Chapter 4
Early in the morning, just as dawn was breaking, Wen Xin was preparing to go to work when he noticed that the black furball, who usually liked to lounge atop the cabinet sleeping, had jumped down, appearing as if he intended to go out with him.
He paused for a moment and took Xiao Hei downstairs.
Upon reaching the community garden, he could see a few scattered figures: students, office workers, and elderly men and women taking morning walks.
Wen Xin observed carefully and noticed that Xiao Hei’s gaze didn’t stray, not lingering on any of the other people.
Clearly, the reason Xiao Hei had come out had nothing to do with them.
After walking together for a while, and seeing that they were close to the community gate, the black furball voluntarily stopped, indicating that he didn’t intend to go any further.
Wen Xin also stopped.
Seeing those golden eyes looking directly at him, with nothing around them, he couldn’t help but speculate—could it be that Xiao Hei just had a sudden whim to see him off?
Suddenly, Wen Xin’s eyes curved into a smile, and he leaned down to place a light kiss on the black furball’s forehead.
In just these few days of living together, Xiao Hei had grown accustomed to Wen Xin’s closeness—something that even the black furball himself found incredible.
As a result, while he was contemplating how to drive away the intruder, he failed to dodge Wen Xin’s “attack” in time.
The young man’s lips were as soft as clouds, and when they pressed against him, they carried a warmth that was impossible to ignore.
Like being struck by lightning, the violent thoughts in Xiao Hei’s mind were instantly scattered.
This was the second time he had been kissed by someone, and it was the same person.
But last time, Wen Xin had been in a dazed, unconscious state—completely different from this time!
Wen Xin had no idea that the black furball was in turmoil. He smiled faintly and said, “Be good; I’ll come back early today.”
Meeting the young man’s gentle smile, the black furball felt a surge of heat rising, his entire face burning hot.
Fortunately, the dense black fur covered him, preventing Wen Xin from noticing anything unusual.
*
Wen Xin was a pastry chef, working at a bakery and cake shop located on a commercial street.
Although he had been somewhat reserved during the interview, his naturally handsome face and exceptional pastry-making skills still made him shine among the candidates.
After tasting his cakes, the store manager’s eyes lit up, and she immediately decided to hire him.
She told all the employees, “Look at that face, that figure—he’s a living, breathing human billboard! When we hand out flyers, if we dress up Wen Xin a bit, we won’t have to worry about attracting customers!”
At that time, Wen Xin was standing right beside her, smiling awkwardly but politely, wanting to speak but holding back.
Then the store manager added enthusiastically, “Most importantly—his cakes and pastries are delicious! He puts thought into developing new products, works seriously and meticulously—someone like that can’t have a bad character!”
Both compliments received unanimous agreement from his enthusiastic colleagues.
Even those who were initially envious had to admire Wen Xin’s extremely dedicated attitude after working with him.
Up to now, Wen Xin had been working at this dessert shop for three years, and most of the regular returning customers came because of him, making the store manager exclaim that her original choice had been the right one.
Upon arriving at the dessert shop, Wen Xin didn’t go in directly but checked himself from head to toe.
Even though he hadn’t noticed Xiao Hei shedding any fur, he still checked meticulously.
He didn’t want his negligence to spoil the mood of customers who came happily to buy cakes, causing trouble for the store manager and colleagues.
After confirming that there were no cat hairs or stray hairs on him, Wen Xin entered the store, changed into his uniform, put on a mask, rolled up his shirt sleeves to his elbows—revealing slender, fair arms—and began to work.
Before long, colleagues arrived one after another. Seeing him, they smiled and greeted, “Morning, Master Wen!”
Wen Xin looked up from his work, his eyes curving into a smile. “Morning.”
Even wearing a mask couldn’t hide that warm and gentle smile.
Some observant colleagues had long noticed that Wen Xin had been smiling more lately than before and, contrary to his usual behavior, was leaving work on time.
You should know that previously, he always worked until eight or nine o’clock without complaint, until even the store manager couldn’t stand it and had to urge him to go home.
They whispered among themselves, muttering, “This isn’t normal, really not normal.”
“Could it be that he has a girlfriend?”
The more they thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. The female employees exchanged glances, and the budding feelings in their hearts instantly withered into dead branches and fallen leaves.
Today, there were several orders for hotel and company celebrations. Wen Xin was busy working and didn’t pay attention to other things.
As he worked, it was soon lunchtime.
Food in the mall was relatively expensive, so the employees were used to bringing their own lunches, and heating them up in the kitchen microwave.
Someone turned on the store’s television, which was broadcasting an important news update.
“Recently, the zoo in City H suffered an attack by unknown assailants, resulting in the escape of many large animals held inside. This has led to multiple vicious animal injury incidents in the city. Citizens are urged to pay close attention to their safety when going out.”
“If anyone spots traces of wild animals, please immediately call the hotline of the relevant department for assistance. Do not attempt to capture them on your own. Phone number: XXX-XXXXX.”
“We will continue to follow up and report on this incident…”
Perhaps to draw people’s attention, the news included footage of a black bear going on a rampage, rushing onto the main road and attacking people.
Seeing that bloody, pixelated scene, a store employee nearly choked on the food she had just put into her mouth.
After finally swallowing, she looked down at the pig liver remaining in her bowl and instantly lost her appetite.
Another employee stared at the brutal footage, her face full of shock, and patted her chest with lingering fear. “Good thing City H is far from here.”
