Chapter 17: Father and Son Drifting Apart

Lately, Li Yao and Ren Xinxin’s relationship had progressed by leaps and bounds. For Li Yao, Xinxin was no longer just the carrier of the label “half-sister.”

She had become a living, breathing annoyance of a child.

“Bwahaha! You can’t win!” Ren Xinxin clutched two toys and smashed them against each other.

One toy, colored black with a watercolor marker, was probably the villain. Xinxin mimicked the plot of her cartoon and voiced the villain’s lines.

Li Yao: …

She glanced at her practice workbook. Before she could even absorb the diagram, Ren Xinxin let out a shrieking “Mwahaha,” likely the villain taunting the hero.

“Xinxin,” Li Yao couldn’t help but call out.

Ren Xinxin looked up at her.

Li Yao had no idea why Xinxin insisted on being with her every single moment. Tao Fangyi’s take was that Xinxin had picked up on the shift in Li Yao’s demeanor.

Xinxin would have followed Li Yao into the bathroom if she could. Rejected, she would just wait outside the door, sitting on a little stool and entertaining herself with a game until Li Yao came out, then she’d be right back on Li Yao’s heels.

“We agreed you’d play quietly, right?” Li Yao asked with a smile.

At first, Xinxin had indeed been quiet, occasionally fiddling with her toys or frowning with feigned seriousness at Li Yao’s homework before asking Li Yao whether her answers were right or wrong.

Who on earth would know that?

“Ah! I was too loud.” Xinxin covered her mouth.

“I’ll go play outside the door.” Xinxin scooped up all her dolls and headed out of the room, Tao Fangyi among them.

Tao Fangyi was still in his waiting phase, very curious about what kind of role he’d be assigned.

After carting the dolls out, Xinxin came back for her little stool.

Li Yao was a bit worried Xinxin would be lonely by herself. Her gaze followed the girl.

Xinxin had originally closed the door, but she quickly realized that shutting it meant being separated from Li Yao. She gently pushed it open a crack and peeked inside the room.

Li Yao: “…Sigh.”

Xinxin immediately seized the opening: “Big Sister, why are you mad?”

“I’m not mad, the problems are just too hard,” Li Yao said.

Xinxin: “Then for really hard problems, should you write the right answer or the wrong answer?”

How did kids even comprehend these chains of cause and effect?

Tao Fangyi empathized deeply with Li Yao’s frustration, because he was currently experiencing it himself.

“Wanna fight?” Wang poked him. “Fight me, fight me.”

【I told you, I’m not fighting.】 Tao Fangyi had no interest in bullying kids.

But even after being rejected, Wang didn’t get angry. Instead, he started rubbing his face against the doll’s body, smiling as he did so. After a moment, he said softly, “You’re poor quality~”

【I’m not falling for that anymore.】 Tao Fangyi reminded him.

“If you don’t fight me, I’ll tear you to shreds,” Wang switched threats.

Tao Fangyi was unmoved.

Wang thought it over. Direct threats weren’t working, so…

“If you don’t fight me, I’ll lick you,” Wang said. “Your body is just this tiny little thing. I’ll put you in my mouth, chew you up, and spit you back out.”

【Go ahead and eat me.】 Tao Fangyi wasn’t scared in the slightest.

Wang was taken aback: “I’ll really do it.”

【I know. Eat up.】 Tao Fangyi’s face still held its faint blue glow.

Wang opened his mouth, which instantly grew to cover nearly two-thirds of his face.

But just as he opened it, he heard Tao Fangyi say: 【Xinxin has touched me several times without washing her hands.】

Wang snapped his mouth shut.

【Not eating anymore?】 Tao Fangyi asked him.

“There are germs.” Wang truly did want to stuff Tao Fangyi in his mouth and chew. The premise, of course, was that Tao Fangyi wasn’t covered in tiny handprints from a child’s touch.

