Wu Qing poked at Tao Fangyi for a long while, then snorted and crawled into bed to sleep.
Tao Fangyi was a traitor. Even though she and Tao Fangyi had never really been friends, how could Tao Fangyi work for The Nineteenth Level?
Wu Qing had spilled all her secrets, but she hadn’t asked what exactly had happened to Tao Fangyi. She wasn’t interested in other people’s experiences. She just wanted a piece of Tao Fangyi’s body.
Wang glanced at the shut-down Tao Fangyi, then at Wu Qing, who had fallen asleep the moment she hit the bed.
Speaking of which, how was Tao Fangyi going to collect Fear Value this time? This Wu Qing had been a Rakshasa herself, she wasn’t even afraid of death, and she was as troublesome as a cockroach that refused to die.
Asleep the instant she lay down… this girl really had nerves of steel.
Tao Fangyi had clearly thought of this problem too. After Wu Qing fell asleep, he powered back on, looking deeply worried.
“I’ll just have to take it one step at a time,” Tao Fangyi said softly.
Tao Fangyi decided to probe the limits of Wu Qing’s tolerance.
The next morning, the moment Wu Qing opened her eyes, she saw a ghost with a miserable, hideous, and ferocious face lying right beside her.
Tao Fangyi waited for a change in Fear Value. He waited a long time, but nothing happened.
Wu Qing got up and stretched. After looking at the ghost, she finally realized it had been conjured by Tao Fangyi.
Wu Qing laughed twice. “Oh, it was you trying to scare me. I thought I was about to reincarnate again.”
Wang: “She really is a troublesome cockroach.”
Wu Qing got up and happily went to brush her teeth. Her parents in this world noticed her lower tooth had fallen out, ran to her room to find the fallen tooth, and reminded Wu Qing not to use her tongue to lick or push against the gap.
“Your parents are really gentle,” Tao Fangyi said. “Even if it’s just for them, you should try to adapt to a new life.”
Wu Qing was unmoved. After so many years of reincarnating, she couldn’t even remember how many parents she’d had.
She stuffed Tao Fangyi into her backpack, intending to take him to school.
“What are you trying to do?” Wang walked beside Wu Qing. “You’re not planning to have your sister bite him, are you?”
“How could that be? I have my own use for bringing a toy to school.” Wu Qing put on her backpack, waited for a while, and then got on the school bus.
Tao Fangyi was a little worried about Wu Qing’s so-called “use.” Even though this Rakshasa was a bit dumb, sometimes it was the dumb ones who always managed to cause earth-shattering trouble.
However, Tao Fangyi’s worries were clearly for nothing, because Wu Qing had brought Tao Fangyi to school purely to show him off.
During the long recess, a group of children took out their toys. And this round-headed, round-brained robot, Tao Fangyi, attracted the attention of almost every child.
It wasn’t that they could tell at a glance how advanced Tao Fangyi was, but rather that these children implicitly treated Wu Qing as their boss. Whatever Wu Qing said, they believed.
And among that group of kids, a little girl with a bob haircut was none other than Wu Qing’s former sister—Yu Feixing. She was also the “second-in-command” appointed by Wu Qing in this little gang.
Wang circled around that little girl once, and then realized something was off.
Why was the doll in this little girl’s arms staring at him?
“This robot is called Tao Fangyi. He’s an ancient Divine Wood that became a spirit, later joined the Non-Human Management Organization, and is now a probationary prison guard at the prison ‘The Nineteenth Level’.” Wu Qing directly revealed Tao Fangyi’s true identity.
The group of children wore expressions of pure confusion.
“Anyway, he’s the strongest one of all!” Wu Qing patted Tao Fangyi’s smooth, round head.
The children looked stunned.
They didn’t understand why Tao Fangyi was the strongest, but Tao Fangyi was certainly extraordinary. After all, even Tao Fangyi’s name was so special—it sounded like a real person’s name.
“Can I play with this robot?” a child asked.
“Standard rules.” Wu Qing tapped the desk.
The child immediately understood, pulling a snack out of his pocket and placing it on Wu Qing’s desk.
Wu Qing glanced at the few pieces of candy. “You can play with him for one class period.”
The child cheered.
Other children hurriedly brought out their own snacks, bidding for playtime.
Wu Qing gave her sister a major shortcut. Her sister’s name in this life was Zheng Yanyan, and she seemed to be a shy girl, completely different from the Rakshasa she once was.
“I want a turn too.” A skinny little girl with a ponytail brought out her own small bread loaf.
“You can’t.” Wu Qing held her head high, snorting through her nose.
“I also have…” The ponytailed little girl pulled a few hawthorn candies from her pocket.
“I said you can’t, so you can’t.” Wu Qing crossed her arms. “Don’t think I’ve forgotten the things you did in the past.”
The ponytailed little girl retracted her hand, unable to stop a small sob from escaping.
“Why are you so harsh on her?” Wang asked Wu Qing, confused.
Wu Qing responded in a low voice: “Because in her last life, she was that bastard from the Combat Department. If it weren’t for her, my sister and I would never have died.”
That battle at the White Bone Temple back then hadn’t erupted suddenly. The Combat Department had needed to scout out what exactly was in those two Rakshasis’ lair beforehand.
At that time, a young prodigy who had just joined the Combat Department volunteered, following an old Senior to carry out this reconnaissance mission.
But they were eventually discovered. That old Senior ran away, and the young prodigy fell at the hands of the Rakshasis.
“No matter how you think about it, that was your problem!” Wang had read the detailed report of that battle.
