Everyone Is Non-Human Except Me [Rebirth] Chapter 88

Wei Huan stood behind Yun Yongzhou, stunned. His heart buzzed, tingling, replaying Yun Yongzhou’s words about possessiveness over and over in his head, but he couldn’t find the words to respond.

Ding—the elevator chimed, snapping the three of them out of their respective thoughts. As the doors slid open, Zhao Yuecheng stepped out awkwardly. “No worries. We’ll talk about drinks another time. There’ll be a chance.”

From across the hall, someone called out, “Lieutenant Zhao, the documents you requested are ready.”

Yun Yongzhou said flatly, “You go ahead. I’m leaving.” He turned back to glance at Wei Huan.

[Follow me.]

[…Okay.]

The voice in his mind hit like thunder, sending another wave of that numbing sweetness down his spine.

The moment they stepped out of the building, Yun Yongzhou opened a barrier, and the two vanished, reappearing in the Shanhai Research Division’s lab.

As soon as they stepped out of the barrier, Wei Huan spotted Qing He, who also happened to glance over—and jumped back in horror. “What the h*ll?! Are you shooting a horror film?!”

Wei Huan startled, looked down, and was horrified himself—his body was invisible except for his legs. As he watched, his thighs slowly faded into view, but his torso remained translucent. “What the h*ll?! Why’s it revealing from the bottom up?!”

“Time’s almost up,” Yun Yongzhou said calmly.

“If it faded from the top down, that’d be way worse,” Fang Cheng commented, sipping his cup of steaming tea. “You’d look like a flying head spirit.”

The mental image made Wei Huan shudder. He swung his still half-invisible legs over to Qing He, pulled out a chair, and sat down. “You found Yang Shu?”

Qing He stared at his see-through torso, took a sip of the tea Fang Cheng handed him to steady himself, and nodded. “Yeah. Thanks to Fang Cheng, who helped me clean up a huge mess, I managed to track him down.” As he spoke, he worked at the control panel. A floating display opened up, showing a location. “Here—the main power plant in the Dark Zone. He was using electromagnetic shielding to hide, but he’s definitely here.”

Wei Huan’s body finally reappeared completely. He instinctively zoomed in on the map. “This place is underground. Lots of tunnels… plus tons of high-risk equipment.”

“Exactly,” Qing He nodded. “That’s why we can’t go in alone. We need more people, and we need a proper plan. Otherwise, if we alert Yang Shu, he’ll run.”

Fang Cheng popped a cookie into his mouth. “But wait… shouldn’t this Yang Shu technically be violating Fanzhou’s laws too? Are we even allowed to arrest or punish him?”

Yun Yongzhou responded with a quiet hum. “He might end up being the fuse.”

“He’s bound to run sooner or later. What I don’t get is—he’s been doing human experiments for so long. By any logic, he should’ve been arrested ages ago. Why is the Fanzhou government letting him get away with it?” Wei Huan absentmindedly picked up a pen and drew two quick lines on the control panel.

Qing He leaned back in his chair, spun halfway, then spun back. “Didn’t I tell you? Fanzhou is just an empty shell now. It’s been controlled for a long time. There’s very little they can actually decide on their own.”

Wei Huan frowned and looked toward Yun Yongzhou. Yun Yongzhou only glanced back but immediately understood his meaning. His tone was calm but cold. “The current leader is Chen Zhong. He succeeded Song Chengkang—arranged by Yun Ting.”

As expected. The Demon Domain was now pulling the strings behind the Fanzhou government.

“So… the Demon Puppet Project is orchestrated by the Demon Domain’s Prime Minister?” Qing He’s face twisted. “That doesn’t make sense. Why? Why would he sabotage his own side?”

Yun Yongzhou replied, “From what I know about him, Yun Ting isn’t directly involved in the core of the Puppet Project. He has no reason to be.”

There had been too many clues piling up these days. Whether it was from the time of Yun Yongzhou’s death, or now—everything seemed to converge toward one point: a power struggle.

