Deviant: No Longer Human

"I let him in."

The flatness in her tone struck deeper than any lie would've.

Lin Ruyan froze, and blinked. "You what?"

"I let him in," Fu Yuxin repeated, arms crossed, her tone flat. "Is that what you came to ask?"

Lin Ruyan's calm slipped. "Yuxin, don't speak like that. You know this isn't about tone."

"Then what's it about?" she asked. "The fact that a man walked out of my room or the fact that you didn't like how I can act on my own?"

"Don't twist this!" Mother Lin snapped. "I'm your mother. I have every right to ask what kind of mess you're dragging yourself into again!"

"Again?" Fu Yuxin raised a brow. "You mean eight years ago?"

"You slept with a stranger and vanished for months. Then you show up with a child, refuse to talk, act like it was all our fault for asking!" Mother Lin's voice had risen.

"Mother... you, fine!"

Fu Yuxin started, flustered, but her voice quickly turned cold. "You want to talk about fault? Alright. Then let's talk about how you and Father pushed me out the moment I stopped being your ideal daughter."

"We never pushed you out! You ran away!"

"Because you kept asking answers I wasn't ready to give!"

"And now? You're older. But still bringing men into your room like a goddamn teenager!"

Lin Ruyan's hand twitched, almost raised it, but she stopped.

Breathing hard, and shaking.

"You're with him now? Him and Chen Meili too?"

Fu Yuxin narrowed her eyes. "What?"

"You think I don't see it? He's screwing both of you, isn't he? What kind of example are you setting for that child—!"

Fu Yuxin sighed, a bit disappointed, "So, you already made up your mind...?"

"I want the truth, not attitude," her mother snapped, stepping forward. "You think this is funny? You sneak a man into your room while we're asleep, and you expect me to just smile and move on?"

"I didn't sneak him in," Yuxin said, eyes narrowing. "He walked in. I let him stay. That's all."

"You let him stay?" Lin Ruyan's voice rose. "Do you even hear yourself?"

"..."

___

On the other side of the house, Chen Meili had already dragged Wang Xiao into a closed room and shut the door behind her.

She leaned against it, exhaled slowly.

"I… I can explain."

Wang Xiao tilted his head slightly, eyes entertained. "Oh, great. Please, go ahead... I love explanations."

He didn't laugh and just let her talk.

She hesitated under his gaze, sharp, distant, slightly.

Chen Meili had long, slightly wavy brown hair that curled around her shoulders like a lazy crown. She wasn't unattractive by any means. She just wasn't his type, and definitely not someone who could lie comfortably in front of him.

She bit her lip, gathering her thoughts, then started talking.

Explaining.

Everything.

The history, the mix-up, how Fu Yuxin had broken down after the misunderstanding, how she'd taken over caring for Zhenxi because Chen Meili had been overwhelmed, career, youth, fear, it was all too much.

She'd passed the responsibility without guilt.

Let someone else carry it.

Let someone broken hold the pieces while she moved on.

To her credit, she didn't sugarcoat it.

She wasn't proud of it either.

She looked up at him, uncertain.

Wondering if he'd be angry.

But Wang Xiao remained still. Impassive.

Why would he be offended?

He'd seen worse. Much worse.

It wasn't even about morality.

"A traumatized girl raising a child that wasn't hers," Wang Xiao said casually. "The one who should've raised her was jailed… handed the kid off like a baton. To you. And you, weren't ready either."

He glanced at her.

"And the woman who started it all? Didn't even bother to ask."

His voice wasn't angry... Just clinical.

Cold.

Precise.

"Is that about right?"

Chen Meili didn't answer.

She couldn't.

Because it was.

It was messed up.

Lin Xue had handed Zhenxi to her in a rush, desperate, cornered, but Chen Meili wasn't in any shape to raise a child back then. She tried. For a while. But the moment she saw someone more stable, more emotionally available, she passed Zhenxi to Fu Yuxin.

It felt right at the time.

Except she knew.

She knew Yuxin wasn't just filling a role.

She was bonding.

In a way she shouldn't have.

And now?

Now Fu Yuxin was the mother.

In mind.

In heart.

And the moment anyone tried to take Zhenxi away… that quiet, tired girl would snap like a blade pulled from snow.

Chen Meili lowered her head.

She didn't regret giving Zhenxi to Yuxin.

