Chapter 4 (Village Instance)

The troublesome situation had finally been resolved, and as the young boy relaxed, his thoughts drifted back to the voice that had startled him earlier.

Curious to know more, Qing Xi once again turned to the system for answers.

202 quickly responded.

【According to the rules, each player must livestream for thirty minutes daily after entering the instance. If the player doesn’t choose a time, the system will automatically select an appropriate moment.】

“Then… are we still livestreaming now?” Qing Xi asked, his expression slightly awkward.

In the dimly lit bedroom, not quite bright and almost gloomy, a pretty little beauty with black hair and skin as fair and smooth as jade sat obediently on the edge of the bed. In his arms was a large square pillow, and his lively eyes were staring straight ahead.

Qing Xi looked utterly soft and well-behaved.

【Help! My wife is way too cute!!! My heart just exploded from the impact.】

【Wife, I really want to use my xx to fiercely x your xx.】

【LOL what did the guy above even say to get that many words censored?】

【Mwah mwah my precious wife.】

202, after filtering out a particularly vulgar comment, responded gently to his little player:

【Yes, but there are only ten minutes left until it ends.】

Hearing that the stream was almost over, Qing Xi let out a small sigh of relief. Still, out of courtesy to the audience watching his livestream, he gathered his courage to greet them.

“Hello everyone, I’m Qing Xi.”

“And thank you for coming to watch my stream.”

【No need to thank us, you're our wife, after all.】

【If you really want to thank us, just give us a kiss, hehe. I bet your little mouth is super sweet to kiss.】

【I would scoop up my Qing Qing wife and sprint a hundred meters.】

Watching these comments roll in—calling him "wife" and pouring out all kinds of sweet nothings—Qing Xi was overwhelmed with embarrassment.

His fair and rosy cheeks flushed with a pink blush, adding a few more degrees of charm to his delicate appearance.

This soft, lovely beauty of a boy had the viewers in the livestream—and the system 202, as well as a certain creature lurking in the shadows—feeling incredibly thirsty...

Such a beautiful little thing should belong to him.

——

After the stream ended, Qing Xi pushed open the door and stepped outside.

He wanted to meet other villagers before Zhou Ming returned.

But as soon as he opened the door, he saw Lu Hua kneeling on the ground with a bundle of firewood strapped to his back.

“Lu Hua, what are you doing?” Qing Xi asked in confusion.

“Qing Xi, I’m doing penance.”

“I realize now that I was wrong, so… can you please stop being angry with me?” Lu Hua looked up at the boy, a flicker of obsession flashing in his eyes. On his face, however, he kept up the image of a harmless puppy.

Qing Xi didn’t notice the true emotions behind Lu Hua’s eyes. He simply stepped down the stairs and walked over to him.

“If you want my forgiveness, it’s not impossible—but you’ll have to help me with something first.”

“No problem! If there’s anything I can do to help, just say it.”

“Stand up first.”

“Okay.”

After standing, Lu Hua quickly threw the firewood to the side and obediently stood by Qing Xi’s side.

Wife smells so good...

Lu Hua, overwhelmed by the scent, began to let his thoughts drift. His gaze fell unintentionally on Qing Xi’s soft, pink lips.

He really wanted to kiss his wife...

He wanted to kiss him so hard his lips would swell up, so he’d cry and only cling to him.

Just thinking about it made a certain part of Lu Hua react instantly.

Afraid of being noticed by Qing Xi, he tried his best to suppress it.

Unaware of what the big dog beside him was fantasizing about, Qing Xi had his attention on the rows of houses in front of him.

The boy was observing, trying to figure out which person he should approach first.

But he didn’t know which of the houses were still occupied.

With that in mind, Qing Xi turned to look at Lu Hua.

Being stared at like that by his beloved wife made Lu Hua’s handsome, tanned face flush slightly—though it wasn’t very noticeable due to his skin tone, so Qing Xi didn’t pick up on it.

“Qing Xi, do you have something you want to say to me?” Lu Hua asked hopefully.

He wondered if his wife was about to confess something.

Was it possible that he’d realized Lu Hua was better and wanted to divorce Zhou Ming to be with him instead?

Just the thought of this made Lu Hua giggle foolishly.

Qing Xi blinked, a little unsure of what to make of this tall, silly man suddenly grinning like that.

Was someone this dopey really going to be helpful?

But at the moment, he had no other choice. Not only was Zhou Ming missing, but it was best he didn’t know about this little mission anyway.

If Zhou Ming were to ask, Qing Xi wouldn’t even know how to explain it.

