Strange Tales from the Deep Mountains (Part 22)

Rou Rou frowned, feeling that her husband's words were strange.

She assumed it was because her husband had never met their child before, so their first meeting would be a little awkward. She gently smoothed the little boy's ruffled hair and said, "Don't scare the baby. Take it slow. This is only the first day you two have met."

“Our baby is really well-behaved and easy to take care of. He didn’t bother me even when you weren’t around.” Rou Rou’s face lit up with a gentle smile when she talked about the little dumpling.

The man beside her found Rou Rou's smile extremely irritating.

But he could only suppress the anger in his heart.

Judging from the man's expression, Rou Rou had no intention of telling him the truth, and the man's expression was not good.

"Rou Rou, do you have any fruit? I didn't eat anything on the plane, so I'd like some fruit."

"Ah, yes." Rou Rou quickly got up and said to her husband, "The fruits in the village are so sweet and juicy. They are all grown by the villagers themselves. I'll go pick some for you."

As Rou Rou spoke, she picked up the fruit basket on the bedside table and laughed, "When we go back tomorrow, we won't be able to eat the fruit we want here anymore."

The man sat in the chair, finding his wife's words particularly grating.

He gave a curt "hmm" and didn't say anything more.

Rou Rou didn't notice anything wrong either. She just came over and patted the little dumpling's head, saying, "Baby, stay with Daddy for a while. Be good to Daddy. Mommy will be back soon. Remember to cover yourself with the blanket."

"Mmm." The little dumpling nodded and pressed the blanket down her lower body with both hands.

Seeing that the baby understood what she meant, Rou Rou left with peace of mind.

The man sitting in the chair was engrossed in his own chaotic speculations and did not notice anything amiss in the conversation between Rou Rou and the child sitting on the bed.

After Rou Rou left, the man sat down on the edge of the bed, staring intently at the child on the bed, trying to find any resemblance between the little dumpling and himself.

Unfortunately, even after carefully examining the child on the bed, he still couldn't find any resemblance between him and himself.

The child looks exactly like Rou Rou; the two are practically identical.

The more the man looked at the child, the more he felt that the child's nose seemed more prominent than his wife's, and that the child's eyes seemed longer as well... In the end, he even felt that the child didn't resemble his wife anymore.

Who would they resemble?!

Who else could it be?!

The more the man thought about it, the angrier he became. The oppressive aura emanating from him made the little dumpling beside him tremble uncontrollably.

Li Su really wanted to slap this man awake.

Rou Rou suffered so much injustice and hurt for him, suppressing her secrets and bitterness, and yet this scoundrel actually doubted her?

The little dumpling is a boy, and his facial features are more than 90% like his mother's. But even biological children can't look exactly alike, let alone a little dumpling who is a boy.

Li Su angrily floated over and punched Rou Rou's husband twice.

Unfortunately, he had no body, only a wisp of consciousness, and was unable to touch Rou Rou's husband at all.

Li Su gritted her teeth angrily, but had no choice but to give up. She squatted by the bed, feeling sullen, and watched over the little dumpling.

"Aaaaaah! I can't take it anymore! This jerk is driving me crazy!!!"

"How can there be such a person?!"

"Pinch the philtrum to help with breathing..."

"SuSu is so cute, ahhhhh!"

"Give her a big hug and kiss her passionately, and while you're at it, punch that bastard a couple of times for your wife!"

"Who is your father?" The man's voice was icy, tinged with barely concealed anger.

The little boy on the bed shuddered again, startled by him, and murmured, "Daddy, it's you..."

The little dumpling didn't understand why her father was asking this question, but she obediently returned to her father's side.

"Heh." The man hadn't expected a one-year-old child to be so tight-lipped.

His complexion worsened, becoming so black it looked like ink could drip from it.

But the thought of getting information out of the child forced him to suppress his displeasure.

Suppressing his nausea, he reached out his hand to the child sitting on the bed with his head down, "Come here, let Daddy take a look."

"No, no." The little dumpling's eyes widened as she refused in a soft voice.

The man's already unhappy mood plummeted even further.

This little brat actually disobeyed him! Was it his shameful biological father who taught him that?!

The man was filled with rage just thinking about it, and his voice rose uncontrollably as he spoke: "You won't let me see? If you won't let me see, who do you want to see?!"

The little dumpling was startled by her father's sudden anger and didn't know what to do; her round eyes welled up with tears.

The villagers were all very friendly, and no one had ever spoken to him so loudly. He was terrified of his father.

"Speak! Are you mute?!" The man frowned, staring intently at him.

The little boy trembled, his eyes welling up with tears. He was so afraid of his father…

But he remembered that his mother had just told him to listen to his father, so the little boy hesitated for a moment and then moved forward a little.

The little dumpling's voice was trembling with tears: "Daddy, Daddy, don't be angry... Baby, baby, show Daddy, waaaah..."

"Damn it! I'm really going to swear! What kind of person is this, yelling at a kid?"

"Is he a man? Bah, is he even human?"

"Things that are worse than animals, just looking at them makes my eyes feel dirty (vomit...)"

"┻━┻︵╰(‵□′)╯︵┻━┻（Flip the table!!!）"

The man's chest was still heaving violently. Looking at the crying child, he felt as if a firecracker had been lit in his heart, and he was on the verge of exploding.

But the next moment, he was so shocked by what he saw that he was speechless.

He saw the child on the bed slowly lift the blanket, revealing a bright green tail!

