Chapter 3

Chapter 3

That was close.

I almost fell for the substitute.

I tilted my head back, staring blankly at his face under the hazy moonlight.

Jiang Xu really did look a lot like him.

Especially today-even his tone and expression were eerily similar.

Come to think of it, I had actually only met that man twice.

The first time.

I was locked in a sweltering, cramped storage room, suffering from a panic attack and hyperventilating.

The boy had been woken up by my noise. Dragging a dirty, bushy tail, he crawled out from a pile of scrap cardboard boxes, grumbling and swearing.

Then.

He pressed his scarred palm over my mouth and nose, teaching me to listen to his steady heartbeat, guiding my breathing back to normal over and over again.

Once I had come back to life, I asked him for his name.

He only gave me a cocky grin.

Then, acting like a total hotshot, he said:

“A hero never leaves a name.”

The second time was on the day of my high school graduation. I had accompanied Wen Lin to watch an underground beast fight.

Inside the steel Octagonal Cage stained with blood, I actually saw him again.

At that moment, I heard the audience below shouting his name in excitement:

“07-!”

07.

Was that his name?

I stood frozen in front of the Octagonal Cage, only for my eyes to meet the cold, crimson gaze of the werewolf.

A flicker of shock crossed his eyes.

In that split second, the crazed, drugged-up hyena opposite him seized the opportunity to viciously tear a chunk of flesh from his body.

The wound was a bloody mess, deep enough to see the bone.

The manager beside me was still introducing him with fanatical pride:

“07 never loses.”

“Even if he’s torn apart, even if his internal organs are bitten through, as long as he has a single breath left, he will definitely turn the tables and win.”

“Miss, just place your bets on 07. It’s a guaranteed profit!”

Amidst the thunderous cheering, I asked in a raspy voice:

“How much?”

“Anything works, you can bet whatever you-”

“I’m asking you, to redeem him, how much money!”

That day, my eyes, which had always been cowardly and downcast, were filled for the first time with such overwhelming rage.

The manager was stunned by my shout.

He then stared at my youthful face and gave a playful, mocking smile:

“Little girl, there are plenty of rich women who want to buy him.”

“Countless women have thrown fortunes at him, but he can never leave this cage.”

“He tried to escape once, and for a Beastman who is caught after running away, there is only one path.”

“Fight in the beast cage until he dies-”

Before he could finish, Wen Lin, who had been standing aside with her arms crossed in silence, suddenly couldn’t help but sneer.

She spoke up mockingly:

“Seriously, pal, is it fun to bluff a kid?”

“All that talk about fighting to the death even if someone throws a fortune at you is pure bullshit.”

“As long as the money is right, there isn’t any dirty business you people won’t do.”

Wen Lin was right.

“Name your price.”

My gaze was unwavering.

Seeing my stubborn expression, the manager rolled his eyes and casually tossed out an astronomical figure.

He did it on purpose, and it was indeed an amount I couldn’t afford.

But when Wen Lin saw my helpless tears, she uncharacteristically refrained from mocking me.

Instead, she pursed her lips thoughtfully and handed me a card.

“Since we were kids, this seems to be the first time you’ve ever wanted something this badly.”

In the way she looked at me, there was a sense of awkward pity and a subtle hint of guilt.

“I won the Spiritual Power competition. The prize money will be deposited into this card in two months.”

“…Consider it my compensation to you.”

Compensation for what?

For those lonely years when I was intentionally neglected by our parents?

I could no longer describe how I felt.

I only said one thing to Wen Lin in a muffled voice:

“Thank you, Sister.”