Closer to Revealing My True Self-Chapter 48 - 45 Theres a Monster_1

If Qian Feiyang knew that Feng Yi initially relied on his hyper-sensitive sense of smell to catch mice, would he think it’s lowbrow?

Feng Yi explained that he earned money by authenticating snake skins through business collaborations.

Upon hearing it was just snake skin authentication, Qian Feiyang lost interest, but then, learning that the house Feng Yi bought was near a reserve and had an excellent environment, he planned to take some photographs.

Once they arrived at the destination, the two men truly understood what Feng Yi meant by “a bit remote.”

Looking at the big house in front of him with mixed feelings, Wu Ji said, “Although it’s secluded and there are bugs and snakes, the house itself is really nice, with a large built area and front and backyards. I like this!”

The front yard had already been tidied up by someone Feng Yi hired, and it didn’t look disorderly. The flowers in the flowerbed were planted by Xue Lin; he hadn’t bothered to plant new ones.

The front yard was meant to welcome guests, but the backyard was Feng Yi’s own territory. After all, he slept there every night. When at home, of course, he’d do whatever made him comfortable.

Wu Ji glanced at the backyard and said to Feng Yi, “Don’t just tidy up the front yard, fix up the backyard as well, plant some pest and snake repellent plants – that would be safer.”

Feng Yi: “…Yeah.”

In fact, they used to be here, and there were quite a lot of them, but I pulled them all out.

But this couldn’t be said outright.

Qian Feiyang, uninterested in the house, helped Feng Yi arrange the home appliances with Wu Ji. When they took a break, Qian opened his work bag, planning to go to the riverbank to take photos.

“The riverbank? I’m coming too!” Wu Ji walked outside, adding, “Feng Yi, I haven’t seen any mosquitoes or bugs here. Or is it that they don’t come out during the day?”

As soon as Feng Yi heard Wu Ji mention “mosquitoes,” he remembered some of the precautions Xue Lin had mentioned about living here.

“Wait a moment.”

Feng Yi took out the medicine box, which contained mosquito repellent sprays and ointments, all suggested by Xue Lin.

“If you’re going to the riverbank, spray some of this mosquito repellent. There are mosquitoes there during the day. Oh, and it also prevents tick bites,” Feng Yi said.

Wu Ji and Qian Feiyang, who were about to leave, paused in their movements.

“Ticks… ticks?” Wu Ji stuttered, “You mean the kind mentioned in the news, the ones that burrow into your skin to suck blood?”

Qian Feiyang, who had been fiddling with his camera, also stiffened, looking at Feng Yi for an answer.

Their sensitivity to the topic was due to a news report from Yue Mountain last week, which described someone who hadn’t taken proper insect repellent precautions and had worn shorts and short sleeves to run in the wild, only to end up lying in a hospital with fever, coughing blood, and thrombocytopenia, diagnosed with a tick bite.

Not everyone encounters such situations, but ticks are indeed vectors for many pathogens, so it’s better to take precautions.

Neither Wu Ji nor Qian Feiyang could guarantee their own luck, especially since the news about the tick sucking blood had come out just a few days ago, and the image of it was clear in their minds. Just thinking of that scene made both of them shudder unconsciously.

Feng Yi continued, “Don’t worry, just spray on some of this repellent and you’ll be fine. You’re wearing long sleeves and pants today, so it should be okay. Even if you get bitten, there’s a clinic nearby that specializes in treating tick bites and won’t let the head break off in your skin.”

However, tick bites are more common in pets than in people around here. Of course, this didn’t need to be mentioned; it would scare them.

When it came to ticks, what struck Feng Yi most were the Haller’s organs they used to locate their “prey,” which he learned about when he was researching chemoreceptors and rhinarium.

Feng Yi took out the repellent, only to see both men looking uneasy.

Wu Ji retracted the foot he had stepped out of the door, “Ahem, I think it’s better to check out your new house. It’s too hot to go out right now.”

Qian Feiyang, who had been toying with his camera, hesitated for a moment before putting it away. He had glanced briefly at the riverside scenery on the way over and, actually, it wasn’t that appealing. For nature photography, he’d rather go to Yue Mountain’s tourist scenic area where they regularly spray for pests.

“Don’t they spray insect repellent over there?” Wu Ji asked, puzzled.

“The residential area and the surrounding areas still get sprayed, but they spray less by the river. Nowadays, there’s strict control over insect repellent near the riverside, and property management doesn’t dare to spray indiscriminately,” Feng Yi explained.

Wu Ji… Wu Ji felt that the allure of his “rural villa” dream had faded quite a bit.

Not only did he have to guard against snakes, but also ticks.

Scary.

Nevertheless, he was still very interested in the big house.

