At the entrance of the residential community, it was as if someone had pressed the pause button. The hustle and bustle of passersby gradually faded away, and even the wind seemed to have vanished.
Xiao Hei leaped over the railing as if it were nothing, striding toward the blond youth.
The moment the pink-furred fox rolled onto the ground, its control was automatically lifted, and Wen Xin suddenly snapped back to consciousness.
He clutched his aching forehead, looking ahead through his fingers, his pupils trembling incessantly.
What happened to me just now? What was going on?
Before Wen Xin could panic for more than a few seconds, Tang Qi, who was standing beside him, suddenly lost consciousness and collapsed to the ground with a thud.
“Tang Qi!”
He quickly reached out to support him, catching a glimpse of several passersby lying on the ground—all with eyes closed, unaware of anything.
Wen Xin’s expression changed instantly.
On the other side, Xiao Hei had already arrived in front of the blond youth.
The pink-furred fox sensed the killing intent, urgently squeaking, but was suppressed by an invisible force, unable to move an inch.
Xiao Hei raised his paw.
It was a simple action, yet it caused the Canary’s blood to surge, his heartbeat reaching its limit.
He seemed to see Death towering over him, casting a cold glance, raising the scythe high—
No, spare me, help, I didn’t mean to offend you!
When truly terrified, one cannot utter a single word. All calmness and rationality, all schemes and calculations, are thrown out the window.
The Canary fell into fear, his fingernails digging into his palms, drawing blood—like a lone leaf clinging to a branch in a storm, eyes wide, pale lips trembling incessantly.
Spare me, I beg you, I didn’t mean to offend you.
Please, I want to live. I’m begging you, please, please.
…I don’t want to die!
“Xiao Hei!” At the critical moment, the young man’s voice rang out.
Xiao Hei’s paw hovered over the blond youth’s forehead. After a silent two seconds, his tail swayed irritably back and forth.
Wen Xin knew that a single call wouldn’t shake Xiao Hei’s killing intent.
But he couldn’t allow Xiao Hei to take action in broad daylight; there were surveillance cameras everywhere nearby. If something happened, Xiao Hei would undoubtedly be exposed.
Wen Xin pinched himself hard, steadying his voice: “Xiao Hei, you came to pick me up, didn’t you?”
“Then why did you run over to someone else?”
Xiao Hei’s paw didn’t retract, but the swaying of his tail lessened.
At this moment, Wen Xin seemed to unlock some hidden talent; lines from TV dramas he’d glimpsed flew through his mind, and he blurted them all out.
“I brought back so many things today; my hands are so sore, my legs are weak, and I’m so tired. I want to hold you—can you come over now?”
“Why aren’t you coming? Why are you still looking at him? Could it be that he’s more important than me?”
Wen Xin closed his eyes, enduring intense embarrassment, and delivered the “bombshell” line.
“I get it—you want him, not me.”
That last sentence was a total game-changer.
Xiao Hei’s mouth twitched stiffly; he finally put down his paw and walked over.
Before he could reach Wen Xin, he was scooped up into the young man’s arms.
“I’m fine; I’m not hurt.”
Wen Xin knew what he was angry about, so he leaned close to his ear, softly and repeatedly emphasized, “I’m not hurt at all. Don’t be angry anymore, okay?”
Only then did Xiao Hei’s anger truly subside.
Not liking the young man to be so worried, he was about to shake his head to indicate he wasn’t angry anymore when his gaze suddenly froze, fixed on Wen Xin’s still-flushed earlobe.
The fair skin was tinged with a hint of rosy color, looking very soft, very supple—extremely enticing.
As if under a spell, Xiao Hei slightly opened his mouth.
Just as he was about to lick that soft spot, he suddenly realized what he was doing. As if burned by fire, he hastily turned his head away.
After Xiao Hei withdrew his oppressive aura, the passersby lying on the ground soon woke up, looking around in confusion.
Tang Qi groggily opened his eyes, first seeing Wen Xin, then noticing items from the shopping bags scattered all over the ground. He snapped awake: “Damn, when did I let go?”
Other passersby also came to their senses: “What happened just now?”
“No idea—I just felt really dizzy.”
