414: 8.14 Lost Treasure

8.14 Lost Treasure

No, wait a second. For starters, how could Ailín be so certain that the energy he detected came from Lu Yizhou? What if it was Ozzie? After all, she was a cat familiar and she was not a human. Could her energy be mistaken as Lu Yizhou's, causing Ailín to be confused? But at this point, he should have known that Ozzie was not an ordinary cat. Then why did he specifically point Lu Yizhou out?2

Or… was it because he was a transmigrator and that's why Ailín's skill card deemed him as a non-human aka someone who was not from this world? No, that's not right either. Lu Yizhou had taken Irene's identity so whatever Ailín sensed must be coming from Irene, not Lu Yizhou. And well, Lu Yizhou had always been suspicious that there was another transmigrator among them. 

But if that was the reason, why did Ailín sense Lu Yizhou alone and not the other transmigrator?

Or… was Ailín the transmigrator himself? Was that why he wanted to test Lu Yizhou using this method?

'Daddy,' Ozzie's voice rang inside his mind, having picked up the line of his thoughts. 'I don't think it's me. I don't understand what he means by 'energy' but I think it's similar to scent. It's just like how I smelled Mommy earlier. Her smell still lingers in this room, so is yours meow. And unfortunately, I do not give off anything like that meow~'

[666: W–What are you saying, little cat?! So you mean to say that Host is really not a human? If he's not a human, then what is he?!]

'Sheesh, that's one possibility, idiot! Anyway, the one who can't even access the original plot is not me~'

[666: You are so mean! Like father like daughter, both of you are ganging up to corner 666! QAQ]

"Why didn't you say anything?!" Olivia was getting more hysterical by each second Lu Yizhou stayed mum. She was scared but more than that, she looked so pleased with herself to finally dig a hole for Lu Yizhou to jump into. "See, we have caught her red-handed this time! This is all you guys' fault for not listening to me. I have always said that something is off with her! And her cat too, don't forget her stupid cat!"

'Stupid…?!' Ozzie hissed and bared her fangs. 'Just you wait, woman! How dare you say that to the great magical Ozzie?!'

"Look at how violent that cat is! I bet it will enter my room in the middle of the night to scratch my face!" Olivia accused passionately.

Lu Yizhou frowned and looked at the time. It was approaching the curfew Baines told them about. If she kept making such loud noises, then it wasn't impossible for the weird servant to come knocking on his door at any moment. He scooped the bristling Ozzie into his arms and stroked her fur, calmly sweeping his gaze around his so-called teammates who regarded her with different reactions.

"So what if I am, so what if I am not?" He said vaguely. 

Come to think of it, if Lu Yizhou wished to act alone, wouldn't this be the perfect opportunity to throw these people off his back? If he could convince them to leave him alone… maybe everything would be much easier.

"What do you mean by that?!" Olivia became increasingly zealous, her eyes seemed to be spitting fires. "Just yes or no, you can't even give a clear answer? Isn't this a blatant confession that you are indeed hiding something from us?!"

Bingo, Miss Olivia. Thank you very much for offering him this opportunity. The corner of Lu Yizhou's lips curled upward. Under the flickering candle, that smile looked mysterious yet eerie at the same time. Adding on to the red-eyed cat in his arms, his aura seemed to change in an instant, it sent shivers down everyone's spine. "I am indeed hiding something from you. In fact, I have no idea how I landed here, nor do I know about your so-called game and quest."

"But—But…" Ji Yan tried to argue. His face looked unusually pale, flustered. "You're a player! The system has recognized you as our teammates!"

"Well…" Lu Yizhou shrugged. "As Miss Olivia said, maybe I am an NPC disguising myself as a player."

Ji Yan's jaws dropped open at this confession, disbelieving. Without giving him any time to react, Lu Yizhou continued seamlessly, "I don't care about your quest, your mission, whatsoever. I am only here because I am looking for… something." It might be better for him not to divulge anything about his own mission. Lu Yizhou did not want any more obstacles to stand in his way to his lover. She had told him to find out her name for himself… so Lu Yizhou would do just that.

Alas, the universe seemed to hold another opinion on that matter because as soon as Lu Yizhou's sentence came out of his mouth, the system notification suddenly popped up like an uninvited ghost.

[[Congratulations! You have successfully triggered a hidden quest: Lost Treasure. Help Irene find out the treasure she has lost in this mansion ten years ago. If the mission is successful, the rewards will be given after the completion of the quest. There will be no penalty for failure.]]

In an instant, everyone's faces changed.

Lu Yizhou: "..." Fuck. He was only spouting nonsense but he managed to trigger another quest? Again?

"You—" This time Ji Yan was shocked into standing. "You are really an NPC!" He exclaimed, but this time the pallidness on his cheeks had been replaced with flush and his eyes were wide in excitement. "But not a bad NPC, definitely not the one Olivia has just talked about. You will be our additional clue in solving this game! Ten years ago… ten years ago was the year when Madam and Miss contracted the illness for the first time and coincidentally, you lost your treasure. These events must be connected to each other!"

"What have you lost?" Ailín asked. All of the wariness vanished in place of curiosity. Even Olivia seemed to sober up from her maniacal outburst and carefully surveyed Lu Yizhou, this time in a new light now that she was certain that Lu Yizhou wasn't an enemy.

Lu Yizhou heaved out a long sigh. "I don't know." If he knew, then there was no need for him to sit here and have a meaningless talk with these people. He'd rather fly to his lover's side in an instant.

"Of course, she doesn't know. Geez," Ji Yan waved his hand in exasperation. "This is a hidden quest! She must have gone through a horrible accident ten years ago and caused her to lose her memory or something. Isn't that right, Miss Irene?" His eyes when he looked at Lu Yizhou was filled with renewed vigor, even two times brighter than before.

The corner of Lu Yizhou's lips twitched. "...You are right." Let's just go along with whatever the protagonist said to make it easier.

"I knew it!" Perhaps it was because he was too excited, Ji Yan bounced over and clasped both of Lu Yizhou's hands in his. "I know that you will not—ouch!!" It was as if an invisible gale had just struck him right on his chest, sending him flying to the opposite couch. 

Ji Yan's eyes went as wide as saucers as she sprawled inelegantly with her skirt lifted to show the garter belt inside. "...Woah."

"Ji Yan!" Olivia was the one who rushed forward to help him up. "Are you okay?!" She scanned him up and down for injury, face distraught with concern. A sigh of relief escaped her lips when she found Ji Yan uninjured, only mildly shocked and maybe a few strands of hair burnt to a crisp. Her eyes were tinged with red when she turned to Lu Yizhou, full of accusations and anger. "What have you done?!"

Lu Yizhou blinked twice. He was certain he did not have any power like that at the moment so… His eyes landed on the thin crimson mark around her wrist. Who else it would be if not her? Lu Yizhou did not know whether to laugh or cry. No matter what kind of world they were in, his lover had always been possessive and territorial. 

She had even staked her claim on Lu Yizhou this early in the game!

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A/N: Just want to clarify in case you're getting confused:

Ten years ago: Madam and Miss started to contract an unknown illness

Miss was 10 yo

Irene coincidentally lost her treasure in this mansion around this timeline

Present: Miss is supposed to be 20 yo

Irene returned to take back her treasure

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