NHSDO Chapter 7: Am I Not Good Enough? Why Did You Pick Up Another Dog?!

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Lin Mu brought some small tools from home and headed to the office.

It was still early when he arrived—not yet office hours. Neither Dahei nor the old tortoise, whom he had only heard about but never met, were there.

He took out his keys, unlocked the door, and did a bit of cleaning. Then, he grabbed a tape measure, pulled up a stool in front of the broken window, and stepped on it to measure the window’s dimensions.

The office windows weren’t the common sliding type but rather older casement windows that swung outward and had a manual latch lock.

Lin Mu didn’t know how to replace just the glass, so he planned to replace the entire window instead—but before doing that, he had to wait for the other two office members to arrive and discuss it with them.

He jotted down the measurements on paper, then stepped outside to take a look at the rundown exterior of the building, thinking about what kind of plants he could use to cover it up a bit.

After all, this was an office space, and he would be coming and going frequently in the future. It needed to look at least somewhat presentable.

As long as Dahei and the other guy didn’t mind, Lin Mu figured it wouldn’t be a big deal.

He crossed the street and stood on the opposite side, observing the dilapidated office building. Then, he circled around to another road to get a look at the other side.

This side of the building was just as rundown, but it faced a newly constructed startup park. It looked like city planning would soon extend to this area.

Lin Mu stared at it for a while, getting a rough idea of what to do. Just as he was about to look away and leave, his peripheral vision caught a massive shadow looming faintly over the old single-story building.

Startled, Lin Mu whipped his head around—but there was nothing there.

"…"

Ever since he had stepped into this new world, it felt like his life and the world he saw had become increasingly bizarre—all in just one short day.

Lin Mu returned to the office, feeling puzzled.

By the time he arrived, Dahei was already there. This time, he wasn’t wearing his usual well-behaved white shirt and jeans but instead had on a loose sports T-shirt and baggy beach shorts.

Hearing the door open, Dahei turned his head and seemed surprised to see Lin Mu there. "Why are you here? Isn’t it not yet time for your official start date?"

"I had nothing better to do, and I saw that the window was broken, so I thought I'd fix it."

After speaking, Lin Mu couldn’t shake off the thought of the shadow he had just seen.

In the past, he would have dismissed it as an illusion or a trick of the eye. But now that he was involved with this subdistrict office, he couldn’t ignore it so easily.

After thinking for a while, he decided to ask Dahei, "While I was walking around just now, I saw a large shadow upstairs. But when I looked closely, it was gone."

"Huh? You mean upstairs, on the second floor?" Dahei casually pointed to a door in the south corner of the office. "The second floor is the archive room for paper documents. You can go up from there."

Lin Mu was stunned for a moment. "We have a second floor?"

"Yeah." Dahei nodded and explained, "Ordinary people can’t see it."

Lin Mu muttered under his breath, "I can’t see it either."

"That’s because you just realized you're not purely human," Dahei said, spinning slightly in his chair before facing Lin Mu. "It’s like how I never realized I had gained sentience before. If you don’t recognize that you're special, there are many things you won’t be able to see."

"Idealism," Lin Mu commented.

Dahei nodded seriously. "Exactly. What’s that phrase... 'I think, therefore I am'? Now that you've realized you’re actually a half-demon, you'll gradually start seeing things you couldn’t see before. Since you now know we have a second floor, in a few days, you’ll be able to see it completely."

And once he could see it, interactions would inevitably follow, leading him to gradually step fully into another world.

"Oh, alright." Lin Mu nodded and pointed at the window. "Should I still replace this window?"

"Old Tortoise and I don’t really care about this place. But if it bothers you, go ahead and change it," Dahei said just as a knocking sound came from the door.

Lin Mu got up to open it, and outside stood a young couple with a little girl.

They looked like a family of three.

Lin Mu hesitated for a moment. "Hello?"

"Hello," the young man nodded. "We’re here to register our household."

Hearing this, Lin Mu stepped aside to let them in.

Dahei had already overheard their conversation and swiftly opened the computer, calling them over.

Lin Mu thought for a moment and decided not to go buy the window just yet. Instead, he closed the door and returned to the office, intending to observe how the registration process worked.

This subdistrict office served only one kind of clientele—demons.

Its main function was to register and manage demons who wished to live in the human world, preventing them from causing trouble among humans.

Any demon that had gained intelligence but hadn’t registered was considered undocumented. If they were found, they had to be reminded and brought in for registration. Those who resisted would be beaten and forcibly registered, while those who had already committed crimes would be executed on the spot.

Lin Mu sat at the desk next to Dahei, watching as he opened the registration software and asked the family, "Where are you from?"

"The Western Wilderness, Yanhuo Kingdom," the man said, handing over a small booklet. Lin Mu noticed the words "Household Registration" written on it.

