This trick really worked. The girl soon stopped crying, her dewy eyes misty. She cautiously reached out and pinched Anya's ear.

Anya murmured and let the girl's small hand knead her ears. Somehow, looking at this golden-haired girl with a cute smile, she blushed with embarrassment.

"Okay, are you not angry anymore?"

The girl patted Anya's head:

"Hee hee, I was pretending earlier. I'm actually very strong and not so easy to cry! I've always wanted to pinch your ears; they look fluffy and feel so nice to touch."

Anya's gaze lingered on the girl's little fangs, nodding blankly.

"Alright, next, it's my turn to be the ghost, so quickly hide. I'll come to catch you!"

The girl made a funny face at Anya, putting both hands in front of her face, clawing playfully.

"Three..."

Seeing the girl start counting down again, the children laughed and ran away.

"Two..."

"One!"

After counting, the girl bounced and turned around, only to see Anya still standing there dumbfounded, drawing out an exaggerated "Ah~?"

"Why are you still here?"

"I want you to catch me."

"Wh-What!"

The little girl's face turned as red as a ripe apple.

"What are you talking about all of a sudden?"

"If you're happy catching me, would you be happy?"

"I want to make you happy, I want to see you smile."

Anya scratched her head, trying her best to organize her words.

These words changed their taste in the girl's ears. She suddenly glared at Anya, reached out her finger, and poked Anya's head, bit by bit cornering Anya to the wall:

"You mean that if you don't let me, I won't be able to catch you?"

"No, I didn't mean that..." Anya waved her hands hurriedly.

"Then quickly go hide, otherwise, it won't be fun at all!" The girl put her hands on her hips.

"Alright, alright, I understand."

Xu Xiaoyou silently watched this scene, watching these children play tag the whole day. At dusk, the sunset stained half the sky red, clouds like flames flew from the horizon, and the alley gradually darkened.

"See you tomorrow!"

"Let's play together again tomorrow!"

The children hugged each other goodbye, and it wasn't until the sunset was nearly completely down that the alley finally became quiet.

Anya made some friends.

After all, she was still a naive child. No matter how mature and quiet she usually was, staying with her peers, she would still show a lively and innocent side.

The weeds swayed with the breeze, slowly growing.

"You've been sitting here all day. That investigator left long ago. Has your warrant been lifted?"

Chen Yun walked out of the beauty parlor, stretching and yawning.

"Yes, I'm planning to leave."

Xu Xiaoyou got up, brushing the dust off her body.

"Dinner is ready. Don't you plan to stay and eat?"

"No need." Xu Xiaoyou said.

"Let Anya eat."

Chen Yun caught the underlying meaning in Xu Xiaoyou's words, furrowing her brows slightly: "I don't have the time to raise another child."

"As parents, once we bring a child into the world, we must take full responsibility."

"She is not my child." Xu Xiaoyou smiled helplessly. "I am at most her half-guardian."

"You..."

At this moment, Anya, who had been hiding and eavesdropping, suddenly rushed out, her face full of tears, hugging Xu Xiaoyou's waist tightly:

"Don't abandon Anya. Anya will be obedient."

"Xiaoyou, Anya won't cause you any trouble. Anya promises she will earn her own money in the future and won't spend yours. Please, don't leave Anya here, okay?"

No matter how young she was, the little girl could sense the deeper meaning behind their conversation.

Her mind might not be the quickest compared to her peers, but her instincts were keen, and she perceived the scent of farewell in the air.

"Anya doesn't want anything, just for Xiaoyou to stay by her side..."

"Don't worry, Anya, I'm just going to get my stuff, and I'll be back afterward."

Xu Xiaoyou said softly, patting Anya's head as always.

Anya sniffed and didn't want to let go of the young girl, rubbing her face against Xu Xiaoyou's body, crying incessantly.

She didn't know when her emotions became so vulnerable and sensitive.

In the past, no matter how hard the thorns whipped her back, leaving blood marks, or how fiercely the boots kicked her body, leaving bruises, she wouldn't shed a single tear from the pain.

Even when her relatives and kin fell one by one under the Hunter's Gun, her heart would only suffuse with faint sadness, never halting her steps because of it.

