Chapter 73.2
Fourth floor. In the Eastern Magician’s room.
After Gu Liang roughly conceived the general story, he said: “Why didn’t the other vampires cross over? How can vampires reincarnate when they have no souls? What is the significance behind the folded page in that illusionary spell book; the reason why Aimeili would still attend the banquet with a calm countenance despite having a cross inside her chest; the cause of why the Eastern Magician had painted the murals in advance as if he had already antic.i.p.ated that the murals would be used for the crossing; why the steward’s record remained incomplete…
“Everything, finally has a complete explanation.”
Yang Ye contemplated for a moment before he said: “I concur with this story. But we don’t know what happened after that. For example, did Earl William reach the ancient castle that night, and what happened to him?”
Gu Liang said: “As a matter of fact, I’ve thought about this before. If there are no crossovers, nor folding of two s.p.a.ce-times, but we are still confronted with the appearance of numerous antiquated objects which includes the fact that Aimeili’s corpse is still fresh, then, we must be in some kind of fantasy. This fantasy must be related to the arrays on the murals.
“The Folding Ancient Castle wasn’t referring to the overlapping of times, but the superimposition of fantasy and reality in actuality. When Sc.u.mbag Yu died in reality, the fantastical realm metamorphosed a person with Sc.u.mbag Yu’s appearance, but the memories it gave him was a mix of Earl William’s and Duke Dahl’s.
“This would explain why you believe yourself to be Earl William, but you possess a lot of Duke Dahl’s memories, like his defeat in the war against the werewolves, and how you are capable of commanding the bats.”
After a moment of rumination, Yang Ye spoke again: “If that’s the case, we still have three problems we need to solve.
“One, did the Duke die 300 years ago, and where did the Magician go? If the memories of my character, Earl William, have no faults, and Earl William did arrive at the ancient castle ‘last night’, hence seeing the main lobby in utter disorder like our current lobby, why is there a pile of extraneous items lying around?
“Two, if all the other characters in this scenario are not the persons themselves, it means that Su Lan isn’t the actual Princess Rose either. Hence, the current players can be divided into two categories: the first are people who have already died, like Sc.u.mbag Yu, Designer Mei, and Confidant Ai.
“The other category is you and Magnate Rong, both of whom are still among the living. If both of you are still alive, it signifies that the entry into this fantasy isn’t exclusive to dead people. If so, how did this fantasy manage to link both the dead and the alive together?
“Finally, we still need to find the stories belonging to the two new players.
“The third problem is, how did this fantasy come about, and how do we get out.”
Gu Liang nodded his head. “Mn. We’ll have to wait for the system to notify us about the subsequent plot. Areas like the garden haven’t been opened for investigation. Perhaps we can acquire more detailed clues later.
“Lastly, I’m convinced that the timeline for the morning of the first day is extremely important. No one has a proper explanation for how everyone arrived at the ancient castle, there must be a hidden significance inside.”
* * *
Night time.
As Yang Ye and Gu Liang were traversing through the main hall to get to the kitchen, they saw Li Xiao Yu.
And when Li Xiao Yu saw the both of them, her replying smile was a little ingratiating.
Yang Ye saw through her small intentions at once. “Here to freeload since it’s time for dinner?”
Li Xiao Yu corrected his words righteously: “You can’t just say that, I have something important I want to share with you!”
“Sure, go ahead and share it,” said Yang Ye.
Li Xiao Yu waved her hand at him. “You can go and make the food first. Friendly reminder, I’ve rummaged through the refrigerator, there are small yellow croaker fishes inside oh!”
“Keep dreaming.” Yang Ye arched his eyebrow.
Li Xiao Yu looked at Gu Liang while blinking her eyes. “Big Brother Gu, is it okay to have fish tonight?”
Gu Liang: “k2026;k2026;”
Gu Liang rubbed his ear uncomfortably as he turned towards Yang Ye. “It’s up to you. Do whatever you want, depending on the convenience of it.”
Yang Ye gave Gu Liang a deep smile before he gazed towards Li Xiao Yu in extreme disdain. The speed in which he changed faces was extremely shocking. “Look at our family’s Liang Liang, he knows how to be considerate. If you can’t marry in the future, you should reflect on yourself!”
Upon hearing those words, Gu Liang furrowed his eyebrows subconsciously.
