Chapter 139 The Horror Club
When the mini Pei Hongxin appeared, Wen Shi got really excited.
The numbers went like 10, 20, 30… just like propellers, spinning around.
This strange excitement made the monsters who were watching speechless for a moment.
【The protagonist in this story seemed a bit strange.】
【I won’t hide it, but when he grinned just now, he seemed a bit like a strange father figure.】
The chaotic live chat was completely ignored.
Wen Shi looked at the child, who was about seven or eight meters away. As he stared at the fear on that face, a distant memory came back uncontrollably.
When Wen Shi first met Pei Hongxin, it was in the summertime, with birds singing and cicadas buzzing, creating an atmosphere of restlessness.
Every now and then, couples came to the orphanage to adopt children. They were well-off, but few were as close to the perfect parental template as Pei Hongxin and his wife.
The woman was beautiful and elegant, and the man had a friendly demeanor. The diamond watch on his wrist highlighted his impressive status.
All the children eagerly tried to impress them. Those living in the orphanage had experienced life’s ups and downs too early, so they knew what to strive for. Wen Shi just sat there quietly, seemingly uninterested in everything.
Sometimes fate could be funny that way. He didn’t have to do anything because his exceptionally handsome face, far beyond his peers, immediately caught the couple’s attention.
The woman gently bent down, placing her hand on the child’s arms.
“Pei Wenwei. Our three surnames are now linked together. We are a family from now on.”
Due to a single name, Wen Shi, who had strongly resisted adoption, made his first attempt to integrate into a completely new family.
Wen Shi, still standing in the hallway with outstretched arms, began to smile a bit dreamily because of these distant memories.
Soon, he shattered these memories like a broken mirror, completely into pieces.
Wen Shi asked the woman, “What’s this child’s name?”
The woman remained expressionless.
After a brief pause, Wen Shi understood he couldn’t call Pei Hongxin a child. The current setting was a place without lies. Pei Hongxin was actually much older than this age, so this place couldn’t be called a real orphanage either.
Wen Shi asked again in a different way.
“Number 39,” the woman answered coldly, “The children here don’t have names.”
After hearing this, Wen Shi looked back at Pei Hongxin and introduced himself very seriously, “My last name is Lin…”
He used his character’s last name.
“You can be called Lin Jiu. We are a family from now on.”
[T/N: jiu = 9]
Such a familiar statement made Pei Hongxin’s face turn extremely unpleasant in an instant.
He hoped that other players would come to adopt him, and even at the risk of breaking his character, he asked the woman, “How many adopters will be here today?”
The vacant look in the woman’s eyes made Pei Hongxin somewhat uneasy, but she finally replied in a relatively calm tone.
“None. If you’re not satisfied, you can wait.”
Pei Hongxin wasn’t naive. He knew the hope of waiting was slim. The most likely outcome was that he would remain in the orphanage forever.
He tried to stay calm, first, because in the game, players couldn’t harm each other, and second, since the adoption scene was arranged, the child must also have significance to the adopter. It wouldn’t make sense for the other party to directly harm him morally or physically.
Knowing he had no choice, Pei Hongxin, even though he was reluctant, had to take the initiative and walk towards Wen Shi.
Wen Shi excitedly said to the woman, “Look, we’ve fulfilled the two-way journey.”
A’Sang, Dad’s going to roleplay for a while, but when I come back, you’ll still be my only child!
“Come.” He took Pei Hongxin’s hand, giving it a strong grip as it struggled, portraying the image of a caring foster father. “Don’t be afraid, Dad doesn’t mind if you’re dirty.”
Pei Hongxin stared back at him with a fierce look.
Wen Shi tilted his head and said, “Let’s go.”
As big hands clasped onto smaller ones, the woman stood in the half-shadow of the red house’s door, her gaze fixed on yet another ‘child’ being adopted. It seemed as if half of her very being had sunk into the enveloping darkness.
On the gravel path from the red house to the main gate, it took Pei Hongxin some time to accept the fact that Wen Shi was also a player. Undoubtedly, this was a huge trouble for him.
“No wonder…”
Pei Hongxin thought quietly. A player’s status often carried an air of influence, which could be used in the real world. This was why Pei Wenwei dared to appear at the party right in front of him.
