The Charming Little Beauty Is Being Targeted Again [Infinite]

The Widow in the Mansion 3

Yu Deng furrowed his brow, his hair falling over his forehead, revealing only his pale and handsome profile.

“Do you need me to remove him, Sir?” The butler asked again, with his hands hanging by his sides.

Yu Deng dared not look at the butler; his fingertips were white, and his palms were drenched in cold sweat.

He’s just a minor widower, why is he asking him?

Yu Deng slightly lifted his head, his gaze passing over the butler to see his stepson leaning against the table with his arms crossed, waiting for his response.

The other players were also watching him.

The man at the door was in critical condition, with only a slim chance of survival, but if he was removed, he would definitely be dead. This much Yu Deng could understand.

Although Yu Deng didn’t like the man, they were all unfortunate souls trapped in this infinite world. There seemed to be no need to completely eliminate a fellow.

Perhaps this so-called special identity of his might actually have some special use.

“That person…” Yu Deng gathered his courage, speaking a bit hesitantly and softly to the butler, “Forget it, no need to remove him. He is a guest we invited, and he might just be momentarily emotional.”

The butler stared silently at Yu Deng for a few seconds, his eyes flickering, and surprisingly, he didn’t question him further. His eyes returned to their usual shrewd butler expression.

“Alright, I will have someone clean up the living room.”

Yu Deng: “…”

He didn’t expect that the words of a minor widower would be effective.

The players let out a collective sigh of relief, their gazes towards Yu Deng becoming noticeably warmer.

Great, they had encountered a friendly NPC in this difficult dungeon.

The barrage of comments, which had been anticipating a bloodbath, was stunned.

[Wow, the butler actually listened and stopped.]

[That’s normal; this dungeon usually doesn’t have many deaths before.]

[But the mansion is in hard mode now. Maybe it’s because these two players have drawn the Cheng family identities, so the butler has to obey.]

[This is too unbelievable and a bit unreasonable. But from my years of watching streams, there’s definitely a catch behind such privileged identities. I’ll keep watching.]

In the living room, several servants filed in, cleaning up the bloodstains and dirt on the floor and roughly tending to the man's wounds.

Although the butler had returned to his usual demeanor, his expression remained serious. He told the players, “Please stay until we have investigated the cause of the master’s death. Rest assured, you can move freely within the mansion, and the Cheng family will prepare guest rooms and meals for you.”

The tall, thin man among the old players caught the butler's implication and responded politely, “You’re joking. We came for the wedding, how could we possibly harm Master Cheng?”

“Let’s hope so,” the butler said with an ambiguous smile. “In any case, please stay for the funeral and leave afterward.”

The system's task was to survive for seven days, which was roughly the duration of a typical funeral in some regions. With the example of the previous man in mind, no player dared to object.

Cheng Xiao glanced at the group indifferently. “What’s there to be afraid of? Attending a funeral is just attending a funeral.”

The crowd was taken aback by this blunt remark.

The marble floor had been cleaned spotless, and Yu Deng’s numb brain finally began to calm down enough to think.

Now, as the “Madam,” he was supposed to visit the deceased Master Cheng, wasn’t he?

His stepson’s thoughts aligned with his own. He said to the butler, “Uncle Dong has finished speaking with them. Please take me to see Grandpa. I just returned and am unfamiliar with the house.”

This seemed to touch on a key plot point, and the butler nodded. “Of course, young master, please follow me.” He then made a gesture for Yu Deng to follow.

Cheng Xiao walked over to Yu Deng’s side. “Little Mom.”

However, Yu Deng was still annoyed by Cheng Xiao’s earlier attempt to pass the problem to him and decided to be impolite, turning his head and ignoring the stepson.

Cheng Xiao looked at Yu Deng for a few seconds and clicked his tongue lightly.

His pretty stepmother certainly had a strong temperament.

“Wait a moment,” the old player said urgently as they were about to turn around. “Can we go and have a look too?”

The butler, now experienced, first sought Yu Deng and Cheng Xiao’s opinions with his eyes before replying, “Then let’s go together. I’ve heard that you’ve studied case investigations abroad. If you can find out who did this, that would be best.”

