Only Human Here 24

Yun Yongzhuo sat at the bedside all day, silently gazing at the sleeping Wei Huan.

The shirt exchanged by chance years ago eventually returned to its original owner.

Even the name stubbornly hinted at the person whose destiny hadn’t been repaid, and in the end, they still met.

In the quiet darkness, only a firefly-like light accompanied him, illuminating Wei Huan’s slightly curled figure from a distance until the horizon turned white.

A heart finally settled.

Yun Yongzhuo’s fingers still retained a faint sensation, along with scratches on his cheek. Compared to countless past battle injuries, this wasn’t much, but the source of the pain made this insignificant feeling precious.

Blood bonds aren’t something everyone can form; there’s also the risk of significant loss of vitality due to the powerful demonic energy. He couldn’t afford any risks.

Yet, he couldn’t explain why he stared all night, whether it was fear of danger or the anxiety that what he awaited might be just an illusion, a mirage.

Although he had confirmed too many times and was certain he wouldn’t be wrong this time, he still felt uneasy.

After all, he had shattered too many dreams.

When Wei Huan woke up, he found himself on the bed. Fortunately, he was alone in bed, probably subconsciously seeking warmth during the cold night.

Yun Yongzhuo had truly changed. Wei Huan yawned and sat up.

If this were in the past, he would definitely kick him off without discussion.

With no one in the house, Wei Huan strolled around and found a complete set of toiletries on the living room coffee table.

Really changed…

While brushing his teeth, he stared at his current face in the mirror, examining it closely.

It was attractive, but no matter how he looked at it, it didn’t have the same handsome charm as before. Wei Huan frowned and spat out the foam in his mouth.

After washing his face, he leaned into the mirror, examining his face carefully. It was too delicate, appearing weak, suitable for playing a cute bunny.

Wei Huan couldn’t help but touch his cheekbone, knowing that the blue demonic marks would never appear there again.

“Sigh, lacking taste.”

After finishing his morning routine, Wei Huan heard the doorbell. Walking to the door, he saw a girl in the uniform of the Flame Institute on the electronic screen.

“Hello? Instructor Yun asked me to deliver something; he’s on a mission.”

Wei Huan didn’t dare to speak casually, so he sent a message through the electronic screen, which appeared outside.

[What is it?]

Seeing the girl showcasing sweets and snacks she bought from the Shanhai cafeteria like a TV shopping host on the electronic screen, Wei Huan’s heart fluttered.

Damn, these were his favorite things from the past that he hadn’t eaten in seven years!

[Please leave it at the door; I’ll come out to get it later.]

Standing in front of the electronic screen, Wei Huan watched the girl place the items and walk away. He waited for at least three minutes before daring to open the door. However, at that moment, he realized the door seemed to require facial recognition; it needed a scan.

He definitely wasn’t enrolled in the instructor system. What to do?

Reluctant to give up easily, Wei Huan clicked on the scan option.

After the scan finished, a click.

“What the heck?” Wei Huan opened the door in disbelief, “It really opened…”

Was the security system of Shanhai University’s faculty dorms this lenient?

However, upon seeing a large bag of snacks on the floor, Wei Huan forgot about worrying about the university’s security and was consumed by thoughts of eating. Since his rebirth, he hadn’t tasted anything delicious.

Of course, Wei Huan paid a price for his gluttony.

“Ah Heng!”

After indulging in a feast and sneaking back to the Flame Institute, Wei Huan was about to enter the enchantment when he heard someone calling his name. Turning around, he saw Jing Yun.

“What’s wrong?” Wei Huan turned and saw Jing Yun running toward him with a face full of shock. “What happened? Why are you so scared?” 

“It’s, it’s you!” Jing Yun panted, hands on hips, “I… you…”

“Take it slow; I’m afraid you might run out of breath before reaching me,” Wei Huan glanced around, supporting Jing Yun. “You’re really trying to mimic me, aren’t you?”

Jing Yun took a deep breath. “Are you… Are you really living together with Instructor Yun Yongzhuo now?”

…

“What?!!” Wei Huan looked bewildered, then instinctively covered Jing Yun’s mouth. “What are you talking about… Who told you that?”

“Mmm… Mmm…” Jing Yun’s mouth was tightly covered. She took her phone from the pocket of her Fengyao uniform and handed it to Wei Huan. Looking at it, the screen displayed Shanhai’s BBS, crazily reposting pictures of him in front of the faculty dorm.

“What the heck…” Wei Huan let go of Jing Yun, tapped the square gem on his ring with his index finger, and a holographic screen appeared above the gem. It was Wei Huan’s phone screen. He directly opened the forum; no need for a search, the homepage was filled with discussions about him.

Jing Yun instantly transformed into a curious baby. “How did you pull this up? I didn’t know it could be used like that.”

