Moonlit: Thank you for the coffee~
Feng Yuan loved the dinosaur cartoon “Ka Tu Tu”. The dinosaur on his little backpack looked just like Ka Tu Tu.
Wu Jin had watched many TV dramas with Yu Yi, but he had never seen cartoons. He hadn’t watched any dinosaur documentaries either.
So, he had no idea what a real dinosaur looked like.
As for the chubby dinosaur on Feng Yuan’s backpack, he immediately recognized it as the chibi little dragon that Yu Yi had once mentioned.
Real dinosaurs didn’t look like this.
“A dinosaur… It’s a dragon that would scare people, right?”
Wu Jin interpreted the meaning literally.
After thinking it over, he felt somewhat satisfied with this dinosaur he had never seen before.
“All right then, I’ll choose a dinosaur as the form when I transform into a dragon.”
“Mm!” Feng Yuan replied happily.
Feng Yuan’s eyes curved with delight as he kept praising Wu Jin.
“Wu Jin, when you transform into a dinosaur, you’ll definitely become the most extraordinary dragon in the dragon clan!”
No one could resist Feng Yuan’s praise.
Not even a scaled dragon.
Amidst Feng Yuan’s relentless compliments, Wu Jin almost flew crooked.
“Yuan Yuan, we’ve been flying for a while now. Have you smelled your dad yet?”
“Not yet. Fly lower.”
“All right.”
Wu Jin flew even lower.
The big and the small circled in the low air, searching.
They only had a rough search area.
This area was derived from information Yu Yi had analyzed from Li Sheng’s messages.
When Yu Yi did the analysis, he didn’t know Wu Jin would come out.
Wu Jin had just casually asked him if he knew where Feng Qi was.
After hearing Wu Jin ask, Yu Yi pulled up some recent messages Li Sheng had sent him and analyzed them on the spot.
“Wu Jin, I think I smell him.”
“Fly a bit to the left.”
“The left is a mountain. If we go further, we’ll crash.”
In Wu Jin’s view, a vast mountain blocked the left side, making it impossible to fly over.
“The smell is right there!”
Feng Yuan’s chubby little hand pointed at the mountain. Seeing that Wu Jin wasn’t landing on top, he became anxious and, in a flash, transformed into a little chick.
The next second.
The little chick spread his short, chubby, straight wings and flapped, flapping, jumping off Wu Jin’s back.
Wu Jin: “!”
Wu Jin: “Yuan Yuan!”
Startled, Wu Jin reacted immediately and rushed over to catch him.
Phoenixes can fly.
But this little phoenix, Feng Yuan, couldn’t.
He flapped his tiny wings, trying to learn to fly on the spot.
Unfortunately, after jumping straight off Wu Jin’s back, he fell like a solid little chubby ball, plummeting straight downward.
At the last critical moment, Wu Jin scooped him up.
In the process of catching Feng Yuan, Wu Jin hadn’t noticed anything else until after he flew down and realized that the mountain…
It was like an illusion.
He should have crashed into the mountain while descending, but instead, he landed in a dense forest.
Here, he could also smell the phoenix’s aura.
“Chirp!”
Dad!
The little chick, bold a moment ago, called out, flapping his messy tufts of hair atop his head, chirping for his Dad.
Here. Dad’s scent was very strong!
“Shh.”
Wu Jin suddenly hushed Feng Yuan.
He had keenly sensed an ominous aura besides Feng Qi.
Cautiously, he transformed into human form to move more easily.
Feng Yuan’s backpack was slung over his arm, and the little chubby ball was held securely in his arms.
The little one covered half of his round face with his wings, signaling that he wouldn’t make a sound.
The big and the small moved slowly, searching bit by bit in this unfamiliar place.
The natural scenery here was beautiful—flowers, grass, water, and a thin, gauzy layer of mist.
While looking for his Dad, Feng Yuan also stole glances at the scenery.
After some time, Feng Yuan suddenly realized that Wu Jin, who was holding him, had not moved for quite a while.
He tilted his little face and looked at Wu Jin.
Seeing this, Feng Yuan was so startled that he fell straight from Wu Jin’s arms.
“Wu Jin! Wu Jin!”
Wu Jin, who had been holding him and searching for his Dad, had somehow closed his eyes.
Feng Yuan had been held and carried forward by Wu Jin with his eyes closed, without realizing it.
Looking at Wu Jin’s expression, it seemed as if he were trapped by some kind of nightmare.
After Feng Yuan fell, he saw Wu Jin still walking forward with his eyes closed, seemingly aimless.
He spread his little wings, blocking Wu Jin’s path.
However, the next second.
Wu Jin stepped forward.
Feng Yuan: “!”
Feng Yuan: “Hnk!”