“How did I fall? Ouch, that hurts. Wait, you fell too? What’s going on? Why is everyone lying on the ground…”
Xiao Hei looked at the little fox. “Make them forget what just happened.”
The little fox whimpered and quickly complied.
After the ability took effect, the passersby no longer dwelled on what had just happened and went about their own business.
Wen Xin helped Tang Qi up, and the two of them began picking up items and putting them back into the bags.
Noticing the bloodstains at the corner of the Canary’s mouth, he instinctively picked up a bag of convenience food and handed it over. “Here, cover your face.”
The Canary’s fear had not yet dissipated. Hearing the young man’s steady voice, he quickly took it and held it in front of his nose.
Tang Qi looked over, seeming to recall something, and frowned in confusion. “Who’s this?”
The Canary’s heart tightened instantly. Wen Xin calmly said, “A kid from a relative’s family. We ran into each other on the road, and I invited him over to hang out.”
As he spoke, he handed another bag to the Canary. After the youth hastily caught it, Wen Xin patted him on the back of the head and said, “Let’s go home.”
Seeing the two seeming quite close, Tang Qi scratched his head and suppressed his doubts.
After saying goodbye to Tang Qi and returning home, a green fluffy creature came flying like a bullet, almost causing internal injuries to Wen Xin from the collision.
“Meow~”
I watched the house like a good boy, so where’s the food? Where are the treats~
The worries that Wen Xin hadn’t had time to process were immediately dispelled by the sparkle in the green furball’s eyes.
It was easy to guess what he was thinking. Seeing him staring expectantly at the shopping bags, one could tell what he was hoping for.
Wen Xin couldn’t help but laugh, taking the shopping bag from the Canary’s hands. “I bought it! Look, this whole bag is yours. Happy?”
The green furball clung to the shopping bag, half of his head diving in to inspect, meowing happily several times.
Man and pet were intimately connected, while behind them, the Canary and the pink-furred fox stood petrified.
The aura of special beings is an irrefutable identification; they wouldn’t mistake the Venomous Viper’s aura.
But to believe that the green cat before them, acting cute and affectionate toward the human youth, was the bloodthirsty Number Seven—they could only think the heavens were joking!
After petting the green furball several times, Wen Xin let out a long sigh.
His mind was still a bit muddled. Seeing that the bag of fresh meat was dripping water, he quickly took it to the kitchen to put it on a plate.
As soon as Wen Xin left, the atmosphere immediately changed.
The previously pleasant temperature seemed to plummet to freezing, making everyone’s hands and feet icy cold.
The green furball circled around the Canary, its body elongating continuously, a massive shadow looming over them.
He reverted to his true form at a seemingly slow pace, but it happened in an instant. The Canary hadn’t even had time to react before he was tightly constricted by the thick snake body.
The threat of death approached once again, and the Canary trembled all over.
The green furball said, “I sensed the pressure you released; you were angry just now.”
The words were spoken into the Canary’s ear, but they were directed at Xiao Hei.
Xiao Hei walked past them. “Hmm.”
The green furball continued, “There’s only one situation that would make you angry.”
Xiao Hei neither confirmed nor denied.
So the green furball turned his attention back to the Canary, revealing sharp venomous fangs. “For a human who carries both my and Number One’s scent, how dare you bully him, little bird?”
As the last two words fell, his bright red tongue swept over the Canary’s neck—eerie, slippery, extremely dangerous.
Who would have thought that a mutant who hates humans would actually get close to one?
Having endured the oppressive aura of two S-class mutants in such a short time, the Canary’s will nearly collapsed.
Offending both the Tyrannosaurus and the Venomous Viper at the same time—did he have any chance of survival?
The Canary felt he didn’t, so despair overwhelmed him. Self-loathing emotions, like thorns, surged crazily from the depths of his heart.
After escaping for so long, he still couldn’t escape death.
Why was he so weak?
Why was he a canary?
Why, at such a life-and-death moment, did he still only know how to tremble?
Move, fight back, at least say something—why couldn’t he learn to resist?!
The little fox was about to cry from anxiety. It only had A-class illusion abilities, useless against S-class mutants. It could only rush up and bite the tip of the Venomous Viper’s tail. “Number Seven, we were wrong. We shouldn’t have bullied humans. Please don’t eat Jiujiu; don’t eat him!”
