CH 121

(Sweet trouble)

The players continued to stare blankly at the housekeeper, who had died unexpectedly. 

According to Shen Dongqing and Zhou Wenyan, the villa featured a basement that was a vital point, but only the housekeeper was aware of it. And now the housekeeper had died suddenly.

It had become an unsolvable problem.

The players were left speechless.

In this situation, they had no idea what to do, and it was difficult to blame Shen Dongqing for acting too hastily. 

You must be mindful that the housekeeper poisoned the food. If the brat hadn’t shouted it out, they would’ve been the ones to die unexpectedly.

“How about…how about we look for it again?” stammered the young nurse.

They were no longer in the mood for breakfast after this episode, and the players started searching for the basement on their own.

But the basement was too carefully disguised. The players nearly ruined the first floor in their hunt, not sparing even the corners, but they still couldn’t uncover the basement door.

Someone even wondered if such a basement even existed.

“It’s clearly there,” asserted Shen Dongqing.

The bodyguard raised doubts: “Then why can’t we find it? We can’t miss it if it’s there.”

This logic was nearly perfect, and Shen Dongqing had no idea how to solve it. He could only respond, “Then stop looking for the basement. Let’s guess some secrets.” 

The other players: …

Shen Dongqing’s guessing of the secret was surprisingly accurate, leading the two players to perish abruptly — despite the fact that the housekeeper had invited tragedy himself.

But, given this, how could any player dare to let him guess secrets? They could only examine with a bitter face to see if there were any tiny places that had been overlooked.

Shen Dongqing also wandered around the first-floor lobby. 

Only the brat, taking advantage of his youth, was lounging on the sofa by himself, relaxing and unwinding.

Shen Dongqing looked at him, rested his buttocks on the sofa, grabbed a handful of melon seeds, and started cracking.

The brat almost jumped up when he noticed that more than half of the melon seeds on the dish were missing, but when he saw who was next to him, he sat back stiffly.

“Aren’t you going to look for the basement?” he asked cautiously. 

Shen Dongqing sat paralyzed, saying, “Can’t find it, I won’t look for it anymore.”

“Forget it if you can’t find it,” said the brat. “Why don’t we go out to eat hot pot?” he proposed, licking the corner of his mouth.

Shen Dongqing whacked him on the head: “You can’t get out unless you solve it.”

The brat covered his head and wailed like a mourner: “Huh? Is there such a thing?” 

Shen Dongqing nodded: “Yes, it’s such a stupid c*nt of a game.”

The brat followed suit, spit a few curses, hopped off the sofa, and pattered away, yelling, “I’ll look for it too!”

Shen Dongqing was not in a hurry. With his legs crossed, he knocked on the melon seeds. He knew it was Zhou Wenyan when he felt a hand on his shoulder from behind without even looking back.

“Did you find it?” 

“No,” Zhou Wenyan said as he walked around to the front and sat down near Shen Dongqing.

“Then what should we do now?” asked Shen Dongqing, spitting out two melon seed shells.

Despite the fact that he inquired, he didn’t appear anxious at all.

“There are other people who know where the basement is,” Zhou Wenyan remarked. 

Shen Dongqing, the curious: “Who?”

“They can’t be called people, but…things,” Zhou Wenyan explained. He purposefully did not say the answer explicitly in order to keep Shen Dongqing guessing.

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He regretted again after making his speech: “If I had known earlier, I would not have let that small rat escape!”

But, after some thought, he remembered that there were animal bones all over the garden outdoors, so one or two less didn’t make a difference.

Shen Dongqing jumped to his feet, dragged Zhou Wenyan, and dashed towards the garden. 

When he got to the door, he recalled Zhou Wenyan couldn’t leave the villa, so he let go of his hand and prepared to leave alone.

But the moment he let go, Zhou Wenyan caught him easily.

“Aren’t you unable to come out?” Shen Dongqing inquired.

“I couldn’t a moment ago, but now I can,” Zhou Wenyan stated. 

Shen Dongqing was perplexed: “Why?”

“Because we’ve arrived in another world, the restrictions on me have vanished,” explained Zhou Wenyan.

Shen Dongqing: “Another world, don’t tell me you…”

He wanted to say his guess, but he was scared it was Zhou Wenyan’s secret, so he kept it to himself. Don’t bring up how uncomfortable he felt. 

