Chapter 11: Who’s the Healer, Who’s the Rebel?

“Wang, do you want to kill people?” Tao Fangyi asked.

“No, not really. Why?” Wang poked at Tao Fangyi’s body.

“Then do you want to eat a fierce ghost?” Tao Fangyi asked again.

“No~” Wang continued poking Tao Fangyi. “Why are you asking these things? Have you gone bad?” His tone carried a note of inexplicable delight.

“Not really.” Tao Fangyi scratched his head, a little embarrassed. “It’s just that you’re a bit annoying right now.”

Wang’s movements stopped.

He processed this for a moment, trying to grasp the deeper meaning of Tao Fangyi’s words, but failed. “What did you say I am?”

“A bit annoying. Even though I don’t know why you keep rubbing and poking me, and you like to nuzzle against me, you’re not a child anymore. It bothers me a little.” Tao Fangyi was blunt.

Wang pulled his hand back and stood up straight. “You can accept a Screaming Kettle ringing in your ear every day. You can accept her dirty little paws touching you all over. But you can’t accept me poking you?”

“She’s four,” Tao Fangyi said. “Yao Yao is thirteen, and even she doesn’t do this anymore.”

“Frequent contact helps raise intimacy points,” Wang tried to reason with Tao Fangyi. He just wanted to become Tao Fangyi’s best friend.

“It also makes people feel like their personal space is being invaded,” Tao Fangyi added.

Wang: “… Aren’t you supposed to be rehabilitating me? And you’re blaming me for invading your personal space?” And, when it came down to it, did Tao Fangyi even have personal space?

“Rehabilitating an adult is different from rehabilitating a child. No matter how you put it, your level of socialization is higher than a kid’s,” Tao Fangyi wasn’t very keen on focusing his attention on one individual all day. “You can find a way you like to pass the time.”

Wang was silent.

He was stunned. This wasn’t quite what he had imagined.

Wasn’t the plan for him to be a lonely, helpless puppet doll drifting outside the world, unable to ever fit in?

“Let me out, and I’ll kill people, you know,” Wang said softly.

“Don’t worry, I didn’t undo the restraint on your neck.” Tao Fangyi waved his hand. He hoped Wang would find a corner to stay in. “Just thinking won’t cause any trouble.”

There had been too many unexpected incidents with this mission, and Tao Fangyi felt he needed a break.

“That’s a great way to end up friendless.”

“Adult friends all have their own personal space, don’t they?” Tao Fangyi had quite a few friends.

“Wait, wait!” Wang felt his head spinning. “What do you usually do in your personal time?”

Tao Fangyi pulled out his phone with his adorable doll-like face, then laboriously used his round hands to tap open a video app.

Wang: “So your personal time is just scrolling through videos?! You’re an entity that’s existed for a very long time! How can you like scrolling through videos?”

“Technology changes lives. When Xinxin holds me on the sofa, I secretly peek at the adults’ phone screens too.” Tao Fangyi pulled out his briefcase and took out a pair of over-ear headphones. “But the things they like are different from the things I like.”

“So you like…” Wang leaned in to glance at Tao Fangyi’s phone screen. Seeing the singer’s exaggerated getup on the video thumbnail, he was a little taken aback. “Uh? What’s this?”

Tao Fangyi tapped on the video.

Wang had excellent hearing, and even with Tao Fangyi wearing headphones, he could hear the music.

The first distorted guitar chord hit with a wildness that felt like a punch to the eardrums, making the corner of Wang’s mouth twitch.

Then there were the people in the video with their exaggerated hairstyles, the black studded leather outfits, and the various skull patterns on the stage.

… Heavy metal rock?

Tao Fangyi stared at the phone with a serious face, his head bobbing along to the drumbeat.

Wang watched as the bobbing grew bigger and faster, and finally, at the song’s climax, Tao Fangyi’s head was practically shaking so fast it blurred.

Very wild. Of course, it would probably be even wilder if Tao Fangyi didn’t look like a rag doll.