Wei Huan browsed through the webpages, talking casually. “Didn’t anyone tell you? This can project holograms; just set it up on your school-provided phone. Damn… that girl sneaked and took pictures of me, so sinister!”

“So, are you really living with Instructor Yun?” Jing Yun leaned closer.

Wei Huan’s hand swiped the screen, and it disappeared. “Not a chance.” He tried to explain to Jing Yun, but felt it was hard to clarify. “It’s not what you imagine about our relationship…”

“Foolish humans!”

Yang Ling suddenly descended from the sky, folding her beautiful ink-blue wings. With a proud swing of her twin ponytails, she said, “How does it feel to bond with the mighty Golden Crow?”

“Bond?!!?” Jing Yun was shocked again, grabbing both of Wei Huan’s arms.

Wei Huan looked at Yang Ling, a dead expression on his face, and gritted his teeth. “You’re here just in time…”

“Of course~” Yang Ling was utterly ignorant, a proud curve appearing at the corner of her mouth. She twirled her ring, and a holographic screen emerged. “I didn’t just come on time; I also helped clarify things for you.”

Hearing Yang Ling’s words, Wei Huan suddenly had a bad feeling.

“Miss, what did you do…”

Yang Ling pushed the screen toward Wei Huan. Jing Yun, curious to see the commotion, also leaned over Wei Huan’s shoulder, whispering, “I want to see too.”

“Look, look…” Wei Huan stared at the screen, and there was a post from Yang Ling!

[You ignorant folks, let this lady, the witness, generously tell you the truth—Instructor Yun and the foolish human aren’t cohabiting; they’re bonded. Disperse~]

Is this for real???

Wei Huan tried to scroll down but found he didn’t have permission. He grabbed Yang Ling’s hand and used it to scroll, Yang Ling pulled her hand back, saying, “What are you doing? Don’t touch me! I’m just being kind; don’t get so excited.” After saying this, she closed the screen and clapped her hands. “No one is spreading rumors about you now.”

Unbelievable… Wei Huan was utterly amazed. How did this little princess grow up like this?

“Thank you, thank you and your entire family.” Wei Huan looked disheartened, patted Jing Yun’s shoulder, “I know you’re confused right now, so am I. Let me recover a bit, and I’ll explain everything at dinner tonight.”

Jing Yun looked serious, “Will you have dinner with me tonight?”

Wei Huan: “…What else?”

Jing Yun scratched the back of her head, “I mean, don’t you need to have dinner with your master?”

Who the hell is my master!!!

Wei Huan fiercely pointed his index finger at Jing Yun, as if to say something, but hesitated and turned away, entering the enchantment of the Flame Institute.

Back at the Flame Institute, almost everyone he passed was looking at him. Honestly, whether it was in his previous life as the Nine Phoenix or in this life as a weak human, Wei Huan had always been the center of attention. However, after the rebirth, the gazes weren’t as friendly. He pretended not to notice the peculiar looks from others and returned to the classroom.

“Wei Heng.”

As he passed the corner of the fourth-floor staircase, Wei Huan suddenly heard someone call his name.

The voice was all too familiar.

He took a deep breath, turned around, and looked at his former friend from a few steps away. “…Who are you?”

Su Buyu revealed a gentle smile. Under his right eye, a semi-transparent mermaid scale emitted a faint colored glow in the sunlight. “You might not remember me. I was also there during the Selection Ceremony, right beside Yun Yang.” He walked up a few steps, “I just came to Flame Institute for the handover, happened to run into you, and wanted to chat with you.”

In the bustling staircase area, the two eventually reached a bench in the garden. Behind them was a well-grown flowering crabapple tree, its pink and white petals falling as the flowering season neared its end.

“I heard your close combat skills are quite solid.” Su Buyu, coming from the vending machine, handed him a cup of Danmu Fruit Juice. “I couldn’t attend the freshman competition, a bit regrettable.”

Wei Huan looked at the offered juice, hesitating. It was his favorite drink from the past. Su Buyu, a friend from high school, like Yang Sheng, could be considered one of his closest friends.

“Don’t worry; humans can drink it too.”

In the end, he accepted it.

Su Buyu smiled, looking towards a group of Flame Institute students training not far away. Suddenly, he spoke, “These days must have been tough for you.”

Wei Huan froze, fingertips tightly gripping the cup’s rim. “Hmm?”

“As the only human in the whole school, you must have faced a lot of unfair treatment here.” Su Buyu’s tone was gentle, speaking softly, but with a comforting presence. “I guess.”

Wei Huan fully understood what he meant.

Su Buyu was a half-demon.

Whether in the world of monsters that admired strong powers or the human world far from monsters, half-demon was always an anomaly, not accepted or tolerated by either side.

