Chapter 77: The Guest
The door closed, leaving the three children alone together—two sitting on the plain white bed;
The other quietly standing by the entrance, back against the closed metal door.
Ji Minghuan and Kong Youling’s heads leaned close together, both raising their eyebrows, eyes wide open as they curiously studied the boy’s wolf ears and the long tail that looped all the way across the floor.
“He looks like a puppy.” Kong Youling wrote in her notebook.
Ji Minghuan nodded lazily.
Honestly, setting aside those inhuman features, Filio looked more like a mixed-race kid—delicate and well-defined facial features, though his hair and eyes were both black.
For a moment, the three of them in the holding cell just stared at one another. In moments like this, it’s always the newcomer who feels awkward. Filio clearly had no idea what to do and could only stand there stupidly.
“Ah! A big puppy!” Ji Minghuan suddenly shouted, pointing at Filio’s tail dragging along the floor.
The dead silence of the holding cell was broken by that completely nonsensical statement.
Kong Youling froze for a second. Filio also blanked out.
From under the hair almost covering his eyes, that cold, numb gaze cracked, showing a trace of panic and avoidance—he clearly had been locked up for quite a while and didn’t know how to interact with other kids his age, especially when being pointed at so directly.
The next second, Ji Minghuan jumped barefoot off the bed and swaggered right up to Filio, greeting him:
“Hello, may I touch your tail? I heard in Africa, dogs use their tails instead of shaking hands.”
“S...stay away from me.” Filio replied, a flicker of hostility showing in his eyes.
Ji Minghuan instantly frowned. “Come on... is that really necessary?”
He tilted his face slightly, putting on a generous look. “Call me boss and I’ll look out for you here in the lab. No other kids would dare mess with you...”
At this point, he suddenly lowered his voice into a whisper: “I’m telling you, if I hung myself right now, even the Instructor would drop to his knees and beg me not to die.”
“Rejected. We wouldn’t give you the chance to hang yourself... though we might get on our knees and beg you not to die.”
The Instructor’s voice rang from the speaker system, echoing through the holding cell.
His tone was gentle, like a chill university professor suddenly jumping into a student debate, laughing and joking along with them.
Ji Minghuan curled his lips—thinking, We kids are chatting, what’s an adult doing barging in?
But in the next second, he switched faces and boasted smugly: “Hear that? Even the Instructor says he’d kneel to keep me alive. Know who’s the real top dog in this place now? Got it? Got it?”
As he spoke, he patted Filio on the shoulder.
He did that on purpose—to see if touching Filio would trigger the collar’s shock function. But clearly, nothing happened.
Now he understood why, back when he tried to touch Kong Youling’s hair, the Salvation Society people had forbidden physical contact:
At the time, they probably hadn’t figured out how to suppress Psychic-type Esper powers, and were afraid Ji Minghuan and Kong Youling might connect mentally and communicate in secret beyond their supervision.
But now, they’d likely gained control over that, which is why they were allowing Ji Minghuan and Kong Youling to have physical contact right under their noses.
As he was thinking this, Filio slapped Ji Minghuan’s hand away with a sharp smack.
“Don’t touch me!” Filio’s voice was even colder.
Ji Minghuan lowered his eyelids and said indifferently, “Fine, not playing with you anymore. Making me look like the bad guy.”
Not far away, Kong Youling couldn’t hear what the Instructor said through the broadcast, but she could read lips, so she could roughly tell what Ji Minghuan and Filio were talking about.
Under the cold lighting, her red eyes blinked as she looked at Ji Minghuan’s back.
Only Kong Youling knew why Ji Minghuan was suddenly acting so lively, like a different person:
He used to do the same thing—so the other kids in the orphanage wouldn’t bother her, he’d always act like the bossy kid in front of them and drive them away.
Once in the library, while reading, Ji Minghuan had said to her:
“Kids are the worst. They don’t know anything, so they’ll do anything. They don’t care about others’ feelings... Especially the ones in the orphanage who haven’t had proper education. So, don’t take their malice as your fault.”
Now, after so long, Ji Minghuan had brought out that familiar side of himself again: whenever he met strangers, he’d put on a mischievous act, regardless of who they were or the consequences—just shamelessly rushing in.
Always shielding Kong Youling behind him, drawing everyone’s attention to himself.
Over time, everyone would forget he used to be just a quiet kid who loved reading. Maybe... even he forgot what he was really like.
At this moment, Ji Minghuan stared into Filio’s eyes, clearly still wary of this unexpected guest.
