One day after another, I woke up.
With Lu Xiu’s hand in my mouth.
I frowned, a little annoyed.
Why does his hand always end up in my mouth!
It’s not tasty at all, and if he finds out, he’ll smack me on the head again.
Taking advantage of the fact that he didn’t seem awake yet, I wiggled backward and spat his hand out of my mouth.
Good.
He didn’t notice.
Then it was time to get off his bed—otherwise, there’d be no breakfast today.
“Mmm…”
He suddenly let out a muffled grunt, making my whole body freeze in shock. I looked up and saw he hadn’t opened his eyes, so I let out a sigh of relief.
After successfully getting off the bed, I happily ran back to my own little nest.
My own bed is still the most comfortable.
Lu Xiu’s bed is too dangerous—too easy to get bumps on the head.
***
A while later, I was shaken awake in a daze, coming face to face with Lu Xiu’s dead-fish eyes.
“Yawn…morning… good morning… seaweed ball…”
I covered my mouth and yawned.
“You bit my hand? And got on my bed again, didn’t you?”
The hand that had been on my mouth suddenly froze.
Thinking about it carefully…
I do seem to always wake up like this… and then run off to my own territory…
“No.”
I said seriously.
“Ow!”
My head got smacked again!
“You think I’m an idiot? My hand is covered in drool and bite marks every morning, you think I wouldn’t notice?”
“Then why even ask me!”
He fell silent, then suddenly had an epiphany, “Yeah, why am I asking you? I could just smack you directly.”
“Ugh… Don’t hit me, I didn’t do it on purpose.”
I covered my head.
“Today you’re gnawing my hand, tomorrow you might gnaw my feet, and if you dare gnaw my feet, maybe next it’ll be my head. I don’t even want to imagine if you’ll end up gnawing me all over one day.”
“I wouldn’t! Your feet stink, I don’t like them.”
“Ow!”
Smacked again!
After lecturing me, he left the bedroom feeling refreshed.
Brush teeth, wash face.
Get dressed, eat breakfast.
These daily routines repeat.
And it makes me really happy.
I don’t know why I’m so happy.
Maybe it’s because I don’t have to deal with bad things every day.
Even if I get hit all the time.
“Sui, go to the Baota later.” At the table, Lu Xiu pulled out his phone and suddenly looked at me.
“We’re going again…”
“This time it’s for that coin. They’ve finished their research. That Round Coin is a special containment object, and it seems they found two fused abilities in it. Since you ate it before, naturally, they want to find you.”
“Can I not go?”
“What do you think?”
I poked my fried egg with my fork, “Fine. Then I want a cup of Kuyan Fire Village and a red fruit.”
“That’s called an apple.”
“Okay, then I want a cup of apple and a red fruit.”
Lu Xiu shut up.
When we arrived at Baota again, this time it was Beetle Mask waiting for us. He didn’t talk much—just gave a slight greeting and led us into an enclosed room.
In the center of the room stood the Round Coin.
“This containment object has fused two powers: one is the cost from the Demon of the Circle, the other is a kind of Wish Granting Effect. When you toss the Round Coin, you can make a wish.”
“If, when it lands, the side facing you is the reverse, there’s a chance your wish will come true—of course, nothing too complicated.”
Beetle Mask explained, while pulling up various indecipherable data files on a screen.
“The price is, with every toss, your body will become more circular—just like the round people you encountered before.”
Lu Xiu supported his chin with his thumb and index finger, deep in thought.
I, bored, sat in my chair blowing bubbles.
By my ear, Lu Xiu’s voice came: “Do you think Sui fused these two abilities?”
“It’s just speculation, since the Demon of the Circle’s power shouldn’t include any wish granting.” Beetle Mask replied calmly.
“Eh… Isn’t Yuanmeng about circles…?”
I suddenly stopped blowing bubbles and chimed in.
Beetle Mask fell silent.
Lu Xiu, on the other hand, nodded slightly, “That does make a bit of sense.”
“See, heh heh.”
“As if! You think a demon is clay you can mold?”
Lu Xiu shot me a glare, “If that were the case, the Demon of the Circle would’ve long been a fundamental evil. Demons involved with human wishes and desires are always the big ones. Demon of the Circle is at most mid to low rank.”
“Hmm…” I stuck out my tongue.
