Playing the Foolish Beauty in a Deadly Game - Chapter 87

His inhalation was not very deep; his delicate waist only trembled slightly. He had thought that a hug might be enough to get rid of this group of people, but now it seemed to be a wrong approach, and he should use it less in the future.

Lin Qiao looked as if he were in distress, and his clumsy appearance did not seem like someone who would take the initiative to offer favors. The man who could no longer bear it hugged Lin Qiao tighter and hinted, “You can use your body to…”

Lin Qiao’s eyes widened behind his glasses: “You, are you going to mummify me, grind me into powder, and put me in a bottle?”

The supervisor holding Lin Qiao stiffened all over, although only for a moment, but it was still precisely captured by Lin Qiao. The supervisor laughed and said, “Don’t pretend to be innocent. I know you understand. You’re not a child anymore since you’ve come this far.”

Lin Qiao was not the type to feign innocence and act helpless. He noticed something was off with the mummy in the thug’s hand. On the surface, Lin Qiao still looked puzzled, not pretending at all.

It wasn’t until he was slapped on the buttocks a few times that his face turned pale, and he struggled desperately, crying out in pain, “Don’t bite me like Mr. Deladen. It feels so strange.”

“My stomach hurts…”

Lin Qiao’s strong reaction startled the three supervisors. Lin Qiao’s initial willingness to be hugged had led them to believe he was a passionate girl. Little did they know, he was just a naive fool.

The “initiative to hug” was neither flirting nor taking the lead; it was simply an act of obedience and naivety. Lin Qiao was already crying, hiding his face in the supervisor’s embrace, clutching the other’s clothes in a show of dependence. He didn’t seem forced, yet he cried so sorrowfully, quietly shedding tears. Even the supervisors, who were used to seeing the weak cry, felt a pang of sympathy and heartache.

Lin Qiao whispered softly, “I don’t understand. Do you know what Deladen would do to me? It’s so strange that he’s a man just like Deladen…”

The supervisor realized something and tore open Lin Qiao’s clothes. There were bruises all over, but his chest was particularly flat.

“Has Claurus also started this kind of business, dealing in young… boys?”

“Why didn’t she tell us? Damn it, this is a boy.”

The supervisor wanted to pull Lin Qiao down, but Lin Qiao wrapped his legs tightly around the other person. He looked straight into the other’s eyes and asked, “I won’t go to heaven after I die, right? God will never bless me again, right?”

The supervisor stopped, at a loss for how to answer the two questions. They grew up in the squalid and sinful slums and knew all about such things. There were even many brothels that engaged in this kind of trade.

But Lin Qiao looked so young, innocent, and fragile, forced onto this path at an age when he didn’t understand anything. It was indeed a bit uncomfortable.

But what could be done? It was better than starving to death.

“Listen, kid, serving women is better than serving men. Maybe you should let Claurus introduce you to some noble ladies…”

The supervisor fell silent as he spoke, unable to continue. Brothels that provided services to women required the men to not only look good but also have the right physique.

Lin Qiao’s appearance was just too… too unlike someone who could dominate a woman.

“It’s okay, you’ll grow. Just eat more and exercise…”

The supervisor fell silent again. Claurus had already provided Lin Qiao to Deladen once, proving that she indeed wanted Lin Qiao to serve men. Moreover, Claurus was not the type to raise Lin Qiao without expecting anything in return. The male supervisors, putting themselves in Lin Qiao’s shoes, felt a chill run through their scalps.

For the first time, the usually unkind supervisors felt somewhat at a loss.

“A child who believes that doing good deeds will earn a pat on the head from a fairy, only to find out that he has been abandoned by God and experienced the twisted affection of someone with a sick mind…”

Sweet, another supervisor, emerged from a room down the corridor with a disheveled girl by his side—Tiana from yesterday. It was unclear how long they had been listening behind the room, but now they appeared with sympathy for Lin Qiao.

Lin Qiao suddenly slid down from the supervisor’s body and threw himself into Tiana’s arms, tearfully calling out, “Sister.”

The others thought, “Sigh, Qiao this little imp really likes women, doesn’t he?”

Tiana, however, believed that Lin Qiao had no ulterior motives towards her and was just a slow and naive fool. Lin Qiao must have been terrified yesterday, and his injuries were still so severe that Tiana’s maternal instincts overflowed.

Lin Qiao knew that his smaller body looked harmless and would not arouse a girl’s defenses but instead make her more tender-hearted. Of course, Lin Qiao felt a little embarrassed when he used his appearance, well… just a tiny bit embarrassed.

Sweet couldn’t help but marvel, “Beautiful little imp, you’re not much older than the children you saved today, are you?”

“I don’t know what you were thinking, daring to jump into the river to save people.”

Sweet recounted the events by the river today, also moved by Lin Qiao’s earlier cries.