Wang had imagined Tao Fangyi to be a dull but fragile person, who, after the noise faded, would be a doll sitting alone on a windowsill, staring at the crowds of people passing by.

Logically, Wang constantly clinging to Tao Fangyi should have made him overwhelmed by this feeling of being depended on.

Tao Fangyi should indeed feel uneasy, but it should be an unease with intimate relationships.

His own appearance didn’t really look like an adult, or rather, he didn’t look human at all! That was Wang’s advantage. As long as he showed excessive dependence, Tao Fangyi should place him in a position closer to a pet.

Wang planned to slowly erode Tao Fangyi’s emotional life from a position of vulnerability.

Thinking this, Wang looked back at Tao Fangyi, who was mouthing the lyrics along with the music.

[You’re a bit annoying right now.]

Wang tightly clenched his fist.

His teeth made a constant clicking sound from grinding together.

Fine. Very challenging.

It wasn’t a total loss this time. At least he now knew Tao Fangyi liked heavy metal rock, a hobby that seemed to clash with his positive, upbeat persona.

Don’t show your emotions. Learn to disguise yourself.

Tao Fangyi, who was playing air guitar in the void, suddenly received a message.

“Huh?” Tao Fangyi was surprised. Why was Wenren Huaishu looking for him at this hour?

Tao Fangyi opened the chat window.

[Did you happen to run into Wenren Fu?] Wenren Huaishu asked.

Tao Fangyi’s current hands had trouble with the touchscreen. He painstakingly typed, but before he could finish, messages from the other side came pouring in rapidly.

[A few days ago, Little Fu suddenly asked me about your situation. I just felt something wasn’t right.]

[If you ever run into Little Fu, you must tell me.]

[His situation is very complicated.]

Tao Fangyi’s two characters, [No, I haven’t], were finally sent.

That pretty child with the heterochromatic eyes, who looked like a big cat, asked about him?

[That’s good to hear. If you do meet him later, please let me know.] Wenren Huaishu’s message came very quickly.

Tao Fangyi painstakingly typed back an [Okay].

Wenren Huaishu didn’t know that all her messages had just been seen by Wang, who was observing Tao Fangyi from the side.

Wang silently retreated to a corner and crouched down.

Sure enough, Mother worries, Wang thought.

He watched Tao Fangyi exit the chat, then continue watching rock videos, starting to shake his head wildly.

Wang: …

Tao Fangyi really was not the least bit curious about why Wenren Fu’s situation was complicated. What happened to specifically taking a picture to share with parents and being praised as a good child?

So, good kids or weird kids, none of them were as good as those bizarre rock singers on his phone?!

Damn it! Wasn’t his current appearance more unique than those singers?!

…

“You think he cares about you? In reality, he doesn’t care about anyone.” Wang said to Li Yao, his voice dark and sinister. “Whether it’s you or your little sister, he’ll forget you the second he turns his head.”

Li Yao didn’t understand. “Are you in a bad mood?” Wang had been muttering this nonstop since she got back.

Tao Fangyi, sitting nearby, also looked up at Wang.

“Ah~ just look at your innocent act.” Wang reached out and hooked a finger under Tao Fangyi’s chin. Of course, Tao Fangyi didn’t have a chin, so Wang just hooked the connecting point between his head and body.

“Are you very bothered that I called you a bit annoying?” Tao Fangyi asked him.

“I’m not bothered at all~” Wang waved a hand dismissively at Li Yao. “Right, go get me a drink.”

Li Yao didn’t move. She looked at the row of drinks on the table. “But you haven’t had a single sip of any of them.” She had already gone back and forth over a dozen times.

“That’s because I’m a ghost~” Wang finally smiled. “I can’t drink at all.”

Li Yao: “Then why did you have me get them?”

“Life is just this absurd. Who asked you to be reborn as a human?” Wang’s smile widened. He was clearly feeling pleasure.

Li Yao: “…You’re actually bullying a teenage girl.”

