MNL Chapter 73

Chapter 73: Script – Escape from Holothus Manor

Chapter 73: Script – Escape from Holothus Manor

Much to Yan Zhe’s surprise, Xu Jing actually brought him local specialties: a full four pounds of coconut cakes and dried fruit. When Yan Zhe received them, he was so moved he burst into tears, repeatedly saying, “Brother Jing, you still love me.”

Xu Jing glanced at him and said, “Get lost.”

“I’ve been missing you like crazy these days you’ve been out playing.”

“Try disgusting me again and see what happens.”

Xu Jing looked like he was about to beat him up if he said another word like that.

“Really, Lin Jiayu and I have been waiting for you to come back and play games together. It’s harder to get you to hang out than to climb to the sky since you started dating. ” Yan Zhe said with a pained expression, taking out a piece of coconut cake.

Seeing that Yan Zhe seemed to be bored out of his mind lately, Xu Jing asked, “Not spending the holiday with your girlfriend?”

“We broke up. Didn’t I tell you last month?”

“Your relationship history, where you argue every three days and break up every five, is more chaotic than Lin Jiayu’s heat cycle. How am I supposed to keep track?”

Lin Jiayu had a few days every month when his hormones went into overdrive, and the timing wasn’t consistent. Once, he even gave Xu Jing a creepy, infatuated smile, which disgusted Xu Jing so much that he chased after him and beat him for three whole days, scaring Lin Jiayu so much that he never dared to fantasize about Xu Jing again.

“Damn, you can’t compare the two. I feel like Lin Jiayu really has a split personality.”

“How so?”

“He actually found a girl a few days ago, confessed his love that day, and then broke up with her the next night.”

After hearing this, Xu Jing raised an eyebrow and asked, “Why?”

“He said he wanted to focus on studying, and being in a relationship would distract him.”

“…” Xu Jing calmly concluded, “Take him to a psychiatrist when you have time.”

“By the way, how are you and that guy getting along?”

Every time Yan Zhe talked about this, he felt uncomfortable, and he even had trouble sleeping for several nights. How could Xu Jing have fallen for a guy? And it happened without any warning. Sometimes he even wondered if Shen Yan had some kind of hold over Xu Jing, threatening him so he had no choice but to–

But honestly, even if he could accept it mentally, he couldn’t help but feel disgusted physically, even though Xu Jing was his best friend.

“His name is Shen Yan.” Xu Jing corrected him, word by word.

“Okay, okay, okay.”

“He’s good.”

“…”

Yan Zhe really wanted to be temporarily deaf for two seconds.

“Are you going to tell Aunt Qin about this?” Speaking of this, Yan Zhe stopped joking and seriously reminded him, “They only have you as a son. This will be a big blow. Jing-ge, you need to think this through.”

Xu Jing frowned and said, “We’ll see.”

There’s always a solution, Xu Jing thought. If it really came down to it, he would just leave home to avoid annoying Qin Xin and Xu Huaiyang. When they could accept it, he would come back and apologize to them properly.

Yan Zhe looked at Xu Jing’s determined expression, opened his mouth, hesitated for a long time, and swallowed the words he wanted to say.

Since returning from Sanya, Qin Xin finally stopped acting like the enemy was at the gate whenever Xu Jing wanted to see Shen Yan, wishing she could follow him around and watch him every day. Plus, the school had training sessions recently, and she was so busy that she didn’t have time to worry about these things. So, Xu Jing spent almost the entire summer with Shen Yan, and the two of them lived together day and night, like they were cohabitating.

One night, Yan Zhe sent Xu Jing a message saying that they were organizing a murder mystery game on Saturday and wanted Xu Jing and Shen Yan to come and play together.

Xu Jing rejected him without even thinking about it.

[God Zhe]: Come on, Jing-ge, we’re two players short, help us out.

[God Zhe]: It’ll be super exciting, especially suitable for couples.

[Male]: Are there any for two people?

He didn’t think that a game where a bunch of people huddled together could be that fun, but if it was just him and Shen Yan, maybe he could give it a try.

Yan Zhe, upon receiving the message, immediately laughed with anger, sending back several angry emojis and replying, “No!”

Xu Jing replied with an “Oh.”

[God Zhe]: Come on, no one in a relationship stops their partner from seeing their friends. Lin Jiayu wants to meet Shen Yan too. He’s been curious for a long time.

Xu Jing thought about it and felt that Yan Zhe made a lot of sense. After all, Shen Yan had introduced him to Jiang Pei. Although Yan Zhe and the others weren’t his closest friends, they were among the few he had.

So, on this sunny weekend, Xu Jing went out with Shen Yan with the subtle feeling that the person next to him was his boyfriend.

That day, they both wore simple white T-shirts and blue jeans. Although it was a bit casual, their figures stood out, and they were very eye-catching in the crowd. More importantly, they looked like they were wearing couple outfits.

