Li Wang stood stiffly in the tall grass, the phone pressed tightly against his ear. His uncle’s voice was a low, gravelly growl on the other end, but the silence that followed his words was heavier.
The wind whispered through the field, rustling the dry stalks around him. The afternoon sun cast long shadows, stretching like fingers across the untamed earth. Li Wang’s grip on the phone was so tight his knuckles had gone white. His breath came slow and measured, as if he were holding himself together by sheer will.
"Uncle. Did you hear me? I found him. I found Jian... I’m trying my best to bring him back," Li Wang whispered, his voice strained.
There was a pause—too long, too deliberate. The kind of silence that made the back of his neck prickle. Then, finally, the response came.
Wang Bushen’s response was immediate, harsh. "Don’t just try. Do it. Bring him back here. We might need him."
The words were a command, not a request. There was no room for hesitation, no allowance for failure. Li Wang’s jaw tightened. His uncle’s voice had always carried that same cold authority, the kind that left no doubt who held the power between them.
Li Wang’s fingers tightened around the phone. His frown deepened. "Uncle..." He hesitated, then forced the words out. "When did you know that Jian wasn’t human?"
Another stretch of silence. This time, it felt heavier, like the air before a storm. Li Wang could almost hear the gears turning in his uncle’s mind—calculating, weighing how much to reveal.
The line went dead silent again.
Li Wang’s pulse thudded in his ears. He knew the answer before it came.
His chest tightened. "You knew long back, didn’t you?"
"Yes, I did," his uncle admitted softly, but there was no warmth in the words—only calculation. "Why do you think I chose him as my son? I already did a deep report on both of them before I planned to take him in. And surprise—what do I find? A precious Farain hiding in the human world."
A cold, humorless chuckle. "Tsk. If only he hadn’t left home before those fucking aliens attacked, all my plans wouldn’t have come to nothing. Just bring him back. We need him. We already lost one research subject."
The words were clinical. Cruel.
Li Wang’s stomach turned. He stepped even farther away from the house, his voice dropping lower. "What happened?"
"I sold off one of the Farain in exchange for safety," his uncle said, as casually as if discussing a business deal. "It’s a done deal. Those Graylings can’t attack us now. Our house is safe."
The admission hit like a physical blow. Li Wang’s breath caught. He had known his uncle was ruthless, but this—this was something else. Trading a life for security. Sacrificing one to save many.
Li Wang’s teeth dug into his lower lip. He glanced back at the house—where Jian was inside, unaware, where Nansich was still crying, where Eren and Varon waited in uneasy silence.
The weight of his uncle’s orders pressed down on him, suffocating.
"Do... do you plan to do what you did to those aliens?" His voice wavered slightly. "Jian isn’t a bad person. Maybe we can become allies and—"
"Li Wang!" His uncle’s sharp bark cut him off.
Li Wang flinched, his mouth snapping shut.
"Listen to my orders," Wang Bushen hissed, each word deliberate, "and bring him back."
The call ended with a click.
Li Wang stood there for a long moment, the phone limp in his hand. His breath came unevenly. Then, slowly, he turned back toward the house—toward Jian, toward the others.
His expression was unreadable.
But his hands were shaking.
"Yes, Uncle..." Li Wang’s voice was flat as he ended the call. He stood motionless, eyes shut tight, the phone still clenched in his hand.
The wind rustled through the tall grass around him, but he barely felt it. His chest ached.
Yes, he had grown close to Jian. Maybe it was because he’d spent the most time with him since the boy arrived at the Wang mansion. Or maybe it was because Jian had been the one to dig him out of the rubble when the building collapsed—when Li Wang had been trapped, crushed under debris, certain he was going to die. Jian hadn’t hesitated. He’d saved him.
And now... now he was supposed to hand him over. Trade his life for research.
His stomach twisted.
Li Wang opened his eyes and stared back at the house, jaw clenched. Do I have to follow the order? Maybe I can convince my uncle...
But even as the thought formed, he knew it was useless. His uncle wasn’t someone who could be reasoned with. To the outside world, Wang Bushen was a kind, soft-spoken philanthropist—a generous man who took in orphans and funded humanitarian projects. But Li Wang had seen the truth. He’d witnessed firsthand what his uncle was capable of. The things he’d done to the aliens they’d captured—the experiments, the torture.
Jian didn’t deserve that.
With a slow exhale, Li Wang shoved the phone into his pocket and forced himself to walk back toward the house.
Inside, the atmosphere was subdued. Jian’s young friend—Nansich—had stopped crying, though his eyes were still red-rimmed and puffy. He was trying to busy himself, moving around the small kitchen with shaky hands.
"I’ll... I’ll make some food," Nansich murmured, voice hoarse. "I think we have some fresh produce... My grandpa dug up some radishes from the farm before... before..." His voice cracked, but he swallowed hard and continued. "I’ll make you something with it."
Jian followed him into the kitchen without a word, his expression unreadable. Right behind him was the white-haired Farain—Varon.
Li Wang’s frown deepened.
Even if he wanted to take Jian right now, it wouldn’t be easy. Not with him here.
This Farain... he looked human, but Li Wang wasn’t fooled. There was something dangerous in the way he moved—quiet, controlled, like a predator masking its presence. As a human, Li Wang stood no chance against him in a fight.
He exhaled through his nose, forcing his expression to smooth over.
For now, he’d have to wait.