Chapter 55
(Doll with a Missing Arm, The Resurrected Bride)
Early in the morning, 2:30.
Gu Liang was brought to the elevator in the main hall by the men in black.
The men in black helped him call for the elevator and allowed him to enter by himself.
Although Gu Liang’s legs were weak to the point where he had some trouble standing up, he did not lean against the elevator walls because his entire s.h.i.+rt was soaked through.
Barely standing, Gu Liang gasped for air for quite some time before he took out the tissue he had on his person and wiped the sweat off his fingertips. Then, he pressed the b.u.t.ton for the 6th floor.
After a short while, the elevator stopped at the 6th floor.
When he stepped off the elevator, Gu Liang noticed that someone was leaning against the corridor wall, like he had been waiting for him.
A lamp installed on the wall illuminated his strong and sharp facial features, as well as his robust and vigorous figure.
— It was Yang Ye.
Upon hearing the sound of footsteps, Yang Ye immediately turned his head to look at Gu Liang. He walked up to him and supported his arm, worry evident in his tone. “How was it?”
Gu Liang wanted to ask if he had been waiting there the entire time, but when he opened his mouth, his voice was exceedingly hoa.r.s.e and he could not utter a word.
“Don’t talk first.” Yang Ye asked him, “Where’s your room card?”
Gu Liang took out a room card from his pocket and handed it to Yang Ye.
Yang Ye took the room card and promptly bent his waist to carry Gu Liang.
Before Gu Liang could muster the energy to protest, Yang Ye had already swiped the card to enter the room, pulled open the curtains and placed him on the bed.
Then he shut the door, boiled some water, and poured some for Gu Liang to drink. Yang Ye did all of these actions in one go.
Gu Liang changed into his bathrobe in lieu of his drenched s.h.i.+rt, and leaned against the headboard as he slowly drank the cup of hot water, thus warming himself up gradually.
He tilted his head to look at Yang Ye who was positioned at the side of his bed. “I’m fine. Although the duration was lengthened, it was just physical torture this time around, not mental. Truth to be told, it was easier to cope with.”
“Were you injured anywhere?” Yang Ye’s voice was stern.
Gu Liang replied: “There’s none. Back then, I thought I had to be severely injured. But when I came out of the small black room, I realised that I was completely fine.”
“What did you encounter?” Yang Ye asked.
Gu Liang shook his head: “I had to cross some knife mountain. It was really quite painful then. But after it pa.s.sed, I realised I was fine.”
Hearing that, Yang Ye held up Gu Liang’s leg immediately, and without caring about anything else, he directly took off his socks to check if feet were completely unharmed.
Gu Liang froze for a moment before he retracted his feet and slipped them under the blankets.
“Gu Liang—” Yang Ye’s voice became incredibly solemn all of a sudden.
Raising the gla.s.s of hot water, Gu Liang looked at Yang Ye’s eyes through the warm water, and he could essentially guess what he wanted to say.
Yang Ye was probably going to say that he would definitely bring him out of here together, or something along that vein.
But whether he could get out of the game, was his own business nonetheless.
Gu Liang did not wish for Yang Ye to be burdened with too many responsibilities because of a shortly worded oath. Hence, he quickly opened his mouth to speak first: “Set your mind at ease. I’m fine. I’ll find a way to get out.”
Lifting up the gla.s.s, Gu Liang drank the remaining water before he gazed at Yang Ye again: “So, why did you violate the rules just now? Is it because… you had an additional doll in your room?”
“No.” Yang Ye seemed to sense something from Gu Liang’s previous reaction.
Heaving out a sigh, he decided not to pursue that topic in the end, and went back to the script instead. “After parting ways with you, I went to walk my own timeline.”
Gu Liang came to understand something, causing him to become more serious.
Yang Ye continued to speak: “My character’s timeline was, after leaving the main hall at 11:00, I went back to the lodging area on the sixth floor. Seeing that there was no one in the corridor, I took the opportunity to go to the storage room opposite of Lady Rong’s room, and paid attention to the movements in front of Lady Rong’s door while being concealed behind the door.
“But my actual experience was, after parting ways with you, I took the doll you gave me as I went to the storage room, and I threw the doll there. The general plot was that “every person’s room has one doll” and my room did contain my own doll. Therefore, it’s unlikely that I violated the rules because of this point. I broke the rules for another reason.”
