Chapter 83: Butterfly Paradise (5)

Chapter 83: Butterfly Paradise (5)

◎"Which Side Do You Want to Hit?"◎

The dining hall was one of the gathering points for everyone and also a place to check if other players were still around.

As soon as Shi Youqing's group appeared, they instantly became the focus of all eyes.

During the meal, they came to understand what was happening—Fang Jiang, a fellow player, approached them quietly asking, “Did you get any clues from your second ride on the roller coaster?”

Shi Youqing glanced at him but didn’t speak.

Fang Jiang, slightly embarrassed, smiled: “If you really have some information, maybe we can exchange.”

“Really?” Shi Youqing showed interest. “What information do you have?”

Fang Jiang looked around and whispered, “I’ve found where the NPCs’ staff quarters are.”

At this, Feng Bin and Hao Tianshuo, who had been eating silently, instantly looked up.

The seven NPCs always stayed on the first floor of the guest house (if that building could be called that), leading most people to assume it was their resting area.

Shi Youqing took the camera from Bo Huai and said, “It’s not exactly a clue, but we have photos of those four teenagers.”

Fang Jiang’s face lit up with excitement, “Can I see?”

Shi Youqing waved the camera behind him without showing it, “Where are the staff quarters located?”

Fang Jiang’s eyes shifted slowly, “...The staff quarters are in the basement of our building, but the exit is disguised as a floor.”

Shi Youqing blinked, “How did you find that out?”

Fang Jiang scratched his head, “I just thought the lounge on the first floor wasn’t big enough for all of them to sleep, but they were always in the building at night. So, I sneaked in once and got lucky… that’s how I found it.”

Just as Shi Youqing was about to show him the photos, his arm was grabbed.

Bo Huai spoke coldly, “He’s lying.”

Fang Jiang stopped, annoyed, “What are you talking about? Don’t believe me? Go and see for yourself!”

Shi Youqing gestured for Bo Huai to let go and showed Fang Jiang the photos in the camera.

Fang Jiang memorized the faces with some excitement and left.

Shi Youqing handed the camera back to Bo Huai, “His words are half-true, half-false, but that half-truth is enough for us.”

Bo Huai hummed in agreement, ladling some spare rib soup for him.

Hao Tianshuo, looking confused: “What do you mean?”

Feng Bin, having understood, explained: “That guy must have seen the NPCs disappear after entering the first-floor lounge. With no other hidden spaces on that floor, he assumed the staff quarters were in the basement, with the entrance likely under the floor. He got this information but was too scared to verify it. Now, by doing this, he’s exchanged the information and let others verify his theory.”

Hao Tianshuo frowned, “But what if the NPCs aren’t human? Their disappearance doesn’t necessarily prove the existence of a basement, right?”

Feng Bin: “It’s possible, but unlikely—especially since everyone saw those four boys on the roller coaster today. In any case, those four entities that appeared out of nowhere and could twist their heads like that can only be ghosts. And since they only appeared where NPCs couldn’t see, they’re probably not on the same side.”

Shi Youqing nodded: “Do you remember what the NPCs said during last night’s blackout?”

Hao Tianshuo: “I do! They said the circuit was damaged by hooligans who broke in! And something about bad kids…”

Shi Youqing: “But it’s impossible for outsiders to enter here.”

“So, the blackout was caused by those four ghosts?” Hao Tianshuo whispered, “Are they working together?”

“No, they’re likely opposing factions,” Shi Youqing continued, inadvertently biting into a Sichuan peppercorn, inhaling sharply and speaking vaguely, “We haven’t figured out the NPCs’ main purpose yet, but Zong Tsumoto has already given us a clue—avoid eating. The NPCs tempting players to eat the fried silkworm pupae are actually leading players to break the rules. Just because players haven’t broken the rules yet doesn’t mean they won’t ever, especially if they stay in this park long enough to stumble upon a taboo.”

Feng Bin, his expression changing slightly: “Are you saying... those four ghosts damaged the circuit to force us to leave?”

Shi Youqing, his mouth numb from the peppercorn, spat out the bits and tried to speak when Bo Huai, who had just stepped out to wash his hands and returned quickly, bent down and surprisingly tried to fish the peppercorn out of his mouth…

“Ouch, what the…” Hao Tianshuo’s chopsticks fell.

Feng Bin was dumbfounded.

Shi Youqing’s lips were pressed down by two fingers, but he quickly dodged the intruding fingers.

Moving swiftly, he accidentally scraped Bo Huai’s finger with his teeth.

Bo Huai froze, his breathing became short and erratic, his gaze lingering on his own finger before fixing on Shi Youqing’s lips and nose.

