Grotesqueries of the Old Domain

Chapter 33: Grown-ups

Who else could appear before him but the rabbit from the Youth Center?

Only then did Zhang Wenda realize that the tremendous force just now hadn’t been an attack from Ouyang, but rather her patting his shoulder to say hello.

This guy was still as heavy-handed as ever.

Looking at the familiar purple rabbit, even though there was another teacher by its side whose nature—human or ghost—remained unclear, the immense pressure within Zhang Wenda instantly vanished without a trace.

Just as he was about to approach, the rabbit directly stretched out its furry big hand, picked Zhang Wenda up, and placed him on a long bench that was much taller than he was.

Then it pulled over another stool and sat down beside him.

“Want a candy?” Zhang Wenda offered a lollipop to the rabbit.

Accompanied by a furry paw slapping away his hand, Zhang Wenda even felt like his wrist was about to dislocate.

“Don’t move around. Listen to the teacher.”

Teacher Ouyang, beside them, chuckled, “Hehehe, the rabbit teacher from the Youth Center already told me about your situation, so there’s no need to hide it on purpose.”

“If you ever encounter something you can’t handle, remember to tell the teacher. Do you understand?”

Zhang Wenda glanced at Ouyang, then at the rabbit—this wasn’t what he had imagined.

Judging by her words, she had called him to the office because the rabbit had spoken with her and told her he was in trouble?

So, the reason she called him here was to help him? And not to eat him or some other sinister scheme?

“Thump!” Zhang Wenda’s head was smacked hard.

“The teacher’s talking to you.”

Zhang Wenda gritted his teeth, clutching his head as he looked at the rabbit beside him.

“Can’t you go easy?”

Rubbing his head, Zhang Wenda looked somewhat hesitant as he turned to glance at Teacher Ouyang.

Then he grabbed the rabbit and dragged it toward the corridor.

“Come here. I need to talk to you.”

Once the office door was closed, making sure no one inside could hear them from outside, Zhang Wenda looked up at the rabbit and said, “Thanks for your help, but you’ve got the wrong person. Ouyang doesn’t work. There’s something wrong with her.”

“What’s wrong?”

Zhang Wenda took out the ratio identifier and showed its contents to the rabbit.

“Look, Ouyang isn’t human. She’s a monster or... or something I can’t even begin to understand.”

The rabbit took it with its furry big hand and examined it curiously.

When it saw the line showing 100% data, a look of surprise appeared on its furry face.

Just as Zhang Wenda was about to explain, he saw the rabbit turn the device on him and scan him as well, then showed him the screen.

Water: 13%

Protein: 32%

High-density parasitic cyst cluster: 42%

Protein-like humic polymer: 31%

Others: Trace

Zhang Wenda stared blankly at everything in front of him—not just Ouyang, even the rabbit was like this?

“No way, what even are you guys?! Are you seriously not human?” Zhang Wenda shouted in disbelief.

“Go back. Listen to the teacher. No matter what kind of trouble you encounter, remember to go to Teacher Ouyang. She’s your homeroom teacher.”

The rabbit finished speaking, slapped the ratio identifier back into Zhang Wenda’s hand, and turned to leave.

“Wait!” Zhang Wenda’s shout made the rabbit stop.

“I really can’t understand. I really don’t get it!! What are you? Why are your body material ratios different from mine? Are you even human?”

The rabbit tilted its head slightly and slowly said, “We are grown-ups.”

“Grown-ups?! Grown-ups?” Zhang Wenda staggered back two steps in disbelief—what it said was beyond his comprehension.

Zhang Wenda’s reaction seemed to be within the rabbit’s expectations. It continued calmly, “I know some things are hard for you to understand right now, but that’s okay. When you grow up, you’ll understand.”

“I’m already grown up!” Zhang Wenda stepped quickly in front of the rabbit, spreading his arms to block its path.

“In this world, are all grown-ups such monsters?”

The rabbit didn’t answer.

It simply stood there, silently watching Zhang Wenda.

Zhang Wenda’s outstretched hands slowly fell.

His voice gradually sank. “I’m not accusing you. I just... I just really don’t know.”

“This world is too strange for me. Everywhere I look, everything is so bizarre, so... incomprehensible.”

“Even though I haven’t shown it, I really feel lost right now. I really don’t know how to understand this world, or how to face it.”

The rabbit squatted down and placed its enormous rabbit head in front of Zhang Wenda.

“Do you trust me?”

“I trust you.”

Zhang Wenda nodded earnestly and firmly.

“Then please believe me—it’s for your own good that I’m not telling you.”

“But—”

Before Zhang Wenda could finish, the other interrupted him.

“Children have children’s rules, and grown-ups have grown-ups’ rules. If we’re destined not to change the rules, then we can only choose to adapt to them.”

Hearing this, Zhang Wenda swallowed the words that had reached his lips.

“I understand. Sorry for making things difficult for you.”

The rabbit opened its three-part mouth and spoke again.

“Listen carefully to what I’m going to say next. Teacher Ouyang, though she is a grown-up and an existence you can’t currently comprehend, won’t harm you. If anything happens, you can go to her.”

“Also, not all grown-ups are good people. If any grown-up shows hostility toward you, remember to stay away from them or go find Teacher Ouyang.”

“Lastly, even though you’re very confused right now and eager to figure everything in the world out, listen to me—don’t try to understand it or explore it.”

“The rules of grown-ups and those of children operate on different frequencies. Learning about them early won’t help you at this stage. This is as far as I can help you.”

After saying all this, the rabbit stood up and turned to leave without looking back.

Zhang Wenda returned to the classroom midway through the second period.

Listening to the old man at the lectern speaking on and on, he was still immersed in the rabbit’s words.

“Did I misunderstand? Is this strange world actually one where humans and monsters coexist? Was I just overreacting?”

Zhang Wenda stared blankly at the ratio identifier in his hand.

“Then why did he later stop me from thinking about things I can’t understand? In this world, when encountering the unknown, shouldn’t we try to figure it out? Is ignoring it truly the best answer?”

Zhang Wenda really couldn’t make sense of it now.

Even though he trusted the rabbit a lot, what it said lacked all logic—it was really hard to comprehend.

“What is a grown-up? Is the ‘grown-up’ he talked about really the same as the grown-up I understand?”