Chapter 73
In less than an hour, the entire manor had descended into chaos.
Every bodyguard and guard had rushed out to search for them. When Satan came back and found out what had happened, he was practically beside himself with fury. First he smashed a whole pile of things in hysterics, then he searched every corner of the little sheep’s room. And when he found the banknotes hidden beneath the little bed’s pillow, something in him visibly changed.
The amount on those bills was exactly the same as the red-envelope money he had once given the little sheep!
A strange silence fell over the room.
The servants were still baffled when they saw the monster holding the money choke out a sob, then dash out of the room. At a glance he spotted Cold Crow kneeling in the main hall, thorn branch on his back in formal repentance. Shocked and enraged, he clenched his fists and threw himself at him, raining down blows!
Cold Crow took the punch without changing expression.
The others hurried up to stop him. “My lord! Lord Cold Crow didn’t do it on purpose. Please calm down. Young Master Yangyang will definitely be found—”
“I did do it on purpose!” Cold Crow said. “If this can make you come to your senses, then even if you beat me to death, it’ll be worth it… You were going to hand Pearl State over to Yangyang. I think you’ve gone mad!”
“You’re the one who’s mad! You got my son lost! You’ve got some nerve!” Satan bellowed, furious beyond measure.
“Your son? My lord, do you still not understand? If he really wanted to be your son, would he have left? This father-son relationship was something you forced into being from the start. If someone locked you up, would you be happy about it?” Cold Crow asked, heartbroken.
Satan froze, then suddenly grabbed him by the collar and hauled him up. “What did you say?”
The servants around them were so frightened they hardly dared breathe. Satan’s expression was terrifying, as if he might kill Cold Crow in the next second.
At last, a guard forced himself to speak. “My lord, right now finding him is more important…”
“Finding him? Right… first find him. Everyone, come with me and search!”
Satan immediately sealed off every route by which one could leave Pearl State. He was frantic, no less terrified than any parent who discovered their child was missing. Although he had only spent a few days with the little sheep, those days had become so precious to him that he sincerely believed a deep bond had formed between them. Now that the little sheep was suddenly gone, he simply couldn’t accept it.
As he sped out from the manor, he kept accelerating the whole way. He had a terrible premonition that he was being parted from the little sheep for good, and that sense of impending loss filled him with such intense dread he nearly burst into tears.
By the time Satan drove onto the broad main road, the thought I’ll never have a child again had already taken over his mind completely. His eyes were bloodshot. At the thought of losing Yangyang, it felt as if the last remaining thread binding him to anything meaningful had also been severed. In that instant, life seemed utterly pointless, and he even had the absurd urge to renounce the world entirely.
And then, right at that moment, two figures—one large, one small—appeared by the roadside ahead.
Satan’s gaze locked on them.
…
After leaving the manor, Yomi and Karl first parked the RV nearby, then went off shopping on the commercial street. They bought quite a few things. Some were meant to bring back for everyone, and some were gifts for Satan. Of course, they also thought that with so many people around, Satan’s men would probably catch them again before long. Yet the more dangerous the place, the safer it turned out to be. The moment he disappeared, Satan’s people had all spread out to watch the roads and exits, which meant the crowded shopping district wasn’t even part of their urgent search range.
From the beginning, Yomi had never planned to leave just like that.
The confidential documents about Snar Star and the Phizhi Star people were simply too tempting. Even if he left, he had to take the intelligence with him.
Karl had wanted Yomi to wait in the RV while he went in to steal it, but Yomi naturally rejected that plan. “If you go steal it, it’ll be too hard not to get discovered. We can’t be reckless…”
Yomi had always had a plan. It had just been thrown into confusion by Cold Crow’s sudden move. But now… it wasn’t like they couldn’t continue.
In the end, since the people sent to catch the sheep never showed up, the two of them simply brought the “gift” for Satan and went back. Unexpectedly, before they even reached the manor, they ran into Satan on the road.
Yomi was so startled he nearly sprang into the air.
After slamming on the brakes, Satan charged out and scooped him up, his voice trembling. “Yangyang, w-where did you go?! Daddy was scared to death!”
“Well… Cold Crow said Pangolin and I didn’t have to stay in prison anymore, so we just went into the city to have some fun…” As the little sheep spoke, he tilted his chin to indicate the little gift package on his back. “I brought you a present… What’s wrong with you?”
Satan turned his head away and forcefully wiped the tears from his emotional eyes. Without another word he carried the little sheep back to the car. Karl climbed in after them and explained, “My lord, we didn’t go far. We were just out for a stroll since it had been so long since we last went anywhere…”
Satan said nothing and simply turned the car around.