Having said that, Yang Ye stood up and opened the closet in Gu Liang’s room. Sure enough, the doll had been returned to its place.
Yang Ye said: “I think, when we were suffering from our punishments, the men in black restored the original case scenario as well, and they brought the doll back from the storage room for you.”
Gu Liang questioned: “Then… Were you planning to act against Lady Rong?”
“Yes, I was constantly hiding in the storage room, and watched as several make-up artist NPCs came in and out of Lady Rong’s room continuously . When it was close to 12 midnight, the butler sent a gla.s.s of milk to Lady Rong.
“After seeing the butler leave, I took some alcohol from the storage room in compliance with the script requirements, and went to her room to have a heart-to-heart talk and coaxed her to sleep. After she fell asleep, I poured the alcohol on her body and burnt her to death.”
With furrowed eyebrows, Gu Liang asked: “Have a heart-to-heart talk? Coax her to sleep? But my script writes that you betrayed her, she loathes you, and she didn’t want to invite you to the wedding in the beginning.”
Yang Ye said: “Those are the rumours circulating outside. The reality is that she’s a gentle person, and it hasn’t reached the stage where she had a falling out with my character at least.”
According to the original script pertaining the big drinking and dancing party, Lady Rong was bright and gorgeous in appearance, and Sc.u.mbag Yu was as distinguished, dissolute and carefree as before.
Whereas Boyfriend Feng had never seen such delicious foodstuff for the first half of his life, so he was only concerned with eating and drinking to his heart’s content.
While Boyfriend Feng was eating, Sc.u.mbag Yu took the opportunity to make a toast to Lady Rong, and arranged to have a private conversation with her: “Rong Rong, you’re going to marry tomorrow… Can you give me a chance to talk to you properly?”
Lady Rong: “I’m going to marry someone soon, there’s nothing for us to talk about.”
Sc.u.mbag Yu: “Give me one last chance. You used to ask me to coax you to sleep with a story, but I would constantly shrug it off by saying I was busy, and I’ve never fulfilled your request. You’ll have Boyfriend Feng to accompany you in the future. I won’t have a chance like this afterwards. Tonight is the last night you remain single, and I’d like to tell you a story to make it up to you, is it okay?”
Lady Rong agreed in the end. “My make-up artist will be coming over to discuss my make-up for tomorrow. Between 11:30 to 12:00, the butler will send me a gla.s.s of milk. You should only come after they leave, don’t let anyone else see you, or they will a.s.sume that I have an illicit lover…”
Gu Liang comprehended the gist of it. Then, he asked Yang Ye with some confusion: “Speaking of which, when did you enact the script with her?”
Yang Ye: “When you were going to the restroom.”
Gu Liang raised an eyebrow.
Yang Ye laughed, saying: “I was afraid you would be unhappy.”
Gu Liang refuted with a question: “Why would I be unhappy?”
Yang Ye: “We’re in an k2018;official’ relations.h.i.+p together.”
At that moment, Gu Liang could not be bothered to retort Yang Ye.
His expression was extremely strict: “Speak properly. Stop adding impromptu and comic jabs. And what were the actual happenings last night? Did Sc.u.mbag Yu burn Lady Rong? Is she the deceased of this case?”
If Lady Rong was the case’s deceased, would that make Yang Ye the real murderer?
As if he could sense Gu Liang’s worry, Yang Ye replied: “Certainly, with the script content I’ve received thus far, it does seem like I’m the real murderer from the general description. This is what the script wrote— I took the alcohol and poured it all over her body, and when her face came in contact with ice-cold alcohol, the sudden stimuli shocked her awake instantaneously, causing her to unconsciously scream. As the alcohol entered her windpipe through her mouth and nose, I sparked a matchstick and threw it at her, then forced my way out of the door and escaped.”
The knit of Gu Liang’s eyebrow became even tighter. “In accordance with the proceedings, her death is without a doubt. Could there be some kind of sorcery or magical spell in the script that allowed her escape unscathed?”
“That is uncertain. But my script does come to an end here. From my experience, and under normal circ.u.mstances, the script that the real murderer receives is usually very detailed; be it information regarding every character or the various elements involved in the script, they will possess all the information.”
Yang Ye stated, “But my script isn’t like that. Therefore, I don’t think I’m the murderer.