She just hadn't thought far enough ahead to see what it would turn her into.

Wang Xiao walked toward the window, glanced out, then asked, "What do you want from me?"

"Can you free her?" she asked carefully.

He turned his head slightly, but didn't answer.

She stepped closer. "Madam Lin Xue. You have contacts, don't you? You… owe her, at least a little. She helped you back then."

Silence.

"She's still in there. I tried to get her out, but nothing worked."

Wang Xiao stared outside a moment longer, then said flatly:

"There's nothing in it for me."

She tensed.

But before the silence stretched too long, he added:

"…Still. I'll check."

Her shoulders dropped, just slightly.

"Thank you," she murmured.

A short beat of quiet passed between them.

Then her eyes rose again, nervous, searching.

"What… what did you do with Yuxin?" she asked quietly.

She had to ask.

He had walked out of Fu Yuxin's room.

Alone.

Before dawn.

Wang Xiao turned his head toward her slowly.

Didn't speak.

Just raised a finger.

Curled it.

Signaled her to come closer.

As if he was about to whisper it directly in her ear.

And she stepped closer, hesitant, unsure if it was fear, curiosity, or something far older that pulled her in.

"You…" she began.

But before she could finish, Wang Xiao wrapped his arms around her.

Her eyes widened in surprise.

A soft gasp escaped her lips.

She stiffened.

Then relaxed... just slightly.

Her face turned pale for a second, then warmed with the faintest blush. Her hand moved up, gently patting his back.

"Wang Xiao… it's not the time for that," she whispered, shyly like she'd been here before.

Like she remembered something softer...

But the warmth didn't last.

Because in the very next breath..

Puchi!

A quiet, wet sound.

Her whole body jolted.

Drip...

She blinked. Once. Twice.

Then looked down.

His hand... his hand was inside her.

Through her chest.

Flesh torn, bones cracked, ribs split.

On the other side, poking out of her back, he was holding something.

Her heart.

Still beating.

Still warm.

She didn't even scream. Her lips just trembled.

"W-Why..."

Wang Xiao looked into her eyes and smiled. Not cruelly.... Not kindly.

Just... indifferent.

He crushed her heart between his fingers.

It burst into mist.

Her pupils dilated, the color in her cheeks drained. Blood began to stream from her eyes, mouth, her nose, her chest.

The blush was gone.

Only horror remained.

She collapsed in his arms, a soft thud on the hardwood floor.

Her body crumpled like paper, blood spreading beneath her ribs in lazy trails.

"Deceitful…"

The whisper came from beyond the window.

A rustle of feathers followed, sharp against the morning stillness. A lone crow perched outside, black eyes shone under the frost-kissed glass.

But it wasn't just a bird.

It was a vessel.

A watcher.

And the woman behind those eyes... Velkhara Umbra.

High priestess, the last of the Shadowborn.

An old soul who had never cursed aloud in her life… until today.

Through the raven's vision, she had seen him.

The man Ning Xue had contact with.

... Wang Xiao.

"Too poisonous...", she thought, cold fingers curling as she recalled the exact moment his hand crushed that woman's heart without hesitation.

She retracted the raven with a muttered oath in some forgotten tongue.

Elsewhere, within the same building…

The lights flickered faintly.

A shift in the room.

Something moved behind Wang Xiao.

Not footsteps, just presence.

A being drifted into view, silent, and stopped at his back.

"There have been eleven thousand and seventy-six infiltration attempts," it whispered, its voice, gentle yet cold, "All within the last minute."

Wang Xiao didn't even look.

"What did they send?"

The shadow paused.

"…Bombs."

Wang Xiao's brow lifted. "Ah. They've started copying my methods."

The Netherworld was adapting.

Using his own soul-triggered bomb cascade tactic.

But they had forgotten one thing.

He didn't need to be summoned anymore.

He was already here.

Earth was small. Contained.

And he… touched every part of it.

"What did you do with them?" he asked finally, turning slightly toward the figure.

The being replied without hesitation.

"I deflected them back."

Wang Xiao blinked.

Then twitched.

He could already imagine it, eleven thousand high energy bombs detonating inside their own fractured lands, shredding them from the inside out.

"…I did tell you to handle it as you saw fit," he murmured.

His lips curled into the faintest smirk.

"But, that was… genius."