TL: Hua
Chapter 39: Feng Tang
Zhong Ming walked away with a neutral expression. As he passed the corner, he saw Ye Qing holding a floor lamp that looked taller than she was, standing behind the wall.
Zhong Ming: “…What are you doing?”
Ye Qing was startled and said: “I… I saw them surrounding you. I wanted to hit them.”
Zhong Ming fell silent. He reached out to take the lamp from her and realized it was quite heavy. He set it down and glanced at her: “If only you had this kind of courage when you encountered trouble yourself.”
Ye Qing was an honest kid and gave a rather sheepish laugh: “Hehe, I also think I’m quite brave.”
Zhong Ming: …I wasn’t complimenting you.
He gave a shallow sigh and said to her: “Let’s go.”
Ye Qing followed him, glancing back at the group of sports students still huddled in the corner: “Do we not need to worry about them?”
She felt they wouldn’t give up that easily.
Zhong Ming said indifferently: “We’ll see. In a few days, they won’t have the mind to harass me.”
Since there were quite a few players this time, the Spider Duchess might not be able to eat them all at once. Zhong Ming thought of the spices he had confiscated from Li Yizhi last time, calculating which of those men he should start ‘seasoning’ first.
As they passed a certain corner, Zhong Ming’s eyebrow twitched, and he immediately pulled Ye Qing to take a different path.
Ye Qing stumbled from the pull: “Zhong Ming! Why are you walking so fast? I can’t keep up.”
Zhong Ming glanced at her: “In another moment, Li Yizhi will be here.”
Ye Qing blinked. Looking back, she indeed saw Li Yizhi walking from the other end of the corridor with a blade of grass in his mouth, humming a little tune and looking quite idle.
If Zhong Ming hadn’t pulled her away, they would have run straight into him.
Ye Qing’s mouth hung open as she looked at Zhong Ming in shock, amazed by his precise grasp of the timing.
Zhong Ming’s face remained cold: “Being seen by Li Yizhi while I’m dressed like this is more troublesome than being seen by players.”
Ye Qing paused, looking at Li Yizhi, who had suddenly started humming triumphantly for some reason: “…True.”
Zhong Ming knew the daily routines of the servants in the mansion like the back of his hand; consequently, the fact that he and Ye Qing had swapped jobs wasn’t noticed by many. Although Tao was slightly dissatisfied that his assistant had been replaced by Ye Qing, he didn’t dare to anger Zhong Ming in the short term, so he grumbled and agreed.
A few more days passed.
Because Albert had grown taller recently, Madam Mary felt the portrait hanging in front of the stairs was no longer appropriate and decided to replace it with a new one. Zhong Ming was responsible for hanging the new portrait and wiping down the edges of the frame.
Zhong Ming stood on a wooden ladder, looking at the portrait before him in silence.
In the painting, Albert’s expression was disdainful. Compared to the coldness in the previous painting, his face now held an arrogance that seemed ready to burst through the frame.
Meanwhile, the hand the Duke used to rest on his shoulder was gone; he was painted entirely as a looming, indistinct black shadow.
Who would even know they’re a family?
Zhong Ming took a breath, feeling that the relationship between this father and son was beyond repair. He leaned down, took a damp cloth from the bucket, and began to carefully wipe the wooden frame, which was slightly stained with oil.
Just then, the sound of footsteps approached.
“Little sister.”
Zhong Ming turned his head and met a pair of enthusiastic eyes.
The buzz cut held the wooden ladder under Zhong Ming’s feet with his right hand, looked up, and smiled: “Working again? That must be exhausting.”
Behind him, three people stood respectively in front, to the left, and to the right of the ladder. Like a pack of wolves surrounding a lamb on a hillside, they completely blocked Zhong Ming’s path of retreat.
Zhong Ming’s movements paused. He lowered his eyes, his gaze landing on the buzz cut’s arm holding the ladder. The sleeve of the hoodie he wore was pushed up, revealing an arm completely covered in tattoos. On his right hand, he wore a watch that looked quite expensive.
Despite wearing clothes printed with a school name, this buzz-cut man, from his styling to his behavior, had absolutely nothing to do with being a college student. He looked more like a thug.