“It was just that I wasn’t willing to pour alcohol down someone’s windpipe, so I decided to allow the men in black to act in my stead.”
“Of course—” Yang Ye picked up the empty gla.s.s that Gu Liang placed on the table and poured him another half a gla.s.s, tone becoming lighter and eased, “Even if I’m the murderer and you’re the detective, I know that you would hate to see me die.”
Despite Gu Liang’s numerous attempts to establish a serious atmosphere, all of it was soundly shattered by Yang Ye’s jesting.
Gu Liang laughed out of annoyance, and he could not help but ask: “Has anyone ever told you that you have really thick skin?”
If my skin isn’t thick, how am I supposed to chase my wife?
Yang Ye placed the water at the head of the bed for Gu Liang. “Okay, you’ve already suffered two hours of torture, and yet you want to a.n.a.lyse the case with me? You should sleep.”
Gu Liang: “But I haven’t showered.”
Yang Ye: “You can shower tomorrow after you wake up. Make do with it for a few hours.”
Gu Liang still felt somewhat uncomfortable. When all was said and done, he did sweat a fair bit just now.
However, he could not deny that two-hour long punishment had taken a great toll on his energy. Once his person had touched the bed, he was a little reluctant to move his limbs.
Thus, Gu Liang accepted Yang Ye’s suggestion. “Fine. You should rest earlier too, you—”
Gu Liang wanted to ask him where he was going to rest, but Yang Ye interrupted him by looking at him smilingly and ribbing him with a line: “Do you want me to sing you a lullaby?”
Gu Liang laid back on the bed, laughing as his eyes closed. “You know how to sing lullabies as well? By the way, how did you manage to sing that song today?”
“I don’t know how to sing the recent songs made by those new idol groups, but I know most of the old songs.”
Yang Ye uttered, “Moreover, it’s such a famous old song. I would frequently sing that song at the KTV during my schooling days. Have you never heard it?”
“It sounds a little familiar, I should have heard it before. But I don’t have a deep impression of it.”
Gu Liang paused when he spoke to that point. Shortly after, he added: “I get it. You’re the karaoke expert, the young prince of nightclubs.”
Yang Ye was amused. “Where did you learn those phrases from? Wait, that’s not it, how did I become the young prince of nightclubs?”
Gu Liang did not reply, and he started to sleep deeper and deeper.
After Yang Ye finished his punishment, he had taken a shower before he started waiting for Gu Liang.
He did not have to take another shower in this instance. Thus, he only went to the bathroom to help Gu Liang wash his sweat-soaked s.h.i.+rt and hang it for drying. Then, he returned to the bed and helped him tuck in his blanket corners.
Finally, Yang Ye found a thin blanket, sat on the sofa, leaned his head back, and fell asleep.
The next morning, at 7 o’ clock.
Gu Liang and Yang Ye were simultaneously awoken by the three consecutive chimes from the system broadcast.
Truth to be told, Yang Ye had woken up once at 6 o’ clock. His biological clock had always been accurate.
However, owing to the fact that he had slept too late last night, he closed his eyes and fell asleep again. This could be considered as the second time he was woken up.
Gu Liang sat up from the bed, yawning. He was still incredibly tired right now because of the punishment last night.
He pulled away the curtain at the side of the bed, preparing to get off the bed when Yang Ye pa.s.sed him a s.h.i.+rt.
And the article of clothing that Yang Ye was handing Gu Liang happened to be his performance outfit from last night.
The nerves on Gu Liang’s temples pulsed again. “What are you doing?”
“You look good in it.” Yang Ye replied.
The black s.h.i.+rt had flowers printed all over the fabric, and it seemed to have an embroidered texture at a glance. However, there were too many flowers and colours – there were even green leaves and red flowers combined together – and Gu Ling could not appreciate it no matter how hard he tried.
Gu Liang pulled open the bed curtains completely, staring at Yang Ye. Is there a problem with his vision, or is there an issue with mine?
“How these types of clothes look is dependent on a person’s temperament. If they look ugly, the clothes will look dull. But if they look divine, they’ll look attractive in it. “
Yang Ye asked him: “Hey, you’re not wearing it?”
