Chapter 2 (Village Instance)

After Qing Xi woke up again, the sky outside was already bright, which meant he had safely survived a full day in this instance.

Warm sunlight streamed in through the window.

He sat up and looked around. The room was empty—he was the only one there. His husband had left at some point without him noticing.

Still not fully awake, the young boy yawned again and reached out to pinch his own cheeks, trying to make himself a bit more alert.

When the man walked in from outside, this was the scene he saw—

A little bunny dressed only in a white inner garment, eyes half-closed, softly pinching his own cheeks. He looked utterly adorable.

The man suddenly had a strong urge… to just eat him up right then and there—

Right on that big bed.

He couldn’t help but wonder: once he bullied this teary-eyed little bride until he cried, what would the boy do? Would he obediently submit, or would he look up at him with those lively, beautiful eyes and plead for mercy?

“Husband.”

The boy’s sweet, soft voice pulled the man out of his increasingly twisted thoughts.

“What is it?”

The man asked as he walked over.

“Nothing, I just got a bit unhappy waking up and not seeing you,” Qing Xi said while reaching out his arms toward him. “Can you carry me out?”

The man looked at this human who was acting all spoiled again, and thought he was truly strange. Wasn’t he afraid of him at all?

But even more peculiar was himself.

Because he realized—he couldn’t refuse any of the boy’s requests.

Or maybe… it wasn’t that he couldn’t. He just… didn’t want to.

As his arms wrapped around that slim and soft waist, the man even caught a whiff of a sweet scent—the same scent he had smelled in his dreams last night.

So it was coming from the little bunny himself.

Qing Xi had no idea what kind of random thoughts the man holding him was having.

All he knew was that when he snuggled into the man’s broad chest, it didn’t feel as cold as he imagined—in fact, it was rather warm.

Looks like his sickly husband’s physique was much better than expected.

——

After finishing the breakfast the man made, Qing Xi suddenly remembered a side mission he needed to complete. He looked at his husband, who was washing dishes, and said, “Husband, how about we go out for a walk later?”

The man didn’t immediately agree this time. He simply turned to look at the boy, his voice slightly hoarse. “Why the sudden interest in taking a walk?”

Qing Xi got up and blinked as he appeared at his side. “Isn’t it because I want to spend more time with you and build our relationship?”

“After all, we hadn’t even met before I got married into the family.”

Qing Xi’s words left no room for rebuttal, so the man didn’t question further.

A few seconds later, Qing Xi got the answer he was waiting for.

“Alright, I’ll go with you.”

“Thank you, hubby.”

“I love you the most.”

Qing Xi grinned and planted a kiss on the man’s cheek.

The man didn’t say anything about the gesture, but hidden behind his hair, his earlobes quietly turned red where the boy couldn’t see.

——

Once outside, Qing Xi held the man’s hand and walked forward while casually observing the village around them.

From the size alone, it really was just as described in the plot.

The village wasn’t big—only about a dozen houses were visible to the naked eye, most of them low bungalows made of a few red bricks.

In comparison, the blue brick house where his husband lived was actually the best house in the village.

“Want to go home and have a look?”

The man’s sudden question caught Qing Xi off guard. It wasn’t until he looked ahead and saw the house standing not far away that he realized what the man meant.

That was Qing Xi’s home in the original plot.

Qing Xi shook his head. “Forget it. Besides, I don’t think they’d want to see me either.”

After the system told him that those so-called family members wouldn’t live for much longer, Qing Xi had already decided there was no point in going back.

And besides, this wasn’t an ordinary world. He needed to tread carefully with everything he did.

But even though he didn’t want to go looking for trouble, trouble came looking for him the moment it saw him.

“Qing Xi!”

A girl’s voice called from the distance.

Qing Xi looked up and saw a young woman with twin ponytails shouting his name. Her face was filled with unconcealed disgust.

There was no avoiding it. Qing Xi could only bring the man with him and walk over.

“Big sister.”

He greeted her using the title from his memories.

When Qing Mei saw her freak-of-a-brother not only unscathed but dressed in beautiful new clothes, a flicker of jealousy flashed in her eyes.

“Qing Xi, you were clearly almost home just now. Why didn’t you just come in?”

“Or are you thinking that now that you’re married, you don’t need to acknowledge your family anymore?”

Qing Xi didn’t understand why his sister had to question him like this. He pursed his lips and replied, “I’ve never thought that way. And the reason I got married—you and mother should know that better than anyone.”

