Dijia rarely came home these days. He seemed very busy and did not come back until it was almost dark.
Unable to wait for his return, Bai Lixin sent him a message, saying he had something to attend to, then left hastily after putting on a warm coat.
He took a cab to the Fei residence.
Initially, the driver was enthusiastic, but upon learning the final destination was the Fei residence, he refused to go any further and dropped Bai Lixin two blocks away.
With no other option, Bai Lixin continued on foot.
Perhaps due to the ominous presence of the large Fei mansion, the surrounding area had become completely desolate. No pedestrians were on the road, and no other villas had their lights on.
Apart from his own footsteps and the rustling of leaves, there were no other sounds.
It was already completely dark. Bai Lixin checked the time on the system, and saw that there were fifteen minutes until 8:00 p.m.
It was late autumn now, and there was a strong chill in the wind.
As a cool breeze swept by, Bai Lixin tightened his coat and took out a flashlight from his backpack.
After almost twenty minutes of walking, he reached the Fei residence.
A few days ago, the house was prosperous and vibrant, but today, it appeared abandoned and desolate, creating a jarring contrast.
The metal iron gate was not locked, and the black metal coat had long fallen off, revealing rusty patches.
Ivy hung precariously on the iron gate, a standard scene for a haunted mansion.
Bai Lixin pushed the slightly ajar iron gate, and the rusted metal emitted a harsh “creak” in the silent darkness, making even S419 shudder.
Stepping inside, Bai Lixin noticed the yard was overgrown with weeds.
The ground was covered in dense, half-meter-high weeds. Amidst the weeds, many yellowing twigs and withered leaves were stacked. Under this cover of grass and leaves, he couldn’t even see where the original path was.
He took two steps forward, and suddenly there was a sudden rustling sound in the originally quiet courtyard.
S419 was already on edge upon entering the yard. Hearing this sound, it felt as if something was poking its nerves with needles, making its entire body jump: [Ah ahhh, there’s a ghost!]
Bai Lixin walked towards the source of the sound. He had just taken two steps when a shadow suddenly darted out. Its agile body was unaffected by the entanglement of the weeds, and it swiftly disappeared into the nearby bushes.
S419: [It turns out it’s just a cat, it scared me, Lord Host.]
Bai Lixin’s expression remained unchanged. He stood still for a moment, then bent down towards where the wildcat emerged.
Fiddling with the bushes, a ghastly white object was exposed in the moonlight.
It was a severed finger.
The flesh had long disappeared, leaving only eerie white bones.
Even with the overgrown weeds as cover, he hadn’t forgotten that a gruesome mass death event had occurred here.
At that time, bodies and body parts flew everywhere. Even if the staff spent several days and nights collecting the bodies, there might still be traces of that horrifying incident in some corner.
Like the severed finger now in front of him.
S419 was a bit numb; it didn’t want to stay in this eerie place for another second and urged: [Lord Host, let’s go quickly. Don’t we need to retrieve the painting?]
Bai Lixin hadn’t forgotten tonight’s main task. After adjusting the weeds to cover the finger bone again, he stood up, heading towards the narrow alley.
The yard was overgrown with weeds, and the alley was no exception.
Thick grass covered the narrow alley, hindering Bai Lixin’s progress.
After walking for a while, he found it hard to move forward; he felt like something had tripped him.
He was about to remove the obstruction when he suddenly felt a sensation under his foot. The thing was slowly tightening around his ankle, as if gripping it.
Bai Lixin was momentarily stunned. When he pushed away the weeds to investigate, the pressure on his foot suddenly eased, and he regained his freedom.
When Bai Lixin finally pushed aside the weeds and looked at the ground, there was nothing on the ground except a pile of dry grass, and these things would definitely not trip him.
After contemplating for a moment, Bai Lixin continued forward.
Due to years of neglect, many fine ferns had sprouted from the crevices in the walls made of red bricks.
These ferns clung to the walls, giving an illusion of ghostly faces.
Bai Lixin carefully held the wall and avoided the plants. After walking for awhile, he finally passed through this narrow alley and entered inside.
As expected, this iron door had also rusted long ago, and Bai Lixin struggled several times before managing to pull it open.