He started jotting notes directly on the control panel. “It started with Qing He’s father—the pacifist faction—who was overthrown by the radical Song Chengkang. After Song Chengkang died, the puppet faction took over, with Yun Ting controlling things from behind the curtain.” He drew arrows down. “Yun Ting has no intention of keeping things this way forever. His ambition is obvious—secure the succession, and during this window, completely swallow Fanzhou. That’s probably his endgame.”

“Right now, his approach is internal erosion,” Yun Yongzhou continued. “No need for military force. Just use political infiltration to turn Fanzhou into an actual colony.”

“Exactly.” Wei Huan snapped his fingers and sketched another line. “Which means… Yun Ting has no need for the Puppet Project. If the Puppet Project exists, that means there’s another faction whose interests conflict with his.”

Qing He suddenly perked up. “It must be the remnants of the radicals. They’re trying to overthrow the puppet faction and seize power through force. Starting the Puppet Project makes total sense for them.”

“Very likely.” Wei Huan nodded, circling Song Chengkang’s name in red. “So… the radical faction hiding in Fanzhou must be Yang Shu’s backer. But one thing still doesn’t add up. If Yun Ting controls Chen Zhong, why is he letting the radicals go ahead with the Puppet Project? He can’t not know about it.”

Plus, the recent bizarre way the government army has been handling the puppets didn’t make sense either.

Wei Huan stared at the lines on the screen. He could feel he was missing something. If the logic didn’t connect, there had to be a hidden piece.

He decided not to dwell on the big-picture politics for now. He tossed the pen onto the table. “Either way, first, we catch Yang Shu. Maybe we’ll get more intel then. Let’s build a team and set a trap. Catch him like a turtle in a jar.” He glanced at Yun Yongzhou as he finished speaking. Yun Yongzhou only gave him a calm “Whatever makes you happy” look.

He really has changed. Yun Yongzhou used to hate group operations more than anything. Seeing this, Wei Huan couldn’t help but smile. He slouched in his chair, stretched his legs out, and playfully nudged Yun Yongzhou’s foot with his toe like a mischievous kid.

Suddenly, Qing He piped up. “Hey, what were you guys doing just now anyway?”

That reminded Wei Huan. “Oh right, the mission roster!” He covered his left eye, blinking his right rapidly—but nothing came up. He lifted his head, looking at Yun Yongzhou with confused, droopy-rabbit eyes. “It… it didn’t save…”

No. You didn’t remember it.

Fang Cheng handed him a plate of cookies. “Who was on it?”

Yun Yongzhou didn’t reply. Instead, he sat down next to Wei Huan. Just from sitting this close, with Yun Yongzhou’s faint, cool, sunlit scent filling his senses, Wei Huan’s heart immediately started racing faster.

Yun Yongzhou quietly picked up the pen and started writing down the names from memory—each line crisp, elegant, yet sharp-edged, just like him.

“These are the names.”

“What is this?” Qing He leaned over curiously.

Wei Huan stared at the list. “This is the task roster for the government army’s mission to wipe out the demon slayers. Way, way back. You weren’t even born yet.”

“Demon slayers?” Qing He thought for a moment. “There’s one in the Dark Zone. Kinda long hair.”

Wei Huan’s eyes lit up. “You’ve met him? Green eyes, right?”

The two immediately launched into conversation. Meanwhile, the ever-dedicated afternoon tea enthusiast Fang Cheng brewed a fresh cup of tea for Yun Yongzhou, plated a few more cookies, and brought them over.

Rare chance that Instructor Yun’s in a good mood. He’ll definitely like the cookies this time.

Qing He nodded rapidly. “Yeah yeah, green eyes, black hair, kinda handsome.”

Wei Huan clapped his hands. “Right? I thought the same. Super cool guy.”

Fang Cheng happily set the tea down in front of Yun Yongzhou—but the moment he looked up, Yun Yongzhou’s face suddenly darkened. Sunshine one second; thunderstorms the next.

