CH 33

Xiao Lan, who has cast a physical wall penetration spell, waits hopefully for the system to tell him.

A second has passed ……

Two seconds have passed ……

Three seconds have passed ……

After waiting for a whole ten seconds, surprisingly, no system prompt appeared! There was no hint that the destruction of the scene was noticed by the boss, nor was there a hint that the poverty value had increased, as if what he had just kicked down was just a wall of air.

No, that’s not right!

Wang Taidi entered through a hole in the wall, saw Xiao Lan staring at the door and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Xiao Lan’s voice drifted a little: “Why did the system prompt not appear when I destroyed the scene?”

Wang Taidi pondered for a moment, “The one that attracts the boss’s attention? Some games do that, players have all kinds of speculations, maybe some bosses or NPCs are so rich that they don’t mind this small amount of money at all.”

“It’s better for the players to find the clues anyway.” With that, Wang Taidi ran off to check the door.

Little, Little Money ……

Xiao Lan felt an ache from the depths of his soul, such a magnificent manor, so many antiques, so much poverty worth …… he could only watch, unable to take any of it with him.

Mrs. Bella, look at this wall, doesn’t it smell good? Can you make a place for it in your heart?

Now, he misses his stingy brother Zhang Dong so much that he can even count a few light bulbs falling on him.

Humanly, it’s not worth it.

Perhaps Xiao Lan’s loss was too obvious and Luo came over and tapped him on the shoulder, “Sir.”

Xiao Lan exhaled, “I’m fine, let’s go.”

Xiao Lan was in a bad way and this time it took him almost ten seconds to open the door. With Wang Taidi looking on in admiration, he pushes the door open.

Inside the door turned out to be a children’s room.

By the candlelight in the corridor, you can barely see inside the room.

The room is decorated with lots of bows, plastered with somewhat peeling scraps of wallpaper, and right in the middle is a beautifully contoured bed with a delicate white lace bedspread, now somewhat decayed, that would have been warm and cosy. With so many dusty toys on the bed, the sofa and even the carpet, this would have been a room for a little girl.

Xiao Lan walked into the room and was greeted with a foul air that only a closed room can possess, making him frown, but unfortunately the windows in this room were also sealed and could not be opened for ventilation.

Xiao Lan wanted Luo to quietly let out a dark shadow to investigate, but Kryptonian player Wang Taidi pulled out an emergency light to brighten up the room.

Wang Taidi pointed to the lamp: “This is called the ‘Nuclear Emergency Lamp’, it can stay lit no matter how long you leave it, as long as it is not damaged, it is easy to find in the trading area of the players’ quarters, most of the players will have a similar prop, you should get one too when you have the chance. ”

Poor man with nothing to trade Xiao Lan : “……”

The only personal possessions he now owns are the envelope containing Luo and the reverse chronograph, both of which are still bound.

“Look at this, guys.” Luo’s voice drew the two men’s attention to it.

Luo is standing by the sofa, holding a piece of paper in his hand and waving it at them gently.

Xiao Lan came forward and looked at Luo’s hand in the light of the nuclear emergency light. It was a painting, the artist’s brushwork was childish, and there was a sense of childishness in the picture.

It appears to be a child’s work, but although it is a child, the level of drawing is already much higher than Luo’s neo-futuristic soul art.

On the left of the scene is a woman with long curly hair and a gorgeous long dress, and on the right is a Little Xiao girl in a lovely puffy dress and bow headdress; they are holding hands, but the little girl is not painted with her face, which seems a little odd.

Underneath the woman it reads “Sister” and underneath the little girl it reads “Anne”, with the words “Sister is the most gentle person in the world, Anne loves Sister” at the bottom.

Anne, could be the owner of this room? And where did she and her sister go?

Several people continued to search the room, and after a few moments Xiao Lan found a medical record in a drawer at the foot of the bed.

In the doctor’s wild handwriting, Xiao Lan struggled to distinguish what was written on it.

The medical records describe Anne’s condition, an unknown family genetic disorder that causes skeletal deformities, changes in appearance, abnormal body growth and the swelling or collapse of some limbs.

This may explain the absence of Anne’s face in her drawings, which has been deformed by a genetic disease, despite the fact that she is such a beautiful Aunt Xiao.

Anne had constant episodes of illness from the age of two, which deteriorated rapidly until she was about eight years old, with new visits being added almost every week, and these did not reach the age of nine.

And the room also looks like a children’s room, not girlish.

Xiao Lan closed the chart: ” Anne could have died at the age of eight.”

Wang Taidi is quite sympathetic: “This child has probably been sick all his life.”

Then they found a second painting.

In this painting there is only the sister in a gorgeous dress, and perhaps to emphasise her beauty, the child has drawn flowers all around her, with their petals fluttering in exaggerated fashion, showing his fondness for his sister.

But this time she did not paint her sister’s face, and not only that there is more to the painting than just the weirdness of it.

The sister stepped on a number of stacked up human figures at her feet, which judging by their clothing would have been female, and even somewhat similar to the maid’s clothes on the estate. Surrounding Sister was a group of men on one knee, dressed in magnificent gowns, with expressions of frenzy on their faces to the extreme.