Wang: “It’s not bullying. It’s teaching you the cruelty of this world.”

“You’re just unhappy and taking it out on me.” Li Yao wasn’t convinced at all. “How mean.”

Wang didn’t refute her. He laughed happily.

Tao Fangyi looked up at Li Yao.

Although Li Yao’s tone held helplessness, that feeling of being out of her depth had disappeared.

“When can you take back my Heavenly Eye?” Li Yao asked Tao Fangyi. “I really don’t want to be deceived into child labor by this fierce ghost.”

Tao Fangyi sighed heavily. “I’m afraid it will be very difficult. You opened the Heavenly Eye because of a part of my body. Your Heavenly Eye probably won’t close until I finish my mission and leave.”

“That’s completely unreasonable!” Li Yao covered her face.

Closing the Heavenly Eye wasn’t that complicated, was it?

Wang couldn’t frown, so he just tilted his head to express his confusion.

Wasn’t it a simple matter?

Tao Fangyi raised a hand and waved it, signaling Wang not to say more.

[This child has changed ever since the day she met that fierce ghost,] Tao Fangyi sent a Sound Transmission to Wang. [She’s actually very happy to have come into contact with our world.]

Li Yao’s pain came from her own powerlessness, her feeling of being out of place in this unfamiliar environment.

But the existence of Tao Fangyi and Wang had become a secret in this strange environment, one that belonged solely to her.

Li Yao’s mother and stepfather were “adults with their own stories.” They had lived longer, experienced more. Thirteen-year-old Li Yao couldn’t possibly fully empathize with their choices.

She had always been fearful.

But now she also had a secret that adults couldn’t understand at all.

This old house was like a broken cardboard box leading to a “secret base.” Crawling through that cardboard box led to another world, a world only she knew about.

There were adventures from another world here—thrilling, exciting, and hilariously absurd.

In fact, Li Yao was a little bit proud. She knew she had been a Fox Demon in a past life. Even though an identity from a previous life couldn’t be brought into this one, and the story of that past life was a bit ridiculous, she had once been a Fox Demon—a legendary Fox Demon!

Some small, reality-detached fantasies began to creep into her head.

This positive emotion also affected the two adults in the house. They noticed Li Yao was less tense, which allowed them to be more relaxed around her.

And the adults’ more relaxed attitude fed back into Li Yao.

It was a positive cycle.

There was no need to end this prematurely.

Tao Fangyi explained to Wang.

Wang propped his head up and couldn’t help but click his tongue.

So this liar doll pretended to have encountered a difficulty, extending the time the Heavenly Eye would exist.

For some reason, Wang was reminded of the day his emotions broke down, when Tao Fangyi pretended to be defeated by him.

A person so clearly powerful, yet he could accept playing this game of the weak.

“I want a drink.” Wang was unhappy, and he tried to bully the kid.

“I won’t fall for your trick again.” Li Yao narrowed her eyes at him.

Wang turned his face away.

He truly hated kids. Getting smug just because she’d come into contact with a non-human world? Thinking she held some big secret? Who did she think she was? Her sense of self-importance was overblown.

[Whatever you’re thinking, don’t say it out loud,] Tao Fangyi reminded him.

Just what image did Tao Fangyi have of him in his heart? Would he really get angry at a child?

Wang completely ignored the fact that he’d just been hating on that kid.

“You’ll have to endure seeing fierce ghosts,” Tao Fangyi said, patting Li Yao’s hand.

“Ah! As compensation! And since no one else is home, let’s order takeout and have a good meal.” Tao Fangyi took out his phone. “My treat.”

Li Yao was shocked. “Do you have money on you?”

“I’m an adult who gets a salary too.” Tao Fangyi opened the delivery app. “I can make the takeout containers disappear cleanly, no need to worry about being found out!”

Tonight, Yang Hongling and the stepfather were both on the night shift.

Yang Hongling was just a small factory supervisor. Their factory had recently landed a huge order with a large volume and a short delivery deadline. And that stepfather was a driver responsible for express delivery, so he often worked night shifts anyway.