“I had a friend before who was a bit like you.” After Su Buyu finished speaking, he couldn’t help but lower his head and chuckle self-deprecatingly. “This opening line might sound cliché, but I mean it.”

Honestly, when he said the first sentence, Wei Huan already started to panic.

This was Su Buyu; could he reveal his own identity to him? Wei Huan asked himself internally.

Would Su Buyu, like Yang Sheng, believe he was a traitor?

He didn’t dare.

“Really?” Wei Huan smiled, finishing the drink in his hand. “Your friends must all be powerful monsters, right? How could they be similar to me?”

Su Buyu’s eyes were like a deep and tranquil lake, always projecting the warmest ripples when looking at Wei Huan. “He was powerful, indeed. But not just in terms of demonic power, but in his heart.”

“At the time when I needed recognition the most, he acknowledged me, telling me that I wasn’t an outsider or a weakling.”

Memories began to slowly invade Wei Huan’s mind.

The smiling face in front of him gradually overlapped with the wounded boy from years ago.

Time is the gentlest montage artist.

Su Buyu will never forget his dark adolescence, will never forget.

He was born in Fan Zhou, and although life was humble, he and his mother depended on each other, having a relatively happy childhood.

Until his merfolk lineage was revealed, childhood playmates silently distanced themselves one by one. Everyone knew that merfolk’s tears turned into pearls, so those greedy and curious human classmates did their best to bully him, making him cry to show them.

To see if his tears would turn into valuable pearls.

Humans vented their resentment towards the supernatural race on him, even though his veins carried the same blood as theirs.

Cruelty, greed, mockery, oppression.

The young Su Buyu couldn’t cry anymore.

Seeing his child suffer, his mother, a powerless human, couldn’t do anything. Accumulating frustration, she gave him everything before dying.

“Go to the demon Territory; that’s where you belong.”

Where did he have a home? Nowhere to go, he could only leave Fan Zhou alone and venture into the demon Territory. With his efforts, Su Buyu finally managed to enter Kunlun Xu’s top high school, but things didn’t improve.

Those self-proclaimed powerful descendants of the supernatural race mocked his weak and inferior human lineage, ridiculed his timidity and stuttering, and imprinted various scars on him using various magical techniques.

“Smell the blood on this little stutterer.”

“So disgusting, it smells like a human.”

“Are you really a merman? Drop a pearl for us to see.”

In the dim and tormented times of conservative torture, Su Buyu’s only refuge was an abandoned student dormitory.

Behind that old building was a courtyard overgrown with weeds, containing a small pond where he could sneak in, put his legs into the water, and turn them into a fish tail.

On a silent spring day, he, as usual, used the water flowing from his palms to clean his wounds, then sat in a daze, alone.

“Uh…”

“Anyone here?”

Startled, Su Buyu turned around and found a sleeping boy lying on the roof of the courtyard, dangerously close to the edge.

It’s dangerous.

Should he wake him up first, or should he leave this place? Su Buyu struggled with the decision.

But before he could make a final choice, the boy, still asleep, turned over and rolled off the roof. Su Buyu was about to scream in fear, but at the next moment, black wings sprouted from the boy’s back, creating a gust of wind as he descended.

Flying in the air, he rubbed his sleepy eyes and slowly focused on Su Buyu by the pool.

Discovered. Su Buyu instinctively jumped into the pool.

“Hey!”

Across the clear water, with ripples of light and texture, Su Buyu hiding in the water watched as the boy flew above him, his face filled with concern.

“Are you okay? I can’t swim.”

This person can fly, and he has the bloodline of a major supernatural being.

“I scared you, didn’t I? It’s fine. Come out; isn’t that pool cold?”

After hesitating for a while, Su Buyu finally emerged from the water.

“Are you okay?” The boy landed by the pool, squatted down, and extended a hand toward him. “I’m Wei Huan from Class 1 of the freshman year. Which class are you in?”

Su Buyu remained silent.

“Wow,” Wei Huan seemed not to mind his silence at all, finding a new point of interest. His eyes lit up. “Your fish tail is so beautiful!”

When he smiled, his sharp canines made him look like a cute little animal. “Ah, off-topic. Who are you?”

Su Buyu tried hard to control his nervous emotions. He could feel the strong bloodline emanating from Wei Huan. Just seeing the demon mark on his collarbone made him feel oppressed. The harder he tried to maintain a normal state, the more difficult it became to speak a complete sentence.

“I… I am… half, half-demon.”

Wei Huan chuckled and shook his head, sitting on the grass by the pool. Hands crossed on his knees, his pupils shimmering with blue light.

“I asked for your name.”

Su Buyu stood still, unable to utter a word.

The surroundings were so quiet that one could hear the faint sounds of insects emerging from the grass.

Suddenly, Wei Huan reached out, “Hey.”

His palm opened, cradling a small but dazzling pearl, gently swaying.

“Why are you crying?”