“Ah Lü…”
In an instant, the Venomous Viper, who had been contemplating where to bite, shuddered all over and quickly transformed back into the innocent-looking green furball, causing the little fox to miss its target completely.
The Canary instinctively tried to catch the little fox but didn’t realize he was also weak all over. Unable to stand, he slipped backward.
Seeing he was about to fall, he closed his eyes in panic but unexpectedly collided with the young man’s slender body and was caught.
The Canary looked up blankly, his eyes filled with sorrow, panic, and self-loathing—all of which Wen Xin took in.
At the same time, following his upward gaze, the boy saw the young man’s smooth jawline and those eyes that wouldn’t stop trembling.
It was just a momentary thing.
In the next moment, Wen Xin smiled as if he hadn’t noticed anything, and lightly tapped the green furball on the forehead. “What’s wrong? Are you greeting our new guests?”
The green furball tilted his head to look at him.
Recently, he had been learning human vocabulary and didn’t think that the little bird and little fox, who were courting death, could be called “guests.”
Seeing his disbelief, Wen Xin patted the boy’s shoulder. “Let me introduce you all—this is a kid I met on the way. He came from very far away, hasn’t rested much, and wants to borrow our place to rest for a while.”
“Oh, and this is his companion.”
Wen Xin picked up the bewildered little fox, placed it on the sofa, and changed the subject. “What would everyone like to eat tonight? I bought a lot of ingredients today; we can make a big meal.”
The young man acted earnestly, and no matter how one looked, it didn’t seem like he was pretending.
Originally certain that the Canary and the others had offended Wen Xin, the green furball was now confused, casting an uncertain glance at Xiao Hei.
Xiao Hei frowned slightly.
Wen Xin gave him a reassuring smile and led the dirty Canary to the bathroom.
The moment he turned his back on all the furballs, the smile on his lips tightened slightly. Thinking of the reflection he’d glimpsed on the refrigerator door, he felt a bit dazed.
So Ah Lü is a big snake…
He couldn’t help but rub his forehead.
Was he afraid? Of course—after all, living in the city, who had ever seen such a large venomous snake?
But perhaps he’d been shocked too many times in one day; his capacity to handle it was more resilient than he’d thought. Even if he was afraid, it wasn’t overwhelming.
There was more surprise and curiosity.
Wen Xin had been wondering what “du kui” was a code name for and hadn’t expected it to mean “Venomous Viper.”
“Tyrannosaurus” was easy to understand. He had seen Xiao Hei’s monstrous form—it resembled a dinosaur long extinct. He wasn’t sure which kind; he’d look it up when he had time.
As for Ah Lü, who was always hiding things from him and getting nervous at the slightest disturbance, he was probably afraid his identity would be exposed.
Wen Xin smiled helplessly. Since Ah Lü didn’t want to reveal it, he’d pretend he didn’t know anything.
While his mind wandered, he didn’t stay idle and began rummaging through the cabinets.
Both furballs didn’t like their personal items contaminated with other scents. He remembered buying spare towels before.
From the moment he entered the bathroom, the Canary had been standing stiffly.
He slowly turned his head to look at himself in the mirror.
Dirty and disheveled, clothes in disarray, dried bloodstains on his mouth and nose, hair covered in dirt from falling. After a long time without rest and successive shocks, his face showed an unhealthy complexion.
Not knowing what he would face next, his mind was still gripped by fear.
But his soul felt as if it had been split apart, floating in mid-air, observing his timid self, numbly and indifferently chuckling.
How pathetic.
Until a warm towel filled with steam gently wiped his dirty cheeks.
The boy raised his head abruptly, meeting Wen Xin’s eyes.
Wen Xin paused, the complexity in his gaze turning into a soft sigh of compassion. “Don’t cry anymore.”
Cry?
The boy’s body and soul were simultaneously surprised, then he shook his head with a wry smile.
He was a canary—no combat ability, a mere ornament among mutants. Being threatened was common; whether he could survive depended entirely on others’ moods.
He was used to it and hadn’t cried in a long time. How could he possibly shed tears now?
But the Canary hadn’t thought that just by shaking his head, he would dislodge the things welling up in his eyes.
Drip.
The hot tears that had been suppressed all this time suddenly flowed down, caught in Wen Xin’s palm.
