Huang Wei saw Cheng Luyun go out and naturally followed her.
The two of them went into the living room one after the other. Cheng Luyun turned on the TV and started watching just like any other day. The TV program was incredibly boring. Huang Wei felt like she’d seen this episode of the drama several times already. She wanted to chat with Cheng Luyun, but before she could say anything, Cheng Luyun spoke first.
“Brother Wei,” Cheng Luyun called out to Huang Wei. Huang Wei replied, but inwardly she thought: It would be so much better if she called me “Weiwei.” But Cheng Luyun was not only thin-skinned, she was also a bit tsundere. Asking her to call her that in broad daylight was probably something she wasn’t willing to do. Moreover, Cheng Luyun spoke very seriously. Huang Wei sat up straight and waited for her to continue.
“It’s best if you stay home these next two days. That rat has run off somewhere, so annoying.” Cheng Luyun’s voice was filled with obvious disgust. It was clear that for now, even she was at a loss against Luo Chen, who was so good at hiding.
Huang Wei nodded, agreeing.
This batch of players was indeed quite capable. Luo Chen, needless to say, had first-rate stealth and combat abilities. That was not something ordinary players could achieve; he must have spent a huge amount of points on those two abilities.
If Fox Eyes and his three companions could team up with him and just make up the numbers to enter the instance, they were definitely no ordinary players either.
Luo Chen was reckless, but not brainless. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have exchanged for stealth ability in addition to combat ability. For a lone wolf, stealth ability was extremely important.
Seeing Huang Wei so obedient, Cheng Luyun’s mood improved a lot. “Don’t worry. As long as you stay here, no one can touch you.”
Cheng Luyun was very confident in her home, and Huang Wei also believed she could do it. After all, the house had many unusual aspects. For example, when the third batch of players ate at Sister Cui’s house next door earlier, not a single sound traveled into this house.
So for the next two days, Huang Wei was especially well-behaved. But Cheng Luyun gradually became more irritable. She still hadn’t dealt with Luo Chen, which made her very angry. Huang Wei patiently coaxed her, which helped her mood improve.
But when Huang Wei was cooking or bathing and not by Cheng Luyun’s side, her irritability became very obvious. Huang Chengcheng had seen her own mother biting her nails and muttering, “Where did that damned rat run off to? That damned rat! Rat!”
This whole world was Cheng Luyun’s territory, but there was a rat scurrying around her house and hiding somewhere unknown. Any owner would be furious, wanting to smash the rat to death with a slipper. But rats in the sewers had no other skills; hiding was their specialty.
Because of the Luo Chen matter, Cheng Luyun became extremely irritable. She even talked to herself: “Maybe I should take it back… For killing a rat, it can’t be helped… I can just endure it a bit…” Even Huang Wei had heard this. On the evening of June 15th, when she was carrying the finished dishes to the table in the main hall, she heard faint muttering from the living room.
At first, she thought it was the TV, but when she went to the living room to call Cheng Luyun for dinner, she realized it was Cheng Luyun talking. Seeing Huang Wei enter, Cheng Luyun instantly reverted to her gentle demeanor. “Brother Wei, is dinner ready?”
Huang Wei was taken aback for a moment, then nodded.
She noticed something off—was Cheng Luyun a bit… weak?
Of course, Cheng Luyun was overwhelmingly powerful for both her and most players. A powerhouse like Luo Chen had to leave an arm behind after just one exchange with Cheng Luyun. Huang Wei herself couldn’t even hope to touch her. But Luo Chen had been hiding from the 13th until the night of the 15th. Huang Wei had thought Cheng Luyun would deal with him quickly, but that wasn’t the case.
Cheng Luyun must have put in a lot of effort these two days, yet she still hadn’t taken Luo Chen down. This was different from what Huang Wei had imagined.
As the super big boss of the final instance, Cheng Luyun shouldn’t be at just this level.
Based on the descriptions of previous instances in this novel, by the time they reached the final instance, Cheng Luyun should be the kind of character who couldn’t be fought directly and had to be dealt with via plot-driven death. In some earlier instances, it was exactly like that—the boss was so powerful they couldn’t be confronted at all. Players had to rely on reasoning, finding items and clues, and using certain strategies, even with help from instance NPCs, to clear it.
From the look of it, Cheng Luyun’s strength hadn’t reached that height yet.
But from her muttering, Huang Wei felt she was gradually uncovering the truth, especially when she mentioned taking something back and enduring a bit. Combined with Huang Wei’s earlier suspicion that Cheng Luyun had some connection to the Mountain God, at this moment, Huang Wei could only think: Cheng Luyun and the Mountain God might be one entity, and she still has some key things on the Mountain God’s side.
This also fit the pattern of the novel Huang Wei had been reading: the first-phase boss isn’t the strongest. As the plot progresses, the boss obtains a key item and soars in power. Finally, the male and female leads clear the boss through various methods and even resolve the boss’s inner conflict.
