The development of things until now are not always as the baby wants, but this kind of hard-pressed emotion that seems to slide into the abyss of ignorance will not be understood by a second person¹. Despite this, one point still makes Zeno happy.

Ya Sang has unknowingly rushed to his own demise by tormenting the protagonist. “Curse” is a supernatural novel, and within it the protagonist is almost always miserable. Even so, the guy who makes the protagonist even more miserable will face a fate 10,000 times worse than the protagonist.

Xi Wei had struck Ya Sang with the stick mercilessly. One of the men in the gang picks up the fainted boy by the collar and drags him in front of Xi Lun. The man asks what to do with him and Xi Lun just waves him off, “He dares come to Fenhong Street making a scene and lying to my face, he needs to suffer the consequences. Although his looks are poor, anyone will do in the dark. Throw him into the men’s brothel. ”

With these words spoken by Xi Lun, Ya Sang’s future is set. As the saying goes, dishonest men will hang in their own web of lies². Ya Sang wanted to take the protagonist’s baby and sell it to the red light district’s boss. We should all learn from this experience ah.

Zeno rests his head on the protagonists shoulder, exhausted after his high fever. He doesn’t even have the evergy to look around the famous Fenhong Street. Xi Wei occasionally brushes his forehead, checking the temperature, relieved that it has not gone back up to the burning heat from before.

After all, that strange little elf has run off, leaving Xi Wei anxious about a relapse. He still does not have xue nu and therefore he cannot relax.

If you asked ten people about Xi Wei they would all say the same thing—stoic. His life creed is that less is more and low key is king. Xi Lun is feigning casual indifference while closely observing Xi Wei interact with the little baby, his eyes showing a strange and sly glint.

Fenhong Street comes alive at night, so during the day it feels deserted.

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The silence is abruptly broken by a crisp voice.

A girl with her long hair pulled into a scorpion braid, wearing a lovely pink cotton dress, runs like a gust of wind and heads straight to the scar-faced man’s side. Grabbing onto his thigh, she immediately complains, “Baba³, where have you been all morning? Xiao Wu has been looking everywhere. ”

Xi Lun laughs heartily, then bends over the girl and suddenly hoists her onto his shoulders. He is tall and sturdy so this action is very relaxed without any hint of strain while he asks, “Were you a good girl?”

The little girl, Xiao Wu, turns her head down gracefully. “Xiao Wu does not want to be good, unless baba takes me to see the Brave Devil⁴.”

A helpless look crosses Xi Lun’s face and he tries to coax his daughter, “That kind of drama is a lie, those evil actors are just trying to cheat you out of your money. Xiao Wu is a good girl, you wouldn’t understand. ”

The little girl heard her idol being questioned, and suddenly grew angry, “Baba you are a bad guy, you do bad things and don’t believe others will do good deeds, Xiao Wu hates you.”

Having fallen low in his daughter’s eyes, Xi Lun promises to spend the afternoon making it up to his daughter, even seeing the drama she wants to watch. This leaves Xiao Wu reluctantly satisfied.

As the scene played out before him, Zeno found it to be very strange. He did not expect the 190 cm (6’3), muscular macho man to be such a fool for his daughter. He really is gentle to death, and despite her claim to hate him; it’s obvious that she is very happy. It’s obvious that this little girl has grown up in a bubble, and does not know of human suffering.

In “Curse,” Xiao Wu is a sister with a very strong sense of justice. She accidentally met the injured Xi Wei and due to her compassionate nature she did not hesitate to bring him home and take good care of him. According to the normal routine in x stories, the protagonist undergoes a period of recuperation during which Xiao Wu grows to like this unique, low-key, quiet teenager. The protagonist is ignorant to this, leaving before he fully heals to avoid placing her in danger.

Completely heartbroken, Xiao Wu runs to her father seeking comfort. After hearing her story, her father realizes that the protagonist’s mother was an old acquaintance—she used to work as a prostitute under his business. He could not bear to tell Xiao Wu the truth of his origins, and in the end she never sees him again.

Aside from that, Xi Lun did not want to leave his daughter to such a cold-hearted person in the first place. Xi Wei welcomed this turn of events, and the two men were unified in their desired outcomes.

It seems that similar brain make-up, in fact, doesn’t need to be genetic.

Xiao Wu will grow up to be simple and just, inseparable from the pure fatherly love of her unprincipled father.

Xi Wei is unmoved by this. Other’s warmth and sweetness cannot shake him. He came here solely to get medicine to save the baby’s life.

Xi Wei seems to have most of the characteristics of x literature protagonists; he is determined not to let anything outside his little bubble move him.

Zeno, who silently gives his protagonist a thumbs-up, has to face a cruel fact.

On the one hand the protagonist’s task is to convert Xiao Wu into a dark girl. If the task fails = no xue nu = Zeno will die in three days. On the other hand, if Xiao Wu is blackened, she will no longer believe in pure justice. That means that there is one less safety net in the world to save the frustrated protagonist. The protagonist will still be on the path of self-destruction that brings the world with him.

This world is really filled with the viciousness of those who cause Xi Wei’s suffering.

Zeno understands that whether or not the storyline is faithful to the novel, the world adheres to its treatment of the protagonist. There will be no change to the unwarranted abuse towards him, be it of the body or the heart.

A small boy and group of muscular warriors silently follow the father and daughter duo back to the Fenhong Street base camp. upon arrival, Xi Lun sits down on a comfortable armchair and plays with his daughter. He teases her with a toy, drawing out musical giggles while her face radiates sunshine. Xi Wei forms a sharp contrast to this happy scene, hidden in a shadowy corner of the room while he silently holds Zeno.

