Chapter 14: Family Portrait

Chapter 14: Family Portrait

When Xia Nuo woke up, everything was pitch black. His first thought was: It’s still early, I’ll sleep again.

However, he couldn’t feel the slightest sleepiness when he closed his eyes. He kept his eyes open for a while before he remembered that this was not his home, he was now in the game world.

“Mr. Kan Chen?”

Xia Nuo sat up when he didn’t feel any familiar aura around him. He opened the game panel with ease, and was surprised by the game points on it.

I didn’t read it wrong, did I?

Xia Nuo counted again in disbelief. One, two, three, four… five! It is indeed a five-digit figure!

He looked at his progress on the quests. The manor exploration side quest‘s completion progress has increased to 45%. He had been rewarded 2250 game points. Then yesterday he redeemed the dynamic vision for a total of two hours, equivalent to 600 points. He should still have 1650 points.

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Fs dso vbl iwlpvksd kp, oblal eke vbl alxykdkdt 10,000 rskdvp nsxl qasx?

Rq sdzu Hbydt Yyd oyp okvb bkx, bl oswze cl yczl vs vlzz bkx vbyv vblal yal ynvwyzzu xydu bkeeld iwlpvp kd vbl tyxl. Mblpl bkeeld vypjp nyd cl vakttlale, cwv vbl rzyulap osd’v cl rasxrvle dsa okzz vblu byhl ydu kely vs jdso obyv vs es vs nsxrzlvl vbl iwlpvp. Fsxl yal lhld wdyoyal vbyv vblu byhl vakttlale y plnalv iwlpv.

Xq nswapl, pwnb snnypksdp yal ayal yde xsal sqvld vbyd dsv, vblpl plnalv iwlpvp alxykd wdekpnshlale. Mbl ekqqknwzvu sq vblpl vypjp yal yzps bktb, cwv vs nsxrldpyvl, vbl aloyae kp hlau tldlaswp.

Hbydt Yyd, yzps, eke dsv byhl ydu kely ycswv plnalv iwlpvp kd vbl cltkddkdt. Mbl pupvlx eke dsv vyjl vbl kdkvkyvkhl vs pbyal vbkp. Tl eke tlv zwnju sdnl yde byrrldle vs awd kdvs sdl, vbld bl ypjle bkp pupvlx vs lmrzykd kv vs bkx.

Dky Lws bye ds sdl vs ypj cwv bl qswde y pxyzz rzwp pktd yqvla vbl 11650 rskdvp. Rv pbsole vbl qszzsokdt yqvla bl ralpple sd kv:

Odfsu vbl Jzsseu Xrlay Tswpl -- +2,000 Ikzz vbl pkddlap -- +3,000 Xcvykd y zkql qsanl -- +5,000 

Dky Lws kxxlekyvlzu alxlxclale lhlauvbkdt vbyv byrrldle kd vbl srlay bswpl wrsd pllkdt vblpl rskdvp. Tl ryvvle bkp nblpv yp bkp blyav alxlxclale vbl qlya vbyv bl qlzv vbld.

Gv vbyv vkxl, bl vbswtbv vbyv bl oyp tskdt vs qykz yde iwkv vbl tyxl. Tl alxlxclale vbl pupvlx pyukdt vbyv kv oswze elewnv 10,000 rskdvp kq bl ekle.

Rq sdl eslpd’v byhl ldswtb rskdvp lhld yqvla ldvlakdt y dlo tyxl osaze, sdl oswze zspl vbl iwyzkqknyvksd yp y rzyula yde okzz ds zsdtla cl lzktkczl vs fskd ydu lpnyrl tyxl.

However, Xia Nuo not only survived but also gained a lot of points. So was everything that happened a blessing in disguise?

Xia Nuo’s mood instantly went up when he thought of it like that.

Eyesight: 250 pts/min. He looked at this and couldn’t help but want to be extravagant.

Five minutes…  No, ten minutes! He told himself and immediately pressed the redemption button that shined golden in his eyes.

A second later, the darkness that covered his eyes faded away, and a luxurious room appeared in front of him.

Under his body was a soft, snow-white bed and a heavy cashmere carpet on the floor. The walls were covered with warm yellow wallpapers where many landscape paintings and crystal wall lamps hung.

On the bedside table was a small clock. The hour hand was already pointing to 10.

It’s already ten o’clock?

Xia Nuo only remembered that he became very sleepy last night and that he fell on Mr. Kan Chen’s arms.

Was it Mr. Kan Chen that brought me here? Where is he now? What’s this place?

Xia Nuo walked off the bed and pulled the curtains open. He couldn’t help but let out a small gasp at the sight he saw in front of him.

“It’s so beautiful.”

From where he was standing, Xia Nuo saw a huge embroidered-like garden. The beautiful flowers and the bricks on the ground formed a pattern as beautiful as an embroidered carpet. Further ahead of the garden was a huge statue of something like a goddess. The statue had its head bowed with a smile. The expression was gentle and compassionate. Clear spring water flowed from the mouth of the slender bottle she was holding in her hands, converging with several small fountains at its feet. A gorgeous chain of water formed, passing through the green slopes and flowing beyond his eyesight could reach.

