Chapter 21: Sigh, Still Uncle and Nephew? Part 3

“Tao Fangyi?!” Wang was terrified.

No matter how much Wang shouted, Tao Fangyi gave no reaction whatsoever.

He seemed dead.

A doll had no breathing and no pulse, so Wang had no idea how to check Tao Fangyi’s state.

He touched his own neck. That binding sensation was still there. Tao Fangyi probably wasn’t dead.

As he thought this, a pale blue light suddenly glowed on Tao Fangyi’s body. A small wooden ball and a small wooden stick appeared out of nowhere and floated in midair.

Was this Tao Fangyi’s old body?

The small wooden ball and small wooden stick hovered in place for a moment, then shot toward the second floor.

Wang immediately chased after them. Halfway up, he remembered he hadn’t brought Tao Fangyi with him, so he hurried back, scooped up the little doll, and continued pursuing Tao Fangyi’s body.

His power couldn’t make Tao Fangyi’s body stop. Wang couldn’t help shouting a couple of times, but that was naturally even less effective.

Wang chased the small wooden ball and small wooden stick upstairs, past a corridor, through door after door.

Finally, the two pieces of wood stopped.

Wang froze as well.

This was the living room on the second floor, and the two pieces of wood were hovering right above the sofa.

A man was lying on his side on the sofa. Wang watched as the small wooden ball and small wooden stick slowly sank into the man’s forehead—and the man lying on the sofa opened his eyes.

“Huh?” The man blinked in confusion, then sat up and looked down at his hands. “I can control my body?”

Wang: “…Tao Fangyi?”

Tao Fangyi looked at him. “Wang! I can temporarily control my body!”

Wang didn’t respond to Tao Fangyi’s joy. He stared hard at Tao Fangyi’s face. “You, you… how do you look like this?”

Wang had seen Tao Fangyi’s human form before, but back then a layer of black mist had shrouded his face.

Now, without the black mist obstructing his view, Wang finally saw Tao Fangyi’s features clearly.

Tao Fangyi was very handsome. The Special Administration was full of good-looking people, and there were plenty like Tao Fangyi who were so handsome they didn’t look like good people.

That’s right—Tao Fangyi didn’t look like a good person. There was an unaccountable wicked air about him.

And his facial features… how to put it? Every single curve seemed to bend right into Wang’s heart.

Those eyes were so black, so deep, so dangerous.

How could someone who looked like this exist in the world?

Wang stood there, his cheeks growing redder and redder.

“Did I scare you?” Tao Fangyi raised an eyebrow and touched his own face.

Oh! He raised an eyebrow! He raised an eyebrow! So full of wicked charm! Wang got even more worked up.

Meanwhile, elsewhere, Wenren Fu, who was helping a zombie search for its missing fingers, suddenly pressed a hand over his lower face and crouched down.

“Captain?” Someone beside him looked over in surprise.

Wenren Fu’s eyes were opened wide; his gold-and-crimson heterochromatic pupils seemed to radiate halos.

…

“Looking like this is too much… no, you didn’t grow this way—someone carved you.” Wang reclaimed a sliver of reason. “Whoever sculpted your face had incredible aesthetic sense.”

“I didn’t use to look like this.” Tao Fangyi hadn’t always looked so wicked.

He pulled out his phone and flipped through his photo album, then tapped open an image. “When I first made my body, I restored my original face. I used to look like this.”

The face in the photo was softly rounded, with half-closed eyes, a somewhat thick, smiling mouth, and very large earlobes.

Wang slowly leaned back. “You in the past really looked… merciful.” It felt like something that should be enshrined in a temple.

“Everyone’s style back then was like that,” Tao Fangyi explained. “But the more I learned, the more my appearance changed.”

This current face really could be considered something Tao Fangyi had “grown” himself.

“I thought I’d scared you.” Tao Fangyi suddenly leaned toward Wang.

When Wang had come close to look at the photo, he had been very near Tao Fangyi. Now that Tao Fangyi turned his head, the tip of his nose almost touched Wang’s face.

Too bad Wang had a flat face, or else their noses definitely would have bumped.

Wang reeled backward.

After retreating all the way to the wall, he surged forward again.

If only his true form were here right now—he had a high nose bridge; the two of them could definitely touch noses.

Was the tip of Tao Fangyi’s nose cool?

He was dying to know.

Probably. Tao Fangyi didn’t look like the sort with robust blood and energy.

Wang agonized for a long time.

Tao Fangyi showed Wang around his house, but Wang didn’t take in a single word—he paid attention only to Tao Fangyi.

Finally, with trembling hands, Wang lightly tapped the tip of Tao Fangyi’s nose.

It was cool.

Wang rubbed the finger that had touched Tao Fangyi’s nose against the very center of his own face.

“Hm?” Tao Fangyi was confused by his sudden action. “What are you doing?”

Wang kept rubbing the middle of his own face as he said, “I like the way you look.”

Tao Fangyi tilted his head slightly. He was a bit taken aback.

Wang was not the type to suppress his emotions; he had simply been overwhelmed by the sudden sight of Tao Fangyi’s face.

So after temporarily achieving his little goal, Wang said bluntly, “How can someone look like you?! Perfect, like a fake person. Actually, in a sense, you are a fake person.”

This was the first time Tao Fangyi had heard such an evaluation.

He knew his looks weren’t the straightforward sort. People who just met him assumed at first glance that he was a scheming pervert, a polished scoundrel, a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

“You think I look like a good person?!” Tao Fangyi grabbed Wang’s wrist.

“No,” Wang denied without hesitation.

