Chapter 52: The Evil Rakshasa

Late at night, Tao Fangyi jumped onto Wu Qing’s small bed.

Wu Qing had wrapped the blanket tightly around herself, facing the wall. She seemed to be asleep, but her breathing had never steadied.

After learning that her little sister truly could not return to this world, Wu Qing’s Fear Value had skyrocketed in a short time, only to freeze at a certain threshold. It was as if her Fear Value had an auto-lock function to prevent her from breaking.

Then her Fear Value slowly decreased until it hit zero.

She seemed a bit numb now.

She ate numbly, did her homework numbly, washed up numbly, and finally lay down in bed.

Lying down, her Fear Value slowly crept back up, then began fluctuating within the safe range. This time, her Fear Value wasn’t spiking dramatically, yet its sheer volume was enormous.

Tao Fangyi knew that Wu Qing was not asleep, yet Wu Qing said nothing. He was a little worried.

Tao Fangyi used his round metal-glinting hand to gently nudge Wu Qing’s body. Wu Qing wobbled slightly but still did not turn around.

“Yu Xianyun?” Tao Fangyi called her by her former name.

Wu Qing stiffened for an instant.

Her eyes were now wide open, staring at the wall, at her shadow, with utter disbelief.

She had held this expression for a while now. Occasionally, tears would slip from her eyes, but she didn’t wipe them away. She simply waited for the tears to soak into the pillow, letting the trails on her face slowly air-dry.

Tao Fangyi nudged Wu Qing again, and realizing she was unwilling to respond, he could only helplessly prepare to leave.

“Tao Fangyi.” Wu Qing suddenly sat up and called out to him.

Tao Fangyi turned back to face Wu Qing.

Wu Qing sat on the bed. After a moment of silence, she asked, “Is she really gone? Can’t she be found again?”

Tao Fangyi shook his head.

“Not even you can do it? You’re such a powerful Divine Wood.” Wu Qing asked again.

Wu Qing’s face was full of doubt; Tao Fangyi also felt helpless. “The reason I was captured by The Nineteenth Level in the first place was because I wanted to Defy Heaven to Change Fate, to pull the dead back out. I just couldn’t do it.”

Wu Qing shut down completely.

“Get a good sleep. We’ll think about this tomorrow. This body of yours still needs to grow taller,” Tao Fangyi said to her. “I can use a Spell to help you fall asleep.”

Wu Qing obediently lay down. If she hadn’t been completely dazed by Tao Fangyi’s news, there was no way she would have been this compliant.

Tao Fangyi used a Spell to put Wu Qing to sleep. But it was clear that she did not sleep peacefully; she was shedding tears unconsciously even in her dreams.

Tao Fangyi cast another calming Spell on her, then gently patted her back.

Wang was sitting to the side, hugging his knees and watching Tao Fangyi’s actions. “You’re so gentle.”

“This child just looks utterly heartbroken,” Tao Fangyi said.

“Fortunately…” Wang suddenly muttered something out of the blue.

Tao Fangyi didn’t quite catch it. “Fortunately what?”

Fortunately, Tao Fangyi had spent the first hundred years doing missions and had never been in contact with Wenren Fu.

Wang had zero faith in his own self-restraint. He figured that if Tao Fangyi had been the type of uncle who constantly came over to take care of him back then, he would have long since fallen for him.

Tao Fangyi had good looks, formidable strength, and a gentle nature.

Wang could almost picture it: Tao Fangyi scolding his parents whenever they tried to feed him “super-delicious raw meat.” Tao Fangyi would take him out to a restaurant, or perhaps even cook for Wenren Fu himself.

Tao Fangyi was infinitely patient with children.

At that time, Wang himself had just become aware that his own Desires were different. His parents were clearly clueless in that regard because they had never experienced such murderous and violent impulses themselves.

He would have erupted, and then Tao Fangyi would have calmed him down.

And then…

And then he would have fallen for Tao Fangyi.

