Zhou Jin had always known that Lin Min was beautiful. He possessed a face of pure, innocent vulnerability with black, long eyelashes like the wings of a butterfly. The corners of his eyes naturally tilted upward, and thin, pink lids hooded his dark pupils. Yet, he had a mouth that seemed born to stir up trouble. His lips were full with a small, distinct philtrum, and their natural crimson hue looked like a ripe, succulent cherry.
At this moment, held firmly in another man’s mouth, the dazed and beautiful husband could only let out faint whimpers. His pale fingers pushed feebly in protest, only to be captured within the man’s palm, leaving the spaces between his fingers stained a delicate pink.
Zhou Jin cursed under his breath and spun around abruptly. Standing with his back to the one-way mirror, he tried to banish the erotic image from his mind. However, the sight of the little widower having his chin pinched, eyes misty with tears as he was forced to endure the kiss, combined with his own body’s betraying reaction, left him utterly frustrated.
He was straight. Zhou Jin had always believed this. Yet, watching a blind, beautiful husband being harassed by his late spouse, he had reacted just by seeing them lock tongues.
“Damn it. It must be the influence of the dungeon boss.”
Zhou Jin slammed a fist against the wall. The pain in his knuckles was sharp, but it was nothing compared to the chaos in his heart.
On the other side of the wall, Lin Min felt as though he were suffocating. He was trapped in Xie Mingyuan’s embrace. The ghost’s kiss carried a sense of punishment and a declaration of ownership, plundering his breath as a chilling aura seemed to seep into his very organs. Lin Min pushed weakly, his fingers touching Xie Mingyuan’s cold, hard chest, but it was like an ant trying to move a mountain.
The root of his tongue felt sore and numb. Just when he thought he might faint, Xie Mingyuan finally released him, gripping the soft flesh of his thighs and lifting him easily. The ghost’s fingertips pinched his jaw, seemingly inspecting the moist, red interior of his mouth.
Lin Min was forced to keep his lips parted, gasping for air. His chest heaved violently, and his pale cheeks were stained with an unnatural flush from lack of oxygen and shame. System 0766 remained silent. He could not tell if this was a dream or reality.
Aware of the player just one wall away, Lin Min’s pale fingertips fumbled until they found his husband’s cold cheek. Even though his tongue ached from the assault, he remembered his task. “Mingyuan, how did you become like this?”
His side mission was to investigate the cause of Xie Mingyuan’s death. As the lover, he could use this opportunity to ask questions that the players might overhear.
“Baby, a husband is just a husband,” Xie Mingyuan murmured, rubbing affectionately against Lin Min’s snowy cheek. His pupils, shrunk to the size of pinpricks, stared fixatedly at his wife’s every move. “There are forty-nine minutes left.”
“You are so good at hiding your lovers, baby. But it does not matter. A qualified husband must be able to find every interloper with precision and kill them all.”
Xie Mingyuan did not strike a lethal blow yet. He was toying with them like a cat with a mouse. By the time Lin Min realized what was happening, the icy sensation had vanished along with the ghost’s voice. On the other side of the wall, Zhou Jin finally used an item to smash through the barrier. He stumbled out from the neighboring room, panting.
As Zhou Jin looked up, the first thing he saw was the beautiful husband leaning against a table, wrapped in a man’s coat and gasping for breath. The restlessness he had just managed to calm surged back. Perhaps because he had been bullied too severely, Lin Min’s thin eyelids drooped, and his thick lashes were clumped together with moisture. His small lips were swollen, and as he breathed, a glimpse of his bright red tongue was visible.
Zhou Jin opened his mouth, only to find his voice had gone hoarse. “Did, did he always bully you like this?”
The moment the words left his mouth, he felt a sting of embarrassment. That bastard Xie Mingyuan had clearly timed his arrival to catch the little widower in this state, kissing him until he could barely retract his tongue. And that one-way mirror, it was obvious what it was for. Zhou Jin recognized the layout; it was identical to the villa. A mirror placed there served only one purpose.
The ghost wanted to watch every move the little widower made in that room. Such intense possessiveness. No wonder the little widower wanted a new husband. Yet, looking at the man’s disheveled face, Zhou Jin felt he could almost understand the ghost. If it were him, he might also bully the man until he lost his voice from crying.
“I, I am fine,” Lin Min said, immediately realizing that everything had been witnessed. He tried to stand up by leaning on a nearby object, but his legs were so weak he nearly collapsed. A scorching hand caught him, saving him from the embarrassment of falling to the floor.
