Chapter 4
The silver-haired teenager, looking down, didn’t quite catch what Xing Nuo was saying.
He stepped inside, holding the little cub, and searched around the entryway. Finally, he bent down and slipped a pair of fluffy bunny-eared slippers onto Xing Nuo’s feet.
“Put your shoes on, or you’ll get sick and have to soak in the pool again.”
Soaking for a whole day, the tiny cub curled up in the pool, unconscious, was a worrying sight.
Lin Ke, standing nearby, scratched his neck and couldn’t help but let out a small “Huh?”
“Dude, it’s the end of May, almost summer. You’re putting fluffy slippers on the kid?”
The silver-haired teenager looked up with a puzzled expression, lifting the little one’s foot.
He looked and looked, thinking, What’s wrong with fluffy slippers?
They were fluffy and warm, perfect for a human cub!
Xing Nuo’s mind was still foggy from being woken up in the middle of the night. Seeing his brother looking down at his shoes, he also slowly lowered his head, staring at the bunny slippers for a long time.
Finally, lifting his little head, Xing Nuo remembered something and continued in his slurred speech:
“Find…Daddy.”
Lin Ke wanted to ask where his dad had gone, but before he could speak, his mother, storming down the stairs, grabbed his ear.
“Lin Ke! What were you screaming about in the stairwell in the middle of the night? You woke up the whole building!”
Lin’s mother, seeing Xing Nuo, sleepy and nodding off, felt instantly distressed and guilty.
“I’m so sorry. Lin Ke is in his last year of high school, under a lot of pressure. He woke you up in the middle of the night.”
Lin’s mother then looked at the silver-haired teenager, puzzled.
“And you are…?”
The teenager’s lips pressed together, his voice flat:
“Shen Baizhou, Xing Nuo’s older brother.”
Lin’s mother just said “Oh.” Seeing Xing Nuo leaning against the edgy, white-haired teenager with an air of dependence, she didn’t question it further.
These new neighbors have such unique hair color.
Must run in the family.
After apologizing repeatedly, Lin’s mother dragged her son upstairs, gritting her teeth.
“Get back inside! Don’t disturb the neighbors!”
Before entering their apartment, Lin Ke protested:
“I really did encounter a ghost wall just now! Why don’t you believe me?!”
The door slammed shut.
Shen Baizhou felt the world finally quiet down.
Picking up Xing Nuo, whose eyelids were already drooping, Shen Baizhou gently patted his back and walked towards the bedroom.
Xing Nuo could barely keep his eyes open, mumbling:
“Find…find…”
He was still thinking about finding his dad.
Shen Baizhou didn’t stop, gently placing the little one on the bed and patting his back.
It was already the middle of the night, and Xing Nuo’s mind was hazy. The thought of finding his dad was gradually pushed aside by sleepiness.
Within a few breaths, Xing Nuo’s eyelids closed, unable to open again.
Shen Baizhou watched the cub’s breathing even out, tucked him in, and clumsily placed the sleep pillow in Xing Nuo’s arms.
Seeing the cub asleep, Shen Baizhou rested his chin on his hand, watched for a while, and couldn’t resist pinching Xing Nuo’s flushed, sleeping cheeks.
They felt soft and warm.
Shen Baizhou’s usually half-closed eyes suddenly curved into a smile.
This must be what Father called the “breath of life” that humans have.
Shen Baizhou pinched his own cheek.
Ice-cold. Not the touch of a normal human.
The morning light streamed into the cozy bedroom, waking the idle Shen Baizhou.
Shen Baizhou’s mind, blank all night, slowly began to function, pondering a question.
This house didn’t seem to have a bathtub.
Where would he sleep?
Xing Nuo woke up, his sleepy eyes meeting the equally dazed gaze of his older brother, Shen Baizhou.
Xing Nuo tilted his head, his hair falling against his cheek.
“Big brother?”
Whatcha thinking?
Shen Baizhou hummed, looking at the little one’s soft, messy hair, and instinctively reached out to ruffle it.
A wave of pleasant emotion washed over him.
Touching Zaizai’s hair put Shen Baizhou in a good mood. He shook his head.
“Nothing. Want breakfast?”
This “breakfast” thing was something Shen Baizhou learned from watching human documentaries.
He learned that humans needed to eat breakfast.
Especially little cubs; they couldn’t miss a single meal!
Otherwise, the fragile little cubs would die.
Xing Nuo’s newly rebooted brain was still a bit fuzzy. He didn’t realize he wasn’t in the castle, nor did he notice his dad’s absence.
He nodded and reached out to his brother.
“Okay.”
Shen Baizhou hadn’t lived in the castle for long, and his movements while holding the cub were a bit stiff. He slowly shuffled to the kitchen.
“Wait here, Big Brother will get you food.”
Shen Baizhou placed Xing Nuo at the doorway and lifted the lid of a pot.
No food?
He opened another pan. Nothing there either?!
Confusion clouded Shen Baizhou’s eyes.
Before coming to the human world, he had diligently watched documentaries.
Human food was kept in pots. Why wasn’t there any in this house?
Shen Baizhou frowned, staring at the kitchen, unable to figure out what was wrong.
At the doorway, Xing Nuo’s face still bore the marks from sleep, his little head tilted up, his soft, messy hair falling down, as he watched his brother search for food in the pots with a bewildered expression.
“Big brother?”
Shen Baizhou raised a hand. “It’s okay, Big Brother is thinking.”
Xing Nuo stood obediently at the doorway, scratching his cheek, his sleepy mind gradually clearing.
“Don’t eat!”
Seeing his brother’s predicament, Xing Nuo offered a helpful suggestion.
However, it was immediately rejected by Shen Baizhou.