The moment the iron door opened, a musty smell instantly wafted through.
Bai Lixin frowned slightly, and illumined the interior with his flashlight.
Even if a gruesome incident had occurred here years ago, the police might not have found the hidden room.
After all, who would have thought there was a hidden world in such a narrow alley?
Although the flashlight was bright, its range was limited, only able to illuminate a small area.
This room had not been exposed to sunlight for years, and it was already damp. Originally, it could still be used because Fei Yino took care of it regularly. Now, after being closed for so long, the moment he opened the door, a rustling sound echoed inside.
Under the light, ants, insects, and mice scattered and fled from the ground and walls, creating chaos.
A haven for those with entomophobia.
Bai Lixin took out a gas mask from his backpack and put it on before entering.
Besides the pervasive musty smell, there was also the stench of decaying bodies in the air.
Without proper ventilation for a long time, this place had bred many fungi, and they raced to climb onto any available surface.
Clearing away the spiderwebs in front of him, Bai Lixin crossed the long corridor and saw a sculpture of a human head at the entrance of the hall.
The sculpture was face-down, with a cluster of ants and mice gathered around it.
When they heard the noise, the rats and ants were frightened and fled in all directions.
But something was still squirming on the sculpture. Bai Lixin stepped on the statue and flipped it over, exposing its front.
A face that had been gnawed beyond recognition now appeared in Bai Lixin’s sight.
S419 felt like it was going to faint, but as a system, it couldn’t.
Bai Lixin glanced at the sculpture, lifted his foot over it, and walked into the concealed collection room.
There were over a hundred sculptures, some had long been destroyed, revealing the bodies hidden inside, while others were well-preserved with plaster.
None of the exposed bodies looked good; all were beyond recognition.
Bai Lixin didn’t dwell too long on the dense corpses in this narrow room. He quickly shifted his attention to the wall with “Rose Boy.”
If looked at from a chronological perspective, he had seen this painting ten years ago.
Ten years later, the colors on the painting were as vibrant and bright as ever.
Some were alluring, some shy, and some already in full bloom, and there was also the incomprehensibly beautiful boy.
All the walls in the room were covered with mold or plants, yet this painting hung intact on the wall, without a trace of contamination from mold.
Moreover, this painting seemed alive. Vines extended from the edges of the frame, connecting harmoniously to the painting. On these green vines, there were thorns, resembling rose stems.
Vines composed of rose stems grew in all directions, and penetrated the walls.
The ceiling, walls, floor—all had holes pierced by these vines.
At first glance, it was both eerie and beautiful, and even had a ukiyo-e feel.
Bai Lixin walked up to the painting and tried to pull it away from the wall.
When he dragged the painting, the originally motionless vines suddenly started wriggling, like awakened little beasts.
Seeing this, Bai Lixin released his grip, stepping away from the canvas.
The vines, which were originally wriggling, stopped at this moment.
Bai Lixin: “…”
‘Are these vines protecting this painting?’
Bai Lixin pondered for a moment, then took out the dagger from his backpack.
He cut one of a vine, and the severed vine wriggled and twisted on the ground for a while after detaching from the canvas, then rapidly withered into a shriveled twig.
Bai Lixin was somewhat surprised. However, seeing that the vines remained inactive, he proceeded to cut several more, planning to remove all the vines before putting the painting into his backpack.
As he cut, each vine quickly withered.
After cutting continuously, Bai Lixin suddenly stopped.
He noticed that as the vines withered, the roses that were originally not blooming on the canvas, gradually began to open.
With each cut vine, a rose quietly blossomed a bit.
After cutting six or seven, two roses had fully bloomed.
Bai Lixin suddenly felt like he was being watched.
Bai Lixin’s heart moved, and he subconsciously raised the flashlight, directing the light towards the pure yet enchanting face of the Rose Boy.
That face still had slightly closed eyes, with an expression of stirred emotions on it.
His eyes looked outside the canvas, seemingly silently inviting someone to join in this ultimate joy.
Bai Lixin stared at that face, and asked in his mind, [S419, were there tears at the corners of Xiao Tuo’s eyes before?]
