CH 123

(A family of three)

“I haven’t seen it before, so I don’t dare to tell whether it is…pot-stewable,” the young nurse stated after a moment’s hesitation. 

This weird adjective had even led the young nurse astray. She seriously pondered if the creature that attacked Mrs. Shen could be put into a cauldron based on the scars on her body.

Fortunately, the other players were able to drag her back in time. “Why didn’t you tell us such vital information earlier?” Mr. Lawyer inquired.

“Er…this is my secret,” replied the young nurse.

With the setting that if your secret is exposed, you will die, the young nurse did not dare to speak out on the subject and could only worry about it herself. 

But for some reason, the monster that attacked Mrs. Shen never appeared.

After the young nurse finished telling her secret, she turned to the other two people and asked, “What about your secrets?”

“Mrs. Shen was pregnant,” said the bodyguard. This was his secret.

He had multiple roles as a bodyguard, not only to safeguard his master’s family’s personal safety, but also to work as a driver, cleaner, errand boy, and others as needed.

In the plot he knew, Mrs. Shen was ill three months ago and requested him to get two home pregnancy tests. Mrs. Shen was a bit old, so “he” paid attention out of curiosity and discovered that the pregnancy test stick revealed that Mrs. Shen was pregnant.

Initially, the bodyguard thought it was a minor issue, but after reading the contents of the black book, he couldn’t help but wonder: was the baby in Mrs. Shen’s stomach actually a human infant?

“Mrs. Shen’s body does not show any indicators of pregnancy or miscarriage,” the young nurse observed.

There was only one possibility in that case: Mrs. Shen gave birth before she died. 

But it’s impossible for a three-month-old fetus to survive outside of its mother’s body. It was 100% non-human.

“Could it be that she gave birth to a monster that came out and gnawed on her?” speculated Shen Dongqing.

“It’s possible,” the young nurse said, her face pale.

The bodyguard: “Tell us your secret, too.” 

“My secret is—there are only three members of the Shen family,” Mr. Lawyer explained.

Mr. and Mrs. Shen, as well as their son.

The bodyguard and the young nurse’s expressions changed as they heard what the lawyer said.

According to the lawyer, the Shen family had only three members, but counting the deceased Mrs. Shen, Mr. Shen, and the three individuals standing there, there were five people. 

So, who among those present hid their identities?

The players’ gazes were drawn to the trio.

The brat pretended to be innocent, saying, “I don’t know.”

Shen Dongqing blinked his eyes as well: “I’m not sure either. Maybe something is wrong with this stupid game.” 

Zhou Wenyan came up behind him, wrapped his arms around his shoulders, and nodded.

The other players:… I think you guys are crafty.

There was a “boom” in the study at this point, and the locked door shook three times, as if something had slammed into it.

“What’s that?” exclaimed the young nurse. 

Djcu—

Ccbatfg rbecv mbeiv yf tfjgv.

Ktf raevs’r atlc vbbg agfwyifv, jcv atf vera bc atf kjiir bc ybat rlvfr geraifv. Po atf vbbg kjr tla aklmf wbgf, la wjs cba yf jyif ab xffq rajcvlcu.

Ktf sbecu cegrf’r olgra gfjmalbc kjr: “Ofa’r ufa bea bo tfgf!” 

Vtf gjmfv bnfg, jaafwqalcu ab bqfc atf gbbw’r vbbg. Ktf vbbg, tbkfnfg, gfoerfv ab yevuf cb wjaafg tbk tjgv atf sbecu cegrf aglfv.

“Who locked the door behind us when we came in?”

The young nurse’s palms were sweating as she clutched the door handle and continued to press down, accompanied by the relentless banging sounds.

The bodyguard and the lawyer looked at each other: “No, the door is not locked.” 

“Then why can’t it be opened?” exclaimed the young nurse.

The bodyguard: “I’ll do it!”

He rolled up his sleeves and gave it his best shot.

“Can you do it or not?” urged the young nurse. 

Sweat beaded the bodyguard’s brow: “No, I can’t unlock it—”

Bang—

This time, the flimsy door was punched directly through, revealing a hole large enough for a human to pass through.

The players turned their heads stiffly and saw a bizarre creature crawling in the dark study room. 

They couldn’t describe how the thing looked. When they looked at it, their scalps went numb and their hairs stood on end, causing them to lose their capacity to resist and remain rooted on the spot, waiting to die.

The young nurse even began to cry.

The lawyer and bodyguard were no better off, and they were both in a trance.

“It’s really ugly,” Shen Dongqing observed at this time. “I’ve never seen such an ugly thing,” he said, clicking his tongue and shaking his head. 

The brat commented: “Me too. I would never accept such an ugly thing as my subordinate.”

“Actually, your ghouls are also damn ugly,” Shen Dongqing stated solemnly.

The brat: “…Compared to this thing, they’re virtually super beauties, okay?”

Shen Dongqing thought for a bit before saying, “You’re right.” 

The two nitpicked on the creature in the study room, who seemed enraged by their comments. It uttered meaningless noises while glaring at Shen Dongqing with blood-red eyes.

Crawling out of the hole and into the light required some effort.

The players only saw what it looked like after that.

This monster resembled a human child, although it appeared to be immature. Its head was enormous and stayed near to the ground. It was skinless from head to toe, exposing its blood-red flesh and veins. In addition, it had spider-like foot joints, two sets of arms, and four legs. 

