INHA Chapter 10

Xu Dongyou also wanted to know why.

Since he was very young, he always thought he was just a human with special abilities.

At least in his memory, he had always grown up as a human. His parents and younger brother were also very ordinary people.

Except…

Xu Dongyou remembered something from his childhood.

His parents and brother had ordinary looks, but he seemed like a genetic mutation, looking nothing like them.

Xu Dongyou dared not think further.

Elder Chen, realizing this was severely impacting communication with the cub, softened his voice and said to Xu Dongyou, “It’s okay. I can teach you how to transform back into your human form. Especially for a cub like you who has maintained human form for a long time, it will be easier to revert.”

Xu Dongyou immediately showed a grateful expression, chirping twice in agreement.

The chief extended his hand. Xu Dongyou fluttered his slightly small wings and jumped into Elder Chen’s palm, tilting his head to chirp twice at the chief.

It was a very polite gesture of thanks.

The chief resisted the urge to pet him, maintaining a calm expression, “No need to thank me.”

The little bird, with a tuft of fluff on its head, stood in Elder Chen’s palm, so light it seemed it could be blown away by the wind.

Elder Chen looked dissatisfied, “A cub needs to eat more during its growth period. You are way too skinny.”

Tian Ze silently observed Xu Dongyou’s nearly round, fluffy body. His mind was filled with question marks.

How can such a chubby bird be considered thin?

Taking advantage of the moment, Tian Ze sneakily glanced several times at Xu Dongyou. The more he looked, the more Xu Dongyou resembled not just a fluffy ball, but also a dumpling with leaking sesame filling.

While Elder Chen took Xu Dongyou, now a young demon cub, to the corner to teach him how to transform back into a human, Tian Ze secretly pulled out his phone and started searching on Baidu.

【What kind of bird looks like a dumpling with leaking sesame filling?】

As soon as he typed in the question, numerous bird images popped up. Scrolling down, Tian Ze quickly found information that resembled Xu Dongyou.

– The long-tailed tit, considered the cutest among birds. It is known for its fast speed and high alertness, yet its strength is not even comparable to a sparrow’s.

Some people called the long-tailed tit the cutest species of birds. Due to their round and fluffy appearance, many affectionately referred to them as “little chubby birds”.

In the images, the little chubby birds had soft, fluffy white feathers with black, yellow, and brown patterns on their backs and tails, adding a playful touch to their round and adorable appearance.

With the arrival of winter, several little chubby birds huddled together on a branch for warmth, looking like white, soft cotton balls from a distance.

There was also an image of a little chubby bird spreading its small wings, fluttering as it dashed forward.

Tian Ze was filled with immense curiosity and questions.

How does such a chubby, round bird manage to fly?

However, Tian Ze noticed that although these pictures of little chubby birds looked similar to Xu Dongyou, there was one difference.

Xu Dongyou had a small tuft of feathers sticking up on his head, which moved back and forth as he moved his head.

This made Xu Dongyou even cuter than the birds in the pictures.

The chief glanced at Tian Ze’s phone screen and calmly asked, “Did Baidu identify what kind of bird it is?”

Tian Ze’s first reaction was to realize how risky it was to be caught playing with his phone in front of his superior, but he instinctively replied, “It’s a long-tailed tit, said to be the cutest among bird species.”

The chief naturally took the phone, casually swiped through a few pictures, and then handed the phone back to Tian Ze.

Tian Ze felt nervous, completely unsure of what the chief was thinking. After some hesitation, he finally asked the question that had been on his mind for a long time, “Chief, will Li Dong be transferred to the main bureau?”

After all, Xu Dongyou’s identity was not human but that of a demon.

The chief glanced at Tian Ze. This kid was someone he had personally trained. Even though Tian Ze had now become the captain of the 8th Squad, he sometimes still lacked thoughtfulness.

Tian Ze only then realized how foolish his question was.

Although the main bureau had advantages over the sub-bureau in many aspects, the Fengnian Street Branch had the unique advantage of having the entrance to the seal array underground.

As the only one capable of calming the rampaging Zhulong, Xu Dongyou would undoubtedly remain at the branch to deal with any sudden crises.

Moreover, it wasn’t just Xu Dongyou; Elder Chen and the fox were also at the branch. Their presence was essential for timely repairs to the seal array.

For reasons unknown, only the demon tribe could maintain the seal array. The human tribe had tried various experiments but all had failed without exception.

Similarly, only the spiritual energy of humans could power the seal array to keep it operational.

After centuries, both humans and demons chose to cooperate to maintain peace in the world.

In the corner.

Elder Chen and the fox sat on a stone, watching Xu Dongyou, who looked so obedient and cute that even the fox’s cold, hard heart was melting.

This was their demon cub, so adorable and well-behaved.

Feeling a bit embarrassed under their gazes, Xu Dongyou flapped his little wings and chirped a couple of times to remind Elder Chen to start teaching him how to transform into human form.

Heaven knows, he had been human for over twenty years and now he needed to learn how to become human again.