Upon hearing this, S419 felt like its scalp was about to explode, if it had one. [I-I don’t know. Could you please not scare me, Lord Host?]
Bai Lixin kept his gaze on Xiao Tuo’s face for a few of seconds before saying in a solemn tone, [Let me tell you the answer, it’s ‘no’.]
[These tears appeared just now.]
S419 made a swallowing sound. [W-What does this mean?]
Bai Lixin shrugged helplessly, and said, [I don’t know. Let’s just continue working.]
He lowered his head, preparing to cut again, but the feeling of being watched from above suddenly returned.
He abruptly looked up, but the youth in the painting maintained the previous pose, looking out seductively, but the tears on his face slid down a bit more.
S419 screamed, [Lord Host, the tears moved. This time I saw it clearly, the tears really moved!]
[Isn’t this painting too eerie?]
Just as Bai Lixin was observing the painting, an abrupt ringing broke the room’s silence, and S419 almost jumped in shock. [What’s that sound?]
Bai Lixin reached into his pocket, pulled out a phone, and waved it. [My husband is calling.]
S419: “…”
‘Why is he calling now?
When you make a phone call, don’t you care about the occasion or the atmosphere?!’
Bai Lixin pressed the answer button, his voice soothing and natural, “Hello?”
A man’s magnetic voice full of charm came through, “Where are you? Have you eaten? I just finished a meeting and saw the message you sent.”
Bai Lixin: “You’re still at the office?”
The man answered with an “mm” before continuing, “Where are you? Are there other people around you?”
Bai Lixin glanced at the countless heads around him, “Yes, quite a few.”
“Hmm?” The man’s questioning tone had a lingering end, “Why is it so quiet then?”
Bai Lixin chuckled softly, “They don’t like to talk.”
‘Dead people are people too.’
S419: “…”
Bai Lixin held the phone with one hand, talking to the man on the other side while walking towards the painting, starting to cut the vines.
The man’s voice sounded somewhat tired, with a hint of hesitation. Bai Lixin sensed it and swiftly cut off a vine while asking in a low voice, “What’s wrong? Do you have something to tell me?”
The other person was silent for a moment, “Nothing, I’m just tired. I suddenly wanted to talk to someone, and thought of you first. But you have friends around so I’m wondering if talking to you like this would disturb you.”
Bai Lixin glanced at the disfigured corpses all over the ground, “No, it’s okay. They’re not my friends, I don’t know them. They just happened to be around me.”
“Oh, I see.” The man’s voice relaxed a bit, “Actually, I don’t know what to talk about, I just want to chat with you.”
Bai Lixin smiled, then his eyes sharpened. He quickly stepped back two steps and, still speaking in a calm and natural tone, said, “Then tell me, what did you eat tonight?”
The man’s voice sounded thoughtful, “What did I eat… let me think.”
Bai Lixin began to look at the opposite side warily.
The previously quiet vines suddenly started moving. As if feeling pain, they convulsed violently and started to detach from the walls. The already precarious building began to shed dust due to the vines’ movement, and the surroundings seemed to become more unstable.
The man’s deep voice sighed softly, “I remember now, I didn’t eat tonight.”
Bai Lixin chuckled, “You were so busy you forgot to eat. You’re indeed a busy person. Is the company very busy lately? You’ve been coming home late at night.”
While speaking, he replaced the dagger in his backpack with the more handy scythe.
The scythe danced in the air, swiftly cutting through the vines that approached. The white scythe left a trail of marks, forming a solid shield against the vines daring to get close and chopping them all into pieces.
“It’s not that too busy, but for other reasons…” The man paused, “When things settle down a bit, how about I take you on a trip? Recently, I’ve been negotiating a new travel project, a train trip from our city to the Tibetan area. You can see various sceneries along the way. I think it’s a good project and want to invest in it. Before investing, I want to experience it myself.”
“Okay.” Bai Lixin’s scythe continued its swift movements. Faced with vines from all directions, the traces of the pure white scythe formed an impenetrable shield, chopping all the vines that dared to approach. “I’ve never taken a train trip before. Thank you in advance for that.”
A subtle, low laugh came from the other end of the phone. “It’s not time to thank me yet. It’s not too late to say thank you when you have a good time. Strange, what’s that sound on your side?”