Tao Fangyi was about to let go, but Wang grabbed his wrist right back.

“But so perfect! Too perfect!” Wang grew excited.

Back when Tao Fangyi had wanted to give him the small wooden stick and small wooden ball, he hadn’t wanted them, had even thought of them as some “elder’s body.” Looking back, he had been far too ungrateful.

“I want to look like you too.” Wang had no desire to be a bright and sunny captain, didn’t want flashy, brightly colored looks. He liked this gloomy, deathly-still appearance.

He liked this wicked aura.

“Uncle Tao~” Wang leaned in close. He had no nose, but Tao Fangyi couldn’t shake the feeling that Wang was sniffing his neck. “Uncle Tao, can you give me this body? Let’s trade?” Wasn’t Tao Fangyi very fond of Wenren Fu’s body too? A swap would be perfect.

Tao Fangyi didn’t interrupt Wang. Every child had their own unique way of expressing closeness.

Since Wang liked his face, it was only normal for him to be a little clingy.

Come to think of it, this was the first time anyone had called him perfect-looking.

Tao Fangyi was a little happy.

Wang nuzzled and burrowed against him like a giant dog.

Tao Fangyi, unable to keep his balance, simply sat back down on the sofa.

And Tao Fangyi’s cooperation only made Wang more stimulated.

“I like your enthusiasm too,” Tao Fangyi praised.

After the praise, he regretfully added that he couldn’t give away his body—its bond with him was too deep.

Wang gave a low chuckle, then cupped Tao Fangyi’s cheeks and licked the side of his face with a tongue like a snake’s.

“Does this bother you?” Wang asked.

“Feels a bit strange, but it’s fine.” Tao Fangyi didn’t resist at all.

Wang continued rubbing against him. He also observed Tao Fangyi’s hair. Tao Fangyi’s hair was very coarse and thick, and completely black.

He even loved his hair.

Meanwhile, Wenren Fu, who had finally helped the zombie locate its missing body parts, at last had a moment to rest.

“Captain, I feel like you’ve been a bit off all day,” the man beside him said. “You seem especially worked up.”

“I was reminded of an uncle of mine, an uncle I’m especially fond of,” Wenren Fu said with a smile.

The man made an “Oh” sound. “Is the uncle coming over to visit? I get it. I have an uncle I really like too.”

As he spoke, the man grew nostalgic. “When I was little, my uncle would get down on the floor and let me ride him like a horse. He was so easygoing. I could even call him by his first name.”

“Whenever I went to visit, he’d prepare all my favorite dishes.” The man sounded happier and happier. “He often took me to the amusement park. Even now, I always look forward to him coming over. He still brings me gifts.”

Wenren Fu suddenly stopped walking and looked at the man. “So you still act spoiled with your uncle even now.”

“What? No way! Look how old I am!” The man thought Wenren Fu was joking. “I don’t even act spoiled with my parents anymore.”

“I remember what my uncle likes to eat, and whenever he visits, I cook it for him too.” The man scratched his head. “I’m a responsible adult by now, you know. Even though my uncle never ages, I still want to show him some filial respect in any way I can.”

Wenren Fu: “Filial respect?”

The man: “Yeah.”

【That uncle of yours has been wanting to come see you. He’s asked us many times, trying to find out what you like.】

【It seems like he plans to visit you once this mission is over. He’s always praising how accomplished you’ve become. Don’t go saying any weird things in front of him.】

【He also wants to hug you, but you’re so big now, I turned him down on your behalf. He looked quite disappointed.】

Were Tao Fangyi’s feelings for him the same as this man’s uncle’s feelings for this man?

“You really don’t act spoiled with your uncle?” Wenren Fu wanted to confirm one more time.

“Absolutely not! Who our age still does that sort of thing? Only someone emotionally immature would do that.”

Right at that moment, Wang, who had been attempting to seize Tao Fangyi’s body, slowly raised his head.

He realized Tao Fangyi’s hair and clothes were all disheveled now.

Tao Fangyi had been wearing a pair of leather gloves; now only the left one remained.

And Tao Fangyi’s right hand had been pulled over by Wang to be played with.

The glove—where was it?

Where had he taken the glove off just now?

Wang looked left and right, opened his mouth to ask Tao Fangyi, but as soon as his mouth opened, the leather glove dropped onto the sofa with a plop.

Oh. He’d used his mouth to pull the glove off earlier.

Wang smacked his lips.

When he got overexcited, he really did tend to go overboard sometimes.

But was treating an uncle like this actually that strange?

Come to think of it, he really had never treated his own parents this way—and parents were closer than uncles, weren’t they?

The word 【filial respect】 the squad member had used suddenly surfaced in Wang’s mind.

Wang silently let go of Tao Fangyi, cautiously backed up, and observed Tao Fangyi’s current state.

“What’s wrong?” Tao Fangyi asked him.

“Something might be off,” Wang said.

“Is there a problem with my body?” Tao Fangyi pressed.

“Don’t you think I’m going a little overboard?” Wang asked.

“Not really. Didn’t you just shove my entire head into your mouth?” Tao Fangyi was already used to it.

That was because at the time, Tao Fangyi had been using his doll body!

Fine, Tao Fangyi was used to it.

Maybe this was perfectly reasonable after all.

Could it be that his behavior was a form of showing filial respect to an elder?

Wang: …

“Can we ever go back to the way things were?” Wenren Fu suddenly blurted out.

The man beside him: “Huh?”

The man had no idea what Wenren Fu meant. All he could tell was that Wenren Fu had suddenly seemed terribly weary in that instant.