An electronic watch suddenly appeared on Pei Hongxin’s wrist. He temporarily stopped thinking, forced to begin examining th device.
Thanks to Wen Shi, there were over a dozen initial monsters coming to see him. Clearly, they were quite interested in the reason for Wen Shi’s excitement.
Along with the system introduction, Pei Hongxin quickly gained a basic understanding of the electronic watch. He was someone who could create favorable conditions for himself under any extreme circumstances. Being adopted wasn’t entirely a bad thing. At least he could ride along with the other person’s popularity.
Stranded in the wilderness with no taxis available, as they finally left the orphanage’s vicinity, the game’s notification sound echoed in Pei Hongxin’s ears once again.
“Short story ‘Adoption’ is now complete.”
Subsequently, the notification sound simultaneously informed both of them:
“The second story you need to save, ‘Aristocratic Family Succession Battle,’ is about to begin.”
“Ah—” As the announcement ended, a black luxury car suddenly appeared in front of them, and a young wealthy-looking guy got out, vigorously waving his arms. “Hejing, over here!”
Wen Shi reacted quickly and led Pei Hongxin over.
The instance was at a turning point. Whether or not there was danger ahead, this suddenly appearing person seemed to be the only way out of the wilderness.
As he walked up to the guy, Wen Shi naturally sized him up, gaining a preliminary understanding of this new character.
With a floral shirt and sunglasses, revealing some chest muscles in the eerie wilderness, he clearly looked like a carefree young master. In terms of their character relationship, they obviously knew each other. The guy in the floral shirt smiled and gestured for Wen Shi to get in the car, while also glancing at Pei Hongxin. “You actually went through with it, huh?”
Wen Shi had Pei Hongxin sit in the back alone. After getting into the car, he casually grabbed a wet tissue from inside the car and meticulously wiped his fingers one by one.
The guy in the floral shirt appeared to be an NPC, but in this instance, every character that seemed like an NPC could be a player in disguise. To avoid getting conned, one had to keep a constant guard up.
“Is there anything I can’t do?” Asking in return was the easiest way to gather information without arousing suspicion.
“True, Master Lin is old-fashioned. Bringing a grandson back will definitely benefit the will distribution this time,” Floral Shirt Guy shirt sighed. “You can’t father kids, and your siblings are all watching like hawks, so you can only take risks.”
Wen Shi: “……”
So, this was the kind of character he was?
“But what was the old man thinking? Making a will at just over fifty, and you had to specially fly back from abroad for this.”
Wen Shi stared at his hands, silently absorbing the information.
All the story chapters not only had connections but significant ones at that. Following this pattern, even that vengeful spirit in ‘Eagle’s Vigil’ who wanted to strangle him couldn’t be entirely left behind. He was afraid that there might be a limited recall at some point, striking him painfully.
Floral Shirt Guy kept talking throughout the journey. “Hurry up and get a car. Can’t have me be your free driver every time, right? For you, buddy, I got up early from a beautiful lady’s bed…”
Suddenly, Wen Shi remembered something, took out his phone, and found that his contacts were also unlocked. Currently, there was only one person listed as ‘Kong Zhuoshuang,’ and the rest remained a hazy blur.
He figured that as he interacted with more story characters, more contacts would unlock.
After driving for twenty minutes, the car finally entered a bustling city, but it didn’t take long before it turned into a quieter, affluent neighborhood.
All these houses were part of a project by the same developer, so the villa structures here were uniform. As they entered a narrow lane, the car slowed down, allowing Wen Shi to make a more detailed observation. Rich people were very particular, so the distance between the villas was quite significant.
Wen Shi’s gaze suddenly paused.
Even though all the buildings were the same, when he saw a particular villa ahead, he couldn’t help but look at it twice.
The pointed roof, once white, had been repainted red. It felt ominous, especially with the tall, dense trees all around. One of them even exceeded the height of the villa’s pointed roof. It was opaque, misshapen, and had an eerie vibe.
The car stopped in front of this eerie building. Floral Shirt Guy turned his head and said, “I don’t like dealing with elders, so I won’t be going in.”
Wen Shi: “……”
No surprise, this spooky house was his current home.