“It wasn’t our problem! The Special Administration wanted to kill us. We were just fighting back,” Wu Qing said. “I really don’t understand why that guy’s reincarnation still wants to hang around us. Can’t she see that my sister and I hate her?”
Wu Qing indeed displayed utter disgust toward that ponytailed little girl, but Wu Qing’s sister seemed to be worrying about her instead.
The reality was just as Tao Fangyi and Wang had guessed.
Wu Qing lent Tao Fangyi to Zheng Yanyan to play with for the entire day, even allowing Zheng Yanyan to take him home to play.
When school was over, Tao Fangyi and Zheng Yanyan’s doll were squeezed together in the backpack. Tao Fangyi overheard the conversation between Zheng Yanyan and that ponytailed girl.
“Wu Qing doesn’t like me,” the ponytailed girl said.
“Sister Wu Qing just has a more assertive personality,” Zheng Yanyan comforted the girl. “She’s actually a very nice person.”
Then Tao Fangyi learned that the things the ponytailed girl had offered were all snacks that Zheng Yanyan had once given Wu Qing, which Wu Qing had declared she especially liked.
Tao Fangyi was carefully analyzing the current situation when suddenly, he felt something pawing at his body.
“Tao Fangyi?” The doll next to him asked.
Tao Fangyi: …
His mind raced, brainstorming whether he’d encountered the same problem as before. Had another toy come to life?
But the other party quickly dispelled his speculation, saying: “I didn’t expect our missions to overlap this time, hahaha.”
Tao Fangyi breathed a sigh of relief.
This time it was a real colleague.
Also, it made sense. Both of these sisters were Rakshasis, so assigning people separately to supervise them and collect Fear Value was very reasonable.
But this colleague’s voice sounded a bit familiar.
It sounded a bit like…
Wang’s head phased through the backpack. He looked inside at the two dolls chatting. “So that bear really was from The Nineteenth Level?” No wonder that bear had always been staring at him.
“Hello! I’ve seen you! Tao Fangyi recently changed his profile picture to a cartoon version of you two, right?” The toy bear was very cheerful.
“Did you and Tao Fangyi add each other as friends?” Wang knew Tao Fangyi had a wide social circle. Now, Tao Fangyi wasn’t showing any reaction; Wang still assumed Tao Fangyi had simply forgotten who this acquaintance was, so he, the outsider, jumped in to converse. “You two know each other?”
“Right!!” The toy bear nodded. “My name is Wen Yuankui.”
“Eh?” Wang was taken aback.
Wen Yuankui?
“I haven’t seen you together with Wen Yuankui lately.”
“Didn’t you two know each other before you even entered The Nineteenth Level? You’ve always been good friends.”
So this was that friend Tao Fangyi had drifted apart from?
No wonder Tao Fangyi was silent.
So he just didn’t want to talk to him?
Wang pondered whether he should just find an excuse to take Tao Fangyi and leave.
“Yuankui!!” Tao Fangyi suddenly exclaimed with surprise and delight.
Wang: ???
Tao Fangyi opened his arms wide and embraced Wen Yuankui. “Long time no see! How have your recent missions been going?”
“The last few missions were failures again,” Wen Yuankui said. “I heard you only have a few more mission stages left before you get permanent employment? I really envy you.”
“What’s there to envy? I’m worried sick. Who knows how many people I’ve given my body parts away to?” Tao Fangyi started reminiscing with Wen Yuankui.
It was then that Wang finally learned what Wen Yuankui was.
Wen Yuankui was also a Wooden Doll. He was also a treasured heirloom of that Puppet Master family.
Wen Yuankui had been a Wooden Doll for far longer than Tao Fangyi. He could practically be considered Tao Fangyi’s great Senior.
Tao Fangyi and Wen Yuankui chatted the entire night away, as if they had endless topics to discuss.
The next day, Tao Fangyi returned to Wu Qing’s hands. Wang assumed Tao Fangyi would feel reluctant to leave, but Tao Fangyi immediately spoke up: “If you send me over to Zheng Yanyan again, I’ll report you to The Nineteenth Level and forcefully reclaim my body.”
“How can you be so excessive?!” Wu Qing was shocked.
“It’s not me being excessive! It’s you being excessive!” Tao Fangyi looked up at Wu Qing. “You don’t respect my personal wishes! Let me remind you! I am not an actual toy!”
Tao Fangyi was genuinely angry.
And this much anger at that?
Wu Qing still wanted to argue, but Tao Fangyi had already opened a barrier. He didn’t take Wu Qing inside with him, effectively unilaterally blocking her out.
“What’s wrong with you?” Wang was a little worried. He sat down next to Tao Fangyi, whose face was now unreadable.
“Not very happy.” Tao Fangyi hugged his knees and sat on the ground.
Wang sat down beside Tao Fangyi. He didn’t know how he should comfort Tao Fangyi.
This time, Tao Fangyi took the initiative to ask him: “Do you think I’m very hypocritical?”
Wang looked at Tao Fangyi.
“I clearly said I was disappointed in him, but when we actually met, I still acted so enthusiastic.” Tao Fangyi said.
“I’m just very shocked that you would disguise yourself like this.” Wang didn’t think disguise was hypocrisy. He himself was very good at disguising. “It’s a survival tactic. I just thought you weren’t the type to possess this kind of tactic.”
Tao Fangyi looked back at Wang. Wang couldn’t make out Tao Fangyi’s expression, but he felt that Tao Fangyi must be feeling especially helpless right now.
