NHSDO Chapter 3: "Dahei Came to Pick Me Up."

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"……"

Lin Mu was momentarily stunned. He turned to glance at the nursing home, then lowered his voice. "How old was the old lady?"

"Ninety-three," Dahei replied, biting into an apple as he followed Lin Mu, walking back at a slow pace.

Lin Mu tilted his head to look at Dahei. The other man was crunching on his apple, eyes lowered to the ground, his expression seemingly calm.

He had probably already come to terms with it long ago.

Lin Mu pondered for a moment before saying, "She did reach an advanced age."

"Yeah." Dahei nodded. "Her children are successful, her career was fruitful, and she nurtured students all over the world. You could say she lived a joyful and fulfilling life..."

As he spoke, his voice gradually faded.

Lin Mu turned to look at him, only to see his face full of loneliness and sorrow.

"This is a good thing," Lin Mu said. Not knowing how to comfort him, he could only repeat, "It’s good—for a human, at least."

"Yeah, of course, I know that," Dahei mumbled. Then, glancing at Lin Mu—who was a half-demon—he remembered the blank space in his personal records and realized he might have touched a nerve. He suddenly felt a little at a loss. "I…"

Lin Mu, still biting into his apple, looked at him. "Hmm?"

Dahei was about to say something when he suddenly caught a faint fragrance in the air.

—A crisp and pure scent of grass and wood, subtly sweet, with a faint trace of demon aura.

It drifted over from Lin Mu.

The sharp-nosed canine demon was momentarily dazed, his steps faltering as he nearly stumbled.

Lin Mu was startled and quickly reached out to steady his suddenly absent-minded colleague. "What’s wrong?"

Dahei shook his head, let out two foolish chuckles, and murmured with some confusion, "What do you mean, what’s wrong?"

Seeing that he seemed fine, Lin Mu slowly let go of him. He didn’t bring up the previous sad topic again. Instead, they chatted idly as they walked back to the office.

Lin Mu placed his things on the table closest to the door, grabbed his tools, and began prying off the mounting plate on the door frame.

The first thing Dahei did upon returning to the office was strip off his clothes and change into a loose, oversized coat. He sat cross-legged on his chair, watching as Lin Mu banged away at the long-broken door.

After securing the door frame, Lin Mu turned around to see Dahei sitting in a rather unrefined posture, his brows furrowed as he occasionally shook his head.

"Not feeling well?"

"…No." Dahei frowned. "I just feel like I forgot something earlier."

"Earlier?" Lin Mu thought back. "When you almost tripped?"

"Yeah." Dahei pondered for a while but couldn't recall what he had forgotten. He simply waved his hand dismissively and rolled up his sleeves. "Forget it. If I forgot, it probably wasn't important. Might as well focus on something that is!"

Lin Mu nodded, lifted the door off the ground, and pried out the old lock core. When he looked up, he saw Dahei delicately pinching at something with his fingers—his posture oddly elegant—before carefully and reverently placing it into a tiny flowerpot.

Then, without warning, Dahei sprang up and started performing a ritualistic dance in front of the office desk.

Lin Mu: "…"

What the hell?!

He stared in confusion. "…What are you doing?"

Dahei gestured for him to be quiet, his expression solemn. "I'm helping the seed grow."

Lin Mu: "…"

What the hell?!

What is going on?!

Do demons really need to perform a ritual just to grow a potted plant?!

Lin Mu was utterly dumbfounded.

Dahei continued his dance for quite some time. But after seeing no changes in the plant, he gradually slowed to a stop and sighed. "Still nothing."

"What do you mean 'nothing'?" Lin Mu pulled out the new lock core and aligned it with the door. With a click, he secured the lock and asked, "What kind of plant is it?"

"This flower is called Chaomu. It originally grew by the Nai River." Dahei slumped into his chair, staring at the small flowerpot. "You know the Nai River, right? Also called the River of Forgetfulness."

Lin Mu did know. It was a frequent mention in mythology—a river in the underworld.

It was said to be filled with suffering souls and wandering ghosts. There was a bridge over it—the Bridge of Helplessness—and all who crossed had to drink Meng Po’s Soup to forget their past lives.

That was all stuff far removed from the ordinary world.

"Why don’t you try?" Dahei suggested. "The Chaomu flower doesn’t care about its environment, but it does care about who plants it." He turned to Lin Mu. "I’ve asked Old Turtle to find someone suitable for ages, but he still hasn’t found anyone."

Lin Mu recalled Dahei mumbling to himself when he had first walked in. While nodding, he asked, "Who’s Old Turtle?"

