Being A Beautiful Cannon Fodder In A Horror Story [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 3

Bai Xinjian stared at the gardener for a long time, until the man packed up his tools and carried his toolbox out of sight.

“What are you looking at?” 0048 asked.

“Who is that?” Bai Xinjian asked, watching the direction the gardener had left in.

“He is just a servant. Bai Yu’s setting is that of a lazy vase, so you certainly cannot expect him to manage such a large garden by himself.”

That made sense. However, when the gardener had left, Bai Xinjian felt he had caught a familiar, fishy stench coming from him. It was very similar to the scent of the blood left behind by the unfortunate one he had smelled at the hospital. Strangely, Bai Xinjian suddenly felt the scent was not unpleasant. Aside from the smell of salted fish and rotten eggs, he faintly detected the fragrance of flowers within it.

What kind of flower was it?

Bai Xinjian took a step forward and saw that the garden corners were covered in large patches of the same dark-colored roses. These flowers were beautiful and exquisite, with petals that possessed a deep black velvet texture, while the centers were deep red. They looked like a demon from the abyss holding a heart of flame. Bai Xinjian leaned over and took a sniff.

“So fragrant,” he sighed softly.

He straightened up, stepped through the flower beds, left the garden, and walked into the exquisite little house. He did not know that in a corner behind him, a dark blue eye was watching him without blinking.

Back inside, Bai Xinjian did not have to do anything. He only needed to play the part of a useless vase who was restless due to concerns for his husband on the front lines. The television in the living room was still playing news about public protests; the people wanted the Alliance to let General Shen Yuhuai appear, even if it was just for a glance. The front lines claimed victory, but a military general had yet to show his face. In such times, it was easy to cause panic among the people.

Ding dong.

The doorbell of the villa rang. This was a military housing complex where outsiders did not typically enter, and security at the gate was strict. It was highly likely someone from within the neighborhood was at the door. Su Qin was still busy in the kitchen, so Bai Xinjian had to answer the door himself to maintain his persona. He first activated the visual doorbell.

The face of an ordinary man wearing a top hat appeared on the monitor. Seeing Bai Xinjian turn on the camera, the mustachioed man’s eyes lit up. He quickly removed his hat, bowed to the camera, and gave a gentlemanly salute.

“Mr. Bai,” the man said gently, “do you remember me? I am Lionel from the Alliance military department. I heard you caught a small cold a few days ago and were discharged today. I specifically asked my wife to bring back some supplements while she was out shopping.”

“Hand them over to me,” a voice interrupted from behind Lionel.

The man wore a military uniform with an Alliance badge on his shoulder, the same style as the one Bai Xinjian had seen on a jacket hanging in the living room. Bai Xinjian knew that jacket belonged to the original host’s husband, Shen Yuhuai. 0048 had said the lover he needed to seduce worked in the war zone adjacent to Shen Yuhuai’s, making him a future rival. Bai Xinjian compared the badge on the man’s shoulder to the one on the jacket; there were slight differences. He confirmed this man was his future lover, the supporting male lead of this novel: Gu Yue.

In truth, this was a Danmei novel from the Flower City platform disguised as a horror story. 0048 had already explained this. The original story was about the apocalypse and a Zerg invasion, where a genius youth led the Alliance military to repel the bugs and organized a research institute to develop a cure for pollutant infection, saving the world. The Transmigration Bureau’s goal was to counter the protagonist and let the monster devour the world. According to 0048, the monster was too strong, and many worlds had shown abnormal energy signals; if these monsters were not handled, the worlds would be in danger.

Every world is a story. Bai Xinjian had read books on quantum many worlds theory, so he did not doubt the existence of parallel universes. He accepted this situation and his status as a laborer well. He would do whatever the system told him.

“The protagonist is a man who charms everyone. Gu Yue is one of his harem members, but initially, he will be entangled with you. Mainly, you like him, but he does not have feelings for you. He only finds you pitiful because you are alone at home without a husband. Later, your entanglement will drive your monster husband into a frenzy.”

“Of course, since this is a Flower City story, appropriate logic and morals are to be discarded. During this time, you will inevitably have interactions with Gu Yue. Unfortunately.”

0048 paused. “We have censorship blockers and a protection system from the Transmigration Bureau. Even if something happens between you and Gu Yue, the memory will only appear blurry and censored in Gu Yue’s mind. In other words, Gu Yue will feel that something happened, but in reality, nothing will.”

Bai Xinjian sighed, “Your company has great benefits.”

0048 shed electronic tears of emotion for its qualified laborer once again.

