Girl in the Box: Please tell me why I was reincarnated as a mimic monster!

"Well done." Xuanze clapped his hands gleefully.

"Hey? How can you be such a scoundrel?" The girl rolled her eyes at him, annoyed.

"This is who I am." Xuanze had no intention of changing his appearance. "Where do you plan to go in the future?"

"Where to?" the girl thought for a moment. "Isn't it too early to talk about that kind of thing? What else can I do right now besides studying?"

"aid……"

"Screw you!"

The girl angrily kicked Xuanze, giving him a hard kick to the thigh. However, she wasn't really angry. After seven years of getting along, she had long since figured out what kind of person he was. Even if he said something strange, it didn't matter. As long as he came back, that was better than anything else.

“I’ll just tell you the truth,” Xuanze said. “I’ve only been back for a week this time, so I haven’t had time to worry about this or that.”

"A week?" The girl frowned. "Who exactly are you...?"

“Just consider me as someone who’s gone wandering around,” Xuanze said calmly. “By then, I probably won’t be back for a long time, maybe never. Just like you said, I’ll die on the streets.”

"I see..." The girl didn't know what to say. "What exactly did you do?"

"Saved...the world?" Xuanze himself was not sure what he had done in that world. "To be precise, I didn't save it. In the end, I wasn't the protagonist of that story."

Thinking back on his experiences in the other world, he realized that he hadn't really done anything particularly remarkable. At best, he was just a temporary demon king. As for saving the world, even though he was the one who summoned the hero, he had long forgotten about this inexplicable responsibility. There was no benefit to being a hero. In the end, it wasn't a summoner or a goddess who sent him back to this world.

"...You're not serious, are you?" The girl looked doubtful.

"Think what you want," Xuanze said calmly. "I'm just stating the facts, that's all. Whether you believe it or not is up to you."

"That's a really annoying thing to say..." the girl said, clearly annoyed.

“Then…” Xuanze took a deep breath, “Where is Dad?”

"…………"

The girl was silent.

“………………Then let me put it another way.” After looking at the girl’s expression, Xuanze already understood the answer.

"Where is Dad now?"

The two stood silently on the deserted street for a long time, neither speaking. The only sounds were the creaking of tree branches, the rustling of leaves, and the dripping of water droplets from the black coat onto the ground. After a long while, the girl spoke.

“He’s gone. That madman.” The girl’s expression was stiff. “I’ll take you to see him.”

Chapter 23 The Demon King's House

The girl before him was actually Xuanze's adopted sister, an outstanding one, far superior to his own useless and incompetent adopted sister. Her name—did it matter? Xuanze didn't usually call her that. Always a loner, he rarely sought out others, preferring to handle things himself—one of his ways of repaying the orphanage's kindness.

However, he knew very well what kind of existence the orphanage meant to him.

That place was merely a place to stay; he had already considered leaving when he was sent to the orphanage. He couldn't rely on that place forever, and he didn't want to experience betrayal again. However, he had found someone he could rely on, someone reliable.

"This is it." The girl stopped. "Turn right ahead, second tombstone."

The girl pointed Xuanze in a direction and told him to find it himself.

A white mist hung over the cemetery after the midnight rain, giving it an eerie, indescribable feel. Whether it was an illusion or reality, Xuanze felt a chill run down his spine. It was truly astonishing that the guy dared to bring him to a place like this in the dead of night. Xuanze, of course, was completely unaffected by this strange atmosphere, after all, he possessed even more extraordinary powers.

Following the clues and directions given by the girl, he found the short, black tombstone with words engraved on it. What was his father's name again? Xuanze didn't remember it, but he didn't look at the words on the tombstone either. Instead, he knelt down on one knee and looked at the tombstone.

“What my father said,” the girl suddenly spoke from behind, “was that he died three months ago. Before he died, he was still giving money to the orphanage. Although my mother told him many times not to do it, he was very stubborn and refused to give up. Until one day he stopped coming, my mother was very worried about him, so she went to look for him. When she found him, he had been dead for two days.”

"That's incredibly stupid."

"How dare you call someone's father stupid?" the girl said irritably. "What have you done besides causing trouble for Mom? Every time Dad comes over, he keeps asking where you've been."

"Who knows where I went?"

Xuanze took off his black coat, carefully folded it in his hands, and placed it in front of the tombstone.

“You old geezer,” Xuanze said to the tombstone, “I’m returning your coat.”

Hey.

Xuanze snapped his fingers, and a crimson magical light suddenly appeared on his black coat, then burst into flames.

"Hello--!"

When the girl saw the flames ignite, her first reaction wasn't to scream and back away, but to reach out and pull Xuanze back. Her dark eyes reflected the raging fire, and she didn't know what to say.

