The Whole Family Are Villains, I’m the Group Pet 41

Chapter 41

Shen Wen didn’t give Xing Nuo a chance to follow. His robe swirled as he turned and entered the castle.

Xing Nuo watched the castle gates close, wiped his tears, and adjusted his backpack filled with biscuits.

He walked down the path, lined with blooming wildflowers.

Daddy wants Zaizai to go back to the small house with the TV.

He had returned to the castle via this path, so if he followed it, he would surely reach his other home.

Although he didn’t understand why Daddy wasn’t coming with him, Xing Nuo obediently walked down the dirt road, patting his chest.

“It’s okay. Daddy waiting for Zaizai.”

He clenched his fists, yelled “Hiya!” and ran forward.

The way back always seemed shorter than the way there.

Xing Nuo walked for a while, barely stopping to rest, and soon saw the end of the path.

Several players were standing or crouching there. Seeing Xing Nuo, they hurried towards him.

“Xing Nuo is finally here!”

“Oh my god, I was so worried! I thought the little master was staying in the castle!”

“Quick! Quick! The story said we have to leave before nightfall!”

The buzz-cut player, her face pale from blood loss, watched as her teammates surrounded Xing Nuo and smiled faintly.

She had lost a rose, but she had won their lives.

The moment Shen Wen picked up the rose, a system notification had sounded:

[Congratulations! You have successfully escaped using a prop! Points doubled!]

She had felt a surge of relief, a brush with death averted.

The rose wasn’t important. What mattered was the Big Boss’s change in attitude.

The players had escaped certain death, but, disliked by the castle monsters, they had been driven out of the castle.

Reaching the end of the path, they prayed that the little master was the little knight from the story.

The little knight would uncover the castle’s secret, bring the key, and escape.

They waited patiently, from dawn till dusk, worried that the little master wouldn’t appear.

Seeing Xing Nuo, the female newbie excitedly picked him up and spun him around.

“Ahhh! We can finally clear this dungeon!”

Xing Nuo, dizzy from being spun, stumbled and fell when she put him down.

He clutched his head, the players’ chattering voices overwhelming him. For the first time, he found them noisy.

The buzz-cut player, ever efficient, helped the little master up and dusted off his pants.

“Xing Nuo, do you have the key?”

Xing Nuo nodded, clutching the key his dad had placed around his neck, and looked up at her, confused.

“Have. But…this Daddy’s key.”

The buzz-cut player sighed in relief, glancing at her cheering teammates, tears almost welling up.

Looking at the thick, black fog at the end of the path, she spoke, revealing the secret they had uncovered that afternoon:

“This is a time-distorted dungeon!”

The castle they had entered during the day was the castle from many years ago!

The little master’s sunflower painting on the wall was the proof!

Years ago, the little master hadn’t painted that picture yet. Only Shen Wen’s paintings had been on the walls.

The monsters’ and the butler’s attitude towards the little master, the initial lack of the little master’s belongings in the castle, all confirmed this.

The players had suspected this last night, but they hadn’t been certain, planning to investigate further during the day.

But the unexpected incident with Baldy had forced them out of the castle.

Fortunately, they had survived and now had a chance to escape.

A system notification sounded:

[Congratulations! You have discovered the castle’s secret, obtained the key from the knight, and cleared the dungeon!]

[Please enter the fog and return to the transit hub!]

[Due to the change in the core monster and the increased difficulty, all players will receive ten times the normal points!]

The buzz-cut player and her teammates, overjoyed, exchanged glances and walked into the black fog.

She turned back to look at Xing Nuo, who was clutching his key, his face filled with confusion.

“Goodbye, Little Master!”

Their feelings towards the little master were complex.

This small but powerful protector was just a dungeon NPC, a special little boss in their adventure.

The buzz-cut player waved at Xing Nuo.

“Xing Nuo, go find your daddy!”

Once he left the fog, Xing Nuo would return to his original time in the dungeon.

He would find his dad, who would love and cherish him.

And the players, as long as they didn’t foolishly challenge high-level dungeons, would probably never see the little master again.

Xing Nuo watched the players disappear into the fog, then, remembering his dad’s words, he also stepped into the fog.

Night had fallen, and the fog wouldn’t last long. After just a few steps, Xing Nuo saw the warm, bright light of his bedroom.

Shen Wen, wearing casual clothes, stood by the window.

Seeing Xing Nuo appear, he smiled and picked him up.

“Did Xing Nuo miss Daddy?”

Xing Nuo’s small arms wrapped around his dad’s neck, his voice clear and bright.

“Miss! Daddy no twick Zaizai!”

Daddy was waiting for Zaizai at the end of the path!

Shen Wen closed the castle gates, went to the highest floor, and stood on the rooftop, watching Xing Nuo’s small figure walk away.

He didn’t look away until Xing Nuo disappeared into the fog, then returned to the living room.

The butler brought a plate of freshly baked biscuits, arranged elegantly.

“Please enjoy, Master.”

Shen Wen wasn’t hungry and didn’t particularly like biscuits.

But he still took one and tasted the sweetness.

“Butler, when will I see Xing Nuo again?”

Following his predetermined path, how long would it be before he saw the little one again?

Even though Xing Nuo had just left, the castle felt strangely empty.

The sweet little voice calling “Daddy” was gone, the clingy little one who always wanted to be carried was no longer there, and the castle felt vast and hollow.

He hadn’t noticed it before, but now that Xing Nuo was gone, he saw traces of the little one everywhere.

The butler, unable to answer, poured Shen Wen a cup of freshly ground coffee.

“I don’t know, but Little Master shares your blood. He will return to this world someday.”

Shen Wen chuckled, not touching the coffee, and went to the basement.

The basement was dark and damp, filled with unused items. Shen Wen rarely came here.

But it was also the most secluded place, suitable for creating new life.

Before this, Shen Wen had only grown flowers, never created life.

His first attempt had resulted in a group of small, black monsters.

He hadn’t even mixed his own blood into them. He had just glanced at them and tossed them into other dungeons.

Most of them had died, only one seemingly surviving.

Shen Wen, dissatisfied, tried again, thinking of the little one’s smooth, fair skin, and even went to the seabed to find a transparent material.

Like conducting an experiment, he carefully adjusted the proportions, even infusing his own essence into the creation process.

But perhaps he had used too much of the seabed material, because the result was a small, transparent octopus.

It flailed its tentacles, wreaking havoc the moment it was born.

It destroyed most of Shen Wen’s glassware, and he had to catch it and throw it into the sea.

He didn’t care what happened to the not-so-bright little octopus.

Wondering where he had gone wrong, Shen Wen grew increasingly frustrated. Centuries passed, and he still couldn’t create a human child.

He even started to doubt whether, as a monster, he was even capable of creating human life.

Then, more players entered his world, and even his high-level dungeon started to attract challengers.

Shen Wen, impatiently dealing with these players, continued his experiments in the basement.

But they all failed.

Until one day, after killing a player who had stumbled into his basement, he turned and saw a heartbeat in the creature he was cultivating.

Flesh and blood grew within the glass container, like a blood-red flower blooming in a barren desert, gradually forming a small infant.

But the infant was incredibly weak, its nascent soul fragile and dissipating.

Shen Wen knew this was the life he had been waiting for for centuries.

He dripped his blood into the container, using all his energy to protect and nurture the infant.

He watched as the small creature grew into a human, his hair golden and curly, his face delicate and fair, everything aligning with his memories.

Shen Wen’s love for him grew with time, his eyes filled with affection.

Every time he looked at Xing Nuo, he couldn’t resist ruffling his little head.

Shen Wen had finally reached the future with Xing Nuo in it.