“What happened here?” Wen Feng Jin asked when he saw the woman. 

Wang Xiao Mie simplified the story and told Wen Feng Jin about the ring and the woman.

“She should be an ordinary human. The problem is with the ring Da Bai’s grandfather left for him.” Wang Xiao Mie sighed, “Da Bai, stop hiding and take that little trinket out.”

“It’s not a trinket…”Baiyu looked at Wen Feng Jin and held back his words, “Here it is.”

A plain golden ring with the word ‘Bai’ engraved on it. It emitted a simple luster as it laid in Baiyu’s palm.

Two bony and sharp fingers pinched onto the ring. Wen Feng Jin held it up to his eye level and examined it in silence.

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Wang Xiao Mie got out his embrace and went to cover the girl lying on the sofa with a piece of cloth. After all, she was in her skimpy pajamas and they were all male, it wasn’t good to just let her lay there like that.

Baiyu saw Wen Feng Jin observing the ring and said, “I had definitely kept the ring well hidden. I don’t know how this sister got hold of it. And I’ve seen her before. She seems to rent the room opposite of me.”

“She lives opposite of you but you only recognize her now?” Wang Xiao Mie turned to look at him.

Baiyu was quite dumbfounded. He defended himself, “She’s usually wearing heavy makeup. Removing your makeup is just like changing your face. If it weren’t for the mole on her face, only ghosts would know who she is!”

“…” This is probably why people would advocate the benefits of having natural looking makeup. After a bottle of makeup remover, one might think that their wife had been swapped!

Wang Xiao Mie rubbed his neck and stood up straight, “But aren’t we just unlucky? She wore that ring but didn’t go after her boyfriend who provoked her. Instead she came here to chase us around. Your ring… could she have stolen it?”

“I’m not sure…” Wen Feng Jin interrupted before he could finish his sentence.

“It’s not her. Someone had secretly planned this. The person I chased after was a doll, not a human. The books in its hands were also fake.” Wen Feng Jin threw away the ring and Baiyu rushed over to catch it and carefully wrapped it in a paper towel.

Wen Feng Jin continued without much emotion, “Your house has long been used by someone else. Even those books and tools have been raided.”

Baiyu froze. He took a look around the living room, “Really? But that’s not possible. My locks are all new. And I always leave a wooden stick at the door and check for marks whenever I come back.”

These were common anti-theft skills he learned from the internet. If it were an ordinary thief, he would not notice these things. Even those who were not familiar with Baiyu couldn’t tell that this seemingly brainless simpleton would bother to guard against burglary.

Wang Xiao Mie contemplated and said, “Doesn’t look like it was done by a stranger. Could it be someone you know?”

“I’m the only one left in my family. After my dad and grandpa disappeared, all my relatives couldn’t be more eager to distance themselves, much less be bothered with me.” After all, a child without parents simply means that money will have to be spent, both for school and food. Generally, relatives would not want such trouble.

Baiyu felt sad having to talk about this. He covered it up and went to tidy up the living room.

Wang Xiao Mie wanted to comfort him but did know the words to use. When he was little, his parents divorced and wanted nothing more than for him to disappear so as not to burden them. His grandmother had taken care of him but she had died a few years later. As such, his and Baiyu’s life experiences were quite similar.

And Wen Feng Jin would not comfort Baiyu in a million years. Other than Wang Xiao Mie, no one else had ever received his consideration. Besides, he had long since become an ‘even if you don’t bother me, I still want your life’ demon who could very likely laugh at the misfortunes of others. 

There was also his bloody and harsh childhood where he had to watch every member of his family beheaded, even a chicken or dog left unspared. Compared to them, Wen Feng Jin had it worse…

These thoughts dimmed Wang Xiao Mie’s mood. What are we? The unfortunate trio?

“It could be that your father or grandfather had come back.” Wang Xiao Mie could only think of this.

Baiyu’s hand froze slightly. He muttered, “I wish” and continued to clean up.

Wang Xiao Mie did not say more. He turned to ask Wen Feng Jin, “Feng Jin, what doll were you talking about? That man?”

Wen Feng Jin responded with an ‘en’. He then looked at Wang Xiao Mie’s chicken nest like hair and frowned. He approached him and used his slender fingers as a comb to untangle the locks and tidy up his floor-sweeping long hair.