The little one was nearly stepped on.
He shook the ruffled feathers that had been stepped on, not angry at all, and kept trying to stop Wu Jin.
But the size difference between him and Wu Jin was just too big.
With his tiny little body alone, he couldn’t possibly stop Wu Jin.
No other choice.
Feng Yuan widened his black-bean eyes and decided to take Wu Jin down.
He transformed back from a little chick into his toddler form.
Then, he began pushing Wu Jin with all his strength. He tried all sorts of tactics—hugging Wu Jin’s legs, lying down in front of him to trip him up.
After much effort, Wu Jin was finally stopped by him.
Wu Jin’s body fell to the ground, his eyes still closed.
Feng Yuan sat on him, lowering his little head, gazing seriously at his face.
After a while.
Feng Yuan suddenly pressed his forehead against Wu Jin’s.
If this was a nightmare trapping him, it meant Wu Jin’s consciousness was caught somewhere.
In this situation, it had to be resolved from the inside.
In other words, Feng Yuan needed to pull Wu Jin out of the illusion created by the nightmare.
Pressing his forehead against Wu Jin’s, he tried to sense the illusion that had him trapped.
But after a long while, he still couldn’t feel anything.
“Ah, if only Meng Meng were here.”
Feng Yuan sat down beside him, feeling disappointed, missing a little bundle dearly: Meng Mo.
If Meng Mo were here, he could see what Wu Jin was dreaming about right now.
“Wu Jin, wait here for me. I’m going to find Dad.”
Seeing that Wu Jin couldn’t seem to wake up anytime soon, Feng Yuan realized there was nothing he could do by staying.
So he decided to go find his Dad
To bring Dad over to see Wu Jin.
After murmuring to Wu Jin, Feng Yuan took off his little jacket.
He draped it over Wu Jin’s belly.
Dad had said that when sleeping, you have to cover your belly.
Or else you might catch a cold.
After covering Wu Jin’s belly, Feng Yuan slung his little backpack on and set off again.
He walked and walked.
After a while, he started to feel sleepy.
But he hadn’t found Dad yet, so he didn’t want to sleep.
To fight off drowsiness, the little one rubbed his eyes and, following the sound of flowing water, found a small stream.
He squatted by the stream, ready to wash his little face.
The water in the stream was very clean.
Feng Yuan almost wanted to take a sip.
But he remembered that the instructor had said outdoor water was raw water, containing invisible creatures. If you swallowed them, you might get sick.
The instructor had also taught how to filter raw water and how to make a fire to boil water outdoors.
Although Feng Yuan knew these skills, he didn’t want to waste any time.
After hesitating for a few seconds, the little guy decided to just wash his face and be done with it.
His tiny, sleepy head could barely hold itself up.
The sound of splashing water rang out.
Feng Yuan carefully cupped the water and washed his soft, fair little face.
Washing one’s face was normally a refreshing thing to do.
But as Feng Yuan washed, his eyelids grew heavier and heavier, harder and harder to keep open.
“Plop—”
The little one, still washing his face, finally couldn’t fight off his sleepiness and toppled straight into the water.
He fell face down.
Falling like this was very dangerous.
His whole little face was buried in the water.
And he still had his schoolbag on. The little backpack pressed down on him, making him feel like a tiny turtle.
Turtles can breathe underwater. Feng Yuan could not.
Just as he quietly sank into the water, on the verge of drowning, a pair of large hands lifted him.
If he had been able to open his eyes and see the person, he surely would have let out a delicate, startled, “Grandpa Zhu.”
“You little rascal, what are you doing here?”
Brother Zhu lowered his gaze, looking at the little one in his hands.
He laid the little guy, soaked by the water, flat on the ground and pressed on him a few times, making him cough up several mouthfuls.
After all that, Feng Yuan’s little face regained its rosiness, but he still hadn’t woken.
Brother Zhu watched him, tracing his facial features with his eyes.
“You’re your grandpa’s favorite little grandson.”
“If you died, he’d probably go mad.”
Saying that, Brother Zhu sat down beside Feng Yuan.
He sat there alone. The Gu Diao had not followed him.
The Gu Diao was, at this moment, still sparring with Feng Qi.
A Gu Diao that the Phoenix regarded as a major threat was naturally no weakling. It was fierce and cunning.
It used this good spot, left by who-knows-who, to lure Feng Qi in.
Here, Feng Qi would be uncontrollably drawn into an illusion.
Within that illusion, all kinds of deepest fears would keep surfacing.
Those who fell into such hallucinations usually didn’t take long before their minds broke.
When someone collapses like that, it’s easy to imagine their combat strength would be greatly reduced.
What the Gu Diao wanted was to take advantage of that vulnerability and strike.