Elder Chen looked at Xu Dongyou with a face full of affection. Recalling his own first transformation into human form centuries ago, he began to explain, “There are two types of demon transformations. Since you are a natural-born demon capable of transforming as a cub, you just need to focus intently and visualize yourself in human form, as detailed as possible.”

Xu Dongyou tilted his head, his round, dark eyes full of seriousness, and began to concentrate and recall.

About a minute later…

Xu Dongyou lowered his head to look at himself, still unable to transform into human form.

The fox, worried that Xu Dongyou would be discouraged by his failure, didn’t hesitate to reveal his own dark history: “Take it slow, don’t rush. It took me several years of failure before I successfully transformed.”

Xu Dongyou chirped twice in thanks. It was only his first failure, so it didn’t hit him too hard.

He tried again to focus his attention. This time, he closed his eyes and carefully pictured himself in his mind.

However, when recalling his own appearance, it always seemed somewhat blurry, as if he couldn’t quite remember.

Unsurprisingly, Xu Dongyou failed again.

After more than ten minutes, Xu Dongyou couldn’t help but feel a bit disheartened. What if he never succeeded? Would he never be able to transform into human form?

The fox racked his brains to comfort Xu Dongyou, “How about trying to concentrate harder?”

Xu Dongyou weakly chirped twice.

Each time he failed because he couldn’t vividly picture himself in his mind. Although he had looked in the mirror before, he had never paid close attention.

He didn’t even have many pictures on his phone—

Wait.

Xu Dongyou suddenly lifted his head, his eyes sparkling like never before.

He urgently chirped and remembered that Elder Chen and the fox couldn’t understand him. He flapped his little wings and bounced around anxiously, while constantly looking towards the chief and Tian Ze.

Seeing his anxious state, flapping his wings so fast they almost took off, Elder Chen and the fox couldn’t understand what Xu Dongyou meant.

The fox stood up and called the chief and Tian Ze over, “Our cub wants to talk to you.”

Upon seeing the chief, Xu Dongyou lifted his wings and pressed them against his little head, then walked back and forth while making rhythmic chirping sounds.

It was as if—he was making a phone call.

The chief was silent for a moment, then said, “If you want to use the spiritual energy watch, chirp once. If you want to use the phone, chirp twice.”

“Chirp chirp!”

Elder Chen and the fox fell into silence.

Xu Dongyou successfully got hold of the phone. Remembering that he couldn’t use fingerprint unlock, he tried sliding the pattern lock with his wings, failed, and then had a sudden inspiration. He tried touching the screen with his bird claw, and the screen lit up as expected.

Xu Dongyou struggled to unlock the phone, using his feet to slide across the screen while using his little wings to maintain balance.

During this time, the chief, Tian Ze, Elder Chen, and the fox all silently maintained their understanding, watching Xu Dongyou’s lively movements. Internally, they couldn’t help but repeatedly think, “So adorable.”

After several attempts, Xu Dongyou successfully unlocked the phone, feeling relieved. He quickly opened an app to contact Hou Mingjun. Due to difficulty typing, he swiftly selected a crying emoji and sent it.

Hou Mingjun, who was always online, immediately replied with three question marks, wondering if Xu Dongyou’s account had been hacked.

Not wanting to waste time, Xu Dongyou quickly bounced on the virtual keyboard: “Send me the photos.”

Cutting to the chase, every bounce would drain a lot of his energy.

Finally, he clicked send.

Hou Mingjun looked puzzled, but promptly followed Xu Dongyou’s instructions. He immediately messaged the most gossip-prone junior from the list: “Hey sis! Do you have any photos of Xu Dongyou from the neighboring school?”

Without even asking why Hou Mingjun needed the photos, the junior replied directly: “Yes!”

Hou Mingjun waited patiently for three minutes. Just as he was about to ask if she had forgotten about it, she suddenly started spamming him with photo after photo.

There were pictures of Xu Dongyou wearing a cap in class, Xu Dongyou by the lakeside enjoying the view, and Xu Dongyou eating in the cafeteria.

There was a variety of high-definition images, including one without a cap where Xu Dongyou looked surprisingly handsome.

The junior replied to Hou Mingjun: “Enough? If not, I can ask my friends for more.”

Hou Mingjun broke out in a cold sweat and hurriedly replied: “That’s enough! Enough!”

From them, Hou Mingjun picked the clearest photo and sent it to Xu Dongyou: “Mission accomplished, here you go.”

Xu Dongyou immediately sent a grateful emoji and quickly enlarged the photo, then concentrated deeply on outlining his own face.

In less than three minutes, Xu Dongyou began to feel a warmth spreading through his body, as if he were gradually growing larger.

No, this wasn’t an illusion.

His hands and feet began to elongate gradually. In the blink of an eye, he had transformed into human form. The fox, quick to react, swiftly covered Xu Dongyou’s critical areas with clothing.

Xu Dongyou gratefully smiled at them.

In the fox’s mind, once again, he marveled at how adorable it was when the cub smiled after transforming into a human.

Completely forgetting that just yesterday he had slighted Xu Dongyou, his mind was now filled with thoughts of how truly adorable cubs were.

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