Author: 颜凉雨 / Yan Liang Yu

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 133: Waiting

Chi Yingxue’s deepest nightmare lies in his home.

The four companions suddenly hesitated.

Here lay Xiao Xue’s greatest fear, perhaps also the secret he least wanted others to touch.

The man holding the car keys recovered first from his daze and asked further, “You’re here to see the young master?”

His prolonged tone of doubt brought Xu Wang’s attention back. He quickly conjured up a harmless smile. “We’re his friends, here to… hang out with him.”

Giving a vague answer, almost perfunctory, the man, now overly enthusiastic and happy, invited them into the house behind the chessboard table. “No friends of the young master have ever come over to play. Please come in and sit…”

“Hey.” The man with the pruning shears objected, his thin face drooping even longer. “We haven’t finished this game yet.”

Wu Sheng glanced at the chessboard and understood why the other was unhappy; the game was already one-sided, with the pruning shears brother sure to win.

“You, what’s more important, the game or the young master’s friends? Can’t you see what matters?” The driver scolded him, then turned back to the four, overflowing with enthusiasm. “I am Mr. Chi’s driver, surname Zhang. That’s Lao Peng, who messes with the plants*.”

*Double entendre. He’s using the idiom literally meaning to lust after flowers and grasses (拈花惹草) referring to chasing after women (a womanizer), but also referring to his occupation as a landscaper/gardener.

“Gardener,” the thin-faced man corrected, gritting his teeth.

The companions weren’t interested in their occupations; they were more concerned about the ‘Mr. Chi’ the driver mentioned.

Was it Chi Zhuolin or… Chi Yingxue’s father?

They had no way of determining this, as Chi Yingxue never mentioned his family. Their understanding of his social relations only included Chi Zhuolin. As for the family structure and the situation of his parents, they were completely clueless.

Driver Zhang didn’t listen to the gardener’s protest and directly opened the door, inviting the four inside.

Though it was a north-facing servant room, the inside was very tidy and spacious, furnished with a comfortable-looking sofa set and fresh fruits on the coffee table.

This was a guest room, which should look quite bright and spacious during the day.

But now, the lighting was as dark as outside—no, even darker. The faint moonlight seeping through the window reduced the brightness even further, forcing one to strain their eyes to see the floor and furniture without stumbling.

“Uh, Zhang Ge.” Qian Ai smiled politely at him, not sure if he could see clearly. “Can we turn on the lights in this room?”

“Oh.” Zhang Ge also smiled back apologetically. “I’m afraid not. There are no lights here.”

Qian Ai was stunned, doubting his ears. “No lights?”

Zhang Ge nodded, looking very natural as if it wasn’t an issue. “Yes, no lights.”

Xu Wang and Wu Sheng, who had just sat down on the sofa, exchanged glances, then Xu Wang leaned forward and asked politely, “Zhang Ge, is it just this room that has no lights, or is it everywhere…”

“The entire house has no lights.” Gardener Peng entered, sounding impatient, as if annoyed by the question.

The driver glared at him. “What’s wrong with you? When will you change your unpleasant temperament?”

Gardener Peng, instantly rebuffed upon opening his mouth, gave up on entering and turned back to the chess table outside, playing against himself!

The driver, having dealt with the gardener, sat down on the sofa opposite the four companions, putting on a hospitable smile. “Our house doesn’t have lights. At night, it should be dark.”

Xu Wang stared at him but couldn’t spot any flaws.

It wasn’t about being quirky or scaring people; he genuinely seemed to believe it, smiling like a friendly neighbor, every crow’s foot around his eyes radiating kindness.

But the more he acted like this, the chillier it felt.

In this world, which household doesn’t have lights? Even if there were such households, facing guests, one would know it’s not in line with social norms. It was unnatural to say it so casually, as if it was as ordinary as eating and drinking.

“A guest?” A woman’s voice came from the doorway.

The four companions looked up to see a middle-aged auntie who was dressed simply. She was slightly plump but appeared more approachable.

