Chapter 102.2: Xishan Residential Area (22)

  Xia Wuyan slowly walked over to the child’s body.

The next moment, a red gu crawled out from under the child’s corpse, as if it had sensed something, and it crawled towards Xia Wuyan.

The gu was entirely red, with a strange crimson color, as if it were filled with flowing blood.

This red gu seemed somewhat weak, and it crawled for a short distance before it seemed to lose strength, collapsing on the ground.

“Utterly useless,” Xia Wuyan said with disgust as he took out a black bottle and placed it in front of the red gu.

There seemed to be something inside the bottle that attracted the gu. The gu regained its energy and crawled into the bottle.

Xia Wuyan picked up the bottle, closed the lid, and slowly disappeared into Room 306.

***

Ruan Qing’s night watch ended just as dawn was breaking, with the advanced male player standing in front of him.

However, when it was Ruan Qing’s turn, the advanced male player didn’t wake him up. Instead, the other stood guard until morning.

The horizon had just begun to lighten, and all the players were already awake.

Without wasting any time, they immediately returned to Room 306 from last night.

The person had died just last night, and no one had discovered it yet, making it convenient for them to investigate.

However, besides the picture book, there didn’t seem to be any other clues.

Ruan Qing, feeling a bit warm due to his disguise, entered the restroom to wash his hands with cold water.

However, as soon as he entered the restroom, the advanced male player also walked in.

The advanced male player handed something to Ruan Qing and whispered in a voice only Ruan Qing could hear, “This is a disposable item that can change your appearance.”

Ruan Qing took the ring from him, surprised. He didn’t understand why the advanced player was giving this to him, but Ruan Qing still removed his gloves and put the ring on.

Ruan Qing looked at himself in the mirror and found that he looked much more authentic in his disguise.

After removing all his disguises, Ruan Qing felt much more at ease and only kept his mask, sunglasses, and hat.

None of this went unnoticed by the others.

The players were all focused on searching for clues, but there were too few leads at the moment. They could only confirm that there was something wrong with the “Xiao Xi” game at Xishan Kindergarten.

The players felt it was necessary to figure out what the content of this game actually was.

Since it’s a kindergarten, it’s naturally related to children.

They prepared to pose as parents who had just moved to the Xishan Residential Area, in the name of having children at home, to get to know Xishan Kindergarten and investigate it at the same time.

This reason seemed very legitimate, and after a brief phone call from the security guard at Xishan Kindergarten, they were allowed in.

The security guard even led them to their destination.

They soon arrived at an office, and after saying, “Teacher Xia will be here soon,” the security guard left.

Leaving the players waiting in the office.

Ruan Qing looked around, and this office didn’t seem like something an ordinary kindergarten teacher would have. It was very likely a higher-level leadership office for the kindergarten.

Like a principal’s office or something.

Indeed, it was not much different from what the security guard had said. Soon, the sound of footsteps echoed in the hallway outside, and a handsome man in his mid-twenties, along with a woman of a similar age, entered the room.

The man was Xia Wuyan.

Xia Wuyan glanced at the people in the office, showing a polite smile and speaking elegantly, “Good morning, parents. Please have a seat.”

The players didn’t show much expression on their faces, as if they were genuinely parents here to learn about the kindergarten.

A player with blond hair stood up and explained the situation to Xia Wuyan. Immediately, Xia Wuyan began to introduce the basic information about the kindergarten.

After understanding the general situation, the player with blond hair expressed the desire to visit the kindergarten.

Xia Wuyan nodded with a smile, “Of course, I’ll...”

Xia Wuyan had initially intended to find someone to show them around, but he changed his mind when he saw the person standing in the corner and said, almost as if on a whim, “I have some free time right now, so I can show you around.”

The woman standing next to Xia Wuyan looked at him in surprise upon hearing this.

It seemed that she was very astonished by his decision.

Indeed, she was surprised, as in the past, she always guided parents who came to learn about the kindergarten. She never expected that this time, Principal Xia would personally take them on a tour.

This was something that had never happened before.

But the woman didn’t say anything. Since she wasn’t needed, she bid farewell to Xia Wuyan and left directly.

Xishan Kindergarten was not small; you could say it’s a genuine aristocratic kindergarten.

Players were taken on a tour of the kindergarten by Xia Wuyan and didn’t find anything special.

It was as if this was an exceptionally ordinary aristocratic kindergarten.

It’s still morning, and during this time, some children were in arts and crafts class, while others were in music class.

There were even some playing games on the playground with the teachers.

The players paid particular attention to the children playing games on the playground and didn’t find any role-playing games currently happening.

The player with the blonde hair looked at the children playing the game of “Eagle Catches Chicks” on the playground and casually asked, “We heard before that your kindergarten has a role-playing game about ‘Xiao Xi’. Does Teacher Xia know about it?”

