Don't You Dare Hurt My Xiaoxia!

A chill surged straight to the crown of his skull, as if the torrential downpour outside had been raging for three years, plunging him into a thoroughly rotted, damp cellar. Under Bai Zhou's startled and uncertain gaze, Fang Xiaoxia was still chattering away at the couch that was completely empty in his eyes. Without even turning on the living room light, the vacant couch showed only a vague, quiet silhouette in the dark. "Aiya, stop yelling, stop yelling." Xiaoxia held her head, answering back in a wronged, timid murmur as if comforting her parents' feelings. "It's fine. It was just a class reunion, so it's normal to be a little late. Don't worry about me." Pouting yet smiling brightly, her vivid and lively demeanor sent shivers down Bai Zhou's spine. In this moment, Bai Zhou finally understood how psychotic and bizarre he must have looked in others' eyes when talking to Miss Crow back then. He suddenly felt the Gem Witch shouldn't be keeping watch outside, but ought to have come in with him—that way, someone could prove his eyes weren't the ones playing tricks on him. Because right now, even Bai Zhou couldn't tell who was right. Fang Xiaoxia was acting far too normal. So normal that it almost made him wonder if his own senses were malfunctioning, or if there truly existed some entity in this room that only Fang Xiaoxia could "see," yet genuinely existed. Just like Crow in his own eyes. To anyone else, Crow was undeniably a delusion of Bai Zhou's mind—a friend, teacher, family, and god conjured by a schizophrenic to redeem himself. At the very least, Bai Zhou was certain that in Fang Xiaoxia's eyes right now, there truly were two people sitting in the dark living room like door guardians upon the couch, their faces frosty as they waited for their daughter's late return. And then, their daughter, returning from fooling around, had suspiciously led a strange boy into the house, getting caught red-handed. The parents' interrogation and anger had left Xiaoxia flustered, leaving her to awkwardly laugh it off and brush it aside. In a sense, Bai Zhou, driving the ghost-flame-spewing Yellow Swan, really had abducted their precious daughter—a shady, unwelcome guest to be wary of. If those two people truly existed, Bai Zhou would surely be far more embarrassed and tongue-tied than Fang Xiaoxia right now. Yet arriving on a ride sputtering ghost flames, Bai Zhou found himself utterly seeing no one. Blinking until afterimages blurred his vision, Bai Zhou still couldn't catch any trace of anyone on the couch. The Fiery Golden Eyes of a certain monkey in the tales of Wancheng, after all, did not exist in reality. Bai Zhou's gaze locked tightly onto that multi-person couch—empty, no different from when he had left during the day, the cushions still resting in their casually arranged state. Not to mention any human silhouette, there wasn't even a depression in the cushions, devoid of the slightest sign of life. And yet... Yet Fang Xiaoxia's reaction was too real. She tilted her head slightly as though listening, and her face took on that smile blending coquettish pouting with appeasement. That vivid look falling into Bai Zhou's sight was even... a bit dazzling. Like a wilted foxtail grass suddenly bursting into a gorgeous flower at its tip, leaving one astonished that she possessed such a side. Not before her classmates, nor when alone, but in front of her parents. Fang Xiaoxia had once told the black cat in her arms that she was certain her parents loved her, that she had grown up surrounded by love. Now Bai Zhou believed those words. At the very least, her current vibrancy could never be faked. At least in her perception, she was nurtured and raised by her parents' love. "Sigh..." Bai Zhou let out a faint sigh, a flicker of complex, inscrutable emotion passing across his face as he looked at her. Regardless of what was going on with these "parents," in Bai Zhou's memory, he had almost never seen Xiaoxia so lively and full of life, her eyes practically speaking. The meek, insignificant pushover in front of her classmates became the apple of their eye only upon returning home, free to express herself, their cherished treasure. At this moment, the vivid Xiaoxia even overlapped slightly with the image of Fang Xiaoyan. "Huh? You're going out this late?" Suddenly, as if hearing something, Xiaoxia's tone shifted to surprise and dissuasion. She took a small step forward, blocking the doorway, waving her hands repeatedly at the empty air before her. "It's still raining out there, pouring so hard! It's cold and dark... Why don't you just stay home? It's so unsafe." She even knitted her brows worriedly, continuing to persuade the empty couch. "Just rest