Zhong Ming stood on the top step of the ladder; the man’s hand was less than 5cm away from his calf.
Seeing him remain silent, the buzz cut laughed, leaned forward, and rested his elbow on the ladder.
Zhong Ming took a step to the right, avoiding his hand.
“Ha.” The man gave a short laugh and looked up at him: “Little sister, be careful not to fall.”
Zhong Ming’s eyes were downcast, his thick eyelashes trembling slightly.
The man stared at Zhong Ming, waiting for this proud, cold, and beautiful maid to show a fragile expression. He waved his hand in the air and said unhurriedly: “It’s okay if you fall; I’ll catch you.”
The people behind him broke into a timely round of jeering laughter.
Zhong Ming tilted his head slightly, his gaze scanning the faces of the remaining men. Seeing Zhong Ming look over, those men straightened up, their faces displaying varying degrees of greasy expressions. To call them peacocks seeking a mate would be an overstatement; they looked more like a troop of monkeys in heat.
Zhong Ming’s expression was cold as he suddenly asked: “Why are there two missing?”
As his voice fell, the group’s expressions froze.
As if finding it amusing, Zhong Ming slightly crinkled his eyes and said softly: “Did something happen?”
The greasy expressions on the monkeys’ faces could no longer be maintained. Yesterday, two people from their “small group” had suddenly gone mad. Early in the morning, they had been shouting incomprehensible nonsense about being eaten by a spider, appearing to have suffered some kind of emotional breakdown. They had no choice but to leave them behind and come here on their own.
Now that Zhong Ming had suddenly brought it up as if he knew something, everyone felt a shiver of dread.
After all, this was a boss level; the NPCs here might not be simple.
Meeting Zhong Ming’s icy gaze, the crowd felt as though they had been tossed into freezing water. It took only a few seconds to go from being blinded by lust to having cold hands and feet. They guiltily exchanged glances, all of them shrinking back a little.
They were here to clear the game, after all; no one actually wanted to provoke an NPC who might be an important character at this juncture.
Seeing them lose their nerve, the buzz cut’s face darkened: “Hey, what are you guys doing?”
He turned around, his expression extremely gloomy. The men who met his gaze all looked away, avoiding his eyes. The buzz cut changed his expression, then suddenly turned back, looking at Zhong Ming with a half-smile.
His hands gripped the wooden ladder, his fingers slowly tightening as he stared at Zhong Ming.
“Miss Maid, you should just come down.” He smiled and said: “Let’s come down and talk properly, hmm?”
Zhong Ming’s expression shifted slightly, his eyes turning colder. He could tell the man intended to simply kick the ladder out from under him.
Although the man had uttered a threat, he didn’t act immediately, but waited for Zhong Ming to come down himself.
Zhong Ming pursed his lips, a dark light flashing in his eyes.
However, at that moment, Zhong Ming suddenly felt pressure at his waist. Then, his feet left the air as he was suddenly hoisted up by the waist and set down on the ground.
“Stand steady.”
A stranger’s voice rang out.
Zhong Ming turned his head in shock, meeting a pair of agate-colored eyes. Looking up further, he saw an unfamiliar face.
The man glanced at him, released his waist, and swung his arm back: “Stay back.”
Zhong Ming was pushed back several steps by the rough motion, leaving the players’ circle and nearly falling. Fortunately, a pair of hands supported him from behind. Zhong Ming looked up and met Matthew’s emerald-green eyes.
Matthew, whom he hadn’t seen in a long while, had tanned a bit. A few freckles had appeared on the bridge of his high nose, and his hair hung somewhat messily over his forehead. He was staring at him, dumbstruck: “Zhong Ming… you, why are you dressed like this?”
His ears turned bright red, and his gaze swept over Zhong Ming from head to toe in a flustered manner, his eyes darting around, not daring to look at the small section of Zhong Ming’s exposed thigh.
“…”
Zhong Ming frowned; now was not the time for explanations. He steadied himself and looked at the unfamiliar man surrounded by players.
“Who is he?”