While helping Feng Yi move things, Wu Ji took the opportunity to examine the construction of the house.

“Basement?”

As they headed to the basement, Feng Yi mentioned that there was a fairly large one below. The mention of a basement excited Wu Ji; in movies and TV shows, such places were always shrouded in mystery. He wondered, what would the basement in a secluded villa like this be like?

Wu Ji stepped into the basement, but before he could examine it further, the first thing he noticed was a stack of books on a shelf.

“What’s this?” Wu Ji picked up a book and flipped through it, his confusion growing, “A self-rescue manual?”

He looked at the other books on the shelf, most of them about self-rescue, basic knowledge for flood prevention and drought control, XX ways to deal with emergencies, and more.

“Why do you need to read these if you live here?”

It wasn’t that Wu Ji couldn’t understand; the titles of the books made him aware of the problem. He was just shocked.

The villa was too close to the river. Although the residential area was located on higher ground, no one could say it was absolutely safe. When the water level rose, one needed to prevent the basement from flooding, just as the brochure had stated—things like sandbags and water pumps should be kept ready.

“Are the basements here waterproof?” Wu Ji muttered to himself.

“The walls are definitely waterproof, but in case of rising waters, it can still be quite dangerous,” Qian Feiyang said.

Wu Ji looked at Feng Yi with concern, “Bro, are you really going to move to… a place like this?”

“I really like it here. I’ve stayed a few nights already, and my sleep has been great,” Feng Yi replied.

Seeing that Feng Yi wasn’t joking, Wu Ji didn’t try to dissuade him further.

“Alright then.”

He had completely given up on his dream of a rural villa, even if it wasn’t by the river. Beautiful stories remained only on television.

On TV, those places close to nature that were often visited by cute animals, in reality, one had to consider snakes, insects, rodents, and ants, and how to cope with difficulties.

Now, Wu Ji believed that only extraordinary people could live peacefully in such places.

The three of them had a self-serve barbecue in the house, celebrating Feng Yi’s acquisition of a new residence.

After Wu Ji and Qian Feiyang left, Feng Yi tidied up a bit.

Night had fallen, but Feng Yi didn’t turn on the lights. He wanted to get a feel for his eyes’ capabilities and adapt to seeing in the night.

So, he hadn’t used any lights at night for the past few days.

The moon shone brightly tonight, but for Feng Yi, it made no difference.

Under the hazy moonlight, he laid out a mat, covered himself with a thin blanket, put on an eye mask, wore headphones, listened to rock music, and rhythmically shook his leg with the beat.

He breathed in the comforting scent of plants. After clearing the grassland and transplanting a few types of plants, the aroma became even more soothing. It was like having a calming incense burnt for most people, providing great relief to his nerves.

While Feng Yi pondered what other plants he could transplant in the backyard, slowly drifting into sleep, he suddenly sat up, removed his eye mask, and walked to the backyard wall.

Shortly, a figure emerged on the wall.

It was a child of about ten years old, climbing over the fence using the trees outside.

The child had just scaled the wall and was looking for a place to land when he sensed something amiss.

Although the moonlight was decent tonight, it was still dim for the average person. The child on the wall saw a figure standing in the yard, staring at him, and then reaching out towards him…

“Aaahhhh!!!”

He screamed as he climbed back over.

Feng Yi was initially worried that the child would fall, so he reached out to let the child jump straight down, intending to catch him, but the child got scared and went right back over. However, by the sounds of it, he didn’t fall.

Given the agility with which he scaled the wall, he was clearly experienced.

Outside the yard, there was more than one child; obviously, they were in a group. But the sudden scream from their companion who tried to scale the wall had frightened the rest.

The child who tried to climb over was still saying, “There’s a monster in the yard! It even reached out to grab me! Run!!”

Feng Yi, listening clearly from inside the yard: “…”

You’re the monster!

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All of you brats are monsters!

Feng Yi didn’t bother with them anymore and lay back down to sleep, vaguely hearing the other children’s voices as they ran off into the distance.

“So we’re not exploring today…”

“What does he look like… do his eyes glow… does he have fangs…”

After that, no more children came to bother him, and Feng Yi slept until the sun woke him up.

The backyard was nice for everything else, but lying in the sun for too long made him feel dry.

He got up, drank a bottle of water, and folded up the sleeping mat.

As he was preparing breakfast, Feng Yi caught the scent of the kids from last night.

He opened the front door and stepped into the front yard.

Three kids, about ten years old, stood outside the gate. The one leading them had a bit more courage and stepped a few paces closer into the yard, scrutinizing Feng Yi from head to toe, all the way down to his shadow on the ground. After a good look, he breathed a sigh of relief, smiled, and ran back.

“I told you, the person living inside is a human, not a monster!”