CH 45

Chapter 45: Darling, I’ve figured it out, a family must get along well.

“……”

The moment Wen Jianyan’s voice fell, the faces of the three paper figurines across the corridor turned fierce.

They stared at the human not far away with their painted dull eyes. The scarlet blush on their cheeks appeared even more dazzling, and the corners of their mouth raised even more, making the smile on their face terrifying.

The next second, they raised their paper arms hurriedly, trying to grab Wen Jianyan!

Wen Jianyan seemed to be prepared for the sudden attack of the paper figures in front of him.

He grabbed the old woman who was as light as paper with one hand, stepped forward with his long legs, and tilted his body at a tricky angle to drill out from the encirclement of the three paper figures. Then he rushed out of the door and ran forward hurriedly!

In the long corridor, the three paper figurines chased after him.

“Xiuqing, what did you say?”

The paper figurine’s cold and stiff voice came from behind, accompanied by a gentle smile: “Hurry up, bring your mother, let’s have a good dinner with the whole family.”

“Dad, dad, where are you going?”

The paper boy laughed: “Dinner is ready, come and eat with us.”

In the dark and endless corridor, the sound of messy footsteps piled up together, as hurried as the beating of a desperate drum.

In the “Integrity First” live broadcast room:

[??? Everyone, I can’t understand it anymore.]

[Me too… I’m feeling so worried while looking at it. The correct solution is right in front of him, what is the anchor running around for?!]

[And didn’t he already try running before? He’ll just run around, it’s impossible to get out without completing the hidden line task. I’m so confused.]

[Could it be that the anchor doesn’t want to kill this NPC? I’m speechless. The situation is already like this. Emotional things won’t last long in a nightmare. I think he will pay the price for his stupidity this time.]

Wen Jianyan took the time to glance back.

The three paper figurines followed closely, with bright and eerie smiles on their pale faces:

“Xiuqing, where are you going?”

“We are a family.”

Who is your family? Bah!

“Sorry, I’m not used to walking too close to my ex-wife!”

Wen Jianyan’s back was cold, and he suddenly ran faster: “For the sake of our past husband and wife relationship and the healthy development of our children in the future, it is better for us to take a step back and let each other go!”

The old woman, whose lower body had completely turned into paper, reached out to hold Wen Jianyan’s arm. She opened her eyes and looked at the young man holding her, asking tremblingly:

“Xiuqing? What happened? Aren’t we eating dinner?”

“Not eating. The marriage is broken; what dinner is there to eat?”

While running, Wen Jianyan took out his mobile phone from his pocket and quickly purchased props on it, not forgetting to run his mouth nervously:

“Ordering takeout!”

In the “Integrity First” live broadcast room:

[Lmao, this dog liar is too involved in the character, hahahahahahahaha.]

[Hahahahahaha, as a newcomer, I want to ask whether this anchor’s live broadcast style has always been so unfettered?]

[God damn it, the marriage is broken, so he is ordering takeout hahahahahahahaha!]

[Speaking of which, what the hell is the anchor doing? I’m so curious! He’s only D-level, so he can’t even buy props to forcefully turn off the hidden line!]

[Every day, the anchor spreads his wings while on the verge of danger. I can’t tell whether he will roll over or not this time.]

Suddenly, the movements of the three paper figures came to a standstill.

In the dark and deep corridor, the figure of the young man who was holding the old lady and running wild suddenly disappeared out of thin air, and even his breath disappeared completely.

“……”

The three paper figurines stopped moving.

The corners of their lips were still raised, but that smile looked hideous.

“Xiuqing, where are you?”

“Dad, don’t play hide and seek.”

Although the human breath disappeared, the paper figurines seemed to know that as long as the task was not completed, it was impossible for the other party to leave this dark corridor with only two apartments. The paper figurines moved their stiff steps mechanically, looking for the human figure in the corridor, calling while searching.

Minute by minute, time passed.

【Prop: The Robe of Concealment has expired】

After disappearing for a full minute, the human aura reappeared.

