“You guys…” The female housekeeper who was being stepped on only managed to spit out the two words with difficulty from the floor before Wang Ke unexpectedly pressed down harder and stomped out her words.
This was simply an inhuman image: a lady who lived by herself was suddenly attacked by an uninvited guest in the middle of the night while the spectators surprisingly didn’t lend a helping hand. In the end, was this the degeneration of human nature or the indifference of society?
Unfortunately, the group of blockheads in front of her were completely unsympathetic to her plight. After all, the female housekeeper had acted like she was watching a good show from the start, and even took great pleasure in watching the players fail at clearing the instance.
“Just ask any questions you have ba.” Wang Ke was like the evil tyrant who bullied the weak in stories. He waved expressionlessly at the door for Xiao Lan and the others to come in.
Wang Taidi glanced at the housekeeper on the floor who could no longer maintain her original stiff and stern appearance. He crouched down and asked, “What in the world is going to happen tomorrow night?”
The female housekeeper just glared at him fiercely with her lips sealed tight as she completely disregarded Wang Taidi’s question.
Seeing this, Wang Ke stomped on her again. The female housekeeper let out a muffled groan but still remained silent; clearly, she was very strong-willed.
Wang Ke frowned.
In a flash, the blood-red long sword that had made a previous appearance was in his hand. Cold light glinted off the blade as the tip of the sword appeared less than a few millimeters away from the defenseless housekeeper; she could already feel an ice-cold sensation from the weapon, and her skin started to ache faintly.
The female housekeeper sucked in a cold breath of air. She never imagined that these fellows would actually dare to be this impudent; weren’t they afraid of being rebuked by Madam Bella?
The female housekeeper did her best to say calmly, “Tomorrow… there’ll be an important event held in the manor.”
Yet she completely avoided the main point, which was what the players wanted to know.
Wang Ke lightly turned the tip of the sword. “I’ll give you one more chance.”
This minute change was extremely obvious in the housekeeper’s eyes. Her entire body shuddered for a moment before she did her best to control herself; she didn’t want to deliver her eyes to the tip of the sword due to her own mistake.
Tangled up for a moment between Madam Bella’s punishment and the villain before her who looked ready to make a move right away, the housekeeper opened her mouth with difficulty. “Tomorrow is the night of the full moon. When that time comes… the madam…”
She hesitated for a moment, then glanced at Wang Ke, who was stepping expressionlessly on her, before she continued, “The madam will initiate and personally preside over a sacrificial ceremony. The sacrifices are… her suitors.”
That was the players’ role.
Xiao Lan asked, “If she invites men to the manor just to be offerings, does that mean this happens every month?”
“Yes…” The housekeeper sighed. Since she had already started, continuing wasn’t difficult. “The madam invites numerous men to the manor to verify the most important offering. She will choose the most outstanding one among you to be the final and most precious offering.”
Xiao Lan questioned her closely. “Who are the offerings for?”
“I don’t know,” the housekeeper said with difficulty. “Aside from the madam’s offerings, no one else is present during the sacrificial ceremony. We have never been allowed to know the details.”
“She’s not lying,” Wang Taidi said as he shook the lie detector item that was showing green in his hand.
Xiao Lan continued to ask questions he himself was interested in. “Do you know Annie?”
The housekeeper said, “She was Madam Bella’s younger sister, but we’ve never met her. She already passed away before I started working in the manor.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Xiao Lan: “How long have you been in the manor?”
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“Ktfc, vb sbe xcbk jcsatlcu jybea Zjvjw Dfiij’r teryjcv?” Wljb Ojc jrxfv.
The female housekeeper gave up and replied, “I do. The madam once had a husband; his name was Edmund and he disappeared over twenty years ago. Before he disappeared, he would spend all day in the piano room and never come out, and hardly ever met with the madam.”
Xiao Lan: “Have you met anyone else in this family?”
Female housekeeper: “No. Ever since I came, there was only Madam Bella.”
It appeared that the only one most likely to know the truth of back then was the husband, who was unaccounted for. The other servants who might know the truth had either been sacrificed or later disposed of by Madam Bella.
The key to leaving the manor probably rested with this Edmund.
Xiao Lan stood up. “Last question. Where’s the piano room?”
The female housekeeper was practically about to go numb from being stepped on. “Third floor, the room at the very end of the east wing. It has already been sealed.”
Seeing that Xiao Lan was done with asking questions, Wang Ke moved his leg and gave Wang Taidi a meaningful look.
Wang Taidi instantly understood and took out a long, conch-shaped item. He tapped gently on the item, and the female housekeeper’s voice rang out from inside it. “Tomorrow is the night of the full moon. When that time comes… the madam…”
The housekeeper’s eyes abruptly widened. “This, this… You!!”
