Cheng Xiao had heard from old players that low-difficulty instances like beginner dungeons repeat and remain open continuously.
So does this mean that every time a new batch of players arrives, and every time there's a so-called "stepson," Yu Deng will approach so unguardedly and act in such a manner?
Is he just one of many men?
Cheng Xiao, holding Yu Deng's wrists and waist, said angrily, "You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?"
"You always act so pitifully, making it impossible not to notice you."
So delicate that even the slightest bump or scrape leaves a mark, with skin so tender that a simple rub can cause injury. Instead of taking care of himself, he comes to the man's room, actively exposing his waist.
Is it because with just a beckoning gesture, a man will come rushing over?
"What?"
Yu Deng was completely confused and had no idea what Cheng Xiao was talking about.
System 01: [...] Stupid host.
"What are you talking about?" Yu Deng reluctantly turned his head, feeling deeply aggrieved. "You're the one being deliberate."
"Really?"
Cheng Xiao looked at Yu Deng's innocent, accusing eyes and felt the anger in his chest burning hotter. "Do you act like this in front of those people?"
He almost said "players," but caught himself just in time and used a different phrasing. Cheng Xiao felt that all his self-control accumulated over eighteen years was vanishing, almost making him lose his temper.
"Is this how you act in front of my dad too, doing whatever you want?"
Cheng Xiao's words were extremely harsh and unreasonable.
After all, what kind of son questions his father's widow like that?
However, Yu Deng didn't think about the underlying implications; he just felt that Cheng Xiao was very harsh.
It was awful.
"Why are you suddenly being so mean to me?"
Yu Deng wanted to shout in anger, but his tears had already started to flow uncontrollably, quickly filling his eyes.
He turned his head away from Cheng Xiao, keeping his head down and remaining silent.
The room fell silent for a few seconds. Cheng Xiao took a deep breath, still feeling a nameless anger inside but managing to calm himself down.
He looked at Yu Deng's quiet figure, paused for a moment, and let go of Yu Deng's wrist, though he still held him tightly with his other hand.
He turned Yu Deng around and saw that his beautiful face was covered in tears.
He had made him cry again.
Cheng Xiao seemed to be torn between two emotions: one side wanted Yu Deng to cry even more pitiably, while the other felt a deep sense of compassion.
Cheng Xiao paused and sighed, "Little Mom."
"I didn't do it on purpose..."
Yu Deng was deeply aggrieved. He had just arrived in this infinite world as well. He continued to accuse, his tears flowing steadily.
"You shouldn't, shouldn't be so harsh with me."
It was truly frustrating. This stepchild had just apologized a short while ago and was now saying things that made him even angrier.
"And I only fell because of the candle. Without me, you'd still be fighting with the paper man."
He had praised him for being smart back then, and now he was scolding him.
Yu Deng, being somewhat dull and slow-witted, often didn't know how to retort against his stepchild.
Really, someone not very smart like him, trying to complete various tasks in this so-called infinite world, was already struggling enough without being bullied by other players.
He wanted to go home so badly.
Yu Deng wiped his tears roughly and tried to push Cheng Xiao away, wanting to leave the room.
"If you're not going to help me, I'll find someone else."
Unfortunately, the force he exerted felt to Cheng Xiao like a mere scratch from a cat, not moving him an inch.
Cheng Xiao's face darkened at Yu Deng's words. "No."
"Don't you need the medicine? I'll help you." Cheng Xiao wrapped his arm around Yu Deng's waist, lifted him, and placed him on the bed, making him lie on the blanket.
Yu Deng pouted and refused to acknowledge this jerk.
The delicate and fair-skinned beauty lay on the deep blue velvet blanket, her legs dangling over the edge of the bed, her waist and abdomen curving slightly, resembling a dessert waiting to be tasted.
The cool white ointment was applied to her delicate skin, the sticky texture and subtle color differences all stimulating Cheng Xiao's vision.
Yu Deng was truly afraid of the pain. Every time Cheng Xiao touched him, he would flinch and shiver.
Cheng Xiao thought to himself that Little Mom was even more delicate than the Princess and the Pea.
"All done." Cheng Xiao's palms were hot as he lowered Yu Deng's clothes.
Yu Deng slowly turned over, sat up on the bed, moved his arms, and looked up at the boy standing in front of him.
"I applied the medicine for Little Mom," the boy said, asking for a reward. "Isn't Little Mom going to thank me?"
Yu Deng politely said, "Thank you."
"Just saying thank you isn't enough."
Cheng Xiao was increasingly eager to do something, to leave his mark on Yu Deng.
Even if Yu Deng had once belonged to the man who had already died.
Yu Deng blinked in confusion, and in the next second, Cheng Xiao had already lowered his head, fiercely and somewhat clumsily kissing Yu Deng's lips.
Yu Deng thought that the kiss was rather rough, and the air seemed to be stolen from him.
His soft cheeks flushed red from lack of oxygen, his earlobes also turning pink, and the tears he had managed to hold back came out again.
"Mmm."
Yu Deng tried to open his mouth to speak but ended up giving Cheng Xiao the opportunity.
"Deng Deng, breathe."
Yu Deng couldn't hear what Cheng Xiao was saying at all.
Yu Deng was thoroughly kissed. Cheng Xiao was like a bad dog eager to mark his territory, making Yu Deng's lips swollen from the kiss.
The moisture on his lips indicated how he had been treated just now.
Only after the kiss did Yu Deng react, stunned. "Why, why did you kiss me?!"
"Just wanted to kiss Deng Deng."
Cheng Xiao no longer used the teasing term that signified Yu Deng belonged to someone else, his words now straightforward.
"Can I kiss you again, please?"