“Seems like things haven’t been peaceful in City H lately. I saw another news report earlier about a mental patient who was confined at home and got rabies. His family didn’t watch him properly, and he ran out biting people randomly.”
“I saw that news too. It seems it’s a new type of rabies; the vaccines we had before are useless. Sigh, several people died! The rest were taken to the hospital, but it looks like they can’t be saved either.”
“Ah, that’s so tragic…”
The employees showed sympathetic expressions but didn’t display much fear or apprehension in their chatter.
After all, from City H to their city, City G, it was over two thousand kilometers. Whether it was animal attacks or mental patients carrying new types of rabies, it was too far away from them.
Wen Xin was also holding a lunchbox.
Looking at the TV screen showing severely injured citizens lying on the ground, he was silent for a while. Suddenly, the phone in his pocket vibrated twice.
Someone had sent him a message; the contact name was “Elder Brother.”
Wen Xin quietly stared at this contact’s name, not moving for a moment.
It wasn’t until the other party impatiently sent another message that he slowly opened it to read.
Elder Brother: I had someone deposit money into the card I gave you. Go stock up on food, and don’t go out recently. Stay home and behave yourself.
Elder Brother: Reply.
Wen Xin: Mm.
Wen Xin: No need.
Elder Brother: ?
Elder Brother: Are you growing wings and getting bold…
Before the message was finished, Wen Xin expressionlessly set the conversation to “Do Not Disturb,” closed his phone, and acted as if he hadn’t seen anything.
*
The black furball crouched atop a tree branch, eyes closed in deep concentration.
No one knew that his muscles were already tensed to the extreme, brewing immense power under his claws capable of moving mountains and overturning seas.
Rustling sounds—scales scraping against dense leaves—came from behind him, along with a dark and subtle crawling noise.
The black furball suddenly let out a hoarse low growl, and the sound waves transmitted could only be understood by his own kind.
“Take one more step closer, and I’ll tear you apart.”
The crawling sounds indeed stopped.
In their place appeared a snake head shaped like an inverted triangle, with serrated protrusions on its head resembling dragon horns.
If there were professionals present, they would recognize this as a bush viper, with brightly colored and variable body colors, covered with fish scale-like scales, venomous but not deadly.
But obviously, this green bush viper was not ordinary.
It had a pair of crystalline, dragonfly-like wings on its back, though not yet fully formed.
The bush viper raised its head, its snake eyes sinister, gazing faintly at the black furball, and let out a mocking laugh: “Number One, you’ve fallen. Your original form was so strong and mighty, yet you’ve disguised yourself into this ridiculous and pitiful appearance!”
The black furball remained unmoved.
An invisible aura radiated from his body, and the bush viper hanging in the foliage was immediately impacted, falling to the ground with a “thud.”
“Damn!”
The bush viper looked up in embarrassment.
Before it could react, the black furball had instantly flashed in front of it, precisely pressing his paw against its vital point—the seven-inch spot.
Feeling the black furball’s intense killing intent, the bush viper broke out in a cold sweat.
“Calm down, Number One, calm down. I’m not your enemy.”
The black furball was completely unmoved, his gaze cold as he looked at it. “Tell me, what are you doing here? What’s your purpose?”
From City H to here, over two thousand kilometers—it wouldn’t naively think that the bush viper had traversed mountains and rivers just to come sightseeing.
“I—”
The bush viper still wanted to struggle, until the black furball’s sharp claw effortlessly pierced its scales, blood gushing out.
It finally cried out in fear: “I just escaped from the base and then sensed your aura!”
The black furball frowned deeply, sneering: “You sensed my aura, and then? What’s that got to do with you coming here…”
His words suddenly stopped.
The bush viper saw that the black furball had realized something, and shook its head while looking at him, with a complex expression of fear and jealousy.
Finally, it let out a sinister laugh: “I came here—wasn’t it because those damned humans at the base especially favored you, Number One?”
“They endowed you with the most powerful genes, the most perfect modifications. Only your aura can suppress our rampaging power, allowing us to smoothly evolve into our complete forms!”
Hearing this, the black furball’s expression darkened inch by inch.
He and the bush viper in front of him were of the same kind—mutants created by human scientists against natural law.
Mutant genes were unstable; before evolving to the highest level—the complete form—they needed the agents developed by the base to alleviate the instability.
This was also why his body would undergo mutations every night.
But besides the agents, there was another way to suppress gene disorder, which was to get close to mutants of a higher level than oneself.
Because among mutants, there was a strict hierarchy. Higher levels would firmly suppress lower levels, including their restless genes.
This was a result of natural evolution, something even the base hadn’t anticipated.
Having provoked the black furball, the bush viper wilted.
It was also an incredibly powerful mutant, with a deep-rooted desire for strength, as if it were an innate instinct.
When at the base, it had secretly competed with the black furball. Even though it was beaten badly every time, it still refused to admit defeat.
Now, the bush viper had to admit that the black furball was stronger than itself and had to humbly beg him to take it in.
Otherwise, when its genes spiral out of control in the future, not only would it fail to grow into its complete form, but it would also die miserably.
The bush viper was extremely dejected, weakly revealing the truth: “Humans have miscalculated. They can’t control the power of genes, and the interior of the base has also begun to lose control.”
“I managed to escape; other mutants can too.”
“In order to smoothly evolve into the complete form and completely break free from human control, they will all come looking for you…”