Bai Lixin jumped into the air, weaving through the gaps in the vines, and finally, with a swift movement, he cleanly cut the vines from their roots.
The technique was fast, accurate and ruthless, and it was done in one go.
After that, he stood steadily on the ground, standing amidst the corpses and chunks of green vines, smiling without a change in expression. “Nothing, it’s just the sound of the wind. What time will you be home tonight?”
Dijia: “I’ll be busy for awhile, maybe around nine. I was about to ask you, what time will you be home?”
Bai Lixin had already walked up to the painting. Tears covered the face of the Rose Boy on the canvas, making him look pitiful.
All the vines had been cleaned up. He grabbed the frame and directly threw the painting into his backpack. “I’m almost done. Maybe I’ll get home before you. Grab something to eat first, skipping dinner isn’t good for your health.”
Dijia: “Hmm, I’ll have my assistant bring something over. I’ll get back to work, see you at home.”
Bai Lixin turned and walked towards the door, confidently traversing the chaotic and terrifying ground. “Okay, see you at home.”
The phone call ended, and Bai Lixin put the phone back in his pocket, walking out of the basement.
S419: [ … ]
‘You spare time for romance while doing business?
Where’s the promised scary atmosphere?
What about the intense battle?
I’ve geared up my emotions, and you’re just showing off affection?’
[Did you hear what Dijia said just now?] Bai Lixin suddenly asked while walking through the alley.
S419: [He said a lot.]
‘The main content revolves around ambiguous romance.’
‘When the host asks questions in this tone, he’s not necessarily asking for my answer but using an interactive question to bring attention to what he found.’
S419: [What do you want to say, Lord Host?]
Bai Lixin: [Dijia mentioned a train trip just now. You should still remember, in the first game, the young man hanged himself in the unfinished building. He caused all that trouble because his grandparents went missing, and they disappeared on a train.]
S419: [You mean, this train trip might be the same one where the grandparents disappeared? Could this be the setting for the fifth game?]
Bai Lixin said solemnly: [It’s very possible.]
Dijia rarely came home these days. He seemed very busy and did not come back until it was almost dark.
Unable to wait for his return, Bai Lixin sent him a message, saying he had something to attend to, then left hastily after putting on a warm coat.
He took a cab to the Fei residence.
Initially, the driver was enthusiastic, but upon learning the final destination was the Fei residence, he refused to go any further and dropped Bai Lixin two blocks away.
With no other option, Bai Lixin continued on foot.
Perhaps due to the ominous presence of the large Fei mansion, the surrounding area had become completely desolate. No pedestrians were on the road, and no other villas had their lights on.
Apart from his own footsteps and the rustling of leaves, there were no other sounds.
It was already completely dark. Bai Lixin checked the time on the system, and saw that there were fifteen minutes until 8:00 p.m.
It was late autumn now, and there was a strong chill in the wind.
As a cool breeze swept by, Bai Lixin tightened his coat and took out a flashlight from his backpack.
After almost twenty minutes of walking, he reached the Fei residence.
A few days ago, the house was prosperous and vibrant, but today, it appeared abandoned and desolate, creating a jarring contrast.
The metal iron gate was not locked, and the black metal coat had long fallen off, revealing rusty patches.
Ivy hung precariously on the iron gate, a standard scene for a haunted mansion.
Bai Lixin pushed the slightly ajar iron gate, and the rusted metal emitted a harsh “creak” in the silent darkness, making even S419 shudder.
Stepping inside, Bai Lixin noticed the yard was overgrown with weeds.
The ground was covered in dense, half-meter-high weeds. Amidst the weeds, many yellowing twigs and withered leaves were stacked. Under this cover of grass and leaves, he couldn’t even see where the original path was.
He took two steps forward, and suddenly there was a sudden rustling sound in the originally quiet courtyard.
S419 was already on edge upon entering the yard. Hearing this sound, it felt as if something was poking its nerves with needles, making its entire body jump: [Ah ahhh, there’s a ghost!]
Bai Lixin walked towards the source of the sound. He had just taken two steps when a shadow suddenly darted out. Its agile body was unaffected by the entanglement of the weeds, and it swiftly disappeared into the nearby bushes.
