Besides his exceptional skill at clearing instances, the talent Sheng Ziyao was most famous for-and one of the reasons he had become the guild's third-in-command-was reading people's expressions.
The annual Secret Garden Tea Party had come around again, and the major guilds were fighting tooth and nail over its invitations. Rumor had it that one might be in the Newcomer Instance, which was why Mo Yu had entered.
With their boss's abilities, securing the invitation from the Newcomer Instance should have been a cinch. Yet when he came out, not only had the invitation vanished, but he had also lost several A-rank items.
Even more chillingly, their boss hadn't seemed angry in the slightest when he mentioned it. Instead, he had smiled and said there was no rush.
How could there be no rush? Was the invitation going to fly back on its own?!
But with Mo Yu looking ready to skin someone alive and strip their bones, nobody dared ask any further questions. Sheng Ziyao was especially good at reading people. Others might not have noticed, but the malice in their boss's eyes was practically enough to drown the entire guild.
The guild's leaders had gossiped about it in private, curious about who could have made Mo Yu suffer such a crushing loss. In the end, a game of rock-paper-scissors selected one poor soul to visit the Newcomer Instance and meet them.
Sheng Ziyao was that unlucky bastard.
Still, he was very good at comforting himself. Anyone who could hold their own against his boss might become a friend or an enemy if they were average-looking, but if they were attractive, they had to be his future sister-in-law. If they turned out to be a stunning beauty, this would count as meeting the family early, and he could even earn some brownie points.
Now that stunning beauty was smiling, staring straight at him.
Sheng Ziyao suddenly felt as though the Grim Reaper had him by the throat. For no apparent reason, something his guildmates had said surfaced in his mind:
"Anyone who can go toe-to-toe with the boss is probably just as crazy."
He admitted that his boss was important, but right now, his own life mattered more.
Sorry about this!
Sheng Ziyao gritted his teeth, squeezed his eyes shut, and threw caution to the wind. "My brother is Mo Yu!"
Boss!!!
When I get back, I'll wash your socks for a whole month to prove my loyalty!!!
Watching the boy look as though he was marching to his death, Shen Ru found it rather funny. He looked him up and down, and an idea began to form.
His dark red eyes curved as he smiled, his features radiant and his gaze tender. He reached out to gently ruffle Sheng Ziyao's hair, his voice soft and sugary, like an angel who had wandered into the mortal world:
"What's your name?"
Who could resist the temptation of beauty?!
Sheng Ziyao was only in his early twenties, and Shen Ru naturally had him wrapped around his little finger. He obediently replied, "Sheng Ziyao."
The smile on the young man's lips deepened. Despite his angelic face, every word he spoke struck a nerve:
"Ziyao, you sneaked in here, didn't you?"
Shen Ru was so certain because the system had never indicated that another player had joined. After Mo Yu's disappearance and Du Xiaomei's death, the system had assessed the situation and assigned suitable NPCs to fill their places. But this boy's arrival hadn't attracted its attention.
In other words, he would be in serious trouble if he got caught.
Sheng Ziyao suddenly felt half his heart go cold. All he could do was look pitifully at the beauty before him, but...
Then the other half went cold too.
"Don't be nervous."
Shen Ru was still smiling, his voice falling clearly into Sheng Ziyao's anxious heart. "Since you sneaked in, nothing you do is subject to the system's judgment, right?"
Sheng Ziyao pressed his lips together. His scalp inexplicably prickled, and he nodded stiffly.
Wonderful!
A sitting duck, delivered right to my door!
In the livestream chat:
[Holy shit, come look! My wife's trafficking people!!!]
[I get the feeling Beauty Shen is up to no good. I have a bad feeling about this...]
[Hahahahaha, am I the only one quietly shipping them? I love an unhinged beauty and an obedient puppy too~~]
[How dare you!!! Mo Yu x Shen Ru, no breaking them up or switching positions!!!]
Shen Ru had only recently entered the instance and wasn't entirely used to things yet. Only after speaking did he remember his livestream. He gave the empty air an apologetic smile, his eyes bright as stars and his slightly wavy short hair resting against his forehead, making his skin look even fairer.
He gently touched his soft, vivid red lips with a slender finger, then said softly, "I trust you'll all keep this secret too, right?"
The livestream chat exploded:
[Yes yes yes yes yes! I'd give you my life!!!!]
[Aaaaaah, wifey, you actually remembered us! Sob sob sob]
[Nobody for miles around can keep a secret better than me!]
Sheng Ziyao was left dazed by this display. He silently broke into a cold sweat on his boss's behalf. Winning this wife over wouldn't be easy. One wrong move, and he could get swindled out of even his bones.
