Chapter 7: Show Us Your True Skills Part 1

Wang shut down, and Li Yao wasn’t doing much better.

She realized she might have done something terribly wrong and shrank back into her chair, falling silent again.

“You don’t need to blame yourself so much. It’s not a big deal.” Tao Fangyi walked over to the fridge, opened the door, and looked around.

He opened his briefcase and pulled out a soda bottle the size of a fingernail, then grabbed a glass from the kitchen.

With a splash, that tiny soda bottle actually poured out liquid, filling the entire glass to the brim.

“No one can avoid mistakes.” Tao Fangyi brought the soda over to Li Yao. “You don’t understand the rules of the non-human community. You didn’t know this was off-limits.”

“Ignorance is innocence, so dying from it doesn’t matter either?” Wang couldn’t help but chime in.

Tao Fangyi shot a glare back at Wang, who just pursed his lips in response.

“Of course it matters. You have to learn from it.” Tao Fangyi sat down across from Li Yao. “Some mistakes lead to irreversible consequences, but those consequences haven’t happened here. There’s no need to punish yourself so severely.”

Tao Fangyi thought for a moment, then added: “In fact, even if they had happened, you wouldn’t need to blame yourself—because once you’re dead, there’s no chance for self-blame anyway.”

Li Yao’s eyes widened a little.

Wang cocked his head.

Did this doll not realize how gut-wrenching his words could be sometimes?

Tao Fangyi set his briefcase behind him. “You want to see your father, don’t you?”

Li Yao didn’t respond.

“Your attachments run deep. He might not have reincarnated yet.” Tao Fangyi said. “But odds are he won’t come to see you.”

“Why?!” Li Yao finally answered, tears welling up in her eyes.

“Because if he comes to see you, it would be easy to trap you in the past. You’re in different worlds now.”

“I don’t care!” Li Yao choked.

“But this kind of binding works both ways. It’s not just you; he can’t move forward either.” Wang spoke again, this time without mockery. “If you two get tied together, you could die young, and he might never reincarnate.”

Li Yao froze once more.

Wang made a scoffing sound. “Why can’t you just have a rotten temper? You can cause us trouble, so why not blow up at the other adults?”

“You’re exactly at that rebellious age, right? Why try to understand them? Just turn everything upside down.” Wang spread his hands. “Blame your mom, blame your little sister, blame everyone who tells you to be understanding.”

“But Mom is really sad too.” Li Yao thought Wang was wrong.

“But didn’t she move on quickly? She found a new man to take your dad’s place, gave birth to a new kid to take your place, and now she has a family. Meanwhile, you have nothing.” Wang didn’t think this kid needed to spare an adult’s feelings. “You have nothing left. At least don’t let them take away your anger too.”

“Stop, stop, stop!” Tao Fangyi cut in, pointing a finger at Wang. “No stirring up chaos.”

Wang tilted his head—it looked like an eye roll, if he had eyes.

“No one can be replaced.” Tao Fangyi quickly soothed Li Yao.

Wang: “Oh, even your horror doll belongs to someone else now.”

“I really will put the muzzle back on you!” Tao Fangyi’s tone turned stern.

Wang mimed zipping his mouth, signaling he’d shut up.

“And you’re not being replaced here by me. I still keep the things you gave me.” Tao Fangyi pulled out his briefcase again and took out all the playdough food inside. “Want a taste? You ate these when you were little.”

Li Yao glanced at the briefcase. “Can you fit a lot of things in that bag?”

“It’s a magical artifact.” Tao Fangyi nodded.

“Where do you usually keep it?”

“In the space that belongs to me.” Tao Fangyi replied.

Li Yao started sampling the playdough food, like playing house.

Each piece held a memory, and after a couple bites, Li Yao couldn’t hold back her tears.

“Listen, kid.” Tao Fangyi stood up and took hold of Li Yao’s wrist. “I’m not forcing you to look ahead. You don’t have to be brave. But you must not touch powers you can’t control.”

“The deeper your contact with ‘that world’, the more likely you and the people around you will be disturbed by ‘that world’.” Tao Fangyi said seriously. “You have to tell us what you did that made you able to see ghosts and monsters.”

Li Yao paused, then pulled out a red string from around her neck, with a small wooden ball hanging at its center. “This—an old grandma back home gave it to me.”

She took off the wooden ball and handed it to Tao Fangyi.

“But I couldn’t see them before.” Li Yao didn’t hide anything. By nature, she hated causing trouble. “It only started after I came here.”

“You couldn’t see them before? That doesn’t make sense.” Wang found it odd. There were so many new wandering spirits in the world; surely she would’ve run into at least one.

He sidled over and looked at the little wooden ball with Tao Fangyi. “Could this thing have some kind of trigger?”

Tao Fangyi let out an “Ah.” “This looks like my eye.”

“Like an eye that’s also an artifact… Wait, what did you say?!” Wang shouted in shock.

“My eye.” Tao Fangyi held up the small wooden ball, shaking it. It was about the size of a marble. “It used to be bigger. Feels like it shrunk.”

“Yeah, not just a little—it shrunk a ton.” Tao Fangyi continued.

“Wait, wait!!” Wang grabbed onto Tao Fangyi’s arm, squeezing so hard the arm dented. “What exactly are you?!”

