Chapter 14: Rose Earl 14

"Ding dong! Blue Side progress +4%, survivors remaining: 3, deaths: 4."

Margaret's cry of "daughter-in-law" forcibly boosted the Blue Side's progress by 4%, bringing their total plot progress to 60%.

Her sister smiled rarely, looking at Xia Qi with a meaningful gaze. "I wasn't sure if the BOSS was her son, but it turns out to be true."

The scene became awkward for a moment.

"My daughter-in-law!" Margaret continued to chatter at Xia Qi. "Oh, you're so beautiful, you're the most beautiful rose in the Rose Garden!"

Xia Qi: "…"

Is this going to end anytime soon?

Xia Qi quickly changed the subject and asked, "If the Count isn't human, then what is he?"

Unexpectedly, as soon as Xia Qi finished speaking, Margaret screamed and quickly retreated, waving her arms and shouting, "I don't know! I know nothing! Ah—!!!"

Her voice was filled with intense fear, her face twisted into a grotesque expression, finally resembling a ghost.

Her sister sighed, took out a yellowed newspaper from her pocket, and pushed it toward Xia Qi. "Brother Xia, take a look at this."

This was the clue she had found in the cemetery that day, which had increased the Blue Side's plot progress by 10%.

Xia Qi took the newspaper and saw a huge headline—

"Shocking! The Countess Runs Away at Night for This Man!"

Xia Qi: "…"

The system's translation even included localized headlines.

Deciding to ignore the headline, Xia Qi continued reading.

Overall, the newspaper mainly recounted the story of how the Countess, after giving birth to a child, ran away with her cousin. In the corner, there was even a picture of Margaret, with the butler's face visible too.

Xia Qi looked at Margaret suspiciously and tried asking again, "Why did you run away?"

Margaret continued screaming in the room, completely lost in a state of madness. After a while, she suddenly calmed down and began dancing around the room, humming softly.

"You won't get an answer; she's gone mad again," her sister said helplessly, having asked these questions before.

"If she wanted to run away, why did she bring the child? Wouldn't it have been easier to leave the child behind?" This was what puzzled Xia Qi.

As soon as he finished speaking, a faint knocking sound came from outside the door.

Xia Qi instantly stood up, gripping his True Love magic wand tightly. Her sister also grabbed a dinner knife from the table and pointed it at the door.

"It's me," the old man's voice sounded from outside.

Hearing it was the old man, her sister relaxed and opened the door.

In just one day, the old man looked like he had crawled out of a coal mine. Under the light, Xia Qi could finally see him clearly, including his set of white dentures.

"I couldn't stay outside anymore," the old man said bluntly as he poured himself a glass of water. "The BOSS and the NPCs are killing everywhere, and I couldn't find a place to hide, so I had to come here."

"Where did you go yesterday?" Seeing the old man's disheveled appearance, it seemed like he had dug up the Count's ancestors' graves.

The old man's face changed, and he suddenly lowered his voice, saying eerily, "I went down to the castle's underground tomb. Let me tell you, it's terrifying down there. His whole family was actually..."

At that moment, the system's broadcast rang out.

"Ding dong! Red Side progress +30%, survivors remaining: 3, deaths: 4."

The Red Side's progress had surged by 30%...

Even more absurdly, they had suddenly lost two people.

"What's happening with the Red Side?" Even her sister, who usually remained calm, seemed unsettled upon hearing about the two deaths.

Originally, the Blue Side had a 60% plot progress advantage, but now the Red Side's progress had surged to 40%, making it a 60-40 split. The only consolation was that the Red Side had also lost two people, leaving both sides with three survivors each.

"These two deaths seem suspicious. Could they have deliberately sacrificed themselves for the 30% plot progress?"

Given the Red Side's ruthless style, Xia Qi couldn't help but suspect that these two had sacrificed themselves for the plot progress.

Her sister and the old man exchanged glances; the Red Side would indeed do something like this.

Xia Qi clenched his fists nervously and asked the old man, "With the combined progress of the Blue and Red Sides reaching 100%, does that mean all the clues have been discovered?"

"Not necessarily clues," the old man scratched his chin. "Just clues alone wouldn't cause such a sharp increase of 30%; they must have obtained an important item for passing through."

