11. An uninvited guest

"Han Han, the beast fang you're wearing around your neck is glowing."

"It really is!"

"Take it off and let me have a look."

"Here, for you!"

Shen Qinghan obediently removed the beast fang and handed it to Lin Zichen in front of her.

Lin Zichen took the beast fang and examined it closely in his hand.

The room was dark without the lights on, making the glow from the beast fang exceptionally bright, like a firefly shimmering in the night.

Holding it in hand, he could feel a vigorous life force within the beast fang.

However, it was not a human life force, but rather more akin to Exotic Beasts, filled with brutal wildness.

It was not until this moment that Lin Zichen realized the non-human aura he had sensed from the white-haired girl initially came from the beast fang, not the girl herself.

So what kind of creature's tooth was this?

Exotic Beasts?

Lin Zichen studied the beast fang for a good while, but couldn't figure it out.

Because the light emitting from the beast fang soon dissipated.

It again became inconspicuous.

Unable to investigate further.

Seeing this, Lin Zichen could only put away the beast fang for the time being and, urged by Zhang Wanxin, went downstairs for breakfast with Shen Qinghan.

While eating breakfast, he asked Zhang Wanxin for her phone, took a photo of the beast fang, and uploaded it online for image recognition.

Unfortunately, he found nothing.

Now there was no other way but to rely on himself.

So before leaving for school, he went back to his room, took his own beast fang with him, and planned to study it properly at school.

...

On their way.

Lin Zichen and Shen Qinghan walked side by side, attracting the attention of people wherever they went.

Their good looks surpassed even the filtered beauty of child stars on TV, drawing a glance from everyone who passed by.

Lin Zichen had grown accustomed to these gazes and didn't care much, quietly hurrying to school with Shen Qinghan.

"Wow, such beautiful children, are you two brother and sister, or sister and brother?"

As they passed a bar, a heavily made-up woman approached them, looking at the two with an aunt-like smile and asked.

Her dress was very revealing, as if she wanted to expose every part of herself that could attract men's gazes, and she held a lit cigarette, not seeming like a decent person.

"We're not siblings; we are childhood friends, best friends," Shen Qinghan said softly.

"Childhood friends, how nice. I wish I had a childhood friend too," the woman said with an envious smile, then asked, "You are still so young, why are you going to school on your own with backpacks, where are your parents?"

"Our parents, they..."

"Don't chat, we'll be late for school, let's go."

Shen Qinghan hadn't finished speaking when Lin Zichen interrupted her and quickly pulled her away by the hand.

After walking a good distance, Lin Zichen slowed down a bit and said to Shen Qinghan with a serious tone:

"In the future, don't casually chat with strangers on the street, okay?"

"Mhm, I got it."

Shen Qinghan nodded obediently.

...

Soon, they arrived at school.

During class, while the teacher on stage lectured non-stop, Lin Zichen studied the beast fang with his head down.

The scene he had seen in the room that morning made him curious about the beast fang given by the white-haired girl.

What kind of creature's tooth would inexplicably glow and, having been out of the mouth for so long, still contain such a robust life force?

Clearly, it couldn't be from a normal creature; it was very likely from Exotic Beasts.

Moreover, it was probably a beast not yet recorded by mankind.

Otherwise, with the clear traits displayed by the beast fang in the room that morning, a simple online search would have yielded results.

However, during breakfast that morning, he specifically used Zhang Wanxin's phone to check, and nothing came up.

This could somewhat prove that the owner of the tooth was very likely an unknown Exotic Beast not yet recorded.

What on earth does that white-haired girl's family do?

How could her mother give her such a special birthday gift?

Could she be the illegitimate daughter of a Martial Arts Family?

Lin Zichen was baffled.

...

Time flew by quickly.

In the blink of an eye, it was time to leave school in the afternoon.

As the chorus of "Goodbye, teacher" rang out, the classroom emptied quickly, leaving only Lin Zichen and Shen Qinghan, who took their time to leave.

