Yan Fei rushed down the street with Yan Chao in his arms, and Yan Chao thought his brother was just playing with him! He spread his arms out to either side, making ’wooshoosh’ noises with his mouth, pretending to be an airplane, and burst into fits of laughter throughout.
After running for a while and seeing that no one was paying attention to them, Yan Fei swerved into a small alley when they passed by it.
"Brother, you took a wrong turn, we have to keep going straight to get home," called out Yan Chao when he saw Yan Fei change direction.
"No mistake, big brother needs to use the restroom," Yan Fei replied and already stood in front of a public restroom entrance nearby.
He carried Yan Chao inside, checked that no one else was around, and let Yan Chao stand by the door. He forced a smile and said, "Big brother needs to pee, you can’t watch, ok? If you don’t watch, I’ll buy you a big watermelon when we get home, a super-duper big one."
"Deal!" Upon hearing about the treat, Yan Chao promptly closed his eyes and slowly turned his back towards Yan Fei. "You pee fast, brother! I promise I won’t peek!"
Yan Fei had already started quickly peeling off his sweat-soaked shirt as Yan Chao was closing his eyes and turning around. By the time Yan Chao was facing away from him, Yan Fei had kicked off his shoes and was pulling down his pants when Yan Chao finished speaking.
He then transformed into a Rapator and quickly morphed back into a human.
Checking the hand that was bleeding just a moment ago, he noticed that the wound had disappeared. A smile crept onto Yan Fei’s face as he quickly pulled his pants and shoes on and threw his shirt over his head.
Once dressed, he scooped up Yan Chao, who still had his eyes closed, and said with a laugh, "Let’s go home and eat that big watermelon!"
Laughing along with Yan Chao’s giggles, he carried the little guy and made a beeline home.
Once they reached home, Yan Fei made up an excuse about playing a magic trick and told Yan Chao to close his eyes. He then quickly went in and came back out with a big watermelon from Vegetable Garden Island.
With a few chops from the kitchen knife, the two of them started devouring the watermelon.
As they ate, Yan Fei slowly calmed down and noticed several blood stains on Yan Chao’s clothes around the collar area, besides the melon juice that had dripped down his neck.
After some thought, he urged Yan Chao to finish eating. He then told Yan Chao, "Look at the mess you’ve made on your clothes. Take it off and throw it away. I’ll give you a bath, and you can put on something else in the meantime. I’ll buy you new clothes this afternoon."
On hearing the words ’new clothes’, Yan Chao immediately peeled off the blood-stained clothes from his body, not only his vest but his underwear as well. Then, butt-naked, he cheerfully trotted towards the bathroom, found the soap, and waited for his big brother to bathe him.
As he bathed Yan Chao, Yan Fei asked, "Was the watermelon that I bought from the supermarket tasty?"
"Yes, it was," replied Yan Chao, who was too busy having fun on his way home to notice any inconsistencies in Yan Fei’s words.
"Good, supermarket watermelons are indeed yummy," Yan Fei emphasized, to avoid any chance of Yan Chao inadvertent reveal of the watermelon’s true origin. After a pause, he added, "Just now, the blood was not mine, was it?"
"But you did have a cut just now, didn’t you?" Yan Chao, even though a small child, was not easily tricked.
"No, that was just melon juice. When I was performing the magic trick, I accidentally crushed the watermelon. Remember, do not tell anyone that it was blood. Otherwise, no more watermelons for you!" Yan Fei continued his ruse.
"I’ll have the watermelon from the supermarket. The big one!" Yan Chao was soon wrapped up in the idea.
"That’s right! Brother will get you even more yummy food in the future. You can ask for anything you want. Tomorrow, I will get rabbit meat. The day after that, we can have fish, and another day, I’ll catch a huge turtle for you to eat," promised Yan Fei, very pleased with how things were turning out.
After scrubbing Yan Chao clean and patting him dry, he let Yan Chao, still naked, go and find something to wear. As for Yan Chao’s blood-soaked vest, Yan Fei threw it into a cave in Vegetable Garden Island, judging that washing it wouldn’t clean up the stain anyway. Yan Fei then changed into a fresh set of clothes. Afterwards, he washed Yan Chao’s underwear briefly and hung it to dry in the bathroom.
When he walked out, he found Yan Chao standing beside the table, sneaking his fingers into the leftover watermelon slice and eating it.
Conveniently enough, Yan Chao kept himself busy. Yan Fei could use the time to dash to Vegetable Garden Island and add more wood to the stove to keep the fire going before going back into the kitchen. He picked out fresh vegetables from Vegetable Garden Island, then strolled out to play with Yan Chao.
After some time, he checked the time and decided to take Yan Chao out.
Stepping out of the door, Yan Fei heaved a sigh of relief. He was extremely proud of how he handled the day’s events.
Realizing the gravity of his actions, Yan Fei’s focus had swiftly shifted to making a quick getaway to avoid trouble. Remembering how past injuries would heal upon shifting forms, he saw a chance to transform into a Rapator and then back into human form to make his injury disappear.
Choosing to become a Rapator was instinctive. Now that he thinks about it, the Rapator’s size was the closest match to his own, making it the quickest and most convenient to turn into. Yan Fei felt smart for making that decision.
Once home, he quickly changed Yan Chao’s blood-stained clothes and then, his own.
Even the thief dared to linger at the crime scene after simply changing his clothes. So, why not them? The only thing the onlookers would have noticed was a grown-up and a child. There were numerous such pairs in the city, especially so during holidays when children would be out and about. As long as Yan Fei and Yan Chao switched clothes, they could just do whatever they wanted, while no one was the wiser about Yan Fei kicking a man into the air shortly before.
Only thing unknown was whether the man had survived or not? It seemed that the odds weren’t in his favor.
With Yan Fei’s current physical fitness and basic martial arts training, the strength of either leg was lethal enough. Especially that last kick aimed at his mid-section, which wouldn’t just kick - it’d spring back generating extra force that sent the man flying ten meters. Whether or not that thief could survive now depended solely on his luck.
Although he’s previously killed a lot of overgrown dinosaurs, the thought of having kicked someone to death still left a bitter taste in his mouth. Ironically, Yan Chao’s constant attention helped him take his mind off this issue.
He soon got over it. A thief, capable of violence and revenge, was a wicked menace. If he was dead, it served him right. There had been countless instances of thieves getting killed, so one more wouldn’t make a difference.
That thief had already injured someone, and there were definitely people looking to alert the police. His sudden death was serendipitous; it even helped the police close a case!
They’d just skip the reward ceremony, since it’s always better to do good anonymously, like Comrade Lei Feng!
In reality, he felt guilty and was merely seeking consolation after the unintentional murder!