Wen Feng Jin said with little care, “That man was just an inferior prop that someone made, he’s not alive.”

His words not only startled Wang Xiao Mie but also Baiyu who had even forgotten to pack the things in his hands.

“That wasn’t a human?!”

The man they had seen at the window had not only smiled but had also shown several expressions on his face. His skin and facial features were exactly like that of a human being’s.  Even with that level of realism, it had only been an inferior product?

“If he’s not human, then what is he? A robot?” Baiyu asked with awe.

“No.” Wen Feng Jin did not know what a robot was and explained, “His insides were made of straw. This is something created by a certain clan of weaponsmiths. They were quite common a long time ago. These craftsmen would build wooden dolls to help them with collecting and refining materials; they’re somewhat like an assistive tool.”

Baiyu: … Mother, this thing can be made with a refiner?!

Wang Xiao Mie: … So artificial humanoid helpers already existed even in ancient times?

Wait, something is not right!

Wang Xiao Mie asked Wen Feng Jin, “How did you know that the doll is made of straw?”

Da Bai was also scurious and looked over.

Wen Feng Jin continued to focus on the black hair in his hand while saying, “I saw it after twisting its head off.”

Wang Xiao Mie and Da Bai: “….”

They looked at each other.

Da Bai: In my entire life, I have never been this afraid of anyone. Your husband is definitely the first!

Wang Xiao Mie nodded with mutual understanding: Me too.

After Baiyu had finished tidying up the place, Wen Feng Jin had also neatly adjusted Wang Xiao Mie’s hair and clothes. The trio then turned their attention to the unconscious woman on the sofa.

Wang Xiao Mie was concerned, “What should we do with this sister?” If it were the bad guys, they could just clean it up but she was clearly just an innocent passerby with quite a bit of bad luck.

Baiyu was also worried, “The problem is why hasn’t she woke up yet?”

Wen Feng Jin said, “It’s too troublesome. Let’s just bury her.”

Baiyu, “…”

Wang Xiao Mie , “… I beg you, please shut up.” Everytime you open your mouth, it just urges others to call the police!

Wen Feng Jin stopped talking and Wang Xiao Mie and Baiyu, two people with non-psychotic brains, discussed whether to call an ambulance or take her directly to the hospital. After all, they were partially responsible for her current condition.

The two decided unanimously to call an ambulance but they couldn’t simply let the paramedics come upstairs, that would raise a lot of questions. And so, the only choice was to carry her downstairs and wait.

Needless to say, unless they wanted to see Wen Feng Jin throwing her out the window, it was impossible to make him carry her, absolutely unimaginable in this lifetime. Carrying Wang Xiao Mie was the only consideration he’ll ever make.

Wen Feng Jing wouldn’t carry her and refused to let Wang Xiao Mie do it either. So in the end, it all came down to Baiyu. Under the hot summer sun, Baiyu had to carry an adult woman down six flights of stairs.

At the bottom of the stairs, Baiyu collapsed on the ground and breathed heavily, unable even to speak. Feeling apologetic, Wang Xiao Mie ran to a small shop he remembered they passed by on the way and bought him a few bottles of cold beverages.

“Thanks for your hard work. I’ll make lamb chops tonight to compensate you.” Wang Xiao Mie told Baiyu while also looking at Wen Feng Jin. It was obviously unsafe at Baiyu’s place and seeing how much they have in common, Wang Xiao Mie was moved and wanted to take Baiyu in temporarily. His concern was that Wen Feng Jin would not agree.

Seeing that Wen Feng Jin did not react, Wang Xiao Mie pulled him aside and whispered, “Feng Jin, I want… to let Baiyu stay with us for a while. He clearly can’t stay in his apartment anymore and the doll’s behavior before wasn’t anything kind either. Plus his life is quite sad, he probably…”

“Fine.” 

“… has nowhere else to go… hm?!! What did you say just now?” Wang Xiao Mie stopped talking and stared at him in surprise.

Wen Feng Jin had agreed too readily, making him wonder if the man in front of him was possessed.

“I said ‘fine’, he can bring those things over, however…” Wen Feng Jin’s handsome face showed neither joy nor anger, “He has to let me take charge of them for the time being.”

Wang Xiao Mie was baffled, “You want his stuff?”

