Shen Yuan already knew what Bai Tingfeng meant with that question. It was regarding the offer to work under the Hunter Association.
"N-" Shen Yuan was supposed to say no promptly, but a sudden realization hit him.
His secret and this offer, no matter how he analyzes their conversation earlier, is giving off a different vibe for him.
He gnashed his teeth.
Chairman Mao Huanlong may be planning to use whatever he uncovered about him to turn him into the Hunter Association's hunting dog.
That is a very plausible explanation since the shrewd, mysterious old man gave him time to "think" and, at the same time, the envelope containing documents still unknown to him.
"Speaking of, where is that shit-colored envelope?" He asked himself despite the slight agitation he was feeling.
Shen Yuan saw that Bai Tingfeng was holding it in his right hand. It was already opened without the papers inside it. The alpha male's back was still turned away from him, so he still hadn't seen what expression Bai Tingfeng was making.
"Oh, so you read it…" Shen Yuan did his best to set aside his negative emotions. Bai Tingfeng didn't sound too confrontational earlier, and he didn't intend to be the toxic bitch who is angry with every twist and turn.
He mirrors whatever he gets from other people. May it be peace or chaos, kindness or malice. That is the behavior that he formed as he waddles his way around the mortal world.
"Yes, I did, and you?" Bai Tingfeng, in turn, asked.
"Not yet," he answered promptly.
Bai Tingfeng didn't hesitate to give the envelope to Shen Yuan. "I apologize if I opened it without your permission. My curiosity got the best of me."
"Don't be sorry. Chairman Mao specifically said to me that I should share this with you," Shen Yuan made sure to make his movement as light as possible in order not to disturb the slumbering Yanyan.
He sat beside Bai Tingfeng, and he silently noted to himself that this was probably the first time they had interacted calmly ever since they first met.
It makes Shen Yuan wonder what is up with this alpha male.
Bai Tingfeng silently laughed out of nowhere, "Of course, Chairman Mao would want me to see this. This is probably his roundabout way of hitting me in the back of my head."
"What do you mean?" Shen Yuan wanted to ask, but then he remembered what that elderly alpha had said about Bai Tingfeng's childhood trauma. He is not in a position to open the Pandora's box of a big alpha man.
Instead of throwing his silent questions, Shen Yuan started reading the documents in his hand.
"This is reports written by psychometrists deployed in the Yanyan's kidnapping incident," Shen Yuan blurted out.
In a society where awakened powers are running rampant, with more than half of the world's population possessing them, it is natural that some awakened abilities are used in today's occupations. Some powers are even deemed so important that they are given a special part in the government, one of which is psychometry.
Psychometrists who can see the past events that happened to a person by just touching things related to the event or person are employed in the justice system to serve as fact-checkers of cases. They wrote reports that contained significant details of the events and would later be used to solidify the truth of the crimes. This system is especially helpful when the incident involves people who find it hard to narrate what they went through.
And that is what Shen Yuan is reading right now—the detailed experiences of Yanyan inside that minivan. Now, he could understand why Bai Tingfeng was acting somberly. To read about their child's horrendous experience is like cutting a piece of their flesh to any parents in the world. Every word written on the pieces of paper feels like thorns in his eyes. He wanted to storm his way inside the holding facility and torture the life out of Haichong and his cronies.
He wants to tear them apart!
He doesn't mind if he goes berserk and exposes his identity as the celestial fox spirit. All Shen Yuan wanted to do was to make those bastards pay with their blood!
Unbeknownst to him, the mana he stored inside leaked in response to his chaotic emotion. He was startled when Bai Tingfeng suddenly grabbed his arm and said, "Calm yourself down."
Enraged, Shen Yuan said with gritted teeth, "How can I calm down? My son, an innocent five-year-old child, was treated like a fucking toy! If you still can afford to hold yourself together, then—"
His following words disappeared the moment their eyes met. Suki, the celestial fox spirit living in the body of Shen Yuan, is a prideful and brave entity. He didn't feel fear when facing an actual demon nor shiver when he once served an entity that stands on top of all creation.
But now, his fingertips are trembling, and goosebumps are forming in his arms at the exact moment he saw that teary, wrathful gaze of Bai Tingfeng.
He still feels the weighing anger on his chest, but more than that, he feels that everything becomes clear in his mind because of the pressure that he felt from the alpha.
"No. I was wrong, Bai Tingfeng. Between the two of us, you couldn't hold yourself back. You wanted to mangle their bodies until none of their parts could be identified. That is what your eyes say. You've got the eyes of an apex predator." he said in a daze.
Those eyes caught his attention in the manhua, and seeing it happen now made him realize what prompted Bai Tingfeng to be an unfeeling bastard who only fucks and never loves.
What made Bai Tingfeng, the goody-two-shoes, turn into an unfeeling fuck boy.
He must have lost Yanyan and blamed it on himself because he didn't manage to break through his trauma at the last minute. This loss prompted him into a downward spiral where he focused on hunting down Haichong and killing him to avenge his son's fate.
The same goes for Shen Yuan. He left, neglected his son for years, and paid the price of losing his child.
Suki doesn't know what happened to Shen Yuan when he suffered from Mana Overload if he reawakened or what, but since the latter managed to become an annoying secondary villain, it must mean that he reawakened another power.
A power that he couldn't use to save his son because the celestial fox spirit bets that he must have done nothing when Bai Tingfeng sent him home when the kidnapping happened.
That explains why he was hell-bent on giving hell to Bai Tingfeng. Because it was Bai Tingfeng's shot call that messed everything up.
Suddenly, an unneeded enlightenment struck him, and it made his anger mellow down a little bit.
Shit, it seems he not only changed the fate of the secondary villain Shen Yuan and the innocent child. He might have messed up the fate and character of the male lead, too!
Bai Tingfeng was unaware of the thoughts that registered in the omega's mind beside him. He just heaved a deep breath, seemingly to calm himself. "Yes, and it is natural. I could never forgive them."
"As you should," Shen Yuan faked his calm when, deep inside, his neurons were stressing how he should deal with his blunder. He is not sure if failing to change Bai Tingfeng's character will derail the story of his favorite manhua, but there is something that he is confident of.
"You know I didn't regret anything that I did, starting from escaping the escort that was meant to send me home."
When he heard Shen Yuan say those words, Bai Tingfeng felt like a stone was thrown at his head.
"I know, and I am more than thankful for that," he responded calmly. If it weren't for Shen Yuan jumping in front of the minivan, he would be afraid that the worst things would happen to their son.
"I don't need thanks, Bai Tingfeng," Shen Yuan said. Deep inside, he concocted a plan to make Bai Tingfeng rethink his principle of being a goody-two-shoes in this life. He couldn't do anything if he was no longer the cold and bastardly playboy in the manhua— good for Lei Jireh. But at least he needs to make Bai Tingfeng a tougher man. Because once the canon event starts, he will face many enemies with no moral high ground.
Slaying monsters is not the only thing he must do. He will also kill villains like Haichong.
"I just want you to remember your regrets from the incident at the same time, own that dark side of yours."
"What holds you back from showing that side of you, Bai Tingfeng?"