Chapter 108
After she hung up the phone, the familiar electronic voice finally arrived—
[It is summer vacation, and the Qiao couple brought their child back to their old house to play. Unexpectedly, just after returning home, both husband and wife fell ill, leaving only Xiao Liang at home unattended. That is why they have hired several people to come and take care of him.]
[Players, please act according to your identity and take care of Xiao Liang until the couple returns in seven days.]
[Main Quest: Protect Xiao Liang’s safety for seven days and keep him as happy as possible.]
[Side Quest: Investigate the reason for the Qiao couple’s illness.]
[Hint: The Qiao couple had their son, Xiao Liang, late in life and dote on him especially. Players, please take good care of him and be sure to satisfy Xiao Liang’s every request.]
[Finally, we wish you a pleasant game.]
A home tutor? Jiang Liu listened to the series of tasks, not overlooking the phrase ‘several people’. She didn’t rush to find Xiao Liang. Instead, she casually grabbed an apple from the kitchen, took a couple of bites, and strolled upstairs.
The layout upstairs was remarkably simple. One room was a child’s room, with a specially made desk and bed. It was clear the couple was very attentive to their child. The entire room had a unified, warm, and comfortable color scheme, and even the stationery on the desk was of the best brand. Next to it were the study and the couple’s bedroom. Two suitcases could be seen inside, likely from their arrival yesterday. They had fallen ill before they even had a chance to unpack.
After observing the environment, Jiang Liu sat down on the first-floor sofa as if she owned the place and sent a message in the group chat, “Anyone here?”
According to her speculation, as long as they were in a semi-modern instance, their phones should basically have a signal. Sure enough, shortly after the message was sent, four replies popped up on the screen one after another.
A moment later—
Jiang Liu the home tutor, Jiang He the sports coach, Xu Meng the nanny, and Zhao Ziming the butler all gathered in the living room. Seeing the familiar faces, a smile appeared on Jiang Liu’s face as well. She gestured for everyone to sit down. “Anyone have any clues?”
Jiang He, still holding a dirty soccer ball, raised his hand and replied, “I think I saw Xiao Liang, but I don’t know where he ran off to.”
When he first entered the instance, he was on a grassy field. A little boy was tossing a soccer ball around, his movements looking very clumsy. Jiang He had clicked his tongue and gone over to correct him. At this point, Jiang He looked exasperated. “I was just trying to be nice. Who would have thought that kid would be so disobedient? He insisted I was stealing his ball and then ran off crying.”
The mission hadn’t been announced yet at that time. By the time he realized, the kid had long since disappeared.
Zhao Ziming gave him a thumbs-up. “As expected of you, letting an NPC get away right under your nose.”
Jiang He scratched his head, a little aggrieved. “Who’s ever seen a kid as an NPC? Besides, I didn’t even get a clear look at his face.”
His expression was a bit disgusted as he described in detail how dirty the child was, his face almost completely covered in mud, making him look repulsive.
“So we should look for him now?” Xu Meng, who had been silent, finally spoke up. She sent a screenshot to the group chat—it was her phone’s lock screen, which had now become Xiao Liang’s daily schedule.
The clock on the wall pointed to eleven, which was time for Xiao Liang to have lunch and a nap. Jiang Liu stroked her chin and looked around the living room, then, uncharacteristically, shook her head. “He’s just a kid. He’ll come back when he’s hungry. Don’t worry about him. You just go ahead and make something and leave it out.”
The mission also mentioned the reason for the Qiao couple’s illness. The instance should have another hidden story, and Jiang Liu guessed that the key point was not on Xiao Liang. Xu Meng looked at her and shook her head hesitantly. “But didn’t The System specifically tell us to take good care of him?”
Jiang Liu leaned back on the sofa and pursed her lips. “Who cares about that.”
Giving him food when he’s hungry, isn’t that taking care of him? After she said that, Xu Meng was actually a little swayed. She was already worried about her loved one and wasn’t in the mood to cook. She fiddled around in the kitchen for a while and finally brought out a plate of scrambled eggs with tomatoes.
While she was cooking, Jiang Liu was studying the schedule. Wake up at 7:30 AM for breakfast, homework tutoring with Jiang Liu in the morning, sports with Jiang He after a nap, and playing with toys with Zhao Ziming after dinner. The schedule was very normal, but what was not normal was the row of small notes at the bottom. Xiao Liang doesn’t like sweets, doesn’t like to play basketball, doesn’t like to learn any subjects, and so on.
“What a fussy little brat,” Jiang Liu couldn’t help but sigh. She opened the door and went outside to observe the situation. The house was built halfway up a mountain and occupied a very large area. The lawn for playing alone was astonishing, and there was even a swimming pool. The water in the pool looked clean and clear under the sun.
Looking down from here, she could see a few similar buildings scattered below, probably neighbors who had built their houses together, but they were too far away for Jiang Liu to bother looking. She lay on the lawn, thinking about recent events, when a pebble suddenly fell from the sky, heading straight for her left eye. Jiang Liu didn’t even frown. She blocked it with her arm, and the dagger hidden in her forearm deflected the pebble with a crisp sound.
“You’re not allowed to dodge!”
