Chapter 46: How Could an Outsider Compare to Family?
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 46: How Could an Outsider Compare to Family?
This time, it was Dad.
Did that "cheap brother" of mine tell him my phone was working again?
It seems he has some brains after all; he knows to dump the problems he can't handle onto his father.
There was nothing wrong with that. In fact, after talking to my brother just now, I had a pretty good idea of what was going on.
I could have chosen to keep fishing for intel to find out exactly what had happened, but… why should I?
I was already prepared to make a clean break from the past. What could knowing more bring me other than trouble?
And yet, I still answered.
Not for any particular reason, other than to tell him personally that there would be no further contact of any kind.
"Hello, Xiao Han."
A voice came from the other end. It wasn't what I had foreseen, which surprised me slightly.
"Hmph. Don't force it. Calling my name like that sounds disgusting," I said bluntly. After all, he hadn't given me this name; I had changed it myself. They hadn't objected at the time, acting with the same indifference one might show when humoring a mental patient. In the end, they even gave my brother a name using similar characters to mine.
I could never understand their logic. Maybe they just realized they were terrible at naming things?
After I snapped back, I could clearly hear his heavy breathing on the other end. I had to admit, he really was getting old.
"Sigh… Do you think I want to call you that? I just want you to come home. There’s still a place for you in this family. Do you really think you can live a good life just by running off with that woman named Bai Yu?"
"Can an outsider really compare to family?" his voice continued, sounding like he was suppressing his frustration to try and persuade me. I could hear the exhaustion in his tone.
At that moment, I really wanted to blurt out, "Yes."
However, the education and values of my previous life forced me to acknowledge that they had indeed kept me alive in this house until now.
After all, being alive is being alive. It meant they had raised me. But that is a concept easily muddled—after all, "rearing" is a form of raising, and "nurturing" is a form of raising.
Ultimately, it came down to my choice between breaking out of the cage or being content with the status quo.
Does a pig that escapes the pen feel grateful to the farmer for the "gift" of being raised?
If it were me, I wouldn't.
I was now an animal that had escaped its cage. Now that the owner could contact me and tell me to come back, there was naturally no way I would return. Even if the owner played the emotional card, I wouldn't go back. If they asked if they had ever mistreated me during all those years they raised me?
I would say they hadn't, but I still wouldn't go back.
This was my contradiction. Once the concept was abstracted, I was very clear about my choice and the stakes involved, but the philosophies and values of my previous life had become my greatest shackles.
The ridiculous thing was that their influence on me as an individual didn't even compare to my previous life. For any shred of soft-heartedness I felt now, they should thank the fact that the "me" from my previous life had been a good, obedient child.
So, I couldn't make a clean choice. I could only choose through a blur.
Had I rejected them?
I didn't know.
It was only because of an accident that I "obediently" chose to apply to the Witch Academy, and the end result was that I was now in the academy and couldn't go back.
The academy had made the choice for me.
Therefore, I shouldn't be worrying. I should just let nature take its course.
"You're right. How could an outsider compare to family?" I said in agreement, my tone becoming much lighter. If they truly treated me as family, as a son, then naturally there would be no comparison.
As I spoke, I saw a private message reply from Sister Bai on my new phone.
I was a bit surprised. Was Sister Bai really this efficient?
However, Sister Bai didn't answer my question directly. She only asked why I was curious about the matter.
I gave her a brief, perfunctory reply. If Sister Bai wasn't willing to say or if it was inconvenient, I would just ask other senior sisters later. Regardless, I had to get to the bottom of this eventually.
"Wait, your voice is wrong. You're not Yang Yuehan. Who are you?" The man on the other end finally seemed to notice something and asked immediately.
I realized then that my tone just now had been off, causing a shift in my vocal range that he had picked up on.
In that case, this made things easier.
Since he’d figured it out, there was nothing left to discuss.
As for what would happen next… he didn't expect me to come clean, did he?
Wouldn't that just be asking for trouble?
"Ah~ you noticed? Xiao Han is a new student at our academy now. Stop thinking about her." I didn't hesitate, naturally switching personas as I spoke. I wondered how he would react to this revelation.
"You! Who are you?! Why do you have his phone! Put him on the line right now!" Upon hearing my words, the man immediately dropped his earnest, persuasive act. It was as if his suppressed emotions exploded in that instant. His voice was so loud it nearly startled me.
"Also, which academy are you from?! I'm going to report you! You admitted my son into your academy without my consent! Who gave you the authority?! Tell me! Who gave you the authority—"
"If you have the guts, go ahead and report us. To the Shi'an Bureau? Or the Academy Council? Do you even know which academy I'm from? Don't you dare yell at me. What, are you still obsessing over that fifty thousand from the Lesser Demon Academy?" I snapped back without hesitation. Who gave me the authority? Who even asks a question like that? Then who gave the other academies the authority to snatch people?
However, speaking to him with a different identity made my tone much bolder. I didn't forget to fish for information, though; I didn't believe he was the type of person to get this hysterical over a mere fifty thousand.
"Fifty thousand? Still talking about fifty thousand? You really f*cking think I care about fifty thousand? He's worth way more than that! You people don't understand anything!"
"What would a normal person like you understand?" I moved the phone away from my ear, feeling like his spit was practically flying through the receiver.
"I'm a normal person! So what if I'm a normal person! I'm his father! I understand his value better than your damn fly-by-night academy ever could! Giving him to you is a complete waste of talent! Just you wait! The Lesser Demon Academy will find you! You'll regret this! Damn it!"
I listened to his rant in silence. Even I was starting to get curious about how much I was actually worth.
Why… why didn't I know I had such terrifying value?
Did he find out I was a transmigrator?
That… seemed unlikely. Even if I were, they shouldn't be able to confirm it.
And even if they did, what would they want? The knowledge in my head?
Please. My original world didn't have a trace of the transcendent. Its technology was just at a modern level; it wasn't worth knowing at all.
And most importantly… since when was the Lesser Demon Academy so powerful that a normal academy couldn't beat them and would have to hand over a student they’d already recruited?
What kind of logic was that?
However, I heard a sudden commotion on the other end, as if people were scuffling over something.
A moment later, a clear voice came through the phone again, but it was no longer familiar.
Clearly, someone else had taken the phone. As soon as they spoke, I felt their voice was piercing, even unpleasant—slightly awkward, as if speaking was a struggle for them.
"Listen. I am… from the Lesser Demon Academy. You have stolen our target. If you don't want this to escalate, return him to us immediately."
"Lesser Demon Academy trash?" I had a rough idea of who this was. I hadn't expected them to be right there with my family. This was getting more interesting than I thought. "What makes you think I'd be afraid of you?"
"Trash? Very well. You will regret calling me that. Do not underestimate how much the Lesser Demon Academy values an Innate Spirit Vision user. You wouldn't want the entire Lesser Demon Academy to mobilize and pressure you, would you?"