Chapter 16
The morning at kindergarten had exhausted all of Xing Nuo’s energy.
He napped for more than three hours, finally waking up groggily as the evening sky blazed with fiery clouds.
The bedroom curtains swayed gently in the breeze, and a refreshing floral fragrance drifted in through the crack in the door.
Xing Nuo put on his slippers and padded into the living room. Seeing his dad watering flowers on the balcony, he walked over and hugged his leg.
“Dad~”
Shen Wen chuckled, scooped up the little sticky bun with one arm, and teased him about being a sleepyhead.
“Our little sleepyhead Xing Nuo is awake! We had a visitor just now, but you were fast asleep!”
Hearing this, Xing Nuo blushed, his cheeks as red as the sunset.
“No…I was…awake.” Xing Nuo mumbled, trying to defend himself.
Xing Nuo’s bright, dark eyes darted around, and, having learned the art of changing the subject, he turned his head away.
“What…visitor?”
Shen Wen put down the watering can, carried Zaizai to the living room, and showed him the gifts on the coffee table.
“Another one of your brothers, Shen Yan. These are gifts he brought for you.”
Several unopened gift boxes were arranged on the table, each thoughtfully decorated with popular cartoon characters, considering the recipient was a child.
Xing Nuo instantly recognized one of them, his eyes lighting up, and pointed at the box, revealing his little rice teeth. “Catman!”
“Go and open them. See if you like them.”
Shen Wen put Zaizai down and let him open the presents himself.
It was Xing Nuo’s first time receiving gifts. He excitedly circled the coffee table, his small hands on the surface, his face close to the boxes, exclaiming in awe.
Shen Yan, a monster capable of running a company in the human world, truly understood a child’s mind.
He had gifted Xing Nuo a Catman plush toy, a set of sunflower-themed stationery, a pair of cartoon-themed shoes, and, of course, Xing Nuo’s favorite –
A beautiful, small wooden sword.
The wooden sword was custom-made by a professional craftsman, modeled after the sword of Xing Nuo’s beloved little knight, but smaller and more suitable for a child.
Xing Nuo opened the box, saw the small wooden sword nestled inside, his eyes widening in disbelief, and let out a soft gasp.
He gently touched it, realizing it was a real wooden sword, and turned to show his dad.
“Dad…little sword!”
Xing Nuo wanted to hold up the box for his dad to see.
But it was a little heavy, and he couldn’t lift it, so he tugged on his dad’s clothes with his small hand.
Shen Wen bent down, following Xing Nuo’s tug, and glanced at the small wooden sword Shen Yan had given him. He couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Your brother certainly knows how to pick gifts.”
Every single gift perfectly catered to Xing Nuo’s interests.
The little one was so enthralled, his eyes sparkling like little stars.
Xing Nuo nodded vigorously in agreement, his curls, which had become messy after his nap, bouncing up and down, reflecting his excitement.
“For Zaizai…little sword?”
Xing Nuo loved the gift so much that he tilted his head, repeatedly asking his dad if it was really for him.
After receiving confirmation, Xing Nuo’s eyes shone like a galaxy, his face flushed with excitement, and he picked up the small wooden sword.
The wooden sword looked sturdy but was actually made of a very light wood, easy for a child to hold.
The carvings were simple, a miniature, simplified version of a knight’s sword, with a small black gem embedded in the hilt.
The silver sword carried by the little knight in his book also had a similar gem, gleaming and seemingly valuable.
The gem on Xing Nuo’s wooden sword was smaller and cuter, a simple black dot.
Holding his little wooden sword, Xing Nuo ran around the house excitedly, his eyes shining.
He couldn’t resist brandishing his little sword at everything he saw.
When his brother returned from school, Xing Nuo’s excitement reached its peak. He zipped around Shen Baizhou’s legs like a spinning top, holding up the sword for him to see.
“Brother…my little sword!”
Shen Baizhou looked down at the little one circling his legs, one hand tugging on his pants, completely blocking his path.
He stopped and picked up the clingy little bun.
“The little sword looks nice. Did you buy it this afternoon?”
Xing Nuo, slightly out of breath from running, paused for a moment, touched the sword, and generously offered it to his brother.
“Dad said…other brother…gave Zaizai.”
Shen Baizhou’s fingers, which were touching the wooden sword, froze. He abruptly looked up, his black hair falling away from his forehead, revealing a cold, sharp gaze.
“Who?! Which brother?!”
Didn’t Xing Nuo only have one brother?!
Shen Wen walked over with a plate of sliced apples, took Xing Nuo, sat down on the sofa, and fed Zaizai, casually adding:
“Shen Yan sent it.”
Shen Baizhou instantly bristled, his eyes narrowing into slits, and asked angrily:
“Shen Yan? What’s he trying to do?! Why is he giving Xing Nuo gifts?”
