Che Quan froze.
He stared at the nine-screen surveillance display before him. Every screen showed a view of Room 201, where he was staying.
The hallway outside Room 201, the entryway, the living room, the kitchen, the study, the bedroom, the balcony... and one screen that had gone black.
Che Quan frowned and pointed at the black screen. "Don't tell me that's the bathroom?"
"Yes, it is."
Jiang Cong lowered his eyes without betraying anything. He had already crushed the bathroom camera.
As for why... it was probably because he was too possessive. Even if something was inanimate, he would not allow it to "see" Che Quan without his clothes on.
The live comments couldn't help exclaiming-
[This Instance System really goes all out. It even pulls stuff like this?! My eyes have been opened.]
[Whoa, could this be the pervert's secret hideout from the plot introduction? Built right here where the little beauty lives? Then that means the little beauty is...]
Inside the instance.
Jiang Cong abruptly switched off the flashlight in his hand.
Their surroundings instantly plunged into darkness.
Once again, the viewers could neither see what was happening nor hear a single sound.
Che Quan instinctively looked toward Jiang Cong, only for him to suddenly approach from behind, trapping him between his body and the surveillance console.
"Hey, you!"
"Shh-"
Jiang Cong gently blew against Che Quan's ear.
"I'm just taking my role-playing seriously."
Che Quan's brow furrowed even more at that. "What are you talking about?"
"I'm saying that I'm the 'pervert' hiding in this instance, and you..."
The warm breath that accompanied Jiang Cong's words washed over Che Quan's ear.
Che Quan couldn't help shuddering.
"You're asking to die."
Unable to tolerate any more, Che Quan was about to lash out in fury, only to discover a second later that he couldn't muster any strength.
Slightly taken aback, Che Quan asked, "What did you put in the food?"
"Nothing. I wouldn't add anything harmful to a meal I made for you."
Jiang Cong held Che Quan in his arms, sounding somewhat earnest as he explained.
But Che Quan didn't believe a word of it. He gritted his teeth, anger flaring in his eyes.
Fully aware of Che Quan's distrust, Jiang Cong continued, "It was that little medicine bottle. You didn't notice, did you?"
With no choice but to let Jiang Cong hold him, Che Quan searched his memories at those words.
He remembered seeing a little medicine bottle on the table when he first entered Room 201 on his first day in this instance.
His assigned identity was a sickly boy with a congenital heart condition.
But he hadn't taken the medicine. He had simply left it on the table and never even looked at it again.
As Che Quan finished recalling this, he heard Jiang Cong say with a smile, "The bottom of the bottle said: if this medicine isn't taken in time, your body will become weak and powerless. Duration: ten minutes."
Che Quan did his best to stay calm and wait for his strength to slowly return. He gave a humorless twitch of his lips. So that was it.
"But I tore off the label with those instructions while you were downstairs."
Fucking bastard.
"Oh, and that's not all. I replaced all the medicine in the bottle, too. So even if you took it, it wouldn't do anything."
Fucking pervert.
Should I really call him a pervert?
He's just playing himself.
As he listened to Jiang Cong, one vicious insult after another surfaced in Che Quan's mind.
But he didn't voice a single one.
Che Quan merely said coldly, "You're really targeting me."
"Am I?"
Jiang Cong effortlessly deflected his accusation.
Instead of answering, Che Quan asked, "Why? Did we know each other before? Did I make an enemy of you?"
Che Quan had sensed it ever since the previous instance ended.
Jiang Cong's attention toward him went beyond anything he could have imagined or understood.
It was even more pronounced in this instance.
And what confused Che Quan was that Jiang Cong's attitude toward him seemed to swing between two extremes-
On the one hand, he never tired of keeping Che Quan under his thumb. On the other, he seemed endlessly indulgent toward him.
The former made Che Quan want to kill him on the spot; the latter was why Che Quan had yet to act.
He waited for Jiang Cong's explanation.
But in the end, all he got was a breezy, "No."
Che Quan grew impatient.
Then he felt Jiang Cong's fingers lightly touch his cheek in the darkness.
Che Quan's expression darkened almost instantly.
Yet Jiang Cong followed it with, "I just like you."
After saying that, Jiang Cong pressed his lips to the side of Che Quan's face instead.
"So you can only like me, too."
Those two blunt statements left Che Quan completely stunned.
He had thought Jiang Cong wanted to humiliate him, to keep him subdued. He had never imagined Jiang Cong would say he "liked" him.
After a few seconds of stunned silence, Che Quan's feelings gradually shifted into a strange sort of bewilderment.
He had never encountered anything like this.
Of course, countless vampires had confessed their feelings to him throughout his life, along with just as many from other races, both men and women.
But no one had ever told him they liked him while forcing themselves on him like this.
Every single one of his admirers had treated him with the utmost respect, never daring to overstep.
Not one had dared to scheme against him, approach him without regard for their difference in status, or touch him without permission.
Jiang Cong was the only exception.
But then Che Quan thought of the present era.
Before he fell into slumber, the age of vampires had already entered its twilight and faded into decline.
After waking, he had found humans everywhere he looked.
Humans ruled the world now.
As the last vampire, Che Quan bluntly rejected this human's confession. "Impossible."
Jiang Cong gently pinched his chin. "Why?"
Che Quan frowned and tossed out an arbitrary excuse. "You're not one of my kind."
"Then if I were a vampire, would you say yes?"
"...No."
For the first time, the usual elegant amusement was absent from Jiang Cong's voice. Each word sounded heavy as he asked, "Why?"
Che Quan wanted to say there didn't have to be a reason for everything.
But what came out instead was, "You can't possibly be one of my kind, so this hypothetical is meaningless."
"Is that so?"
Che Quan heard Jiang Cong murmur behind him, his arms still wrapped around him.
Then the left side of Che Quan's collar was pulled aside, exposing his pale, delicate shoulder.
Jiang Cong could see it perfectly in the darkness. His gaze had already darkened, and the fangs that marked him as a vampire extended in an instant.
Unwilling to accept that rejection, he bit down.
The tips of his fangs pierced the boy's fragile skin in the blink of an eye.
Che Quan couldn't help frowning, utterly astonished.
Jiang Cong... was a vampire?
How was that possible?
Although the sharp teeth had pierced his skin, he felt no pain at all. Jiang Cong must have used some item again.
It took Che Quan a little while to process this string of surprises.
By then, his strength had returned.
Che Quan easily broke free of Jiang Cong's hold, found the little flashlight, and switched it on. Light filled the tiny hidden room again.
Che Quan said nothing, nor did he settle the score with Jiang Cong.
Still somewhat dazed, he simply walked forward with a blank expression. Before long, he emerged from the secret passage and returned to Room 201.
Just then, the flashlight in Che Quan's hand ran out of power.
It flickered twice, then went out completely.
At the same time, Che Quan heard a scream from the hallway-
Before you continue