well at home. Whatever it is, can't it wait until tomorrow? I promise I'll come home early from now on!" "Mm... Huh? No, that's not what I meant!" Her voice pitched up sharply with urgency, her body pivoting toward different spots on the couch as if rapidly darting her gaze between two people. The slightly eased expression was quickly replaced by anxiety. "Mom, stop saying that about Dad... Dad, you too, ease up!" "Isn't it just about going out tonight? Why are you fighting again!" "It's my fault, it's my fault. It's not Mom spoiling me, nor Dad coddling me... I'll come back early next time, okay?" It seemed that in just this short while, Fang Xiaoxia's "parents" were quarreling again. They always quarreled, but fortunately had Fang Xiaoxia as the glue holding them together, so no matter how they fought, they never broke apart—this was the story Bai Zhou had heard from her when he was a cat. The familiar script played out once more. The latent friction between the parents flared up again because of Fang Xiaoxia. Bai Zhou listened to her for a while before roughly grasping what was "happening" on their end. Essentially, the parents' worry over Xiaoxia coming home late had devolved into mutual accusations. The father said the mother indulged her bad habits, while the mother complained the father was stubborn and rigid. The father said the mother spoiled the child rotten, and the mother retorted that the father was making a fuss and being overly controlling... Their words grew sharper, the atmosphere taut, followed by shouting, and then attacks and fighting... "Stop fighting!" Then, Fang Xiaoxia exploded. With her parents quarreling so brazenly in front of Bai Zhou, she felt utterly humiliated. With a taut face, she let out a sharp cry, then dashed into the bedroom like the wind with a grim expression, returning shortly with something in hand. The girl looked calm and confident, as if she had pulled out some secret weapon, utterly certain that once she showed it, her parents would listen to her. *Clatter, clatter...* A crisp rattling echoed through the dim living room. In Fang Xiaoxia's hand was a small white medicine bottle, the tablets inside clattering as she shook it. "Alright, alright, stop being angry. Take this first to calm down." Speaking rapidly, Fang Xiaoxia deftly and forcefully twisted open the cap, shook out two small white tablets resembling calcium tablets into her palm, and then, like handing out candy to quarreling children, made a symbolic offering toward the left and right sides of the couch. A familiar milky fragrance drifted into Bai Zhou's nose, identical to the milky scent Fang Xiaoxia often carried. Bai Zhou stood to the side, his gaze complex, watching her one-woman show in silence. The moment she pulled it out, his eyes instantly sharpened. "That is...!" He certainly hadn't forgotten: the first time he saw this small bottle, Fang Xiaoxia said they were calcium tablets and asked if he wanted one. ["Do you want one? They help you grow, and they're sweet!"] Yet Bai Zhou remembered even more clearly: the second time he saw it was in Major Luo's underground base, in Luo Jiu's hands... ["Father specially had Luo Si bring this."] ["As long as we have this, the Caged Bird will forever be in our grasp, unable to fly away!"] Though he didn't understand how it worked—and Luo Jiu himself had casually tossed two milk-flavored calcium tablets into his mouth—it was definitely no good thing for Fang Xiaoxia. Besides... Whose family pulls out calcium tablets during a parental quarrel? Can your calcium tablets lower blood pressure or act as sedatives? Seeing Fang Xiaoxia take it out as if preparing to swallow it herself, Bai Zhou stepped forward, raising a hand to stop her. Crow held him back. "Watch a bit longer..." Crow's eyes remained fixed on Fang Xiaoxia performing her solo act, never once glancing at the couch. "The key to unraveling the mystery cloaking Fang Xiaoxia might be right now!" Seeing Crow's solemn face, Bai Zhou hesitated. "With us here, nothing will happen to her." Noticing his hesitation, Crow's voice softened. "But if it's like before, and we discover nothing here—all of us will face thorny trouble!" At that, Bai Zhou pressed his lips together and held his ground, his gaze resting on Fang Xiaoxia. Although she had eaten the "calcium tablets" in front of him before, seeing it now evoked an entirely different feeling. Fortunately, the notebook was still humming softly above her head, showing no abnormal reaction. Bai Zhou was close to her, close enough that if anything went wrong with her body, he could react immediately. "Save some face for me, okay? My friend is still here... please, please." "Here, one each, no more... Once you eat it, no