They had no power to help Lin Qiao escape from here. If there was anyone to blame, it was that they were not nobles or wealthy people but born as the scum of the slums.

The group mocked Lin Qiao’s recklessness, and upon hearing that he intended to bring biscuits to the women in the backyard, they laughed again.

Lin Qiao pursed his lips, “Stop laughing at me. I… I will do more good deeds in the future, and God will forgive me.”

Lin Qiao was not angry. Although the people in front of him were laughing, their expressions were bitter and heart-wrenching. They tried to put on a disdainful attitude to arm themselves but failed in front of Lin Qiao.

None of them realized that their attitude towards Lin Qiao had become much gentler and more trusting. The three supervisors no longer touched Lin Qiao inappropriately. Tiana even offered her precious ointment to Lin Qiao, and Sweet personally took Lin Qiao to visit the woman locked in the stable.

Lin Qiao’s long dress made walking difficult, so he lifted it and took big steps. Sweet glanced at his bare legs and couldn’t help but scold, “Put your dress down!”

Lin Qiao slowly let go, looking quite wronged. Even without a crinoline, such a long and voluminous Western dress was hard to walk in.

The brothel’s stable was in decent condition. At least it wasn’t drafty everywhere, and the roof didn’t leak. The smell, however, was not pleasant, and the lighting was poor.

Enduring the overwhelming stench, one could only see a dark interior. The horses had all been taken out for use, and the only person left in the stable was “Di Qian,” tied up there.

Lin Qiao finally saw the girl who was likely another player. Her dress had been torn off, leaving only a few rags around her body. Her hair was disheveled, covering her face. Her hands were tied behind her back, but there were no wounds on her body. Her skin was fair, but it was covered in mud, especially on her feet, where the black mud reached her ankles.

Hmm… it seemed the mud on her feet wasn’t painted on. She must have run outside and succeeded. Strangely, for some reason, she ran back.

Even in the darkness, Lin Qiao could sense the girl’s wariness. The moment he entered, her body had twitched slightly, as if she was startled by someone’s approach. But in reality, Di Qian had already prepared to attack. It was only after seeing Lin Qiao’s “Oriental” face that she abandoned the assault.

Without Lin Qiao having to speak first, Di Qian said directly, “You must be a player, right? The mission this time is to cooperate and find clues. There’s no competitive relationship, so we have no conflicting interests.”

When players revealed information about the horror game, NPCs’ ears would automatically replace the content with something else. So Di Qian wasn’t afraid of exposing herself in front of NPCs. Instead, she used this method to test Lin Qiao’s identity.

“We’re both female players, and it’s more convenient to act together.”

“As you can see, I ran out yesterday and found some clues.”

Di Qian’s guard was probably lowered because of Lin Qiao’s current cross-dressing and harmless appearance. Or perhaps she was pretending to be relaxed, guiding Lin Qiao’s trust and revealing her own value at the same time.

It turned out that Di Qiao, like Lin Qiao, was dropped into the brothel after entering the game. Lin Qiao was sent out, while Di Qiao stayed behind. While Lin Qiao was cleaning outside and being picked by guests, Di Qiao was receiving guests inside the brothel.

Di Qiao, being a girl, naturally resisted fiercely when encountering such a situation, which led to her being locked in the stable. However, Di Qiao soon found an opportunity to escape and didn’t return until half an hour ago.

Since Mrs. Claurus had instructed that no food should be given, no one noticed Di Qiao’s brief escape. Likely, no one expected a commoner from the slums to have such audacity, nor did they think a woman could break free from such thick ropes and escape without alerting any supervisors.

Di Qiao stopped here, clearly not wanting to spill everything: “So, are you going to cooperate with me?”

“Okay,” Lin Qiao agreed.

Di Qiao’s expression became extremely strange: “Wait, you’re a guy?”

Lin Qiao nodded. He didn’t deliberately hide his voice, but at this age, Lin Qiao hadn’t yet changed his voice, and his clear, soft voice wasn’t easily recognizable.

Di Qiao laughed: “Hahahahaha, I was saying this game is messed up, putting girls in a brothel with sinister intentions. I didn’t expect a boy like you to be here too. Hahaha uh… it seems even more sinister now.”

Lin Qiao didn’t see what was so funny. The horror game had always been called a gay game in Lin Qiao’s experience, so such a move wasn’t surprising.

After agreeing to cooperate, Di Qiao revealed her clues: “The way I got the clues was very simple—I got beaten up by society.”

“There is no orphanage in this game, and this game does not allow using points to exchange for any currency.”

“Yesterday, I went out with no money and asked around for the location of the orphanage. They don’t have orphanages here; they only have poorhouses.”

“In the end, I almost got caught and taken into the poorhouse, so I had no choice but to run back.”