Both of them walked to and from school on their own, not needing to rush out of the school gates to find their parents as soon as classes ended, for fear that a slow departure would lead to traffic jams on the way home.

"Xiao Chen, next month we are going to celebrate our birthdays together, and I've already prepared your gift in advance. Have you prepared mine?"

No sooner than they stepped out of the classroom, Shen Qinghan looked at Lin Zichen with anticipation and asked.

Their birthdays were only a day apart, and since childhood, both families had always celebrated together, this year being no exception.

However, Lin Zichen hadn't given a thought to his birthday, let alone prepared a gift in advance.

Now suddenly faced with Shen Qinghan's question, he had no choice but to lie, "Just like you, I've prepared it in advance."

"Really?" Shen Qinghan's face broke into a delighted smile, "I'm really looking forward to your gift, Xiao Chen."

Lin Zichen just smiled and did not respond.

"Xiao Chen, which way shall we take home today?"

Shen Qinghan bounced along cheerfully, turning her head to Lin Zichen and asked.

After thinking for a moment, Lin Zichen answered, "Let's go through the abandoned alleys in the old town area today. There are still many paths we haven't taken there; let's explore them today."

For some reason, after his life's reset, he had become very eager to explore, always liking to take different routes home from school.

He had pondered this, feeling that maybe it was because he had come to an unfamiliar world and was eager to understand it at every moment.

Gradually, during the process of growing up, a strong desire to explore had formed.

"Chen, it's so quiet inside the alley."

Walking through the deserted old alleys, Shen Qinghan looked around curiously with her wide, round eyes.

Lin Zichen explained, "This place is going to be demolished next month, and the residents who used to live here have mostly moved away, that's why it's quieter."

"Xiao Chen, Xiao Chen, look at this!"

"There's a dandelion here!"

"I have never seen a wild dandelion before, and I'm this old!"

Shen Qinghan ran ahead, pointing to a dandelion in the corner, her face beaming with excitement.

Lin Zichen walked over with a smile, while she crouched down, looking at the delicate dandelion flower in front of her, eyes filled with pity as she said:

"Dandelions are so pretty, it would be great if they could be more robust, so they wouldn't be scattered by the wind, and could remain beautiful for everyone passing by to see."

Lin Zichen chuckled and said, "If dandelions were robust, you wouldn't be able to see this pretty one now."

"Why is that?"

Shen Qinghan lifted her little face to look up at Lin Zichen, her watery eyes shimmering with clarity.

Lin Zichen enlightened her, "Because the 'flyers' inside the dandelion are its seeds, and they need the wind to scatter them to take root and sprout everywhere, growing new dandelions."

"Dandelions are so amazing," Shen Qinghan said, finding it incredible, while thinking Lin Zichen was so smart, seeming to know everything.

After the brief lesson, Lin Zichen also crouched down beside her, gently picked the dandelion, and handed it to Shen Qinghan, saying softly:

"Han Han, stand up, hold the dandelion a bit higher, and blow away the 'flyers' so the seeds can drift with the wind to different places to bloom."

"Xiao Chen, Xiao Chen, watch closely, I'm about to spread flowers like a Goddess scattering blossoms," Shen Qinghan declared excitedly, standing up and lifting the dandelion high in her hand, even standing on tiptoe to reach higher.

Then, taking a deep breath, she blew forcefully at the dandelion!

The next moment, the dandelion's 'flyers' were blown away in an instant, scattering forward in a big cloud before dispersing into the distance.

Both found the scene very beautiful and tacitly remained silent, quietly watching the dandelion seeds drift away with the wind.

Until, a familiar woman appeared at the alley entrance up ahead, breaking the precious tranquility they had found.

It was the woman they had encountered that morning on their way to school, passing by a bar.

This time, the woman was no longer approachable as she had been that morning, her eyes now greedily smiling at the two of them:

"I've been following you two little cuties for a while, and finally, I've found my chance."

...

PS: Begging for Monthly Passes and recommendation votes!