It knew the Phoenix no longer possessed the old might, but it still feared the Phoenix to its core.
Brother Zhu knew that both sides wanted to see the other dead.
By comparison, Feng Qi was even more restricted.
Because the Gu Diao had told Feng Qi that if it died, Li Heng would no longer be as secure as he was now.
Li Heng’s many years of stability had all relied on its protection!
If the Gu Diao died, not only would Li Heng be affected, but Brother Zhu would be, too.
Brother Zhu and the Gu Diao. The two had long been bound together.
“Dad.”
With his eyes closed, Feng Yuan also drifted into a dream.
He frowned, his little face showing fear.
“Don’t hit Yuan Yuan…”
“Yuan Yuan won’t blow up the tree anymore…”
The little guy was dreaming of something scary, too. What scared him was his father spanking his bottom.
Listening to the little one’s murmurs, Brother Zhu’s eyes were unreadable.
After a long moment, he suddenly reached out and pinched the little baby fat on Feng Yuan’s cheeks.
“It’s still better to be a child.”
There was a hint of envy in his tone: “Even a child’s worries are this simple.”
If a fully awake Feng Yuan had heard Brother Zhu’s words, he would definitely have erupted in anger.
Adults always think that children have no worries and don’t understand what worries are.
Adults are always envious of a child’s life.
But children actually have lots and lots of worries, too.
For example, why do we have to go to school every day?
Why do we still have to do homework after coming home?
Why do we get punished when we make mistakes?
Why can’t we eat ice cream every day?
Why can’t we go to amusement parks every day?
Why, when children get angry, do adults still laugh?
Children, who are always envied by adults, secretly envy adults themselves.
Brother Zhu hadn’t interacted much with Feng Yuan yet, so he didn’t know what was hidden in Feng Yuan’s heart.
Only after quietly watching Feng Yuan for a long while did he let out a relieved smile.
“Forget it. For you, this little guy, and for calling me ‘grandpa’, I won’t let you lose your father.”
His own life. He didn’t even know if it could be called good.
But he was too lazy to keep struggling.
Even if he had to vanish together with the Gu Diao, it didn’t matter.
Anyway, with that Gu Diao guy around, even dying wouldn’t be lonely.
“Yuan Yuan, go find your Dad. Wake him up.”
“Tell him that the Gu Diao was lying to him.”
“Even if the Gu Diao dies, your grandpa won’t die. At most, your grandpa might have an episode or two in the future, but with your grandma here, and with you here, I believe he’ll get through it.”
All of Brother Zhu’s words were spoken close to Feng Yuan’s ear.
Pressed near his ear, Feng Yuan really did hear every word.
The little one, who was being spanked in his dream, covered his bottom, crying with tears streaming down his face.
Hearing that voice, his cries suddenly stopped, and he hiccupped from sobbing.
“Grandpa.”
Feng Yuan recognized the voice: “Grandpa Zhu.”
“Mm, go ahead. Don’t waste any time.”
As Brother Zhu’s final words fell, the scene around Feng Yuan suddenly changed.
Before his eyes finally appeared the Dad he had been longing for.
He wanted to rush over to him.
But his Dad was now going through a terrifying scene of the world collapsing.
Feng Yuan, scared by his Dad’s grand, catastrophic dream, hugged his little head and hid behind a rock.
Feng Qi’s world-ending dream passed.
In the next dream, Feng Yuan’s “big dad” appeared.
Both Dads were there.
Feng Yuan happily ran toward them again.
But before he could reach them, his Dad collapsed.
It turned out that the second dream that terrified his Dad was one in which he would die.
After Feng Qi fell, Li Sheng caught him, utterly grief-stricken.
While the two dads were enacting their tragic drama, Feng Yuan finally made it to the front.
“Dad! Big Dad!”
The little guy shouted, “Stop crying! You’re dreaming!”
“Dad, you’re not dead. Yuan Yuan came to find you.”
Feng Yuan moved closer and wiped the blood from his Dad’s mouth, urging him to wake up quickly.
Feng Qi, lying in Li Sheng’s arms, looked at Feng Yuan with a very strange expression: “Who are you?”
Feng Yuan: “?”
Feng Yuan was stunned. “I’m Yuan Yuan!”
Feng Qi stared at him and continued asking, “Who is Feng Yuan?”
Feng Yuan: “……”
Seeing his Dad’s reaction, Feng Yuan pouted his little mouth.
“Yuan Yuan is your son! Dad, how can you not recognize Yuan Yuan?”
Feng Qi truly didn’t recognize him.
At this moment, Feng Qi only remembered that he and Li Sheng were about to part forever.
He didn’t remember having a child.
But the little one in front of him, with tears welling up in his eyes, seemed to carry his own scent.