more fighting, okay?" Fang Xiaoxia's attention remained on the couch. Pleadingly, she held the bottle between clasped hands, shaking it up and down. She "handed out" the calcium tablets as if coaxing small children, but after a round of distribution, the two tablets meant for them remained in her own hand. Immediately following, under Bai Zhou's gaze, the girl tilted her head back, tossed both tablets into her mouth, chewed twice, and swallowed. The milky aroma drifted from her even more richly, pleasant to the nose. No one knew what the girl saw at this moment. Bai Zhou only saw her expression zone out for the briefest instant, as if drowsy. Then, relief and joy surfaced on her face. "Done!" Turning to Bai Zhou, the girl in the white dress whispered conspiratorially, "Sorry for the scene... You know how it is. They're just too worried about me, it's nothing." Only then did she finally notice Bai Zhou's grim, silent expression. "What's wrong? Why do you look so terrible..." Fang Xiaoxia blinked in confusion, glanced back at the couch following his gaze, and turned back. Thinking of something, she felt awkward and flustered. "Don't overthink it, they don't mean any harm. They actually welcome you." "They're nice people, just a bit too stern sometimes... You heard them too, didn't you? They just asked if you wanted some fruit." Saying so, the girl pointed appeasingly at the table in the living room. "Oh right, do you want fruit? I'll go wash some for you!" Eat fruit... Bai Zhou's gaze shifted to the platter of fruit on the living room table. Beside it lay a sharp paring knife. On the platter sat fruit left out for who knows how long—bananas and apples, common things. Not rotten, just blackened. Turning back to the girl, seeing Little Fire Dragon completely oblivious, soothing him gently, a sorrowful chill ran through his body. At this moment, he no longer found it creepy. He only felt sorrow. Compared to himself, who grew up without a father or mother, someone who always believed she had parents when in fact she didn't—or perhaps once did, but couldn't even tell when she had lost them... Such a reality was far harder to bear. In that flash of lightning, Bai Zhou made sense of all past disharmonies and doubts. Those inconspicuous details lingering in memory turned into sparks of insight surfacing in his mind. First, Xiaoxia always said the family was under heavy financial strain, so her parents were busy and frequently on business trips. Thus, during the days Bai Zhou spent at her house, watching her casually order takeout and live alone, various signs led him to think those irresponsible parents were away on business again. After all, in the form of a black cat, he couldn't suddenly speak up and ask, "Fang Xiaoxia, where did your parents go?" Back then, Bai Zhou had even muttered to himself: these parents just went away without caring for their kid, feeling completely at ease. But looking at it now? Back then, in Bai Zhou's eyes, only he and Fang Xiaoxia were in the house. At most with Crow often floating outside the window. Yet in Xiaoxia's eyes, that might not have been the case at all... Bai Zhou suddenly remembered: when he awakened his Lightning Eye-Strike instinct and tripped the power in her apartment, her faint voice came from the next room as she fumbled along the dark wall— ["Ah, kitty, don't be scared!"] ["Are you afraid of the dark? I'll have it sorted out right away. Mom and Dad said a breaker must have tripped, I'll go ask them."] At the time, Bai Zhou was busy comprehending the third-stage Intent Seed and discussing historical legendary renown and the possibility of artificial gods with Crow. With too much information to process at once, he had merely brushed off the girl's casual remark. But now, as that faint voice was dragged out from the corners of his recalled memories... Who said the breaker tripped? Who were you going to ask? What do you mean by "ask Mom and Dad"? In Bai Zhou's perception back then, there was no one else in the apartment at all. Even if she called... if your parents weren't home, how could they help you troubleshoot the apartment? Not only that— The next day, when Xiaoxia came home from school and asked the black cat what he wanted to eat, she had said: ["Never mind, are you hungry?"] ["I'll go ask what we're having tonight."] Saying so, she returned carrying fried chicken that had been heated in the microwave. But that wasn't right either. In retrospect, in Xiaoxia's perspective back then, she had already had a conversation like "what are we having tonight" with her mother, and even the bucket of fried chicken was supposedly reheated by her mother. Yet Bai Zhou hadn't heard a thing, because in reality that conversation never