The players couldn’t leave the front door but were allowed to proceed deeper into the mansion.

The butler led the way a bit ahead of Yu Deng and Cheng Xiao, with the other players following behind. The group made their way deeper into the mansion under the butler’s guidance.

It was only at this point that Yu Deng realized just how large the Cheng Mansion was.

It could even be described as a complex. From the outside, the two-story mansion they had been in was quite large, with about twenty rooms.

Behind the house, over a hundred meters away, there were three almost identical buildings. Various pavilions and gardens were scattered along the paths, and in the most secluded corner, there was a traditional Chinese ancestral hall.

Because the wedding was originally scheduled for a few days later, the place had been decorated festively. Now, with the current situation, the red lanterns looked somewhat eerie.

Master Cheng had died in the central building.

In the hall on the first floor, many people had already gathered, and it seemed that they had just arrived.

The players, whose identities made them unsuitable for entering the hall, stood near the door, carefully listening to the Cheng family’s movements.

Yu Deng nervously followed inside.

It was his first time seeing the Cheng family members.

Among the crowd, there was a silver-haired elderly lady with a dignified demeanor. Beside her stood a middle-aged woman in a Western-style coat. Next to them were a young couple, and further on were several women of varying ages.

Everyone had red eyes and looked both angry and sorrowful.

Yu Deng quickly pulled up the information he had read in his mind and tried hard to recognize the people.

The elderly lady should be the matriarch of the Cheng family, and the middle-aged woman is likely the deceased husband’s sister. The young couple, Cheng Wenhao and Lin Zhiyue, are the original wedding protagonists, who are Yu Deng’s nominal nephew and niece-in-law.

But had they already been living together before the wedding?

Yu Deng’s focus shifted. After pondering for a while, he redirected his attention to the remaining people. They were probably the concubines of Master Cheng.

Having identified everyone, Yu Deng wanted to see what Master Cheng looked like now but felt a bit hesitant. He had no choice but to maintain his beautiful face and stand there awkwardly, looking aloof and dignified.

This demeanor seemed to annoy the concubines somehow. Two of them whispered disparagingly.

“Not even greeting us, just a male wife brought in to ward off misfortune. Moreover, Cheng Chaolin is dead.”

“Be quiet, he might hear you.”

Yu Deng heard them, blinked slowly, and felt a bit unhappy.

So what if he’s a male wife? It’s not like he chose this, and what can he do about it? Why didn’t they finish their comments?

The pretty young widower stood silently, looking pitifully helpless.

Cheng Xiao’s fingertips twitched, and he suddenly felt an impulse to pull Yu Deng over.

The live stream audience quickly became more active.

[Why is someone bullying the young widower? Damn it, our pretty baby didn’t deserve this.]

[Aw, baby, come to mommy’s arms.]

[Poor young widower, the stepson should hurry up.]

[The plot twists are huge. It feels like everything I watched before was in vain.]

“Alright, stop talking. Little Yu and Little Xiao are here, so just stand here,” the matriarch said, tapping her cane twice to silence the two concubines, and waved for Yu Deng and Cheng Xiao to come over.

After the room quieted down, she instructed the middle-aged woman beside her, “Chaoxia, you explain.”

Cheng Chaoxia nodded. “As everyone can see, Father has passed away, but he was murdered.”

As she spoke, she moved aside to reveal what was hidden behind her.

It was the deceased Master Cheng.

He was lying on the sofa, his body already somewhat stiff, his lips slightly purplish, and his chest stained with dark red blood. His eyes were wide open with an expression of sheer terror, as if he had seen something horrifying before his death.

Yu Deng glanced a few times but quickly turned his head to look at the floor.

“Father was in good health and couldn’t have fallen ill suddenly. Moreover, from the wound on his chest, it’s clear that someone killed him,” Cheng Chaoxia scanned the room with piercing eyes. “The murderer is definitely still in the mansion.”

As soon as these words were spoken, the expressions of the crowd changed. They began to loudly discuss where they had been.