Right now, Cheng Luyun probably wasn’t in her complete form; she was still a first-phase big boss, which was why Luo Chen could exploit loopholes.
Knowing this, Huang Wei was obedient and stayed put. After all, she didn’t know if her life was a one-time deal. What if she accidentally died? The best approach was to listen to Cheng Luyun, stay home, and let her protect her.
Even if Luo Chen kept hiding and never came out, he could only earn the points for surviving seven days peacefully. In that moment, Huang Wei understood why he had chosen not to pay points at the very beginning: because for him, surviving seven days peacefully was relatively simple. He naturally wanted greater rewards, such as finding a way to clear the big boss.
However, he had targeted the wrong person. The big boss wasn’t Huang Wei; it was Cheng Luyun.
Huang Wei thought the next few days would pass without incident, but on June 16th, a problem arose. After driving the ducks that morning, Huang Chengcheng never came back. Normally, she should have gone out to drive the ducks with Big Ya and Little Ya, then returned home before breakfast. But breakfast time had already arrived, and she still hadn’t come back.
Huang Chengcheng wasn’t the kind of child who’d forget mealtime because she was too busy playing. Although a bit willful and with a tendency toward dark thoughts, overall she was very obedient and would definitely come back before mealtime. Besides, she was especially enthusiastic about eating. She’d sit at the table right on time without fail, so there was no way she’d miss a meal.
Huang Wei had already prepared breakfast. As she waited for Huang Chengcheng, her anxiety grew by the minute. Cheng Luyun was even worse; her gentle expression gradually faded, and she became increasingly irritable. Huang Wei went over to hold her, trying to calm her down, and saw Cheng Luyun’s face crumbling. “Chengcheng… I can’t sense Chengcheng… What happened? What do I do… Brother Wei, Chengcheng is missing!”
Huang Wei’s expression changed when she heard this, but she quickly calmed down. It wasn’t that she didn’t care about Huang Chengcheng; she knew that panicking wouldn’t solve anything at times like this.
“Ah Yun, calm down. It’s okay, it’s okay. Chengcheng couldn’t have gone far; she must still be in Huang Family Village!”
After Huang Wei’s repeated reassurances, Cheng Luyun slowly calmed down. Her earlier breakdown seemed inexplicable but was actually traceable. Cheng Luyun’s mental state had never been quite normal, and these past few days she’d been constantly irritable. Huang Chengcheng’s sudden disappearance ignited her entirely; she simply couldn’t control her emotions.
After calming down, Cheng Luyun gently pushed Huang Wei away. “I’m going to find Chengcheng…”
With those words, she got up and left. Cheng Luyun moved very fast. Huang Wei tried to follow but was stopped. “Brother Wei, stay here. Don’t go anywhere… As long as you stay here, you’ll be fine.”
Huang Wei froze. “Ah…” She looked at Cheng Luyun and saw the faint pleading in her eyes. She understood—Cheng Luyun was truly afraid, afraid she might lose her too. Huang Wei nodded. “Mm, I’ll wait for you to come back.”
Cheng Luyun left, leaving Huang Wei alone. She sat in the main hall, watching the sky change outside. After Cheng Luyun left, the bright, almost stuffy sky instantly darkened, turning into a scene of impending storm. The entire sky pressed low, so gloomy its original color was lost.
Huang Wei held her forehead and sighed. Without even thinking, she knew this was Luo Chen’s doing.
That’s what players were like. If they couldn’t find a way to clear the big boss, they’d approach it from the sides. With Huang Chengcheng, the little boss, right here, she obviously had a close relationship with the big boss. On the path to clearing the final boss, she’d definitely be a huge help and an important link in the plot.
Huang Wei knew this too, but she had let her guard down. Compared to Huang Chengcheng and Cheng Luyun, she herself was the weak one, so she’d naturally overlooked the danger they faced. She… had been too negligent. Huang Wei reflected: the moment she realized there were uncontrollable players, she should have kept Huang Chengcheng with her, staying put and going nowhere.
Huang Wei shook her head. Now wasn’t the time to dwell on her foolishness. The urgent matter was to find a way to locate Huang Chengcheng.
Yes, to locate her. Huang Wei didn’t think Huang Chengcheng had been cleared or killed. Luo Chen alone couldn’t handle Huang Chengcheng. She was, after all, a boss-level character second only to Cheng Luyun in the final instance. If a single player could clear her that easily, it would be a joke.
A reasonable guess was: Luo Chen had blocked Huang Chengcheng’s connection to the instance and hidden her away.
This was something players might be able to do, but for Luo Chen, it should be impossible. Things that could block connections were either abilities or items capable of temporarily trapping Huang Chengcheng and isolating her from Cheng Luyun. And without a doubt, such an item required an enormous amount of points.
But Luo Chen had spent all his points on his own enhancements and stealth ability. Where would he have the points to buy something like that?
Then the conclusion was very clear…
A cold glint flashed in Huang Wei’s eyes: Luo Chen has an accomplice.