“Mrs. Chen, you’re just in time.” The driver immediately stood up, saying, “They are the young master’s friends. Please take care of them. I’ll go inform the young master.”

“Alright, you go ahead,” Mrs. Chen replied warmly, looking honest and sounding comforting.

As the driver left, Mrs. Chen got busy. “Please wait. I’ll go make some tea.”

Xu Wang wanted to say it wasn’t necessary, but before he could speak, Mrs. Chen had already disappeared.

In the large, pitch-dark room, only the four of them remained, along with Gardener Peng outside, playing chess alone.

“Captain, can he really bring Chi Yingxue here?” Kuang Jinxin asked worriedly, keeping his voice very low to avoid alarming those outside.

Xu Wang shook his head. The answer was almost predictable. “Impossible. Have you ever seen a level where you just sit, eat some fruit, and finish the task?”

Wu Sheng had already stood up and started “exploring” the room, examining everything from the furniture to the decorations, not missing any corner.

Qian Ai, more carefree, reached for some fruit from the platter. He wasn’t really daring enough to eat it. He just thought to smell it to wake up his mind. Surely it couldn’t be a trap.

But as he squeezed, the fruit deformed, leaving his hand sticky.

“Fuck!” Qian Ai exclaimed softly. “What the hell is this?”

Xu Wang and Kuang Jinxin leaned over, the latter touching some of the “fruit remnants” on his hand and smelling it. “Seems like… cake.”

“Lao Qian.” Xu Wang looked at the fruit plate. “Squeeze another one.”

Lao Qian froze. “Why?”

Xu Wang replied, “To verify if it’s a coincidence or the whole lot.”

Lao Qian: “Why me?”

Xu Wang: “The first to initiate bears all responsibility.”

Qian Ai: “……”

Resigned, Classmate Qian squeezed all the fruits on the plate. Without exception, all turned out to be cream cakes, made very realistically. If not squeezed, they looked and smelled just like real fruits.

Fortunately, there were napkins nearby. Qian Ai pulled out several, wiping his hands while muttering in confusion, “These rich people, even their food is so bizarre…”

“Come here.” Suddenly, Wu Sheng’s low voice called from a corner of the room.

The three hurried over.

Wu Sheng stood in front of an automatic fish tank, gazing intently at the murky water and the dark shadows swimming within.

“Aren’t those just a few little fish?” Qian Ai didn’t understand.

A bright light shone on the glass of the fish tank—Wu Sheng had turned on his phone’s flashlight.

“Damn…” Qian Ai let out an indescribable exclamation.

The murky water wasn’t swarming with fish, but with many tadpoles that had just grown hind legs, thrashing about in the muddy water, like headless flies.

Suddenly, something pressed against the glass of the fish tank where the bright light was shining.

The four companions jumped. Even Wu Sheng’s hand shook for a moment until the light stabilized, and they saw it was a frog.

Before they could recover from the bizarre sight of “a fish tank with frogs,” the frog suddenly opened its mouth wide, swallowing a string of tadpoles swimming by!

“What are you doing—” Apparently noticing the light from the phone, Gardener Peng, sitting at the door, called out rudely.

Wu Sheng hurriedly turned off the phone.

Xu Wang cooperated, responding, “Nothing. We just dropped something on the floor, but we found it.”

The four companions tiptoed back to the sofa, looking at each other, speechless, for a long time.

Strange.

There didn’t seem to be any major problems here, but it was just weird. At first glance, everything seemed normal, but on closer inspection, everything was peculiar.

“Captain,” Kuang Jinxin glanced at the fruit plate with the squashed “fruits” and hesitated before speaking. “Xiao Xue likes to eat cake.”

“Yeah.” Xu Wang patted his head, both to comfort his teammate and to calm himself. “I know.”

The cakes on the fruit plate confirmed at least one thing: this place was indeed related to Chi Yingxue’s world.

