Npc 86

[Dawn Guild] – Headquarters

Screech–

The mechanical door, equipped with an iris scan, voice recognition, and fingerprint identification system, opened automatically and then closed again.

A young man with striking blue hair stepped inside.

"You're back," a deep, elegant male voice sounded from within the room.

"Mm," Tao Shi replied as he walked further in.

The interior was furnished in a classical, elegant style— a towering hall almost ten meters high exuded grandeur. Ornately carved marble pillars supported the ceiling, which was adorned with vibrant frescoes of "angels and the Madonna."

The floor was covered with an expensive silk carpet that gleamed with a golden sheen. At the center of the hall stood a massive, intricately carved cherrywood table.

At the end of the table were two cups of milk tea. A slender man in a black suit, wearing a cartoonish shark-head mask, sat at the table, sipping one of the milk teas with evident enjoyment.

Directly across from him, a video was being projected on the wall. The footage featured a beautiful boy with black hair and blue eyes, dressed in a dark green medical uniform, walking through a dense forest. It was Jiang Yan, currently the most talked-about NPC in the game.

Slurp–

The video had no sound; only visuals played, leaving the sound of the man sipping milk tea to dominate the quiet room.

Tao Shi sat down beside the man. The colorful lights from the projection reflected off his face, casting shifting shadows that made his expression unreadable.

The man in the shark-head mask didn’t turn to look at him but spoke casually, “You’d say he’s remarkable, wouldn’t you? His actions in the dungeon aren’t exactly breathtaking. But if you were to call him mediocre…”

The man chuckled lightly and took another sip of milk tea. “He somehow always manages to clear every dungeon, even when everyone else thinks he doesn’t stand a chance.”

“So, why is 【Puppet Workshop】hunting him down?” Tao Shi asked bluntly. He didn’t look at the man beside him but kept his gaze fixed on the projected screen, his usual casual demeanor replaced by a serious expression.

“Did Yu Jia not tell you?”

“He told me to ask you,” Tao Shi replied.

The man in the shark-head mask didn’t answer directly. Instead, he tapped the wooden surface of the meeting table lightly and said, “The ‘Film Emperor’ is too impatient.”

Tao Shi frowned slightly and turned to look at the man beside him, his eyes filled with confusion.

“It’s not surprising that he’s impatient. Jiang Yan is indeed… quite special,” the suited man said nonchalantly.

“So Sang Luan is afraid that Jiang Yan, another true human NPC like himself, will take his place? That’s why he ordered the entire 【Puppet Workshop】 to hunt Jiang Yan?” Tao Shi raised an eyebrow.

At the mention of the name "Film Emperor," the man in the shark-head mask let out a mocking laugh but didn’t refute. “Sang Luan is indeed petty and overly dramatic, but he wouldn’t kill someone just because they’re a decent true human NPC.”

“Then what’s the reason they’re determined to kill Jiang Yan?” Tao Shi asked, puzzled.

The man in the shark-head mask took a long sip of milk tea before replying slowly, “Tao Shi, do you remember what your original wish was when you entered the game?”

Tao Shi froze slightly.

The projection showed a close-up—a pair of eerie, deathly green eyes filled with a haunting aura.

That was the eye of Jiang Yan’s husband, the god of the mountains, within the dungeon.

The green light instantly enveloped the entire room, and Tao Shi’s blue hair shifted to a cyan hue under the green light.

A wish, huh?

His original wish when he first entered the game…

Tao Shi’s long eyelashes fluttered, and he asked, “What does this have to do with Jiang Yan?”

The man in the shark-head mask finished his milk tea, his gaze fixed on the beautiful yet dangerous green eyes. He tapped his leg and casually swayed it, lightly tapping the wooden surface of the table.

“It does have a lot to do with Jiang Yan, but... it’s related to the god.”

—

In a spacious and bright apartment, huge black tentacles were sweeping away dust, kitchen knives, and other tools in the living room, kitchen, bathroom, and the unique specimen room in Jiang Yan’s home, all while doing housework and cooking.

The apartment was filled with the sounds of cooking food, cleaning, and various tools clashing, as the aroma of stewed pork ribs with soybeans filled the air.

Attached to the tentacles was a massive, chaotic black fish body.

At this moment, this body was coiled on the sofa, with a beautiful young man with black hair and blue eyes embedded inside.

Jiang Yan, dressed in a coral fleece onesie with a cartoon crocodile design, snuggled comfortably in the soft body of Yu Xiu, playing a game.

A tablet was placed in front of him, and two slender black tentacles extended from Yu Xiu’s body, typing on the tablet to communicate with Jiang Yan.

“Remember, don’t put too much sugar in the potato stewed pork ribs. The last time you made it, it was too sweet,” Jiang Yan said lazily, pressing the game controller.

[Okay, Yan Yan! Do you want me to make some stir-fried eggplant too?]

Jiang Yan glanced at the black text on the tablet and said, “Yes. Make it with green peppers, dry-fried. Check if we have those spicy green peppers in the fridge.”

As soon as he finished speaking, two black tentacles in the kitchen swiftly opened the fridge. After pulling out the eggplant, they searched through the fridge before finally closing the door.

At the same time, two slender tentacles in the living room typed on the tablet:

[Yan Yan! We’re out of green peppers.]

“Open the food delivery app and order a courier,” Jiang Yan said.

[OK!]

Then, sitting beside Jiang Yan and his partner, Jian Hou watched as Yu Xiu’s black tentacles skillfully tapped through the food delivery app and placed the order.

