Rulu's expression suddenly turned very serious. He said with great earnestness: "Shari, there's something important I need to ask of you. I hope you'll agree."

  "What is it? You look so serious."

  "I need you not to tell anyone that you saw me here today."

  "That's fine — but why?"

  "I can't expin the details. All I can tell you is that if you tell anyone you saw me here today, my life and Nana's life will be in danger. So you absolutely must keep this secret for me."

  Shari said in shock: "Surely not — is it really that serious? Are you and Nana being hunted by terrorists? If so, you should notify the Sanctuary right away and have them send people to protect you."

  "Whatever you do, don't do that!" Rulu gave Shari a stern look and said: "The point is — no one else can know about this. Not even your parents, not even your closest friends. Can you keep this secret for me?"

  Shari hesitated and said: "Then…… will you still come back to study here, Rulu? Will I be able to see you again?"

  "No. I won't be coming here anymore."

  "Why must it be like this……" Shari's eyes went bnk, her face full of sadness.

  Rulu said gently: "As long as you keep my secret, I'll be in touch with you again someday. But if you tell anyone you saw me today, I'll never see you again."

  Shari quickly shook her head and waved her hands: "No, no — I'll absolutely keep your secret. I swear it."

  Rulu said "mm" and nodded: "Good. I trust you, Shari."

  Shari looked at him with a slight anxiety and said: "Then you must get in touch with me, Rulu — otherwise I'll hate you forever and never forgive you."

  Rulu smiled and said: "I know. And while I'm away from the school, Shari, you need to be careful yourself. Otherwise, if someone bullies you again, there won't be anyone to step in and help you."

  Shari gave a firm nod. Then from nearby came a rough, heavy voice that sounded like an animal: "Excuse me — are you two done? Can I leave now?"

  The voice gave both Rulu and Shari a start. They turned around quickly to find Sphinx lying on the ground nearby, looking at the two of them with helpless eyes.

  "Oh no — I forgot about this one." Rulu came to his senses. He had been so caught up talking to Shari that he had completely forgotten Sphinx was still nearby.

  "Sphinx — you're going to forget everything you just heard. Do you understand?" Shari put both hands on her hips and addressed Sphinx with great seriousness.

  "Forget what? What do you need me to do, Sister Shari?" Sphinx said, looking at Shari with a somewhat timid expression.

  "What I mean is — if anyone asks you about what just happened, you act as if you didn't hear what we were saying just now, and as if you never saw this big brother called Rulu. Understand?" Shari expined.

  "But I already heard it, and I already saw it. How can I act as if I didn't?" Sphinx wore the expression of someone who genuinely couldn't follow the logic.

  "Well…… you can lie. You can deceive people."

  "That doesn't seem right. If someone found out I was lying, I'd be kicked out of the school."

  "So Sphinx, you're saying you won't listen to your sister? In that case, if someone bullies you again, your sister won't help you anymore." Shari put on a show of being angry as she addressed Sphinx.

  "Uhh……" Sphinx looked deeply troubled and didn't know how to answer Shari.

  "Shari — let me talk to him." Rulu stepped in front of Sphinx and said to it: "Sphinx, if I'm not mistaken, your father is human and your mother was a winged lion. And you were expelled from the Sanctuary, weren't you?"

  Hearing this, Sphinx was greatly startled: "Yes…… yes, that's right. How did you know all that, Big Brother Rulu? I've never told anyone about those things."

  Rulu smiled and said: "The reason is simple. In the Sanctuary, many wild creatures like you exist naturally. These creatures pose a significant threat to the humans living there. To protect themselves, the people of the Sanctuary typically kill these creatures outright, or drive them out. That you were able to leave the Sanctuary alive — you're already quite fortunate."

  Sphinx said in a low voice: "That was a long time ago. I'm safe here."

  "Do you really think so?" Rulu looked at Sphinx with an expression that held little warmth. "Even after leaving the Sanctuary, Sphinx, you won't be accepted by humans either. They'll treat you as a monster to be destroyed."

  Sphinx gave a shudder and stared at Rulu with frightened eyes: "No — this school has been good to me. They've been providing me with food all this time, and letting me attend csses with the other students. They won't kill me."

  Rulu said coolly: "The reason this school took you in is because you have some use to them. You should know — every so often, a new batch of creatures is brought here, and another batch is sent away. Do you know what becomes of the ones who are sent away?"

  Sphinx swallowed with difficulty and said: "What becomes of them?"

  "Essentially, they're all killed. Their bodies are dissected; their organs are made into medicines and sold at high prices, or bought by wealthy people and eaten as a premium delicacy. Very few of the creatures ever survive."

  Sphinx was badly frightened and cried out in arm: "No — they wouldn't do that. They wouldn't. They won't kill me."

  "Rulu, why are you scaring him like this? What you're doing isn't right." Shari said in a reproachful tone. Seeing how pitiful Sphinx looked, she wanted to stop Rulu.

  "I'm not scaring him. I'm only telling him the truth." Rulu said.

  Shari said: "But Sphinx is different from other monsters. He can speak, he can read, and his intelligence is quite high — that's precisely why the school has been keeping him all these years. I don't think the school would treat him the way they treat other monsters, would they?"

  "That's hard to say." Rulu said with a sardonic smile. "You have to understand — for the sake of their own interests, humans can casually kill even their own kind, let alone a creature like Sphinx. The school has been keeping him all this time most likely just to sell him for a good price and squeeze more profit out of him."