But why were they disguised as fruits…

“Sorry to keep you waiting.” Mrs. Chen came in with tea, politely placing a cup in front of each person. Her movements were gentle, like her whole demeanor, making people relax just by looking at her.

After serving the tea, she stood by the sofa, her posture proper, ready to attend to any requests.

Xu Wang quickly said, “Please, have a seat.”

Mrs. Chen waved her hand, smiling. “No need. I’m fine standing.”

Xu Wang, half-jokingly, half-coaxingly said, “If you stand, how can we drink in peace?”

After some persuasion, Mrs. Chen finally sat down. Like the driver, her demeanor and attitude were simple and hospitable. However, when looking at them, her eyes showed more uncertainty than the driver’s—not malicious, just… unsettled.

Xu Wang, sensitive to people’s emotions, quickly caught this and was wondering why, when Mrs. Chen spoke first. “Are you really the young master’s friends?”

“Of course.” Xu Wang smiled, trying to appear honest and harmless.

Mrs. Chen hesitated. “I probably shouldn’t say this, but the young master never had friends…” She looked at the four, her voice getting lighter, seemingly realizing her next request was a bit much. “You say you’re the young master’s friends. Do you have any proof?”

Xu Wang was stumped by her question.

How do you prove friendship? They couldn’t just drag Chi Yingxue out of the darkroom and tell this auntie to confirm their friendship.

“We have proof,” Kuang Jinxin suddenly said.

Xu Wang, Wu Sheng, and Qian Ai, all surprised, turned to him simultaneously.

Kuang Jinxin quickly took out his phone, opened a photo, and handed it to Mrs. Chen.

Phones couldn’t be used in the Owl, but viewing the photo gallery wasn’t a problem.

It was a photo that Xu Wang, Wu Sheng, and Qian Ai had never seen before. It was a selfie of Classmate Kuang at a restaurant in Jiangsu. Half of the photo was his face, and behind him, the four companions shared the remaining 50%.

At that moment, the companions were unaware they had become the background of someone else’s selfie. Wu Sheng was engrossed in solving a “survival formula”, Xu Wang was holding several pages of a “death formula” with a worried face, Qian Ai was arranging the tableware for a better live broadcast view, and Chi Yingxue, while he wasn’t looking, stole a Suzhou-style pastry, ruining the nicely arranged pastry tower by taking off its top, smugly putting it in his mouth.

At that time, they hadn’t really started level eight yet. Although aware of the dangers ahead, they still stole a moment of leisure.

In the photo, Kuang Jinxin was smiling brightly, just like the weather outside the window that day.

The middle-aged woman stared at the photo for a long time, then suddenly sobbed. She quickly wiped her eyes; her voice was filled with relief and joy. “It’s good to have friends. It’s good to have friends…”

These words, heard by the companions, somehow made their hearts sour.

Driver Zhang returned.

Mrs. Chen immediately stood up to meet him, and Kuang Jinxin quickly pocketed his phone.

As the driver entered, the four companions tensed up.

The driver’s demeanor had changed from warmth to severity. “The young master is sick and cannot receive guests. You should leave.”

Before Xu Wang and the others could respond, Mrs. Chen panicked, “Sick? How is he sick? I’ll go check on him—”

As she spoke and started to leave, the driver grabbed her arm. “What’s there to see? You’ll just cause more trouble.”

The four companions were taken aback; they had anticipated it wouldn’t be easy, but the driver’s sudden change was unsettling.

The gardener, who had been playing chess with himself at the door, stood up, ignoring the struggling driver and Mrs. Chen. He entered and gestured for them to leave. “Take care. There’s no need to see you out.”

Xu Wang narrowed his eyes, and in the corner of his eye, he saw his three companions discreetly reaching for their [Stationery Box]. He calmed down and asked the gardener in a slightly raised voice. “What if we don’t leave?”

The gardener clenched the pruning shears in his hand, snapping them twice, the blades cutting through the air sharply.

“Then don’t blame me for being impolite.”

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