When Wenren Fu was younger, he was even more impetuous. A relationship between them back then would absolutely have had no good outcome.

But could their feelings have a good outcome now?

Their feelings? Hah… could you even call it that?

Thinking of this, Wang suddenly felt downcast.

He continued carving the Small Piece of Wood in his hands, practicing sculpting a face.

“Is it just my imagination?” Tao Fangyi asked, still patting Wu Qing. “Why do I feel like your wood carving skills are improving extremely fast?”

“Maybe I’m simply quite gifted.” After all, he was learning from two sides simultaneously, and the memories and experiences were shared. His learning speed was effectively doubled. It was perfectly normal to learn quickly.

“Do you need some rest?” Tao Fangyi remembered that Wang also liked to sleep.

“Are you suggesting I squeeze into that kid’s bed?” Wang asked him.

“No, I have a mattress,” Tao Fangyi said with a smile.

Wang could not afford such intimate contact with Tao Fangyi anymore.

He was afraid he wouldn’t be able to control himself.

He needed to resist Tao Fangyi’s pull on him.

Five minutes later, Wang was lying flat on the mattress, clutching his unformed little wood carving tightly.

The mattress had been placed next to Wu Qing’s small bed. Tao Fangyi, in his original form, patted Wu Qing, and then Wang watched that hand reach past the edge of her bed, heading his way.

Next, that hand stroked his head and patted it with an extremely light touch, then slid down to his face and stroked his cheek.

Then that hand trailed upward along his cheek.

Wang clutched that unformed little sculpture very, very tightly.

I should do nothing, he thought, definitely nothing. Must not push this any further.

Tao Fangyi’s fingertip left his face, but before it could retreat past the edge of the mattress, Wang’s fingers hooked around it.

Tao Fangyi was a little puzzled.

But Wang only hooked his fingers twice, lightly scratched the center of Tao Fangyi’s palm, and after this tiny bit of mischief, he tightly gripped his little wooden puppet again.

Tao Fangyi couldn’t help but chuckle at Wang’s little movements.

Hearing Tao Fangyi laugh, Wang followed with two low chuckles of his own. The sound was very, very faint, but he knew Tao Fangyi could hear it too.

Wang didn’t understand it himself. When had he become so timid?

By his old style, if he liked Tao Fangyi, he would make sure Tao Fangyi liked him back. He would never have avoided it.

…Oh, right. He’d never actually liked anyone before.

His past behavior had absolutely no reference value.

Wang spent the entire night lost in these thoughts.

But he didn’t dare let Tao Fangyi know. He could only pretend he was asleep.

On the other side, however, Wu Qing had indeed slept wonderfully. She was energetic and spirited again, her Fear Value even dropping to zero.

Tao Fangyi and Wang were astonished. Logically, the Fear Value should have come crashing back the moment she woke from her groggy state and fully sobered up. After all, the core issue hadn’t actually been resolved.

So why did Wu Qing act as if she’d been completely formatted?

“I’ve thought it through! I’m not dwelling on the past anymore,” Wu Qing said to Tao Fangyi, flashing him a brilliant smile.

Tao Fangyi was half-convinced, half-doubtful, while Wang didn’t believe a single punctuation mark of it.

This feeling was all too familiar to Wang; it was exactly how he used to fool his own parents.

“Really, you have to look forward,” Wu Qing said cheerfully.

Tao Fangyi leaned back slightly, while Wang kept leaning forward, wanting to make direct eye contact with Wu Qing to let her know he’d seen right through her sinister intentions.

But the problem was, Wang didn’t have eyes in the first place.

“I’ve thought it through. I need to study hard and strive to be the top student all the way through university. I should make lots of friends! I shouldn’t force Zheng Yanyan to become exactly like Feixing,” Wu Qing said with a smile.

Tao Fangyi clapped his two round hands, applauding Wu Qing’s cheerful speech.

