Chapter 69: The Child (Part Six)

Accustomed to living alone for many years, Zhou Ke was quite adept at housekeeping. In no time, he had swept up the debris scattered on the floor.

Upon fulfilling this [responsibility], the chandelier finally stopped swaying and making noise.

He looked up and saw that the chandelier was secure and firm, with no abnormalities whatsoever. Yet, the floor had clearly reflected a person hanging there just moments ago!

He thought for a moment and tentatively tilted the dustpan. A few pieces of garbage fell back out, as if triggering some sort of switch, and the malice looming overhead suddenly surged.

Vaguely, he heard a beast-like low growl: "I bought this house! You are not allowed to make it dirty!"

After waiting for five minutes, Zhou Ke swept the garbage back in, and the malice predictably subsided.

"Hiss, this is kind of fun."

Joking aside, he had figured out one thing: it didn't matter if you dropped things in the house, as long as you cleaned them up promptly.

"Not cleaning up promptly isn't really a problem either, as long as you don't look up during that time."

Just as Zhou Ke was debating whether to keep playing, Wen Xiaoxiao walked out of the kitchen holding a transparent plastic medical kit.

This could be considered good news; at least future injuries would have proper treatment guaranteed.

Bizarrely, however, Wen Xiaoxiao had a fruit knife gleaming with cold steel embedded in both her left thigh and her shoulder.

"What happened to you—"

Before Zhou Ke could finish, Wen Xiaoxiao cut in, "The items in the kitchen attack people automatically."

She put down the medical kit and, expressionless, pulled out the fruit knives that were sunk three-tenths of an inch into her flesh. "It's fine. I have a self-healing ability; minor injuries heal quickly."

As if to verify her words, Zhou Ke clearly saw that blood had stopped flowing from her two wounds.

Inside the wounds, a layer of gray mist shrouded the flesh. By the time the gray mist dissipated, her skin was already as smooth and flawless as before.

"What a truly convenient ability..." Zhou Ke stared intently at Wen Xiaoxiao's thighs with a look of fascination.

Wen Xiaoxiao paid no mind to his gaze. She first glanced at Youyou, who was sitting on the sofa eating candy, and upon noticing the subtle change in the child's expression, her brow furrowed slightly.

"Right? I also think this is just as agonizing as having a remote marriage and child with an online stranger you've never met."

Seeing Wen Xiaoxiao looking at him in silence, unsure how to explain himself, Zhou Ke offered a shallow remark.

"It's not agonizing in such a specific way..." Wen Xiaoxiao sighed, took the alcohol and bandages from the medical kit, and prepared to dress her wounds.

"Please be gentle; I have a sensitive constitution," Zhou Ke said, not entirely accustomed to others touching his body.

"If you didn't keep uttering these suggestive, weird remarks, I might actually consider it."

Without the slightest hesitation, Wen Xiaoxiao poured an entire bottle of alcohol straight onto Zhou Ke's back, causing him to wince and bare his teeth in pain.

Once the wounds were bandaged, she reached to put the remaining bandages back into the medical kit, but her movements suddenly paused.

Hesitating for a few seconds, Wen Xiaoxiao took something else out of the kit.

"Come take a look. What is this?"

"Huh?" Zhou Ke turned his head with some stiffness.

Because of the numerous scratches and cuts covering his back, the bandages were wrapped around his upper body almost like a tight-fitting vest.

He looked at the thin object in Wen Xiaoxiao's hand, and his expression turned peculiar.

It was a card with a grass-green background and a sunflower painted in the center.

Oddly enough, the sunflower—which had two leaves—actually possessed a pair of pitch-black bead-like eyes, and the corners of its mouth were curved upward in an awkward yet polite smile.

Well, nothing too out of the ordinary.

I believe everyone is already thoroughly familiar with this, knowing it like the back of their hand.

That's right, this was a plant from the once world-famous game *Plants vs. Zombies*—the Sunflower.

But the question was, why would there be such a toy card inside a first-aid kit?

Zhou Ke and Wen Xiaoxiao both turned their gazes toward Youyou simultaneously.

Only a child would go around stuffing toys into random places, right?

Noticing her parents' probing gazes, Youyou nervously swallowed the milk candy in her mouth. "Youyou doesn't know."

Wen Xiaoxiao quickly withdrew her gaze and said in a low voice, "It shouldn't have anything to do with her. The medical expenses were kept on top of the kitchen wall cabinet; it's too high for her to reach."

"Mmhmm." Zhou Ke nodded noncommittally, took the card, examined it, and flipped it to the back.

There were no pictures on the back of the card, only a single sentence:

[Protecting the health of family members is the responsibility of a family member.]

"This phrasing looks familiar..." Thinking of something, Zhou Ke stood up and walked over to the small bookshelf, taking out the family portrait frame for the second time.

He dismantled the frame and pulled out the eerie photograph inside.

Tucked right beneath the photo was another card, and on the back of this one was written the very hint that had prompted him to clean the house—

[Protecting the cleanliness and neatness of the home is the responsibility of a family member.]

He flipped it back to the front. The card was imprinted with yet another plant.

A purple, round body with sharp teeth—it was a Chomper.

"So, all the hints helping us survive are provided by these toy cards?" Zhou Ke pinched his chin and muttered to himself in contemplation.

If the skeletal wraith and the malicious spirit hanging from the chandelier were considered the evil faction within the house,

then the toy cards diligently reminding them of the survival rules were the relatively righteous faction.

Youyou's identity remained unclear; she was neither harmful nor helpful, so she could be temporarily classified as neutral.

Having analyzed the situation, Zhou Ke handed the Sunflower card back to Wen Xiaoxiao and instructed her to keep it on her person, noting that it might come in handy at some crucial moment.

Though the cards' specific uses were currently unknown, Zhou Ke still wanted to collect as many as possible.

In any case, intelligence of this sort could only be beneficial and never harmful.

"The commonality between the two cards is that the back of each says [Responsibility of a family member]. Presumably, fulfilling family duties grants new cards."

Zhou Ke looked at the clock on the wall. More than an hour had passed since they left the bedroom.

"It's not yet four o'clock, so it's not dinnertime. What kind of duties or activities are considered mandatory?"

"A drinking contest?"

"Breakdancing?"

"Wrestling?"

"Going out as a group to knock on the next-door neighbor's door?"

As a lifelong bachelor, he severely lacked domestic living experience, and his train of thought hit dead ends everywhere. For a moment, he had no clue what to do.

At that moment, Youyou, who had been well-behaved and obedient the entire time, glanced at her daddy—who was muttering to himself like a lunatic—and walked in small steps over to Wen Xiaoxiao, asking in a whisper:

"Mommy, what is Daddy doing?"

"He's doing bad things. Youyou must never follow his example." Whether for educational purposes or simply to avoid interrupting Zhou Ke's thoughts, Wen Xiaoxiao gently covered Youyou's ears.

"Okay!" Youyou nodded vigorously, then shyly poked her fingers together. "Mommy, I need to pee."

Wen Xiaoxiao subconsciously looked toward the living room's bathroom.

Based on Youyou's earlier eerie description, danger was highly likely lurking in there.