Xuanze definitely didn't do anything wrong. He even folded the coat neatly and placed it in front of his father's tombstone. But after that, strange things happened. The black coat was suddenly engulfed and burned to ashes by flames. This scene was too bizarre no matter how you looked at it, especially since it happened in a cemetery.

"What did you do?" the girl asked instinctively.

“I didn’t do anything.” Xuanze stood up. “I just returned what belonged to him. That’s all.”

“…Hmph,” the girl hummed twice.

"I am leaving."

"Wait? Where are you going!?"

After Xuanze finished what he wanted to do, he planned to leave. This was a perfectly reasonable thing to do, but the girl called him back. Xuanze reluctantly stopped and turned around.

"What are you doing?" Xuanze asked. "You're so old, are you still afraid of ghosts? It's unbelievable that you believe in such things."

"Who would believe that?!" the girl shouted angrily. "Where are you going?!"

Xuanze's words had indeed struck a nerve with the girl. After witnessing those strange phenomena, coupled with the impression of the cemetery, she was genuinely afraid that demons or monsters might suddenly appear. If such things were to suddenly emerge, she really didn't know what to do. Therefore, she was actually a little afraid that Xuanze would suddenly leave at this moment.

"Where to?" Xuanze raised an eyebrow. "It doesn't matter where we go, right? What's the difference?"

"No?" The girl asked, somewhat surprised. "You weren't planning to go back to the orphanage, were you?"

"Nonsense," Xuanze said calmly, "What would we be doing there?"

"You're really stubborn..." The girl's eyebrows furrowed.

"Is there a problem?" Xuanze didn't think he had said anything wrong.

"This is a huge problem, you idiot." The girl grabbed Xuanze's hand without giving him a chance to argue. "Just come back with me. You don't have anywhere else to go, do you?"

Since she had dragged him away like that, Xuanze couldn't very well refuse. He only had this one plan for the week; after resolving this matter, he intended to find a place to wait until the week was over, and then find Li to return to the other world together. So, this week was basically blank, and Xuanze had no other plans.

Since she has already done this, Xuanze probably has no right to refuse.

He followed the girl from the suburbs back into the streets, wandering around. Even though Xuanze knew the way to the orphanage, the girl showed no intention of letting go. There was a strange feeling in her heart that if she let go now, Xuanze would disappear without a trace, just like he had been missing for half a year, until she finally found him today.

Therefore, she couldn't let go at this time. She had to take this guy back to see her mother. Even if she had to leave, she had to explain it to her family first. After several twists and turns, the girl brought Xuanze home.

"Ah..." The girl sighed, looking at the orphanage where the lights were off. "Mom's probably asleep by now..."

"Nobody's home," Xuanze said calmly. "So what are you going to do?"

“I have the key.” The girl rolled her eyes at him, then took out the key from her pocket and opened the orphanage door.

As the oldest and most reliable child in the orphanage, she naturally earned the trust of the orphanage administrators, as evidenced by the gleaming silver key in her hand. The girl knew that if this young man hadn't acted this way, he would have had the orphanage's key years ago.

"Shh..." The girl turned around and made a shushing gesture. "Your younger siblings are probably asleep by now. Don't make any loud noises that might wake them up."

Xuanze ignored her, walked straight past the girl, pushed open the door, and went inside. He made no attempt to lower his voice, entering as if nothing had happened.

"Hello……!"

The girl instinctively lowered her voice. Although she had already anticipated that this guy wouldn't listen to her, she hadn't expected him to go this far. Reluctantly, she followed him inside and quietly closed the door. Turning around, she saw Xuanze standing there, and the close proximity startled her, causing her to scream.

"What exactly do you want?!" the girl shouted angrily; she was genuinely angry this time.

"Didn't you bring me here yourself?" Xuanze retorted. "I'd like to ask you what exactly you want me to do."

"Wrong sense!"

"Also, being this loud will wake up the other kids."

"You don't need to tell me!!"

The girl was so angry she didn't care about anything else; all she wanted to do was teach this brainless guy a lesson. But something was strange; even though she had shouted so loudly, no one seemed to have been woken up.

Da da da.

The sound of slippers came from the stairwell, and a figure was walking down the stairs.

"Oh, Xiao Qiu, you're back! Did you bring any friends back?"

"We're not friends, Mom..."

The person who came downstairs was Ms. Fang, the sole person in charge of the orphanage and whom the children called "Mom." She wasn't wearing pajamas, but rather her daytime clothes, complete with an apron.

"Mom," Xiao Qiu said reproachfully, "why are you preparing ingredients in the middle of the night again?"