"This game... is designed to make us kill each other," her sister said with a grim expression.

The setup of the Blue and Red Sides and their respective plot progresses was meant to make them compete for each other's clues.

Now, the Blue Side had higher progress and more information than the Red Side, but lacked the pass-through item. The Red Side, on the other hand, had the item but still needed more clues.

Therefore, their real opponents were the enemy camp.

However, it was possible that someone could deduce the method of passing through with limited clues.

The old man gave a dry laugh. "I forgot to remind you—the game has entered Long Night mode. According to the timeline, in two days, this instance will enter Eternal Night mode."

Xia Qi felt a sense of urgency and frowned. "Eternal Night mode? Doesn't that mean the BOSS and NPCs will go berserk? Do we still have a chance to pass through?"

Considering the BOSS's combat power in the Rose Garden tonight, if the game enters Eternal Night mode, the small wooden house wouldn't be able to protect them.

The old man looked at him with admiration and said, "Under normal circumstances, the survival rate for clearing the level during the day is higher. I've never heard of anyone clearing it at night."

So, if they enter the Eternal Night mode, both the Red Side and the Blue Side could face total annihilation.

After learning about the terrifying consequences of the Eternal Night mode, the small wooden cabin fell into silence. Even Margaret sensed something was wrong and slowly stopped singing.

It was the sister who spoke first, calmly saying, "Although I no longer care about life or death, I hope you all can get out."

After saying this, she suddenly stood up, a flash of resentment crossing her face: "I'm going to snatch the clearance item from them! We can't let those beasts live!"

"If you want to die, don't waste your life," the old man said casually, his arms crossed. "Not to mention that smelly kid surnamed Zha, that effeminate guy surnamed Lin has ten life-saving items, including an S-grade one."

With their current equipment and items, facing the Red Side in a 3v3 battle would be impossible. Moreover, among the three, only Xia Qi was an adult male, while the other two were liabilities.

Hearing this, Xia Qi was surprised: "How do you know?"

How could he see what's in someone else's system backpack?

Realizing his slip of the tongue, the old man quickly laughed it off: "Just a guess, just a guess."

Seeing that the old man didn't want to reveal his abilities, Xia Qi didn't press further. Instead, he said, "In the eyes of the Red Side, we are just meat on the chopping block."

The sister pursed her lips, sitting down with a look of indignation, angrily saying, "I don't want to sit here and wait to die."

Time suddenly felt urgent. Even in the cold night, Xia Qi felt a bit anxious. He tried to keep his mind calm and said, "We don't need to go looking for them; they lack clues and will come looking for us, or kill us all. When they appear, the clearance item will naturally be ours."

"How could they possibly give us the clearance item!" the sister exclaimed.

"Old man," Xia Qi turned to the old man, "Could you share some weapons with us?"

"Huh, you brat, always trying to exploit me... Fine, fine, no more jokes. The weapons are already prepared." The old man took off the bag around his waist and dumped its contents onto the wooden table. There was a clatter as numerous silver knives, needles, bowls, and crosses fell onto the table.

Looking at the table now piled high with items, Xia Qi thought, did the old man empty out the Count's kitchen?

"These silver tools and crosses... Are they used against vampires?" Xia Qi asked in surprise.

The old man picked up a dinner knife and skillfully twirled it in his hand: "These can be used against both the Red Side and vampires."

After each of them chose their preferred weapons, they prepared to rest.

There was still a tough battle ahead tomorrow, and they needed to conserve their energy.

Xia Qi lay on the table, listening to Margaret's singing, and gradually fell asleep.

At dawn, Xia Qi woke up automatically.

"Margaret, we're leaving. We might not return tonight," the sister yawned, with large dark circles under her eyes, indicating she hadn't slept all night.

Upon hearing they were leaving, the previously deranged Margaret suddenly came back to her senses: "Oh, my daughter-in-law, you're leaving!"

"Daughter-in-law?" Hearing this title, the old man was taken aback and then said earnestly to the sister, "Young lady, you're not even of age... Isn't it too early to get married?"

The sister, being young, blushed immediately and hurriedly explained: "Not me..."