occurred. Fang Xiaoxia had done it all herself. "So that's how it is..." Bai Zhou pressed his lips together solemnly. The incongruities and perplexities from before cleared up instantly. Why, when her parents supposedly quarreled countlessly over finances, had they never sold Xiaoxia's "secret base" to free up cash? Why did they never pick Xiaoxia up from school? Xiaoxia frequently ran away from home in the middle of the night—even if only to the "secret base" within the same residential complex—could they truly not have noticed at all? Why didn't they care? Why did their love forever remain on their lips, never translating into practical action even if they said "I love you" a hundred times? Not because of love, nor because of a lack of love. It was because they couldn't do it. As an Extraordinary walking the mysterious world, Bai Zhou was only focused on whether there were ritual traces or abnormal spirituality in Xiaoxia's home, investigating whether her body and Fate Principle might have been modified or cursed. Yet he had overlooked the most mundane parts of her daily life. These everyday details were just like when Miss Crow walked ahead, leading Bai Zhou all the way from Wancheng to the execution square of the Special Control Bureau. There hadn't been a lack of unusual details along the way—like Miss Crow stopping before sensor doors, having to wait for soldiers behind to arrive before advancing, or how no one ever spoke directly to Miss Crow. Yet unless one already knew the other "existed" yet "did not exist"... who would notice? Who would think in that direction? Even guessing Crow was an evil god worshiped by the Special Control Bureau sounded far more plausible than the truth. Just like now: Bai Zhou's cruelest deduction from those details had only been that Xiaoxia's parents were very likely suspicious or off. Only... The fact was that her parents indeed had problems. It wasn't that they had become Observers of the Caged Bird. Rather, they had never existed at all. Bai Zhou once thought this girl was somewhat like his past self, but he never imagined she could be similar to this degree. He never imagined the girl beside him also had one—or rather two... People whom only she could see! In the end, it was because Fang Xiaoxia acted too "normal." A normal life is full of things taken for granted. Just as what Bai Zhou took for granted in Wancheng seemed bizarre in Tinghai, while what Tinghai locals took for granted might be strict taboos in Wancheng. The more something is taken for granted, the less likely people notice it. Yet right within it lay the greatest anomaly about Xiaoxia. "Calcium tablets..." Bai Zhou looked toward the white bottle in her hand. Having seen her brief trance after swallowing them, followed shortly by satisfaction and ease... Bai Zhou formed some guesses. Normally, taking it might maintain something. Yet at critical moments, taking it had an effect like making wishes come true. Stopping her parents' fight immediately was an example... This was Xiaoxia's secret weapon for getting whatever she wished. Every child has dreamed of such a secret weapon: pull it out, and whatever they say in the house goes; parents grant their every wish. Sometimes this weapon is a promise from parents; sometimes an excellent report card. Like the Little Match Girl: every time she struck a match, she saw whatever she wanted to see. Sumptuous feasts, familial warmth, a cozy fireplace, and a loving home. Such things were also recorded in the stories of Wancheng. Yet it was all fake. The Black Robe had specifically pointed out that such illusions were certainly the deceptions of evil gods; a good life does not fall from the sky, but can only be forged by people's own hands. On the other side, Crow, who had been observing Xiaoxia with spiritual light faintly gleaming in her eyes, seemed to have noticed something. She took a step toward Xiaoxia without speaking, looking thoughtful. Seeing Crow had no intention of speaking, Bai Zhou drew his gaze back, looking at the naive, nervous Xiaoxia, and took a deep breath. So, just like the matches in the hands of the freezing girl, were these so-called calcium tablets— The key to Xiaoxia being able to constantly see her parents and maintain her taken-for-granted routine? Did it cause her hallucinations, or did it produce an alter ego? No wonder the Luo family believed that having this would make the "Caged Bird" obey meekly... Bai Zhou slowly, ever so slowly, shook his head. "Fang Xiaoxia..." he said, his voice unusually dry. "What?" Fang Xiaoxia blinked her large eyes, looking at him as if waiting for him to speak. She hoped her explanation worked, because she didn't want Bai Zhou to dislike her parents, just as she