Outside, Gu Yue had already shooed the mustachioed man away. Holding the gift box, he spoke politely to the camera, “Mr. Bai, I have sent that man away. I will leave the supplements he gave you outside the garden. You can take them if you need them.” He straightened his tie and prepared to leave.

“Wait!” Bai Xinjian suddenly called out. He had previously opened only a one way intercom, but now he turned on his camera. His fair face appeared on the monitor. Gu Yue stopped in his tracks. Bai Xinjian’s face was truly a gift from the gods. He looked at the camera with red rimmed, pitiful eyes, “Captain Gu, I am a little scared. Do you have time to come in for a cup of tea? Just to keep me company and talk for a while.”

Gu Yue hesitated, then agreed. He had heard of his neighbor before moving in. He knew who Shen Yuhuai was, the famous General of the Alliance’s Falcon War Zone. Gu Yue had previously worked in Cowick, a former frontline city filled with unfortunate ones. After suppressing a civilian riot, he was transferred to the capital. Through his father’s connections, he joined the Amber War Zone. While he regretted not serving under Shen Yuhuai, it meant more possibilities for his future.

Privately, he despised Shen Yuhuai’s profit oriented nature and his political marriage. He had heard that Shen Yuhuai’s young husband had been pampered since childhood and was very arrogant. In university, his grades were poor; he studied the home economics major that anyone could pass, and he only got his diploma because his family paid a fortune. How stupid must one be to do that?

However, as the number of infected unfortunate ones grew, even elite institutions like Imperial University added home economics programs, ostensibly to help soldiers find spouses, but in reality, it was just a low class tactic by the government to cut costs. The world was already chaotic; nothing was surprising anymore. Even with his disdain for Shen Yuhuai’s husband, when the invitation came, Gu Yue found himself stepping into the home of a married man without much thought.

As he walked into the garden, which looked no different from the others, Gu Yue felt something was wrong. He felt eyes watching him from the shadows, direct and filled with intense emotion. Perhaps it was his battle hardened instincts, but Gu Yue had inhuman intuition. He turned and scanned the garden, seeing nothing unusual. Was it really just an illusion?

He walked through the garden with doubts. Only then did he realize that the garden’s full appearance differed from his first impression. He lived next door; his garden had no flowers and was overgrown with weeds. Yet, this garden was filled with flowers, and even the leaves looked lush and beautiful. Most striking were the Black Baccara roses everywhere. Gu Yue knew this flower. An ornamental rose with the language: gentle sincerity, one and only. It was incredible that such a dark rose had such a romantic, pure meaning. Moreover, while Black Baccara were easy to grow, they were hard to maintain well. Clearly, every rose in this garden was thriving. Beautiful, enchanting, and carrying a bewitching, rich scent, they compelled one to stop and linger.

Gu Yue stood in a daze for quite a while until he heard a soft voice calling from the door, “Captain Gu?”

Gu Yue snapped back to reality and continued walking. A young, beautiful man wearing a light colored sweater was leaning against the doorway waiting for him. It was neither cold nor hot, perfect for a sweater. Perhaps it was because the sweater was too big, or because he had been ill, the young man had become thinner. The sweater hung loosely, revealing a large expanse of his smooth, delicate collarbones. Gu Yue glanced at them once and subconsciously looked away.

“Please come in, Captain Gu,” Bai Xinjian smiled, his eyes curving. “I have already brewed some tea. Do you prefer black tea with honey or milk?”

Gu Yue did not like black tea that required time to pair with desserts; he only wanted to sit for a moment and leave. Therefore, he simply said, “Anything.”

He did not expect that this afternoon visit would be full of accidents. First, he felt a bit dizzy, causing him to spill the hot black tea Bai Xinjian handed him all over the table and his uniform. Then, Bai Xinjian rushed into the bedroom to get him a set of Shen Yuhuai’s clothes to change into, but for some reason, he suddenly seemed uncoordinated, unable to even take off his own clothes, nearly suffocating because his collar got twisted around his neck.

Gu Yue gave up. He stood in the bathroom belonging to Shen Yuhuai and Bai Yu, looking at himself in the mirror, feeling momentarily lost. He suddenly remembered that all these things happened because he had spent time smelling the Black Baccara flowers in the garden. Are the flowers in the garden problematic?

Gu Yue suddenly sobered up. It must be it! His mother loved gardening; he remembered her telling him that Black Baccara roses do not have a rich scent, it was a characteristic of the species. But the ones in Bai Yu’s garden smelled dangerously intoxicating. There was definitely something wrong here.