But the Instructor was insistent that they befriend Filio, and thinking about it, the reason was simple:
Demonkin... didn’t exactly sound like easy-to-tame creatures. The Instructor probably wanted Filio to have a peer to help stabilize his emotions.
Ji Minghuan understood perfectly well that he was the most important one here. If this little werewolf went nuts and bit someone, the Instructor would definitely drag him out first.
So he put on that “this school is my turf” childish act, waving a hand, “Sit, big puppy... you’re late, the VIP bed’s already taken, but there’s still a chair over there.”
Then he sat back beside Kong Youling.
“Who is he?”
Kong Youling wrote in her notebook and showed it to Ji Minghuan.
“His name’s Filio. He’s the child of a human and a demon.”
“Demon?”
Kong Youling clearly hadn’t heard about Exorcists or demons from the Instructor.
“Yeah... just think of him as the kid of Pleasant Goat’s mom and Big Big Wolf’s dad, then one day he went full wolf and ate Mom, so Dad got mad and kicked him out of Green Green Grassland—permanently expelled from the wolves.”
Ji Minghuan spun some nonsense, keeping his voice low so Filio wouldn’t hear.
Under their watch, Filio quietly found a corner by the wall and sat down, hugging his knees.
He hung his head, eyes fixed on the floor, gaze turning back to that same hollow, blank stare.
He looked pitiful, like an abandoned puppy.
Kong Youling tugged at Ji Minghuan’s sleeve.
Ji Minghuan ignored her.
She tugged again.
“Alright, alright, I get it.”
Ji Minghuan said with a hint of impatience. Without another word, he got off the bed and sat beside Filio by the wall;
Kong Youling also followed and sat down on Ji Minghuan’s right, hugging her sketchbook silently.
“Can I ask you a question?” Ji Minghuan turned to Filio.
Filio stayed silent for a while, then seemed to recall the Instructor’s instructions, and slowly spoke:
“Go ahead.”
“How did you get into my bedroom? I still don’t know what it’s like outside.”
The reason Ji Minghuan didn’t ask Kong Youling was because he didn’t want her to get punished—but Filio didn’t matter. They weren’t close, so he didn’t need to care. Plus, being half demon, Filio was probably tough enough.
Filio thought for a moment and said, “I walked out of my own room. The hallway lights were so bright they hurt my eyes. I followed the broadcast instructions for a long time, then slowly ended up in your room. Other than that, I couldn’t see anything.”
Hearing this, Ji Minghuan glanced at Kong Youling.
She nodded lightly. Looks like both she and Filio got here the same way—from their own “rooms”. And with Kong Youling’s light-sensitive eyes, she definitely couldn’t have seen the path clearly.
But Ji Minghuan hadn’t expected to learn the facility’s layout from them anyway.
Still, now he at least knew there was a long, winding hallway outside the holding cell—and that hallway connected to all the kids’ rooms being kept here.
When the day came to strike the Salvation Society, Ji Minghuan would free those kids one by one—take off their inhibitors and let those “gentle” adults taste the consequences.
After thinking for a bit, Ji Minghuan asked again, “Can you transform? Like Saiyans turning into giant apes?”
“As long as I take my meds regularly, I won’t transform.” Filio said. Though his tone was cold, it carried a faint tremble.
“Great.” Ji Minghuan nodded in satisfaction. “The Instructor told me you were sent here when you were really little. Is that true?”
Filio stayed silent, then nodded gently.
“Don’t you miss your family?” Ji Minghuan intentionally avoided mentioning the mother he ate.
“Didn’t the Instructor tell you?” Filio buried his head lower.
“Tell me what?”
“I ate my mom... Dad must be really mad. I’m afraid if he finds me, he’ll eat me.” Filio said softly. “It’s better hiding here. I don’t have to be around others. If the Instructor hadn’t insisted, I wouldn’t have met you guys. So... you better not come near me either. I might eat you too.”
Sure, your dad’s mad, but he’s still out there searching the world for you, you silly kid... even while pillaging and murdering along the way, Ji Minghuan thought, shrugging to himself.
“Don’t you miss him?” Ji Minghuan asked.
“I’m a monster. Monsters belong in here...” Filio said. “Only the Instructor accepts me. Only he treats me like a human. Everyone else hates me.”
He paused, burying his head into his arms wrapped around his knees, and whispered:
“To me... the Instructor is my father.”
Ji Minghuan froze for a moment, slowly lowered his head, the corners of his mouth twitching—trying not to laugh.
Moments later, he tilted his head back and let out a long sigh at the ceiling, thinking: O mighty demon lord, please come rescue your son already. He’s over here calling the enemy “dad”—if you don’t hurry up, your family’s gonna fall apart for real!