NHSDO Chapter 5: Then I Am Your Dad!

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"……"

"……"

A man and a dog stared at each other.

Lin Mu was stunned.

He glanced at the fire burning in the distance, then at the dog covered in visible wounds. For a moment, he didn’t know what to do.

The fire hadn’t spread to the courtyard.

Through the rain and thunder, he could hear a few screams piercing through the heavy downpour, sending chills down his spine. The cold wind and raindrops seeped through his skin, making him shudder.

Lin Mu shrank his neck and stood dazed in the rain. He suddenly recalled what Dahei had said about “defending against demons, ghosts, and evil spirits,” and the thought made him shiver. He didn’t dare look too closely at the burning flames in the distance. Instead, he turned his gaze back to the dog at his feet, which hadn’t been scorched by the eerie green flames.

Since it hadn’t been burned, that meant it wasn’t some kind of demonic entity.

That realization brought Lin Mu some relief.

Perhaps due to its wet fur shrinking, the dog didn’t look as large as a full-grown one. Rain mixed with blood dripped down its matted fur, making it look utterly miserable.

Yet, strangely, it showed no sign of pleading or weakness.

The dog simply averted its gaze, cold and indifferent. As Lin Mu watched, it tried to move but failed to stand.

Lin Mu glanced at its swollen front leg—it was clearly unusable.

He looked at the battered dog, bent slightly, and reached out. The moment he did, the dog instantly lifted its head, narrowing its eyes at him through the rain.

Lin Mu froze. Under its watchful gaze, he slowly crouched down and spread his hands to show he had nothing in them.

"Let me help you?" His voice was barely audible against the rain, breaking apart as soon as it left his lips. He frowned in frustration.

With the fire raging outside and the unknown dangers lurking beyond, Lin Mu dared not venture out. The dog, clearly, couldn’t leave either.

He tried inching closer, but the dog tensed up, looking ready to bite. Seeing this, Lin Mu gave up, turned around, and fetched an umbrella from the house. He opened it over the dog to shield it from the rain, then went back to fixing his battered greenhouse.

The outside world was chaotic, but in here, there were still plants worth saving.

Not all his plants were pre-ordered, but if they grew well, they could still be sold for some money.

Luckily, the ones left outside were flood-resistant. Lin Mu finished propping up the rain shelter, then turned to check on the dog under the umbrella. It was quietly licking its wounds.

Lin Mu thought for a moment, then walked over again.

The dog stopped licking and looked up at him.

Once more, Lin Mu spread his hands in front of it. "Want to come inside?"

The dog sized him up for a moment. As if it understood, it no longer resisted his approach.

Lin Mu let out a small sigh of relief. Carefully avoiding its injuries, he picked the dog up and carried it inside.

After tossing his raincoat aside, he grabbed his phone to look up how to treat an injured dog.

The dog was badly hurt. Its right front leg was severely swollen, and its left paw was a bloody mess. There were gashes all over its hind legs and side.

Lin Mu examined the wounds. They looked suspiciously like scrapes from his bamboo fence.

—It must have been in a panic when it ran inside and got caught.

Seeing the nasty injuries, Lin Mu clicked his tongue. He glanced at the eerie green glow still flickering in the rain and the faint sounds of shouting and screaming. He abandoned the idea of taking the dog to a pet hospital and instead grabbed his medical kit.

A clean, sterile towel as a base. Saline solution for cleaning. Before applying medicine, the fur needed to be trimmed. Then…

"Antibiotic ointment, antibiotic ointment…" Lin Mu muttered, rummaging through the kit. After some effort, he finally found a tube of ointment, along with gauze and bandages. He clumsily treated one wound.

He exhaled in relief and moved on to the next.

His head was bowed as he worked, rainwater still dripping from his hair, but he paid it no mind. With focused precision, he trimmed the fur around the wounds and applied medication.

The dog had stopped moving the moment Lin Mu got close, watching him intently.

The Story Behind the Dog

The truth was, this wasn’t just any dog.

Yan Xuanjing was a fox—a nine-tailed fox. He had lived his entire life in a place known as the Great Wilderness, a realm of monsters and spirits.

Recently, however, trouble had erupted in the Great Wilderness. While pursuing an enemy, he was injured. His father immediately sent him to the rear, entrusting him with guarding the passage between the Great Wilderness and the human world—what they called the "Central Plains."