Wen Feng Jin denied, “Those are useless to me but it was obvious that these people came here for it. Letting him keep them will bring a lot of trouble.”

“I see…” Wang Xiao Mie did not doubt his words. They both don’t age nor die, what was there in this world that could move Wen Feng Jin? And so he nodded, “Let me discuss this with Baiyu, those books were left to him by his grandfather after all.”

Wen Feng Jin agreed without saying anything else.

Wang Xiao Mie returned to Baiyu to discuss. 

Baiyu was embarrassed staying over at their house and repeatedly shook his head.

“There’s nothing to be shy about. You know about him and I.” Wang Xiao Mie smiled and pointed to himself and Wen Feng Jin, “None of us are human so as long as you’re not scared, it’ll be fine. The thing is, for safety’s sake, Feng Jin said that you should let him keep those things for now. But, you can take them back whenever you want.”

“What happened just now was quite dangerous. Someone had planned this… So something might happen if you’re alone.”

Wang Xiao Mie said no more. Certain things shouldn’t be forced. Extending kindness is good but it also depends on whether the person really wanted it.

Wang Xiao Mie sat with Baiyu for a while before hearing him say, “Thank you both. I’ll have to trouble you in the future… I’ll try to find another place as soon as possible and I’ll pay you rent every month!”

“Don’t. The one thing I don’t need the most right now is money.” Wang Xiao Mie laughed. 

Baiyu was also happy with the decision and looked at him with envy. Standing behind them, Wen Feng Jin watched with his eyes as dark as the night.

When the ambulance arrived to send the girl to the hospital, they claimed that they only happened to see her faint at the entrance. The doctor did not suspect that the three men had done anything to her. After all, other than the dark-skinned fellow, the two men with long hair were a lot better looking than the girl lying on the stretcher! Even though one of them had a pair of scary pupils and long silver hair, he did not think too much of it. The youngsters of today could be seen wearing elaborate makeup and wigs, there was nothing he had not seen before.

By the time Wang Xiao Mie had paid the hospital fee, left his number, and taken the cab back to Biayu’s apartment to pack up his stuff, it was already three in the afternoon by the time they began their return trip to the villa.

Back home, Wang Xiao Mie prepared a guest room on the first floor for Baiyu and just as he turned to look, Wen Feng Jin had already gone upstairs with Baiyu’s box of scriptures.

He probably went to get a change of clothes. Wang Xiao Mie knew that Wen Feng Jin was a neat freak. He smiled and went to grab a few ingredients from the fridge to prepare dinner.

He made a bowl of spinach and meatball soup together with two side dishes and a big plate of fried lamb chops. After giving it some thought, he finally decided to take out the frozen dumplings and made a portion specially for Baiyu.

He used to see parents making a bowl of soup dumplings for their children when they had to leave home for a long time. He wasn’t sure where Baiyu came from or that he had this custom but he still decided to make it anyway. 

At the dinner table, the food gave off a mouthwatering fragrance. The scrumptious lamb chops and side dishes were enough to make one’s stomach growl. 

But Baiyu was stunned when he saw the bowl of dumplings in front of him. 

“Eat.”

Wang Xiao Mie and Wen Feng Jin had begun to eat while Baiyu started to slowly sip from the warm bowl of dumpling soup. The clearly visible pair of eyes against his dark skin were turning red, filled with a layer of mist.

Wang Xiao Mie saw it but he did not say anything. Back then, he was just like Baiyu, yearning for heartwarming food and lively laughter that he’d heard drifting through the walls of someone else’s house…

But now, he has a partner. Wang Xiao Mie looked at the pair of chopsticks picking up a piece of meat and placing it in his bow. He smiled at Wen Feng Jin and did the same for him. 

This is good.

He thought: It would be good if they could spend the rest of their lives this way.

After eating, Baiyu went to clean the dishes without saying anything. The trio then went to watch TV with a plate of fruits before Baiyu and Wang Xiao Mie said goodnight to each other. 

Standing in the bathroom after taking his bath, Wang Xiao Mie lifted his wet hair and walked towards the mirror. 

Looking at his reflection, he suddenly froze!

His pupils shrank as he observed the marks growing from his heart over to his whole shoulder! The big mass was spreading sporadically!

Wang Xiao Mie looked at the mirror and muttered in utter disbelief, “What the hell is this?!”

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