Yu Deng's lips are very beautiful, not too thin or too thick, very suitable for kissing.
The color of the lips is usually a healthy pink, but because they were just kissed fiercely, they are now a rosy and moist red. Upon closer inspection, you can even see a small cut at the corner of the mouth.
Yu Deng held the photo, touched his lips together, and exclaimed, "The name Cheng Chaolin sounds quite nice.."
"Hmm, why does it feel a little cold?"
Yu Deng raised his head in confusion and looked around.
There was no movement in the room, the curtains were half open, the room was brightly lit, giving a rare sense of security.
[What's going on, I feel like the live broadcast room just flickered.]
[It's not an illusion, I also feel the magnetic field has changed.]
[I don't care about the magnetic field, I only know my wife's lips are swollen and cut from being kissed.]
[During the meeting just now, Bad Dog was laughing happily, tsk, I'm not envious, not envious at all.]
"There's nothing here, maybe I was mistaken, um...
Yu Deng stopped abruptly halfway through his sentence, covering his mouth with a look of uncertainty.
Strange, how did he feel like his mouth was touched by someone.
Yu Deng hesitantly touched his lips, unsure of what was happening. After waiting for a while, he found that the strange sensation just now did not reoccur.
Was it an illusion?
Yu Deng carefully examined the photo in front of him and suddenly discovered a key point. He quickly flipped to the back of the photo and carefully examined the two lines of birthdates.
He painstakingly converted the upper line of birthdates into numbers, calculated for a while, and found that Cheng Chaolin was only thirty-one years old when he died.
"That's not right. Cheng Xiao is about 18 years old, and Cheng Chaolin is only in his early 30s..."
Yu Deng's face changed, showing great disgust: "He actually did that kind of thing at such a young age!!"
The air seemed to freeze, an indescribable silence spread throughout the room.
The next second, a gust of wind blew in from outside. There were several books on the bedside table, and the top one's pages were blown open by the wind, revealing a stack of papers.
Yu Deng waited for the wind to stop, carefully picked up the stack of yellowed papers.
The handwriting on the papers varied, belonging to different people, surprisingly they were several fashionable school records.
-- Chaolin, you sure are impressive. So young, and you've already made the company thrive. I admire you.
-- The professor lamented the other day that you didn't continue with your academic pursuits, but Brother Cheng, you really are talented in business. Developing the family business is indeed important.
-- Brother Cheng, most of us are getting married one by one. Haven't you found the right girl yet? When will we be able to attend your wedding?
"Eh? Has Cheng Chaolin always been single?"Yu Deng pondered for a few seconds, suspecting that he might have wrongly accused his late husband.
Perhaps there's more to the story. Maybe the stepson isn't his biological child.
[Host]The system, unable to hold back any longer, reminded its dim-witted host: [Please carefully check the clues.]
Yu Deng acknowledged with an "oh" and reviewed all the yearbooks before picking up the photo again.
"Let me calculate... Oh, it turns out the remaining set of birthdates is his birthday."
Yu Deng tilted his head, noted this down, and planned to investigate it further later.
While he was searching for clues, the subtle magnetic field from earlier had quietly disappeared. Moments later, Yu Deng heard a "ding" notification.
[Ding, the special power of this instance has been unlocked.]
Yu Deng looked up in surprise, "What power? Let me see!"
[Once the power accumulation is complete, Player Yu Deng can assimilate into Yōumíng and form a domain within a certain area, limited to five minutes.]
Yu Deng was puzzled and humbly asked, "What is Yōumíng?"
[Yōumíng originally means 'yin and yang.' In this instance, it specifically refers to hosts like you who are living beings but can obtain posthumous powers.]
Yu Deng racked his brain and realized, "Doesn't that mean I can turn into a ghost?"
What?! The power he unlocked is the thing he fears the most?
Yu Deng felt a bit creeped out, rubbing his arms, a mix of fear and anticipation.
This power sounded quite formidable. If he really needed to make the player and system sign a contract, scaring Cheng Xiao and making him cooperate might just complete the task.
Yu Deng glanced at the personal panel that popped up from the system, showing the power accumulation progress at only one percent. "Oh, still a long way to go.."
...
After searching the entire room and noting down the clues, Yu Deng decided to follow other players' tactics and fish for more clues.
Just as he headed downstairs, he bumped into Cheng Xiao coming out of the study, and they ended up walking together.
Cheng Xiao's good mood persisted, his gaze occasionally landing on Yu Deng's lips.
Yu Deng, on the other hand, looked at the gray sky outside and softly said, "Why are they unwilling to invite the police?"
"Because they're afraid their secrets will be discovered," Cheng Xiao replied casually.
Only when everyone has secrets will they fear the symbol of judgment, even preferring to endure the murderer continuing their crimes.
Yu Deng didn't understand. What kind of secrets would make them willing to take such risks?
Together with Cheng Xiao, Yu Deng caught a few servants and a barely noticeable concubine for a chat, confirming some information.
The time flow within the instance seemed to have unknowingly accelerated. As it grew darker, the players tried their best to sort out everyone's alibis without angering the NPCs.
Master Cheng was murdered around four o'clock yesterday afternoon.