In the back seat, Pei Hongxin also furrowed his brows as he looked at this building.
The situation was slightly better than he had expected. From the story setup, both sides were currently in a mutually beneficial and dependent relationship, so there couldn’t be another chapter where Pei Wenwei adopted a child.
The latter had undoubtedly more gaming experience than him. If he wanted to survive… Pei Hongxin concealed the malice in his gaze. He must use this instance to eliminate any future threats.
It was going to be tough.
Pei Hongxin smoothed out the wrinkles on his clothes, but it didn’t matter. He was always good at turning the tables against the odds.
Calmly opening the car door, Pei Hongxin walked towards his ‘battlefield.’
After three seconds, his short legs couldn’t quite reach the ground, causing a stumble that nearly sent him face-first into the mud.
Wen Shi turned back and laughed, calmly ringing the doorbell.
The door, adorned with a carved image of a leopard, swung open, and a person inside wearing the standard butler uniform stepped out. This young man was naturally slender, tall in stature, exuding the sleekness of a butler.
This person was the player who had teamed up with Wen Shi for this instance, going by the name Xiao Cheng in the virtual world.
Wen Shi disliked the hypocritical Pei Hongxin, but he had even less fondness for this ungrateful Xiao Cheng. He added him to the list of people to be wary of.
In instances, there were no coincidences, especially when it came to nearly identical faces. When Xiao Cheng saw the shrunken Pei Hongxin, a noticeable expression of surprise crossed his face, clearly not anticipating the situation to unfold in this direction.
However, he quickly adjusted his expression and followed the character script he received, “The other Young Masters and Miss have been back for a while, waiting for you.”
The interior had a vintage decor style, with a low foyer ceiling and circular coin-shaped insets on the walls.
The overall interior of the villa leaned towards dark colors, dominated by wooden furniture. It felt quite chilly, and as Wen Shi walked through the hallway from the foyer to the living room, he had a sensation as if he were walking in a basement. The air carried a faint scent of ink.
On an evidently expensive solid wood sofa, quite a few people were seated. Because the living room was spacious enough, it didn’t feel crowded.
The large trees outside blocked a lot of natural light.
As Wen Shi entered, all eyes in the room turned towards him, and he, too, looked at them.
Currently, in his field of view, there were a total of nine people.
On the center sofa, there sat a man and a woman. Beside them, there were two children. Judging by their posture and demeanor, the man seemed to regard this place as his own turf. On the other side, near the window, there was another couple with a child who appeared more composed, like easygoing, mild-mannered folks. Lastly, there was a handsome young man exuding youthful charm. He flashed a smile at Wen Shi and waved. “Second Brother is back.”
The handsome young man curiously looked at the child following behind him. “Who’s this?”
“He doesn’t even greet people. This child lacks manners,” Wen Shi casually shifted his dislike onto Pei Hongxin, “Quick, say hello.”
Pei Hongxin took a shallow breath and whispered, “Hello, Uncle.”
The handsome young man paused, “Is this Second Brother’s child?”
There was a subtle change in the room’s atmosphere.
Wen Shi nodded. “I had a bit of an unpleasant situation with his mother, and things got a bit complicated. I didn’t disclose it to everyone before.”
As he casually found a place to sit, he glanced at the second floor. Aside from the butler, there were also servants moving back and forth. How many of them were players was still unknown.
As the last heir to arrive, Wen Shi’s presence marked the official beginning of this high-society wealth battle.
The game’s notification tone sounded for all members.
“The Lin family is a well-known local aristocratic clan, and Master Lin is about to celebrate his fifty-fifth birthday.”
“To foster better harmony among family members, Master Lin has decided to draft his will in advance to determine the future distribution of the estate.”
“At the end of the story, players who do not receive a share of the estate distribution will be eliminated. Among the direct heirs, the player with the smallest share of the estate will also be eliminated.”
“Note: As long as you stay within the character design, the storyline can freely deviate.”
“Note: There seems to be some undisclosed secrets within the villa. This is a perilous mansion, and no one should trust anyone.”
“Note: The number of viewers is crucial.”
“The ‘Aristocratic Family Succession Battle’ has begun. I wish everyone an enjoyable experience.”
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