The jar was moved aside, revealing an old wooden plank door on the floor. Beneath it, there seemed to be some kind of space.
Xunian reached out and knocked on it; inside sounded hollow.
“Could there be danger in there?”
Fu Ruxue looked at Xunian nervously, her blinking quickening without her noticing.
“Then… will you wait for me above?”
“All right.”
Fu Ruxue agreed quickly.
The wooden door was lifted, releasing a musty, moldy scent from the damp wood.
An ancient wooden ladder stood upright in the opening, looking quite aged.
The ladder led down into pitch darkness.
“Creak, creak—”
Suddenly, the ladder snapped. Before she could react, her body lost support.
Xunian saw the light above rapidly receding, and like a rag, she fell hard onto the ground.
She only had time to press her full weight against the wall to lessen the impact, landing heavily.
She was scraped in several places, and a sharp pain radiated from her ankle.
She had already fallen once in the restroom earlier; now with fresh injuries on old wounds, the intense pain sent a shiver through her body, slowing her breathing.
“Xunian? Are you okay?”
Fu Ruxue’s ethereal voice echoed from above in the darkness.
Xunian lay on the ground for a moment before raising her voice to reply,
“I’m fine.”
“That’s good.”
Fu Ruxue crouched at the opening, glancing suspiciously into the abyss, worry flickering in her eyes.
Is she really all right?
……
In the basement.
The person on the ground reached out to steady herself against the wall, dragging her injured leg as she got up, brushing dust off her pants. Limping, she headed into the darkness.
“Drip, drip.”
In the silent darkness, the crisp sound of water droplets echoed.
The wind howled in her ears, the emptiness around her. Xunian leaned against the wall, her eyes quickly adjusting to the dark.
The inky blackness gradually cleared enough for faint shapes to emerge.
A wooden table was just within reach; not far off, a bed could be vaguely seen. The basement was furnished like the other rooms; the only difference was…
Her gaze fixed on the wall opposite.
Hanging on the wall was a complete set of torture devices. Next to it, a massive execution guillotine occupied a large space, upon which something blurry rested.
On the table was a box of matches. She picked it up and lit the candleholder, slipping the rest into her pocket.
Her sweet but somewhat cold face flickered in the dim candlelight, strands of hair casting shadows on the wall.
The flickering flame illuminated the surroundings faintly but clearly enough for her to see what was on the guillotine.
The candle flickered; Xunian tightened her grip, her pupils shrinking sharply.
On the bloodstained guillotine, a head with braided hair spun its eyeballs wildly. A streak of fresh red blood ran across its forehead.
At the moment it saw her, its eyes were filled with hatred, seemingly losing all reason.
“Cluck cluck cluck cluck… you killed me, it was you…”
The maid’s severed head’s two braids puffed out and then unraveled; the hair ties snapped and flew off, hundreds of black strands twisting and writhing in the air like living things, shifting unpredictably.
The delicate face twisted into a grotesque mask of blue skin and fangs. Some strands touched the ground, accompanied by an eerie wind that suddenly appeared, sweeping toward Xunian.
She instinctively stepped back, her injured foot pressing down on the ground, sending a jolt of pain throughout her body.
“Hiss—”
She hissed softly, biting her lip, choosing to face the flying terrifying head directly.
The dagger she kept in her sleeve had already fallen in the kitchen. Clashing with the head barehanded now was tantamount to certain death.
Xunian clenched her teeth to stay clear-headed, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth.
She tightened her grip on the candleholder, eyes fixed on the head lunging at her.
She reached out, using the candleholder to block it; the light flashed, hindering the head’s advance.
The head fell to the ground but immediately bounced back.
The scattered hair surged as one, black strands wrapped around her arm and instantly tightened, leaving marks.
The blood-red grotesque head opened its wide mouth, biting fiercely at Xunian’s restrained arm.
Though her hand was trapped, Xunian was still bitten hard; the sharp teeth pierced the skin, sending a sharp sting.
She gave up resisting and said, “Maid! Your room’s dirty and you haven’t cleaned yet!”
The hair wrapped around her arm loosened a tiny bit.
Was that effective?!
Xunian’s lips turned pale from the pain. She continued, “If you don’t clean, the Duke will dock your wages!”
Hearing the word “Duke,” the bite on her arm deepened, pain intensifying.
Sweating coldly from the agony, she tried again, “Butler…”
“Hiss—”
The teeth nearly pierced to the bone.
Xunian forced herself to think hard—what did the maid care about?
Right, the maid’s room!
A flash of inspiration struck her mind, and she shouted, “Don’t forget to deliver the bread to Miss!”
The pressure on her arm suddenly lifted, and the hair untangled.
The maid’s head fell to the floor, eyes shut tightly. Her freckled, playful, and cute face was stained with some blood.