"Wait... Xiao Qiu... we'll talk about that later..."

Miss Fang blinked incredulously, then rubbed her eyes and looked at Xiao Qiu.

"Did I see it wrong?" Miss Fang asked.

“You’re not mistaken,” Xiao Qiu said weakly, “He really is Brother Xuan.”

Miss Fang's expression gradually changed from disbelief to surprise. She asked, "Xuanze...? Is that you...?"

Xuanze just looked at her without saying a word. Xiaoqiu glanced at him, then secretly pinched his waist from behind as a threat.

"Ouch..." Xuanze winced in pain, glared at Xiaoqiu, and then nodded coldly.

"It really is you..." Miss Fang's expression gradually brightened. "I see... Where have you been for the past six months? Are you alright?"

"I guess I'm alright. I went to a very far place," Xuanze replied simply.

"I see." Miss Fang didn't ask any further questions and turned to walk upstairs. "It's good that you're back. Have you eaten anything? I was just preparing something to eat. Would you like some?"

"Row."

Xuanze's answer surprised Xiaoqiu, who had originally planned to do something. She thought Xuanze would refuse again this time, but she didn't expect him to actually obey.

Actually, Xuanze obeyed for two reasons. First, there was Xiao Qiu; if he tried to refuse, Xiao Qiu would definitely do something. Second, he was already hungry, and there was no point in making things difficult for himself, so he simply agreed.

Xuanze also grew up here, so he could navigate the orphanage with ease without Xiaoqiu's help. He strolled along at his usual pace, looking at the familiar scenery around him, but he didn't have any particular thoughts in his mind. He arrived at the cafeteria on the second floor and saw Miss Fang fiddling with something.

"Ah, are you making dumplings?" Xiao Qiu followed her up. "Mom, why don't you sit down and talk to Xuan Ge about something? I can help you."

“No need,” Miss Fang said happily. “You sit down too. Xiao Qiu isn’t on a diet lately, is she? Can we have a late-night snack? Remember to tell me your thoughts after you’re done eating.”

"Well...it's not like that..." Xiao Qiu hesitated for a moment, "but having a meal shouldn't be a problem..."

Xuanze pulled out a chair next to the large table and sat down, while Xiaoqiu pulled out the chair opposite him and sat down. The two faced each other, and Xiaoqiu didn't know what to say. They just looked at each other.

"Oh, by the way," Miss Fang said, "Xuanze, when did you get back?"

"This morning," Xuanze said without hiding anything.

"You didn't even tell us you were coming back." Miss Fang put dumplings into the bowl. "Dad passed away three months ago. Before he died, he kept asking where you were. Xiao Qiu, did you take your brother to see him?"

"I went there," Xiao Qiu said, lying on the table. "I just came back from there."

"I see." Miss Fang placed two bowls of dumplings in front of the two of them. "Then I think Dad will be satisfied when he goes off to his final rest, right?"

"Ah."

Xuanze ate the dumplings, which still tasted familiar. Usually, only Miss Fang ran the orphanage. She was responsible for educating and caring for the children and preparing their meals. Dumplings, which were all handmade by Miss Fang, were a rare treat. It seemed that he had come back at a good time this time.

"...Mom," Xiaoqiu asked after finishing her meal, "didn't you add too much salt?...Isn't it a bit too salty for the other siblings?"

"Huh? Really..." Miss Fang said, troubled. "Oh dear, I accidentally put in too much salt."

"It's alright," Xuanze said casually. "The taste is just right compared to the other place."

"Oh, by the way," Miss Fang suddenly remembered something, "Xuanze, have you been going out to work lately?"

"I guess so..." Xuanze replied dismissively.

"Then I'm relieved," Miss Fang said with a smile. "I was worried about where you'd gone. So now you're back from your holiday, right? You're still the person I can trust the most."

"Wait a minute?" Xiao Qiu was displeased after hearing her say that. "Xuan Ge is actually the person you trust the most, Mom? He looks like that. How can you say you trust him? I only went to check it out today because I heard that there was a guy in a black coat walking around nearby. He was getting soaked in the rain the whole time... Wait? When did your clothes dry?"

"An illusion," Xuanze said calmly. "When do you think I've ever been caught in the rain?"

"Don't you have any?!"

This familiar feeling made Xuanze unconsciously smile.

Well... it wouldn't hurt to stay here for a while and observe these kids...

Chapter 24 Other Places

"what happened?"

The middle-aged man in a suit slammed a bill on the table, startling the young master standing opposite him, who trembled and dared not utter a sound. He was dumbfounded by the bill; when had he made such a large purchase recently?