This sister, looking like a queen bee, is surrounded and pursued by male bees.

Turning the paper over, the child on the back writes in childish strokes ” Anne still likes her sister”.

The word “still” always gives a sense of foreboding and would not be used to indicate that one would still be the same if something bad had not happened to turn one’s attitude around.

What happened to my sister that could have something to do with her losing her face in the painting? Did she also have an attack?

Wang Taidi drew in a cold breath, “Hm… why does this image look so weird? This sister looks so wrong.”

Xiao Lan : “I have a guess, but it’s a little short of proof.”

At that moment, Luo brought over a stuffed animal and flipped the metal tag around its neck and handed it to Xiao Lan, who took a good look at it.

It reads “For my dearest sister” and is inscribed – Bella.

This completes the list of clues relating to Anne.

Xiao Lan shows the metal plaque on the toy to Wang Taidi: “Anne’s sister is Mrs Bella, whose family has a terrible genetic disease that afflicts those who suffer from it.”

” Anne had her attack at a very young age and loved her gentle and beautiful sister, while Bella had no attack until she was about an adult, perhaps just when the family thought she had escaped, but fate still did not spare her.”

“But that still doesn’t explain what Mrs Bella is like now.”

“There are other clues we should be missing.”

Even if a genetic disease is terrible, it is not so terrible as to change the species, is it? And Mrs Bella’s body looks strong and does not look like she has been suffering from the disease for years.

There is also the character of Madame Bella, who Anne says is the most gentle person in the world, but doesn’t feel that way at all. There must have been something else that turned the Bella of Anne’s writing into the Bella of today.

Not finding any more information here after that, several people retreated.

At the entrance, Wang Taidi once again played to his Kryptonian strengths, pulling out props and restoring the wall without leaving a speck of dust on the floor, much to Xiao Lan’s envy.

Why is there still such a big difference between people who are also poor?

After that, a few people decided to go back to their rooms for another night’s sleep.

Passing near the kitchen, they could still hear the singing of Madame Bella, who persevered in the kitchen as if she didn’t need to sleep, working on dark dishes.

This persistence and seriousness is paired with her level of cooking, which seems extremely pungent.

Back to the room.

Xiao Lan’s sharp eyes spotted signs that the door to his room had been opened, and that a fibre he had caught in the crack of the door when he had closed it earlier was now missing.

He opened the door carefully, followed by Luo, who had noticed the wrong expression on his face and had chosen to follow him.

Everything in the room seemed to be as it was, everything was in its place. Xiao Lan looked around the room and saw nothing out of place. Just as he looked up, he saw two upside-down handprints above the tall window, which looked like someone was peering into the room from above, upside-down.

That handprint is on the small side, like a female size.

This is the fourth floor, and the room is so high and open that the distance between the windows from the previous floor to this one is more than a person’s height, and to leave a handprint upside down, unless the person is lying on the outside wall like a gecko.

Is it still human to be able to do that?

The two men looked outwards and there were no clues other than handprints.

While closing the window, Xiao Lan accidentally knocked over an unidentified ornament that had been placed next to the window, knocking it to the floor and chipping its delicate exterior.

Again, the absence of spoiler scenes or any hints relating to poverty values suggests that Mrs Bella cared nothing for these possessions.

“Sir.” Luo’s voice diverted Xiao Lan’s attention.

“What’s wrong?” Xiao Lan asked.

“Please allow me to keep watch for you tonight, the room has proven to be unsafe.” Luo’s expression looked serious.

Xiao Lan thought about the marks that had inexplicably appeared on the door, then about the door that had been opened, and finally glanced at the handprint on his window. Indeed, two people were safer from the current situation.

Luo continued with his reasoning, “It’s all about getting through safely, you promised me you’d lead me through and you don’t have to worry that this level of vigilance will tire me out.”

Xiao Lan eventually nodded his head in agreement.

But as he lay in bed he felt something was wrong again.

Luo just stood motionless in the darkness staring at him, his tall figure looking ghostly in the faint moonlight, his disguised golden eyes shimmering like a wild cat reading a grave in a cemetery, adding to the pressure ……

I’ll be damned if I can sleep!

Xiao Lan patted the spot beside her helplessly, ” Luo , you’d better lie down, the bed here is wide enough anyway.”

Luo’s voice rang out with a smile, “Sir, I don’t need sleep.”

Xiao Lan : “Consider it a consolation for my black-hearted boss’s conscience.”

“All right.”

Then Xiao Lan felt his side sink slightly, and a warm body came close to him. Luo’s sleeping position was peaceful, and in order to keep quiet, not a single breath or pulse could be felt on Luo’s body, which could probably only be considered a standby state.

Quiet as a corpse.

This …… is still stressful, Luo probably doesn’t quite understand the human division of the range for quiet.

Forget it, make do.

Xiao Lan remained in this strange state and fell into a deep sleep. Without noticing, the person beside him in the darkness gave a satisfied smile.

