Chapter 46

Feng Yi watched them swagger away, still chattering away about him.

"Trust me! He’s not a monster. Look at his shadow in the sunlight; it’s a human shadow. My grandpa said that the sun can make monsters reveal their true form. Their shadows in the sun are different—either they don’t have one, or it’s the shadow of their true form..."

The three kids turned to glance at Feng Yi and continued chattering.

"Wow! It’s true!"

"And his eyes are just like ours. They don’t look dangerous at all. Monster eyes don’t look like that!"

"He doesn’t even look strong. He might not be able to climb over the wall as well as we can!"

Feng Yi: ...

These kids in the neighborhood are really something!

Xue Lin didn’t mention that there were such brats in this neighborhood!

Since there was nothing else to do, Feng Yi decided to follow them to see which family they belonged to and talk to their parents about these kids climbing over people’s walls at midnight. After all, it’s not possible to stay up every night to guard against them, right?

After a few steps out of the yard, he encountered an old lady walking her Pekingese.

The dog started barking as soon as it saw Feng Yi approach. Its previously wagging tail dropped guardedly, its fangs bared, and its upper lip curled, its whiskers trembling as it stared at Feng Yi with wary eyes.

The old lady gently scolded the dog and led it a bit further away, looking apologetically at Feng Yi.

"Are you new here too?"

The word "too" made it clear that many people had recently moved back.

"Yes, I’ve only been here for a few days. Hello," Feng Yi said.

"I thought you looked unfamiliar," the old lady said, clearly eager to chat. She sat down on a public bench by the walkway and stared at Feng Yi’s face for a moment. "You’re really handsome... Did you move back because you heard about the little green dragon in Yueshan? How old are you?"

Feng Yi: "...24."

To prevent the old lady from asking a series of meaningless questions, Feng Yi took the initiative to ask, "A few kids ran over to my place earlier. The leader is about this tall, tanned, and quite strong..."

Feng Yi had only described them for a couple of sentences when the old lady smiled helplessly. "You might be talking about Cao Xin and his gang."

Feng Yi: ???

What kind of name is that?

Thinking he hadn’t heard clearly, Feng Yi took a step closer to the old lady.

Seeing Feng Yi’s puzzled look, the old lady explained, "It’s Cao Xin, but the kid is so mischievous that we all call him Cao Xin. He and his friends are well-known troublemakers in our neighborhood."

Woof woof woof!

The Pekingese, which had been squatting by the old lady’s feet, barked and growled warily as Feng Yi approached.

The old lady picked it up and placed it on her lap, petting its head to calm it down, and gave Feng Yi an apologetic look. "It might be because it’s seeing you for the first time. It’s a bit wary of strangers. But don’t worry, it doesn’t bite. It’s quite friendly once it gets to know you."

She paused and added, "It’s been vaccinated."

Feng Yi glanced at the Pekingese, which was still baring its teeth at him, and stood where he was without getting any closer. He continued listening to the old lady talk about the brats while also gathering information about the neighborhood.

When the old lady mentioned Cao Xin, the well-known troublemaker in the neighborhood, she had a lot to say.

From the old lady, Feng Yi learned that these kids’ parents were busy and only occasionally came back from the city, leaving no time to manage them. The elderly residents in Yueshan didn’t have the energy to keep an eye on them all the time, so these kids were like wild dogs, running around freely every day.

They say that kids around seven or eight are the most troublesome, but in Yueshan, the "troublesome" age range was much longer.

Perhaps because they lived close to the protected area, they were exposed to many things from a young age, always having too much curiosity and energy.

Even after ten, they didn’t settle down, which is why they could organize to climb over neighbors’ walls.

However, from the old lady’s tone, although she called them troublemakers, there was no resentment or dislike in her eyes.

Before the little green dragon incident, many residents had moved away, making the neighborhood quiet. These kids, despite their mischief, didn’t do anything too outrageous. The elderly residents actually enjoyed the noise, and during mid-term and final exams, the neighborhood would become unusually quiet, which many of the elderly residents found hard to adapt to.

So, in general, the permanent residents of the neighborhood were quite tolerant of these brats, with a high tolerance for their mischief. Even if they occasionally got angry, they would calm down quickly.

"They probably targeted your house because they noticed it was often empty."

The old lady glanced at Feng Yi’s house and shook her head. "The wall is too low. All those fancy decorations are useless. It would be better to make it higher. But since we’re close to the protected area, there are more restrictions. You can ask the property management about what changes you can make."

From the old lady’s tone, it was clear that these kids had done this before. With many empty houses in the neighborhood, they didn’t always choose the most secluded corners, and even if they did, it wouldn’t happen often.

