Chapter 99: Digging to the Bottom

“I… I am…” Chen Xiaoyan was caught off guard and stammered nervously for a long time.

The Landlady took Chen Xiaoyan’s nervousness as shyness.

She glanced at the keys in his hand and instantly understood.

A knowing smile played at the corners of her mouth.

“301’s young man is a good kid, just that he almost never goes out. Girl, you need to talk to him more, alright?”

“Huh?” Chen Xiaoyan was completely dumbfounded, and quickly shook his head, “Auntie, I’m not—”

“Hey~ Auntie has been around the block, I can tell.” The Landlady cut him off, giving him a meaningful look, gesturing at the keys in his hand.

As if to say, you’ve already got the keys, what’s the point of denying it now?

Chen Xiaoyan’s face twitched.

He knew any more explanation would be pointless, so he had no choice but to agree.

“Don’t worry, Auntie, I’ll talk to him.”

“Good, then Auntie won’t disturb you two.” The Landlady, wearing her ‘auntie smile’, went downstairs.

Chen Xiaoyan looked at the keys in his hand, caught between laughter and tears.

With the Landlady Auntie’s big mouth, probably everyone within several miles would know he’d brought a girlfriend home to live together.

This is just—

This is self-sabotage.

Today was the only day this month that Chen Xiaoyan had properly cooked a full meal.

Old hen soup with codonopsis and red dates, braised crucian carp, and a plate of fresh greens.

Especially the chicken soup, the aroma was simply unbeatable—no takeout could compare.

Chicken soup is served.

After a delicious meal, he changed out of women’s clothes, took a shower, and then lounged under the air conditioner playing with his phone.

He idly browsed the news and the gaming forums.

Having played the game in semi-isolation for a month, he was curious what others thought of Xianjie now.

Chen Xiaoyan curiously searched the keyword “Xianjie” on Baidu.

“Shocking! The Developer of Xianjie Game Company Remains a Mystery (Details)”

“Official Investigates Xianjie Game Company, Why Can’t They Find Anything? (Details)”

“Shocking! Xianjie Game Helmet Cannot Be Transferred, Millionaire Holds His Head and Wails!!! (Details)”

“A Review of Faction Powers in Xianjie”

“Xianjie Player Discussion Group”

……

Chen Xiaoyan clicked on the faction review article and found the author seemed to have quite a bit of information.

Almost all of the analysis was correct.

Unfortunately, it was all surface-level information.

He then clicked on the second news item.

Apparently, about a week after Xianjie launched, the Official sent people to investigate the company behind the game, but couldn’t find a single clue.

This was truly puzzling.

The Official isn’t some private entity—it represents the power of the nation.

Such a powerful force couldn’t even track down the Xianjie Game Company?

What is going on here?

Could Xianjie really be an alien product?

Chen Xiaoyan didn’t dwell on it, and continued to scroll through the next page.

Millionaire holding his head and wailing?

Game helmet bound to DNA and cannot be transferred?

“Isn’t this just clickbait?” Chen Xiaoyan muttered to himself.

He clicked in to see a huge high-definition image.

In the picture, a young man in a suit was kneeling on the ground, clutching his head in agony.

Next to him were a few words.

(Dream shattered)

Chen Xiaoyan just laughed it off, browsed a few more Xianjie news articles, and finally went to the game forum.

By now, the game forum had over a million registered users.

Nearly every sect’s thread was filled with complaints and demands for Xianjie Game Company to increase the number of game slots.

This made it hard for actual players to use the forum normally.

As soon as you posted something, it was buried by a flood of idle chatter. What was the point?

Might as well shout into the void.

However, Chen Xiaoyan noticed a post pinned to the top of the forum by the Forum Moderator.

“Xianjie Player Group”

The forum’s founder, the Forum Moderator, was apparently ready to give up on the forum and switch to a Penguin Group.

To join the group, you had to verify you were a Xianjie player—and the verification was done in-game.

Chen Xiaoyan sent a join request, then exited the forum.

He didn’t know just how much shock and trouble his application would cause for the group’s review managers.

That afternoon, with nothing else to do, Chen Xiaoyan decided to get some exercise.

Lying in bed all day every day would lead to problems sooner or later.

One minute later…

Chen Xiaoyan had done ten push-ups before collapsing breathlessly onto the bed.

He was starting to doubt his life choices.

He used to be able to do at least twenty or thirty push-ups as a baseline.

Now he could only manage ten—had his physical condition really deteriorated so fast?

Clearly, he needed to work out harder.

Just as Chen Xiaoyan was about to get up and continue, a wave of fatigue washed over him, and after hesitating, he lay back down.

He pulled the air-conditioned quilt over himself, getting ready for a nap.

Forget it. I’ll exercise tomorrow.

(Willpower –1)

Central State, a certain villa.

Mu Qingxue, dressed in a cool lace nightgown, sat on the sofa exuding endless allure.

She held a dossier in her hand, her expression icy cold.

Chen Xiaoyan, male, 24, unemployed, single, only child, graduate of a third-rate university in Qingzhou.

ID:

Phone number: 1755***

Father: Chen Wei, Mother: Deng Xiaoxiao.

“Lingling, are you sure you didn’t make a mistake?” Mu Qingxue put down the dossier and shot a cold glance at the female bodyguard beside her.

“Miss, there’s no mistake. Unless this Penguin account isn’t his, but I think that’s unlikely. Look, ‘Chen Xiaoyan’ and ‘Chen Xiaoyan’ differ by just one character—it can’t be such a coincidence.”

Mu Qingxue said nothing, silently staring at the photo on the dossier.

This photo looked nothing like the person in the game.

How could it possibly be the same person?

But that single-character difference in their names left her unsure.

Today was the first time she’d ever missed a game session.

Although she had informed everyone, she had never missed one before—so why today?

Did something happen? Or was there some other reason?

Mu Qingxue was nervous, eager to know the truth, and also worried that something had happened to Chen Xiaoyan in real life. So she’d sent Sanxue to investigate his Penguin account.

Penguin accounts are all linked to bank cards and require real-name verification. With the power of the Family of Mu, investigating was a piece of cake.

But the result of the investigation was something she could not accept.

The breathtaking beauty who had fascinated her in-game turned out to be a man?

No, that was impossible.

There must be a mistake somewhere.

Yet, that nearly identical name felt like a slap in the face.

Reminding her that this was reality.

Even so, Mu Qingxue refused to believe it.

Because Xianjie wasn’t just any game—you couldn’t change your gender, let alone your appearance.

If it was a man, how could he fool the game system?

“Lingling, with their skills, could they hack into Xianjie?”

Mu Qingxue looked at the female bodyguard with hope and anxiety.

By ‘they,’ she meant the network technicians employed by the Family of Mu, who specialized in handling various internet issues and defending against hackers.

The female bodyguard shook her head.

If even these professionals couldn’t do it, then Chen Xiaoyan, an ordinary person, stood no chance.

“Maybe Chen Xiaoyan is a relative. Lingling, go check his relatives—see if there’s a Chen Xiaoyan.”

“And if there isn’t?”

A sharp glint flashed in Mu Qingxue’s beautiful eyes.

If not?

If not, she would have to verify for herself who this Chen Xiaoyan really was.