Chapter 39
The players froze, hearing Xing Nuo’s angry voice.
Baldy’s teammate, his forehead covered in sweat, took a couple of steps back, taking a deep breath to maintain his composure.
“L-Little Master, what are you doing here?”
The buzz-cut player stepped forward, hurrying to explain to the little master.
“Xing Nuo, don’t listen to Baldy. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about!”
Baldy, his memory enhanced by his ability, clearly remembered Shen Wen’s reaction when he returned to the castle.
They had been hiding, and they had clearly seen the surprise in the castle master’s eyes when he looked at Xing Nuo.
Thinking this, Baldy scoffed, not caring that he had offended the little master.
“I’m not talking nonsense…”
The buzz-cut player yelled, interrupting him.
“Haven’t you caused enough trouble? Even if he were an ordinary child, you shouldn’t say things like that!”
Baldy, already annoyed, scowled.
“Can you stop using your higher level to boss me around? What did I say that was wrong?!”
Before they could finish arguing, Xing Nuo had climbed down from the sofa and stomped over angrily.
“Zaizai and Daddy are weal family!”
Xing Nuo, his fists clenched, swung his small arm and punched Baldy.
The soft punch posed no threat to the player.
Baldy, seeing the little master’s anger, just sneered, his theory confirmed.
“See? I was right. This little master is the dungeon’s weakness!”
He glanced at his teammate. “What are you waiting for? Since he heard us, we might as well go all the way!”
The buzz-cut player gasped, finding his words absurd.
“Are you crazy?!”
Almost all the monsters in the castle revolved around Xing Nuo. Offending the little master was a death sentence!
But Baldy wasn’t listening. His eyes narrowed, focused on using Xing Nuo to clear the dungeon.
He was done waiting.
He couldn’t stand another moment in this cursed dungeon!
Waves of anger and frustration washed over him, his sanity slipping, his expression turning vicious.
The buzz-cut player gasped and rushed forward to pull Xing Nuo away, but she was too late. Baldy stabbed her in the abdomen with a dagger.
She cursed, ignoring her bleeding wound, and watched helplessly as Baldy grabbed Xing Nuo, holding a knife to his neck.
“Little Master, if you don’t want to die, tell me the secret of this dungeon!”
Baldy, suspicious and paranoid, having drunk the least amount of soup last night, was succumbing to the dungeon’s influence faster than the others, but he didn’t realize it.
He was following in the footsteps of the blue-shirted player from last night, his mind clouded, convinced he was right.
Xing Nuo, his collar gripped tightly, choking him, coughed and kicked his little feet, trying to hit the bad uncle.
He gasped for breath, about to speak, when the grip on his neck suddenly loosened.
He braced himself for the fall, his arms flailing, but instead, he was caught by a pair of strong arms.
Shen Wen held Xing Nuo, his robe billowing around him like the wings of a vibrant, deadly butterfly.
He turned, his hand gently touching Xing Nuo’s reddened neck, his eyes lifting.
His expression was cold and menacing, a powerful aura emanating from him, pressing down on the players.
In the blink of an eye, Baldy’s neck was snapped.
The buzz-cut player and her teammate collapsed to the floor, unable to stand, their faces contorted in pain, not daring to even breathe.
Shen Wen’s wide sleeve, smelling faintly of flowers and grass, covered Xing Nuo’s eyes.
“Don’t look.”
Xing Nuo, his vision obscured by the fabric, mumbled softly and obediently didn’t peek.
He didn’t see Baldy, the bad uncle who had threatened him, lying dead on the floor, his eyes wide with terror and disbelief.
Xing Nuo huffed, his mouth turned down in an aggrieved pout.
“Daddy, bad uncle said…Zaizai not weal family.”
He leaned against his dad’s chest, his anger replaced by fear and insecurity.
“Daddy, tell bad uncle…Zaizai is weal family!”
He loved Daddy, and Daddy loved him. How could they not be a real family?
That bad uncle must be lying!
Xing Nuo sniffled, gritting his teeth, wanting to bite the bad uncle!
Shen Wen, sensing the little one’s distress, patted his back and reassured him softly:
“Yes, he was lying. You are my real son.”
The blood connection he felt the moment they met couldn’t be wrong. This was his child.
Hearing Shen Wen’s confirmation, the buzz-cut player and her teammate, their chests aching, closed their eyes.
The buzz-cut player glanced at Baldy’s cooling corpse and sighed softly.
Some people just can’t help but self-destruct.
And now they were all targets of the Big Boss’s wrath!
Gaining the little master’s favor would be even more difficult now!
Just as she was thinking they were doomed, she heard the Big Boss’s cold voice:
“Get out.”
She and her teammate exchanged glances, gritted their teeth, and, despite their pain, quickly vanished.
Shen Wen carried Xing Nuo away from the living room.
Back in the bedroom, Shen Wen produced a jar of ointment.
Xing Nuo’s eyes were red, and he wiped away his tears, wanting his dad to hold him.
“Zaizai hurt…Daddy hug!”
Shen Wen, noticing the fear in Xing Nuo’s eyes, didn’t pick him up, but gently applied the cool ointment to the mark on his neck.
“What are you afraid of?”
Shen Wen wasn’t very perceptive of human emotions. He continued applying the ointment.
“That baldy can’t hurt you anymore. There’s no need to be afraid.”
Xing Nuo’s head pulled back from the cold ointment, but his arms still reached out for his dad.
“Zaizai not ‘fraid…Zaizai wuv Daddy!”
Seeing that his dad was only applying medicine and not hugging him, Xing Nuo snuggled closer, resting his head against his dad’s arm, his expression aggrieved and dejected.
“Daddy…you wuv Zaizai?”
Daddy used to praise him, his eyes filled with love, a vast and boundless affection.
But ever since Daddy’s daytime memory problems started, he rarely showed that warmth and affection.
Xing Nuo felt a growing sense of unease.
He hadn’t known how to express it, but the bad uncle’s words had triggered his outburst.
He desperately needed his dad to reassure him of his love.
He looked up at his dad, his eyes watery and pleading.
Shen Wen paused, his hand still holding the ointment, and thought.
Did he love this troublesome little cub?
He knew he didn’t love Xing Nuo as much as his future self did.
Even though he had never met the Shen Wen from the other timeline, he could sense that the other Shen Wen cherished Xing Nuo more than his own life.
That’s why Xing Nuo had immediately sensed something was wrong with him.
Future Shen Wen’s love for Xing Nuo had been tempered by time.
Shen Wen knew he couldn’t match that yet.
But he could promise this:
“You are my only child, and I will love you very much.”
Even now, he couldn’t deny his affection for Xing Nuo.
“I love you too, little dirty cub.”
Shen Wen finished applying the ointment to Xing Nuo’s neck, his voice gentle, almost overlapping with his future self’s.
“You’ve made my castle a mess. There are holes in the back garden that can’t be filled, and I can’t plant the milk you wanted.”
He held up the ointment.
“The castle didn’t have any medicine before. Guess who I prepared this for?”
The little one was always getting bumps and bruises, and Shen Wen, despite his indifference, had prepared this medicine for him.
In just a few days, Xing Nuo had left his mark on the castle, impossible to erase.
He had truly existed here.
But—
“The little knight’s adventure is coming to an end. It’s time for him to return home.”
Shen Wen touched Xing Nuo’s forehead.
“Little Knight Xing Nuo, once you’re healed, you’ll clear the dungeon.”
Xing Nuo, not understanding what his dad was saying, just leaned against his leg and mumbled.
Having only heard the words “love you,” he grinned.
“Widdle knight wuv Daddy too!”
Both little knights love Daddy very much!