“No, you’ll die!”
Shen Baizhou’s expression was serious. He walked to the doorway, crouched down, and pinched Xing Nuo’s soft cheeks, gently pulling them.
“Humans must eat!”
Shen Baizhou thought for a moment, finally coming up with an idea.
“I’ll go steal some.”
True to being raised by Shen Wen, his first reaction to a problem was to steal from others.
“No…no…”
Xing Nuo, his cheeks being pinched, shook his head, trying to dissuade his brother from his dangerous idea.
“Don’t steal.”
Shen Baizhou didn’t listen.
He stood up, looked at the fruit-shaped clock hanging on the wall, and noticed it was almost eight o’clock.
Humans had to eat breakfast before eight!
Shen Baizhou walked to the living room, but suddenly sensed something. His expression changed, his monolid slightly drooping.
Coldness filled his eyes. He flashed to the door and abruptly pulled it open.
Lin Ke, standing at the doorway, let out a “Whoa!”
“Dude, why did you suddenly open the door? You scared me to death!”
Shen Baizhou didn’t speak. His pale skin was cast in a dark hue by the doorway light, his face expressionless and indifferent.
He reached out, as if to grab Lin Ke’s neck.
Behind him, Xing Nuo stumbled over and bumped his head against Shen Baizhou’s leg.
Shen Baizhou’s hand paused mid-air, instantly changing direction to pick up Xing Nuo, whose head had turned red from the impact.
“Your head is red.” Shen Baizhou frowned.
Xing Nuo lifted his little face towards his brother, his voice slurred:
“Blow blow.”
Looking at Xing Nuo’s reddened forehead, Shen Baizhou’s expression softened.
Although he didn’t understand the purpose of blowing on it, Shen Baizhou dutifully lowered his eyes and blew on the cub’s forehead.
Lin Ke, across from them, patted his chest. Seeing this brotherly scene, he felt it was quite heartwarming.
“You scared me! With that look on your face just now, I thought you were going to kill me, hahaha.”
Lin Ke cracked a joke he thought was humorous. Noticing Shen Baizhou didn’t respond, he felt a bit awkward and quickly changed the subject.
“Uh, my mom asked me to bring over some fruit. Sorry about waking you up last night.”
“But dude, I’m serious, there’s definitely something wrong with our stairwell. I’m planning to find a Taoist priest or a monk to exorcise it today!”
“I don’t know what’s going on, but there have been a lot of strange things happening lately!”
Lin Ke was chatty and optimistic, and even though Shen Baizhou remained expressionless and silent, he could happily talk for a long time by himself.
After finishing, Lin Ke handed over the fruit basket.
Shen Baizhou didn’t take it. He tilted his head, his silver hair brushing against his slightly open, light-colored eyes, and looked at the other bag in Lin Ke’s hand.
“What’s in your left hand?”
Lin Ke let out an “Ah” and lifted the bag containing steamed buns, taking a large bite.
“My breakfast!” he mumbled.
Shen Baizhou’s monolid lifted slightly as he glanced at Lin Ke.
“Oh.”
Contaminated with saliva, inedible.
Lin Ke seemed to remember something and swallowed his bun.
“You haven’t had breakfast yet, have you? My mom made a lot. I’ll get you some!”
Both Lin’s mother and son were warm and generous. Before Shen Baizhou could speak, Lin Ke dashed back upstairs and returned with a steamer basket of buns.
Just before eight o’clock, Xing Nuo’s breakfast was finally secured.
Knowing the brothers hadn’t made breakfast, Lin’s mother also gave them half a pot of oatmeal porridge with sweet, creamy milk, making it deliciously sweet.
Xing Nuo held the large, soft, white bun in both hands, only managing to bite off a small piece with each mouthful.
But he still ate with relish, his little legs swinging as his brother fed him spoonfuls of oatmeal porridge.
After a couple of bites of the bun, Xing Nuo was almost full. He looked at the spoon at his lips and shook his head.
“No more.”
Shen Baizhou, holding the spoon, suddenly opened his eyes wide.
He seriously shook his head in refusal. “Human cubs need to eat a lot to be healthy.”
He only had one little brother, so small. What if he didn’t eat enough and died?
Anxiety filled Shen Baizhou. He patiently coaxed Xing Nuo and fed him two more bites.
Xing Nuo, whose appetite was small, pursed his lips and refused to eat any more.
Avoiding his brother’s spoon, Xing Nuo looked around and asked again:
“Where’s Daddy?”
Seeing Xing Nuo truly wouldn’t eat anymore, Shen Baizhou put the spoon down and shook his head.
“Don’t know. He’s not dead, anyway.”
Xing Nuo looked confused. “Not dead?”
Shen Baizhou nodded. “Mm-hmm.”
For Shen Baizhou, judging the state of a monster or a person was simply determining whether they were alive or dead.
If they were alive, then everything was fine.
Given Shen Wen’s power, he was definitely still alive and well.
Xing Nuo was temporarily appeased by his brother. His little mind pondered for a long time, concluding that Daddy must be very busy.
“Okay.”
With Daddy gone, Xing Nuo clung to his brother.
Xing Nuo’s weak constitution since birth and the isolated environment he grew up in had made him extremely dependent on adults.
Shen Wen had noticed this problem long ago.
He sometimes needed to enter dungeons, dangerous places unsuitable for Xing Nuo.
After much thought, Shen Wen thought of the monster he had created—
Shen Baizhou.
Shen Wen chose Shen Baizhou for several reasons.
Shen Baizhou was incredibly powerful, arguably the strongest combatant among dungeon bosses. Even Shen Wen wouldn’t directly confront him.
Of course, the most crucial reason was that Shen Baizhou wasn’t very bright.