【What a cleanly, good little boy.】 No sooner had Tao Fangyi finished speaking than Ren Xinxin grabbed him to play his assigned role.

This time, Tao Fangyi was cast as a hero doll.

“I can’t take it anymore,” Wang clutched his head. “When can we leave this godforsaken place?”

【Soon.】 Xinxin was a very easy child to frighten. Tao Fangyi had almost collected enough Fear Value.

“Huh?” Wang’s head shot up. “What do you mean?” He’d thought he’d be stuck in this house forever.

【Two weeks at most, and I can go.】 Tao Fangyi explained. 【I also wanted to ask you: do you feel you’ve been successfully rehabilitated? Do you plan to go with the people from the Combat Department, or should I take temporary custody of you?】

“I haven’t been rehabilitated. Can I enter the Nineteenth Level?” Wang asked him.

【Yes.】 Tao Fangyi had checked. Wang indeed had no human blood on his hands. What he ate were Fierce Ghosts who were burdened with blood debts. Corrupted ghosts like that weren’t protected by the Special Administration; the Administration even occasionally dispatched the Combat Department to eliminate them.

Of course, those ghosts being unprotected didn’t mean Wang could kill them freely. He wasn’t an official operative, his state was unstable and uncontrollable, so the Combat Department was also hunting him.

【I applied to my superiors to become your temporary guardian. If you can accept it, just sign a form later.】 Tao Fangyi said.

“You can apply for that?!” After asking, Wang sensed something was off. “Wait, I thought you hated me.”

【You are somewhat annoying, it’s true. But I don’t hate you.】 Tao Fangyi said. 【I’ve observed you for a while. You’re a ghost with your own consciousness and a remarkably clear self-awareness. As long as you agree, I can certainly take you in temporarily.】

“They aren’t afraid I’ll lose control?” Wang was shocked. He’d never heard of someone like him being taken in.

【Lose control?】 Tao Fangyi didn’t understand.

Wang looked at Tao Fangyi’s face, and suddenly understood.

Of course, Tao Fangyi’s application was approved. How could Wang ever escape while under his supervision?

Wang touched the red ring around his own neck and laughed.

The sound of Wang’s laughter immediately put Tao Fangyi on alert.

What was this kid going to cook up now?

As expected, Wang leaned his face right up against Tao Fangyi’s: “If you become my guardian, does that make us family?”

Tao Fangyi thought about it, then declared cheerfully: 【If you don’t mind, you can call me Dad.】

Wang: …

Wang: “No. I have my own dad.”

【Didn’t you say your family abused you? You can forget them and start anew.】 Tao Fangyi was quite excited. He’d never been a father before, and it was highly likely he’d never have direct descendants.

Now that he’d picked up a little Fierce Ghost, could he celebrate Father’s Day in the future, too?

Tao Fangyi was already daydreaming. Come to think of it, this kid and his old friend’s child even had the same hair color. Ignoring the face, weren’t they practically like twins?

Maybe, after raising him for a long time and developing a bond, Wang might even perform for him on Father’s Day, singing something like “A Lifetime of Hardworking Dad.”

And Tao Fangyi would definitely be moved to a blubbering, sobbing mess.

The little Fierce Ghost he was raising and his friend’s child might even become good friends. Wouldn’t that mean Tao Fangyi had a new identity to fit into his circle of friends with?

The more Tao Fangyi thought about it, the more sense it made: 【Come to think of it, we two actually look quite alike.】

“We look nothing alike. I said I have my own dad. I’m not planning on recognizing another one.” Wang could hear the excitement in Tao Fangyi’s tone. Now the tables had turned, and it was Tao Fangyi clinging to him.

【But your dad isn’t good.】 Tao Fangyi said.

“I’ve always felt that calling someone else ‘Dad’ means you’re getting taken advantage of,” Wang didn’t think he could hide his identity forever. Besides, there were never any intensely sharp conflicts between him and his family.

He did have issues with the old man, but it hadn’t reached the point of needing a new dad.