“Lu Hua,”

The boy lowered his eyes, voice full of grievance,

“I wanted to ask if you could introduce me to some of the other villagers. Before marrying Zhou Ming, I’d never met anyone except my own family.”

“So now I want to get to know more people. Is that okay?”

As he said this, Qing Xi lifted his eyes to look at him.

Tears had unknowingly welled up in his eyes, threatening to spill over at any moment, making him look utterly pitiful.

This made Lu Hua's heart ache terribly. His voice softened as he hurried to comfort the boy.

“Of course you can.”

“Qing Xi, don’t cry… otherwise…”

Lu Hua instinctively wanted to confess his feelings, to say how much it hurt him to see Qing Xi cry. But in the end, he swallowed the bitterness in his heart and instead said, “If Brother Zhou sees this, he’ll think I bullied you.”

“I got it.”

“And I’m not crying—it's just that the wind was too strong earlier, and it got into my eyes.”

Qing Xi also felt embarrassed to appear weepy in front of someone he wasn’t that familiar with, so he tried to save face.

Although they hadn’t known each other for long, Lu Hua had already gotten a decent grasp of Qing Xi’s personality. He could tell at a glance that the boy was just feeling shy, so he tactfully didn’t press the issue.

For the next while, Lu Hua explained things bit by bit to Qing Xi.

By the time he finished, Qing Xi had a general understanding of the village.

Currently, only ten households lived here. The larger families included parents and children, while the smaller ones had only a solitary elder.

Out of these ten households, two homes were unoccupied. Lu Hua explained that those families had gone out to work, but they hadn’t returned in a long time.

After memorizing the information, Qing Xi figured it was time to head back home. He didn’t want to risk bumping into Zhou Ming.

Just then, a middle-aged woman around fifty, wearing a grayish-blue headscarf and carrying a basket, came out from the house in front of them.

When she saw Lu Hua, her weathered face lit up with a kind smile.

“Ah Hua, where are you off to?”

“Aunt Niu, I’m just heading home.”

“All right, I won’t hold you up then.”

“Eh? And this young man—who is he? I don’t think I’ve ever seen him before. Is he a classmate of yours from school?”

Lu Hua was just about to say something when the hem of his shirt was tugged from behind. Like a good little dog, he immediately fell silent.

“Auntie Niu, don’t you remember me? I’m Qing Xi.”

The boy smiled sweetly as he greeted her.

The woman furrowed her brows and thought hard for a moment. Eventually, she dug up a vague impression of Qing Xi from her memory, though it was faint.

She didn’t dwell on it and greeted him kindly as “little Xi.”

“Little Xi, it’s getting dark soon. You should head home, or your mother and sister will be worried.”

Hearing her mention those two, Qing Xi’s expression didn’t change. He simply nodded obediently.

“Alright then, I’ll go plant my vegetables. You two come over for a meal sometime if you're free.”

“Okay, thank you, Aunt Niu.”

After watching the woman leave, Qing Xi and Lu Hua turned and walked off as well.

——

Lu Hua glanced at the boy, who hadn’t said a word since then, feeling increasingly uneasy.

Still, he didn’t dare ask. He was afraid that pressing too much would only upset Qing Xi.

But as they neared the house, Lu Hua finally couldn’t help himself and asked:

“Qing Xi… don’t you have anything you want to ask me?”

“Hmm? Nope.”

Qing Xi looked confused. He was still sorting through everything he’d learned.

“Then I’ll get going.”

Lu Hua worried that if he stayed any longer, he might lose control—and if that happened, Qing Xi would probably never speak to him again.

“Bye. And… thank you for today, Lu Hua.”

After opening the door, Qing Xi saw that his husband still hadn’t returned.

Not thinking much of it, he simply headed back to the bedroom.

But just as he stepped into the inner room, he suddenly felt dizzy.

And just before he lost consciousness, he seemed to catch a glimpse of a shadowy figure. But before he could see clearly, his vision faded completely.

The dark figure looked down at the boy cradled in his arms and hugged him even tighter. He then lowered his head to nuzzle against the boy’s pale neck.

Mmm… his little human really was fragrant. He liked it very much.

The shadow then dipped lower to kiss Qing Xi’s soft lips—the ones he’d longed for all this time.

So sweet. The taste made the figure greedy, and he deepened the kiss.

By the time he finally let go, Qing Xi’s lips were already red and swollen, looking like they’d been thoroughly ravished.

“My little human…”

A low, melodious voice echoed in the room.

Outside, a sudden gust of wind began to blow. It carried with it a sound that almost resembled someone… crying.

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