Chapter 16: The Widow in the Mansion, Part 16

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Yu Deng was startled, his face drained of color, filled with confusion. How could he have been recognized? He had clearly wrapped himself in a thick, dark mist, completely obscuring his face. Moreover, the layer of gloomy energy muffled his voice, making it sound different from his usual tone. He had even deliberately lowered his voice! Yu Deng tried to struggle a little. Recalling the villainous speeches he had seen in dramas, he imitated one: “Ha, you’ve got the wrong person. A kiss? I’m not that easy to deal with!” Very fierce indeed. Yu Deng nodded with satisfaction.

Yet, the chest of the person before him trembled slightly—that was Cheng Xiao trying not to laugh. Yu Deng was puzzled.

“Stepmom, you’re so adorable,” Cheng Xiao sincerely complimented.

Embarrassed and angry, Yu Deng snapped, “I told you, I’m not!”

Cheng Xiao lowered his head amidst the dense mist, pressing precisely against Yu Deng’s neck hollow. “Stepmom, what kind of evil spirit smells as sweet as you?”

Even in the darkness, even separated by the strange mist, Yu Deng’s soft fragrance remained unmistakably clear.

Like the pheromones described in those ABO universes, it was sweet and alluring, a fatal attraction for the bad dogs coveting Yu Deng. Sharing a room with him, no one would mistake his identity.

They were still enveloped in utter darkness. In this kind of game instance, darkness naturally symbolized the unknown and danger.

But the young stepson simply drew the beautiful, newly empowered young widower into his arms, affectionately nuzzling close. His high, straight nose pressed against Yu Deng’s cool neck, as if flirting.

“Why all of a sudden like this? I can’t even see Stepmom’s face clearly.”

Yu Deng pursed his lips and remained silent.

Actually, the system hadn’t told him to hide his appearance—Yu Deng had just wanted to conceal himself with the black mist.

After all... he wasn’t clever enough. He had intended to drift along behind these veteran players.

If the top players found out he was scheming, always thinking about suppressing himself, wouldn’t they think he was a terribly bad person?

Yu Deng imagined this and decided he didn’t want to play with such people anyway.

Unfortunately, his disguise was a complete failure; he was recognized at a glance.

He hung his head dejectedly, like a withered beautiful flower.

[…] The system sighed silently.

Clearly, these bad men were far worse than the clueless host.

In the darkness, Cheng Xiao waited a moment but got no response from Yu Deng.

He could now skillfully read Yu Deng’s emotions and immediately lifted his hand to gently touch the corner of Yu Deng’s eye.

Sure enough, he felt a hint of moisture.

The beautiful widower had turned into a withdrawn little cat again.

Cheng Xiao’s heart was lightly scratched.

…How can someone be both adorable and pitiful at the same time?

Almost unable to help himself, Cheng Xiao blurted out, betraying his conscience: “Alright, I admit it was my mistake. You’re not my Stepmom, you’re a fierce evil spirit.”

Yu Deng played along, feeling his dignity somewhat restored.

“Then, then you should quickly submit to me.”

“You need to be fiercer,” Cheng Xiao found a new kind of fun in this, teaching him hand by hand, “Look, to make someone submit, you have to threaten them properly. You’re pinching too gently.”

Yu Deng snorted in confusion.

Cheng Xiao took Yu Deng’s soft hand and placed it on his own neck.

His palm, much larger, pressed on Yu Deng’s hand and then squeezed inward.

Yu Deng was startled, wide-eyed for a few seconds, hurriedly withdrew his hand.

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Such a perverse move! He just wanted to complete the task and survive, not kill the player!

“See, this is how you threaten someone,” Cheng Xiao said leisurely.

Yu Deng curled his lips. This guy spoke as if he had really fought ghosts before.

“Alright, alright, I’ve learned,” Yu Deng urged. “So will you sign the contract or not?”

“I need to know what this thing is first. So, what exactly is the contract?” Cheng Xiao asked with interest.

Good question.

Yu Deng hurriedly chose his words, but however he described it, the contract sounded like something bad.

Yu Deng stammered, “It’s basically… submitting to me and obeying my orders.”

Cheng Xiao trapped Yu Deng in his arms and teased, “I’ve already been very obedient.”

Yu Deng: “...” Not that kind of obedience spoken with just words!

While they were talking, the five-minute time ended. The domain dissolved, the thick black mist gradually dissipating, returning to ordinary dim light.

Yu Deng instinctively shielded his face, then gave up and withdrew the black mist.

Cheng Xiao looked down and saw Yu Deng still surrounded by a faint black mist, which made his delicate features resemble a gloomy doll.

Not frightening, quite cute.

Cheng Xiao fondled Yu Deng’s cheek, then lowered his head to slowly and gently suck the tender flesh of Yu Deng’s neck, like a beast savoring its favorite delicacy.

“Has our mighty evil spirit lord already uncovered the truth?” Cheng Xiao suddenly asked.