He could only distract himself by saying, “Let’s go take a look—”

The outside of the villa was shrouded in heavy fog, which seemed to cut the villa off from the outside world, allowing the occupants within to only reach the garden at the farthest point.

The two arrived at the garden, which had been turned over and was in disarray. “Do you know how to get to the basement?” Shen Dongqing questioned, bending over the nearest skeleton.

The skeleton: … 

“Do you know or not?” Shen Dongqing inquired once more.

The skeleton remained silent.

“If you don’t answer, I’ll crush you,” Shen Dongqing threatened.

Nonetheless, the skeleton remained still, as if it was genuinely a mass of lifeless bones. 

Shen Dongqing was impatient, so he kicked it up, shattering the bones. He turned to Zhou Wenyan for help.

“They haven’t been triggered yet,” Zhou Wenyan explained.

“How to activate them?” Shen Dongqing asked, tilting his head.

Zhou Wenyan: “Use ‘secret.’” 

When a player’s secret was revealed to everyone, these bones were activated, and they went to claim the life of the person who didn’t have the secret.

Shen Dongqing was not afraid of getting killed, and in fact, he was eager to give it a shot, so he raised his hand and exclaimed, “Let me do it!”

“I’ll do it,” Zhou Wenyan said, pressing his hand down.

Shen Dongqing was keen to discover Zhou Wenyan’s secret, therefore he didn’t insist on doing the job. He stepped aside and stared intently at Zhou Wenyan. 

“My secret is—” Zhou Wenyan paused for a moment before saying lightly, “incest.”

Shen Dongqing’s first reaction was, “Incest; so exciting?”

His second reaction was, “With whom?”

Zhou Wenyan looked at him helplessly. 

“Moi?” said Shen Dongqing, pointing to the tip of his nose.

“Then who else?” Zhou Wenyan said rhetorically.

Shen Dongqing: “It seems that there is no one else, but…” He became a little cheerful. “I’m surprised that the game arranged such an exciting plot for us. I’ll pass calling it a stupid c*nt…twice.”

Game: …Thanks a bunch. 

Shen Dongqing smirked at Zhou Wenyan and said, “Come on, call me gege.”

Zhou Wenyan held the guy’s shoulder and abruptly changed the subject, observing, “Here they come.”

Small lumps appeared on the garden ground, and something inside them struggled to break through the dirt. The skeletons of several animals crept out from within after a few moments.

God knows how many different species of animals were buried beneath. Chickens, ducks, cats, dogs, rats, and so forth… The skeletons of various animals had come to life, and the empty eye sockets were staring coldly at this guy who had revealed his secret. 

Shen Dongqing trod on a little mouse, burying the critter that had just crept out.

“Wow, there are so many skeletons,” he said as he turned and looked around the boneyard.

These creatures must have crept into the villa at night and gnawed on the priest.

If other individuals were in this situation, they would flee if they weren’t half dead from fear. 

Shen Dongqing, on the other hand, was neither. He kicked the nearest big dog skeleton away and caught a weasel. He was more threatening and terrifying than these remains.

“Speak! Where’s the basement?”

The weasel was still stumped by the current circumstance. It tried to bite Shen Dongqing’s wrist with its front claws pawing the air.

It’s a shame it turned into a pile of bones before biting the man. 

If one failed, another would be interrogated.

Shen Dongqing questioned again, this time grabbing a small rabbit.

The small rabbit kicked hard with its hind legs, attempting to push the guy away.

Seeing that the little rabbit wasn’t cooperating, Shen Dongqing simply destroyed it humanely. 

In any case, there were a lot of little animals in the yard. He could take his time and question each of them individually. One of them had to know.

When three of their companions died in a succession at the hands of the devil, the little creatures finally sensed something was amiss. They came to a halt and dropped their heads in terror.

Shen Dongqing: “Who knows where the basement is? Stand up for me.”

The little creatures exchanged glances before a kitten emerged. 

With its beautiful white bones, it walked to Shen Dongqing’s feet, rubbed its tiny head on his leg, and let out a soft “meow.”

Shen Dongqing knelt and stroked its tiny head.

“It’s so cute.” Shen Dongqing still remembered his dream of raising a pet. After a spell of petting it, he raised his head and asked Zhou Wenyan, “Can I keep it?”

The kitten mimicked Shen Dongqing’s gestures, raising its head and flicking its tail behind it. 

