Chapter 7: “Baobao is me!”

During his days of wandering in the human world, Dongri had experienced many moments when he almost starved to death.

He thought he was no stranger to the feeling of being on the verge of death.

However, an unexpected situation has now arisen. He vomited blood and choked on it, his breathing was full of difficulties and obstacles, and the lack of oxygen caused his consciousness to begin to dissipate.

The terror index skyrocketed to 100 percent.

Dongri didn’t even know if he had passed out. Actually, at the moment the accident happened, he wasn’t afraid, because the changes in his body were unfamiliar, and he didn’t have time to react; therefore, he didn’t realize what was happening at all.

He only felt like he was stepping on soft clouds and taking off and floating, and everything he saw was blurry, distorted, and swaying.

Half illusion, half dream.

When he felt a little better and could finally hear the sounds from the outside world, he was already sleeping in a hospital bed.

“Based on the basic examination, there are currently no problems… The recommendation here is to be hospitalized for observation for two days, and then do a detailed full-body examination.”

An unfamiliar voice sounded in front of his eyes.

His nasal cavity was filled with a very unpleasant smell of medicine, which made him want to vomit.

“Ugh…”

The power of disinfectant was boundless, and even the little Taotie cub couldn’t bear it. He endured it again and again, but still couldn’t help but gag.

The sound immediately attracted the attention of the adults.

Dong Mian and Yin Tian were standing on the other side of the hospital bed.

Dong Mian quickly stepped forward and touched Dongri’s pale little face: “…Baobao, are you awake? Is there anything that feels uncomfortable?”

Dong Mian’s concern and worry were genuine.

The scene of the little guy vomiting blood was simply terrifying.

What was even more frightening was that his and Yin Tian’s spells had been ineffective, and at that time, they thought the little guy was going to die.

They had raised the little guy for two months and had truly developed feelings for him. Initially, they thought that after the mission was over, they would find a reliable family to adopt him. However, now they were quite reluctant to part with him.

“It smells so bad, ugh… Baobao smells terrible…”

After regaining consciousness, Dongri immediately felt much better.

But the disinfectant was too pungent, and he tilted his little face, looking like something was not quite right.

Dong Mian misunderstood: “It doesn’t smell bad. Baobao doesn’t smell bad at all. Baobao still smells good.”

“…”

Then he thought that it might be because his clothes were stained with blood, and maybe the little guy was more sensitive to this kind of smell.

“It might be the smell on your clothes. Papa will change your clothes for you later.”

Dongri responded softly: “…Okay, ugh…”

The doctor also gave him an examination, and combined with the child’s vomiting blood, he seriously tried to find the reason for his current nausea and gagging.

Finally, he said seriously and solemnly: “Let’s arrange a head scan for today… The parents can go and complete the hospitalization procedures first, so that we can start the examination as soon as possible.”

“Okay.”

Dong Mian touched the little guy’s face, feeling even more distressed at this moment.

He recalled when they first picked up the little guy, he was weak, thin, and had fainted on the side of the road from hunger… Could it be that he had an incurable hidden illness, so he was abandoned by his human parents?

It was too pitiful.

No matter what the truth was, since he and Yin Tian had met him, then no matter what rare and terrible disease it was, he would find a way to cure it.

After listening to the doctor’s instructions, Dong Mian prepared to undergo the hospitalization procedures, leaving Yin Tian in the ward to care for the little guy.

“I’ll go do the procedures and go home to get some of Riri’s clothes. You stay here and take care of him… Don’t scare him anymore, understand?”

Yin Tian raised his eyelids. Although he didn’t value the little guy as much as Dong Mian did, he wouldn’t scare a sick human child again.

“Got it, go ahead and don’t worry.” He paused and then said, “Can you handle it alone?”

The human world had many rules, and the hospital was like a maze. He almost got lost when he arrived, not to mention the complexity within.

Dong Mian took a deep breath and changed his tone: “No problem, I can handle it.”

He had even managed to fix the TV last night and successfully opened a video membership, so he would be able to handle it today.

“Then good luck.”

After Dong Mian left, only Dongri and Yin Tian were left in the ward.

The disinfectant repeatedly assaulted his nasal cavity, and the little guy could only endure it, no matter how much he hated it. His reaction gradually wasn’t as strong as it had been at the beginning.

The atmosphere was a little silent.

The little guy wasn’t very close to them to begin with. He was slightly better with Dong Mian, able to bravely call him Papa and express some of his needs.

But being alone with Yin Tian was just a big “I don’t know what to say.”

If Yin Tian ignored him and didn’t take the initiative, the little guy could remain silent until Dong Mian came back.

Dongri just curled up on the bed, blinking his eyes and secretly looking at Yin Tian, as if he wanted to talk to Yin Tian.

But if his eyes met Yin Tian’s, he would immediately hide his head in the quilt, and then quietly peek out again after a while.

He did this several times repeatedly.

Finally, Yin Tian gave in and took the initiative to move to his bedside.

He was timid. Was he worried that he would eat him?

But it was also adorable, and his heart inexplicably softened a little.

Yin Tian handed him the Little Penguin plushie on the pillow, taking the initiative to speak first: “Your Little Penguin, didn’t you see it?”