Lin Jiayu saw them from afar and whispered to Yan Zhe, “Damn, this brother is so handsome?”

“Otherwise?”

“He looks like a celebrity.”

Hearing Lin Jiayu’s praise, Yan Zhe stiffly turned his head and looked at him with a very subtle but fearful gaze.

Lin Jiayu was stunned for a moment, but he quickly realized what was happening and said in a furious tone, “Why are you looking at me like that? I’m a damn straight man, a steel straight man! Not even the Heavenly King himself could bend me!”

“Damn, that’s good.”

Yan Zhe couldn’t stand any abnormalities in this area. Xu Jing had already dealt him a huge blow. If Lin Jiayu liked men too, he thought he could write a book about it, titled “The Friends I’ve Made Have All Ended Up Gay.”

The murder mystery game they played this time was called “Holothus Manor.” Because four people weren’t enough to meet the minimum number of players, they teamed up with a couple. Shen Yan and Xu Jing had never played this before. After listening to the DM’s explanation, they both agreed that it was definitely more interesting than mahjong. Especially Xu Jing, the last mahjong game had made him wary of board games, but this murder mystery game shouldn’t rely on luck, so he definitely wouldn’t go bankrupt.

“Holothus Manor” is about a strange house in the suburbs of City A with only one door for entry and exit, called Holothus Manor. Every day at three in the morning, the sound of burning flames would come from inside, accompanied by the screams of a woman and the cries of a baby. And on a dark and windy night, six young people with completely different identities in City A all received the same text message at three in the morning.

“The fifteenth day of the first month, we open our doors to welcome guests. Failure to attend will be at your own risk.”

—Holothus Manor

The DM’s voice was very low, and the room was specially equipped with BGM that often appeared in horror movies, rustling and making people’s hearts flutter. Apart from Shen Yan and Xu Jing, the other four people were already trembling a little. And just as the DM finished reading the background of the story, the lights in the room suddenly went out.

The other four people screamed at the same time.

Xu Jing: “…”

Shen Yan immediately grabbed the hand of the person next to him.

Fortunately, the small lights in the four corners of the room soon lit up, and three lit candles appeared on the table.

“We can leave if you don’t want to play.” Shen Yan said softly.

Xu Jing shook his head, indicating that he was fine. Yan Zhe, seeing this, cursed himself a few times in his heart. He had forgotten that Xu Jing was afraid of the dark. He immediately mentioned it to the DM, who looked a little embarrassed. Xu Jing didn’t want to affect the experience of the others, so he just said it was okay.

Everyone had twenty minutes to read their scripts. As soon as Xu Jing opened his, there were four big characters on it.

“You are the murderer.”

“…”

Damn it.

He still overestimated his luck.

The murder mystery game lasted for almost four hours. Yan Zhe and Lin Jiayu, these two single dogs, ate a lot of dog food throughout the whole thing. They were playing a brain-burning game while watching a couple flirting. Although it sounded a little miserable, the atmosphere was good, and overall it was quite enjoyable.

“This murder mystery game ends here. Thank you for your cooperation. If you like it, please give our store a five-star rating. You can also enjoy group discounts when you bring friends next time. All scripts are 30% off.” The DM finished reciting the memorized lines, and a familiar melody rang out in the room.

Good luck to you, I wish you good luck, good luck brings joy and love, good luck, we have good luck…

The six people: “…”

Later, the DM said that this was their store’s custom. A few students had come to play a horror game in the middle of the night, and they all died in a car accident when they went back. From then on, the store manager issued a notice that every time a horror game was played, they had to play ten minutes of “Good Luck” to ward off evil spirits.

This made the people who were already frightened even more afraid, especially the couple. The girl shrank into the boy’s arms, and the two ran away without looking back. Yan Zhe, with the attitude of “better safe than sorry,” piously bowed in all directions, muttering, “Queen Mother, Jade Emperor, Bodhisattva, please protect the four of us. I promise I’ll never play again!”

The other three people: “…”

Sure enough, he was both terrible and loved to play.

It was almost dark when they came out. Yan Zhe said he wanted to eat KFC at Wanda Plaza, and the other three gave him a contemptuous look.

“What? What’s wrong with eating KFC?”

Lin Jiayu mocked, “Can’t you go somewhere classier?”

“Isn’t this classy enough? Do you want to eat a Manchu Han Imperial Feast?”

Lin Jiayu ruthlessly exposed him, “I don’t think you want to eat KFC. You want to go there to get Aiden’s poster, right?”

Hearing this familiar name, Xu Jing raised an eyebrow. “Aiden?”

“Yeah, don’t you know? This guy has been obsessed with Aiden, the beautiful lead singer of the Chrysalis band, lately. He’s been holding her poster and drooling over her every day, playing the same song hundreds of times, and voting for her at three in the morning.”