Looking around at the black tentacles weaving through the room, carrying tools and moving about, Jian Hou glanced at the couple who seemed to be symbiotic, and the corner of his brow lightly twitched.

After a while, the delivery arrived. When the door opened, wouldn’t the delivery person be scared to death upon seeing this scene?

He had just thought this when Jiang Yan, still holding the controller, said, “Hey, later you can go get the delivery.”

“Hey! Who’s the master here, you or me?” Jian Hou retorted.

Jiang Yan turned to look at Jian Hou, shrugging his shoulders and raising his hands. “You think this guy is going to let go of me?”

[No!]

Before Jian Hou could reply, Yu Xiu tapped two heavy words on the tablet.

Then, Yu Xiu’s body, like liquid, tightened its hold on Jiang Yan even more.

His black, almost liquid-like body extended tiny tendrils, which climbed up Jiang Yan’s cheek. The tips of the tendrils, with small suction cups, greedily latched onto Jiang Yan’s skin.

Jiang Yan, already pale, looked like a porcelain doll with cracks in it, his smooth skin marked by the black tendrils. His blue eyes, like gems, appeared even more distant and indifferent. At that moment, he resembled a lifelike doll trapped in a dark swamp.

After pulling the person in his arms tighter, Yu Xiu waved two more tentacles in front of Jian Hou, with an obvious provocation. Jiang Yan, however, continued to look at him without any change in his expression.

Jian Hou: “...”

Jiang Yan: “...”

After a moment of silence, Jian Hou helplessly sighed, “Fine! Knowing you two is my bad luck.”

[Thanks for your hard work!]

Yu Xiu happily tapped the words.

Looking at the two who were physically inseparable, Jian Hou’s mind wandered back to the scene from last night.

Last night, the couple had been arguing, getting more and more heated.

In the dimly lit living room, Yu Xiu tapped on the phone with his tentacle:

[Yan Yan... did you ever love me?]

At that moment, the air in the entire apartment seemed to freeze. Jian Hou sat on the side, feeling like he was suffocating from the tension!

However, Jian Hou’s conclusion was—Jiang Yan didn’t say a word!

Yes!

He didn’t say anything at all!

After a long silence, his long, jet-black eyelashes fluttered slightly, and he spoke: “I’m tired. I’ll go to sleep now.”

His tone was neither sad nor happy, and there was no emotion in his bright blue eyes.

It was as if he hadn’t just argued with Yu Xiu.

After saying this, Jiang Yan really got up and went to the bedroom, with Yu Xiu following right behind.

Thud!

The master bedroom door closed, and Jian Hou sat in the dark living room, silently cursing.

The next day, when Jian Hou came out of the guest room, the couple was sitting on the sofa, as if nothing had happened, physically inseparable.

It was as if nothing had ever happened, and the argument from the previous night, which had nearly been a scream, was just a dream.

But, based on Jian Hou’s understanding of Jiang Yan,

It was definitely not that Jiang Yan had given Yu Xiu an answer after they went to the room. Instead, Jiang Yan had directly ignored Yu Xiu’s question.

Yu Xiu didn’t pursue the matter either, allowing Jiang Yan to ignore and avoid him.

Now, the two of them acted as if nothing had happened, as if they were avoiding the fact that they had already divorced.

Thinking of this, Jian Hou sighed helplessly.

How can Jiang Yan always be like this?

With that thought, he looked at Yu Xiu, whose body was completely black, and a playful glint flashed in his amber eyes, as if taking pleasure in the situation.

“Take it seriously, or you’ll be dead.” Jiang Yan stared at the two jumping characters on the screen, reminding Jian Hou beside him.

Jian Hou snapped back to reality and said, “Okay, okay! Stop being so dramatic!”

“By the way, do you know when we’ll enter the next dungeon?” Jian Hou asked.

“I don’t know. Every time, the system just drags me into the game,” Jiang Yan replied. “But you players should be different from us real NPCs, right? Why don’t you ask your personal system?”

“Forget it. That guy’s too unpredictable. I’ll pass,” Jian Hou immediately rejected Jiang Yan’s suggestion.

Jiang Yan reached out and touched Yu Xiu’s black, soft, slightly sticky body. “I hope we’ll encounter this guy’s body fragments in the next dungeon.”

He sighed. “I don’t even know when I’ll be able to piece this bastard back together.”

Upon hearing this, Yu Xiu lightly tapped on the tablet:

[Soon, Yan Yan.]

The three of them rested for a week. The evening after a week passed, when Jian Hou came to Jiang Yan’s house for another meal, the moment the dishes were placed on the table, Jiang Yan was suddenly pulled into the dungeon.

One second, Jiang Yan had just picked up his chopsticks, and the next second, everything went pitch black in front of him.

When he regained consciousness, the world around him was dark, but he could feel his body sinking into something soft and warm.

From the scent, Jiang Yan could tell it was the aroma of roses, broomrape, and peach blossoms—intensely fragrant and complex.

Jiang Yan struggled slightly, but his hands and feet seemed completely useless. It was as though he were submerged in an ocean of flower petals, the surrounding fragrance nearly drowning him.

What’s going on?!

Did he draw some strange and bizarre card again?

But... this time it probably wasn’t the role of a dead husband’s bride, right?

Thinking this, Jiang Yan couldn’t help but let out a breath of relief.

However, just as he relaxed, the main system’s voice echoed in his ears:

[Welcome, players, to the dungeon—"The Bloody Bride of the Giant Clan."]

Jiang Yan: "...?"

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