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Bonus chapter! Thank you to Paopao for the donation! ^^
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The player next to the man was momentarily puzzled upon hearing his words, “Isn’t it normal to have people walking around? After all, there are so many guests attending the funeral.”
Another player furrowed his brow. “The third floor is not where ordinary guests could stay. I just asked a servant about it; three guests mainly occupied the third floor.”
“The Young Master’s lover, the Young Master’s fiancée, and the fiancée’s brother.”
All of them were people related to the Young Master and came specifically for the funeral.
Other players immediately understood.
This was likely a crucial NPC, and there might be some clues to investigate.
Despite this being a survival instance, they still needed to find their own way.
Without key clues or items, it would be challenging to survive until the end.
Even though they had learned about the Yang family’s situation by inquiring with the servants upon entering the instance, the information provided by the servants was limited, and they hadn’t uncovered much useful stuff.
At this point, they only knew some basic facts about the Yang family.
A player beside the man looked at him cautiously and asked, “Vice President, do you want to go up and check?”
The man coldly responded with a simple, “Hmm.”
Sending the whole group of players upstairs would likely to attract attention, so they chose to send a player with an inconspicuous appearance to assess the situation.
When the man looked in Ruan Qing’s direction, Ruan Qing swiftly turned and hid behind the corner. His entire body tensed.
Such a keen perception.
Even from this distance, he could sense someone observing them.
Considering that the third floor wasn’t low, and the group of people in the corner of the hall was at least fifteen meters away, it was remarkable that he noticed so quickly.
This player was undoubtedly not ordinary.
Was he a high-level player acting incognito?
Or was he a high-ranking member of the Yong’an Guild?
If he was a high-ranking member of the Yong’an Guild, the difficulty of this instance might be even more challenging than imagined.
After all, he was already so powerful; the need to deceive new players into becoming cannon fodder indicated that there was something extremely frightening in this instance.
Ruan Qing leaned against the wall, glancing again at the corner of the hall.
However, as he was now hiding behind the wall, his line of sight was limited, and he couldn’t see the corner of the hall anymore.
Ruan Qing didn’t dare to risk poking his head out to check.
Although he couldn’t see the corner of the hall, this position allowed him to see the entrance to the hall stairs.
At this moment, a player was cautiously approaching the stairs, apparently intending to go upstairs and check the situation.
Ruan Qing decisively turned around, preparing to leave directly.
But before he could get far, the door not far ahead of him opened.
Then, a girl of about fourteen or fifteen, with delicate features, walked out of the room holding a doll.
Although there was no impression of this little girl in the original owner’s memories, Ruan Qing could guess who she was.
She should be Yang Chenfeng’s fiancée, Shen Baiyue.
After all, the three of them lived on the third floor, and Shen Baiyue was the only female.
However, Ruan Qing didn’t expect Shen Baiyue to be so young, considering Yang Chenfeng was almost thirty.
This seemed to be about twice the age difference.
The original owner probably hadn’t anticipated this either.
The little girl tightened her grip on the doll slightly when she saw Ruan Qing, as if she was a bit scared and nervous.
Thinking that he might have startled her, Ruan Qing softened his voice and expression, politely addressing the little girl, “Hello, are you Miss Shen Baiyue?”
The little girl hesitated for a moment, tilting her head as if wondering who the person in front of her was. But eventually, she nodded.
Ruan Qing looked at Shen Baiyue and explained his identity slowly, his voice somewhat husky, “I am Yu Qing, the lover of Brother Chenfeng.”
Shen Baiyue didn’t speak but looked at Ruan Qing with some surprise.
Her reaction clearly indicated that she had heard of the name Yu Qing.
Ruan Qing took a deep breath and spoke with a tone of apology, “I want to apologize to you about Brother Chenfeng and the fact that he hadn’t annulled your engagement. I’m sorry for being with him.”
“Although it was just an accident at first, I indeed wronged you.”
Ruan Qing slowly recounted the initial accident, along with the guilt and apology of the original owner.
Finally, Ruan Qing looked at Shen Baiyue apologetically and said, “I’m sorry for the harm I caused you. If you need anything, I’ll do my best to make it up to you.”
Shen Baiyue paused for a moment, seemingly not expecting Ruan Qing to say these things to her.
Her eyes slightly curved, and her gaze seemed to brighten a bit, appearing somewhat happy.
The next moment, she pursed her lips and shook her head slightly, speaking softly with a hint of embarrassment, “I don’t mind; you don’t need to apologize.”
Shen Baiyue’s voice sounded soft and a bit nervous, not looking at Ruan Qing but glancing anxiously around.
It seemed she wasn’t very good at interacting with people, giving off an introverted vibe.
Ruan Qing found it a bit strange; if it were just a matter of being bad at communication, she shouldn’t be this uneasy.
Moreover, instead of uneasiness, he felt that Shen Baiyue’s reaction was more like fear.
If it were just shyness, she should be afraid of him as well, considering he was a stranger to her too.