Dongri’s eyes widened. He hadn’t seen it.

He quickly reached out to take it and hugged it tightly, hiding the Little Penguin in the quilt with him.

“Do you feel better now? Is there anything else that feels uncomfortable?”

If he hadn’t asked, he wouldn’t have noticed. After Yin Tian asked, the little guy realized that he had recovered a lot.

His chest and palms were warm, he had a lot of strength, and his eyes were fluttering and blinking, without the soreness he had felt when he first woke up.

Was it his imagination?

Not only did his body no longer feel uncomfortable, but it seemed stronger and more powerful than before.

Grumble grumble grumble—

It was just that he was hungry, and his stomach was growling at this moment.

Yin Tian couldn’t help but laugh: “Are you hungry?”

But this laugh was rarely not scary, nor was it fierce. Instead, it had a kind of intimate warmth.

The little guy was quite sensitive to changes in adults’ emotions and immediately noticed this subtle difference.

So he no longer felt afraid or uncertain.

He blinked his dark, moist eyes and responded softly: “…Yes.”

How could he not be hungry?

He had cried for so long last night, and had a strange dream all night, and hadn’t even been able to drink a sip of water when he woke up in the morning.

This was too cruel for a little Taotie cub.

To get food, Dongri mustered up his courage to respond and boldly express himself: “Baobao, needs meaties, wants to eat meaties…”

Unfortunately, his pronunciation wasn’t very accurate, and “meat” became “meaties.”

Yin Tian was amused again.

The aura around him also became softer.

There was no way; the little guy’s response was just very cute.

Anyone would find it cute.

Even the ancient great demon had to admit that it was cute.

Yin Tian reached out and rubbed Dongri’s head: “Then Daddy will go buy you something to eat. You wait here for a while.”

“…Okay!”

“You can’t leave this room. Daddy will be right back.”

“…Okay, okay!”

However, lacking experience in caring for children and thinking that a verbal reminder was enough, Yin Tian carelessly left the little guy and went out to buy food.

One minute later, Dongri quickly threw the adult’s instructions to the back of his mind.

It wasn’t that he deliberately wanted to go against the adult, but he forgot.

The pungent disinfectant and the unbearable hunger took turns attacking him, and the passage of time began to become incredibly slow.

In just one minute, Dongri felt like he had endured it for a hundred years—he couldn’t bear it anymore. He just wanted to leave this foul-smelling space.

So he jumped out of bed with the Little Penguin in his arms. It didn’t matter that he couldn’t find his shoes by the bed; he ran straight out of the ward barefoot.

As a result, the outside still smelled like disinfectant, almost making Dongri stumble.

There was a monster!

There must be a terrible monster lurking here!

This was the smell emanating from a big monster!

How scary!

No matter how he walked, no matter where he went, this smell clung to him tightly and just wouldn’t let him go!

It was simply too scary!

Dongri could only stop at the end of the corridor.

But it wasn’t that the strange smell had disappeared; it was that he smelled the aroma of food in front of this ward door.

Grumble grumble grumble—

His stomach growled again. He was extremely hungry and wanted to eat something.

Following the aroma of food, Dongri uncontrollably came to the door, wishing he could peek through the crack in the door and smell it a few more times.

But just as his little hand touched the door, the lock opened automatically. Dongri was so startled that he completely lost his balance and fell straight forward.

He didn’t have time to prepare beforehand, and he couldn’t cushion the fall afterward. He fell hard this time.

The little glutinous rice ball almost burst.

“Who’s there!”

A stern voice immediately came from inside.

Dongri’s heart trembled, but when he looked up, he saw an elegant and noble little boy in front of him.

“Are you okay? Are you alright?”

His voice was also very gentle.

“…”

The boy looked a few years older than him and was much taller. He was reaching out to him, as if he was going to help him up.

Dongri blinked, looked at the boy, and then looked at the middle-aged man behind the boy, shrinking back timidly.

In the end, he didn’t take the boy’s hand.

Instead, he relied entirely on his strength and got up from the ground with great strength and independence.

“I’m, I’m sorry…”

He stammered out an apology.

Although Dongri felt that the ward door and the floor should apologize to him, because he had fallen so hard and it had hurt so much that he was on the verge of tears.

But facing strangers in a strange room, everything was full of pressure, forcing him to say this.

The middle-aged man behind the boy was not friendly, and his appearance and voice were stern and cold.

“Little friend, where did you come from? How did you—”

Before he could finish speaking, he was stopped by a look from the boy.

Although he was a child and appeared gentle, his eyes were sharp, and he had an overbearing, domineering aura that brooked no argument.

When he faced Dongri again, the brief sharpness and domineering seemed to have never appeared.

The boy asked gently, “Are you okay? Did you hurt anywhere?”

Dongri felt the boy’s friendliness towards him, and since they were peers of about the same age, he lowered his guard.

He blinked his eyes, nodded very honestly, and said in a somewhat aggrieved tone: “…It hurts. Baobao fell and it hurts so much! Here, and here, it all hurts!”

The boy paused, looking a little taken aback: “Baobao?”

Dongri nodded, and because he didn’t know, he was able to respond very boldly: “…Yes, Baobao is me. My name is Baobao.”