“Thanks.” Yun Yongzhou said the word politely, but paired with that expression, it sounded more like “I will kill you.”

Fang Cheng trembled. “You’re… welcome…” He scurried back to sit next to Qing He. Meanwhile, Wei Huan was still chatting away, oblivious, as if holding a remote control capable of switching Yun Yongzhou’s moods without realizing it.

“But, obviously, our Instructor Yun is the most handsome~” Wei Huan grinned mid-conversation, then suddenly hooked his arm around Yun Yongzhou’s neck, leaning fully against him. “No matter how good-looking someone else is, next to our grand golden crow, I wouldn’t spare them a glance~”

Crunch. Fang Cheng bit into a cookie and watched as storm clouds instantly cleared. Yun Yongzhou’s mouth tugged up ever so slightly, and those always-cool amber eyes softened as they turned to glance at the playful, laughing Wei Huan.

The switch flipped again.

So fast.

“Spare this pretty little lemon, won’t you?” Qing He looked at Wei Huan and shook his head. “By the way, is that person really an demon slayer?”

“Ah Zu hasn’t told you yet, has he?” Wei Huan sat up straight. “He’s a demon puppet—one of the first successful experiments.”

Qing He’s eyes lit up instantly. “But he’s not like Tianfa. He… he has consciousness.”

“Right,” Wei Huan looked at the list Yun Yongzhou had just written down. “If we can find him, and the person who purified his spirit behind the scenes, maybe we can restore Tianfa’s mind too.”

This was the best news Qing He had heard in days. His eyes gleamed, and his smile finally wasn’t just something he forced onto his face.

But Yun Yongzhou spoke to Wei Huan via heart communication:

[The matter of the demon slayers is very complicated. The chances of success are slim. You don’t need to give him false hope.]

Wei Huan’s voice rang clear:

[This isn’t hope—it’s the will to live. Just like me. Before I met you, I lived for the sake of uncovering the truth.]

Yun Yongzhou’s heart skipped a beat.

A hard chunk of ice was suddenly wrapped in a warm, soft cat paw pad—turning into damp light in his palm.

[Meeting me…]

Before he could finish, Wei Huan’s attention had already shifted. “Wait a second, this person looks really familiar…”

He pointed at a name on the task list. “Look—Shen Siming. Doesn’t he look familiar? I swear I’ve seen this name before, and it’s not a common one either.”

Yun Yongzhou furrowed his brows slightly, as if recalling something. “I think he used to be one of our combat instructors.”

“Yes, yes, that’s it,” Wei Huan also remembered. “Really tall, bad temper, had six wings.”

But something didn’t sit right with Yun Yongzhou. Wei Huan noticed too. “Why is he on a mission team? He should’ve been in Shanhai’s reserve forces. Why is he mixed up with the government army’s assignments?”

His instincts told him they’d found a flaw—a potential breakthrough worth digging into. It left Wei Huan faintly excited.

Yun Yongzhou’s eyes dropped to the task list. “We need to investigate the background of everyone else on here.”

Wei Huan nodded. “Exactly. These are faces from years ago. The personnel must’ve changed a lot since then, but if any of them are from Shanhai, that makes things easier. We can start tracing from Shanhai’s reserve forces. Something’s bound to come up.”

Leaving the research division, Wei Huan planned to talk to Yang Sheng about this list—and about rooting out Yang Shu. Yun Yongzhou walked with him. After just a few steps, Wei Huan spoke up: “You know something about the demon slayers, don’t you? Back in the archives, you said they were dangerous. Just now too.”

Yun Yongzhou nodded frankly. “I’ve encountered one.”

“You have?” Wei Huan was so shocked he grabbed his hand. “When?”

Yun Yongzhou didn’t speak—as if that was already the answer.

Wei Huan rarely pressured him when he went quiet like this, but a flood of questions swirled in his mind. Why didn’t he know about this? Did it happen after he died? Was it the person who purified that green-eyed boy? How did they meet? Too many questions stacked up—Wei Huan felt like a cat tangled in a ball of yarn, unable to make sense of it all.