But obviously, she wasn’t afraid of him; she even hesitated when he revealed his identity.
Something seemed off.
Ruan Qing was about to say something when he noticed the player sneaking upstairs.
He paused, apologized to Shen Baiyue again, and left.
Ruan Qing didn’t want to interact with players until he confirmed whether Su Zhen and Li Shuyang had entered the instance.
Seeing Ruan Qing’s departing figure, Shen Baiyue slightly opened her mouth, as if wanting to say something.
However, in the end, she said nothing and slowly went downstairs with her doll.
Meanwhile, Ruan Qing went straight back to his room.
Before entering the room, he discreetly glanced around with his peripheral vision but didn’t see anything suspicious.
That person was probably already gone.
Ruan Qing wasn’t careless either. He sat on the edge of the bed, picked up a photo of Yang Chenfeng and the original owner, and looked at it with a somewhat melancholic expression, as if immersed in his own world.
In reality, Ruan Qing was analyzing the situation in his mind.
Although the Yang family, including both direct and collateral branches, had almost a hundred people, the Yang family villa was exceptionally large. It could easily accommodate over a thousand people without any issues.
The scale seemed a bit unreasonable, especially being in such a remote suburban area.
It’s as if they wanted to conceal some secret, yet also accommodate many people.
Ruan Qing set aside the photo and took out his phone to check on the Yang family’s situation.
However, there was no network, not even a cellphone signal.
Ruan Qing attempted to dial the numbers stored in the original owner’s phone.
As expected, the calls couldn’t go through.
Even the emergency numbers were invalid.
Clearly, this instance didn’t support emergency calls and didn’t allow phone contact. It was almost impossible to communicate with the outside world.
While Ruan Qing was deep in thought, there was a knock on the door, followed by a somewhat disrespectful voice.
“Mr. Yu Qing, it’s time for breakfast.”
Ruan Qing paused, his voice filled with discomfort as he replied in a low tone, “I’m not eating.”
In reality, the original owner hadn’t eaten since yesterday afternoon, and now his stomach was starting to feel uncomfortable.
Moreover, aside from the three meals, the Yang family did not provide additional food, nor did they deliver it to the rooms.
In other words, if you wanted to eat, you had to go downstairs to the dining hall.
A peculiar rule.
The original owner only found out about this rule after missing dinner yesterday.
But going down now would definitely run into that group of players.
If Su Zhen and Li Shuyang were also there, it would be even more troublesome.
It’s better to observe first.
* * *
The dining room table next to the Yang family’s hall was quite large, easily accommodating dozens of people.
Upon hearing the servant calling for meals, the players immediately sat down at the table.
The players, having inquired about the rules from the servants, spontaneously took their seats starting from the end of the dining table, leaving the main seat and the nearby positions empty.
It wasn’t that the players were particularly enthusiastic about eating; just that it was the best opportunity to interact with the Yang family.
The table was already set with exquisite food, but none of the players touched anything.
This was because none of the Yang family members had arrived yet, not even the three who lived on the third floor, except for a little girl holding a doll.
A player with a crew cut encountered the little girl when they went upstairs.
She seemed quite withdrawn, ignoring anyone trying to talk to her.
As if completely immersed in her own world.
The players tried hard to get her to speak but couldn’t, so they eventually gave up.
They were ready to shift their hopes to other members of the Yang family.
However, after waiting for several minutes, no one showed up.
Just as the player with a crew cut was about to ask, slow and steady footsteps echoed from the stairs, making the players’ hearts tighten.
They all looked toward the stairs.
A handsome young man was slowly descending the stairs, with deep facial features and a beautiful face showing a thick impatience.
He gave off a wild and untamed vibe, as if he was an untamable lone wolf.
The players had already inquired about the Yang family’s situation from the servants.
In this generation of the Yang family, there were three sons. The eldest, Yang Chenfeng, was already deceased, leaving only the second son, Yang Chenjin, and the third son, Yang Chenyan.
The collateral branches of the Yang family did not reside in the main villa, meaning that those living on this side of the main villa were all from the main line of the Yang family.
So, if there were no mistakes, this person should be Yang Chenyan, the third son of the Yang family.
Yang Chenyan glanced at the dining table and frowned slightly, seemingly displeased.
The servants had already pulled out the chairs when Yang Chenyan came down.
After sitting down, Yang Chenyan didn’t immediately pick up his chopsticks. Instead, he coldly asked with a hint of impatience, “Where’s Yu Qing?”
The servant hesitated for a moment, realizing that ‘Yu Qing’ was the name of the eldest young master’s lover.
The servant, looking at Yang Chenyan’s impatient expression, cautiously replied, “Mr. Yu seems to have no appetite.”
“No appetite?” Yang Chenyan chuckled directly at the words. “Does he want to starve himself to accompany my eldest brother in the afterlife?”
After hearing Yang Chenyan’s tone, the servant shrank back and dared not say anything.
“Call him down.” Yang Chenyan’s tone was commanding and unmistakably intolerant.