Zhou Wenyan’s palms were a little itchy.

Hmm…Xiao Dongqing looks cuter than the kitten in this pose.

“No.” He refused.

Shen Dongqing’s eyes widened: “Why?” 

Zhou Wenyan: “Because you already have a pet.”

Shen Dongqing recalled hard but couldn’t remember when he had a pet. It wasn’t until the brat rushed out of the villa that he reacted, “So it’s him?!”

The brat, who didn’t understand the full development process, was baffled: “I what?”

“I don’t want him, I want a cat,” Shen Dongqing stated heartlessly. 

How can a kid be as adorable as a cat?

The brat guessed what they were discussing, yet he didn’t cry or cause a scene. Instead, he gave the kitten a bright smile.

The kitten’s back arched immediately. Its fur would have puffed out by now if it hadn’t been hairless. For its own protection, it stopped acting coquettish and cute and instead promptly led them to the basement entrance.

“Meow~” 

The kitten came to a halt in front of a banana tree.

Shen Dongqing: “Here?”

The kitten meowed once more before fleeing at breakneck speed.

Shen Dongqing looked at the flourishing banana tree. 

The brat was daring enough to show off for the purpose of what had just happened. He found a shovel without being asked. After a few minutes of digging the dirt, the shovel struck something hard—a wooden board underneath.

Zhou Wenyan spotted a lock on the wooden board and yanked hard on it. With a “creak,” the wooden plank was raised, revealing a pitch-black entrance.

Perhaps no one went in for a while, and when it was opened, a murky gas escaped that smelled like blood.

“Go in and have a look?” Shen Dongqing fanned his nose. 

He took out his cellphone. Despite the lack of a signal, it could still be used as a flashlight.

The trio walked down with the help of this light.

Only one person could pass through the tight stairwell. Shen Dongqing led the way, followed by the brat in the middle, and Zhou Wenyan at the back.

It took them roughly five minutes to descend the stairs one step at a time till they reached the bottom. 

Shen Dongqing took a photo with his phone and thought it looked more like a cellar than a basement. The area below was extremely large, and it had a cold, dreary vibe.

He rubbed his shoulders and continued to walk deeper.

The outside of the cellar was normal, but the further he walked, the stronger the scent of blood became, and even the fractures in the stone slabs were solidified with dark red liquid.

Shen Dongqing put his hand over his mouth and nose and shone the light down. A familiar face appeared in front of him. 

Shen Dongqing, upon closer inspection: “!”

He was so startled after seeing that face clearly that he couldn’t even talk. The phone slid through his fingers and landed on the ground with a loud thud.

The phone was broken as a result of the accident, and the light on the screen flickered briefly before dimming.

The cellar was plunged into darkness after losing its only light source. 

Naturally, Shen Dongqing’s oddness couldn’t be hidden from the ones behind him.

Something that could frighten him had to be exceptional, considering his disposition. Zhou Wenyan raced over to him, asking urgently, “What’s wrong?”

Shen Dongqing felt Zhou Wenyan’s hand on his shoulder in the darkness, but it was not warm. Rather, it was cold like ice.

“Do you have your phone with you?” Shen Dongqing inquired. 

Zhou Wenyan: “No. What did you just see?”

Shen Dongqing: “I, I saw…” He swallowed, “I saw you.”

“Surprise~ I have a mobile phone!” exclaimed the brat at that precise moment.

The cool white light came on after some fiddling. 

Shen Dongqing was in an awkward situation right then.

Zhou Wenyan stood behind him, holding his hand, and another Zhou Wenyan stood in front, staring forward with emotionless light brown eyes.

“Two.” He stared at it for a long time before sighing, “Oh sweet trouble.”

Zhou Wenyan: ? 

Shen Dongqing quickly responded: “No, no, no, you misheard! I didn’t say anything just now!” He then patted Zhou Wenyan again, “Why didn’t you tell me you became a ghost? Are you worried I’ll dislike you?”

Zhou Wenyan: “…I didn’t know I was a ghost until now.”

This game is way too dishonest. Everything is squeezed out slowly like toothpaste, in an attempt to trick people.

Shen Dongqing groped this and then that, asking, “Have you really turned into a ghost? You’re one step faster than me. How does it feel to be a ghost?” 

Despite the fact that he was groping his own body, why did Zhou Wenyan feel a little…a little out of sorts?