"Are you awake?"
"Um."
"Then I'll go open the door for them." Shi Jinzhe walked along the wall, and halfway there he boldly glanced at the glossy purple snake tail out of the corner of his eye.
He went into the bathroom to wash his face. Without a mirror to block the view, the dark passageway had a strange smell that was pungent to the nose.
Shi Jinzhe pinched the bridge of his nose to calm himself down. Instead of going back to the bedside to take Sheh's hand, he stood in front of the door, turned around and asked Sheh, "Do you want to cover it up?"
Shekh shook his head: "No need."
This is her most authentic appearance. Whether she's in human form or her original form, this is still her. If anyone dislikes or disgusts her, then she'll kill them.
"Okay." This was also what Shi Jinzhe was thinking. Although he was still afraid, the dungeon was halfway through and was about to enter a new phase. He needed to demonstrate greater ability to ensure safety, whether against players or ghosts.
It's good that Sheikh doesn't want to revert to his old self; appearing in front of people with a more intimidating presence will give him more security.
The doorknob turned, and Meng Chengxi waited outside for two minutes without any hurry. After all, young couples always have inconvenient times.
He stuffed a piece of toast into his mouth, "You've finally... opened the door..."
The two people following behind Meng Chengxi narrowed their eyes and swallowed involuntarily, with Chen Shu even taking a step back.
He doesn't consider himself afraid of snakes, and he's seen many related videos, but when he faced a powerful, long snake tail up close without any barriers, Chen admitted that he was scared.
Humans have limitations in their imagination when it comes to things they haven't seen before. Now, this snake tail sliding on the ground has shattered the limits of the three people's imagination with its visual impact.
Shi Jinzhe stepped aside and said, "Come in."
Shekh tightened its scales and twisted its tail to make room for the others to stand.
"She is..." Meng Chengxi quickly regained his composure after his initial surprise.
The existence of bizarre games makes it seem plausible that non-human creatures would appear.
Many dungeons contain monsters, but this was the first time he had ever seen one like Shekh, who was no different from an ordinary person and could move with the player.
However, it is also possible that Shekh's unique abilities altered his physical structure.
Otherwise, if she weren't a player, why would Shi Jinzhe have been acting with her for so long?
Faced with a tail that could flatten them, the three dared not make any rash moves and obediently squeezed at the doorway, not intending to go any further inside.
"Let's get down to business first," Shi Jinzhe changed the subject. "What did you find out today?"
“There are many.” Meng Chengxi called Li Jiaoyang over. “You can tell us.”
He explained to Shi Jinzhe, "Li Xin's grandfather is very hostile towards the two of us. However, seeing that Li Jiaoyang shares the same surname and is only a teenager, it seems like he has found someone to confide in, so he talks to her more."
Upon hearing her own name, Li Jiaoyang immediately came to her senses. "Ah, right, Li Xin is Old Li's granddaughter at the village entrance. The two of them depend on each other for survival. Compared to the other people in the village, he treats Li Xin very well."
She took out a few pieces of paper from her school uniform pants. "He was less wary of me, so he took me to Li Xin's room for a look. These are the newspapers I found in Li Xin's room. Take a look."
Li Jiaoyang secretly tore the newspaper out when Lao Li wasn't looking; the headlines on it were very eye-catching.
"A promising young person in the new era: a college student from Shaodong who is willing to return to a poor mountain village to endure hardship in order to build his hometown."
Shaodong: Unhindered by Mountains, Spreading Fragrance and Lingering Blossoms
"A Philanthropic Spirit from a Small Mountain Village: Shao Dong's Journey in Public Welfare"
To contribute to the education of children in mountain villages, Crown Group has established a charitable online education assistance platform and set up a special scholarship fund.
After reading it, Li Jiaoyang wanted to spit out her own words. "There were other ones on the wall, all interviews with Shao Dong by major media outlets, but only this last one mentioned charity and public welfare."
Shi Jinzhe handed a bowl of rice to Shehe, and while picking up some food, he commented, "Shao Dong took advantage of the information gap, so the outside world didn't discover his beastly side."
The braised chicken pieces smelled delicious. Sheh swallowed a mouthful of meat with satisfaction. "Continue."
The three probing gazes were so intense that when she looked up, the three people huddled in the entryway immediately pretended to be deep in thought and shifted their attention.
Li Jiaoyang stared at the tip of the tail wagging at her feet. "Old Li said the same thing. He said that Li Xin didn't want to go to school for a while and didn't like to talk. It was Teacher Qin who came to the house many times to persuade Li Xin. That's when he accidentally overheard that a volunteer had forced her."
Meng Chengxi continued, "Old Li's three sons all died young, and his daughters-in-law are gone too. Only his eldest son left behind this granddaughter. The two of them depend on each other for survival. After learning about this, he went to see Shao Dong, but Shao Dong insisted that there was a misunderstanding and said that what the volunteers did had nothing to do with him."
“It can’t be a misunderstanding,” Shi Jinzhe said with certainty. “We went to Chai Anan’s house, and those clients who were posing as volunteers dared to pay openly. It was already a transaction in the open.”
“Speaking of Chai Anan, when we came back, we heard that something had happened to his family.”
Sheikh, who had been listening intently, felt even more relieved: "You've been poisoned, haven't you?"
"Yes, it's quite serious. Because the roads in the village are difficult to travel, the person has already gone into shock." Meng Chengxi hesitated for a moment, "Did you do it?"
"I did it," Shekh admitted readily. "I just did it because I wanted to."
"Alright then." Meng Chengxi wiped his face, roughly guessing why Shi Jinzhe had been serving him tea, water, and food.
No matter how many times you play the game, the fear of death is an instinct. Given Sheikh's capricious personality, the safest approach is to go along with her in everything until you figure out her patterns.
"By the way, with the trouble at Chai Anan's house, I reckon Old Li will be the happiest."
Shi Jinzhe was puzzled: "What do you mean?"
“He didn’t like Chai Anan. He said the girl was too stubborn and would stick to what she set her mind to. Moreover, Li Xin’s accident was inextricably linked to her.”
“The Chai family has a serious problem with favoring sons over daughters, and she has suffered a lot,” Shi Jinzhe recounted what he had seen and heard during the day to the others. “In a family like that, her personality would definitely be greatly affected.”
“Not only that,” Li Jiaoyang succinctly summarized what Lao Li had said and relayed it to Shi Jinzhe: “In Lao Li’s eyes, Chai Anan is very extreme, and she can even do anything to achieve her goals. Lao Li suspects that she is the one who deceived Li Xin.”
"You mean Chai Anan tricked Li Xin into going there for money, or rather, to escape this place..."
"right…"
“Li Xin was very beautiful.” Sheh recalled the girl’s appearance. She must have been lively and cheerful in life, with crescent-shaped eyes and a very approachable personality. “Chai Erniu was malnourished, so Chai Anan wouldn’t be much better off. Li Xin was indeed more likely to be targeted.”
"It's not necessarily because of that." Chen Shu, who had been silent since entering, was organizing his thoughts. With Li Jiaoyang, who had just come of age, present, he found it difficult to say what he was about to say.
"Well, I've met all kinds of bosses when I'm doing business. Some people... just have very peculiar tastes. I once met one who had a hostess wear a school uniform... a junior high school uniform."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com