S419: [It turns out it’s just a cat, it scared me, Lord Host.]
Bai Lixin’s expression remained unchanged. He stood still for a moment, then bent down towards where the wildcat emerged.
Fiddling with the bushes, a ghastly white object was exposed in the moonlight.
It was a severed finger.
The flesh had long disappeared, leaving only eerie white bones.
Even with the overgrown weeds as cover, he hadn’t forgotten that a gruesome mass death event had occurred here.
At that time, bodies and body parts flew everywhere. Even if the staff spent several days and nights collecting the bodies, there might still be traces of that horrifying incident in some corner.
Like the severed finger now in front of him.
S419 was a bit numb; it didn’t want to stay in this eerie place for another second and urged: [Lord Host, let’s go quickly. Don’t we need to retrieve the painting?]
Bai Lixin hadn’t forgotten tonight’s main task. After adjusting the weeds to cover the finger bone again, he stood up, heading towards the narrow alley.
The yard was overgrown with weeds, and the alley was no exception.
Thick grass covered the narrow alley, hindering Bai Lixin’s progress.
After walking for a while, he found it hard to move forward; he felt like something had tripped him.
He was about to remove the obstruction when he suddenly felt a sensation under his foot. The thing was slowly tightening around his ankle, as if gripping it.
Bai Lixin was momentarily stunned. When he pushed away the weeds to investigate, the pressure on his foot suddenly eased, and he regained his freedom.
When Bai Lixin finally pushed aside the weeds and looked at the ground, there was nothing on the ground except a pile of dry grass, and these things would definitely not trip him.
After contemplating for a moment, Bai Lixin continued forward.
Due to years of neglect, many fine ferns had sprouted from the crevices in the walls made of red bricks.
These ferns clung to the walls, giving an illusion of ghostly faces.
Bai Lixin carefully held the wall and avoided the plants. After walking for awhile, he finally passed through this narrow alley and entered inside.
As expected, this iron door had also rusted long ago, and Bai Lixin struggled several times before managing to pull it open.
The moment the iron door opened, a musty smell instantly wafted through.
Bai Lixin frowned slightly, and illumined the interior with his flashlight.
Even if a gruesome incident had occurred here years ago, the police might not have found the hidden room.
After all, who would have thought there was a hidden world in such a narrow alley?
Although the flashlight was bright, its range was limited, only able to illuminate a small area.
This room had not been exposed to sunlight for years, and it was already damp. Originally, it could still be used because Fei Yino took care of it regularly. Now, after being closed for so long, the moment he opened the door, a rustling sound echoed inside.
Under the light, ants, insects, and mice scattered and fled from the ground and walls, creating chaos.
A haven for those with entomophobia.
Bai Lixin took out a gas mask from his backpack and put it on before entering.
Besides the pervasive musty smell, there was also the stench of decaying bodies in the air.
Without proper ventilation for a long time, this place had bred many fungi, and they raced to climb onto any available surface.
Clearing away the spiderwebs in front of him, Bai Lixin crossed the long corridor and saw a sculpture of a human head at the entrance of the hall.
The sculpture was face-down, with a cluster of ants and mice gathered around it.
When they heard the noise, the rats and ants were frightened and fled in all directions.
But something was still squirming on the sculpture. Bai Lixin stepped on the statue and flipped it over, exposing its front.
A face that had been gnawed beyond recognition now appeared in Bai Lixin’s sight.
S419 felt like it was going to faint, but as a system, it couldn’t.
Bai Lixin glanced at the sculpture, lifted his foot over it, and walked into the concealed collection room.
There were over a hundred sculptures, some had long been destroyed, revealing the bodies hidden inside, while others were well-preserved with plaster.
None of the exposed bodies looked good; all were beyond recognition.
Bai Lixin didn’t dwell too long on the dense corpses in this narrow room. He quickly shifted his attention to the wall with “Rose Boy.”
If looked at from a chronological perspective, he had seen this painting ten years ago.
Ten years later, the colors on the painting were as vibrant and bright as ever.
Some were alluring, some shy, and some already in full bloom, and there was also the incomprehensibly beautiful boy.