Xia Wuyan nodded, “Yes, there is such a game, and it seems to be quite popular among the children.”

The player with blonde hair restrained his eagerness and asked casually, “Is that so? What kind of game is it?”

“It’s a motivational game about how to become stronger,” Xia Wuyan smiled.

“After all, even children want to become powerful.”

This statement was as vague as saying nothing at all, revealing nothing about the specific content of the role-playing game.

The players were very disappointed after hearing this, but it was evident that if they continued to ask, it would seem forced, and nobody knew if this NPC was a boss.

After all, if he was a boss, asking such core questions might directly trigger death conditions.

The players could only give up for now.

Anyway, they were already inside the kindergarten, and they had plenty of opportunities to investigate on their own.

The group continued to tour the kindergarten, and the players asked many questions that concerned parents to make it seem more convincing.

Xia Wuyan patiently answered all their questions.

Basically, most of the players asked one or two questions, and only Ruan Qing followed the team and looked around.

Initially, Xia Wuyan walked at the front of the group, but as they walked, he ended up at the back.

And it was entirely natural; no player felt it was deliberate.

After Xia Wuyan fell behind, he looked at Ruan Qing, who was looking around, and showed a very bright smile, much more sincere than the polite smile from earlier.

He extended his hand politely towards Ruan Qing and said, “Hello, my name is Xia Wuyan. May I ask for your surname?”

Ruan Qing lowered his gaze to Xia Wuyan’s outstretched hand but did not shake it. He simply replied, “Li.”

The other players glanced at the two but remained silent, pretending to be interested in the kindergarten surroundings.

Xia Wuyan didn’t mind Ruan Qing’s coldness and casually withdrew his hand. He asked with a hint of curiosity, “Mr. Li, you don’t seem very old. Do you have younger siblings who are attending this kindergarten?”

Ruan Qing immediately became alert upon hearing this question. Even though he had disguised himself this way, he had previous experiences with people becoming suspicious of him.

Without showing any emotion, he spoke with a deep, hoarse voice, “No, it’s my child.”

“My youngest son is about to turn three.”

“I see. I couldn’t tell. I thought Mr. Li was only seventeen or eighteen.” Xia Wuyan’s smile faded slightly.

Ruan Qing seemed to find amusement in being considered younger and smiled with a raspy, unpleasant laugh. “You’re joking, Mr. Xia. I’m already fifty this year.”

“Ah?” Xia Wuyan was taken aback.

He couldn’t believe it.

Fifty?

It couldn’t be true, could it?

Xia Wuyan’s steps involuntarily halted, and he stared at Ruan Qing’s plump figure, his handsome face displaying bewilderment.

Xia Wuyan began to doubt his own sanity.

No, it wasn’t just doubting himself; he felt like there was something wrong with him.

Being inexplicably attracted to a married man with children was one thing, but a man around fifty?

He was only twenty-five this year, twice as young.

Xia Wuyan thought back to how old his father was when he passed away.

If he remembered correctly, his father had been twenty-one when he had Xia Wuyan, which would make him around forty-six this year.

Four years older than his father.

Ruan Qing glanced at the man, who seemed profoundly affected, and he let out a small sigh of relief.

With this revelation, the other party should probably give up, right?

However, not even three seconds had passed when the man caught up again.

Xia Wuyan seemed to be struggling with something and looked at Ruan Qing with some hesitation. He asked, “Mr. Li, may I ask if you have already celebrated your fiftieth birthday this year?”

Ruan Qing paused at the question and replied, “Yes, I have.”

“In which month?” Xia Wuyan asked with some urgency.

Not fully understanding, Ruan Qing still gave a random month, “March.”

“Good,” Xia Wuyan breathed a sigh of relief and said with a sense of joy, “My birthday is in January, and I just turned twenty-five this year.”

Ruan Qing: “???” What did that mean?

Xia Wuyan smiled brightly at Ruan Qing, with a hint of an unknown meaning in his eyes. “You are still two months younger than me.”

Xia Wuyan’s words sounded a bit like children comparing ages, competing to be the older brother.

Ruan Qing: “Oh.”

Ruan Qing looked at Xia Wuyan, who was smiling so brilliantly, and distanced himself silently.

The advanced male player glanced at Xia Wuyan, walked between the two of them, blocking Xia Wuyan’s view.

Xia Wuyan cast a faint glance at the man who stood between him and his beloved, raised an eyebrow, and remained silent.

[Everyone, this Mr. Xia is simply a big weirdo, right? He forced the beautiful wife in the first round!]

[No, I can understand forcing a beautiful wife. After all, that beauty is truly irresistible. But the problem is, this chubby guy said he’s fifty! Fifty! Twice his age! I really can’t understand!]

[I don’t understand either. Maybe this is what they call seeing the beauty of someone’s soul.]

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