Three in the morning.
When Qi Liang and the others woke up, they were surprised to see Sheng Ziyao suddenly in the instance. After all, freely traveling between instances required an S-rank item. But on second thought, since he was their expert's friend, having a few S-rank items wasn't particularly unusual.
Besides, their expert's friend naturally had to be capable. What mattered most was that their chances of survival were secured. Nothing else was important.
The supplier arrived outside the Convenience Store's front entrance right on time. As the vehicle door opened, a foul stench instantly filled the entire space.
The rancid smell was even stronger than the previous night, and there seemed to be considerably more yellow mud around the truck.
It seemed the supplier had brought plenty of stock this time.
A hoarse voice spoke first. "How much do you want this time?"
Shen Ru's eyes curved with a faint smile as he answered with complete confidence, "All of it."
Qi Liang and the others couldn't help widening their eyes. They didn't know what form tonight's transaction would take, or how much stock was in the truck, and he was buying it all outright???
"Heh heh heh."
The thing suddenly let out a contemptuous laugh. "Business must be booming, boss. But you might have trouble affording it tonight."
The moonlight carried an eerie green tinge. Half of Shen Ru's body was hidden in darkness, as though the shadows might swallow him at any moment. Yet they could still see his unruffled face and the familiar upward curve of his lips.
"I should at least see the goods first."
The mud creature snorted, seemingly certain that Shen Ru couldn't pull off the same trick as the previous night. It shrugged dismissively and went to open the cargo doors, muttering, "Looking won't make you able to afford them."
Shen Ru's grin widened at that, and even his dark red eyes trembled slightly.
Soon.
Don't rush.
The cargo doors opened. Every Human Face Mask had been individually packaged, with gas even pumped inside to eliminate any possibility of cracking or damage.
No damage meant paying full price.
Shen Ru gave them a cursory glance. "How many?"
"Five hundred."
That was enough. They only needed another 285 positive reviews to complete the task.
In other words, if he could buy everything tonight, this would be his final meeting with the supplier.
The young man raised his eyes. "Name your price."
Seemingly convinced it had the upper hand, the thing smugly demanded an exorbitant sum. "Seventy thousand."
"Seventy thousand??"
Qi Liang cried out in astonishment. That was fucking highway robbery.
Even at last night's price of a hundred each, that was still twenty thousand extra.
Standing behind Shen Ru, Wei Lingling asked in a trembling voice, "Can we trade heads for them?"
The thing seemed to have been waiting for this very moment. Its hoarse throat sounded as though it held thousands of needles, its piercing malice washing over them:
"Of course not! But... if you give me your heads, I could consider it."
Shen Ru finally understood where this instance's malice came from. No wonder the repairman had immediately agreed when he bargained the price down to one and a half heads.
It seemed that, in this instance, players' heads were worth even more than they had imagined.
NPCs bought a mask with five heads from within the instance, while a single player's head could buy five hundred masks from the supplier.
"Sure. But before that, could you leave our store a positive review?"
His voice was exceptionally gentle, yet something seemed to occur to Qi Liang and the others. Their pupils trembled as they stared at Shen Ru in horror.
Hadn't he said that, apart from customers, only the dead could leave the Convenience Store positive reviews???
Did he mean what they thought he meant???
This was fucking worse than robbery!!!
The monster didn't understand. It merely assumed this was a player's foolish attempt to struggle, so it nodded.
Delighted to have gained ten positive reviews, the young man swept a cool glance over Sheng Ziyao, who was already prepared, and gave a nod of permission.
Then everyone watched as a baby-faced boy took a sack and shoved it straight over that damned mud creature. He kicked it in the stomach and slammed its head hard into the ground.
Shen Ru produced a sharp, long blade from somewhere and tossed it beside Sheng Ziyao.
The blade was pitch-black, exceptionally sharp, and gleamed coldly. It looked as though a light stroke would be enough to sever the monster's head in a spray of blood.
"Chop it off."
What a shame that he couldn't do it himself. After all, this NPC was part of a crucial stage in the instance. Who knew whether attacking it would be judged as clearing the instance through violence?
But Sheng Ziyao would be fine. He had sneaked in anyway.
Any punishment would fall on him alone.
In the livestream chat:
[!!!!! Fuck, so that's what he kidnapped the kid for...]
[I never imagined I'd see the Dark Night Guild's third-in-command chopping mud in a Newcomer Instance.]
[Why does my wife look disappointed? Is it because he didn't get to do it himself? Hahahahaha]
[He's so terrifyingly unhinged. I fucking love it!!!]
Before you continue