Chapter 176: Chapter 176: Give Birth to a Little Tiger
The clothes trembled slightly. The boy was about to wake up.
She stayed away, knowing that another person in the room would only agitate him more.
Jiang Si went to the monitoring room to observe, wearing a headset so she could communicate with Qin Shen at any time.
The moment the little boy opened his eyes, he sensed someone next to him.
SWOOSH! He lashed out at Qin Shen.
He struck viciously and without hesitation, as if trying to rip Qin Shen’s skull open.
But he was no match for Qin Shen.
Besides, Qin Shen had already trimmed his sharp nails while the boy was unconscious.
Qin Shen grabbed both of the boy’s arms with one hand. "Don’t move!" he ordered.
He spoke in English.
The familiar language calmed the little boy for a moment, but it was immediately followed by an even more violent struggle.
As he thrashed, Jiang Si got a clear look at his revealed form.
Half his face was angelic, the other half demonic.
Jiang Si’s heart clenched. She was reminded of Shen Baoying’s horrific death in her past life.
’He’s still reacting to words,’ Jiang Si thought. ’That means his shattered psyche might still be salvageable.’
While holding him down, Qin Shen took the opportunity to examine the little boy’s eyes through his goggles.
One eye was a brilliant sapphire blue; the other, the one scarred by a burn, was an icy blue.
’He’ll probably need a full eyeball transplant to fix that,’ he assessed.
The burns on his body had already healed into old scars. But as Qin Shen checked him over, he found that, thankfully, his reproductive organs were intact. In addition to mutating, his body had also developed the ability to contract.
His body’s subconscious defense mechanisms must have protected him when he fell into those hot spring pools.
Jiang Si asked through her headset, "What’s his mental state?"
Qin Shen replied, "His self-preservation instincts are strong, and he does react to our voices. But the trauma was too severe. There’s no telling how long it will take for him to recover."
’A chance at recovery is better than nothing,’ Jiang Si thought.
The boy was so pitiful. A wave of compassion washed over Jiang Si, and she resolved to help him return to a normal life.
Jiang Si said, "Mom left some congee outside the door. See if he’ll eat it."
Qin Shen nodded. "Alright."
The instant Qin Shen let go, the boy, knowing he couldn’t win, scrambled into a corner. If not for the clothes he was wearing, no one would have known he was there.
He also noticed the strange things on his body and started tearing at them, trying to get them off.
Meanwhile, Qin Shen opened the door to get the bird’s nest congee, abalone congee, chicken and vegetable congee, and millet congee.
Seeing the several containers, Qin Shen couldn’t help but smile.
The boy tore off the clothes, but a couple of bracelets on his wrists and two anklets remained that he couldn’t undo.
Seeing the door about to close, he ignored everything else and charged straight for the opening, heedless of whether the door might crush him.
Qin Shen grabbed him just in time and pinned him to the bed. With his other hand, he calmly held the congee. "Time to eat."
It was as if the boy had shut down all five senses, refusing to communicate with anyone. He thrashed wildly, as if he wanted to devour Qin Shen.
Qin Shen knew the boy wouldn’t be able to accept anyone’s care anytime soon.
He poured the congee directly into a large food container that Shen Baoying had thoughtfully prepared, then placed it on a small dining table padded with soft rubber. "Eat it yourself. I’m leaving."
Qin Shen released him. The boy leaped back to his corner and only dared to stand up and explore the room a long time after Qin Shen had truly left.
He flickered between being invisible and visible, seemingly even less able to control his superpower than Bo Xi.
Jiang Si said to Qin Shen, "Let’s install a partition with a pass-through in this room. Before he gets used to us, we can just pass food through it."
Qin Shen shook his head. "That would be like caging an animal, which wouldn’t help his recovery. I’ll go in and deliver his meals once a day. That way, he can slowly get used to me. Then we can gradually expand his world and attempt to communicate. We need to avoid anything that reminds him of his past. A fresh start is the best approach."
Jiang Si frowned. "But that will be exhausting for you."
Qin Shen shook his head. "It won’t take much time. You have it harder taking care of the baby Vulture. We can consider this practice for being parents. Then we won’t fight over petty things in the future."
Jiang Si hadn’t expected him to mention plans for having children. She actually didn’t plan on having any, especially since they were both superpower users.
Jiang Si smiled. "What if we have one and it turns out to be a little tiger?"
Qin Shen kissed her on the forehead. "It would still be our most beloved child."
’A perfect answer.’
A smile touched Jiang Si’s lips, and her fear of having children seemed to lessen somewhat.
The little boy circled the room, inspecting everything. He was curious about it all, yet touched things with extreme caution.
When his gaze fell on the food on the table, he sniffed it hard, then dipped a finger in. Realizing it wasn’t hot and he could eat the delicious food, he immediately lifted the container and began pouring it into his mouth, not caring that it spilled all over him.
There was bottled water in the room.
He had forgotten how to open a water bottle. He tried to stab it open with his claws, but he had no claws.
After failing to smash or bite the bottle open, his eyes landed on the toilet in the bathroom. He buried his head in the bowl and drank greedily.
After he finished drinking, he decided the enclosed space of the bathroom felt safer. He leaned against the toilet, wary but exhausted, and fell asleep.
Jiang Si could control the room’s temperature. To prevent him from catching a cold, she raised it slightly.
But the boy found it too warm and, upon waking, drank water incessantly.
The temperature in the cave must have acclimatized him to the cold.
Everyone was concerned about the boy’s condition, but the main topic of discussion was the fact that Mutants actually existed in this world.
This meant that any one of them could mutate one day, or that they might discover other Mutants.
Lu Zhifeng stared at Qin Shen and Jiang Si, recalling certain details from the past. He frowned but ultimately didn’t ask his question.
Jiang Linhai then asked Qin Shen, "What’s the situation at the hot spring hotel? Is it habitable?"
Qin Shen said, "Inside, the second floor has a hot spring that runs its entire length. The temperature in the caves is around ten degrees Celsius. It’s quite damp, there are skeletal remains, and the environment is a mess. But if we clean it up, it could be habitable."
A hotel that puts a hot spring indoors must have had dehumidifying equipment and climate control. But obviously, if they were to move in, they would have to figure that out all over again.
If they lived there for the rest of their lives, they’d definitely get rheumatism in their old age.
Niu Niu suddenly asked, "If we move in, won’t he be scared again?"
She was referring to the little boy with Invisibility.
Qin Shen shook his head. "He’s lost his previous memories. Being in a familiar environment will only make him feel safer."
Hearing this answer, Niu Niu felt a wave of empathy so strong it was suffocating.
The little boy’s fate was just too tragic.
"Does he still remember his name?"
Qin Shen replied, "Perhaps we can find clues to his name at the hotel."
Niu Niu then turned to Jiang Si, who usually made the final call. "So, are we moving in?"
