My Father Was Torn Apart by a Monster

While Ye Qing was wolfing down his food, Mom spoke.
“I saw Kizuka.”
Her eyes still on the TV, Mom spoke in a flat tone.

Swallowing the noodles in his mouth, Ye Qing, a little parched and struggling to speak after just swallowing, replied, “Is… that so?”

‘After all, Master came all the way downstairs to my building. It’s only natural she would come up to visit Mom.
Come to think of it, Mom knew I was carrying Nozomi before I even got home.
Does that mean she already knows about my choice?’

“How did Mom know that Master was going to entrust Nozomi to me?”
Thinking this, Ye Qing casually asked Mom.

“Because you’re my son,”
Mom answered flatly without even thinking.

“I suppose so,”

Ye Qing broke out in a cold sweat. There was no refuting that. Mom knew him that well. Ye Qing continued shoveling food into his mouth.

“Ye Qing!”
Mom suddenly turned to Ye Qing seriously. A trace of sadness flickered in her eyes.
“Do you really have to do this?”
With a hint of worry, Mom asked her son seriously.

“Mom, what do you mean?”
Ye Qing stopped eating and asked, confused. ‘Mom is acting very strange tonight.’
Although he knew she had reservations about him carrying Nozomi, Ye Qing had assumed it was because of her resentment toward the main family.
But he was wrong. This was clearly more than just that. Even Master—why exactly did she entrust Nozomi to him?

“Do you know how your father died?”
Mom suddenly asked quietly, lowering her head.

“Why are you bringing up Dad here?”

Hearing something unexpected, Ye Qing’s emotions became agitated. He slammed his bowl down on the living room table, stood up angrily, his breathing becoming rapid due to the turmoil in his heart.

Mom lifted her face, still haunted by the memory.
“Your husband was torn apart by a monster!”
She suddenly stood up excitedly, looking at Ye Qing with a still-panicked expression. Her eyes trembled uncontrollably at the memory of that terrifying scene.
She excitedly grabbed Ye Qing’s shoulders and shook her son’s body.
“Give it up, Ye Qing! That’s not something humans can handle!”

Ye Qing was stunned by Mom’s sudden agitated behavior. The two little ones also began barking sensitively.

“No!”
Ye Qing broke free from Mom’s hands and took a step back, still with panic and bewilderment in his expression.
“Mom, you’re acting very strange tonight. You should rest first. I’m going out!”

Ye Qing clenched his fists, lowered his head, and calmly yet decisively avoided the topic.

Then, without waiting for Mom’s reply, he rushed out of the house.
The two little ones rushed out right behind him.
Seeing that the two had followed him out, Ye Qing, his emotions fluctuating, didn’t control his strength well and closed the door somewhat forcefully.
With a “thud,” everything went quiet.

Ye Qing put all his strength into slamming his fist against the wall, releasing all his negative emotions into that single punch.
He took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled.
The two little ones wagged their tails and looked at Ye Qing with concern.

“Let’s go, Xiao Fei, Xiao Bai,”
Ye Qing spoke in a voice that had returned to calm, then walked toward the elevator.

‘So this matter is connected to Dad’s death.
If I remember correctly, two years ago—right before Master retired—
Dad’s final mission was to hunt down some kind of beast that had appeared from who knows where.
In the end, the mission concluded with Dad’s death and the beast being blown up with a powerful explosive weapon.
What does Chenlian have to do with something like that?’

A momentary rush of emotion and exhaustion made Ye Qing sway unsteadily in the elevator.
‘Damn it! I can’t think about this anymore!’
Ye Qing felt that delving deeper wouldn’t yield any answers; it would only make him more dizzy and confused.
He cut off the line of thought and walked out of the elevator, which had automatically opened its doors upon reaching the first floor.

‘I need to rest a bit here. Stop thinking about everything.’
He had already dealt with enough things lately. No matter how you looked at it, Ye Qing was tired.

He walked out of the building and continued down the slope.
The two little ones obediently maintained the same pace, walking beside Ye Qing on his left and right.

