296: Even so, Hajilong, you still

The man was rendered speechless by Wei Ziqing's string of sharp questions. His Face alternated between pale and ashen as he fell into an awkward silence.

After a long while, he finally seemed to reassemble his crumbling mental defenses and spoke in a dry, weary voice.

"I... I don't know why he turned out like this." He avoided Wei Ziqing's interrogation about names and regrets, turning instead to construct another set of excuses.

"But since he's become like this, he's destined to never be like a normal child... going to school, making friends, living a normal life.

If he ever went out, what would be waiting for him? Endless danger! People pointing fingers, verbal daggers, looks of curiosity, disgust, and fear! He might even... even be snatched away by some people to be sliced up for research! Can you guarantee he won't encounter those things? For a... being like him, where is there any kindness in this world? The probability is too low!"

His emotions seemed to become agitated, but deep within his eyes, there was still the coldness of self-preservation.

"Most importantly... if the people around me, my relatives and friends, knew I gave birth to such a... thing, what would they think of me? What would they think of my family? My life would be completely ruined! Even the last bit of my Face would be gone!"

He took a breath and finally addressed some of Wei Ziqing's accusations directly, though his tone carried a reckless indifference.

"Maybe... you're right. I really didn't give him a name, and I haven't taught him anything.

I didn't even know how to Face him myself, so how could I teach a... monster?"

He shot a quick glance at the still-quiet figure in the cage, his eyes devoid of any warmth.

Then, his voice suddenly rose, carrying a near-obsessive stubbornness as he tried to grasp at a final lifeline.

"But! I will never allow you to take him away! Because I am his father! My wife and I gave birth to him! My guardianship over him is only natural and right!

Even if you're from the authorities, can you ignore the law and forcibly snatch a child away from his father?! He hasn't hurt anyone; he's just staying here! You have no right!"

After hearing the man's defense, which was filled with self-pity, fear, and selfishness, Wei Ziqing did not stop; instead, he took another step forward.

"You... don't come any closer! Stay away from me!" the man barked with false bravado, but his body involuntarily shrank back until he was almost pressed against the cold cage.

Wei Ziqing ignored his warning. His voice came through the armor, cold and clear, each word seemingly peeling away a layer of hypocritical facade.

"So, you never loved this child."

"No, perhaps even earlier. Before he was born, when you didn't even know he would look like this, you didn't have much expectation or affection for the concept of a 'child.' You just felt that having an heir was a matter of Face, something that fit societal norms—nothing more."

"And when your child was born as a 'monster,' what you felt first was fear, and then shame—it made you lose all Face in front of everyone.

You hid him away and imprisoned him here, not because you were worried about the dangers of the outside world. What you truly fear is that if he were exposed to the light of day, that last bit of your pathetic self-esteem and 'Face' would completely collapse."

His words were like a heavy hammer, shattering the man's final layer of disguise. All color drained from the man's Face, and his lips trembled, but he was powerless to refute it.

Wei Ziqing continued to close in, the light from his red visor locking onto the other's dodging eyes.

"Earlier, you asked me if I was going to kill him. When I said 'no,' you didn't feel relief, but regret. Because you've long been fed up. You keep him, giving him the bare minimum of food, giving him no name and no guidance, not out of responsibility or pity, but simply because you didn't want to 'dirty your own hands.'

—You were afraid that abandoning or killing him yourself would burden you with a more direct sin. Deep down, you've been longing for an 'outsider' to come and solve this 'trouble' for you, so you could 'cleanly' escape this predicament, right?"

The man's psychological defenses were completely pierced, leaving only a pale, wretched look of being totally seen through.

"And now, here you are again, hypocritically blocking my path, performing a completely unconvincing act of 'protection.' After learning that I won't do as you wish, that sliver of regret at your failed scheme is truly..."

Wei Ziqing's voice was filled with cold disgust, "...nauseating."

Before his voice had even faded, his right hand instantly reached behind his waist. From the poison-quenched scabbard, he now held that plain white bone sword. The blade didn't have a dazzling light, only a condensed sharpness.

Without the slightest hesitation, under the man's horrified gaze, he swung his arm!

"Clink!"

A soft sound rang out—not the ear-piercing screech of metal colliding, but more like the muffled sound of a tough object being precisely sliced open.

The sturdy cage door, welded from thick steel bars, was easily sliced through by the edge of the bone sword like rotten wood, leaving a huge gap with smooth, twisted steel cross-sections.