Shi Youqing, spitting again into a napkin, looked at Bo Huai, still puzzled: “Spitting is much faster than trying to fish it out, who does that?”

Hao Tianshuo: “Exactly!”

Feng Bin: “…”

Bo Huai, his body rigid, the residual warmth on his fingertip, felt his heart beating almost spasmodically, remained silent throughout.

After a moment, he saw Shi Youqing quietly sticking out his tongue, tensely holding out the water cup to him, “Rinse your mouth a few times, it’ll be fine.”

After rinsing his mouth three times, Shi Youqing felt much better. He ate a piece of fruit to cover the taste in his mouth, and at that moment, he suddenly remembered something from his childhood.

Back then, he ate lunch at kindergarten. Having a weak constitution and allergies to certain foods, he had many dietary restrictions, which the teachers were aware of and careful about.

However, once a boy in his class wanted to eat his lunch, so he shared it. The boy liked it so much that he offered his own lunch from home in exchange.

The boy loved spicy food and had secretly added a spoonful of extremely hot sauce to his meal.

Shi Youqing ended up eating and crying at the same time. It tasted so good that he didn’t want to spit it out, but the pain was overwhelming. Eventually, the boy noticed something was wrong and yelled for the teacher.

The teacher and Bo Huai, who heard the commotion, both rushed over. Shi Youqing’s face was red with tears streaming down, but he continued to swallow. The teacher was so scared and urged him to spit it out, but his mouth was numb and he could only spit it out slowly. In the meantime, Bo Huai wiped his mouth with a wet napkin and gently asked if he was still feeling bad.

Shi Youqing remembered that it was Bo Huai who had told him to say “ah” and then cleaned his mouth like a dentist, saying in panic, “I washed my hands three times, it’s not dirty... Don’t cry, Qingqing.”

……

When he started eating again, Shi Youqing whispered, “I’m not a child anymore.”

Bo Huai glanced at him, “I know.”

Hao Tianshuo grumbled internally and rolled his eyes. Feng Bin, after his initial shock, quickly calmed down and remembered their earlier topic, “Do you think those four ghosts... are helping us?”

“I can’t be sure of that yet,” Shi Youqing said. “It’s clear they are opposing the NPCs. The NPCs’ current behavior is to retain us with the best service, while they are doing the opposite.”

Not to mention the blackout, no normal person would stay after encountering ghosts on a roller coaster.

“The cause of death of those four boys... that should be the key. After lunch, we’ll split up and take action.”

“Okay!”

After lunch, Feng Bin and Hao Tianshuo headed to the distant butterfly exhibition hall. Most NPCs were accompanying players there in the afternoon, and they planned to try and extract information.

Shi Youqing planned to start with Jiang Zhanpeng and his father.

After finishing the meal and watching the man in the yellow mask leave, he and Bo Huai quietly followed.

The NPC in the yellow mask—Jiang's father—left the dining hall and headed straight towards the chrysalis pavilion.

Shi Youqing was pleasantly surprised, but as they arrived at the chrysalis pavilion, Jiang's father didn’t enter. He just quietly observed the doors and windows for a while, then looked around and returned to the guesthouse.

Inside, a female NPC with blue eye masks swapped shifts with him. After she left, he cautiously looked around before finally entering the lounge on the first floor.

Bo Huai led Shi Youqing around the other side of the wall to a window outside the lounge, conveniently obscured by a tree.

The two peered inside silently.

Jiang's father indeed vanished.

In less than ten minutes, they witnessed an astonishing scene—the middle of a white bed used for resting suddenly bulged upwards, the white blanket stretching like silk around a cocoon. It elongated rapidly, then split in the middle, first revealing a face, then shoulders, and finally, the whole person emerged—it was Jiang's father with the yellow eye mask.

If not for watching him struggle to remove the white silk threads from his body, Shi Youqing would have thought it was some kind of monster.

As Jiang's father looked in their direction, Bo Huai quickly carried Shi Youqing away. By the time Jiang's father reached their window, Bo Huai had already carried him to the opposite corner of the wall, where they unexpectedly ran into a boy, Lu Wei. Shi Youqing hurriedly gestured for silence.

Lu Wei, confused, looked at the youth on Bo Huai's back, blushing and puzzled: “What... what are you doing?”

Having an idea and seeing a player nearby, Shi Youqing waved him over: “Come here, let’s make a deal.”

……

Five minutes later.

Lu Wei stormed into the guesthouse, his footsteps heavy. Jiang's father immediately came out: “Can I help you with something?”

“I saw people sneaking into the exhibition area to catch butterflies! And they were hurting them! Aren’t you going to do anything?”

“What?” The man’s face changed dramatically, “Who did it?!”

“Don’t know them, looked like a group of students... So disrespectful!”