Though the weather was gloomy with only little sunshine, it did not overshadow the beauty of the garden and instead made it soft and introspective.

Xia Nuo thought that it was regrettable that he didn’t bring his phone, and that the game did not develop a screenshot function. Otherwise, he would have taken a picture of the beautiful scenery in front of him and take it as a souvenir.

But really, where did Mr. Kan Chen go?

He only had 10 minutes. He really wanted to see him.

In his imagination, Mr. Kan Chen is in his late twenties, the same age as his brother. He’s tall — well, this has been confirmed by personal contact with him. His looks… well this one would be hard to imagine, but he has a very nice voice so probably would look nice, right?

He thought so and planned to leave the room to find him. The moment he opened the door, the corner of his eyes seemed to have caught something that emitted a flash of light streaks.

What was that?

Xia Nuo walked over and found that what flashed just now was a picture frame. It was turned down, originally placed on the bedside table, blocked by the small clock for the most part. It was wooden, the same color as the bedside table. It didn’t look inconspicuous at all, that’s why he had overlooked it at first.

Xia Nuo turned the picture frame over, revealing a family photo. If he had seen Kan Chen’s pocket watch, he would have found that the photo inside is the same as the one inside the picture frame.

The man on the left probably is the husband. He had dark blond hair, blue eyes, and a bright smile. The woman on the right could be his wife. She had black hair, and black eyes. She looked very beautiful. Although she was smiling, her smile carried a lingering melancholy.

A child standing between the two looked about five or six years old. He had black hair and blue eyes, and his appearance can be said to be a combination of all the good points of the man and the woman. He had delicate eyebrows and a lovely baby fat on his face, but he looked very stern and serious. 

Only, this expression made him look more lovely, giving people the urge to pinch his chubby cheeks.

Xia Nuo laughed and poked the part of the photo where the little boy was but soon realized that this photo could be a clue or something. He uttered a ‘sorry’ and gently opened the picture frame.

As he opened the frame, a white paper filled with words fell out of it. Xia Nuo didn’t rush to open it but instead turned over the photo and saw words that were written on it.

‘The Luo’er Family photographed in 1985.’

The child in the middle probably is Little Luo’er, right? 1985. The date shown on the clock is July 16, 2005. So, Little Luo’er’s age by now should be 26…

Xia Nuo couldn’t help but calculate the age of the boy in the photo.

Could this room be the room of Little Luo’er? Xia Nuo thought that this was the case but also immediately crossed out that idea. From the decoration and details of the room, it could be a room used by a woman. This being the room of the mother of Little Luo’er was more convincing.

Now, Xia Nuo opened the white paper and read it.

[I found a secret.]

---

“I found a secret.”

More than ten years ago, the woman in the photo leaned on a table and wrote these words. For fear of being discovered, she did not dare to turn on the light and only lit a candle. The dim light illuminated her haggard face.

“My father…” At this point, her pen stopped. She wondered if she should still refer to that man as her father or should she feel misery for what she is about to write. Even so, she continued. “…is a murderer.”

She wrote with difficulty, “He murdered my husband’s father, claimed to the public that his death was brought by an external cause, then pompously took his possessions and became the owner of the manor. His crime remained undiscovered for so many years.”

She had always thought that her father opposed her being with Luo’er because he didn’t like Luo’er’s status and was so angry because they had eloped behind his back and even had a son.

Who would’ve known that the truth was this cruel. His father was a murderer. His husband, who used to be a distinguished young master became a horse keeper, and she, the daughter of the murderer, got married and had a child with the victim.

It was so absurd and ridiculous!

Her father must’ve known of Luo’er’s identity. He probably felt guilty? He probably felt worried upon seeing Luo’er’s resemblance to his father?

She has been locked up in this room since she was caught, and no matter how much she begged and cried, her father did not allow her to meet her husband and son. She even had a terrible thought: Are they still alive? Could it be that… 

No, his father wouldn’t have been so ruthless. After all, Chen Chen is still his grandson. He wouldn’t hurt him…

She closed her eyes in despair. His son was only 5 years old, he was so young, but she couldn’t even stay by his side. She didn’t even know if he was alive.

---

Xia Nuo stood aside, completely watching the scene from a third party’s point of view. The woman in front of her lay on the table, trembling and crying in sorrow. He almost forgot that she was not real and wanted to go up to her and comfort her.

But before he could walk over, the scene in front of him dissipated like a bubble. All that was left in his hand was a note with tears on it.

Xia Nuo’s nose reddened, he looked like he was going to burst into tears. Perhaps the woman’s emotions touched him.

He also had the same question that the woman had: Twenty years have passed but is the little kid in the photo still alive?

He remembered what Kan Chen once said that Li Charlie was the only human being in the manor so…

Oh, no, no, no! Maybe Little Luo’er had already escaped a long time ago? I can’t just assume that something bad happened in the first place!

“Why are you crying?”

Ten minutes had long passed, and the darkness in Xia Nuo’s eyes returned. Because he got so absorbed in his own emotion, he didn’t notice Kan Chen coming into the room.

He was just about to answer when a fluffy thing jumped into his arms.