【I’d really love to be a dad. My friend is a dad now.】 Tao Fangyi sighed with emotion. 【He changed so much after becoming a father. He barely even cries anymore. I want to become more steady and composed, too.】

Wang: …

Elsewhere, at his office, Wenren Fu suddenly narrowed his eyes, a pensive look crossing his face.

Wang asked: “Cry? Which friend are you talking about?”

【You don’t know him. He was a Demon Patroller who hunted me before. But he also has silver hair.】 Tao Fangyi reminisced. 【Back then, the Combat Department wasn’t even called the Combat Department yet.】

Silver hair?

Hunted Tao Fangyi?

His father?

His father… would cry?

Wenren Fu dug through his memories.

His father was a Jiao Dragon with silver scales and golden pupils. For as long as Wenren Fu could remember, his father’s face had shown very few expressions.

In his father’s eyes, there seemed to be no room for anyone except his mother.

【I was a bit bad back then. I bullied people.】 Tao Fangyi said, a little embarrassed. 【I stole his Flood Dragon Pearl and scribbled all over it with a magical artifact. The kind that can’t be wiped off.】

Wang: …

How childish.

【He had swallowed his anger and wanted to kill me, or force me to kill him. But he couldn’t kill me, and I just wanted to toy with him. When I threw his pearl back at him, he cried. He cried so miserably.】

This Jiao Dragon had been his clan’s genius, a pride of heaven. But upon starting his career, he encountered Tao Fangyi and would have a minor meltdown every five days and a major breakdown every ten.

【He also has a child, looks about your age.】 Tao Fangyi continued. 【That kid took his mother’s surname. A compound surname: Wenren.】 Tao Fangyi wanted to ask Wang if he’d like to take his surname.

But the name “Tao Wang” sounded a bit off, no matter how you said it.

And Tao Fangyi couldn’t find another guardian of a different surname for Wang.

“Your friend and his wife must have a really good relationship,” Wang said.

He knew perfectly well why he took his mother’s surname. He’d asked his father, and his father only said he didn’t care for empty things like surnames. His mother had given birth to him, so taking her surname was normal.

【You mean the surname?】 Tao Fangyi hesitated. 【A good relationship was one part of it.】

Wang: ?

Oh? There was more to the story? Another side to it?

【My old friend is named Wang Qiang. I personally think his name is quite domineering.】 Tao Fangyi explained. 【But he didn’t think it was cool enough. He always felt he looked so eye-catching that the name Wang Qiang didn’t match him. And when he was young, he hated his wife—not just because of the rivalry between geniuses, but he was also jealous of her surname.】

Wang stopped smiling.

【Though their relationship is genuinely good now.】 Tao Fangyi said. 【So he no longer drags his lover through the mud. Instead, he opts to drag his child.】

On the other side, Wenren Fu paused his work, raising an eyebrow slightly.

【Just two days ago, I was praising their kid again. He said his kid wasn’t even a tenth as exquisite as himself, that his heterochromia looked too gaudy. When his kid was little, he even told me the boy sometimes looked a bit vacant in the eyes, and that his IQ might not be too high.】 Tao Fangyi laughed. 【Haha, so childish, right?】

Wang: “Haha.”

On the other end, Wenren Fu pulled out his phone and opened his social media feed.

The first thing he saw was a post from his father, a long-winded essay on the connection between cultivation and personal conduct, subtly—or not so subtly—expressing his own magnanimous and unconventional personality.

Wenren Fu commented under his father’s post with two emojis: wide-eyed smiles.

He then found an article titled “The Ten Types of People You Must Never Befriend: What You Lack, You Obsess Over. They Are Hypocrites!” and reposted it to his own feed with the caption “For mutual encouragement” and a “fist-in-palm” salute emoji.

A dozen seconds later, his father posted a question mark under his shared article.

Expressionlessly, Wenren Fu replied: 【Just seeing through some people, nothing to it. Don’t overthink it.】