Hearing his voice, Matthew finally snapped out of it and released Zhong Ming. He struggled to withdraw his gaze from him and looked up: “Oh, he’s Feng Tang. Our foreman.”
Feng Tang.
Hearing the name, Zhong Ming’s breathing hitched for a moment, his pupils constricting slightly.
This was Feng Tang. According to Li Yizhi, the person who had brought him back to the haunted house.
Zhong Ming looked at the man not far away. He was a head taller than Matthew, wearing the same manservant’s uniform but without the suit jacket only a vest and shirt. At the moment, he was unbuttoning his shirt cuffs, slowly rolling up his sleeves.
Then, he lifted his head and hooked two fingers at the buzz-cut youth: “You, come closer.”
The youth’s brow furrowed as he stared at Feng Tang. Not only was the man tall, but his physique was also very lean and powerful. The muscles of his arms and shoulders bulged beneath the thin shirt. This was a man who could make any other male feel threatened just by standing there.
The buzz cut glanced at his brothers behind him, then rolled his eyes. A provocative curve hooked his lips as he took half a step toward Feng Tang and opened his mouth: “Fuck, one after another, there’s no end—”
Before he could finish, Feng Tang grabbed his collar and hoisted him up.
Zhong Ming’s eyes widened as he watched the man raise his right hand expressionlessly, his forearm muscles surging, and land a punch directly on the youth’s right cheek.
Thwack!
Along with the dull sound of fist hitting flesh, blood splattered. Zhong Ming watched with his own eyes as a tooth flew out and landed on the floor.
“Ugh—ah!”
The buzz cut was instantly dazed. Blood kept spraying from his mouth, his gaze grew vacant, and his head slumped weakly to the right. The man named Feng Tang held him with one hand while flexing his right hand at his side. He glanced at the blood on his knuckles, looked up, and curled his lips at the youth.
“Such soft bones, huh?”
Before his voice had even faded, another thunderous punch crashed into the left side of the buzz cut’s face. This time, the youth was completely finished; as soon as Feng Tang loosened his grip, he slumped to the floor like a man without bones.
But he didn’t stop. Instead, he immediately turned to the nearest player and grabbed him by the neck as he tried to escape. He lifted the man into the air and suddenly punched him, shattering his nose.
Amidst the players’ screams, Zhong Ming instinctively took a step back.
Matthew stepped in to steady him, whispering, “Don’t be afraid. Feng Tang… is just like that. He won’t attack us.”
He watched as Feng Tang finished dropping one player only to whirl around and slam another against the wall, his entire being radiating raw, unadulterated violence.
Matthew sighed: “He’s the only one among us who actively attacks players.”
Matthew leaned down, watching the blood-spattered scene nearby, and lowered his voice in Zhong Ming’s ear: “When there are players around, the safest place is behind Feng Tang. When there are no players… he’s the most dangerous one there is.”
Zhong Ming’s eyebrow twitched as he watched Feng Tang floor the last player and toss him aside like trash. In less than a minute, four players lay in pools of blood, their fates unknown.
Feng Tang looked down, scanned the mess on the floor, and turned around. His face and body were splattered with blood; his shirt strained against his chest, and he seemed soaked from head to toe in a fresh, metallic scent. He kicked aside a fallen player, stepped toward the portrait, tucked the wooden ladder under his arm, and walked toward Zhong Ming and Matthew.
As he approached, Zhong Ming instinctively ducked behind Matthew.
Seeing this, Feng Tang’s amber eyes narrowed, and his pace faltered for a fraction of a second. Then, he resumed walking, passing right by Zhong Ming as if he hadn’t seen him at all.
Matthew frowned upon seeing this, seemingly displeased with Feng Tang’s rude behavior, and stepped in to stop him.
“Feng, Zhong Ming is a servant now too. You should say something to him.”
Feng Tang paused. He slowly turned his head. Looking into those amber eyes, Zhong Ming was immediately reminded of a leopard; his breath hitched.
Feng Tang’s gaze lingered on Zhong Ming’s tense face before traveling down, pausing for several seconds on the black hem of the dress. He retracted his gaze and raised an eyebrow at Zhong Ming: “You’re the new maidservant?”