Early the next morning, the players were led by the maids to another restaurant.

They were expecting to be subjected to Mrs Bella’s loving cooking today, but instead breakfast looked remarkably normal. The fluffy, toasted bread was accompanied by perfectly fried sausages and eggs, which looked surprisingly inviting with the cheese and salad.

The players hesitated for a moment, except for Qi Ning, who seemed to live by drinking the wind, playing with his dinner knife and showing no interest in the aromatic food on the table.

One can’t help but wonder if he’s so skinny from starvation.

At this point, the player whose white marks appeared on the door last night suddenly stood up with an angry slap on the table, “How can you eat these things! I want to eat Mrs Bella’s food!”

Players have looked towards him.

He looked excited and waved his hand wildly: “What is all this stuff? Mrs Bella’s cooking is the best on earth, don’t you think?”

Two other players, who had eaten Mrs Bella’s cooking at yesterday’s dinner, chimed in excitedly.

“Yes, yes, yes! These things are not even edible!”

“Get them off now!”

“I feel sick to my stomach just smelling it!”

“Where’s the butler, we want Mrs Bella’s food!”

It seems that the unlucky fellow was unwittingly struck last night, and the three now appear to have lost all normal judgement and have only Mrs Bella on their minds.

Wang Taidi whispers, “Is it possible to be addicted to Mrs Bella’s food? This game not only insults my aesthetics, but even my palate.”

After saying that he remembered Xiao Lan’s cooking last night, he shivered and decided it was better not to talk about it.

Xiao Lan was left alone and confused.

At that moment the housekeeper, attracted by the commotion of the place, appeared in the dining room, still with her chin held high and her face expressionless, saying, ” How Madame Bella prepares three meals for you like a cook, it is up to you to enjoy Madame’s cooking again.”

The three men had become excited.

“I’ll do anything for Mrs Bella!”

“Me too!”

“Please command me! I will do anything!”

The butler curled his lips in satisfaction and greeted the three men as they left, and the dining room fell silent.

Xiao Lan reached for a loaf of bread. The butler’s words just now and the behaviour of the three players suggested that the food had not been prepared by Madame Bella, but it was a meal that could be eaten in peace.

He also took the opportunity to grab a few more and put them in his storage space, but the system prompted “This item is not a prop and cannot be stored”, so it seems that players are not allowed to avoid risk in this way.

Xiao Lan had to regret eating a few more.

After breakfast, Xiao Lan and Luo continued their search for clues around the estate.

The fifth floor of the manor belonged to Madame Bella and was not easy to access as each staircase was guarded by a maid. As it was not necessary to approach Madame Bella to find the clues, Xiao Lan let this floor go for the time being.

The two men arrived in the manor’s library.

Although it is said to be a library, the area is much larger than many bookshops in reality. One by one, bookcases standing as high as the top of the room stand, with a number of candelabras providing light, tall ladders built to one side, and a sofa and table not far from each bookcase, ready for people to sit and leaf through.

Xiao Lan tries to find a bit of history about Madame Bella’s family here, even though this kind of library, which is open to guests, does not contain confidential information, but basic information and the achievements of her family are always left to show off.

However, there was nothing under Luo’s careful search of the shadows.

There is a vacant area on one of the shelves that shows signs that many books were once put there, but they were all removed later. It is as if this family did not exist and the information is heavily obscured.

Could it have been Mrs Bella? She didn’t want her family information known, even the people on the estate called her by her first name only, no one ever mentioned what Bella’s surname was.

Suddenly Xiao Lan notices a tiny gap at the edge of the age-old bookshelf and flicking there, he discovers that it is a Little Xiao vertical drawer with a round panel on the side, which lifts up to reveal a Little Xiao keyhole.

It looked like a place where treasure had been hidden, but the traces seemed to be so old that the person who had hidden it had forgotten about it. Xiao Lan first checked to see if there was a mechanism nearby, then carefully opened the drawer.

Inside the drawer is a golden dagger with beautiful carvings, which looks very high class.

【Name: Demeter’s Blade (Premium Item, Unbound)

[Ability: look like you’re rich, we tycoons even peel a fruit differently]

[Illustration: FuGui People’s Toys]

Is this ability of any use!!!

But what was FuGui people’s toy? Xiao Lan grasped the dagger in his hand suspiciously.

“Poverty value reduced by 30W, Xiao Lan corrupted by capital! It’s a shame for the poor!”

Xiao Lan : “……”

He put this dagger back in its place again.

“Poverty value increased by 30W, lost and found, Xiao Lan is still saved.”

Crap! I can’t even use valuable props! What the hell kind of setup is this!!!

If you can’t even use the valuable props later ……

Xiao Lan imagines that later on, when he is fighting another player, the other player draws his heirloom sword/great sword/godly staff and he, pulls out – a broomstick?

It’s fucking uninspiring as soon as you look at it!!!

The author has something to say.

Xiao Lan: It is impossible to become rich, not in this lifetime.

PS: Changed the description of the Demeter’s Blade so that it doesn’t look like a useful item233