Wang Taidi waved the conch in his hand. “Thank you for your cooperation, miss. You don’t want to know what Madam Bella’s expression will look like after she hears this, right?”
The housekeeper’s voice quivered. “I won’t sp- speak of it.”
Just like that, she sat on the floor and watched as this group of unreasonable hoodlums swaggered off. That fellow with the elegant appearance and faint smile, and who looked like the most well-mannered one, even took the floor plans of the entire manor from her table in passing.
You just couldn’t judge a book by its cover.
.
After they left the housekeeper’s room, they headed for the piano room. Just to be certain, Luo even took out the floor plans which he had just taken from the housekeeper’s room to check, and they headed over after confirming that there were no mistakes.
Now that they knew Madam Bella’s objective and she wasn’t in the manor, the players no longer had to continue behaving normally in front of the maids. In any case, everyone would definitely shed all pretenses tomorrow night.
Of course, it was still better if they weren’t seen.
Xiao Lan raised a hand and knocked out a maid standing guard at a corner.
Wang Taidi’s face was filled with ‘fuck me’. “Didn’t you just say that it’s better if we sneak in quietly?”
Xiao Lan dragged the maid to an inconspicuous spot. “Isn’t disposing of everyone who sees us perfect stealth? This is called physical invisibility.”
Wang Taidi: “…”
This sort of rough infiltration method, I think you’ve already surpassed masters.
He then turned to ask Luo, “You… don’t have any objections?”
Revealing a cultured and elegant smile, Luo replied, “Hm? Is something wrong?”
Wang Taidi looked like he had nothing left to live for. “Nothing… Quite good, like my brother.”
.
Arriving where the piano room used to be, it was, as expected, a gorgeous wall. They used the same method as before to open the door and enter.
Like Annie’s room, the piano room was covered in dust.
It appeared that these two rooms had been sealed for a very long time. Perhaps this place was sealed not long after Mr. Edmund disappeared.
The piano room was still gorgeous.
An elegant and unique crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling, while the delicate handiwork of the time could be faintly seen on the carpet that was covered with dust. An exquisitely crafted piano was displayed in the center of the piano room. Across from the piano was an enormous French window, and even though it was now covered with a thick curtain, it would definitely have allowed the person playing the piano to appreciate the beautiful view outside the window back then when they raised their head.
There was also a sofa and a clock not far away, as well as a beautiful vase on the table with a large rose that had wilted a very long time ago.
This was a piano room that probably originally gave the musician a delightful and cozy feeling.
Wang Taidi looked at the piano and said excitedly, “From my experience in previous games, when a piano like this appears in a puzzle-solving game, we will definitely be able to obtain a clue as long as we can play the requested tune.”
Xiao Lan was doubtful. “That’s illogical.”
Wang Taidi shrugged. “Isn’t it fine as long as it fits the game’s logic? Let’s look around; maybe we’ll find a musical score or something like a paper with a secret code.”
As a pauper who didn’t have time to play games, Xiao Lan was completely unable to understand Wang Taidi’s excitement.
But he still searched the area. After all, regardless of whether or not they had to play the piano in the end, they still had to search this room anyway.
After a while, Luo picked up a yellow and brittle paper sheet between his fingers and went over to pass it to them. “Look at this.”
Xiao Lan looked at this fragile piece of paper and discovered that it really was a musical score, and the musical notes were even handwritten.
Wang Taidi jumped happily. “Look! I didn’t play games for nothing, hahahahahahahahaha.”
“Watch me.” He reached out to take the musical score before animatedly running over to the piano. Disregarding the dust on the piano bench, he plopped his butt right down, lifted the piano lid, and started to tune the piano.
This piano was probably extremely expensive, and after being sealed away for over twenty years, could barely be played. However, the sound quality definitely wasn’t as good as before.
After that, Wang Taidi began to play as he read the musical score; it had to be said that his posture looked very accurate.
It was just that… although Wang Taidi was pressing all the right keys, calling it playing the piano would be an insult to the composer. Xiao Lan dared to confirm that it definitely wasn’t the piano’s fault for being old.
As expected, nothing in the room changed.
Wang Taidi scratched his head. “Something is definitely wrong.”
Wang Ke opened his mouth and shook his family’s silly little brother’s core. “Did you forget how you muddled along during your piano lessons when you were young?”
Wang Taidi: “…”
At that moment, Wang Taidi suddenly understood how his brother felt every day, wanting to place righteousness before family.
Life wasn’t easy. Taidi sighed.
Wang Taidi looked at his brother and changed topics. “Ge, do you know anyone who can play the piano?”