The man’s expression darkened: “Lead me there, quickly!”

Behind the chrysalis pavilion, watching the NPC drive off with Lu Wei in the sightseeing car, Bo Huai immediately took action, carrying Shi Youqing into the guesthouse's front desk lounge.

The center of the bed was made of white silk threads. Bo Huai parted them and looked inside: “There are stairs, it’s a basement.”

They went down.

However, contrary to their expectations of chrysalises and corpses, the basement was just an ordinary accommodation space.

The basement had a total of four rooms, perhaps frequently used, as the doors were not locked. Each room was decorated differently but showed many signs of everyday use, clearly indicating that these NPCs often resided here.

They first entered the room adjacent to the stairs, where a group photo on the table caught Shi Youqing’s attention, prompting him to note their good fortune.

This was Jiang's father’s room, as indicated by the photo on the desk featuring him and Jiang Zhanpeng.

The photo, depicting the expressionless father and son, exuded an eerie aura.

They began to search the room, which was small and quickly rummaged through, revealing only personal items of a middle-aged man. Lastly, they focused on a locked drawer under the desk.

Bo Huai attempted to pick the lock, but it proved to be unusually secure and resisted all efforts to break it.

As Shi Youqing contemplated checking the other rooms, Bo Huai suddenly produced a metal hook.

Before understanding his intent, Bo Huai hooked the underside of the drawer and, with brute force, yanked it open.

The drawer broke with a dull, heavy sound.

Shi Youqing walked over, stunned.

Bo Huai reached in and pulled out the only item inside—an aged notebook, which he handed to Shi Youqing.

It was a diary bearing Jiang Zhanpeng's name.

Upon opening, many pages were found torn out at the front.

The first visible page was filled with dense curses:

[Everyone die!]

[All of you die!!!]

The subsequent pages were blank, but the final page bore the name “Jiang Jiaming” in bold, red strokes, crossed out in a startling manner.

Jiang Zhanpeng’s father, the NPC with the yellow eye mask, was evidently Jiang Jiaming.

As Shi Youqing was about to speak, footsteps suddenly echoed from outside.

Bo Huai's expression shifted subtly as he was about to hide Shi Youqing, but he instantly tensed up when he heard a laugh, his alertness morphing into a deadly intent: "…Zong Tzuyuan."

The initial footsteps came from a room further inside, leading Shi Youqing to deduce that the person had entered before them, a realization that surprised him: “How long has he been hiding there? Quite the hider!”

“……”

The laughter ceased abruptly as Zong Tzuyuan burst into the room, indignant: “Hiding? What a joke!”

The sense of danger dissipated, prompting Shi Youqing to close the diary and plan a search of the remaining three rooms with Bo Huai.

“Don’t waste your time,” the man said, producing a cellphone, “The only thing of value from those three rooms is this.”

Shi Youqing, lifting his eyelids, saw the screen saver on the phone—a photo of four boys laughing at the camera.

“There are videos of the four boys before they passed away in here,” Zong Tzuyuan said, pocketing the phone as Shi Youqing reached for it, his lips curving slightly, “But if you want to see it… What are you doing?” He was taken aback as Shi Youqing suddenly began to don gloves.

With the white gloves on, Shi Youqing inquired, “Where would you like to be hit?”

“……”

A prolonged, eerie silence followed, leaving Zong Tzuyuan with a complexion shifting between pale and flushed, before he began to laugh, his voice distorted: “Are you joking with me?”

Shi Youqing raised his hand, expression stern, and swiftly tapped his face: “There won’t be a next time.”

“……”

Afterwards, Bo Huai, exuding a low pressure, rigidly removed the white gloves: “I'll go wash these with disinfectant.”

Shi Youqing replied, “Alright.”

Zong Tzuyuan’s neck was tense, and though he seemed to want to laugh, his expression was more terrifying than a ghost’s.

Shi Youqing, naturally, extended his hand: “Hurry up, let me see it.”

The atmosphere felt as if it had frozen in time.

Seconds ticked by, and finally, the phone landed in his palm.

[? A word from the author]

Thanks to the angels who irrigated with nutrient solution: Meow a Mee, 70 bottles; Luo Shui Floating Lantern, Dear Bao Ke Ai Nian, 20 bottles; Lin Bei Bei, zbht (Love to Raise Little Beauties version), Bai Cai, Feng Yu Lou, Kebabs are the Best, 10 bottles; Chocolate Flavored Egg Waffles, 5 bottles; Weak, Helpless, Pitiable but Can Cause Trouble, 4 bottles; Fruit Bubble Wine, 3 bottles; Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu, 2 bottles; etc., 1 bottle.

"Thank you all so much for your support. I will continue to work hard!"