Zeno is hungry and his mouth is thirsty. Since he cannot speak, he can only look hopefully at Xi Wei.

Xi Wei is also very hungry. He has hardly eaten a thing for two days, but he was forced to consume more energy than usual. Zeno surmises that it is the protagonist halo that has kept him alive, most children in his situation would have already starved to death.

Looking over the meagre amount of food in his possession, and then taking in Zeno’s aggrieved expression, Xi Wei purses his lips and seems to be pondering a difficult problem. Finally he opens his mouth, quietly asking, “Sir…can you give me a bowl of water?”

Xi Wei’s attitude is very humble and he keeps his head bowed, his cold and hoarse voice not revealing any emotions. Maybe because he is a lot more talkative than usual, but his voice finally loses some of its dry rasp and becomes much smoother.

The father and daughter in the midst of their little family reunion finally remember there are two children in the same room. Xi Lun is in a good mood at this moment, and going along with the atmosphere, he merely cocks an eyebrow at the boy’s question and sends a samurai with a bowl of sweetened hot water and a small spoon.

Xi Wei opens the compressed biscuits and submerges them all in the hot water. It quickly becomes a bowl of paste-like mush, and although the smell is not particularly fragrant, it is enough to make the two small children gulp down some saliva. Xi Wei scoops some food up with the spoon and awkwardly feeds it to Zeno, watching him slowly swallow. He feeds him in this way until Zeno refuses to eat any more. Xi Wei carefully consumes the remainder without leaving a single drop of waste.

Having eaten a hot meal to fill and warm their bellies, the spirits of both boys are lifted.

There is a wood-burning fireplace in the room that makes it a paradise in the midst of the barren landscape of snow and ice outside, but it is a little quiet for a Xiao Wu. After Xi Wei finishes eating, she finally gives into her curiosity, asking “Baba, who are they?”

After asking, she seems to remember something and pouts, “Baba did you kidnap someone again? You’re really bad, making them eat that yucky food. Let them go home or I’m ignoring you.”

Xi Lun can only smile helplessly, “Baba didn’t kidnap anyone. They are homeless, and because Baba is so busy and can’t always accompany you, when I saw how poor they are I decided to bring them back to be your companions.”

The self-righteous little girl tilts her head and looks at Xi Wei and Zeno, then bounces from in front of Xi Lun and lands in front of Xi Wei. Xi Wei warily steps back and maintains a distance between him and Xiao Wu. Despite several attempts, she finds that she cannot approach him and queries in dissatisfaction, “Why are you dodging me ah?”

Xi Wei shakes his head, retreating into the shadow of a corner, his head lowered to prevent others from seeing his eyes. He does not wish to reveal the emotions displayed in his eyes, and then he speaks in a humble voice, “It would dirty Miss’s clothes.”

Zeno is able to see clearly, and rather than a look of humility, only indifference and rejection can be found.

He truly deserves to be the protagonist of my family—he has raised lying to an art form.

Xiao Wu places her hands on her hip and scolds, “What are you stressed out about? Dirty clothes can be washed, how about you play with me.”

Xi Wei cries a bit inside, and finally stops evading Xiao Wu. He certainly will not tell the little girl that different classes of people have different living standards. If it were not for the task given him by the scar-faced man, he would not be in contact with the young girl.

Not just being used, he is also being asked to compromise.

What’s more, the young lady does not seem to have a lot of motivation.

Xi Wei and Zeno each think on the matter at hand.

Zeno is familiar with the plot, and is naturally aware that this simple girl, Xiao Wu, does not change through the early years. At some point, interacting with the protagonist made her blacken. Since they have crossed paths so early, it’s hard to say what strange direction things will go.

Xiao Wu always pursues what she wants, but she has no interest in the quiet and timid looking Xi Wei. The one that makes her heart itch is the baby. Because she is an only child, Xiao Wu rarely has the opportunity to come into contact with babies. She has always been curious towards these small, soft, and toothless little creatures.

Realizing that Zeno is watching her, Xiao Wu is instantly overwhelmed by the meng factor and cheerfully asks, “Such a cute doll, can you let me hold it?”

Xi Wei pulls his arms in tightly and refuses her request. Although Xiao Wu is a little disappointed, she has always been the messenger of justice; her nature will not permit her to do anything to take away the little one. She instead stands beside Xi Wei and Zeno. From a distance, this scene appears quite harmonious and loving.

Xi Lun chooses not to disturb them until he needs to inform them that something has to be dealt with, so he must go. Before leaving he reminds Xiao Wu to behave and then leaves the three children to play on their own.

Zeno deliberately matches the behaviour of the protagonist and Xiao Wu, so the performance is particularly clever. Xi Wei observes Zeno’s eyes, his appearance taking on a slightly gloomy undertone.

I hope that everyone had a great Christmas (or something else if that’s the case)! One thing I really enjoy is looking at the part on WordPress that shows what countries people are reading this from. So neat. Isn’t it great how BL brings the world together? Thanks China.

1. He’s referring to the difficulties they’ve faced, and having to see how miserable the protagonist’s childhood really is. I thought about trying to make it a little more clear but in the end just stuck with that.
2. I totally made this up. This is not a legit saying. The original is: 俗话说坑人者人恒坑之. So if you know what that says let me know. I may not necessarily change it though.
3. Baba – Pinyin for daddy/dad. Since she’s speaking in a cutesy way I would say that she’s saying daddy.
4. This is either the name of a drama or character in one.