What did it mean, giving Xing Nuo gifts right in front of his real brother?
Shen Baizhou had always looked down on Shen Yan, that weak, low-level monster, a black, pathetic thing he could crush with a single finger!
As a monster born at the peak of power, Shen Baizhou couldn’t help but feel a sense of disdain for lower-level monsters.
Shen Baizhou sat down with a cold expression, grabbed an apple, and took a large bite.
“Anyway, Xing Nuo is my brother!” Shen Baizhou declared sternly.
He had destroyed countless monsters, clawed his way through bloodshed and carnage, even lost a tentacle, to become Xing Nuo’s brother.
What right did Shen Yan have?
“Did he also lose a tentacle?” Shen Baizhou mumbled to himself, his brows furrowed in confusion.
Shen Wen looked at the bewildered Shen Baizhou and sighed.
Truly an idiot.
Shen Yan had sent gifts to their doorstep, what could his intentions possibly be?
And each gift perfectly catered to Zaizai’s interests, showing the effort he had put in, understanding that success lay in the details.
But Shen Wen didn’t have the energy to deal with Shen Baizhou. He took Xing Nuo, who was sleepy after a long day, to wash up and go to bed.
Night. All was quiet.
Even the most dedicated night owls were asleep, the flashing neon lights extinguished, the city shrouded in darkness.
In the eastern district of Rongcheng, near the suburbs, a yellow and black cordon had been hastily erected in the afternoon.
The official explanation was road maintenance, temporarily closing off access.
Shen Yan, having finished his company work in the early hours of the morning, sat with his eyes closed in the back of his car, his driver taking him to his suburban villa.
Suddenly, the car screeched to a halt.
The driver’s face paled, his expression stiffening.
“Mr. Shen, I think…I hit something!”
There were hardly any cars on the winding mountain roads at night. Although he wasn’t driving slowly, he had been paying attention to the road. There hadn’t been anything in front of them!
Shen Yan slowly opened his eyes, lowered the car window, glanced outside, then looked away indifferently.
“It’s nothing, just a small rock. Continue.”
Outside the car, the small monster that had been hit trembled, hiding in the bushes, shrinking its bizarre body, desperately trying to make itself invisible.
Oh god, it had just escaped from an instance, hoping to devour some human energy to replenish itself. Who would have thought it would be so unlucky as to run into Shen Yan, that heartless monster!
Shen Yan’s name was infamous among the small monsters in the various infinite flow instances.
No monster captured by him had escaped his “employment program.”
Shen Yan didn’t like to directly devour a monster’s energy. Instead, he would offer you a contract, a job in his company within the instance.
Of course, you could refuse…
But those who refused never saw the next day’s sun.
This little monster had barely managed to escape through a spatial rift between worlds; it couldn’t be caught and forced to work for that heartless monster Shen Yan!
Relieved to have escaped, the little monster relaxed its stiff body. Just then, it turned and saw a team of human ability users staring intently at it.
Little monster: “…”
This was it, then.
The resident from the third floor of Xing Nuo’s building, wearing camouflage pants and black boots, stood among the ability users, sneered, and with a wave of his hand, the ability users swarmed forward, surrounding the little monster.
They battled the monster throughout the night. The fight didn’t end until dawn broke.
The third-floor resident, unshaven and his eyes bloodshot, dragged himself back to his newly rented apartment.
His mind, sluggish from a sleepless night, reached the elevator, and just as he was about to light a cigarette, the doors opened, revealing a blonde father and son, the child crying.
The little cub he had met once had watery eyes and seemed to be throwing a tantrum, refusing to hold his dad’s hand, only clutching his backpack strap tightly.
Xing Nuo wiped his tears, sniffled, and looked up at his dad.
Shen Wen’s expression was gentle yet distant, deliberately ignoring him, his gaze averted.
Xing Nuo felt even more aggrieved. His small shoulders shook as he sobbed, his head lowered, refusing to leave the elevator.
“Zaizai…no go…kindergarten.”
He had to wake up so early, and…Dad had said he wouldn’t go in with him today.
No way was the clever Zaizai going!
The third-floor resident tucked his cigarette behind his ear, amused by the little cub’s sulking. He had turned his face to the corner of the elevator, a little ball of fury.
“Don’t want to go to school?” the third-floor resident asked with a grin.
Watching the little one’s tantrum seemed to have a relaxing effect on him, easing the tension from his all-night battle with the monster. His fatigue seemed to vanish, his tone laced with amusement.
Shen Wen rubbed his temples and sighed.
“Xing Nuo promised yesterday that he would go to kindergarten every day, didn’t he?”
Xing Nuo, standing in the corner of the elevator with his back to his dad, his little ears perked up, shook his head vigorously.
“No!” he shouted at the top of his lungs.