Yomi cautiously glanced at Karl. He suspected Satan didn’t actually believe a word of their explanation.
Karl was worried too and had just started patting the little sheep to comfort him, when the monster in front suddenly said, “If you want to go out and play in the future, Daddy will go with you. You’re so cute—what if some bad person snatched you away? Daddy was worried to death!”
Yomi/Karl: “…”
So that explanation had actually worked?
As it turned out, Satan was frighteningly quick at changing faces. By the time the car drove into the manor, he seemed to have completely forgotten the whole matter. When they got out, he picked up the little sheep, examined him carefully, and then burst into delighted laughter. “Good child, truly such a good child!”
Yomi lowered his head guiltily. He still hadn’t figured out what exactly was going on with Satan, so for now, the less he said, the fewer mistakes he would make.
Satan carried him indoors. As he passed through the main hall, he exchanged a glance with the thoroughly dumbfounded Cold Crow, then hugged the little sheep even tighter and went upstairs in long strides, like a thief afraid his treasure would be stolen.
His mind was entirely on his son. As for Karl, the son’s friend, whether he ran or not didn’t really matter to him. So when Karl came back with them, no one bothered guarding him. He stood in the hall looking helplessly at Cold Crow.
When Cold Crow came back to his senses, he was almost furious enough to faint. He had imagined from the start that after discovering the truth, Satan would fly into a terrible rage. He had been prepared to bear that. After all, Yangyang would surely run back to Skull State, and Satan couldn’t very well go wild on someone else’s territory. And as strategist, Satan wouldn’t be able to do too much to him beyond a certain level of punishment. At worst he’d be locked up for a time. As long as Satan returned to normal, Cold Crow felt he could accept it.
But what was this now? The person had been brought back, Satan had become even more abnormal, and he, the strategist, had ended up hated by Satan. It was like losing both wife and army in one go!
He immediately dragged Karl into a corner and demanded, “What exactly happened?”
Karl looked completely innocent. “We were practically about to leave Pearl State, and then suddenly there were people checking all over the roads. Then we ran into the lord…”
“So stupid! Didn’t you know to hide somewhere first and wait until things calmed down before leaving?”
“How would we know the lord had cast such a huge net?” Karl answered, looking wronged. “If you really want to help us, it’s not like you don’t still have a chance. Don’t worry—we told the lord we only went out to have fun because we were afraid of being punished. Why don’t you help us go out and ‘have fun’ again?”
“You… you’re shameless to an unbelievable degree!”
“If you won’t help, then forget it. Honestly, life here is pretty good. If this goes on much longer, I might not want to leave at all. Maybe later I can even end up as some little sidekick of a local lord.”
Cold Crow had never imagined Karl could be so utterly shameless. And yet he really had been cornered by it. At this point, his situation wasn’t much different from that of a gambler… For the sake of Pearl State’s future, he could only make one more desperate gamble. This time, no matter the cost, he absolutely had to send that little brat sheep away!
Yomi felt his luck was unbelievably good. The moment he came back to the manor, Satan brought him straight into the study. Once inside, he quietly started looking around in all directions, searching for the safe that contained the classified documents.
Satan set him down on the carpet and ordered the servants to bring some snacks the little sheep liked, along with coffee for himself.
Today he wasn’t going to do any work. He would devote himself entirely to planning the future development of his child. As long as the child was raised properly, and then assisted by enough capable subordinates, he didn’t believe anyone could snatch the position of lord away from Yangyang… He, Satan, still had many years left to live. He had more than enough time to pave the road for his son!
While Yomi watched him frown and think deeply, occasionally typing into his communicator, he assumed Satan was handling work. He immediately knew his opportunity had come, and so he deliberately wandered around in a casual manner.
When the servant came in knocking, Yomi finally spotted something that looked very much like a safe, hidden behind a discreet section of bookshelf.
The servant brought in two cups of coffee, one large and one small. The two cups looked delightfully cute side by side.
Satan stared at the little coffee cup for a second, caught off guard.
The servant explained, “Young Master Yangyang also has the habit of having afternoon tea. The small cup is for him.”
“…Understood. From now on, continue following his usual habits.”
After the servant left, Yomi walked up in front of Satan and lifted his nose to sniff the aroma of the coffee.
A sheep couldn’t hold a cup by himself, so Yomi said, “Daddy, put my coffee on the floor.”
At that, Satan set down his work, picked up the little coffee cup between two fingers, crouched down, and said, “Daddy will feed you.”
The little sheep drank two mouthfuls with obvious enjoyment. A ring of coffee-colored moisture stained his pink mouth, and Satan immediately wiped it clean for him, unable to stop himself from smiling. “And you said you didn’t need anyone to take care of you?”