"monster!!!"

The man suddenly stood up, his face flushed red, filled with abnormal excitement.

The man, finding an outlet for his pent-up anger, pointed a finger at the child on the bed, his voice trembling and shrill: "Monster! A monster with a long tail!!!"

"No, no, it's not like that, baby isn't a monster, sob..." The little dumpling's long-held tears finally fell, rolling down from its eyes like large pearls and landing on its cold tail.

Seeing him cry, the man not only didn't calm down, but became even more arrogant: "Hahaha, you're not my child! I can't give birth to a monster with a long tail!"

"No, no..." The little dumpling wiped away her tears with her chubby little hands and said earnestly, "Mommy, Mommy said it's a magic tail, and it will disappear after today!"

"Waaah... Baby, baby isn't a monster..."

The little dumpling cried so hard she could barely breathe, her nose and eyes were all red and swollen, and her two chubby little hands couldn't wipe away the tears that kept flowing like a broken string.

“Baby is not a monster!” The little dumpling stared wide-eyed at the man in front of him.

The man then noticed his abnormal vertical pupils. His breath hitched.

The man was actually frightened by the sight of a small monster, and he abruptly stopped in his tracks, taking a half-step back.

No, this is a monster! Kill him! Monster! He can't live!

When the man looked up again, his eyes were filled with a terrifying light, and his breathing became abnormal, rapid and violent.

The man looked around but couldn't find any tools he could use.

He dared not kill the little monster with his bare hands, fearing that it might possess some power he was unaware of.

Finally, his gaze fell on the kerosene lamp lit by the door.

The man's hands trembled uncontrollably with excitement; he clenched them tightly together, trying to minimize the shaking.

"Haha, Dad was just joking with you." The man smiled, a slight smirk spreading across his face.

"Waaah...waaah?" The little dumpling blinked its blurry eyes, sniffling as it looked at him.

The man suppressed his nausea, tightened his voice, and softened his originally rough tone, making it neither too rough nor too fine, like the Big Bad Wolf coaxing Little Red Riding Hood, "Baby isn't a monster."

"Um...Baby, baby isn't a monster, boohoo..." The little dumpling was still sobbing uncontrollably.

"Please forgive Daddy, okay?" the man coaxed in a low voice.

"Mmm, mmm..." The little dumpling's round eyes were still brimming with tears, and her little nose was twitching, but she nodded to the man to show her forgiveness.

"Baby, how about playing a game with Daddy?" The man's voice was coaxing.

The little dumpling blinked, sniffed, and repeated, "Game?"

"Yes!" The man clapped his hands, then quickly masked his overly excited reaction and said softly, "This game is called hide-and-seek, it's a lot of fun, baby, do you want to play with Daddy?"

"Holy crap! No way!!! It's not what I think, is it???"

"Aaaaaaah! What do I do?! I wish I thought the same thing as you, upstairs!!!"

"Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help!!!"

"Go to hell! Don't hurt the children!!!"

The little dumpling looked at him eagerly yet timidly. She was clearly frightened by his earlier demeanor and was still a little scared.

But they're still just kids, and they don't hold grudges.

The man saw him wipe away his tears, then nod and say in a muffled voice, "Play, play games with Dad."

"Hey!" With his plan half-successful, the man turned his back and began to count down.

He had already checked; the only place in this small house where someone could hide was in the wardrobe. Once the little monster hid inside, he would find something to prop up the wardrobe, then set it on fire and burn the little monster to death!

His mother had seen and heard many strange and unusual things, and he had heard a lot about them since he was a child, which strengthened his resolve to get rid of the monster.

It must be because of this monster that his thing is inactive! As long as we get rid of him, I'll get better!

That must be it! It must all be that little monster's fault!

The man listened intently to the creaking sound of the cabinet door behind him opening and closing, his voice trembling with excitement as the countdown began.

"Where is the baby hiding?" the man asked deliberately as he walked to the door and picked up the kerosene lamp.

The kerosene lamp seemed to have been freshly added, almost full. A few drops spilled as the man carried it around, burning his hand. The hot kerosene stung his skin, but his excitement made him ignore the burning pain. Even his voice became distorted: "Where did the baby hide?"

He slowly carried the kerosene lamp to the cabinet.

"No! No!"

Everything before her eyes became familiar. Li Su screamed, trying to stop the man, but she couldn't even make a sound.

There was even an iron bolt on the cabinet door!

The man's expression almost turned ferocious.

Even the heavens are helping him get rid of this little monster!

The man pressed one eye against the crack in the cabinet door, peering through the dim light at the little monster obediently crouching inside. He quickly flicked the latch, locking the cabinet door shut.

"Oh! So the baby was hiding here!" Having already locked the little monster in the cabinet, the man no longer bothered to hide his laughter and burst into unrestrained laughter.

He laughed as he poured all the kerosene in his hand onto the wooden floor.

"Disgusting monster! Die!"

The still-burning wick was tossed by the man onto the kerosene-stained wooden floor.

The tiny flame, licking the kerosene, instantly transformed from the size of a soybean into a gigantic fire dragon, roaring as it wrapped the wardrobe around its body!

The dragon's tail was devouring the wardrobe, while its head, with its large mouth, roared and lunged towards the man.

Hahahaha—

The man ran outside while laughing loudly.

Just as I ran outside, I heard a "thump" behind me.

Several round, bright red fruits rolled to his feet.