After the Butler left, Shen Ru did not return to his room. Instead, he went next door and knocked on Guan Wenyue's door.
When Guan Wenyue opened the door and found Shen Ru standing outside, he would have been lying if he said he was not surprised.
Shen Ru had stabbed his right eye blind in the screening instance, then used his backing to bully him just now, mocking and ridiculing him in front of everyone.
The young man's current move was truly impossible to fathom.
Shen Ru looked at him with a cheerful smile, completely ignoring the wariness in the man's eyes. Instead, he tilted his head and asked in puzzlement, "Is this how Guild Leader Guan treats his guests? You won't even let me in?"
Guan Wenyue stepped slightly aside. Naturally, he would not let himself appear discourteous, and offered the appropriate pleasantries. "Of course not. Please come in, Mr. Shen."
For the moment, he could not figure out what this lunatic was trying to do. But Guan Wenyue was certain of one thing: Shen Ru had not come with murderous malice this time. Besides, even out of consideration for the guild alone, the young man could not possibly attack him now.
Once inside, Shen Ru quickly surveyed the room's decor and layout. As expected, every guest room had more or less the same arrangement, and even the cracks in the walls were roughly the same size.
Tall and straight-backed, the young man sat casually on the sofa, looking at Guan Wenyue across from him. Though his movements seemed careless, an innate air of refinement radiated from him.
How should he put it?
He really was worthy of being the Blue Chronicle Guild's leader.
Even after two humiliating provocations, he still regarded Shen Ru with a tolerant, appraising attitude, exuding the relaxed superiority of someone who held others' lives in his hands at all times.
Guan Wenyue cleared his throat softly, lifted the tea from the table, and took a sip before raising his eyes to the young man.
"So, what brings you here?"
Shen Ru blinked, making no attempt to hide the amusement and interest in his eyes. "I came to tell you what Cao Liao saw before he died."
Guan Wenyue was a clever man. Without something substantial, it would be difficult to get him to bite.
Sure enough, he hesitated for a moment. Rather than asking about the information directly, he asked in confusion, "Why tell me?"
The young man gave a derisive laugh and said nonchalantly, "Because it's fun. Well? Want to know?"
There were no eternal friends, nor eternal enemies.
Guan Wenyue had always firmly believed that. The young man might have his own reasons, but as long as the information he brought was accurate, that was enough.
The man tried to find even the slightest flaw in the young man's expression. Even the tiniest sign of a lie would do.
Unfortunately for him, there was none.
Shen Ru was not lying. He really had come to tell him because he thought it was fun.
Guan Wenyue also began to reassess the young man. Before, he had let his first impression cloud his judgment, leading to a grave mistake. Now that Shen Ru had volunteered this information, it did not matter even if he simply wanted to watch Guan Wenyue and Mo Yu fight while he reaped the benefits. Guan Wenyue's goal was to obtain the instance's ultimate reward.
S-Rank Card: Mrs. Leon's Tears.
This Card was the key to connecting all the livestream channels.
Guan Wenyue straightened, nodded, and smiled. "Of course I do."
Smiling, the young man vividly described what Cao Liao had seen before his death. In his good mood, he also told him that the Butler was the voyeur.
"You mean the Butler is the thing inside the cracks?"
Guan Wenyue was astonished. Barely half an hour had passed since he left the room, yet Shen Ru had uncovered the secret of the cracks from the victim's cause of death and a few words from the Butler.
Shen Ru nodded indifferently. "That's right."
But Guan Wenyue was no pushover either. He immediately realized something was off and asked with a frown, "Out with it. What are your conditions?"
Even if he found it amusing, he must want Guan Wenyue to do something after receiving the information.
"Shh!"
His dark red eyes shone with startling brilliance. The young man listened intently to the footsteps in the corridor, and as they drew closer, the blazing light in his eyes made it increasingly difficult to look away.
Knock, knock, knock.
A brief, polite knock broke what should have been the room's continuing silence.
The Butler's voice sounded outside the door, deep and resonant, as though it passed straight through the gap by the door into their ears.
"Mr. Guan, your milk."
He had yet to fully digest the revelation that the Butler was the voyeur, and now that thing was right outside his door, warmly addressing him as Mr. Guan.
A chill shot up his back straight to his scalp, leaving even his hands slightly numb.
He was about to refuse when the young man across from him suddenly stood and answered gently, "Just a moment!"
With that, he opened the door.
Shen Ru's voice was soft, carrying a deliberately controlled, beguiling tenderness. "Mr. Butler, we meet again."
The Butler was visibly dazed by the young man who opened the door, and even the infatuation in his eyes had not entirely faded.
Then, as though he had become a different person, the young man affectionately took the milk from him. The pad of his index finger lightly brushed the web between the Butler's thumb and forefinger, seemingly by accident.
With a smile in his eyes, his gaze swept over the man's lower body like a little hook. Then he took a sip of milk right in front of him.
In the livestream chat:
[...]
[...Fuck, I fucking... I-I-I, I'm fucking blushing bright red through a screen!?]
[Help, I feel like he's got the Butler completely wrapped around his finger.]
[I'm a little lost. What is my darling trying to do???]
Since Shen Ru had specifically told the Butler not to prepare any for him, the cup he drank from was actually Guan Wenyue's.
So, after taking a sip of milk, the young man naturally handed it to Guan Wenyue.
Watching their interaction, the Butler's smile grew brighter.
He bowed politely and made a point of leaving a remark before departing. "Mr. Guan, the weather is chilly at night. Please be sure to keep warm."
Then he left the room.
The young man lightly brushed his lips and gave a small, delighted smile, his lips a vivid, captivating shade. "Haven't you been wondering why I'm being so kind, Guild Leader Guan? Now I'll tell you."
Shen Ru picked up a wet wipe from the table and carefully wiped the fingers that had just touched the Butler, saying cheerfully:
"The Butler peeped on me while I was bathing. I realized he was interested in me, so I played along to coax some information out of him. It's just that, during the process, it suddenly occurred to me that you might be thirsty, Mr. Guan, so I specifically asked Mr. Butler to bring you a glass of milk."
Guan Wenyue was no fool. By this point, he naturally understood exactly what Shen Ru was plotting.
If, as he said, the Butler was intensely interested in Shen Ru, he would naturally become possessive of the object of his interest, and consequently reject any other obstacles, whether active or passive.
And Guan Wenyue himself was one of the obstacles Shen Ru had deliberately placed in his path.
Shen Ru slowly clapped his hands, thoroughly impressed by how quickly the man caught on.
"I believe someone of your ability won't be tripped up by a mere Butler, Guild Leader Guan. But you ought to know who's trying to get you killed, shouldn't you? That's why I came."
The young man's smile was unrestrained, and even his red eyes gleamed with a shrewd, dangerous light.
Life is too boring. This is the only way to make it interesting, isn't it?
He would rather use himself as bait than let anyone stay out of his game.
Guan Wenyue was one of them.
So was Mo Yu.
In the livestream chat:
[!!!!!]
[I'm fucking floored!!! That's so fucking insane!!!]
[I could give you a quick death, but I won't. Waaaah, my darling is so unhinged. I love him!!!]
[Aaaaaah, I knew my darling wouldn't hand out freebies for no reason. So this was what he had waiting for him!!!]
Before you continue