“Not wearing it.” Gu Liang got up and attempted to look for his clothes, only to come to the belated realisation that he had changed into the s.h.i.+rt he was wearing during the day after he had returned to his room and took off his performance outfit to shower. Afterwards, he had received his punishment, which drenched that s.h.i.+rt completely with sweat, and there was no way he could continue wearing it.
Did he really have to wear the flowery s.h.i.+rt again?
Beyond his expectations, Yang Ye proceeded to go to the balcony to retrieve a clean white s.h.i.+rt that was scented with soap. Smiling, he said: “It’s been washed. Wear it.”
Gu Liang faltered for three seconds before he took the white s.h.i.+rt. “Thanks.”
“No need for thanks. I hanged your suit jacket in the closet. Are you afraid of the doll? Do you want me to get it for you?”
“… Thank you.”
Gu Liang took the s.h.i.+rt and went to the bathroom.
Upon seeing that, Yang Ye commented: “Hm? You’re hiding from me to change?”
— On the first day we met in our first scenario, you could take off your clothes and sleep in front of me, no?
Tch, they were becoming more familiar and yet he was becoming more shy?
Gu Liang did not reply, only going to the bathroom silently to shower and change his clothes.
And when Gu Liang stepped out of his bathroom, the broadcast sounded once more.
“The following is a reading of a general plot. It is currently 7:30 in the morning. May the guests proceed to the garden on the first floor to partake in their breakfast.”
* * *
Gu Liang took out his card to have a look. According to indicators on the map, there was an open-air garden dining room.
The open-air garden could be reached either by going through the front doors of the ancient castle and winding around to the back garden, or they could use the side door of the hall where the welcome party was hosted last night.
After Gu Liang and Yang Ye had dressed themselves neatly, they left the room together and made their way to the elevator to get to the first floor.
Following, they traversed through the main hall where the welcome dinner party was held last night, went through the west side door, and stepped into the ancient castle’s back garden.
Outside the side door was a small path that was surrounded by fruit trees on both sides, and the fringe of the peach forest could be vaguely seen at the end.
After walking 100 metres forward, there was another small path branching out in the north, which led towards the garden dining room.
One side of the dining room was the ancient castle’s wall with rosebuds crawling up the vertical stretch.
The other three sides were edged with fruit trees, and there were two sides that were fenced. Unknown wildflowers clambered all over the wooden structures, and the translucent and sparkling dewdrops could be faintly perceived on the petals.
By the time Gu Liang and Yang Ye arrived, everyone was present apart from the bridegroom and bride.
Li Xiao Yu waved them over to ask them to sit. “The honey here is particularly tasty. Of course… It’s a little too cloying to eat it directly, but if you spread it over bread, it’s like a world-cla.s.s delicacy!”
“Yes. Agreed. But with how much I ate for breakfast, I’ll need to run ten rounds around the ancient castle.” The one who replied was the Designer Mei Su Lan.
Butler Hao brought over a few gla.s.ses of milk for everyone’s consumption and put them down. “The bride-to-be Lady Rong will be here soon, while Boyfriend Feng will not be coming. According to our traditions, from the beginning of last night until the wedding today, they’re not allowed to meet each other. If you need to look for Boyfriend Feng, you may head to his room directly.”
“Aiyo, I can’t understand why my daughter is interested in that poor lad, if you’re looking for appearance, he doesn’t possess it; if you seek moral character, he has none; and worst still, he doesn’t even treat my daughter right. Never mind, forget it, my daughter is adamant about wanting to marry him, and she even threw a tantrum because of it. It doesn’t matter, I have the money, I can pamper her.”
After Meng Qian Cheng read his lines with an emotional sigh, he immediately added, “That was the character speaking those lines just now. I’ve stepped out of it now. Personally, I don’t disdain the poor and love the rich, I’m not like that at all.”
Hearing that, Yang Ye and Gu Liang exchanged looks, and understood the meaning behind each other’s gazes— the fire last night actually failed to burn Lady Rong to death. Moreover, it seemed like everyone else was unaware of this matter.
This was extremely strange. Even if the fire did not burn Lady Rong to death, what about the linen on the bed? It would inevitably be destroyed, it would only make sense if the butler was aware of it.
At that moment, Su Lan looked towards Yang Ye and Gu Liang, asking: “I think I heard both of you violating the rules last night.”
Yang Ye had just bitten into a honeyed bread, so he could not speak.