Lin Min remembered Xie Mingyuan’s words. “Mr. Zhou, he said there are forty-nine minutes left. We just have to endure for forty-nine minutes.” He wondered how the other players were faring. “We should leave this place first. Those things were driven away by Mingyuan, but they might come back.”
Lin Min stood straight by leaning on Zhou Jin’s arm. He had watched horror movies before and knew better than to stay in one place and wait for death. Zhou Jin, however, barely heard a word. He only felt a soft body leaning into his. His pupils constricted. What does the little widower mean by this? Does he want me to be his husband?
Zhou Jin’s throat was incredibly dry, and his body was tense with a tightness he had not noticed. He held Lin Min’s shoulders, intending to create some distance between them to stop his mind from wandering. But as he touched him, the snowy flesh of the man’s shoulder seemed to spill through his fingers. “Stand steady first.”
Lin Min also wanted to stand steady. Being kissed by a man until he could not stand was deeply shameful. He suppressed the discomfort in his thighs and stood upright, following Zhou Jin through the door. The chilling atmosphere coiled around them again.
“Why are we here? Do you know where Mr. Fu and Mr. Wei are?” Lin Min asked, tilting his pale face toward Zhou Jin.
However, after he spoke, the only response was silence.
Lin Min stopped abruptly. He was unsure if Zhou Jin was teasing him or if something had happened. He tried calling out, “Mr. Zhou? Are you still there? Mr. Zhou? Zhou Jin?” Still, no one answered.
Lin Min realized the situation. He tried to maintain his composure, clutching the collar of the coat as he moved forward. Since he had no shoes, he quickly realized he was no longer on the hallway carpet but on cold, smooth indoor tiles. His pink toes curled instinctively.
Lin Min did not know where he was and had to rely on touch to identify his surroundings. He moved slowly to the wall, deciding to feel the objects there. This seemed to be a reception room; the walls were lined with decorative vases. Next were wooden shelves and bookcases. Finally, he touched a leather book cover that felt remarkably familiar. It was a book he loved.
Lin Min felt the Braille on the cover, but it was different from what he remembered. It had become a fairy tale. He knit his brows as he deciphered the text: “The fox that kidnapped the little rabbit was turned into any object in the room by a magician. It will only return to its original form after being touched. To save the fox, the little rabbit must find the item it has become. There are three chances to choose. If all three choices are wrong within ten minutes, the fox will be torn apart as dinner for the beasts.”
Lin Min pulled his fingertips back in fright. He calmed himself and recalled the rules. If he chose incorrectly, a player would die, and it would be by his own hand. Xie Mingyuan was indeed warning him. He did not know which player was trapped here, but looking at the word “fox,” he suspected it was Fu Chenyuan.
From the original plot, he knew Fu Chenyuan was a man of high self-esteem and a clean freak. The dungeon choosing to turn him into an item to be picked over was a direct jab at him. But Lin Min then remembered Zhou Jin saying that these illusions were based on what they feared most. Zhou Jin feared difficult monsters; Fu Chenyuan feared losing control.
Thinking about how he had just felt his way around the room, Lin Min’s cheeks burned. It felt as if he had just touched the protagonist all over. With his obsession with cleanliness, Fu Chenyuan surely hated him even more now. He stood in the empty space, feeling a headache. There were too many things in the room.
Fortunately, Lin Min had a good memory and could recall the previous layout of the reception room. Perhaps Fu Chenyuan would appear as a completely new item. He searched everywhere. Unfortunately, Xie Mingyuan was more malicious than he thought. Lin Min found nothing unusual; every piece of furniture was exactly as he remembered.
He bit his lip and returned to the leather fairy tale book. Could it be this?
“Mr. Fu, is that you?” Lin Min reached out tentatively, but there was no response. He felt a wave of frustration. He sighed, realizing the protagonist’s survival rested on a cannon-fodder like him. He wanted to complain to System 0766, but there was still no reply.
After searching the room again, he felt he could no longer stand. The place where Xie Mingyuan had bitten and chewed was aching; it must be rubbed red. He decided to find a spot to sit against the wall for a moment. However, as he passed the coffee table, his legs, which were failing him from the soreness, tripped on the carpet.
A sense of weightlessness hit him. Before he could react, he felt the cool touch of a leather sofa. He panicked, wondering if this counted as using one of his chances. But before he could get up, he felt the sofa beneath him was not quite right.
Lin Min heard a man’s sharp intake of breath. Suddenly, the flat sofa transformed into something uneven. He let out a whimper as he was poked by something. Heavy, scorching breath fanned against the place where he had landed. It was very hot.
Lin Min’s eyes snapped open as he kicked his legs. With wet, red eyes, he suddenly realized that Fu Chenyuan’s nose bridge was a bit too high.