Chapter 140.1 The Horror Club
Listening carefully to the system’s prompt, Wen Shi understood that all players were qualified for inheritance including the butler. There might even be some other types of NPCs with undisclosed roles.
Based on the current information, it seemed that these children didn’t usually spend much time with Master Lin. Perhaps, in the old man’s eyes, they weren’t as important as the butler or caregivers.
“How tricky…”
As he observed the contented families around him, Wen Shi realized he lacked inherent advantages. Firstly, not having the ability to sire a child was a significant drawback. If someone discovered it, it would surely become a topic of discussion.
After stating the complete competition goal, the game presented the first optional quest:
“To hide a hidden health issue, you lied about fathering a child. Your job is to arrange a meeting between the grandfather and grandson successfully before evening.”
“Quest Reward: Increased favorability with Master Lin by +5.”
The rest of the group stayed where they were. It wasn’t clear whether they had taken on the quest. Wen Shi didn’t hide his player identity and gave Pei Hongxin a quick glance, indicating for him to come along.
“Where is my father now?” Wen Shi asked the butler.
“He’s in the second-floor study.”
Taking on this quest, Wen Shi knew it wouldn’t be easy to meet Master Lin directly, but he needed to check the situation first.
The staircase appeared to be made of wood, but as he stepped on it, it felt strangely soft. When he reached a certain step, he noticed black liquid seeping from a crack. However, when he looked again, the surface of the staircase was smooth, as if it had all been an illusion.
Wen Shi’s rationality dropped by one point.
He vaguely grasped a pattern—whenever he noticed certain things in this world, his rationality would decrease. To solve the game’s mysteries, these details couldn’t be ignored, and the number of viewers was crucial at this point. A large number of viewers could help maintain his rationality.
After stepping over the final step, Wen Shi finally understood what that strange sensation was.
…Paper.
The entire villa seemed as if ink was seeping through it, like it was made of paper.
There were many rooms on the second floor, not just one study. Some were adorned with paintings and some were filled with collector’s edition books. Wen Shi casually entered one room and found that all the books were carefully kept in glass display cabinets, and the outer boxes had never been opened, clearly not meant for reading.
For collecting and decoration purposes?
While Wen Shi explored, Pei Hongxin stayed by the door, carefully avoiding touching anything that might be dangerous. From this vantage point, he could easily take note of what Wen Shi was paying attention to.
Spending less than two minutes inside the room, Wen Shi returned to the corridor and continued walking forward. There was a closed door ahead, and he knocked on it directly. “Father.”
After all, his character background was that he had just returned from abroad, so he could pass it off as a mistake if he knocked on the wrong room.
After a moment, a hoarse voice from inside said, “I thought you were out playing around abroad and had no intention of coming back.”
Wen Shi cleverly changed the subject, “I was planning to come back anyway, wanted you to meet your grandson.”
Master Lin didn’t seem like a typical parent. He did not ask about the child or the child’s mother, but just one question, “How old is he?”
The character Wen Shi portrayed, Lin Hejing, was estimated to be twenty-seven according to his documents. He thought for a moment and said, “Seven years old.”
Pei Hongxin was currently about seven or eight years old. It was hard to conceal an adult’s gaze. Looking older than kids his age, it might raise suspicions if he said he was younger.
Master Lin seemed to want to inquire further, but after a bout of coughing, his voice sounded more tired. “Since he’s a part of our Lin family, take him to the small ancestral hall at the back and light a stick of incense.”
Wen Shi agreed readily, “Okay.”
Before heading downstairs, he said with a heartfelt tone, “I’ll let this child give you a kowtow across the door first.”
Wen Shi smiled at Pei Hongxin.
Inside the door, Master Lin neither agreed nor refused.
Pei Hongxin clenched his fist. Not kowtowing would probably be fine, but simply walking away might leave a rude impression on the NPC. Pei Hongxin also had a task to gain favor with Master Lin, so despite never having worshipped the heavens or the earth, he knelt at the doorstep, gently kowtowing, displaying a child’s obedient cuteness. “Hello, Grandfather.”
No choice but to do it. The ritual ended without any issues.
Only then did Wen Shi go downstairs.
He happened to see a man downstairs signaling to the butler. Thinking of something, he fiddled with his phone, and sure enough, several new phone numbers appeared in his contacts. The contact cards not only had profile pictures but also age and identity notes.
Pei Hongxin also wanted to see, but he was too short, even on tiptoes, he couldn’t sneak a peek.
Checking them one by one, Wen Shi gained a preliminary understanding of the family members.
The man with the rather arrogant attitude was his elder brother, named Lin Heguang. He also had a Big Sister named Lin Helan. The youngest brother, Lin Tianci, was only sixteen years old. It wasn’t clear who left this romantic debt for Master Lin.
Wen Shi ranked as the third eldest, a position easily overlooked in this family.
His elder brother was the one signaling to the butler. If he wanted to win over Master Lin’s favor, having a good relationship with the butler would be very useful.
However, the butler wasn’t doing charity. One needed something to impress him. Wen Shi never liked dealing with middlemen unless he was the middleman himself.
When they reached the hall, the butler gave Wen Shi a meaningful look, hinting at something.
Wen Shi just smiled, showing no intention of cooperating in any way.
“I’m going to light incense, anyone want to join?”
The only sounds in the living room were the children playing.
Judging by their reluctance to engage in conversation, a significant portion of the family members were definitely players.
His elder brother, Lin Heguang, either had a naturally arrogant disposition or was intentionally playing that role. He sarcastically said, “How polite of Hejing to head straight for the ancestral hall as soon as he’s back.”
Anyone who taunted him, Wen Shi would promptly use Pei Hongxin as a secret weapon.
Looking at the woman sitting next to Lin Heguang, who was clearly his wife, Wen Shi spoke up, “They say a sister-in-law is like a second mother. My dear child, go give your ‘second mother’ a kowtow for me.”
Pei Hongxin: “……”
Kowtow to your whole family! I’ll kowtow to their graves.
He stood still, not focusing on the scheming among the family members. Pei Hongxin glanced at the butler. Beneath his calm exterior, he had an itch that wanted to tear this person apart. Among those present, there were no players wearing cloaks and masks. He now strongly suspected that Pei Wenwei was the one he teamed up with for this instance from the beginning.
Everything was a setup.
Seeing the gloomy weather outside with signs of rain, Wen Shi didn’t waste any more time and walked out directly.
After he left, someone in the living room softly commented, “It seems like the father and son don’t have a good relationship.”
This was a breakthrough.
In other words, these two players were easy targets, and they were actually in an isolated and unsupported position.
Under the oppressive atmosphere, everyone sat on the sofa, their gazes meeting, silently reaching an unspoken agreement.
•
Thick clouds blocked the sky, making the entire sky feel suffocating, and that peculiar smell in the air intensified once again.
Walking around to the backyard, Pei Hongxin spoke up to Wen Shi for the first time, “Not giving the butler any face at all. Soon, you’ll become everyone’s target.”
His words carried a hint of provocation, but they also accurately pointed out the truth. In a family feud like this, there always needed to be a starting point, a consensus to collectively drive someone out.
Wen Shi understood this better than anyone else.
In the virtual world, he was somewhat famous. Naturally, anyone would want to focus their efforts on eliminating strong opponents first.
He remained quite composed as he said, “Even a flock of sheep can’t withstand a lone wolf.”
Pei Hongxin sarcastically suggested that he was being too arrogant.
Little did Pei Hongxin know that Wen Shi was planning to summon his parallel world self after completing the incense ritual, for a tag team showdown.
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