Xunian saw the woman’s full appearance clearly for the first time, and just one glance made her panic.
Not just the voice—the face as well…
Her breathing quickened involuntarily. The hand she had hidden under the table trembled violently.
In her eyes flashed shock, but she quickly lowered her head to hide it, burying those unspeakable dark thoughts deep in her heart.
Perhaps she truly had forgotten her past with this woman.
No matter where she was, such a face alone was enough to make her stop in her tracks.
Really, she looked just like her.
An extremely beautiful blonde woman cradled a creepy doll.
Her familiar yet terrifying red eyes stared at everyone, and the visual impact made the entire room fall silent as if holding their breath.
The blonde woman picked up a medicine bottle from the table with great interest, holding it up in front of her eyes as she focused on the slowly flowing liquid inside.
Anyone who could appear in the ancient castle was definitely no ordinary person.
Everyone tensed up, quietly waiting for the blonde woman’s next move.
She let out a light laugh that echoed through the living room and reached everyone’s ears, sending chills down their spines.
The medicine bottle was returned to its original place.
But she didn’t do anything else. She just curled her lips at everyone and then turned, taking slow steps upstairs.
As she turned, she seemed to glance at Xunian with a smile in her eyes—like a provocation.
Xunian pretended not to see it, shifting her gaze to the side.
Not long after, the sound of a door opening rang out. The blonde hair flowed behind her as she entered the room and disappeared from sight.
Everyone let out a sigh of relief.
“She’s the Duke’s Daughter?”
The Duke’s Daughter didn’t look frightening at all—only the doll she held was somewhat unsettling.
The calm man suggested, “How about we exchange the information we each have?”
The burly man still had red juice smeared at the corners of his mouth. Licking his lips with a taste for it, he said, “Before that, shouldn’t we introduce ourselves?”
He puffed out his chest proudly, “My name’s Zhang Zhuanghao, but just call me Da Zhuang.”
The calm man barely furrowed his brow and touched his nose briefly. “I’m… Li Hua.”
“Hahaha,” Zhang Zhuanghao laughed heartily, “Brother, your name’s really funny. I even helped you write letters back in high school.”
Li Hua ignored him and looked at Xunian. “And you?”
“Xunian.”
“I’m Fu Ruxue, Fu as in single.”
The remaining man on the first floor hesitated before speaking, “I’m Cheng Li.”
Li Hua pulled out a sheet of paper from an inner pocket and placed it on the table, looking at everyone. “Now we can exchange information.”
On the paper was only one sentence:
The Place Where Eternal Despair’s Yearning is Buried harbors sins.
The handwriting was delicate and neat. Xunian quietly memorized the script.
“What does it mean?” Zhang Zhuanghao grabbed the paper, but before he could read it clearly, one edge suddenly caught fire.
“Damn! @#￥%!”
Startled, he quickly threw the paper away, cursing nonstop.
The burning paper sparked as it floated in the air, turning to ashes before vanishing.
“This clue is useless, Hua bro. Watch this.”
Zhang Zhuanghao pulled out a small notebook from his pocket and tossed it onto the table.
“Look.”
Li Hua picked it up and flipped through a few pages, then looked up seriously. “It’s a diary.”
“October 31st, overcast. Today is that damn brat’s birthday. The Duke finally locked her up to stop her from ruining my plans. Last time, I almost got caught. Tch, where’s that stinking maid? Slacking off again, not cleaning?”
“November 1st, overcast. Another gloomy day. There’s fresh paint at the Duke’s room door but they want me to clean it. I don’t know where that damned maid ran off to. Could she have escaped? Just wait till she returns; I’ll break her legs.”
“November 2nd, overcast. Why is it still gloomy? That damned maid hasn’t come back. The vampire mother and daughter from the countryside are asking me for money again. So annoying. They can’t even have a son and still want money from me.”
“The following page was torn out, and then nothing else.”
Li Hua finished reading the last few pages and closed the notebook.
The earlier parts of the diary were full of complaints, so he only read the final entries aloud.
“Let me see.”
Li Hua handed over the notebook, and Xunian reached out, flipping directly to the last page with intent.
“The paper’s the same material as the one that just burned. The size matches too—this must be the page that was torn off.”
After reading, Xunian tossed it back to Li Hua.
She only glanced once and didn’t want to see the contents anymore. It was either endless complaints or filthy curses, written in a messy hand that almost offended her eyes.
Fu Ruxue curled her index finger under her chin, her delicate face growing serious. “If I’m right, this should be the Housekeeper’s diary. The ‘damn brat locked up’ likely refers to the Duke’s Daughter.”
The maid disappeared on October 31st and hasn’t returned. She might have met with an accident.
The entry on November 2nd suggests the Housekeeper probably has a wife and daughter in the countryside.
The diary ends abruptly on November 2nd. Could it mean the Housekeeper also encountered trouble after that?
As for the torn page and its phrase—‘Eternal despair’—the handwriting is clearly different from the Housekeeper’s.”
Xunian nodded in agreement. The words in the diary matched the information she had asked the Housekeeper about.
“But you forgot two crucial points,” Li Hua corrected her.
“First, we’ve only interacted with the Housekeeper, the Maid, and the Duke’s Daughter so far. All of them seem elusive. We don’t even know how many people are actually in this castle. The diary may not have been written by the Housekeeper.
Second, based on what we know now, we can’t prove the Duke’s Daughter is the ‘damn brat’ in the diary, because the Duchess’s status remains unconfirmed. If the Duchess is alive, then that child wouldn’t be the Duke’s Daughter.”
His fingers tapped on the table as he awaited Fu Ruxue’s response.
“You’re right,” Fu Ruxue tucked the hair from her eyes behind her ear and stood. “We can verify these two points now. You… don’t mind if the rest of us check the rooms for clues, do you?”
She looked at Xunian. Seeing her nod in agreement, Fu Ruxue then turned her gaze to the burly Zhang Zhuanghao.
Their eyes met. Zhang Zhuanghao, legs crossed, looked puzzled. “Why’re you looking at me?”
Li Hua rubbed his forehead, helplessly reminding, “She’s asking if we can look in your room for clues.”
“Go ahead.”
……
They pushed open the door to Zhang Zhuanghao’s room, and the moment it opened, a heady atmosphere of indulgence hit them.
The Housekeeper’s room had a display cabinet filled with what appeared to be high-grade Red Wine.
On the floor lay a broken box, and on the table were several Gold Bars. Nearby, a wine glass with leftover Red Wine stood on a tall stem.
All eyes turned to Zhang Zhuanghao.
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.