Tao Fangyi: “Tao Fangyi.”

“I mean, what did you do before joining the Special Administration?!” Wang knew there was more to this doll.

Hearing that, Tao Fangyi bowed his head in shame. “I was, uh, basically a drifter, no steady job.”

Wang: …

Could this doll not focus? Didn’t he realize how huge the words “my eye” were?

Suddenly, the sound of a key in the lock. Tao Fangyi looked toward the door in horror. “Oh no! I forgot to stay alert!”

“Oh no, oh no!” Tao Fangyi pulled out his briefcase and started stuffing away the playdough food. He dared not move too fast—the dried playdough was fragile.

Li Yao helped clean up. Seeing the door about to open, she rushed over.

“Mom!!” Li Yao’s voice was so loud it startled Yang Hongling as she stepped in.

“Yaoyao, what’s wrong?” Yang Hongling tried to move past Li Yao, but Li Yao didn’t know if Tao Fangyi had hidden yet, so she threw her arms around her mother.

Yang Hongling was taken aback. Li Yao’s behavior was completely different from earlier.

“I-I was scared being alone.” Li Yao blinked rapidly.

Behind her, Tao Fangyi tiptoed toward the bedroom.

“Sorry.” Yang Hongling frowned. “I planned to take the day off, but the shift manager wouldn’t allow it.”

“It’s okay, you’re back now.” Li Yao buried her head against Yang Hongling.

Yang Hongling was flustered by this sudden closeness. “Did something happen?”

“No!” Li Yao shook her head fiercely. “Mom, let’s go out and buy some clothes!”

“But I didn’t bring my bag.” Yang Hongling finally smiled and reached out to stroke Li Yao’s hair. “How about after dinner?”

“Once Uncle Ren and your little sister are back, we’ll all go together, okay?” she asked gently.

Li Yao’s smile dimmed slightly, but the motion was brief, and then she nodded. “Okay!”

“Tch.” Wang suddenly appeared beside her, nearly making Li Yao scream, but she held it in.

Wang had done it on purpose, and seeing how hard Li Yao tried to control herself only annoyed him more. “If you keep being this considerate to everyone, you’re going to get burned.”

“She wants you to fit into the new family, but you’re not actually interested in that new uncle or sister, are you?” Wang whispered.

Li Yao couldn’t answer. Unlike Tao Fangyi, she couldn’t communicate with her mind.

“Are you thinking, ‘Mom has it hard too, she just wants me to blend in quickly’?” Wang murmured in her ear. “But all you want is some time alone with her, even if you don’t have much to talk about.”

Wang felt a tug at his neck—the doll was pulling him back again.

He clicked his tongue and turned away, heading to the kids’ room, where he caught a scolding from Tao Fangyi.

“Stop whispering into that kid’s ear all the time.” Tao Fangyi said with hands on his hips. “Her situation can’t be changed! Don’t keep judging and negating that kid’s feelings!”

“She’s way too passive. Believe me, her personality will be the death of her. Good kids like that always end up bottling it all up until something snaps.” Wang shrugged. “I just want to see her fight back.”

“You just want to see chaos! Stop dismissing her actions like you’re disappointed in her. You’re not her, you’re not even her friend—you have no right to meddle this deeply!” Tao Fangyi smacked the table. “Learn to be silent!”

Wang didn’t answer.

Tao Fangyi threatened: “Or I’ll put the muzzle on you! I know you don’t like it. I don’t want to do that.”

“Why are you so obsessed with muzzling me? Your mind’s in a pretty dirty place, isn’t it?” Wang grumbled casually.

Tao Fangyi froze. He didn’t see what was dirty about it. It was just a method of restraint.

“Are you into faceless fierce ghosts or something?” Wang crossed his arms, leaning down to meet Tao Fangyi’s eyes. “Kinky. But with a body like mine, it’s normal for you to have desires.”

He was just spouting nonsense to get under Tao Fangyi’s skin, but the doll didn’t argue back. It just stood there looking dazed.

“Do you even understand what I’m saying?” Wang asked.

Tao Fangyi nodded, then shook his head. “I caught all the words, but the logic still isn’t lining up.”

“Why would putting a muzzle on be dirty? What’s special about a muzzle?” he asked earnestly.

Wang: …

He paused, then the corners of his mouth shot up, baring his triangular teeth. “Oh, so you don’t get it~”

Tao Fangyi shook his head.

“Then come closer.” Wang beckoned him over.

Tao Fangyi took two steps forward and looked up attentively.

Wang leaned close to his ear, shielding with one hand, and whispered an explanation of how a muzzle could be linked to “dirty.”

When Tao Fangyi’s expression shifted, Wang chuckled softly. “Guess I misunderstood you.”

“Mis-misunderstood what?!” Tao Fangyi panicked. He never realized he’d made such an offensive move.

“I thought~ you wanted to make me your personal property~” Wang draped his upper body across the table, though his legs stayed straight. With such a relaxed pose, it looked almost like he was bending backward. “I’m pretty confident about my body, after all.”

Tao Fangyi trembled all over. “No, no, no, I’m sorry, ah, I…”

“So I got a little worried.” Wang edged closer, and Tao Fangyi scrambled back.