"Why aren’t you eating? Is the food not to your liking?" Fatty Zhang struggled to swallow, sitting stiffly at the table, with a vacant look in his eyes as he checked his system notification— [Critical plot trigger countdown: 5:48—] Only six minutes left, but he had no clue, completely at a loss on how to trigger the critical plot. The woman gently put down her chopsticks, stood up, went over to the kitchen counter, picked up a casserole from the stove, and returned to the table. The casserole was pushed in front of Fatty Zhang, and as he glanced inside, he saw the bubbling green viscous substance and turned even paler out of fear. He couldn’t leave the table because he was well aware that he was very, very close to triggering the critical plot. The woman picked up a porcelain spoon, scooped a bowl of the green soup, and offered it to Fatty Zhang, tilting her head with a smile, "Dapang, drink your medicine." The soup was still steaming with white vapor as it was slowly presented to Fatty Zhang. As it got closer, Fatty Zhang realized—the white vapor was not steam at all; it was a strong corrosive acidic substance that volatilized into smoke in the air! Just by smelling it from afar, Fatty Zhang felt a severe pain in his nose. If he drank it, his insides would surely rot away! "What’s the matter, Dapang? Why do you look like you’re about to cry?" The woman chuckled lightly, looking at Fatty Zhang’s face. "Why are you acting like a little kid, afraid of medicine? It’s okay, this medicine isn’t bitter at all. Don’t be scared, just hold your nose and it’ll go down in a second." Fatty Zhang trembled all over, screaming in his mind. His fear didn’t stop the woman; instead, it made the soup in her hands emit even stronger corrosive smoke. "Come on, open your mouth, ah—" The woman scooped a spoonful from the bowl, aiming for Fatty Zhang’s mouth. The woman’s hand shook unexpectedly, spilling some of the green soup onto the table corner. With a sizzle, the solid wood table corner was instantly corroded, leaving a hole the size of a fingernail. The woman looked regretfully at the hole, and with another slight shake, the green soup splattered toward Fatty Zhang’s toes. Fatty Zhang leaped up from his chair in fright, the chair legs scraping loudly against the floor. The woman coldly lifted her head, just in time to see Fatty Zhang waving his arms, knocking the bowl of soup from her hands. The bowl overturned onto the woman, and the steaming green soup, like snot, poured over her face, chest, and abdomen. The highly corrosive liquid instantly burned through the woman’s flesh, scorching several bloody holes in her cheeks. The skin around her eye sockets smoked and vanished, leaving behind grotesquely deformed eyeballs that dropped to the floor and rolled to Fatty Zhang’s feet. Fatty Zhang retreated in terror until he reached the corner of the wall, looking up to see a bloody, fleshy mass lunging at him with skeletonized hands. "Dapang, you’re dead." [*Short and Fat*: Err, Fatty Zhang went peacefully] [*ygs.qs*: Died at the start? I’m out, back to hanging around Jiu cilang, even if I’m blocked, that’s the only place that feels safe] On the spacious bed, Wen Nan lay there for a few seconds before sensing something was amiss. Just now, in that media room, Wen Nan was subjected to three hours of intense exercise under the "interrogation" of an investigator, breaking out in a sweat and feeling all hot. Suddenly transported here, his body shivered, feeling surprisingly comfortable. After a moment, he realized this comfort came from the place’s temperature— This place was too cold. This cold was different from the complete chill at Snow Mountain Villa. The chill in this room was like the feeling of sticking your head in a fridge on a hot day. Only the parts in close contact with the fridge felt cold. Currently, Wen Nan felt the cold mainly on his waist and abdomen— Which meant the woman lying next to him was emitting the cold. To ensure his "future generations’" health, Wen Nan grabbed her popsicle-like arm and pushed it off him. At the same time, his mind received the system notification of "trigger critical plot unlock instance theme," followed by a 15-minute countdown. Wen Nan chuckled softly. This was too easy. On a bed this big, spacious enough to be called "boundless," it was just him and the woman. Key information could only be on the woman, no doubt. Just as he was musing, the woman awoke, propped herself up beside him, and in a lazy, hoarse post-sleep voice, groggily asked: "Why up so early, hubby?" The word "hubby" made Wen Nan pause. He turned to see his shoulder where her fingers had touched already turning bluish purple, on the verge of frostbite. Wen Nan raised his hand, pushing her hand off his shoulder. Sensing Wen Nan resisting the skin contact, the woman beside him instantly turned frosty. "Hmph, now that it’s done, do you find me ugly?" Wen Nan immediately grabbed her hand, bringing it to his lips for a gentle kiss. The moment his lips met her icy skin, it was like licking a cold popsicle; his lips stuck directly to her skin. Wen Nan yanked his lips away, tearing off a thin layer of lip skin. Seemingly unfazed, Wen Nan smiled at her, "Wife, you’re a real ice beauty, dazzling and captivating. I’m barely able to control myself." His words brought a smile back to the woman’s originally frosty face. She curved her lips, tracing Wen Nan’s lip with a fingertip and asked, "How much can’t you control?" Wen Nan surveyed her from head to toe, thinking, aside from being extremely cold, his surprise-wife had a body that could only be described as perfect. She resembled a Venus sculpture, with defined curves, exquisite and delicate skin like snow, embellished with a hint of red like two cherries fallen on a snowy ground. Wen Nan couldn’t help but lean down to that spot... The woman, taken aback, inhaled sharply, her skin lifting, gently pushed at Wen Nan’s chest, "Wasn’t last night enough? If we continue, you’ll miss the morning meeting" Wen Nan remained unmoved. He wasn’t actually driven by animal desire to do that with a complete stranger "wife", he was just dealing with the same issue as a southern child licking an iron fence in the northeastern winter. He tugged a couple of times, making the "iron fence" rustle. Awkwardness persisted for a moment, and finally, Wen Nan gritted his teeth and sat up with force. A tearing sound followed as the surface of his tongue ripped, filling his mouth with a metallic tang. Swallowing down the saliva mixed with blood, Wen Nan heard the system’s notification in his mind— 9527: [Congratulations, contestant! Successfully triggered the critical plot—sparking the ice beauty’s passion.] 9527: [Unlocking instance theme and character information for you shortly...] Hearing the prompts in his mind, Wen Nan raised an eyebrow. This triggered the unlock? As he was thinking, his wife huffed coquettishly, rubbed her chest, and then pulled the nightgown over herself, wrapping up tightly. Wen Nan glanced at her finger-rubbed spot with interest. His wife noticed his gaze and pretended to pout and lift her foot. Her rounded toes tapped Wen Nan’s waist, like someone poking with an ice pop, prompting a shiver, making him grab her ankle in warning. Try as she might, his wife couldn’t free her foot from Wen Nan’s grip and had to relent. "I’m sorry, hubby, please let go. If we go on, I truly can’t take it anymore." Wen Nan rubbed her foot, cold and smooth, intending to do more when the system notification sounded in his mind— 9527: [Congratulations, contestant, successfully completed a mid-level instance, and welcome!] 9527: [New map "Living with a Sickly" has been opened.] 9527: [This map is a high-level instance, difficulty level: LV.11.] Wen Nan was slightly stunned. A high-level instance? The difficulty was at level 11? This meant the stunningly beautiful, icy woman in front of him was his sickly wife he was living with?