Dahei flipped through the booklet, then suddenly paused. "Near Chishui, in the Kunlun Ruins? Why would someone from there come to the Central Plains?"

The man sighed. "The Western Wilderness has become unstable lately. Everyone is crowding into the major cities. Our family is weak, and stronger demons took over our home. We didn’t dare stay in the outskirts, so we came to the Central Plains instead."

Dahei frowned. "The Western Wilderness is also in turmoil?"

The man’s face was full of worry. "Yes. It seems an ancient demon has re-emerged, causing havoc everywhere. Several kingdom leaders have already been killed or driven away. There’s been constant fighting and massacres—it’s brutal."

Dahei remained silent for a while before verifying the booklet and typing away on the keyboard. After a moment, he stamped it and handed it back to the family. "Alright, find a place to settle within the Qingyao Mountain area. Make sure to visit the local land god with your registration, and try not to go out too much—things aren’t stable in the Central Plains either."

The family took the booklet, breathed a sigh of relief, and repeatedly thanked them before leaving.

Lin Mu pondered the unfamiliar terms he had just heard and managed to piece together some understanding.

The "Central Plains" referred to their current location. The "Western Wilderness" seemed to be another region or perhaps an entirely different world, where it sounded like only demons lived.

Yanhuo Kingdom, Kunlun Ruins, and Chishui—Lin Mu was somewhat familiar with the latter two, having seen them mentioned in various mythological works. They all seemed to be places within the Western Wilderness.

He looked at Da Hei, who was now frowning. "What’s wrong?"

"I was wondering why so many little demons have been registering lately," Dahei clicked his tongue. "I used to see their addresses from remote corners of the Western Wilderness and didn’t think much of it. But now, even people from Tian Di’s capital are fleeing—"

He paused, then explained, "Oh, you might not know—Tian Di’s capital in the Western Wilderness is the Kunlun Ruins, where Chishui originates. It’s a place under Tian Di’s divine protection. If even its residents are fleeing, then things must be seriously bad."

"Hm?" Lin Mu recalled something. "Didn’t you mention yesterday that things had gotten busy because of some trouble?"

"Yeah." Dahei sighed and lowered his voice. "A while back, we saw a report about an unusual number of deaths. Digging deeper, we found that all the victims could trace their ancestry back to ancient cultivation families, some going back hundreds or thousands of years. The human authorities questioned us, so we investigated further.

It turned out that across different demon management offices, the number of reported demon deaths had also shot up. Once we compiled all the data… we realized the death toll had exceeded normal levels by a long shot."

"The deaths seem a bit like revenge," Lin Mu said.

"Definitely. The way they died was brutal, which is why the human authorities are questioning us," Dahei said, pausing for a moment. "But the monsters have also been attacked on a large scale without discrimination. Even several local land gods have been killed. It sounds just like the massacre-style slaughter happening in the Great Wilderness."

Lin Mu had no authority to speak on such matters. "How is something like this usually handled?"

Dahei pointed westward. "Over there, in our Qingyao Mountain, there's a massive passage leading to the Great Wilderness. It's large and stable, so it's the only officially recognized gateway between the two sides. There are also smaller passages that occasionally pop up at random, but they're highly unpredictable and dangerous."

"If something like this happens in the Great Wilderness, the higher-ups will definitely send a great demon over to coordinate with us. If the rampaging demon from the Great Wilderness manages to pass through this stable and safe gateway into the Central Plains, we're all doomed."

Lin Mu thought about it and found something off.

"Wouldn't it be more logical to divert the disaster eastward and throw that demon over to our side?"

"…" Da Hei looked at Lin Mu in shock. "Lin Xiaomu, you seem gentle and mild-mannered, but your heart is really dark, huh?"

Lin Mu touched his nose, feeling that his logic was flawless, with nothing wrong at all.

Dahei slowly retracted his gaze and said, "Well, you don’t understand the stakes here."

"The Central Plains, the human realm, is the foundation. Do you get it?" Dahei pointed at the dense rolling clouds in the sky. "Do you know what that is?"

Lin Mu thought for a moment and answered honestly, "Clouds."

"Wrong. That is an illusion of the Heavenly Court."

Da Hei then stomped on the ground beneath him. "Do you know what this is?"

Lin Mu replied, "The floor."

"Wrong again. This is the dark sky of the Underworld."

After speaking, Da Hei gestured around them. "Do you know what all of this is?"

Lin Mu fell silent.

"The sky, the land, the flowers, the water—everything in the Central Plains exists as a foundation for the Great Wilderness. If the Central Plains were to disappear, the Great Wilderness would instantly cease to exist as well," Da Hei explained. "So even if the monsters in the Great Wilderness are being slaughtered, wiped out, or abandoning the Great Wilderness to seek refuge in the Central Plains, we still can’t allow that demon to come over."