Gu Liang gazed back at Su Lan, choosing to speak for Yang Ye: “Because I was more afraid of the doll, I asked Yang Ye to safekeep it for me. The general plot stated that each guest has one doll in their room. My room had none, his room had two, hence both of us broke the rules.”
It was quite evident that Gu Liang’s words were geared towards helping Yang Ye conceal his timeline.
Yang Ye smiled. Although Gu Liang’s expression was cold and apathetic as he uttered those words, Yang Ye felt that they were far sweeter than the honey in his mouth.
“f.u.c.k, that’s considered a rule violation as well?”
Li Xiao Yu could not resist complaining, “Thank goodness I was quick-witted enough. I’ve been feeling terrified ever since I stepped into this ancient castle. After I entered my room, I didn’t open a single cupboard! Or else, I might have brought my doll to you guys. Up until now, I haven’t seen the doll in my room.”
Su Lan’s gaze swept across each person one by one, eyebrows raising. She did make another utterance as she lifted her coffee cup to take a sip.
The last to arrive was Dong Wan who was acting as Lady Rong.
After she sat down, she posed as her character ident.i.ty to greet everyone. “Apologies for arriving late, my poor hospitality must have incurred some ridicule from the guests. Despite having a fever last night, I didn’t get much rest before I had to discuss some matters with the make-up artists and tailor. It was quite an endeavour to get up this morning.”
Meng Qian Cheng cooperated with her as the ident.i.ty of her father. “I’ve already said this earlier, why are you concerning yourself over so many formalities? The guests here are all your friends, it doesn’t matter if you’re acting more casual. You don’t have to get so twisted about it.”
“The ceremonial feeling is still necessary.” Lady Rong said smilingly, “Let’s eat, I need to have my make-up done soon.”
Having said that, Lady Rong exhaled audibly, thus reverting back to the ident.i.ty of the Player Dong Wan. “Okay, the scene is over. Let’s eat.”
Su Lan asked her: “Your complexion is rather poor. Did you sleep well?”
“It was alright.” Dong Wan replied.
Su Lan tacked on another question: “What about the character? Did Lady Rong sleep well?”
“Decently well.” Dong Wan held Su Lan’s gaze as she inadvertently shook her head. It was like she had something to say, but rather than saying it in front of everyone else, she wanted to talk to Su Lan alone.
Upon receiving that gaze, Su Lan continued to drink her coffee soundlessly.
Gu Liang slanted his head, exchanging another look with Yang Ye. Similarly, neither of them spoke.
Yang Ye’s character Sc.u.mbag Yu had gone to look for Dong Wan’s Lady Rong last night.
While Gu Liang played a part in helping Yang Ye conceal this matter just now, it was indisputable that Lady Rong, as one of the protagonists in the secret meeting last night, was in the know.
But Dong Wan did not speak any further.
Gu Liang and Yang Ye did not speak again out of tacit understanding.
In this breakfast, it was probably only Meng Qian Cheng and Li Xiao Yu who were focusing on enjoying the good food, whereas everyone else had their own respective thoughts, and each of them were hiding deeper than the other.
* * *
When they reached the end of their breakfast, Gu Liang’s card vibrated, signifying that he had received a new plot.
— Magnate Rong has asked you to accompany him to play chess. Although you do not have much interest in playing chess, who made him your boss? Moreover, you still want him to give a greater share of the resources in the company, so you have no choice but to accompany him in playing chess.
Hence, after breakfast concluded, each player proceeded to act in accordance with their respective timelines.
Once Butler Hao finished clearing the dining table, he put down the chinese chess board and left the dining room.
In a blink of an eye, only Gu Liang and Meng Qian Cheng were left in the open-air garden dining room.
Meng Qian Cheng was seated with his back facing the doors to the dining room, while Gu Liang was facing the dining room doors directly, which allowed him to view the small path leading into the garden dining room, and the distant peach forest that was past the fences.
Thus, during their chess session, Gu Liang could observe the comings and goings of the garden and the distant peach forest whenever he raised his head.
The duo began playing chess around 8:30.
“Checkmate.”
“Checkmate again.”
“It’s a checkmate.”
In the short half hour between 8:30 to 9:00, Meng Qian Cheng was brought to a checkmate by Gu Liang thrice.