A furious shout suddenly came from behind her, followed by more pebbles flying towards her haphazardly. From the trajectory of their flight, Jiang Liu could almost imagine the child’s comical arm-swinging motion. Bratty kids were indeed annoying.
She pursed her lips in annoyance, propped herself up with one hand, and after dodging the messy pebbles, she took a few steps forward and pulled out the troublemaker from behind. Xiao Liang was hiding behind a wooden box next to the house. His small face was, as Jiang He had said, covered in mud, making it impossible to tell if he was a human or a ghost. The child was light, and Jiang Liu pulled him out by the collar with just one hand.
As his body was lifted into the air, Xiao Liang’s face changed. He flailed his short legs and struggled frantically. “Let go of me! You annoying ghost!”
Jiang Liu clicked her tongue, suppressed her impatience, and threw him into the house, then dusted off her hands in disgust. “Go wash your face yourself.” She stared at the child rolling on the floor, her tone as strict as a real teacher’s.
“Why should I wash it? What’s the nanny for?” Xiao Liang rolled up from the floor, and his dirty hands unhesitatingly grabbed Xu Meng’s light-colored pants, pulling so hard it almost tore the fabric. Xu Meng was caught off guard and was actually pulled into a stumble, which made her frown as well.
“Where did this stinky brat come from?” Zhao Ziming couldn’t stand it anymore. He grabbed his arm and was about to drag him to the bathroom, but unexpectedly, this Xiao Liang was surprisingly bold. He turned his head and was about to bite his arm. His teeth were exceptionally sharp and almost instantly pierced his skin.
“Hiss.”
Zhao Ziming gasped in pain. Only then did he realize that his current open-mouthed appearance was particularly ferocious, not at all like a normal human. His teeth formed a vampire-like inverted triangle, which sent a chill down one’s spine. He instinctively flung the person away, but unexpectedly used too much force and threw him against the corner of the table. The impact made Xiao Liang’s face turn pale, and he pouted and started crying.
As the annoying crying sounded, Jiang Liu was initially unconcerned, but when her gaze fell on Xiao Liang’s back, it paused, and her eyes deepened. The couple was very cautious. Even their long-uninhabited old house had safety features. The corners of the walls and tables were even padded with foam to prevent such situations. But even in such circumstances, a patch of blood still appeared on Xiao Liang’s back, instantly soaking his light blue T-shirt, a shocking sight.
Lifting his shirt, she saw three sharp bloody marks on his back, as if he had been heavily scratched by something sharp. He was crying his eyes out in pain, with none of the energy he had when he was throwing a tantrum. He just curled up on the ground, not daring to move.
“Wow, am I that strong?” Zhao Ziming was also scared by the scene. He then frantically remembered The System’s instructions and took out alcohol and medicine from his backpack to bandage the wound. By the time the wound was treated, the person had cried himself tired and fell asleep against him. The mud on his small face had been washed away by tears, revealing a somewhat familiar face.
Zhao Ziming was still maintaining his previous posture, questioning his life. “That shouldn’t be possible. Can this thing draw blood?”
He reached out and touched the corner of the table. The soft touch immediately bounced back from his fingertips. It didn’t seem like it should have caused this situation. Jiang Liu signaled for Jiang He to carry the person upstairs to rest, but her mind kept replaying those three marks. It was very much like someone was behind Xiao Liang and had scratched him with long, sharp nails.
Her originally relaxed expression finally turned solemn. She stared at the surrounding furnishings for a moment, thinking that this was probably the strangeness of the instance. After the child was resting, the four of them gathered on the sofa, exhausted and dazed.
“Could this house be haunted?” Zhao Ziming boldly speculated. “Otherwise, the couple wouldn’t have fallen ill overnight.”
Jiang Liu didn’t speak, but she mentally rejected this idea. Although she had returned the cross to the church, she had instructed Gao Yuan to get Zhao Ziming a similar compensation after coming out. The new item could detect surrounding ghosts. If the house was haunted, the thing on him should have reacted. But besides that, what else could make someone seriously ill overnight?
She lowered her eyes in thought, just about to go through the three’s luggage, when she suddenly heard Jiang He’s impatient voice. “Why did you kick me?”
Next to him was Zhao Ziming.
“I didn’t!” he exclaimed, his face full of question marks. He was about to look up at Jiang He when he felt something hit him hard on the head.
“Who?” Zhao Ziming jolted, almost jumping up on the spot, but all he saw when he looked up was the bare ceiling.
Their back-and-forth instantly tinged the peaceful atmosphere with a bit of strangeness. Jiang Liu had been looking down, but in an instant, she felt a gaze on her back, secretly observing her. The feeling of being watched was hair-raising, making her scalp tingle. Her reaction was much faster than Zhao Ziming and the other two. The moment she sensed the gaze, she quickly moved her eyes, but her head remained facing forward, using only her peripheral vision to glance behind her.
Just one glance made Jiang Liu gasp. Right behind her, near Xu Meng’s ear, a strange, paper-like thing was floating in mid-air. As Jiang Liu’s eyes moved, it gradually revealed its full form—
It was a human face, as thin as a cicada’s wing.