All the walls in the room were covered with mold or plants, yet this painting hung intact on the wall, without a trace of contamination from mold.
Moreover, this painting seemed alive. Vines extended from the edges of the frame, connecting harmoniously to the painting. On these green vines, there were thorns, resembling rose stems.
Vines composed of rose stems grew in all directions, and penetrated the walls.
The ceiling, walls, floor—all had holes pierced by these vines.
At first glance, it was both eerie and beautiful, and even had a ukiyo-e feel.
Bai Lixin walked up to the painting and tried to pull it away from the wall.
When he dragged the painting, the originally motionless vines suddenly started wriggling, like awakened little beasts.
Seeing this, Bai Lixin released his grip, stepping away from the canvas.
The vines, which were originally wriggling, stopped at this moment.
Bai Lixin: “…”
‘Are these vines protecting this painting?’
Bai Lixin pondered for a moment, then took out the dagger from his backpack.
He cut one of a vine, and the severed vine wriggled and twisted on the ground for a while after detaching from the canvas, then rapidly withered into a shriveled twig.
Bai Lixin was somewhat surprised. However, seeing that the vines remained inactive, he proceeded to cut several more, planning to remove all the vines before putting the painting into his backpack.
As he cut, each vine quickly withered.
After cutting continuously, Bai Lixin suddenly stopped.
He noticed that as the vines withered, the roses that were originally not blooming on the canvas, gradually began to open.
With each cut vine, a rose quietly blossomed a bit.
After cutting six or seven, two roses had fully bloomed.
Bai Lixin suddenly felt like he was being watched.
Bai Lixin’s heart moved, and he subconsciously raised the flashlight, directing the light towards the pure yet enchanting face of the Rose Boy.
That face still had slightly closed eyes, with an expression of stirred emotions on it.
His eyes looked outside the canvas, seemingly silently inviting someone to join in this ultimate joy.
Bai Lixin stared at that face, and asked in his mind, [S419, were there tears at the corners of Xiao Tuo’s eyes before?]
Upon hearing this, S419 felt like its scalp was about to explode, if it had one. [I-I don’t know. Could you please not scare me, Lord Host?]
Bai Lixin kept his gaze on Xiao Tuo’s face for a few of seconds before saying in a solemn tone, [Let me tell you the answer, it’s ‘no’.]
[These tears appeared just now.]
S419 made a swallowing sound. [W-What does this mean?]
Bai Lixin shrugged helplessly, and said, [I don’t know. Let’s just continue working.]
He lowered his head, preparing to cut again, but the feeling of being watched from above suddenly returned.
He abruptly looked up, but the youth in the painting maintained the previous pose, looking out seductively, but the tears on his face slid down a bit more.
S419 screamed, [Lord Host, the tears moved. This time I saw it clearly, the tears really moved!]
[Isn’t this painting too eerie?]
Just as Bai Lixin was observing the painting, an abrupt ringing broke the room’s silence, and S419 almost jumped in shock. [What’s that sound?]
Bai Lixin reached into his pocket, pulled out a phone, and waved it. [My husband is calling.]
S419: “…”
‘Why is he calling now?
When you make a phone call, don’t you care about the occasion or the atmosphere?!’
Bai Lixin pressed the answer button, his voice soothing and natural, “Hello?”
A man’s magnetic voice full of charm came through, “Where are you? Have you eaten? I just finished a meeting and saw the message you sent.”
Bai Lixin: “You’re still at the office?”
The man answered with an “mm” before continuing, “Where are you? Are there other people around you?”
Bai Lixin glanced at the countless heads around him, “Yes, quite a few.”
“Hmm?” The man’s questioning tone had a lingering end, “Why is it so quiet then?”
Bai Lixin chuckled softly, “They don’t like to talk.”
‘Dead people are people too.’
S419: “…”
Bai Lixin held the phone with one hand, talking to the man on the other side while walking towards the painting, starting to cut the vines.
The man’s voice sounded somewhat tired, with a hint of hesitation. Bai Lixin sensed it and swiftly cut off a vine while asking in a low voice, “What’s wrong? Do you have something to tell me?”