Not long after the fourth chess match began, Meng Qian Cheng threw his own “general” at Gu Liang directly. “Here you go, just take it! I’ll give it to you! I’m not playing anymore, I refuse to play. You’re bullying people way too much. Do you not know how to respect the elderly and cherish the young, and go easy on me?! I’m your boss!”
“I didn’t want to deceive you.” Gu Liang spoke with utmost sincerity, “If you don’t want to play chess, we can talk.”
“Come on, talk to you? I’d be better off playing chess!” Meng Qian Cheng rolled his eyes.
Gu Liang did not express an opinion as he reset the pieces on the chess board. “How about I play against myself, and you watch?”
“You’re even capable of that?” Meng Qian Cheng asked.
Gu Liang thought back about it, saying: “Chinese chess is doable. In the past, I had a cla.s.smate who was far more impressive, he could play Go against himself for one day and one night. Go is the type of game with the most number of variables—”
When he reached that point, Gu Liang caught a glimpse of something at his periphery. His attention s.h.i.+fted away from the chessboard as he looked forward.
— Yang Ye was walking in the direction of the peach forest.
Approximately 10 minutes later, Su Lan, who was acting as Designer Mei, followed in his footsteps.
Gu Liang could roughly guess that their actions were spurred by the script requirements— It was highly likely that Sc.u.mbag Yu had a leg together with Designer Mei, and the pair were going to have a rendezvous.
Despite knowing that, his eyebrows still arched up.
Throughout the entire proceedings, Gu Liang had his eyebrows raised as he continued to play chess.
Unexpectedly, the pair in question did not come out of the peach forest even after two rounds of chess with Meng Qian Cheng.
However, another person also travelled towards the peach forest at this time. It was Confidant Ai.
Upon seeing that, the s.p.a.ce between his brows relaxed, and he continued his chess session with Meng Qian Cheng in a calm manner.
Sc.u.mbag Yu was truly a sc.u.mbag; could it be that he was meeting Confidant Ai in the small forest as well?
Was he going to overturn his car?
Time stretched on again. Confidant Ai and Designer Mei exited the peach forest, but Sc.u.mbag Yu was still nowhere to be found.
Gu Liang’s eyebrows wrinkled together again for an extended period of time.
Finally, the Sc.u.mbag Yu played by Yang Ye came out.
In all likelihood, Yang Ye had probably finished his part of the story so he headed for the open-air garden dining room straight away. Yawning, he sat beside Gu Liang. “How is your chess session going?”
Before Gu Liang could answer him, the system broadcast rang out: “May all guests return to their rooms to rest, and touch up your appearance. Lady Rong is the most n.o.ble princess of the ancient castle, and the guests are expected to dress luxuriously at her wedding to keep up with the etiquette. Everyone, please return to your rooms to adjust and prepare! It is currently 11 o’ clock. The wedding will be hosted at the main hall at 12 in the afternoon oh!”
Together with Meng Qian Cheng and Yang Ye, Gu Liang stood up to trek down the small path, through the side hall, and towards the elevator.
Meng Qian Cheng could not help but complain to Yang Ye while they were walking. “It’s infuriating, it’s absolutely infuriating to play chess with him. I am cognizant of the fact that he has a high intelligence, but he has to go easy on people, ah.”
Yang Ye regarded Gu Liang: “Is that so? I’m pretty good at chess too, we should play a match or two when this game concludes.”
The three of them had already reached the sixth floor by that point in the conversation. Giving Yang Ye a sidelong glance, Gu Liang nodded perfunctorily before he swiped his card and entered his room.
Yang Ye stared at his back figure— Why does it feel like he’s a little angry?
* * *
After entering the room, Gu Liang inspected his room first.
There were no obvious changes in his room. The blankets were folded again, items like his towels and slippers had been changed. It was apparent that his room had been cleaned in the time where he was not around.
A thought occurred to Gu Liang. Perhaps owing to his sixth sense, Gu Liang walked to the front of his closet and pressed his hands on the door. Then, breathing out softly, he pulled the closet open with a frown.
— Inside the closet, the doll was still there.
The staring smile was ever-present on her face, her lipstick was still smeared.
But her right arm was gone.
Concurrently, there was a hole in the clothes above her chest. A wound could be faintly perceived underneath, like someone had stabbed it with a knife.