Chapter 3
As Xing Nuo curiously surveyed the small garden and the humans within, others were also observing him.
The cub wore the classical-style robe he often wore in the castle, a light beige robe printed with his beloved sunflowers.
His cheeks were fair, his hair, unstyled by the prop comb, curled down onto his back and shoulders, revealing a pair of round, bright eyes, curiously observing the small garden.
His expression was like a kitten’s experiencing the human world for the first time, full of wonder.
As if thinking, so this is what the two-legged human creatures of the world look like!
A parent, also with a child, saw the handsome father and son pair. Hesitating for a moment, she eventually walked over, leading her daughter who was chattering about wanting to play with the child across the way.
“Hello, are you the new residents?”
A faint smile played on Shen Wen’s lips as he nodded politely.
“Yes, we just moved in.”
Before the parent could continue, her daughter broke free from her hand and rushed towards Xing Nuo.
“Your dress is so pretty! Are you a princess? Your hair is curly too!”
The little girl was a chatterbox. Then, she turned to ask her mother:
“Mommy, I want curly hair too, and to wear a pretty dress like that!”
The little girl with pigtails, upon seeing Xing Nuo, instantly wanted a similar hairstyle.
The corner of the parent’s mouth twitched, and she quickly pulled her daughter back.
“Excuse me, my daughter takes after me, she’s quite lively.”
Shen Wen still smiled, shaking his head and saying it was alright.
However, the smile on his lips was perfunctory in the extreme.
Today was Zaizai’s first day in the human world.
Shen Wen, afraid of frightening Xing Nuo, was incredibly gentle and patient with these strange humans.
At any other time, he wouldn’t even bother looking at them, directly throwing them into an instance to be done with it.
Not daring to let Zaizai interact with humans for too long, Shen Wen excused himself and took the somewhat introverted and shy Xing Nuo upstairs.
After he left, the crowd erupted.
“Golden hair actually looks so good! Not non-mainstream at all!”
“Do the father and son have foreign ancestry? Or is it dyed hair?”
“His child is so well-behaved, staring at me with wide eyes, making me want to steal him.”
The speaker glanced at their muddy, messy little nephew playing in the dirt and sighed deeply.
Why was the difference between children so vast?
Xing Nuo, after his short outing, returned home. Despite not having done anything strenuous, his face was a few shades paler.
Coughing a few times, Xing Nuo’s budding curiosity about humans was gradually eroded by his weak body.
Xing Nuo lay on his dad’s lap, a sleepy expression on his small face.
“Dad, sleepy.”
Shen Wen was just about to instruct the butler to prepare the bath when he suddenly remembered they had moved.
The monster butler wasn’t suitable to stay here and had been sent back to the castle.
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Shen Wen carried the limp-limbed cub, feeling like he was holding a blob of jelly, to the bathroom for a simple wash.
Halfway through washing his face, Xing Nuo, with drooping hands and feet, was already fast asleep.
Shen Wen’s eyes softened. He pinched Xing Nuo’s cheek and carried his Zaizai back to the bedroom.
Xing Nuo slept particularly soundly this time.
Midnight.
Shen Wen, not needing sleep, quietly tidied up the unpacked belongings in the living room.
The blood-red tulips brought from the castle were placed in a vase; Zaizai’s favorite sunflower robes were hung in the bedroom closet; some interesting player props he had snatched were stored in a cabinet…
The comb prop that Xing Nuo often used to straighten his hair was also placed neatly on the bathroom shelf.
While organizing the scattered items, Shen Wen thought about the clothing of the humans he had seen in the small garden that day, wondering if he should also buy some modern clothes?
Their attire was somewhat out of place in this world.
Sometimes, standing out too much wasn’t a good thing.
While walking outside, he often felt scrutinized by subtle gazes.
As Shen Wen was thinking, he suddenly sensed a change in one of his instances.
A human player had actually challenged an S+ level instance?
And as it happened, this instance was the one Shen Wen had created.
As the ultimate boss of the instance, Shen Wen’s name always ranked among the top three on the human players’ “Do Not Provoke” boss list.
Players rarely dared to challenge his instances.
In the players’ eyes, Shen Wen was a monstrous boss disguised in a refined and elegant human skin, with a preference for extravagant and luxurious instance settings.
Blood Rose Castle, Violet Crystal City, Eternal Night Flower Manor…
In any instance involving Shen Wen, he always appeared as a noble and refined medieval aristocrat.
He appeared calm and elegant, noble and indifferent, without a trace of a villainous monster.
Even when causing the death of players, it was bloodless and clean, the players simply becoming fertilizer for the flowers.
Shen Wen’s eyes darkened. He initially didn’t intend to interfere, but he sensed that this human player’s power seemed particularly strong.
What if they destroyed his castle?
That castle contained all of his and Zaizai’s belongings.
Annoyed, Shen Wen glanced at the time, estimating it shouldn’t take too long.
Returning to the bedroom, Shen Wen placed a “Deep, Deep Sleep Pillow” prop pillow in Xing Nuo’s arms.
This pillow had only one function: instant sleep upon contact.