Lin Mu nodded in understanding. "So, since this has happened, a bigshot will come to help deal with it?"

"Exactly." Da Hei patted Lin Mu's shoulder. "It has nothing to do with small demons like us. Just focus on our own work."

So Lin Mu obediently went to the furniture store and picked out a properly sized wooden window frame.

Apparently, the situation was quite serious. Just this morning alone, eight small demons had fled from the Great Wilderness and knocked on their door. Every time Dahei greeted one, he would curse an absent old turtle for slacking off.

Lin Mu listened to him curse the entire morning as he worked on the window frame. When he finished, he sat down to eat takeout with Dahei.

"Oh, right." Lin Mu suddenly remembered his dog. "I picked up a stray dog yesterday."

Dahei paused mid-bite and turned to look at Lin Mu. "Am I not good enough for you? Why are you picking up another dog?"

"…It came to my house on its own," Lin Mu explained.

"Oh, a stray then? That's rough," Da Hei said, grabbing another piece of meat. "Take care of it."

Lin Mu nodded. "Yeah, I plan to keep it."

Yan Xuanjing had finally tracked down the place. Just as he was about to raise his hand to knock on the door, he overheard a somewhat familiar voice.

He took a light sniff of the air, catching faint traces of a crisp, fresh, and pure scent of grass and trees.

Inside, Lin Mu was still talking to Dahei. "I think it's really smart. It even… feels like I can communicate with it. Yesterday, it told me it didn’t want to go to the hospital."

Dahei furrowed his brows. "The hospital?"

"Yeah, because it was injured. Its wounds looked terrifying—I think they were from the fence outside my yard…"

Outside the door, Yan Xuanjing: "…"

As if a mere iron nail could wound him.

At most, it was just a minor irritation from being pricked by something sharp.

Those injuries were from battles in the Great Wilderness. As a nine-tailed fox, if he could be injured by something as mundane as an iron nail, that would be utterly humiliating.

"I feel responsible for it, and I wanted a dog to keep me company anyway," Lin Mu murmured. "And it's so smart."

"Then just keep it." Dahei continued eating, indifferent. "Observe it for a few days. If its injuries heal quickly on their own, it’s super healthy, extra smart, and understands human speech, then it might have already gained spiritual intelligence. There are plenty of animals that awaken their intelligence, but they rarely realize how special they are. If you take good care of it, you might just end up raising it into a spirit beast."

Lin Mu froze, his expression turning serious. "Is that so?"

Then it was definitely out of the question to take it to the hospital for neutering.

"But I’m not sure if it'll stay," Lin Mu said, biting his chopsticks. "I even thought of a name for it. If it stays after healing, I’ll give it the name."

"What name? Is it male or female?" Dahei asked.

"Male. I want to call him Nai Tang ‘Milk Candy,’" Lin Mu said, thinking of the Samoyed his mother had taken him to see before, then glancing at his own dog. He smiled, revealing two small dimples. "He's super good-looking."

Dahei thought the name was a bit too cutesy, but seeing Lin Mu’s happy expression, he quietly shut his mouth.

As the two continued eating in silence, they suddenly heard a knock at the door.

"I'll get it." Lin Mu put down his chopsticks and ran off to open the door.

He pulled it open while greeting the visitor, then looked up—and his mind went blank.

It was a face of breathtaking beauty at first sight. A high nose bridge, perfect phoenix eyes paired with slightly sharp, slanted brows, and a cascade of jet-black hair that gleamed like silk. Looking closer, his skin was as flawless as jade—using the phrase "skin like congealed fat" to praise this man would not be an exaggeration at all.

He wore a black robe embroidered with golden patterns, one hand extending from his wide sleeves in a knocking motion. His fingers were long and fair, with faint blue veins visible on the back of his hand.

Just by standing there, expressionless, he exuded a regal aura—dignified and imposing, like nobility itself. He carried himself with such grace and elegance that it seemed like a natural mantle draped over him.

Lin Mu locked eyes with those deep black pupils, feeling as if everything around him had faded away, leaving only the pounding of his own heartbeat, like the beating of a war drum.

Time seemed to stretch endlessly before Lin Mu finally came back to his senses under the man's unwavering gaze. Still a bit dazed, he stepped aside, watching as the man—who was a full head taller than him—walked into the somewhat simple office.

Lin Mu absentmindedly raised a hand to touch his chest, where his heart was still racing wildly.

Oh no.

This was the feeling of falling in love.

_____

Author’s note:

Lin Mu: I CAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!! screaming.jpg

Yan Xuanjing: What a coincidence. So can I.

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