Seeing we had nothing more to say, Beetle Mask continued, “So my suggestion is, let her swallow more containment objects, see if she can produce more fusion containment objects with similar effects.”
“I disagree.” Lu Xiu didn’t even think before rejecting, “First, who guarantees safety? Not to mention finding suitable objects, the idea itself is crude, lacks refinement, and I don’t buy it.”
“Second, she’s my hunting dog now, I’m fully responsible for her. That means she’s mine. If something happens, who am I supposed to cry to? Besides, I’m still in debt, I’m hoping she’ll pull her weight in the next few missions.”
Beetle Mask looked at me, then back at Lu Xiu.
“I think you should understand, if she can fuse two different types of containment objects, it would be revolutionary for the entire Response Division. We could combine useless abilities with high-tier objects to create more practical special weapons.”
“And what’s the success rate? Can you guarantee a hundred percent? What if something happens to her?”
“Our Baota can analyze her abilities—even if she dies, her body would still be excellent material.”
Lu Xiu was silent. “So what you’re saying is, for your so-called experiment, you’d sacrifice your Partner?”
“She’s just a monster!” Beetle Mask’s voice grew louder.
“I am not a monster! I’m a human, a good person!” I immediately retorted, puffing with anger, “I have my own name. My name is Sui, as in Sui Sui Ping An!”
You’re the monster, your whole family are monsters!
“Seaweed ball.” I looked up at Lu Xiu, “I don’t want to stay here anymore. I want to go home.”
This place is no good at all—the monkey doctor is a thousand times better.
“…I hope you’ll seriously consider this.” Beetle Mask tried to persuade Lu Xiu, seeing he was still silent.
“No need to consider.” He suddenly spoke, looking at me, “I won’t agree.”
With that, he reached out and took my hand, leading me toward the door.
At the moment we stepped out, he paused, “If our success must be built on the sacrifice of a fragile life, then such success is far too weak. My sword is meant to protect, not to point at my own companions. That is my principle.”
With that, he led me out the main doors.
Never looking back.
We didn’t go home. Instead, we sat on a stone block by the side of the road, with a cup of Kuyan Fire Village in my hands that he bought for me.
“Lu Xiu, you’re actually a good person.”
I praised.
“You only figured that out now…” he gave me a sidelong glance.
“Heh heh.”
I sipped my milk tea, swinging my head.
“Oh, right, Sui, don’t go eating random things from now on.”
“Why?”
“Because those guys have their eyes on you. Who knows what they’ll mix into your food next time.”
Why are they so bad!
“Are they bad people too?”
Bad, just bad!
“…Well, hard to say. From their perspective, everything is for research. You can’t really judge their actions with simple morality.”
It’s like a trolley—two tracks, one has one person tied to it, the other has three people tied. Now, the choice is yours: do you kill one person to save three, or let three die to save one?
Which would you choose?”
“I don’t know…”
“They’d choose to kill the one person to maximize overall benefit. Sounds reasonable, since one person can’t be more important than the rest.”
He paused, eyes falling to the cracks in the pavement, “But, they forget—what if that person is the backbone of a family, a wife’s husband, a child’s father? They kill that one person, save three, but also indirectly kill that wife and her child.”
“They never consider the connections between people. Measuring life by numbers alone… is both arrogant and sad.”
For the first time, he spoke to me in such a low, earnest voice, sharing his true thoughts.
“So what about you, Sui? After all that, what do you think you’d do?”
He looked up at me, as if seeking approval, or maybe to anchor his own wavering heart.
I frowned.
“Never mind, this is probably too much for you right now.”
“I’d eat the trolley.”
I suddenly spoke.
He was stunned.
“Like… you see, if I eat the trolley, then it won’t hit anyone, right?”
“What kind of logic is that…” he grumbled.
“Because… uh, you have to solve things at the source, that’s what it means. And… as long as you’re true to yourself, that’s what matters.” I pursed my lips, biting my straw.
“Chattering nonsense again.”
He sighed.
Then I felt my cheeks being pinched.
“Mmm… what are you doing…”
Why are you pulling my face!
“Feels pretty good…”
He rubbed my cheek with his fingertips, and commented.
“You’ve got a problem, you know.”
I couldn’t be bothered to deal with him, and kept drinking my Kuyan Fire Village.