The young girl brought her warmth, brought her home, allowing her not to rush around daily for food and shelter from the wind and snow.

Xu Xiaoyou squatted down, patting the girl's head, wiping Anya's tears from her face, extending her pinky finger:

"I promise you, Anya, once I get the stuff, I will come back."

"Don't cry, there are still people watching."

Anya turned her head and saw the blond little girl from the day hiding in the corner, secretly looking at her, then covering her mouth to stifle a laugh upon seeing Anya's tear-streaked face.

Anya wiped her smudged face with her hand, nodded slightly before choking out her words:

"Xiaoyou, you must promise."

She matched the young girl's finger with hers, their hands swaying in the air.

"I promise."

"Pinky swear, hang for a hundred years, no changes allowed..."

"Whoever changes is a puppy." Xu Xiaoyou blinked gently.

"Whoever changes is a puppy!"

Xu Xiaoyou wasn't sure if it was her illusion, but it seemed as though Anya's gaze had suddenly turned fierce and sharp at that moment, overlapping with the expression from Angelina's illustration...

"I promise, Xiaoyou, if you dare lie to me, you will regret it." Anya threatened, her eyes red-rimmed.

"When I grow up, I will come for you, I definitely won't let you go!"

This was the first time Xu Xiaoyou had heard threatening words from Anya's mouth, moreover towards her, it hardly seemed like something that would come from a child's mouth.

Such a serious, determined gaze, like she was locking onto prey.

At that moment, the girl seemed to transform back into that lone wolf running on the snowy plains, her fur bright and beautiful.

She said nothing, just patted Anya's head again, bidding farewell to the girl.

...

The cold night.

Those with power and influence often enjoy standing before the floor-to-ceiling windows of high-rise buildings, overlooking the city beneath them.

This is a forest, with hunters and prey, even the trees within the forest are no exception; the strong should absorb the nutrients of the weak and incompetent, growing robust, covering the sky and the sun, possessing all the sunlight.

The werewolf's fang-tipped mouth curled into a slight smile; he enjoyed this feeling of overlooking the city, savoring the success of trampling others' pride and hard-earned results.

The weak have no right to breathe the same air as him, and the incompetent have no right to stand at the same height.

The rhythm of this era should be oppression, exploitation!

Only ambitious ones like him can climb step by step to the top of the world.

Even if he shifts with the flames, even if he uses every low trick in the book, no matter how despicably shameless, he's still better than those idiots who constantly dream of getting something without working for it and blaming the heavens and others for their own misfortunes.

Only the victors have the right to savor the final wine.

The weak and incompetent should die by the Hunter's Gun.

It's a truth he understood deeply since the moment he was born on the snowy plains.

"Haha, Xu Xiaoyou, I probably won't forget you for the rest of my life." The werewolf sneered coldly, dismissing the women attached close by, feeling somewhat bored listening to their whispers around him.

"Just leave." he said. "Women only block my path forward."

"Ah~ Wilson brother, just earlier you were sweet-talking me, how come now you turn your face and deny knowing me?"

In the swimming pool, a woman cooed.

Wilson showed a ruthless expression, his large hand reaching for the woman's neck, his sharp claws suddenly piercing within amidst her charming gaze.

The pool's clear water was instantly dyed crimson, echoes of screams reverberated as the women ran out like crazy.

In no time, the vast room was left with just two people.

"Ambitious ones like me, I quite admire you. It's a pity, there's only one winner in this city." The werewolf released the dead woman and drained the glass of wine.

He placed the emptied glass onto the tray of a nearby maid.

Standing before the floor-to-ceiling windows, overlooking the city's night.

Until moments later, he finally realized something was amiss.

Wilson turned to the maid, brows furrowing:

"Why are you still here?"

"Wait, I've never seen you before!"

"Who are you!?"

The delicately crafted goblet had remnants of dark red wine, reflecting the maid's poised form, black vest and white shirt tightly cinched at her waist, her low ponytail reaching her waist, strands slightly drifting.

In Wilson's terrified gaze, she removed the mask from her face, blood-like light illuminating her features, passing through her tresses.

"I still haven't gotten back what belongs to me," Xu Xiaoyou smiled, her golden eyes seemingly wanting to imprint the werewolf within them.

"Long time no see, Director Wilson."

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