Lost in thought, he began playing with Yun Yongzhou’s hand. He opened his palm, slipped off his student ring, and slid it onto Yun Yongzhou’s pinky. It was a bit too big and jingled with every movement.

“I’m taking it back now,” Wei Huan murmured, sliding the ring off again and back onto his own middle finger. The metal band, still warm with Yun Yongzhou’s body heat, burned slightly on his skin.

“Sometimes, the truth really isn’t all that important.”

Yun Yongzhou suddenly said.

Wei Huan wasn’t surprised. He knew it came from worry—that the closer he got to the truth, the more danger he’d be in.

“It is important,” Wei Huan muttered as he continued to fiddle with Yun Yongzhou’s hand, “I think it’s really important.”

As he opened Yun Yongzhou’s palm, Wei Huan suddenly noticed something. He pulled that slender hand close and looked carefully.

The dot in his palm had turned blue!

“This spot!” Wei Huan stared at him in shock. “It changed color—it’s my color now~”

Yun Yongzhou ruffled Wei Huan’s hair lightly and said calmly, “It always has been.”

…Huh?

What did that mean?

Wei Huan muttered in confusion, “But it was black before…”

Clearly, Yun Yongzhou didn’t intend to admit to the silly act of coloring it black himself. Instead, he just imitated Wei Huan’s tone, “Yeah, it was black before.”

Wei Huan gave him a sideways glance. “Then why did you say it didn’t change? Don’t tell me—you painted over it or something?” Though he said it, Wei Huan was half-joking.

Yun Yongzhou said with a straight face, “Do you think I’m the kind of person who would do something like that?”

Wei Huan stared at him for two seconds, then shook his head decisively. “Nope.”

Then what happened? He rubbed at the blue dot in Yun Yongzhou’s palm, but it didn’t change.

Still, just this tiny little mark of his left on Yun Yongzhou’s body was enough to make Wei Huan feel happy for a long time.

“You think, once I recover my Nine Phoenix abilities, you’ll get my demon mark on your body too?”

He got only a smile in response—no answer.

The two continued walking. The rose-gold sunset spilled through the gaps in the sky-reaching vines, casting a warm glow across their butterfly bones.

“I didn’t finish what I was saying earlier,” Yun Yongzhou suddenly said.

Wei Huan stopped walking. It seemed he had already been thinking about the same thing.

He suddenly remembered what Yun Yongzhou had once said—something about him lacking a sense of possessiveness.

It was true. He had never wanted to claim anything or anyone as his own. Pretty flowers belonged blooming in gardens. Cute birds were meant to soar in the skies.

Nothing was ever supposed to belong to him.

“Yes. I didn’t finish either.”

“Do you know what the truth means to me?”

He calmly slid his hands into his pockets, the September wind blowing loose strands of hair into the air. On the ground, his tall silhouette intertwined with the swaying shadow of a tail orchid. The long, graceful leaves overlapped with his shoulders, spreading out—just like a pair of wings.

“I used to live just to uncover the truth. So even after I was reborn with nothing—not just without the power of the Nine Phoenixes, but not even as a demon anymore—I still fought with everything I had to survive. To live until the day I found the truth. Nothing else mattered.”

The tail orchid slowly pulled its leaves away, and the wings cast by Wei Huan’s shadow disappeared as well.

“Before I met you, that was indeed the only reason I had to stay alive.”

Yun Yongzhou stood silently where he was. With the light behind him, he couldn’t see Wei Huan’s face clearly—for a moment, it felt like they were back to seven years ago.

“But now, it’s different. Rather than just gritting my teeth to survive, I want to grit my teeth and become stronger. I want to uncover the truth, and then stand beside you openly, as my true self. And I want to tell everyone—”

Wei Huan lifted his head slightly and curled the corner of his lips in a cocky smile—just like when they first met ten years ago.

“The strongest, most beautiful white-feathered Golden Crow in all the demon realm…”

“Belongs to me, Nine Phoenix.”

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