Wang folded his arms across his chest and let out a cold laugh.

“Exactly! Welp, I’m off to school now~” Wu Qing started packing her schoolbag.

“Take me with you,” Tao Fangyi said.

Wu Qing: “Huh? You’re worried I’ll be bullied? No need.”

“I’m worried you’ll bully someone else,” Tao Fangyi said with a smile. “If I find you bullying someone else, I’ll have to resort to the stick-and-board method of education.”

Wu Qing: …

Wu Qing: “You don’t trust me?”

The emoticon expression on Tao Fangyi’s electronic screen was still cheerful: “I just think you’re treating me like an idiot.”

“I’m not taking you.” Wu Qing zipped up her schoolbag.

“If you don’t take me, I’ll start the stick-and-board education right now,” Tao Fangyi said calmly.

“Treating a child like this? Aren’t you worried about giving the kid psychological trauma?!” Wu Qing loudly protested.

“Normally, you can’t treat a kid like this. But you’re different.”

Wu Qing clenched her fists. “I just went through an unprecedented emotional blow.”

“Which is exactly why I’m worried you might do something unprecedentedly stupid,” Tao Fangyi stepped forward. “Take me with you.”

“Hahahaha!” Wang clapped his hands, laughing uproariously, thoroughly amused by Wu Qing’s misfortune.

Wu Qing: “…Tch. Fine.”

Indeed, she did have a rather extraordinary idea.

Now that Zheng Yanyan was no longer her sister, she had no reason to be so polite to this little brat anymore. Nor did she need to worry about hurting her personal dignity.

Because she wasn’t Feixing.

Hmph. It was time to let this little brat understand exactly what a Rakshasa was.

Regardless of anything else, Wu Qing was an adult. For an adult, manipulating a first-grader was a piece of cake.

She would destroy this child’s spirit, thoroughly dismantle the “Zheng Yanyan” personality, then make her believe she was Yu Feixing and instill a deep dependence on herself.

She could mold a brand-new little sister.

What couldn’t she do? Back when she was a Rakshasa devouring humans, she skinned them and tore out their tendons! What cruel methods hadn’t she used?

She wasn’t a stranger to destroying human consciousness. Destroying a person was too simple, especially a child whose mind hadn’t matured yet.

Rebuilding would take some time, but Tao Fangyi would be gone by then, wouldn’t he?

She could package all of this as mere childish conflicts. That was something Tao Fangyi absolutely wouldn’t be able to pin on her.

Wang watched Wu Qing’s lightened steps. He probably had a fair idea of what was up and couldn’t help but click his tongue.

The minds of those with heavy malevolence all operated similarly. This Wu Qing was probably just one step away from going completely mad.

Arriving at the classroom, Wu Qing hummed a tune as she put down her schoolbag.

She smiled as she looked toward where Zheng Yanyan was sitting. And then she saw a tiny mud doll.

Wu Qing: ?

A group of children surrounded Zheng Yanyan, comforting her, while she continued to sob.

“What happened?” Wu Qing stood up.

“She went to the little snack shop and fell into a flower bed,” one child explained.

It had rained the night before. Rolling around inside it had turned Zheng Yanyan into a little mud doll.

“What’s the use of crying?! Quick, change out of those clothes! Call the teacher!” Staying in wet clothes like that, she’d catch a cold.

Wu Qing snatched Zheng Yanyan up by the arm.

Zheng Yanyan stood up with a sniffle.

“Look at the state you’re in!” Wu Qing tsked.

Her manner was probably too much like an adult because Zheng Yanyan instinctively wrapped her arms around Wu Qing.

But then Zheng Yanyan immediately realized that she was covered in filth. Yet before she could let go, Wu Qing’s other arm wrapped around her.

“Go find the teacher,” Wu Qing said.

Zheng Yanyan’s lips trembled. “You’re really so nice.”

Wu Qing: …

She heard Wang’s voice: “Ha. Coward.”

Wu Qing: …