Wang Ke looked at the piano with deeply ingrained hatred, as if he wanted to cut it apart with his sword. “Qi Ning does, but that guy always runs off once he enters the game.”
Xiao Lan thought about it. “I feel like playing the piano might not necessarily be the way to obtain clues. If all the players who enter this instance don’t know how to play the piano, wouldn’t that mean everyone fails?”
“That’s true…” The small puzzle game flame in Wang Taidi’s heart went out with a poof.
They continued searching the room for clues.
Xiao Lan was inspecting a clock the height of a person when he noticed that something seemed to have been placed inside. He reached out and opened the clock’s glass face.
It seemed that a portrait had been quietly placed inside the clock, and there wasn’t even a speck of dust on it since it had been protected by the clock.
Xiao Lan took out the portrait. It was of a handsome blonde man with ocean-blue eyes. He wore a fitted suit, his hair was combed meticulously, and there was a nobleman’s elegance and reserve in the way he carried himself.
Behind the portrait was written — Edmund.
Unexpectedly, it was Madam Bella’s husband!
Wang Taidi pointed at the portrait. “Could it be that this big brother had a debt of 50 million yuan and was packed up to be sold by his creditor?!!”
Xiao Lan had a longing expression on his face. “I really want to know how he did it.”
Wang Taidi was stunned. “You also want to marry this kind of…”
Xiao Lan earnestly said, “No, I want to be 50 million yuan in debt.”
Wang Taidi: “???”
What sort of fantastic, otherworldly dream was this?
Pfft others wants to be rich but he wants to be in debt ah…. Aye can’t blame him for that but it’s still funny lol 😂
Lmaooo XL never disappoints 😂😂
Thanks for the chapter!!
XL never fails to choke me up with his words lmaoooo
Thank you for the great translation ♥️
Want Taidi:…
Wang ke:…
Everyone in the instance:…
Everyone in the whole universe:
Xie Lian: I want to 50 million in debt
Luo: I don’t know about the debt but you’ll always have me~
Nah most likely he’ll say- I can be your creditor
I think the “student surpassing the teacher” line might be referencing that Wang Taidi showed Xiao Lan around after his first game and now he’s acting more like Wang Ke/veterans with this bold kind of “sneaking” that seems really cavalier? Not sure though haha
Thank you for translating! <3
I think yes. Wang Ke showed Xiao Lan how to get info from the housekeeper, and that they “can do anything” as long as they don’t die from it in the previous chapter, and in this chapter Xiao Lan immediately subdued the maid. He learns quickly (≧▽≦)
I really pity Edmund.. being married to Madam Bella mustn’t have been easy
Thank you for the chapter!!! ❤️❤️
Xiao Lan: knocks out all the maids
Stealth: 100
Thanks for the chapter!!
I wonder if Edmund is the maid with the Adam’s apple XL saw earlier…and he had been hiding? If not…still want to know who that is!
I really like the translator’s profile pic. Lends certain… mood.
Thanks for the translation!
To be fair, I think Wang Taidi is right. In any video game I’ve played, if there’s a piano, you’ll always have to play it to get the clues.
XL, I love you. Let’s be broke together xD
Wang Ke, you’re badass. I would definitely choose to team up with you if given the choice.
Luo can do anything. Can’t he play the piano? 🤔
Thanks for the chapter ❤
final fantasy 7, huh?
Sigh…. Xiao Lan, I could introduce you a few uncles and my “dearest” aunt, they could teach you how to get yourself and your family into debt (-_- “)
Thanks for the chapter♡
Thanks for the update
Wang Taidi, you aren’t alone xDD Anyone without that skill would never understand XL’s suffering lol
Thx for the ch (≧▽≦)/
Lol!😂😂
Thank you so much for the chapter!(๑´>᎑<)~❤
Uh, that’s how I do it in stealth games…. I feel weird if there’s anyone still conscious even if they’re across the map, not patrolling or anything.
When I read the “surpassed” masters part, I immediately thought of gaming where there is elo/ranking and the rank Masters is used to describe someone who is proficient in something. The opposite would be “bronze,” for instance. Idk, I felt it made much for sense. Anyways, really liking the story. The mysteries are so interesting, and I’m liking the characters (the good ones) too!
Thanks for the continued hard work!
playing the piano is a common element in horror rpgs hehe
Thanks for the chapter!
Realmente es uno de mis protagonistas favoritos, jajajajaj su simplicidad
This sort of rough infiltration method, I think you’ve already surpassed masters
This probably talks about the MC surpassing Wang Ke in doing things, since it was mentioned that Wang Ke breaks windows, beats up NPCs.
AHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
When in fact he has 200mil debt looool HAHAHA