Her black hair stuck to her temples. Unlike the madness before, she was now very calm.
Xunian was braver than most, but even so, holding a severed head barehanded was still beyond her.
“Sorry.”
She clasped her hands as if apologizing to the maid’s head.
Then she lifted the sheet from the bed and tore it off, carefully wrapping the head inside.
Cradling the maid’s head like a baby, the pale face peeked out from the cloth’s opening. Xunian limped slowly toward the shaft entrance, her steps uneven.
Blood dripped continuously from several bite wounds on her arm, staining the floor, but she paid it no mind.
At the entrance, she looked up and estimated the exit was about four or five meters above.
Clearly, she couldn’t climb up…
Fu Ruxue had been waiting at the entrance for a long time. Hearing movement, she quickly poked her head out,
“Did you find it?”
“Yes.”
Xunian’s calm voice came from below.
Hearing her voice was normal, Fu Ruxue sighed in relief.
Looks like nothing serious happened.
The ladder, the only way out, was broken—half resting against the wall, half collapsed on the floor.
The remaining half ladder barely reached halfway up. Xunian struggled to climb the half ladder, kneeling on one knee on the loose wooden steps, using all her strength to hold up the head she carried.
“Hold this carefully.”
Fu Ruxue instinctively reached out for the bundle but was puzzled by its weight. When she opened it and focused, her vision blurred.
Her legs weakened, almost failing to steady herself.
At that moment, she had an overwhelming urge to throw the head away but resisted, sneaking another glance at the peaceful sleeping face wrapped inside.
“You go find the maid first.”
The person below instructed.
“What about you?”
“I’m fine. The ladder’s broken; I can’t get out for now. You go find the maid; she should be outside the Castle.” Xunian responded.
The sooner they got news the better. Besides, who knew if the head would attack again like before. So the most important thing now was to return the head to the maid’s body as soon as possible.
“All right,” Fu Ruxue promised, “I’ll be back quickly.”
She didn’t want to drag out this ‘head-holding’ ordeal. Holding the bundle that gave her goosebumps, she hurried outside.
Passing the door, she just happened to bump into Cheng Li returning from the Garden.
Cheng Li frowned, holding a freshly dirtied iron shovel, stopping Fu Ruxue with a displeased look. “What do you have there?”
“None of your business.”
Fu Ruxue’s mind was full of thoughts about finding the maid; she didn’t have time for Cheng Li.
She stepped forward but then turned back, “By the way, have you seen the maid?”
“No, who would want to see that scary woman for no reason?” Cheng Li said with disgust.
Fu Ruxue asked and left, heading in the opposite direction of the Garden.
Since Cheng Li just came from the Garden and didn’t see the maid, that meant she was somewhere else.
“Hey, where are you going?”
Fu Ruxue didn’t answer, only quickening her pace toward her intended destination, glancing around cautiously.
The Castle was enormous; circling around it would take a long time.
The sky remained gloomy, dark gray clouds covering the whole sky, making the Castle’s exterior atmosphere even more somber.
Passing through the forest path, Fu Ruxue spotted a familiar figure under a tall fir tree in the distance.
An unmistakable silhouette.
The figure had no head, dressed in the classic black and white servant uniform.
The maid crouched beneath the tree, pale hands hugging her knees, doing something unknown.
Getting closer, Fu Ruxue saw a black cat burying its head in front of her, seemingly eating something.
Beside it was food the maid had prepared for the cat—some cooked meat finely chopped into a delicate little bowl.
The black cat ignored the meat and instead licked a red pool on the ground.
Blood flowed from the maid’s neck stump, pooling into a small blood lake drop by drop.
And the black cat was licking that pool of blood.
Recalling the burly man’s fate, Fu Ruxue hesitated, afraid to get too close.
She cautiously followed the wall, slowly approaching. The crouching maid seemed unaware.
Suddenly, the black cat stopped. Its fur around the cheeks was stained with blood. Its heterochromatic eyes—one yellow, one blue—fixed coldly on Fu Ruxue behind the maid.
The cat’s gaze was deep and icy, staring directly at her.
Fu Ruxue froze.
The maid finally stood up.
……
In the basement.
Xunian leaned against the wall, pondering how to get out. Suddenly, she heard the wooden door above open.
“Creak—”
Moonlight poured in. The woman’s back was to the light, and under the faint glow, her hair shimmered with a golden hue.
She curled her lips, lightly leapt down, landing in front of Xunian.
Her clean clothes and spotless leather boots formed a stark contrast to Xunian’s muddy, disheveled hair.
The Duke’s Daughter silently met her gaze, eyes filled with an unfathomable sorrow.
Her eyes fell on the red marks on Xunian’s arm, then moved to the blood holes and badly swollen ankle.
Her mouth tightened almost into a straight line.
“Why do you have to be so reckless again?”
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