Zhong Ming frowned. He found Feng Tang’s attitude strange. Why did the man look as if he didn’t recognize him at all?
Before he could answer, Feng Tang suddenly let out a mocking sneer. He leaned down and hissed with pure malice into Zhong Ming’s ear, in a voice only the two of them could hear: “With a dress that short, are you looking to get fucked?”
Zhong Ming’s eyes widened in shock. Before he could react, Feng Tang reached out and used a blood-stained thumb to swipe hard across his cheek.
A streak of blood instantly appeared on Zhong Ming’s pale, delicate face, stretching from the corner of his eye to his mouth.
Matthew hadn’t anticipated his actions either. He immediately pulled Zhong Ming behind him and frowned at Feng Tang: “Feng, what are you doing?”
Feng Tang didn’t spare him a single glance. He left behind a derisive snort and walked away. Matthew let out a frustrated laugh, then turned to the stunned Zhong Ming, leaning down to check on him.
“Are you alright?”
He took out a handkerchief and gently wiped the blood from Zhong Ming’s cheek.
“Feng… he might just be in a bad mood today. I’ll apologize on his behalf.”
Matthew carefully cleaned Zhong Ming’s face and reached out to tidy a stray lock of hair by his ear. He straightened up, looking at Zhong Ming with a touch of awkwardness. He pressed a hand to his mouth and cleared his throat.
“You… you look good in this,” he said cautiously. “But the dress is indeed a bit short.”
Zhong Ming: …
He hadn’t expected Matthew and Feng Tang, who were away on an assignment, to return so suddenly. Zhong Ming looked Matthew up and down; he looked a bit travel-worn, wearing a suit, with two cloth bags slung across his broad shoulders, carrying a large bundle that seemed to be filled with tools.
Zhong Ming asked, “Where did you two get back from?”
Matthew’s gaze was still drifting toward Zhong Ming’s legs, his tone a bit distracted: “Hmm?”
Zhong Ming: …
When Matthew realized what he was doing, he turned mortified, a deep flush blooming on his handsome face. He scrambled to take off his suit jacket and wrapped it around Zhong Ming’s waist. Since he was tall, the jacket was long enough to cover the thigh section beneath the dress.
“Ahem.” Matthew cleared his throat, the blush still lingering on his cheekbones. He turned away and pulled a box from his bag, handing it to Zhong Ming. “This is a gift for you.”
Zhong Ming took it, and his eyebrows shot up.
It was a box of chocolates. The chocolate itself was nothing special, but Zhong Ming recognized the packaging. It was a brand that had existed for centuries and was still sold in the modern world. The logo on this black box was slightly different from the modern one, likely having gone through several redesigns.
Looking at it, Zhong Ming was suddenly struck by a memory. In his mind, someone else had once handed him an exquisite little box just like this.
That person had said: “This is high-grade imported chocolate from abroad. You’ve never seen anything like it, have you?”
The voice had carried a hint of contempt, but it wasn’t overly offensive. Zhong Ming knew the person meant well, so he had meekly accepted the box.
“Go on, eat it,” the person said. “So you don’t have to spend all day picking up other people’s scraps like a little rat.”
Zhong Ming remembered untying the silk ribbon, taking out a piece, and putting it in his mouth. The smooth, sweet flavor had melted, carrying the subtle bitterness of cocoa beans. Zhong Ming had fallen in love with that taste instantly.
Chocolate became his favorite dessert.
Zhong Ming was lost in thought, failing to notice Matthew looking up and waving toward the other side of the hall: “Madam Mary.”
At the sound of that name, Zhong Ming snapped his head around to see Madam Mary walking out of the kitchen, her steps graceful, with Li Yizhi following behind her.
Zhong Ming stood there, completely exposed under the bright light of the hall’s chandelier.
Madam Mary’s steps faltered. Her eyes widened slightly, then she frowned, her gaze landing on the dress peeking out from under the jacket.
Li Yizhi poked his head out from behind her, his mouth falling open: “Whoa.”
Zhong Ming: …Enough is enough.
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