"…"
...
Of course Yu Deng didn't agree. He was kissed once and then fled in embarrassment, locking the door behind him.
Yu Deng was utterly exhausted and didn't want to go out to look for clues or see his stepson. He was afraid that water would hurt his wound, so he simply wiped his face and hands and took a brief nap.
Unbeknownst to him, his live stream's popularity soared.
[What happened just now? Why was there a black screen for so long?]
[Didn't you notice? The baby's lips are so red. I have a guess...]
[Ah, was he bitten by a bad dog?]
[Why didn't you show us? It's not like it's above the neck!]
[Poor little wife was bullied by the bad guy. (So excited).]
Yu Deng, bitten by the bad dog, slept fitfully. After about two hours, he suddenly woke up, staring at the ceiling for a while.
Oh, right. The players were supposed to have a meeting. He needed to check it out.
He hurried downstairs. Except for the Mediterranean man still unconscious in the guest room, the players had gathered back in the hall, apparently preparing for the meeting.
Yu Deng found a spot where he couldn't be seen in the hall and listened in surreptitiously.
"I just asked the maid. This morning, the fourth concubine who died was indeed the one most favored by Old Master Cheng. Her relationship with the old madam was very bad," Sister Tong began.
Another new player added, "I spoke with a maid, and she said that Old Master Cheng was quite a playboy, especially fond of young and beautiful women. The concubines he took in were also quite young."
The others spoke in turn, sharing the clues they knew, and then looked towards Cheng Xiao, who had a special status.
Cheng Xiao seemed in a good mood and didn't waste words, speaking directly. "Last night, during the vigil, the candles went out, and a paper figure attacked me. Old Master Cheng's corpse also had issues. I checked Cheng's business records and found that Cheng Chaoxia is currently in charge of the pharmaceutical industry."
This statement carried a lot of information.
After a pause, Cheng Xiao continued, "Don't forget the side task asks us to help with revenge. The murderer must have a grudge against Old Master Cheng."
"Are there any clues associated with your identity?" Sister Tong asked.
Cheng Xiao lazily replied, "Not at the moment. I didn't find any useful information in my suitcase or room."
The group began to analyze the situation noisily, eliminating possibilities one by one. Yu Deng crouched outside the hall, listening intently.
The office worker who had fallen this morning, unexpectedly participating in the discussion instead of remaining silent like yesterday, said, "I passed by the newlyweds' room this morning. The door was open, so I took a look inside but didn't find anything suspicious."
"Alright, let's summarize the current situation."
There were numerous suspects for Old Master Cheng's murder, each with intricate connections and motives, but each also had an alibi.
Currently, the most substantial evidence pointed to the old madam, motivated by a strained relationship and inheritance issues. Next was Cheng Family's eldest daughter, Cheng Chaoxia, who had significant conflicts with Old Master Cheng over inheritance rights.
Several of Old Master Cheng's concubines were not married to him out of mutual affection but were forcibly taken in. The third generation of the Cheng family, led by Cheng Wenhao, were engaged in mutual power struggles, with some collateral children already approved by Old Master Cheng to receive a share of the inheritance.
With such a complex web of relationships, Old Master Cheng had indeed made a mess of things, with hardly anyone truly caring for him.
As for the murder of the fourth concubine this morning, the only person currently linked to it was the old madam, but it seemed too deliberate, more like a red herring.
In summary, the Cheng family's dynamics were dramatic enough to fill a 55-episode TV series.
The more Yu Deng listened, the more confused he became, feeling that everyone had a reason to stab each other.
"By the way, I noticed that they all seemed reluctant to talk when the issue of the inheritance was mentioned."
The players noted this doubt and planned to further investigate the tangled web of love and hate within the mansion, and to verify the alibis.
Finding the murderer wasn't the hardest part of this instance; the real challenge was uncovering the truth.
Currently, the key NPCs involved were a few, and there were seven players, so even guessing could work, but the truth was different.
Yu Deng, with his head spinning from all the information, went upstairs, his mind filled with the wives and concubines of Old Master Cheng.
See, a man being promiscuous is a quick way to end up dead.
However, a sudden question crossed Yu Deng's mind. Would a dungeon really change its main character just because of varying difficulty? Cheng Wenhao hadn't been involved at all.
Moreover, he couldn't help but think about his late husband since seeing the thick fog this morning.
Yu Deng decided to look into information about his deceased husband.
Theoretically, his room was also his late husband's room, and there should be clues there.
Yu Deng wandered around the room a few times but found nothing obvious.
After a moment of contemplation, he randomly chose a piece of furniture that could hide something and slowly opened the bedside cabinet.
Inside were a few books, with the top one being quite worn, and a slightly harder piece of paper sticking out from one of the corners. Yu Deng pulled it out.
It was a yellowed photograph.
The photo showed a man in his thirties, tall and handsome, wearing an elegant long gown, with a gentle demeanor.
So, this was his late husband.
Quite good-looking, and not as old as he had imagined.
Yu Deng looked at the back of the photo and saw a signature; Cheng Zhaolin.
The handwriting was vigorous, and below the name, there were two strings of birthdates.
Yu Deng turned the photo back, murmuring to himself.
"Cheng Zhaolin."
System 01's current fluctuated slightly.
Yu Deng was still unaware.
For certain special entities, names are not to be spoken lightly.
Especially when, like him, one's entire attention is focused on that name,
As if calling out.
Somewhere in the depths of darkness, an entity opened its eyes.
Its power flowed into the photograph and then through the eyes in the picture, it saw the one who called it.
It saw the beautiful face of its little spouse, those moist, alluring eyes.
And those crimson, soft, swollen lips.