Chapter 4

Chapter 4

I didn’t have enough money yet. I could only spend all my savings on the deposit just to see 07 once.

A heavy Collar and Chain were fastened around his neck as he lay quietly in a cramped iron cage.

His breathing was so faint it was almost inaudible.

Sensing my approach, his mangled wolf ears immediately pricked up with keen sensitivity.

Then, that blood-stained tail gave a slight, weak wag.

I pursed my lips nervously, gathered my skirts, and carefully crouched down in front of him.

The boy lifted his eyelids and gazed at me silently, his black eyes devoid of any ripples or emotion.

I thought he probably didn’t remember me.

After all, it had been three years since our first encounter.

I hesitated for a long time, and just as I finally gathered the courage to speak my opening line…

I suddenly heard a low chuckle.

Startled, I looked up and saw 07’s eyes crinkling at me.

His smile was just as roguish and carefree as the day we first met.

He tilted his head slightly, staring at me, and said:

“Wen Ning.”

“So your name is Wen Ning.”

“You look a bit dazed, but you were actually quite cool just now when you were shouting at the manager about the price.”

He propped himself up, teasing me with a smile.

I felt a bit embarrassed under his gaze.

But then I heard him suddenly sigh.

“But-why spend so much money to buy me?”

“I’m already dying, classmate Wen Ning.”

Just like that, 07 spoke of his impending death with complete indifference.

“Surviving after having your internal organs crushed is a feat that’s difficult even for me.”

The boy’s eyelids drooped halfway, the corners of his lips curving up slightly.

“Besides, hanging onto life in this half-dead state…”

“To be honest, it’s really exhausting.”

“While it’s been less than twenty-four hours since you paid, hurry up and find the manager to get a refund.”

He seemed to love smiling.

But looking at him only made me want to cry.

Even though I tried my best to hold back the tears and keep my voice steady…

I still began to sob in a pathetic manner.

I kept promising him:

“Just, just wait for me for two more months, and I can take you home.”

“You’ll never have to sleep in a cage with a collar on again. You’ll have a big, comfortable bed and delicious food. You’ll never have to be hurt or bleed again…”

I cried as I spoke of many, many things about the future.

I only prayed that he would try his best to live for two more months.

But 07 merely leaned against the corner of the cage, smiling at me lazily.

In the end, perhaps because I cried too much and gave him a headache, he could only sigh helplessly and agree.

“Fine, fine, fine. I’ll definitely work hard to stay alive until the day Wen Ning takes me home.”

“Pinky swear.”

I stubbornly tried to grab his hand.

Only then did I realize that the bones in his fingers had long since been broken and deformed.

He lowered his eyes, awkwardly hiding his hands behind his back.

Then, he carefully selected a relatively clean tuft of fur at the tip of his tail and hooked it around my pinky.

“Mm-hmm. Whoever lies is a little dog.”

He was truly wicked.

I cried until my head spun that day.

I had completely forgotten that a wolf is basically a dog to begin with.

Two weeks later, the fighting pit refunded half of my deposit and told me.

07 was dead.

Despite only those two brief encounters.

I have been unable to forget him to this day.

That boy’s weary, lazy features.

I have secretly hidden them in the depths of my heart, tracing their lines hundreds and thousands of times.