And so, Yan Xuanjing was forcibly sent down to the human world.

Broke, unfamiliar with this realm, and barely healed, he had just managed to hide his conspicuous nine tails when he attracted a horde of creatures drawn by his powerful fox blood.

These low-level monsters didn’t pose a threat—he could crush them with a flick of his fingers.

But he needed a place to heal, somewhere quiet and safe.

So Yan Xuanjing wandered around with a long string of little tails trailing behind him, searching for a suitable place. As he searched, he caught a whiff of something that did not belong to the mortal world.

Then, he saw the small courtyard surrounded by Chaomu plants.

Yan Xuanjing knew exactly what Chaomu was, so he was quite surprised.

Seeing Chaomu in the Central Plains meant that someone had deliberately planted it.

And to grow Chaomu successfully in the mortal realm—only a soul pure enough to be chosen by the heavens could do that.

What kind of soul did the heavens choose?

Basically, someone purely kind-hearted, without a trace of darkness, a great benevolent person who, upon reaching the end of their lifespan, could ascend to immortality!

And that courtyard, from a distance, looked full of life, brimming with vitality—clearly a perfect place for healing.

The owner of this courtyard must be a kind and benevolent person.

So Yan Xuanjing headed straight for the courtyard, intending to form a good connection with this human who was destined to ascend to immortality.

And since he went, the long string of little tails behind him naturally followed as well.

On days when dark clouds covered the sky and Yin energy was thick, all sorts of evil spirits and demonic creatures would come out to cause trouble.

Chaomu burned brightly outside, while Yan Xuanjing, who had avoided the flames, was just about to gracefully leap onto the wall, intending to politely knock or call out, when he was suddenly pricked by the sharp iron nails embedded in the fence.

He yelped, lost his balance, and tumbled headfirst into the courtyard—landing right at the feet of its owner.

"……"

What kind of person hides iron nails in their own fence?

Even if they don’t injure people, they could still hurt innocent little animals!

Yan Xuanjing, the innocent little animal in question, simply could not understand.

But the dignified nine-tailed fox composed himself, maintaining his proud and elegant demeanor—then, after much polite insistence from the courtyard’s owner, he gracefully agreed to stay.

However, something about this person’s scent was off.

Yan Xuanjing hesitated, sniffing at the one carefully tending to his wounds.

Although the rain had washed away much of their scent, beneath the human fragrance lingered a faint trace of demon energy—light and pure, carrying the fresh, mellow scent of grass and wood.

The mild sweetness of it made him want to roll onto his back and purr.

This was not a pure human.

Nor was it someone who had accidentally come into contact with demon energy.

This person was a half-demon.

…A half-demon.

The realization made Yan Xuanjing’s brow furrow—but then, that light, sweet scent slowly smoothed it out, even easing the pain of his wounds.

And with the pain gone, exhaustion and drowsiness came crashing in like a tidal wave, washing over him completely.

His spirit was soothed, his worries and troubles seemed to fade into the background.

His whole body felt like it was soaking in warm water, utterly relaxed.

Lin Mu watched as the dog he was tending to slowly closed its eyes—only to suddenly snap them open again, struggling to stay awake, before finally losing the battle.

Its head drooped, smacking against the table with a dull thud, face buried in a soft towel, instantly asleep.

Lin Mu couldn’t help but chuckle.

His movements had gone from clumsy to skilled in just four wounds—he had always been a fast learner. Once he got the hang of it, he quickly finished tending to the wounds he could handle. The remaining ones, however, would need a vet.

Lin Mu sighed at the sight of the poor dog's pitiful front paws. He picked up a hairdryer and carefully dried its wet fur until it fluffed up—revealing that, after all that work, the dog seemed to be exactly the Samoyed he had wanted.

Now, the dog lay on the soaked towel, fast asleep. Its fur, though patchily trimmed, was at least no longer a messy, miserable sight.

Lin Mu was satisfied with the results. Looking at the softly snoring dog, he figured that if it decided to stay, it could inherit the name Nai Tang “Milk Candy.”

"If you’re willing to stay…" Lin Mu mused as he tidied up the medical kit, contemplating his position in the family hierarchy for a long time before finally deciding, "Then I’ll be your dad!"

_____

Author’s note:

Yan Xuanjing: ?????

Lin Mu: ? What’s wrong with raising a dog like a son?

T/N: Please give support on my ko-fi page, thank you🍊🍊🍊