“Damn, you’re one to talk, acting like you don’t like her. Who was it who saved money for half a month just to buy my goddess’s complete album?”

“My liking isn’t as perverted as yours, you creep.”

Xu Jing and Shen Yan exchanged a look. They didn’t expect that Jiang Pei’s target audience was mostly their age group. But Jiang Pei was indeed very popular now. Her posters and advertisements could be seen everywhere, with her fair skin, beautiful appearance, long legs, pure and charming smile, and angelic voice, she was hailed by the media as the new generation’s queen. Even the two of them, who were usually uninterested in entertainment news, could often see Jiang Pei’s figure online.

Noticing that Xu Jing’s expression had changed, Yan Zhe widened his eyes and asked in surprise, “Jing-ge, do you like Aiden too?”

Xu Jing said, “I’ve had dinner with her.”

His tone was as calm as if he had just eaten a meal, but Yan Zhe and Lin Jiayu were not so calm. They were silent for two seconds, and then simultaneously burst out with sharp screams, “What?!”

“…”

Xu Jing felt like his ears had died for a moment.

“What did I just hear? Am I hallucinating? Lin Jiayu, is it April Fool’s Day today?”

This was no less shocking than Xu Jing liking men.

Lin Jiayu was also stunned and said in disbelief, “Jing-ge, are you serious?”

“Yeah, Shen Yan knows her.”

“Damn it!”

The two people who were originally next to Xu Jing instantly flashed to Shen Yan’s side, acting like bodyguards with flattering and fawning expressions. “Shen Yan, do you really know Aiden? Can you get us two autographed photos, please, please?”

…What a bunch of losers.

Xu Jing turned his head, unable to look at them. He really didn’t want to admit that he knew these two.

Shen Yan nodded and said, “I can.”

Lin Jiayu and Yan Zhe immediately jumped up and down with joy, so excited that they wanted to put their arms around Shen Yan’s shoulders, but when they were about to touch him, they both shrank back sheepishly.

Forget it, they still didn’t dare.

In the end, they chose a newly opened seafood stall for dinner. Yan Zhe and Lin Jiayu were typical opportunists. They had been wary of Shen Yan just an hour ago, but now they were as familiar as brothers, bragging to the heavens.

But Shen Yan didn’t seem to mind. There was no impatient look on his face. Xu Jing wondered when this guy’s temper had gotten so good.

But in fact, Yan Zhe and Lin Jiayu were talking about their glorious achievements in junior high school, from skipping classes to go to internet cafes to fighting. Xu Jing, who seemed like a model student, hadn’t missed out on any of these bad deeds. Shen Yan listened quietly the whole time, but Xu Jing felt that he was more attentive now than he was in school.

Halfway through the meal, Xu Jing went out to pay the bill and went to the restroom. While he was washing his hands, a man quietly appeared next to him.

His footsteps were very light, and his movements were very refined. Xu Jing looked up at the mirror and frowned slightly.

He was sure that he had never seen this man before, but this face made him feel inexplicably familiar.

“Are you Xu Jing?” the man said in a gentle and deep voice, slowly wiping his hands with a paper towel.

Xu Jing stared at the person in front of him, his tone a little cold. “Who are you?”

The man looked Xu Jing up and down with scrutinizing eyes, but didn’t answer. Instead, he asked, “How has Shen Yan been lately?”

As soon as he said this, Xu Jing’s face immediately changed.

He finally knew where that sense of familiarity came from. The man’s eyebrows and eyes were extremely similar to Shen Yan’s, but his eyes had a bit more shrewdness and coldness.

Not surprisingly, this person should be Shen Yan’s father.

Shen Linzhi looked at Xu Jing’s expression, knowing that the other person had already guessed his identity. He smiled slightly and said, “Hello, let me introduce myself. My name is Shen Linzhi, and I’m Shen Yan’s father.”

Xu Jing didn’t give him any face and said bluntly, “What are you here for? Looking for a beating?”

Shen Linzhi didn’t get angry when he heard this. The smile on his face actually deepened. “Did he tell you about the past?”

Xu Jing glanced at the private room, and as he looked away, he took a few steps forward, staring directly at Shen Linzhi with a sharp look in his eyes. He said in a low voice, “Shen Yan won’t hit you, but that doesn’t mean I won’t. Stay away from him, or I’ll beat you every time I see you.”

A low laugh came again. Shen Linzhi clicked his tongue lightly, his tone somewhat lecturing. “Young people, you’re still too confident.”

Then, he raised his hand and patted Xu Jing’s shoulder, saying word by word in a voice that only the two of them could hear, “Don’t forget, I know about your relationship.”

Shen Linzhi leisurely walked past Xu Jing and out of the restroom, leaving the person behind him with clenched fists, his knuckles slightly white.

He regretted it. He should have punched him five minutes ago. Why did he waste his breath?