Wei Ziqing sheathed his sword and looked into the cage. "Come out. You don't need to stay here anymore."

However, the Dinosaur-human in the cage, covered in fine scales, only moved slightly.

His amber vertical pupils looked at the sliced-open gap, then at the unfamiliar Armored Man outside, the panicked man, and the unconscious college student.

He hesitated, moving forward a small step. His claw-like hand rested on the broken steel bars at the edge of the cage, but then he stopped.

He made no sound, just stayed quietly in place, as if that open gap led not to freedom, but to another even more unfamiliar and incomprehensible world.

The cramped space inside the cage seemed to be the only place he was familiar with and felt safe in.

The father, witnessing this scene, was first stunned, and then a twisted laugh, a mix of vengeful pleasure and deeper mockery, broke out on his Face. "Haha... Hahaha! Do you see that?! Big shot from the authorities!" He pointed at the Dinosaur-man Child still huddled by the cage, afraid to take a single step out, his voice shrill with excitement. "Even he himself rejected you! That cage is his entire world from childhood! He's already used to it! Completely used to it! Do you understand?! Who do you think you're saving? You're destroying the only thing he knows!"

Perhaps it was the humiliation turned to anger after his fig leaf was completely torn away, or perhaps his long-suppressed malice had found an outlet. The father actually approached Wei Ziqing by two steps, his Face wearing a loathsome smirk as he continued to mock, "Save it! Put away that self-righteous sense of justice! Look at reality! Everything you've done has absolutely—no meaning at all!"

"You...!" The cold fire of anger in Wei Ziqing's chest suddenly flared up at this naked provocation and the man's indifferent mockery of the child's plight. His hand gripping the sword tightened abruptly, and almost subconsciously, the tip of the sword shot up with a sharp whistling sound, instantly pressing against the father's throat! The sharp tip almost touched the skin; the icy sensation and the threat of death cut the man's wild laughter short. His Face turned deathly pale in an instant, and his Adam's apple bobbed fearfully.

"Brother Wei! Wait a moment!" Wang Yu's main body, who had been observing from the shadows of the corner, couldn't help but call out in a low voice as the situation took a sharp turn.

And at almost the same moment, the Dinosaur-man Child by the cage also moved!

Those amber vertical pupils, which had been calm and curious, suddenly constricted the moment the sword light pointed at his father!

Without a roar or warning, his slender but powerful hind limbs slammed against the ground. His scaled body shot out from the shadows of the cage opening like a spring, moving so fast he left only an afterimage as he lunged straight for Wei Ziqing's sword-wielding right arm!

His attack was not a sophisticated Move, but more like the instinctive pounce of a wild beast protecting its young—using his body to crash into the source of the threat!

Alarm bells rang in Wei Ziqing's mind. The child's actions concerned him far more than the father's malicious words. Without hesitation, he instantly retracted his sword. The bone sword drew an arc in front of him as he shifted into a parrying stance.

"Bang!"

A dull thud. The Dinosaur-man Child's forelimbs collided with the side of the bone sword with considerable force, carrying a reckless momentum. Wei Ziqing went with the force to dissipate the impact, taking half a step back and standing firmly.

After the strike, the Dinosaur-man Child did not continue the pursuit. Instead, he landed nimbly, turned quickly, and spread his arms in a protective stance, shielding his father, who was slumped on the ground in shock.

He crouched low, a low-frequency, warning "hiss" coming from his throat. His amber vertical pupils were locked onto Wei Ziqing, his previous curiosity and calm replaced by a clear wariness and hostility.

"Tsk, too impulsive, Brother Wei." Wang Yu's main body finally stepped completely out of the shadows. He glanced at the man who had been scared senseless by the sword, but his gaze lingered more on the Dinosaur-man Child standing in front, his tone carrying a complex sigh. "But... he actually protected his father."

To this Dinosaur-man Child, this basement and this cage were the entirety of his perceived world.

And the man he was now shielding, although he had never given him a name, never taught him language, and only brought food daily to maintain his survival, was the only individual who had existed in his world for a long time and with whom he had a connection.

His relatively high human-level intelligence allowed him to vaguely understand basic concepts like 'this man has a special connection to me,' 'he provides food,' and 'he is the "father."'"

At this moment, when this "father" encountered an obvious life-threatening danger, based on the most primitive instinct—one that almost stemmed from Bloodline or survival dependency—he reacted: protecting the provider and confronting the threatener.

He didn't fully understand emotions because he hadn't learned many things, but he knew he had to protect his father.