The kindergarten Ren Xinxin attended offered 24-hour childcare services, it just cost a bit more.

Now, only Li Yao was home.

“As long as we don’t let the delivery guy bring it upstairs, we don’t have to worry about the neighbors spotting!” Tao Fangyi said. “I have a fixed address. I’ll have it sent there, then I’ll use a spell to teleport the takeout over!”

“Then I want steamed grouper. Red East Star Grouper,” Wang raised his hand.

“I thought you couldn’t eat,” Li Yao said to him.

Wang: …

Ah, why did confident kids talk so much? Shy kids were indeed better. At least they were quiet.

Tao Fangyi suspected Wang was deliberately ordering the most expensive thing, but he didn’t expose him, just pretended to know nothing and started searching for the dish Wang ordered.

Dong dong dong. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

Wang and Tao Fangyi simultaneously tensed. Tao Fangyi put his phone away.

“I don’t smell any ghostly aura. Wang, what about you?” Tao Fangyi was a bit worried about another unexpected incident.

“Nothing.” Wang reached out a hand to block in front of Li Yao. “But that doesn’t mean there’s no danger. At this hour, no matter if it’s a person or a ghost outside, it’s dangerous.”

“Honestly, what are they thinking, leaving a thirteen-year-old kid home alone?”

Dong dong dong. That person continued knocking.

Tao Fangyi suddenly let out a “Huh?” He sensed the aura of his Mission Target. “Is that Xinxin?”

“Did they come back?” Li Yao quickly got up to open the door.

Just as she opened the door, the neighbor’s door also opened.

The neighbor’s auntie glanced at Li Yao and Ren Xinxin standing at the door. She smiled and greeted them, then asked if Xinxin’s mother was behind her.

Ren Xinxin made an “Mm” sound, and the auntie smiled and closed her door, going back inside.

“Is Mom off work?” Li Yao looked toward the stairwell.

Ren Xinxin: “…No.”

Li Yao: “Huh?”

Ren Xinxin, carrying her backpack, walked into the room with her head down.

“What are you do—” Li Yao didn’t finish her sentence. Turning her head, she immediately saw the bruises on Ren Xinxin’s arm.

The hallway light was very dim, and Li Yao hadn’t noticed Ren Xinxin’s injuries at all.

Ren Xinxin’s hair was also a bit messy. She stood seriously by the shoe cabinet, her hands tightly gripping her backpack straps.

“What, what happened to you?!” Li Yao was startled.

Tears slid down from Ren Xinxin’s eyes. “I got in a fight.”

“Huh?” Li Yao was shocked.

Tao Fangyi and Wang also made sounds of shock, but their voices were ones no one else could hear.

Li Yao hurriedly closed the door to their home. “A fight? Weren’t you sleeping at kindergarten?”

Ren Xinxin pursed her lips, but her expression remained stubborn. “It was at the kindergarten.”

Li Yao took a moment to process this. “Wait, how did you manage to leave the kindergarten? No one escorted you all the way back? You got in a fight with a kid, how are your arms so bruised?”

“It wasn’t with a kid.” Ren Xinxin clenched her fists. “It was with a teacher.”

Li Yao’s brain completely crashed.

Tao Fangyi thought of some unpleasant possibilities. He hurriedly used a spell to check Ren Xinxin’s condition, and upon discovering the child had indeed just gotten into a fight with someone, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Wang folded his arms across his chest and leaned back against the sofa. “I admire this child.”

“I thought I’d never see delinquent kids brawling in their rebellious phase.” Since Li Yao’s personality meant she would never clash with anyone, Wang had been very disappointed, thinking she had wasted her rebellious phase.

[How could a four-year-old possibly be in her rebellious phase?] Tao Fangyi was a bit confused.

“Who knows? After all, a normal four-year-old wouldn’t fight a teacher. She fought back. This shows there’s still a warrior in this household.” Wang was very gratified. This was exactly what he loved to watch.