Qing Mei instantly flared up! She raised her hand to hit Qing Xi.

But before she could even get close, she fell forward, face-first into the dirt.

The man pulled the frightened youth into his arms, and for the first time, a wave of anger surged in his heart.

“You saw she was going to hit you—why didn’t you dodge?”

“I…”

Qing Xi was about to say that he had intended to dodge, but everything that had happened since he was drugged and married off had piled up inside. At that moment, all the wrongs and grievances he had endured surged to the surface.

His eyes turned red, and tears quickly welled up.

Before long, crystal-clear teardrops rolled down his cheeks one after another, landing softly on the ground.

The boy’s sudden crying threw the man into a panic. He had no idea what to do, and could only clumsily try to comfort him.

“Qing Xi, don’t cry. I didn’t mean to be harsh with you.”

“I… I just got too worried.”

“Really?”

Qing Xi looked up at him. His eyes, now misty from crying, shimmered brightly. The tear tracks on his face made the man’s heart ache even more.

“Yes. You’re my wife. I’d never hurt you—I only want to protect you.”

“Your… wife?”

Qing Xi looked away. He didn’t dare imagine what would happen if the man learned the truth.

But he couldn’t reveal it now. He still needed the man’s protection.

“Qing Xi.”

The boy’s silence filled the man with unease.

Yes, he was starting to fear that the youth might pull away from him. If that happened, what would he do?

Maybe… maybe he should take him back right now, lock him up, and make sure he only ever saw him.

That way, the little bunny would always belong to him alone.

“You said it yourself—you’ll always protect me, your wife.”

Qing Xi’s sweet and innocent smile shattered all of the man’s dark thoughts.

“Alright. I’ll always protect you. I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

This man, feared by everyone for his cruelty, was now making such a precious promise to one human.

This quietly sweet moment was fully taken in by Qing Mei, who had just climbed up from the ground.

She hadn’t paid much attention to the sickly man before.

In the village, people said he was ugly, old-looking, and sickly—unlikely to live long. So even though his family conditions were better than most, Qing Mei had never considered marrying him.

That’s why she arranged for her freak-of-a-brother, Qing Xi, to take her place in the pre-arranged childhood engagement.

But who would’ve guessed? The man wasn’t old at all—he was strikingly handsome.

He was tall and strong, and even though his face was pale, it didn’t diminish his looks in the slightest.

If she had known he looked like that, she definitely would’ve married him herself.

Thinking this, Qing Mei couldn’t help but feel regret.

“Zhou Ming, do you remember me? I’m Qing Mei—the one who used to play tag with you as kids.”

She walked up to the man, eyes full of hope.

But the man—Zhou Ming—didn’t even look at her. He just held Qing Xi tightly and said, “We won’t be coming back for the family visit tomorrow.”

Being blatantly ignored made Qing Mei furious, but she didn’t want to leave a bad impression on Zhou Ming, so she forced a smile and said, “I understand. I’ll pass that along to Mother.”

Then she turned to Qing Xi and said gently, “Qing Xi, come home when you have time, okay? Mother and I really miss you.”

If Qing Xi hadn’t already known what kind of person Qing Mei truly was, he might have been fooled by her fake concern.

Instead, he just responded with a mocking smile. “Big sister, we still have things to do. We’ll be going.”

Being ignored again and again, Qing Mei nearly lost her composure, but she remembered her plan—to find an opportunity to tell Zhou Ming the “truth” about the marriage swap. So she swallowed her anger.

Soon. Once she managed to frame that damn freak properly, everything would be hers again.

Back on the familiar path home, Qing Xi lost interest in exploring the rest of the village. Instead, he started thinking over the clues he’d gathered.

First of all, it turned out his husband’s name was Zhou Ming.

But most of the villagers had the surname Qing, which meant his family had come from somewhere else.

Then there was the original plot’s mother character.

From what little he remembered, she had a bad temper and often beat and scolded the original Qing Xi.

And just now, even with all the commotion outside, she hadn’t come out to check—completely out of character.

Could there be some connection between the two?

“Qing Xi, we’re home.”

Zhou Ming’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

The boy figured it was only the start of the second day—there was no need to rush. He let himself relax.

But what Qing Xi didn’t see was Zhou Ming, now standing quietly behind him.

In an instant, the man’s deep, shadowy eyes turned blood-red.

At the same moment, Qing Mei lay sprawled in the muddy road, unmoving.

From her forehead and beyond, a foul-smelling pool of thick, blackish-red blood had begun to spread...

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