The three paper figurines turned their heads at the same time and looked sharply in the direction from which the aura came. Their eyes suddenly showed cruel and ferocious colors; their pale faces and the corners of their scarlet lips slowly rose—

Found it.

The aura comes from apartment 1304.

The three paper figurines smiled and walked step by step in the direction of humans.

“Dad, you’re home.”

“Xiuqing, I knew that you would not abandon us.”

The fiery red sunset shone in from the window. The furniture was painted with a layer of bright red, and the surroundings became strange and distorted.

The small shrine and fruit bowl offerings were shrouded in a blood-colored sunset, and electronic candles lit up with a dim but steady red light.

In the living room, the young man was sitting upright on the sofa, his figure slender and straight, looking very out of place with the surroundings.

Hearing the call, he turned his head and looked up at the door calmly.

On the table in the living room was a plate of poisoned green vegetables that had turned purple and black, as well as four pairs of chopsticks.

“Darling, I figured it out.”

The young man’s fair face was tinted with sunset, and his clear amber eyes were fixedly staring at the paper figurine not far away, his expression focused, almost seeming a bit affectionate: “We are a family, and a family must get along well.”

He waved to the paper figures: “Come on, let’s have dinner together.”

“That’s great, Xiuqing. I knew you would definitely figure it out.”

The paper figurines walked over with a smile.

The two paper children, one left and one right, firmly held Wen Jianyan’s arms like two iron tongs, making him unable to move. The slender paper wife leaned down and picked up the plate with one hand and the vegetables with chopsticks with the other hand. Her pale and stiff face approached slightly, and she handed it over with a smile: “Try it, is it delicious?”

“Darling, you’re too far away from me.”

Wen Jianyan’s face was a little pale. He restrained his instinctive urge to lean back, his tone still as gentle as water: “Can you get closer?”

“Certainly, dear.”

With a smile on its face, the paper figurine took another step forward, crossed the table, and walked to the sofa.

Wen Jianyan stared at its movements, estimating the distance in his mind.

The moment the other party stepped into this area, he raised his voice sharply:

“Now!!!”

“Click”

The sound of the shutter being pressed came from behind the curtains.

The old woman, whose lower body had turned into paper, hid behind the curtain, holding the phone in her hand. Her old eyes narrowed, and she looked over.

She said tremblingly:

“Xiuqing, the photo is taken; take a look to see if you look good?”

At that moment, time seemed to be frozen. The movements of the three paper figures were stuck, and their terrifying smiles were frozen on their pale faces.

The blood-colored sunset silently poured in from the window, illuminating the group photo of a family of four at the entrance.

Dad, mom, and two children were sitting together on the sofa in the living room, smiling at the camera.

In his ears, the familiar mechanical sound of the system sounded again:

【Ding! The hidden line is complete!】

The next second, the familiar feeling of dizziness came.

Wen Jianyan opened his eyes again and found that he had returned to the instance.

Apartment 1304 was dark; the electronic candles that had just been lit had gone out at some point, and the chanting machine was silent. The three paper figurines sat in front of the dining table with smiles on their faces. In front of them were piled-up plates that were full of rotten food.

There was a strong, rancid odor in the air.

It was as if… nothing had happened just now.

Wen Jianyan pressed his trembling fingers on the corner of the table. He stood up slowly, took two vain steps forward, and then bent down suddenly—

“Vomit!”

He retched violently, almost spitting out all his internal organs. His slightly pale fingertips pressed against the table, looking fragile and miserable.

After a long time, Wen Jianyan raised his head while covering his aching stomach, his face pale.

Damn it……

It’s finally over.

He took out his mobile phone from his pocket. The video recording function of the mobile phone was still working. The blood-red REC in the upper right corner was flashing, and the countdown was ending little by little.

Soon, the familiar mechanical sound sounded again:

【Main line mission: Go to apartment 1304 for shooting; the shooting time should not be less than ten minutes.】

【Degree of Completion: 100%, Reward Points: 5000】

Wen Jianyan turned off the video recording and opened the phone album.