didn't want him to dislike her. "Don't you think everything has been very wrong since we stepped through the door?" Weighing his words, Bai Zhou spoke as if squeezing the sound from his throat. He hadn't wanted to say it, or at least not so bluntly. Yet now they had no time for sentimental hesitation. No matter how hard the truth was to accept, he had to tell her... "The couch in your living room... has been empty all along." Bai Zhou raised a finger, pointing toward the dim couch in the center of the living room. "At least in my sight, from the moment we came in until now, no one has ever sat there." "The living room light hasn't even been turned on." In a low voice, Bai Zhou said, "Fang Xiaoxia, do your parents really exist there?" The awkward smile on Xiaoxia's face froze bit by bit. Unlike what Bai Zhou imagined, there was no heartbreak or shock. She just stood there blankly staring at him for a long time. Then she jerked her head toward the couch, her pupils gradually constricting in the dim light. The empty couch silently gazed back at her. "What are you talking about..." The girl mumbled in a low voice, softer and softer, until it was barely audible. When Xiaoxia turned back again... The girl before Bai Zhou was once again wearing the exact same appeasing, awkward smile as before. She said, "What's wrong? Why do you look so terrible..." "Don't overthink it, they don't mean any harm. They actually welcome you." "They're nice people, just a bit too stern sometimes... You heard them too, didn't you? They just asked if you wanted some fruit." Saying so, the girl pointed again toward the fruit platter on the table, saying appeasingly: "Oh right, do you want fruit? I'll go wash some for you!" Bai Zhou: "...?" Those limpid eyes met Bai Zhou's, sending a chill down his spine. The familiar words echoed in his ears once more, exactly the same as moments ago. Experiencing what had just happened all over again in the blink of an eye—the eerie feeling caused cold sweat to break out across his back. As if nothing had happened in between, as if he had said nothing at all. Time seemed to have hit a rewind button, Bai Zhou's words deleted by fate. Yet Bai Zhou knew that wasn't true. Fate had not deleted his words. The one who automatically deleted them from her mind... Was Fang Xiaoxia herself. At this moment, Crow, who had observed Xiaoxia for a long time, raised her hand, curled a finger, and flicked Bai Zhou lightly on the forehead. "What?" Bai Zhou turned to look, but heard a hum buzzing in his ears. The spirituality inside Bai Zhou was drawn out, tracing some kind of ritual upon his forehead. "Although I cannot see the existence of Fang Xiaoxia's parents, still..." Crow whispered: "Perhaps you should take a look at the world in her eyes." *** Fang Xiaoxia was somewhat exhausted. Though long used to her parents' sudden, unprompted quarrels—just like getting used to Tinghai's sudden dreary rains— Losing face in front of Bai Zhou and leaving him standing at the door in such awkwardness still made Xiaoxia feel a helpless, almost shameful mortification. The boy's silent gaze was more humiliating than any classmate's sharp remarks. Fortunately, the "war" had temporarily ceased. Yet an even thornier worry immediately followed. How should she explain to her parents that she was about to embark on a distant journey, forced to wander to the ends of the earth with an unfamiliar boy? It sounded like eloping. Just thinking about it felt excessively scandalous. Fang Xiaoxia had been an obedient daughter her entire life; she had never done anything so rebellious, let alone telling her parents about it. It was practically saying to their faces: "Old folks, I'm eloping with this bleached-blond guy riding a ghost-flame scooter. This is an announcement, not a negotiation. Next time I return, I'll bring your grandchild!" On the escape route, the first song Xiaoxia heard from the Maserati's sound system had the lyric, "Goodbye, mother, tonight I set sail." Yet only when truly facing her parents did she realize how hard such a goodbye was to utter. Moreover, her parents were no ordinary people. Almost everyone who knew Fang Xiaoxia knew her parents' desire for control was borderline twisted. This control had little to do with ordinary life, but locked down her entire life path. In other words, her development could not stray from her parents' design; her future could not leave their sight. Because of love, they were overprotective of Xiaoxia. In their eyes, only home was safe, while the outside world was perilous and complex. They never hesitated to indoctrinate Xiaoxia with this ideology, defining her daily radius of activity as a two-kilometer circle centered on home. Some classmates said