Yu Deng pricked up his ears, struggling to make out each person’s words.

Hmm, the matriarch had been in the ancestral hall reciting scriptures, Cheng Chaoxia was in another room checking on the wedding arrangements, and some of the concubines were chatting in the garden while others were making sweet soup in the kitchen to please Master Cheng. None of them had been in the hall.

Yu Deng's voice was gentle. “I was in the room at the front. The guests can vouch for that.”

“And you, Wenhao, what were you doing just now?” Cheng Chaoxia asked.

Yu Deng followed the elder sister’s lead and took a look at his nephew.

The Cheng family had good genes; the nephew had prominent eyebrows and large eyes, but there were dark circles under his eyes, making him look a bit haggard.

“Well, I was with Zhiyue in the room,” Cheng Wenhao stammered after a long pause, finally revealing that he had fallen asleep after doing something and had just hurriedly cleaned up before coming over.

The pretty Miss Lin covered her face, bashfully nodding to confirm her fiancé’s story.

The matriarch’s face darkened, and she scolded her grandson for being a fool.

Yu Deng looked at this one and that one, clutching his fingertips, and thought furiously.

From what he had heard, it seemed like no one had the time or motive to kill Master Cheng, but Master Cheng was indeed dead.

Yu Deng felt his head might explode from the confusion, experiencing that familiar sense of helplessness akin to solving a math problem.

His head itched. Is he going to grow a brain?

So why not call the police to solve the case? His deductive skills were terrible.

“The master liked peace and quiet. He usually stayed here. We wouldn’t come without orders. It might have been those servants,” one of the concubines said.

The matriarch wearily closed her eyes.

“Now that it’s come to this, Chaoxia, arrange for the investigation of the murder weapon and the vigil. Xiao Dong, assist Chaoxia in clearing things up these few days. Since the guests want to help, invite them to assist you.”

“Alright.”

Yu Deng hoped the Cheng family could find out the truth, but if they could, what would be the point of having the players do it?

Yu Deng walked out of the hall with a troubled expression, watching as the servants prepared Master Cheng and began setting up the mourning hall.

“Mr. System, what happens if the wrong murderer is identified?”

【Treated as a failed task, resulting in obliteration.】

Yu Deng: “...” How cruel

“Little mom, who do you think it could be?”

The stepson’s voice came from beside him.

Yu Deng opened his mouth to speak but remembered he was still angry with him, so he silently turned his head away.

Cheng Xiao turned his body to block Yu Deng. “Little mom, why are you ignoring me?”

Yu Deng looked up. “Because I’m angry.”

Did the stepson really not realize how unreasonable he had been?

Cheng Xiao shouldn’t have asked. Just by asking, Yu Deng felt even angrier.

“I’m not good at handling these things,” Yu Deng’s frustration grew as he spoke, his eyes beginning to redden. “If you hadn’t spoken just now, he wouldn’t have asked me. The butler’s angry look was really frightening.”

Yu Deng’s cheeks flushed with anger, his moist lips pressed together unhappily.

Cheng Xiao paused his actions.

He had merely wanted to test his identity and probe this beautiful NPC stepmother a bit. Hearing Yu Deng’s words made it seem like he had committed an unforgivable crime.

He was good at teasing people but not at comforting them.

Especially not someone so prone to tears and currently in a temper.

He’d probably have to follow her around and comfort her for a long time.

“Why are your eyes red again?” Cheng Xiao lowered his head and smiled. “It’s not good to be angry, little mom.”

Yu Deng put on a stern face. “You need to apologize to me.”

Yu Deng usually reacted slowly, but at times, his sensitivity to emotions was quite sharp.

The stepson had already said he was sorry, but Yu Deng hadn’t really felt much remorse.

He just thought it wasn’t worth fussing over.

But this time, he was angry.

“You need to apologize,” Yu Deng emphasized. “It needs to be a sincere one.”

Cheng Xiao looked at the angry beauty, resembling a little cat with ruffled fur. He asked, almost on a whim, “What if the apology isn’t sincere?”

Yu Deng quietly stared at him for two seconds, then turned and walked away without looking back.