While Feng Qi was still confused, Feng Yuan had already started crying loudly.
“How can Dad not recognize Yuan Yuan!”
“Dad loves Yuan Yuan the most!”
As he cried, Feng Yuan pressed his wet little face closer, wanting his Dad to see him clearly.
“Look, this is Yuan Yuan!”
Feng Yuan grabbed Feng Qi’s hand and pressed it against his cheek.
After touching his cheek, he pulled Feng Qi’s hand down to touch his little bottom.
“Dad only spanks Yuan Yuan on the bottom.”
“It hurts so, so much!”
Feng Yuan said all this, but Feng Qi still couldn’t remember.
He furrowed his brows, trying hard to recall.
By now, Feng Yuan had already grown so sad that he was sitting on the ground.
In his father’s dream, there was Big Dad, but there was no Yuan Yuan.
Heartbroken, Yuan Yuan sat on the ground crying.
As he cried, he even started throwing a tantrum: “Dad doesn’t recognize Yuan Yuan! Yuan Yuan will never go to kindergarten again!”
Feng Qi: “?”
Wait a minute.
What does that even have to do with anything?!
Why did he feel like this little one was sneaking in some personal agenda?
“Yuan Yuan also won’t do homework anymore! Yuan Yuan wants to be illiterate!”
Feng Qi: “……”
Seeing the little guy so upset over his Dad not recognizing him, ready to give up school to scavenge scraps and eat lots of ice cream with the money.
Feng Qi squinted and called a stop.
“Don’t cry for now.”
Feng Qi knew how to focus on what mattered: “You’ve been repeating ‘homework’ over and over just now. Did you not do your homework?”
Feng Yuan: “Hic.”
Feng Yuan’s crying stopped instantly. But he had held it in too abruptly, and a hiccup escaped.
This week’s homework… he seemed, like, maybe, probably…
Hadn’t been done yet.
Feng Qi didn’t miss the guilt on the little guy’s face.
His gaze darkened as he broke the news: “You really didn’t do your homework.”
After saying this, a memory that Feng Qi hadn’t recalled until now suddenly flashed through his mind.
In this memory, he was asking the little guy in front of him to write down numbers from memory.
He first held up flashcards, letting the little guy recognize the numbers 1 through 10.
He held up the card with a 6 and asked the little guy, “What number is this?”
The little guy answered, “6!”
He pointed to the paper on the table: “Good, now write down 6.”
The little guy nodded and grabbed a pen to start writing.
A few seconds later.
He looked down and saw that the little guy had written a 3 on the paper.
The power of the word homework was just too great.
Feng Qi closed his eyes, almost vomiting blood again.
Under the shock of the homework, his mind gradually cleared.
A few minutes later.
He sat up from Li Sheng’s embrace, not even glancing at him. His eyes fixed solely on the little one picking at his fingers in front of him.
“Feng Yuan.”
He called the little one by his full name, who kept his head down, his tone surprisingly calm: “You start school tomorrow morning. It’s already nighttime. Don’t tell me… You haven’t done a single bit of this week’s homework?”
Feng Yuan: “…”
The little butt of Feng Yuan, sitting on the floor, shifted back nervously.
Seeing this small movement as he moved back, Feng Qi closed his eyes again, calmed his emotions, and then opened them.
Feng Yuan felt the tense atmosphere and didn’t stay on the floor anymore.
He got up and started heading for the door.
As he walked, he said, “Dad, y-you’re still dreaming. You didn’t really see Yuan Yuan. Yuan Yuan isn’t real.”
As Feng Yuan spoke, his two chubby little legs were ready to run.
But Feng Qi gave a look.
The next second, Li Sheng picked up the little one who was trying to run and brought him back.
The tiny little one was lifted into the air.
Feng Qi wished with all his heart that he was dreaming.
But looking at this little one, he couldn’t even bring himself to deceive himself.
“Dad.”
The lifted little one flailed his short little legs, still struggling desperately: “You have to believe in Yuan Yuan! You’re really dreaming. Once you wake up, you won’t see Yuan Yuan anymore.”
Feng Qi didn’t care about dreams or not. Right now, his own little one had already angered him so much that his vision was starting to go dark.
“Feng Yuan, Dad just didn’t keep an eye on you for two days.”
Feng Qi truly hadn’t expected that without Qin Xun supervising Feng Yuan’s homework, this little guy would even dare to skip doing it.
Such a tiny little one, and now he had the nerve to not do his homework. Tomorrow, would he have the nerve to run away from home? And the day after, would he have the nerve to go out and cause trouble?
Moonlit: But he’s already causing trouble left and right HAHAHAHAHA
Sam Williams On TYMIMA Chapter 152