Rulu's expression suddenly became extremely serious as he said earnestly, "Shari, I have an important request to make of you, and I hope you can agree."
"What is it? You're so serious."
"I hope you won't tell anyone about seeing me here today."
"Okay, but why?"
"I can't tell you the details. All I can say is that if you reveal that you saw me today, both Nana and I will be in danger, so you must keep this secret for me."
Shari was quite surprised and said, "No way, is it really that serious? Are you and Nana being chased by a terrorist organization? If so, we should quickly notify the Sanctuary and have them send someone to protect you."
"Absolutely don't do that!" Rulu shot Shari a stern look and said, "In short, this matter cannot be known by anyone other than you, not even your parents or your best friends. Can you help me keep this secret?"
Shari hesitated and said, "Then... will you still continue to study here, Rulu? Will I be able to see you again?"
"No, I won't be appearing here anymore."
"Why not..." Shari's eyes went blank, her expression filled with sadness.
Rulu said softly, "As long as you agree to help me keep this secret, I will contact you again in the future. But if you tell anyone about seeing me today, then I will never see you again."
Shari hurriedly shook her head, "No, no way! I will definitely help you keep this secret. I swear."
Rulu replied with a "Hmm," saying, "Okay, I believe you, Shari."
Shari looked at Rulu a bit nervously and said, "Then you must contact me in the future, Rulu. Otherwise, I will hate you forever and will never forgive you."
Rulu smiled and said, "Got it. While I'm not at school, you need to be careful, Shari. If someone bullies you again, there won't be anyone to help you."
Shari nodded vigorously when suddenly a heavy voice that sounded like a beast came from the side, "Excuse me, are you done talking? Can I leave here now?"
This voice startled Rulu and Shari, and they quickly turned around to see Sphinx lying on the ground nearby, looking at them with helpless eyes.
Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
"Oh no, I completely forgot about this guy." Rulu realized that he had been so focused on talking to Shari that he forgot Sphinx was still nearby.
"Sphinx, you need to forget everything you just heard, understand?" Shari said seriously, hands on her hips as she addressed Sphinx.
"Forget what? What do you want me to do, Sister Shari?" Sphinx looked at her timidly.
"I mean, if someone asks you about what just happened, just pretend you didn't hear anything we said and that you haven't seen this big brother named Rulu, okay?" Shari explained.
"But I've already heard and seen it. How can I pretend I didn't hear?" Sphinx looked confused.
"Well... you can lie. You can deceive them."
"That wouldn't be good. If others find out I lied, I would be expelled from school."
"Then Sphinx, are you unwilling to listen to your sister's words? If that's the case, if you get bullied again, I won't help you anymore," Shari pretended to be angry as she said to Sphinx.
"Uh..." Sphinx felt very troubled and didn't know how to respond to Shari.
"Shari, let me talk to him," Rulu stepped in front of Sphinx and said, "Sphinx, if I'm not mistaken, your father is human, and your mother is a winged lion. You were expelled from the Sanctuary, right?"
Upon hearing this, Sphinx was very surprised, "Yes... yes, how did you know this, Big Brother Rulu? I've never told anyone about it."
Rulu smiled and said, "The reason is simple. In the Sanctuary, there are many magical beasts like you. These beasts pose a significant threat to the humans living in the Sanctuary. To ensure their safety, the people in the Sanctuary usually kill these monsters directly or drive them away. You are lucky to have survived and left the Sanctuary."
Sphinx whispered, "That was a long time ago. I'm safe here."
"Do you really think so? Even if you left the Sanctuary, you wouldn't be accepted by humans and would be treated as a monster and eliminated," Rulu said with a malicious look at Sphinx.
Sphinx trembled, staring at Rulu with terrified eyes, "No, this school treats me well. They always provide me food and let me attend classes with others. They won't kill me."
Rulu said coldly, "The reason this school took you in is that you have value to them. You should know that every once in a while, a new batch of magical beasts is brought here, and another batch is sent away. Do you know what happens to those sent away?"
Sphinx swallowed hard and asked, "What happens to them?"
"Those monsters are basically all killed. Their bodies are dissected, and their organs are made into medicines and sold at high prices, or bought by rich people as expensive food. Very few monsters survive."
Sphinx was greatly frightened, screaming, "No, they won't do that! They won't kill me!"
"Rulu, why are you scaring him like this? This isn't right," Shari said with a tone of reproach, wanting to stop Rulu as she saw how pitiful Sphinx looked.
Rulu replied, "I'm not scaring him; I'm just telling him the truth."
"But Sphinx is different from other monsters. He can speak, read, and write, and his IQ is very high. That's why the school has taken care of him for so many years. I think the school wouldn't treat him like other monsters, right?"
"That's hard to say." Rulu wore a mocking smile and said, "You should know that humans can casually kill their own kind for their own interests, let alone monsters like Sphinx. They've kept Sphinx for so long just to sell him at a good price and profit more from him."