"Our colleague. Skipped work today." Dahei opened a drawer, pulled out a small pouch of seeds, and carefully picked out one.

The seed was pitch-black, tiny, and shriveled—resembling a flattened little insect. It was so weightless in the palm that it felt like a piece of burnt ash.

"Just drop it in the pot," Dahei instructed, then quickly stopped Lin Mu’s movement. "Wait until I’m gone first. If it sprouts, from now on, you’re my dad!"

Lin Mu watched as Dahei bolted out of the room, transforming into a giant black wolf before vanishing in an instant. He stared blankly for a moment: "…?"

He silently gazed at the tiny black seed in his palm. After hesitating between "potentially gaining a dog for a son" and "helping a coworker out," he finally decided to drop the seed into the soil.

The seed wobbled as it fell into the flowerpot, slipping between the soft soil.

Within seconds, Lin Mu saw a delicate sprout of dark green leaves breaking through the dirt. It unfurled its tiny branches and pushed out a pale white flower bud, swelling ever so slightly before stopping its growth.

It looked fragile and ethereal, so light that even Lin Mu’s breath made it tremble slightly.

Staring at this otherworldly bloom, Lin Mu hesitantly reached out to touch it—

—when Dahei suddenly burst through the door with a loud bang!

The moment he saw the flower, he let out a desperate howl: "DAD!!! HANDS OFF THE FLOWER!!!"

Lin Mu flinched and instinctively pulled his hand back. Then, registering what Dahei had just called him, he choked: "I am not your father."

"Doesn’t matter, I’ve already acknowledged you as my dad!"

Dahei straightened up, placing his front paws on the edge of the desk, cautiously peering at the flower for a long time. His tail wagged furiously, like a spinning fan.

"It really grew…" he muttered, sounding almost in disbelief. "It actually grew!"

"Yeah. It actually grew," Lin Mu echoed, watching Dahei's goofy, delighted expression. He couldn't help but smile, too.

"Wow… it really did." Dahei paced in circles around Lin Mu’s chair, hesitating, stopping, hesitating again, then stopping.

Lin Mu glanced at Dahei’s anxiously swishing tail. "Got something else to say?"

Dahei fidgeted, his tail wavering. "Uh… yeah, kinda."

"What is it?"

Lin Mu didn’t mind helping people.

When dealing with others, showing goodwill first was never a bad thing. If someone turned out to be an ingrate or endlessly greedy, well, revenge could always come later.

Dahei pulled a leash from the cabinet with his teeth. "Can you take me to that nursing home? Bring the flower."

Lin Mu paused, taking the leash. "Can’t you just go yourself?"

"Loose dogs in the city get beaten to death, especially near places like nursing homes, schools, and kindergartens." Dahei obediently let Lin Mu fasten the leash. "Old Turtle never wants to go with me."

Lin Mu’s hand paused. “Why?”

“Because most demons don’t want to interact with humans,” Dahei said. “There actually aren’t many half-demons. Humans have such short lifespans—it’s unfair to demons. You humans have a saying, don’t you? That the ones who suffer the most are the ones left behind…”

“…”

Lin Mu was silent for two seconds, momentarily stunned. Then he nodded. “That makes sense.”

Dahei suddenly realized he had said something wrong again.

He turned to glance at Lin Mu, who was quietly fastening the last buckle on his harness. Feeling awkward, Dahei fell silent.

Lin Mu followed Dahei back to the entrance of the nursing home.

The old lady was still sitting in the shade, her expression calm and peaceful. She was watching a computer screen on the table beside her, engaged in a video call with her daughter’s family.

Holding the flowerpot and leading Dahei, Lin Mu stood outside the iron-fenced courtyard, watching the elderly woman.

Dahei sat beside Lin Mu’s feet, his gaze fixed on the old lady as she absently stroked an old, worn pet outfit in her hands. She was smiling as she chatted with her daughter, but there was no one beside her.

He watched for a long time, then tilted his head back and let out a soft whimper.

The old lady seemed to sense something. She turned toward the sound, her eyes scanning past the young man outside the fence, the flowerpot in his arms, and the black wolfdog at his side.

The sun was blindingly bright, making it hard to keep one’s eyes open.

For a brief moment, the elderly woman looked dazed. When she looked again, there was no young man, no black wolfdog.

Outside the courtyard, there was only a lone flower bud, quietly swaying under the scorching sun in a small, palm-sized flowerpot.

The old lady stared at the flowerpot for a long time. As her daughter and family repeatedly called for her through the screen, tears suddenly welled up and fell.

“My child… come home and see your mother one last time.”

Clutching the fabric in her hands, the old lady let out a sigh. “Dahei has come to take me.”

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