Chapter 16: The Gu Tribe's Stronghold, Part 15

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[……]

022 remained silent; any clue involving the dungeon could not be revealed. It had already broken the rules once, and a second offense would surely lead to punishment.

Zhou Zhou did not expect the system to respond—she was simply terrified. There was someone hiding under her bed, and who knew what that person might do.

The fragile girl was gripped by fear of the unknown.

Trembling, Zhou Zhou peeked out from under the covers, her eyes red and moist.

What should I do? What should I do—

She glanced toward the door, just a few meters away. If she ran out now while the person under the bed remained still, maybe she could make it.

But…

Her fingers quivered as she clenched her hands; could her frail body really outrun anyone?

“Knock knock—”

“Knock knock knock—”

Someone was knocking at the door.

The slow, steady rhythm sounded eerie and chilling in the silent night, carrying a bone-chilling coldness.

Zhou Zhou’s voice trembled slightly. “Wh-who is it?”

Zhou Shan had fainted, Chu Mingxiu had left—who else would knock at this hour?

“It’s me.” A young, hoarse voice sounded, and Zhou Zhou instinctively let out a sigh of relief.

It was the player named Liang Ye.

“Zhou Zhou, open the door,” Liang Ye’s voice floated softly, “Brother brought you some candy.”

“Oh—”

Zhou Zhou finally had a decent excuse to get out of bed. She hurriedly sprang down, five steps in two strides, and opened the door, causing the boy in front of her to pause in surprise.

He stared at the barefoot girl, his voice faltering.

“Why aren’t you wearing shoes?”

In the night’s darkness, the delicate, pale girl looked even more radiant and fragile, her bare feet and skin whiter than freshly fallen snow, seeming to glow faintly in the dim light.

“Don’t mind that…” The girl’s teeth chattered as she looked at him with those wet, red eyes, as if he were her last hope.

“Where’s the candy?”

Liang Ye said “Oh” and took a bag of tangerine-flavored milk candy from his pocket.

“Here.”

A slender, delicate hand reached out. Liang Ye thought the girl was about to take it, but instead, she grasped his sturdy wrist tightly with her slender, snow-white arm.

She threw herself into his embrace.

The candy spilled all over the floor.

“W-what are you doing!”

Startled and uncomfortable from her sudden boldness, Liang Ye flushed slightly.

She forced herself to stand up. Liang Ye was tall, but she barely reached his chin.

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But that angle was enough.

Zhou Zhou thought to herself, her snowy forehead pressed against the boy’s sharp face, feeling his warm, weighted breaths.

His young, vigorous body, his deep, entangling gaze that even she did not fully understand, the flushed tips of his ears—all his movements embodied youthful vitality.

The next moment, the girl’s fragile, feather-light voice trembled as she spoke softly—

“Help me—” she whispered, “There’s someone under my bed.”

…

Ning Jidong had been hiding for a long time.

He had followed those players and noticed they weren’t seeking help outside but had instead entered a corner cave to explore, then parted ways.

Damn it, weren’t they nervous at all?

Their phones had all been confiscated, they had been locked up overnight, yet they still dared to roam around here?

He took a deep breath, and before darkness fully fell, he sneaked to Zhou Shan’s house with his two sons.

For some reason, the house was completely empty.

They ransacked the already sparse house from top to bottom but found nothing except a pile of rubbish; not a trace of their own phones.

Ning Jidong was not willing to give up. He left his two sons outside to wait.

He searched again and found a spot under the bed that hadn’t been checked. He crawled in.

Sure enough, he found their three phones under the bed.

Just as he was about to leave, the door creaked open.

Clearly, someone was coming.

Ning Jidong had no choice but to hide under the bed. The imposing president of the Ning Corporation had never done such a thing before. The cramped darkness was uncomfortable; he pursed his lips.

It was terribly cold, as if the space under the bed belonged to an icy dimension. The man’s handsome face was frosted with a thin layer of white frost, and his mind was slightly foggy.

Furthermore…

The bed, for some reason, smelled intoxicating.

Ning Jidong had never encountered such a captivating fragrance, sweet, soft, and alluring—so seductive it made his bones tingle.

Yet this exquisite scent helped clear his foggy mind somewhat.

Two people entered. Ning Jidong watched their legs from under the bed. The man wore black pants, walking lightly and silently—clearly a trained fighter.

The girl—

Wore a long skirt that covered her legs, with only a small patch of glowing, delicate skin at her ankle visible in the darkness.

The night breeze lifted the fabric slightly, revealing the tender hollow behind her knees.

Ning Jidong shifted his head uneasily.

He and his ex-wife always maintained mutual respect and had little intimacy; such beauty was overwhelming for him.

His ex-wife had deeply loved her first love since youth, but he died of heart disease, becoming her eternal white moonlight.

Born without much feeling himself, Ning Jidong managed a vast corporation, with work consuming his entire life; love was foreign to him.

Yet noble families required arranged marriages.

One with a heart already taken, the other cold and loveless.

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The two agreed at once and married.

After marriage, the ex-wife spent every day in her room, caressing the photo of her white moonlight, while he never cared.

Later, pressed by family pressure, they were drugged and intoxicated, resulting in a confused night together.

By coincidence, his ex-wife became pregnant.

She wept daily, feeling guilty toward her white moonlight, but yielded to family pressure and planned to give birth.

But…

She suffered a difficult labor.

The ex-wife smiled with relief, devoid of any will to survive. She said she wanted to find her white moonlight and told him not to save her.

Ning Jidong looked at her coldly.

He didn’t understand.

Was love, this hormone-driven illusion, really that important?

The cold under the bed deepened.

Ning Jidong pinched himself harshly to stay awake. He vaguely heard the girl’s soft, gentle, and exquisitely beautiful voice, seemingly frightened—

He also heard the man’s steady, calm voice.

Gradually, all fell silent.

The man left.

His heart pounded wildly. Just a little longer, just a little longer—

He would leave once the girl fell asleep.

His breathing grew heavy; he could hear the girl quietly shifting on the bed.

Was she suffering from insomnia?

Ning Jidong could not help but wonder.

As his mind wandered, another knock came from outside.

A young, clear voice.

Unlike the deep, mature male voice before, the owner of this voice appeared to be a rebellious youth with white hair, visible through the faint light.

It seemed he had come to bring candy to the girl.

The girl rushed to him. Their muffled voices mingled, as if they were struggling over something, standing very close.

He saw the girl’s rosy lips pressed to the young boy’s chin, slowly opening and closing.

Ning Jidong lowered his eyes.

He thought with subtle complexity: who was this girl in Zhou Shan’s house, and how did she attract so many men?

Afterward, the girl seemed to say something more to that strange young voice.

Then, step by step, they drew closer to the bed where he hid.