Yu Deng didn’t realize that Cheng Xiao wasn’t asking whether he knew who the murderer was, but whether he knew the truth.

Yu Deng’s eyes were clear and confused: “I don’t know.”

“Alright then,” Cheng Xiao was not disappointed. Returning to the main point, he ambitiously coaxed, “How about you kiss me first? After that, I’ll cooperate with the evil spirit lord.”

Really…?

Yu Deng looked up at his young stepson, hesitated a moment, then slowly leaned in.

Rarely, Cheng Xiao felt nervous, almost holding his breath, waiting for Yu Deng to come closer.

After a long, drawn-out few seconds, Yu Deng’s lips lightly brushed against Cheng Xiao’s mouth, lingering for just one second before quickly pulling back, looking innocent.

Soft lips barely touched before retreating.

Cheng Xiao took a few deep breaths to avoid being flustered by such a fleeting, hardly kiss-like peck.

His voice husky: “That doesn’t count as a kiss, evil spirit lord.”

Yu Deng was shocked beyond words.

What! The shameless stepson was going back on his word!

Yu Deng glared at Cheng Xiao for quite a while in reproach, then stormed off angrily.

“...Stepmom!”

...

Yu Deng didn’t look back. Instead, he spent a fortune, consuming five percent of his progress bar energy to lock the bastard stepson’s door.

Good. There’s no way he’ll run out to kiss him now.

[Host, although your energy is insufficient to maintain the domain, this state will not disappear immediately.] The system reminded him according to the auxiliary program.

Yu Deng listened attentively: “So?”

The system paused a few seconds: [You can try to look for clues while in this state.]

Yu Deng looked at the pitch-dark corridor and the faint mist lingering in the air, trembling: “R-Really...?”

The system decisively said: [Forget it.]

“Maybe I’ll try anyway…” Yu Deng steeled himself and decided to challenge himself.

Brave little Deng, fear no hardship!

[If you detect anything wrong, host, please stop exploring immediately.]

“I understand.”

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Tonight, those distant concubines were keeping vigil for Master Cheng. As for Cheng Wenhao, his fiancée and younger sister were assigned to watch over him.

Yu Deng stood still, struggling to decide how to proceed.

At that moment, faint voices came from a room on the second floor. Yu Deng cautiously moved closer.

“How could that be?”

A woman’s voice inside seemed to be on the phone.

“Why? This deal was clearly settled long ago. If successful, it would bring a huge profit... Everything went smoothly since last year. Why suddenly... Wenhao even...”

It was Cheng Chaoxia’s voice. Soon after, she hung up and a click echoed.

Yu Deng tilted his head, unsure what use this clue might be.

He inadvertently glanced sideways and caught sight of a humanoid silhouette standing not far away, quietly watching him.

“!!!”

Yu Deng’s hair stood on end, almost losing his footing.

The humanoid shape locked eyes with him for a few seconds, then took the initiative to approach.

Yu Deng hurriedly backed away, deciding to end his exploration right there.

Three minutes of persistence was already impressive, sob.

The figure advanced quickly, arriving before Yu Deng in seconds. Only then did Yu Deng see it clearly—it was a paper effigy.

Yu Deng desperately wanted to faint.

Why did he lock Cheng Xiao away? He should have let him out to accompany him!

Yu Deng mourned silently.

The paper effigy, nearly as tall as Yu Deng, stopped in front of him. It wore red clothes, eyes hollow, with an exaggerated smile.

It leaned close to Yu Deng, the paper trembling slightly, making a sniffing motion.

This fragrant human carried the aura of a ghost king... but he really smelled so sweet.

The paper effigy halted its advance, hesitating and freezing in place.

Yu Deng leaned against the wall, slowly moving, trying to leave this troublesome place.

The paper effigy silently followed.

Yu Deng was so frightened his mind went blank, acting on instinct. He closed his eyes and asked it, “By the way, do you know any secrets?”

[…] The system marveled at the host’s straightforwardness in seeking clues.

The paper effigy looked confused but after a moment, it actually began to respond—somehow producing two gold ingots from somewhere.

Yu Deng: “?”

The paper effigy waved them around, then carefully tucked them away again.

Yu Deng’s mind ran wild with speculation: “You’re saying you secretly hid the offerings...?”

The paper effigy nodded. Yu Deng stared at it, both exchanging glances.

But this didn’t seem to be the kind of secret he wanted.

After much hesitation, the paper effigy glanced at Cheng Xiao’s door, then at Yu Deng, and tactically retreated.

Yu Deng mustered courage to speak again, but the paper effigy had already vanished.

Huh, it ran off so fast.

[Host, the environment here is unstable. Please return to your room quickly.]

Yu Deng paused, obediently slipping away.

But something strange happened.

He clearly remembered walking toward his room, only a few steps away, yet the mist thickened around him. When he looked up, he was startled to see a crescent moon.

Unknowingly, he had wandered outside the house.

Surrounding him were swaying tree shadows, like clawing monsters. The mansion was shrouded in mist, as if vanished without a trace.