But now, after the little green dragon incident, many people thought this place was suitable for retirement or recuperation, and more people were moving back. These kids had to find new targets!

The old lady added, "If you’re worried about Cao Xin and his gang climbing your wall at night, you can leave the lights on. Two lights in different rooms will make them think someone is home, and they won’t target you."

Feng Yi thought it made sense. They must have been watching for a few days and noticed that his house was always dark at night, which is why they decided to climb the wall.

But climbing over walls is wrong!

Is it really a good idea to be so lenient every time?

Thanking the old lady, Feng Yi decided to go to the property management to ask about changing the wall. He hadn’t thought about this before, so the wall hadn’t been modified. Now, to sleep peacefully in the backyard, he needed to raise the wall.

He knew where the property management was, as he had been there to change some information when he moved in, accompanied by Xue Lin.

Since he wasn’t in a hurry, Feng Yi decided to take a walk around the neighborhood to get a better understanding of the current residents and the living environment, so he took a longer route.

On the way, he encountered an old man with a toddler who had just learned to walk. The child stumbled and fell, and Feng Yi, being nearby, wanted to help. The child looked up, started crying, and turned red.

The child’s grandfather quickly ran over and picked him up. "Why are you crying? This uncle just wanted to help you."

The child sobbed, burying his face in the old man’s shoulder, refusing to look at Feng Yi.

The old man smiled at Feng Yi, who returned the smile and left.

As he approached the property management office, he saw a young couple pushing a stroller, apparently going to visit someone.

The neighborhood did a good job of controlling mosquitoes, and there weren’t many flying around. However, a few small insects had just flown over, and with the sun out, the stroller’s sunshade was open, and the mosquito net was down, making it hard for the child inside to see who was passing by.

But as Feng Yi approached...

"Uh-oh—"

The sharp, frightened cry startled the parents, and it took them a while to calm the child down.

By then, Feng Yi had already walked away quickly.

This happened once, and then again, making Feng Yi suspicious.

Was he about to be labeled as another "troublemaker" in the neighborhood?

This couldn’t go on.

Feng Yi wondered if he was still in the process of evolving and hadn’t yet controlled his unusual aura, which made the children and animals wary of him.

But why didn’t adults react this way?

Could it be that children’s vomeronasal organs hadn’t fully regressed?

The vomeronasal organ in humans regresses and disappears during growth and development. Perhaps the things that only children can "see" are due to their not fully regressed vomeronasal organs?

But these were just Feng Yi’s speculations, as he wasn’t a child or a dog.

However, the uncontrolled aura was indeed a problem. It was like a golden bell shield, but also a glowing target in the dark. Only by controlling it freely, using it when needed and hiding it when not, could he be truly safe.

Feng Yi decided to practice controlling his aura when he got back.

At the property management office, he asked the necessary questions, filled out the application for wall modifications, and the property management, after consulting with Feng Yi, arranged for the wall to be modified. They would prepare the materials over the next two days and start the work the day after.

The property management also asked Feng Yi why he wanted to modify the wall, and upon learning it was due to Cao Xin and his gang, they smiled. Seeing that Feng Yi didn’t intend to pursue the matter, they, like the old lady, suggested he leave the lights on at night to deter the kids.

On his way back from the property management office, Feng Yi encountered Cao Xin again. The kid had suddenly appeared.

Cao Xin was wearing red contact lenses, a fake set of teeth from a comic convention, and some ghost stickers on his face, trying to scare Feng Yi and avenge his friends from the previous night.

Feng Yi watched him bare his teeth and then coldly "tsk"ed.

He thought: Red eyes, but not sharp enough. Those teeth aren’t as long as mine, and they’re fake!

Ignoring the kids who were still trying to scare him, Feng Yi went home, tidied up, and went out to find something to eat.

Nighttime.

After laying out his special mattress in the backyard, Feng Yi lay down and looked at the two lights in the house.

Although it was a bit wasteful, he followed the old lady’s advice and left the lights on in two rooms, especially the one upstairs, which could be seen from a distance, indicating that someone was home.

Would those kids know someone was home and not dare to climb the wall tonight? If they did, he would have to talk to their parents.

An hour later, Feng Yi took off his eye mask and walked out expressionlessly.

As he opened the door, he saw a small figure outside the front yard.

It wasn’t Cao Xin, but one of the kids who had climbed the wall the previous night. He had been walking around outside the yard for half an hour.

The sudden sound of the door opening startled the kid, who froze in place.

"Hey, kid, what are you doing out here at this hour instead of sleeping?" Feng Yi asked expressionlessly.

The kid, seemingly scared stiff, finally managed to respond, "Eh..."