCs, so what? This dungeon didn’t involve any ordinary people. And even if it did, we would have done the same.”
“The world has changed. It’s survival of the fittest. Those people were going to die anyway. What difference does it make if it’s a day earlier or later?”