The latest photo jumped out.

Although the camera was slightly skewed and blurred, a young man with a stiff face sitting on the sofa could still be seen; two paper figurines on the left and one on the right hugged his arms tightly, and the paper figurine’s wife was holding a highly toxic dish in her chopsticks and leaning over to feed it to his mouth.

The young man’s eyes looked straight at the camera, his mouth was slightly open, and he seemed to be shouting something nervously.

This moment was clearly framed by the camera, as if it could bring Wen Jianyan back to the frightening moment a few minutes ago.

【Ding! The live broadcast’s special task: Reproduce the event that occurred in 1304, has been completed!

Special line unlocked, Reward Points: 5000.】

【Rewards for live broadcast tasks are being calculated for you:

Instance Exploration: 15%, Reward Points: 5000

At this stage, the Degree of Plot Modification: 37%, Reward Points: 10000.】

【Remaining points in the account: 25000】

【Achievement Unlocked: Get Out of Poverty and Get Rich!

Wow, congratulations to the anchor for quickly getting rid of poverty in just five minutes after spending all the points, and once again having a point balance of greater than 0!】

Wen Jianyan breathed a sigh of relief. His palms were sweaty, and his heart was still beating violently in his chest, making his legs a little weak. Although there was dead silence around him, he could still hear the chaotic noises in his ears.

He had a life-saving prop, “Lin Qing’s doctor certificate”, as a last resort after all, so he dared to take the gamble this time.

…It worked.

Due to his professional habits, Wen Jianyan always paid special attention to small details.

In this special line, the family portrait placed at the entrance was not covered with thick dust, so it could be clearly seen that the background behind the photo was the living room of 1304.

The requirement to clear the special line was to reproduce the events that happened in 1304, but it didn’t say what the specific events were!

A family of four that died of poisoning certainly satisfies this condition.

Then, why couldn’t a family of four take a family photo in the living room?!

Lots of “……” floated through the barrage in the “Integrity First” live broadcast room:

[……]

[……Fuck.]

[…………Fuck!!!]

[Is this okay? Is! This! Really! Okay?!]

[Why can this liar find the bug of the live broadcast task so easily every time?]

[Hahahahahahahaha shit… If I were the system, I would target him too!!!]

At this moment, only a soft “squeak” came from the door, abruptly breaking the dead silence in the house.

…What the hell?

Wen Jianyan was so frightened that his shoulders shivered, and he almost jumped up.

The faint light in the corridor flowed in from the crack of the door that was pushed open, illuminating an old and stooped figure. She was holding two plates of hearty meat dishes, and the rich aroma slowly floated inside from the door, mixing with the strong rancid smell in the room and becoming extraordinarily pungent and complex.

Wen Jianyan had just vomited for a while, but when he smelled this smell, his stomach throbbed again, and his face became even paler.

“Tap tap tap.”

Slow and heavy footsteps approached.

The gray-haired old lady walked into the dark room step by step, leaning on a walking stick. Although her eyes were already half blind, she knew the layout of the room very well, and she walked straight to the dining room without any need for light at all. 

She piled the two plates of meat and vegetables in her hand on the rotten dinner plates, ignoring the three odd paper figures in the dining room and muttering frantically:

“All of you have to eat well. Mom will bring you food again tomorrow.”

Wen Jianyan was stunned for a moment, then reacted immediately.

No wonder there were so many rotten dishes on the table.

After witnessing the death scene of a family of four, the crazy mother still thought her family was still alive, so she came to deliver dinner every day.

At this moment, the old woman in front of her made a sudden movement and slowly turned her head. The pair of cloudy eyes precisely fell on Wen Jianyan who was standing on the side:

“Is that you, Xiuqing?”

She tremblingly stretched out her bark-like old hand to him, groping in the air: “Have you eaten yet?”

In the dark background, the young man stepped forward and gently supported the old woman’s arm.

He lowered his eyelids slightly, his tone gentle and intimate:

“It’s me, Mom.”

“I’ve already eaten; how about you?”