The old madam spent the entire day chanting scriptures in the ancestral hall.
Cheng Chaoxia was checking on wedding arrangements, and her maid testified that she stayed in her room the whole time.
Cheng Wenhao and Lin Zhiyue worked out at three o'clock and then went to sleep. Both claimed they woke up only after the incident, and the servant guarding the first floor confirmed that they didn't see either of them come downstairs.
As for the concubines, the fourth concubine, who passed away, was chatting with someone in the garden, and the fifth concubine, suspected to have been unwillingly married into the Cheng family, was making desserts in the kitchen, both with witnesses.
After going through everything, it seems that everyone truly didn't have time to commit the crime. The only time gap is the five minutes before Master Cheng was murdered, when the servant went to fetch something for him, leaving the mansion unguarded.
So, who committed the murder in that short five-minute window?
The viewers in the live stream were engrossed in the plot.
[Even without bloody battles, watching the players solve the mystery together is quite interesting.]
[But don't you find it strange? Even for a beginner's instance, it's rare to see players this united.]
[And there haven't been any real casualties so far. Could it be building up to something big later on?]
The sky quickly darkened completely, marking the second night of the instance.
Tonight, it was Cheng Chaoxia's family's turn to keep vigil.
Yu Deng hadn't rested well the previous night and this day. He glanced toward the direction of the mourning hall, then closed the doors and windows tightly before going to bed.
...
As night fell, silence enveloped everything.
Within the Cheng mansion's grounds, the fog thickened. In the sky above a secluded corner, the figure of an adult male gradually took shape.
The figure's features and body became clearer bit by bit, but it remained entirely transparent.
The dark moonlight passed straight through its body, casting no shadow on the ground, invisible to anyone.
It opened its hand, gently grasping a few times. "What a pity, still can't be seen..."
Ignoring its own form, it didn't bother to observe the Cheng family. Its target was clear as it headed to a familiar room.
This was the room where he had lived for decades, and it was currently occupied by his young spouse.
Yu Deng lay at the center of the bed, restless and slightly frowning due to unfamiliar surroundings.
Thin mist filled the room as the figure entered, pulling Yu Deng into a deeper sleep.
The figure gazed at Yu Deng, a complex mix of emotions playing across its face. Ultimately, the question it wanted to ask most was:
"Who kissed you?"
A hoarse, angry voice whispered in Yu Deng's ear.
The voice was pleasant but slow, as if it hadn't spoken for a long time.
"You ungrateful little thing."
The transparent figure leaned over, staring intently at the person on the bed.
Yu Deng, wrapped in a gray velvet blanket, had half his pretty face buried in the pillow, his cheek pressed red. After most of the day, his swollen lips had slightly recovered but still showed signs of the earlier kiss.
The figure extended a fingertip, pressing it against Yu Deng's lips, rubbing forcefully as if to erase the marks left by someone else.
Yu Deng shivered from the cold, uncomfortably furrowing his brows and turning his face away, only to end up facing the figure directly.
Under the thick fog, Yu Deng slept deeply, his mouth slightly open, revealing a glimpse of his pink tongue with each breath.
Though still deeply asleep, Yu Deng's reflexive actions were the ultimate allure.
The cold, slender fingertip entered Yu Deng's mouth.
Warm and moist, soft, completely different from the icy stiffness of the fingertip.
The figure's finger moved lazily within Yu Deng's mouth.
"Mm."
Yu Deng, displeased by the cold object, bit down lightly, trying to push it out, but his sleepy strength was no match for the figure.
When the finger was finally withdrawn, it was covered in sparkling saliva.
The transparent figure looked at its fingertip for a moment before lowering its head and unhesitatingly capturing Yu Deng's lips.
Yu Deng lay there oblivious, his soft lips and tongue sucked upon, a trace of moisture forming at the corner of his tightly shut eyes.
If anyone were to witness this scene, they would surely scream.
A pitifully beautiful person, trapped and kissed by an invisible presence, was being tormented until soft whimpers escaped his lips, without any strength to resist.
This scene was eerie and terrifying, yet so tantalizing.
The faint sounds of wet kisses were muffled by the night.
With such close contact, the shadow's lips and tongue began to warm, inevitably absorbing Yu Deng's fragrance.
The shadow kissed for a long time, growing from clumsy to adept.
Only when Yu Deng's breathing grew labored did the shadow mercifully end the kiss.
The shadow gazed silently at Yu Deng's increasingly swollen lips before leaning down again to pull open Yu Deng's collar.
Cold air rushed into Yu Deng's collar, making him shiver involuntarily and murmur in displeasure.
The shadow's gaze roamed over Yu Deng's pale skin, and after a few seconds, it bit down on his delicate collarbone.
Yu Deng felt both pain and cold, arching his back and whining in dissatisfaction.
With just one bite, a clear mark was left on his collarbone—a deep red bite mark, starkly displaying the aggressor's unrestrained possessiveness.
The shadow's hand brushed over Yu Deng's furrowed brows.
"Delicate."
After this brief remark, the shadow's eyes returned to the collarbone, and in a strangely hoarse voice, it finally sounded somewhat satisfied.
"Mine."