The other person was silent for a moment, “Nothing, I’m just tired. I suddenly wanted to talk to someone, and thought of you first. But you have friends around so I’m wondering if talking to you like this would disturb you.”
Bai Lixin glanced at the disfigured corpses all over the ground, “No, it’s okay. They’re not my friends, I don’t know them. They just happened to be around me.”
“Oh, I see.” The man’s voice relaxed a bit, “Actually, I don’t know what to talk about, I just want to chat with you.”
Bai Lixin smiled, then his eyes sharpened. He quickly stepped back two steps and, still speaking in a calm and natural tone, said, “Then tell me, what did you eat tonight?”
The man’s voice sounded thoughtful, “What did I eat… let me think.”
Bai Lixin began to look at the opposite side warily.
The previously quiet vines suddenly started moving. As if feeling pain, they convulsed violently and started to detach from the walls. The already precarious building began to shed dust due to the vines’ movement, and the surroundings seemed to become more unstable.
The man’s deep voice sighed softly, “I remember now, I didn’t eat tonight.”
Bai Lixin chuckled, “You were so busy you forgot to eat. You’re indeed a busy person. Is the company very busy lately? You’ve been coming home late at night.”
While speaking, he replaced the dagger in his backpack with the more handy scythe.
The scythe danced in the air, swiftly cutting through the vines that approached. The white scythe left a trail of marks, forming a solid shield against the vines daring to get close and chopping them all into pieces.
“It’s not that too busy, but for other reasons…” The man paused, “When things settle down a bit, how about I take you on a trip? Recently, I’ve been negotiating a new travel project, a train trip from our city to the Tibetan area. You can see various sceneries along the way. I think it’s a good project and want to invest in it. Before investing, I want to experience it myself.”
“Okay.” Bai Lixin’s scythe continued its swift movements. Faced with vines from all directions, the traces of the pure white scythe formed an impenetrable shield, chopping all the vines that dared to approach. “I’ve never taken a train trip before. Thank you in advance for that.”
A subtle, low laugh came from the other end of the phone. “It’s not time to thank me yet. It’s not too late to say thank you when you have a good time. Strange, what’s that sound on your side?”
Bai Lixin jumped into the air, weaving through the gaps in the vines, and finally, with a swift movement, he cleanly cut the vines from their roots.
The technique was fast, accurate and ruthless, and it was done in one go.
After that, he stood steadily on the ground, standing amidst the corpses and chunks of green vines, smiling without a change in expression. “Nothing, it’s just the sound of the wind. What time will you be home tonight?”
Dijia: “I’ll be busy for awhile, maybe around nine. I was about to ask you, what time will you be home?”
Bai Lixin had already walked up to the painting. Tears covered the face of the Rose Boy on the canvas, making him look pitiful.
All the vines had been cleaned up. He grabbed the frame and directly threw the painting into his backpack. “I’m almost done. Maybe I’ll get home before you. Grab something to eat first, skipping dinner isn’t good for your health.”
Dijia: “Hmm, I’ll have my assistant bring something over. I’ll get back to work, see you at home.”
Bai Lixin turned and walked towards the door, confidently traversing the chaotic and terrifying ground. “Okay, see you at home.”
The phone call ended, and Bai Lixin put the phone back in his pocket, walking out of the basement.
S419: [ … ]
‘You spare time for romance while doing business?
Where’s the promised scary atmosphere?
What about the intense battle?
I’ve geared up my emotions, and you’re just showing off affection?’
[Did you hear what Dijia said just now?] Bai Lixin suddenly asked while walking through the alley.
S419: [He said a lot.]
‘The main content revolves around ambiguous romance.’
‘When the host asks questions in this tone, he’s not necessarily asking for my answer but using an interactive question to bring attention to what he found.’
S419: [What do you want to say, Lord Host?]
Bai Lixin: [Dijia mentioned a train trip just now. You should still remember, in the first game, the young man hanged himself in the unfinished building. He caused all that trouble because his grandparents went missing, and they disappeared on a train.]
S419: [You mean, this train trip might be the same one where the grandparents disappeared? Could this be the setting for the fifth game?]
Bai Lixin said solemnly: [It’s very possible.]