The players woke up with a start: “Hurry up and figure out how to open the door! The key, the key!”

The young nurse took out the key, trembling.

It’s only that the monster’s speed was far too high. The young nurse noticed that it had already rushed in front of her eyes as soon as she took out the key.

Fortunately, the monster’s wrath was directed at Shen Dongqing and the brat, not on them. 

The monster’s IQ was a tad high. It weighed their relative strengths before deciding on the soft persimmon and pouncing on the brat.

The brat shrieked: “Ah!”

Shen Dongqing was faster than the monster and immediately smacked the brat on the back of the head: “What are you screaming for?”

The brat felt wronged and explained: “It’s so ugly, it’ll make me ugly.” 

Monster: …

If you’re ugly, don’t you have monster rights?

The monster’s rage meter was full. It opened its jaws and wanted to bite the brat, exposing sharp teeth.

The brat did not run or hide. He stretched out and grasped the monster’s umbilical cord, lifted it in his palm like a plastic bag, and twisted it into a pretzel just as the monster was about to touch him. 

“I’m fantastic, right?” he said triumphantly to Shen Dongqing.

Shen Dongqing turned away quietly, saying, “It’s disgusting.”

Brat: “?”

Shen Dongqing: “You dare to touch this, it’s so disgusting.” 

The monster struggled frantically: “Ahhhhh—”

But it was a shame that there was a certain disparity between the monster and the brat; it couldn’t break free from the brat’s grip no matter what.

When the danger signal was lifted, the other players heaved a sigh of relief temporarily.

The young nurse attempted with the key but was unable to open the door. It appeared that the problem was not with the door, but with some mysterious power that prevented them from leaving. 

But now that the monster was subdued, they didn’t have to rush out.

The bodyguard assessed the monster being carried by the brat: “Is this what killed Mrs. Shen, the murderer?”

The small monster did not appear to be lethal.

The bodyguard also attempted to grip the little monster in his hand, but it remained motionless, as if it had given up resistance. 

Mr. Lawyer: “Then, haven’t we already cleared the instance?”

The young nurse said in hushed tones, “This doesn’t seem right. It really shouldn’t be this small…”

The overhead lights abruptly darkened as soon as she stated this.

With the drapes securely drawn over the windows, the moment the light source cut off, the room went dark and everything became a blur. 

Mr. Lawyer panicked: “What’s going on?! Power outage?”

Shen Dongqing raised his head, then added, “…It shouldn’t be a power outage.”

“Then what’s the problem?” asked the young nurse.

“See for yourself,” Shen Dongqing said, pointing upward. 

So the players below all looked up.

The room was over two meters high, and the players were now staring up at a face hanging from the ceiling.

This scene surpassed everyone’s imagination. The players were so stunned that they couldn’t even speak. They couldn’t do anything but stand there and stare at that face.

It was a woman’s face with lovely features. She was beautiful and extremely attractive. Only if this face didn’t develop on this body. Its body was massive in comparison to its delicate and pretty face, with overlapping layers of fat and four arms spread out from the fatty flesh, clinging to the ceiling, which happened to obstruct the light above it. 

Gulp!

Only gods know who swallowed.

That gorgeous face began to giggle, and the lips split apart into an incredible state, practically capable of swallowing a basketball in one swallow. Sharp teeth covered the top and bottom, from which dangled strips of flesh.

This creature appeared to have killed Mrs. Shen. 

The bodyguard was the first to react among the players.

He seemed to have thought of something after seeing the human-faced monster dangling on top, bowed his head stiffly, and met the little monster’s gloating eyes.

This is the standard practice of “Bully a tiny one, invite a big one.”

The bodyguard’s hand shook, and he let go. 

Mr. Lawyer trembled, pointing to the human-faced monster lying on the ceiling and yelling, “I found the murderer!”

In theory, locating the culprit entailed solving the problem and clearing the instance.

Mr. Lawyer stopped yelling, but the game did not respond as if it had vanished.

“What’s going on!” Mr. Lawyer looked around anxiously. “Where is the game! Haven’t we cleared the instance?” 

He’d hardly finished speaking when, instead of waiting for the game’s response, he got the monster’s.

The human-faced monster rubbed its fingers on the ceiling, causing wall powder to pour down. Its upper body bent and its first pair of arms opened, attacking the lawyer.

Seeing that the lawyer was about to be stabbed through, someone kicked him from behind and sent him flying out, just in time to evade the monster’s strike.

Even if he managed to escape the monster in this way, the lawyer fell so terribly that he lay on the ground and couldn’t get up. 

The human-faced monster missed a blow and paused.

At this point, the little monster that had recovered its freedom landed on its hands and feet and climbed nimbly onto the cabinet, “babbling” at the human-faced monster, apparently complaining.

It grinned at the brat after filing the complaint.

The human-faced monster’s limbs moved, revealing the hidden light, and its head turned 180°, staring unwaveringly at the brat. 

The brat was not impressed.

You have a mother? I have a dad too; two at that!

The brat felt he couldn’t beat the human-faced monster above his head, so he appealed for external aid in a drawn out voice: “Dad—”

Shen Dongqing feigned deafness. 

The brat’s eyes turned and he began to seek Zhou Wenyan’s assistance: “Father!”

Zhou Wenyan raised his hand and tucked the brat behind his back.

The brat crept up behind Zhou Wenyan, popped his head out, and gave the little monster a provocative grimace.