Not a single word of Shen Ru's speech hinted at the Dark Night Guild, yet no one present doubted the truth of what he said.
Before they entered the instance, rumors about Shen Ru and Mo Yu had already spread like wildfire.
Although neither of them had made any statement, anyone with eyes believed the Dark Night Guild was backing Shen Ru.
And Qi Ning, who had seen another side of Shen Ru, naturally believed the young man before him had the confidence and ability to make that claim.
After weighing everything up, agreeing to cooperate was the best option.
Wei Lanxing was so stunned by Shen Ru's persuasive pitch that her eyes widened. She stood motionless for a long while, unable to utter a word.
He wanted to kill Guan Wenyue???
Was it really okay to tell everyone something like that???
But looking at it from a guild's perspective, even though she wasn't Qi Ning, Shen Ru's argument had moved her too.
Ever since Guan Wenyue became Lanji's guild leader, he had gradually monopolized the information and resources that had normally been shared by default. All the major guilds had also lost members, but none of that was the main issue.
What mattered most was that they stood on opposing sides.
The Eternal Life Game had different channels: the entertainment channel, the horror channel, the infinite-flow channel...
There was little connection between these channels, and no one had tried to break through that barrier since the game began.
But Guan Wenyue was different. One misstep in what he was doing could plunge the tens of millions of people in the Living Area into danger, even dragging innocent people from other channels down with them.
He deserved to die.
As agreed, Qi Ning told them what had happened before Cao Liao's death.
Shen Ru's expression remained unchanged after hearing it, but he quickly spotted the problem. "Looks like the thing in the cracks is pretty clever."
Qi Ning nodded in agreement. "It hunts people by exploiting their instinctive reactions. If the Leons hadn't felt that gaze too, I would've thought a person was behind it."
"Perhaps it is a person. NPCs count as people, after all."
The man rarely joined their discussions, but now he looked at Shen Ru with a smile. The inscrutable look in his eyes made the young man raise an eyebrow.
The hint was all too obvious. There were only three people in the entire residence: the Leons and the old butler.
They had only two options: actively search for it, or wait for the ghost in the cracks to come to them.
But this thing was clearly quite intelligent. Simply waiting would raise the danger by more than a notch.
Their only choice was to hunt down that disgusting voyeur hiding in the cracks.
The young man immediately understood Mo Yu's meaning. His lips curved as he extended an invitation to everyone:
"Would anyone care to take a look at the butler's room? It should be interesting."
The butler's room was on the first floor.
The afternoon was their rest period, and everyone was resting in their rooms. Barging in would clearly be inappropriate.
Wei Lanxing suggested, "Wen Meng and I will lure the butler away. How long will you need?"
They still didn't know whether the butler had anything to do with the thing in the cracks. Using one person as bait would be too dangerous, which was why Wei Lanxing proposed going with Wen Meng.
Shen Ru hadn't expected her to volunteer as bait. Apparently, not every guild leader was as selfish as Guan Wenyue and Chu Rong.
Still, the young man shook his head and declined. "I'll be the bait. Guan Wenyue must be watching our movements right now. In his eyes, I'm probably already one of President Mo's people. Having me act will be more misleading. Besides, there are some things I want to ask the butler."
Mo Yu watched the smiling young man before him. This rose never stopped reminding him that sitting back and reaping the benefits came at a price.
The man chuckled, not minding the young man's reminder in the slightest. A rare tenderness filled his jet-black eyes as he said pleasantly, "Then thank you for the effort."
Shen Ru replied with a smile, "No trouble at all."
Because sooner or later, I'm going to make you pay it all back, you damn pervert!
As agreed, Shen Ru immediately turned and hurried out, his movements frantic and his steps chaotic as he rushed downstairs as fast as he could.
Once on the first floor, he even deliberately let out a frightened cry to attract the butler's attention.
Sure enough, the old butler came out of the kitchen after hearing him.
Seeing panic and sweat covering that striking, boldly beautiful face, the butler's smile grew even more pronounced.
In the Livestream Room:
[Guys... is it just me?? Why does this old butler's smile look kind of creepy???]
[I feel the same way!!! Shouldn't his first reaction to seeing a guest be to bow respectfully and greet them like before?]
[Holy shit, was he just putting on an act before???]
[Fuck, the more I think about it, the scarier it gets...]
Shen Ru naturally noticed something was wrong too. His expression immediately grew even more earnest, his eyes misting over as though tears were about to spill.
"What seems to be the matter?"
The butler's voice trembled slightly. Shen Ru knew it was the sound of excitement.
The young man hurriedly grabbed the butler's sleeve and stammered through a sob, "Upstairs... someone died upstairs!"
The old butler gently stroked the beautiful rose's delicate back, tracing the curve he had briefly glimpsed in his memory.
At that moment, Shen Ru was certain who that disgusting gaze in the bathroom had belonged to. He discreetly stepped back, as though suddenly realizing he had been rude, then hurriedly wiped away his tears and gave a light cough.
"I'm sorry. Would you mind coming upstairs with me to take a look?"
"Of course. It is my duty."
With that, the two went to Qi Ning's room.
As they passed the other rooms, Shen Ru deliberately made a little noise outside Guan Wenyue's door, his movements conspicuous and clumsy.
The old butler took in the young man's behavior, a strange gleam flashing through his dark gray eyes.
In the Livestream Room:
[Did Beauty Shen get the wrong room?? He's signaling the wrong person!!!]
[Have you considered that my wife might be doing it on purpose?]
[?????]
[He's deliberately letting the butler see him signal Guan Wenyue so the boss thinks they're together, making it easier to target him later...]
[Holy shit, my wife is so devious...]
[He won't even waste an NPC's usefulness. Now that's what I call being thrifty hahahahaha.]
Pretending not to notice the butler's revolting expression, Shen Ru hurriedly pushed the door open, eager to prove how dangerous the room was.
"Look, the body... is gone...?"
The room was deathly silent.
The clock ticked away. Shen Ru lowered his eyes, his mind racing.
The body's disappearance had caught him off guard. He had intended to use the death to berate the butler and buy them time, but now that his plan had been disrupted, he had to come up with something else.
The butler still wore that same smile. He thoughtfully wiped the sweat from the young man's forehead with a tissue, gently offering him a graceful way out.
"I imagine you must have had a nightmare just now. I'll prepare a glass of milk and bring it up for you."
With that, he turned to leave.
No!
I can't just let him leave!
"Mr. Butler, may I ask how many same-sex couples are among the guests this time?"
A cold glint shone in the young man's dark red eyes. He showed none of his inner panic, instead taking a seat unhurriedly and fixing his gaze on the butler's back.
The butler replied politely, his voice slightly hoarse, "Only you and Mr. Mo."
Shen Ru laughed softly, the upward lilt of his voice carrying a hint of seduction and intimacy.
"So I like men."
Unmoved, the butler said blandly, "Yes, sir. That is quite apparent."
Slender fingers gently undid his shirt buttons. His fair neck was exposed, tender and inviting, like a ripe, sweet peach waiting to be picked.
"Could you help me take off my jacket?"
In the Livestream Room:
[?????]
[I'll help you take it off!!!]
[Mom, someone's being naughty here!!!]
[Aaaaaah, if this butler dares touch a single hair on my wife's head today, I'm going to fight him!!!]
Before you continue