At this moment, Margaret grabbed Xia Qi's hand excitedly: "My daughter-in-law, I have a gift for you. Come with me!"

Seeing Margaret call Xia Qi her daughter-in-law, the old man was stunned.

Xia Qi wished he could sew Margaret's mouth shut with a silver needle, but he couldn't argue with a dead ghost, so he restrained himself.

Margaret led the three out of the wooden cabin to a corner of the cemetery.

She pointed to a grass-covered grave and boldly said to Xia Qi: "My daughter-in-law, dig up my grave."

Xia Qi was stunned.

This was the Count's mother's grave. How could he dig up her grave?

"Brother Xia, step aside. I'll take the blame for this." The sister pushed Xia Qi aside and rolled up her sleeves to start digging.

Xia Qi, being an adult male, couldn't stand watching a little girl do the physical labor for him.

As he was about to jump in to help, the sister stopped him: "Don't come down! It will affect your relationship with the Count and cause family conflicts!"

The old man finally understood everything and sighed, adding another jab: "You young people these days..."

Xia Qi: "..."

By dawn, the sister had dug up Margaret's coffin.

Xia Qi jumped into the pit and helped the sister lift the coffin lid.

Unexpectedly, as soon as they cracked open the lid, a foul odor wafted out. Margaret weakly covered her nose: "My daughter-in-law, quickly grab the box next to me and close the lid!"

After closing the lid, Xia Qi climbed out with the box. Margaret personally opened it and pulled out a Colt revolver.

The gun was made of copper and had five 10.16 mm paper cartridge conical bullets.

"This gun blew my head off. You know, when the bullet exploded in my brain, I heard the most beautiful music in the world." Margaret fondly caressed the cold grip, satisfied, "I always wanted to give this gun to my future daughter-in-law because she needs it just like I did."

Xia Qi & Sister & Old Man: "..."

Giving a revolver to her future daughter-in-law so she could commit suicide—Margaret was truly a terrible mother-in-law.

Margaret reluctantly handed over the gun. Just as Xia Qi was about to take it, Margaret suddenly turned and shoved it into the sister's hands.

The sister was stunned and asked, "Why me?"

She wasn't the Count's daughter-in-law and didn't want to commit suicide. Why give her the gun?!

Margaret grabbed Xia Qi's hand again, rubbing it twice with his "little hand," and said in the tone of an experienced mother-in-law, "Oh, my daughter-in-law, your hands are so smooth! You are so delicate! You must promise me that you cannot use such a dangerous weapon!"

Watching the harmonious scene between mother and daughter-in-law, the old man had completely gone numb. For some reason, he suddenly felt an urge to smoke.

"But my daughter-in-law, don't worry, I have prepared a more suitable gift for you!" Margaret smiled mysteriously, then pulled out a very dreamy crystal perfume bottle. She held it up as if passing the Olympic torch and solemnly handed it to Xia Qi, "My daughter-in-law, perfume is an essential component of a woman’s charm; it is the finishing touch on a sexy dress. Remember, a woman can live without her life, but she cannot live without perfume."

The sister holding the gun: "…"

The old man lighting a cigarette: "…"

Xia Qi silently repeated "I can't hear, I can't hear, I can't hear" three times, expressionlessly taking the perfume bottle.

He subconsciously used the system backpack function to check the effects of the perfume item.

"Item Name: Passionate Rose Perfume (Bound)."

"Usage Effect: Spraying this perfume on yourself will charm the enemy."

"Level: Cannot be upgraded."

"Additional Information: This rose-sandalwood amber perfume will make you irresistibly attractive to them!"

Xia Qi frowned as he finished reading the description, then suddenly noticed a few lines of pink text below.

"Special Note: Using this perfume during intimate moments will enhance libido and virility. Scientifically proven, it significantly increases endurance by up to 250%!

Use it, and both of you will feel better!

—From your mother-in-law's deep love."

Author's note: Xia Qi: I have something to say... but I'm not sure if I should.

Author: Don’t say it. This chapter is already long enough; I’m afraid people might get full.

Note:

"Perfume is an essential component of a woman’s charm; it is the finishing touch on a sexy dress." - Christian Dior