Shen Wen left his power mark in the room, brushed aside the hair sticking to Zaizai’s forehead, and lowered his head to kiss Xing Nuo’s face.
Finally, still feeling uneasy, Shen Wen took out his Blood Vine and Purple Gem Ring and tapped it.
In the next moment, space distorted, and Shen Wen disappeared.
Not long after Shen Wen left, Xing Nuo was awakened by hurried footsteps outside the door.
Xing Nuo was normally a deep sleeper, and with the effect of the prop pillow, he shouldn’t have been woken up.
However, the prop pillow had a ten-minute cooldown period for every half hour of use.
During these ten minutes, a commotion arose outside.
The footsteps sounded like someone was chasing him, accompanied by bloodcurdling screams.
Just a few short cries were enough to wake up little Xing Nuo.
“Ahhhh, help!”
“What’s wrong with these stairs? Why am I going in circles?”
“It’s haunted! Help, ahhhhh!”
Zaizai sat up groggily, rubbing his eyes. His vision swam for a moment, and he felt like he was still dreaming.
Looking around the still somewhat unfamiliar living room with a dazed expression, he didn’t see his dad and instantly panicked.
Without even putting on his shoes, Xing Nuo ran barefoot into the living room, illuminated by a warm, small lamp.
He looked around the unfamiliar living room and called out:
“Dad?”
Xing Nuo didn’t hear his dad’s response. Instead, the noises outside grew louder.
“Aaaaaah! I’m going to die, I’m going to die!”
“Help, help—Huh?”
“Dude, who are you?”
Outside.
High school student Lin Ke, after evening self-study, realized he had forgotten his elevator card again and decided to take the stairs.
Unit A of the complex occupied a large area with plenty of sunlight, and all the buildings were uniformly ten stories high.
For someone like Lin Ke, who constantly forgot his elevator card, taking the stairs was more common.
His home wasn’t high up, just on the fifth floor. Lin Ke swung his backpack, humming a song as he slowly walked up.
But after walking for who knows how long, he suddenly realized something was wrong.
How many floors had he walked up these stairs?
Lin Ke abruptly looked up and saw the bright red number “3” stuck on the corner.
Illuminated by the corner light, the red number looked eerie and sinister.
Goosebumps instantly erupted all over Lin Ke’s body, a chill running down his spine.
Instinct screamed at him not to look back. He slung his backpack over his shoulder and bolted upstairs.
His pig-like squeals echoed through the stairwell.
After running for an unknown amount of time, he suddenly collided with a wall of flesh, thump, landing on his butt with a thud.
“Ahhhh!”
“What the—?!”
Lin Ke instinctively looked up, his eyes meeting a teenager with silver-white hair.
The other party held something that looked like a black plastic bag in his hand, his eyelids drooping as if half-asleep, looking down at him with a languid gaze.
“Uh, dude, who are you?”
Lin Ke looked down, confirming the other person had a shadow. His heart, which had leaped into his throat, settled back down, and he quickly patted his pants and stood up.
For some reason, after seeing the other person, Lin Ke felt the temperature in the stairwell seemed to rise.
The eerie, chilling feeling vanished in an instant.
The white-haired teenager didn’t speak, seemingly not wanting to pay attention to Lin Ke.
Lin Ke was about to ask again when he heard a soft voice:
“Dad?”
He scratched his ear, letting out a “Huh?” and looked around, realizing he had somehow reached the fourth floor.
“This is…”
Lin Ke remembered that a father and son had just moved into the fourth floor today, a strikingly handsome pair.
Their clothes were a bit strange, and the golden hair suggested foreign ancestry.
Hearing the little cub’s voice, Lin Ke analyzed the situation:
“The little guy’s dad must have gone out, right? It seems like only the two of them live here.”
As he spoke, Lin Ke saw the silver-haired teenager standing at the door, pressing the buttons on the smart lock. beep beep beep
Lin Ke was startled. Realizing something, he quickly blocked the way.
“What are you doing? The kid has a dad, don’t you dare try anything funny while he’s home alone!”
Now, Lin Ke wasn’t afraid of ghosts anymore, only worried that the teenager in front of him might do something bad.
Despite Lin Ke’s obstruction, the door clicked open.
The barefoot cub inside, his little nose red, looked at the teenager who appeared before him and tilted his head in confusion, calling out:
“Bro-brother?”
Lin Ke, who had been blocking the silver-haired teenager with his arm, looked up stiffly at the teenager in front of him.
Brother?!!
Like a clown, Lin Ke slowly shuffled to the side.
The silver-haired teenager looked down at the toddler in front of him, the frost in his eyes instantly melting away.
The teenager’s sharp, indifferent features softened, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips as he reached down and picked up Xing Nuo.
“Why aren’t you wearing shoes?” The teenager frowned.
Human cubs were very fragile; going barefoot could easily make them sick.
Xing Nuo wasn’t a stranger to the teenager. He wiped his tear-soaked eyelashes with his small hand. The anxiety of not finding his dad lessened considerably after seeing his brother.
“Find…Dad.”
Despite this, Xing Nuo still hadn’t given up, pointing outside with his small finger.
No one was home, Dad must have left Zaizai and gone outside alone.