On the way down the slope, Ye Qing turned into a convenience store.
The cashier was a woman in her thirties, wearing the convenience store’s gray uniform and a brown cap on her head.
The slight wrinkles on her face became more noticeable as she gave Ye Qing a kind smile.
“Ye Qing, here to buy drinks again?”
Because he was a regular and always came with two dogs, the staff recognized him.

“No, this time I’m buying coffee,”
Ye Qing answered casually, then took a can of coffee from the refrigerator.

“Drinking coffee this late at night?”
The woman asked with a casual smile, probably thinking that drinking something so stimulating this late wasn’t good for one’s health, but she didn’t seem inclined to say more.

“Feeling down,”
Ye Qing smiled bitterly, paid, then walked out of the convenience store.
“Ding-dong~ Thank you, please come again!”
The automatic door sensed someone approaching and opened automatically. The speaker emitted a computerized voice.

‘Even if I’m feeling down, I should be drinking beer, right? No, I’m a minor, so I chose coffee!?’
Walking out, Ye Qing finally roasted himself internally, letting out a bitter laugh.
‘My reactions have gotten slow.’

Thus, driven by his subconscious, Ye Qing led the two dogs down the slope toward the nearby park.

* * * *

“Chenlian! Chenlian!”

Someone was calling my name.
I felt my body being gently shaken a few times.
I slowly opened my eyes. Mom was looking down at me, calling out softly.

I sat up on the sofa and rubbed my sleepy eyes, then looked at Mom.

“Get up and eat something. Going hungry is not good, you know!”
Mom smiled and blinked as she said this.

“Mm!”
I nodded, then was helped to the dining table. On it was food that had been reheated.
My empty stomach instantly stirred my appetite.

At some point, the living room lights had been switched to a dimmer orange light.
In Mom’s company, I ate dinner in silence.

“How is… Yuxuan… now?”
Having eaten a few bites half-heartedly, I asked Mom in a worried, uneasy voice.

“Yuxuan is almost fully recovered. She’s asleep now. She’ll be better by tomorrow, so Chenlian doesn’t need to keep worrying about it, okay?”
Mom smiled gently and stroked my hair.

“Mm!”
Relieved by Mom’s words, I broke into a smile and nodded lightly.

“Come on. Finish this meal, then you can go to sleep.”
Mom added some food to my half-eaten bowl.
I ate it without caring, shoveling it into my mouth.
After casually taking a few more bites, I came to my senses and found the bowl empty.
I put down my bowl and leaned back in my chair at the table.
I turned my head. Mom was giving me a wry smile.
Confused, I tilted my head.

“No, it’s nothing,”
Mom smiled and shook her head, then said to me flatly, “Chenlian, go to sleep.”

“Mm!”
I nodded and was about to stand up, but Mom came to my side and gently lifted me into her arms.
I looked up at Mom’s fair cheeks in surprise.

And so, Mom carried me to the room I had escaped from earlier.
In the room lit only by moonlight, Mom put me down steadily on the bed, then took off her own shoes and got into bed as well.

Held in Mom’s arms, I felt warm and at ease.
But sleep did not rob me of my waking consciousness.
With my eyes open in Mom’s embrace, the scenes I had experienced and the words I had heard since waking up today replayed in my mind once more, making it hard for me to fall asleep.

I felt Mom, who was holding me, move slightly.
My face was turned toward hers.
Looking into Mom’s dark eyes, which reflected a faint glimmer in the dim moonlight, I wanted to say something, but didn’t know what to say.
So I just looked at her silently.

“Chenlian doesn’t need to think about anything right now. Just leave everything to us for now. So…”
Mom said softly, then kissed my forehead.
“…right now, just sleep without any worries.”
Mom smiled at me as she said this, then continued to hold me close.

It felt as if I had been cast under a spell.
Leaning against Mom’s warm, soft body, sleepiness washed over me in an instant.
Peacefully, I gradually drifted into dreams.