Xiaoxia's family dynamic was a bit dysfunctional; in truth, they weren't wrong at all—it wasn't just "a bit." Xiaoxia knew it deep down. It was a symbiotic bond under the name of love, where three people tormented yet tightly bound one another. Yet precisely because of this, none could live without the others. They truly loved her, so just as she could not leave them, they could not leave her. Xiaoxia could almost imagine: her mother screaming upon hearing her farewell, and her father furiously refusing, driving Bai Zhou away and deadbolting the door, not hesitating even to lay hands on Xiaoxia. Yet... Xiaoxia had no choice. Being hunted in a rainstorm—if she had a choice, she wouldn't want to be in such danger either. But it had happened, muddled and sudden, and she refused to bring that danger to her parents. She had to leave. And the further she went, the less anyone knew where she was, the safer her parents would theoretically be. A solemn farewell before leaving—isn't that how superhero coming-of-age movies always went? Thus, the girl gathered her courage. In the dim living room, under Bai Zhou's "encouraging" gaze, the girl looked at her parents on the couch, striving to keep her voice steady. "Dad, Mom... I have something to tell you." "What?" Her parents' attention seemed drawn by her unusually formal tone, but her father immediately retorted coldly: "At this hour, I think you should hurry up and see your friend out, then go to bed early." "Nothing is more important than that!" It was always like this. They never cared much about Xiaoxia's thoughts, only about making her accept theirs. In the past, Xiaoxia would have mumbled "okay" and complied, forgetting what she wanted to say by the next day. Yet this time, with Bai Zhou standing beside her, as if bolstered by some newfound courage, Xiaoxia persisted: "I... might need to leave home for a while. With... with Bai Zhou." Out of nervousness, her fingers unconsciously twisted the folds of her white dress. "It might take a while, but Mom, Dad, I have to do this—if you believe in me, please believe I have a reason I must do this!" Saying so, Xiaoxia puffed out her chest and stiffened her neck. An unprecedented seriousness and resolve appeared on her face, devoid of her usual pathetic timidity. She tried to display her determination and sincerity, hoping her parents would see it and take it seriously. Faced with a child who had suddenly grown up and held firm resolve, parents would at least want to hear her reasons rather than refuse out of hand, wouldn't they? Because that was love. For some reason, Xiaoxia looked forward to what came next. Yet the living room fell into silence. What appeared on her parents' faces was bewildered shock. "You said... leave?" As if an extremely sensitive trigger word had been tripped, her parents, composed just moments ago, abruptly transformed. The first to react was the mother. In that instant, her face was dazed, even terrified. She lunged forward uncontrollably, trying to cover Xiaoxia's mouth: "What are you saying? Do you even know what you're saying? Take it back quickly, or your father—" Her words broke off abruptly because the mother saw Xiaoxia still holding her chin high with that serious expression. This was no joke. The daughter had a reason to do this, and it was non-negotiable. The daughter, suddenly turned stranger, made the mother's movements hesitate. Yet that brief hesitation was enough for the man behind her to shove her aside. The father's voice boomed with furious rage: "I see you've lost your mind!" "You're truly begging for discipline! You're going nowhere. Stay right here in this house!" "I don't want to hear your excuses! And your friend can get the hell out—" "No, Dad, it's not what you think. I have no choice, the situation right now..." Fang Xiaoxia raised her hands, waving them. Before the enraged man, the courage the girl had mustered with great effort vanished completely. She tried to explain patiently to her father, unaware that the furious man was rapidly closing in on her. The shadow moving along the wall stretched out, quietly morphing into a clawed, fanged beast. Before Xiaoxia could see anything clearly, a fist slammed into her face. The frail girl lost her balance, flying into the wall like a tattered rag doll. Xiaoxia couldn't imagine such immense force coming from... her usually frail-looking father? "Lao Fang, don't!" the mother shrieked. "Ah... I get it." The furious man approached Xiaoxia where she lay on the floor. Even the blood trickling from the girl's mouth couldn't move him in the slightest. "You've grown up, your wings are hardened, and now you despise your parents, is that it?" "Everything you have was given by us, and you think