“…”
Perhaps because he was already thinking ahead to leaving, and perhaps because Satan genuinely sounded like a father right then, Yomi felt a little moved. He silently accepted being petted and fussed over like a sheep. Once Satan went back to his work, Yomi returned to wandering near the safe, thinking about how to move the whole thing away.
Just as he was wracking his brains for a plan, Satan suddenly stood up and walked straight toward him.
Yomi immediately stared down at his own hooves, pretending to be engrossed in picking at them.
But Satan simply passed him and went over to the safe.
Yomi’s heart nearly jumped straight into his throat.
Satan lifted a hand, removed the safe from its position, entered the password, and opened it in front of him. “Go ahead and play with it. Just put everything back when you’re done.”
“…” Yomi’s eyes widened, but very quickly he understood what Satan meant.
Inside the safe, besides a stack of documents, there were also some high-tech products from other planets.
Clearly, Satan thought he was simply curious about those gadgets.
Sneaking a glance at Satan, the little sheep tentatively stretched out a hoof and began pawing the high-tech items out of the way.
Satan smiled as he watched him play for a bit, then returned to working on the matter of his future heir.
With his back to Satan, Yomi fiddled with the devices while also stealing peeks at the documents within reach. Just then, his communicator vibrated with a message.
He glanced down. It was from Karl:
Once he falls asleep, just push the safe out. I’ll be outside to cover you! There’s sleeping medicine in the coffee. He’ll be out for at least half a day, so don’t worry.
Yomi wasn’t especially surprised. He knew Cold Crow would never be satisfied after seeing him brought back. Still, the man moved fast. Yomi had thought he would have to stay here and circle around Satan for a few more days.
When he turned back, the tall figure behind the desk had already slumped forward onto the tabletop. Yomi knew the medicine had taken effect, and he immediately opened the documents and used his communicator to quickly photograph every single page.
Naturally, he couldn’t help seeing some of the contents in the process, and what he saw made his heart race with alarm.
The Phizhi Star people’s sudden invasion and attack back then had been closely linked to Snar Star’s royal family.
Once he had secured the crucial evidence, the spy sheep calmly and methodically used his hooves to tidy the documents back into order and return them to the safe one by one. At the very end, he even locked the safe again.
Just as his four hooves were softly beginning to move toward the door, a voice suddenly came from behind him:
“Yangyang…”
Yomi’s nerves instantly tightened.
He turned around and saw the monster looking at him from the side while yawning, his eyelids half lowered, his expression strangely peaceful. “Yangyang, Daddy is very tired. Stay with me a little longer.”
For one brief instant, Yomi thought he must have discovered something. But when he saw the weariness and loneliness in the monster’s eyes, his heart unexpectedly softened a little.
Yomi turned and walked back toward him, rubbing his fluffy little sheep head against the arm hanging limp from the desk. That hand was still clutching the small gift bag Yomi had brought him, and it trembled slightly when Yomi touched it.
Softly, Yomi said, “Alright. I’ll stay with you. Go ahead and rest properly.”
This time he didn’t call him Daddy. It felt more as though he were soothing a sorrowful friend.
Satan lowered his gaze. He seemed to be fighting against sleep. Several times he closed his eyes, and several times forced them back open. But fortunately, every time he opened them, the little sheep was still there in his sight.
Yomi rested one hoof on his leg and lightly patted him, as though lulling him to sleep. In that moment, Yomi felt Satan was actually a lot like himself. He wasn’t letting him sleep just for the intelligence. He genuinely hoped Satan would get some proper rest.
One was a human with no kind left in the world. The other had kindred beings, yet they were only Snar Star Rain Dragons without human forms… Yomi understood his loneliness.
After Satan fell asleep, Yomi wanted to help him settle into a more comfortable posture. But as he jumped onto the chair, the corner of his eye unexpectedly caught the future-heir plan on Satan’s communicator… and beyond that, in the latest unfinished search bar entry, there was a half-typed sentence:
If a spy fails to complete the mission, what will the outc…
Yomi’s hoof stiffened, and he nearly lost his footing.
…So Satan had found out after all.
But even if he had found out, he was asleep now.
Yomi froze for only two seconds. Then he quickly regained his composure, looked at Satan with dark, confused eyes for a moment, adjusted him into a more comfortable posture with his hooves, fetched a coat in his mouth and draped it over him, and finally jumped down to the floor with a soft plop. The little sheep shook out his wool, walked away with his steps straight and firm, and never looked back.
—Sorry. I’m a spy. And I’m Sheep Asura.