you can just discard it... Why don't you return everything you've eaten and drunk over all these years first?" Old Fang's eyes turned crimson, veins bulging on his forehead. In a daze, even his frame seemed to grow massive and hulking. Like a tyrant whose authority had been challenged, he meted out punishment: "Seems my discipline in the past wasn't enough, was it?" Panting visible, heavy breaths, he unbuckled and pulled the leather belt from his waist: "How many times have I told you? The outside world is dangerous, only home is safe! Why can't you understand?" "What does defying me get you? Huh?" The man's gaze became exceedingly dangerous: "Or maybe you don't actually want to leave this home—you're just... trampling on my authority as a father?" At this moment, the father looked utterly alien in Xiaoxia's eyes, like a beast gone berserk. What happened so suddenly? She struggled, instinctively wanting to flee, but her head spun and her vision blurred. *Smack!* The air cracked. The belt lashed down without mercy, the heavy brass buckle at the tip striking squarely against Xiaoxia's face. Xiaoxia was stunned. Her face burned with agonizing pain, the skin surely torn open. Blood ran down, perhaps a chunk of flesh gouged away by the brass buckle. Was this still the father who constantly claimed to love her? Fang Xiaoxia suddenly felt the man before her was so unfamiliar. Didn't he always say he loved her? Yet was he truly unfamiliar? Perhaps not. The sealed past in her mind was awakened. Her parents' quarrels had occasionally turned physical, and young Xiaoxia had sometimes become the outlet for her father's fury, beaten until her face was black and blue. Later, as Xiaoxia grew older, such incidents became rarer, and she deliberately chose to forget them. *Smack!* The man struck a second time, shattering Xiaoxia's memories to dust. "You're going nowhere, even if you die—even if you die here, it's better than fooling around outside." He opened his maw wide, his roaring voice carrying an eerie, layered echo, as if a megaphone were lodged in his throat: "You must... forever be our daughter, living under our eyes, forever!" The belt lashed down again, hitting Xiaoxia across the mouth. The mother shrieked, throwing herself onto the father, wrapping around him and digging her fingernails into his face. Yet the father shoved the mother away, continuing to stride toward Xiaoxia. Looking at this daughter who had suddenly broken free of control, the father's ferocious eyes even carried hints of hatred. He kicked her again— *Bang!* "Dad!" Xiaoxia cried out, even hearing the sound of her own ribs snapping. Pain, pain, pain, pain, pain! Confusion filled Xiaoxia's heart. The girl's growth had been interpreted by the man as a challenge to his patriarchal authority. Hence his fury—he would make any challenger pay the price. At this moment, the man's face was sheer brutality. Even the shape of his face seemed to warp, the hair on his skin lengthening. "Father" had completely turned into something foreign to the girl. He was not a father, not even human. He was a wolf... standing upright on two legs! *Smack! Smack!* Old Fang dragged Xiaoxia forcefully from the corner and slapped her twice with backhands. Xiaoxia staggered backward, her frail figure clutching her stomach, hunched in agony, engulfed by the man's elongated shadow. The dying girl curled up in the corner. A desperate plight needed a hero. Right then. *Squelch.* Xiaoxia clearly heard the sound of a blade plunging into an abdomen. Then blood splattered across her face. "Old Fang" stood there, his right fist still raised as if about to smash down on Xiaoxia. Yet his motion froze. With disbelief, he looked down at his stomach. The hilt of a fruit knife protruded there, obviously snatched from the platter on the tea table. A gaunt hand gripped the hilt tightly, letting copious gouts of blood stream down, yet maintaining the force of the deep stab. "Old Fang" abruptly deflated like a bloated balloon, the brutal aura around him vanishing. The man turned his head, and what met his eyes was his beloved wife—Fang Xiaoxia's mother. "Wife?" he murmured in astonishment. The woman stood at his side, stepping forward to shield Fang Xiaoxia. Her gaze had become utterly unrecognizable to Old Fang. Staring into his bewildered eyes, she said with chilling precision: "You are not allowed to hit my Xiaoxia." Her voice came syllable by syllable, faintly trembling, yet the fruit knife in her hand was steady, clutching the blood-soaked hilt in a death grip. "Don't you dare hurt my daughter!" The mother said it a second time. And then, another *squelch!* The fruit knife was pulled out. And plunged back in. *Stab! Stab! Stab!* Over and over again.