Why was Yang Ye making him sound like a little daughter-in-law?
Hence, there was some dissatisfaction evident in his eyes as he patted on Yang Ye’s shoulder.
And his dissatisfaction did not go unnoticed by Yang Ye.
However, Yang Ye misinterpreted the gesture and a.s.sumed that he was rebuking him for being overly fierce to a girl.
Yang Ye caught hold of his hand and said strictly: “Liang Liang! Don’t forget your principles just because a girl is acting cute. You’re not a straight man anymore, you’re currently—”
Gu Liang pushed him away and supported his forehead. “Just go, go and make the fish.”
Li Xiao Yu added a knife. “I’ve already defrosted the fis.h.!.+ I’ve chopped up the scallions, ginger, and garlic that I like as well! You just need to cook it!
“Wuuu, my mom used to make the best yellow croakers for me. After coming to this game, I haven’t eaten it for a long time—”
“Fine, enough of that. I’ll make it for you, under the condition that you stay three metres away from my Gu Liang Liang from now on. Otherwise, you won’t get to eat any good fruits of labour.”
After he set down those vicious words, Yang Ye went to the kitchen.
“You’re done for Gu Liang, you’re done for. His possessiveness is too scary, he even eats my vinegar randomly. How is he going to take care of you in the future?”
Li Xiao Yu clicked her tongue twice as she sat down at a dining table together with Gu Liang.
Gu Liang did not acknowledge her joke, merely asking her: “Starting from last night, did you receive any storylines?”
“Yes.” Li Xiao Yu said, “An awfully…. weird storyline.”
Li Xiao Yu coughed lightly before she continued to state: “It said that my affections for Magnate Rong continue to grow the more I looked at him, and then I went to look for my fiancé Chief Mei to break up with him.
“Do you see how miserable my relations.h.i.+ps have been thus far? In the Painted Exteriors script, my childhood sweetheart had a change of heart and he fell for Beauty Yi; inside Undying Town, Beggar Ding died for me; inside Carrying the Doll, I met Sc.u.mbag Yu; and in this script, I originally had a handsome fiancé, but now I’m in a relations.h.i.+p with Old Man Meng? And that’s it.”
“What time did you arrive here in the afternoon? Have you seen anyone else?”
“It’s currently 6 o’ clock, and I arrived here at 5:30. I haven’t seen anyone else, they might be acting out their own plots.”
As Li Xiao Yu said that, she scanned her surroundings before she pulled out a piece of old parchment. She said: “Right, I have something here, I found it when I was rummaging through a servant’s room today. I feel like it’s quite important. I’ll show it to both of you first, don’t tell the others.”
Upon receiving that piece of paper, Gu Liang realised that it was a map— A map of the ancient castle 300 years ago.
Since the interior composition of the ancient castle had been explored, there was nothing new or strange about it, but the important part of this map was its depiction of the gardens.
In present day, the location of the open-air garden dining room and a portion of the surrounding orchard was where the rose garden was situated 300 years ago.
As for the location of the current vegetable field, 300 years ago— It was the area where the sunflowers were planted.
At this moment, Gu Liang recalled the sentence that Duke Dahl wrote on the music score inside the piano room: “If you leave, I will wait for you in the place you love most.”
With the limited scripted locations, they could only deduce that the place that Aimeili loved most was where the sunflowers were.
In that case, it corresponded with where the vegetable field was today.
After Yang Ye was done making the dishes, and the three of them were eating, Gu Liang gave the map to Yang Ye to let him take a look. “Do you think it’s possible that the Duke died in the vegetable field at the end?”
“It’s possible. After all, he was a powerful figure. Perhaps he didn’t die immediately like the other vampires, and he went to the vegetable field instead.” Yang Ye nodded.
That made Gu Liang furrow his eyebrows as he said: “The doll-killing pentagram was placed in the vegetable field. Lady Rong and Butler Hao also died in the vegetable field. In the timeline for the previous morning, Mother Ai, Chief Mei, and Sister Mei have all admitted to having been in the vegetable field.
“The vegetable field, without a doubt, this location is very important…
“Additionally, do you think it’s possible that the Duke was revived?”
“If he did revive, Chief Mei holds a great deal of suspicion since he appeared in that vegetable field.”
Yang Ye thought about it briefly. He continued by saying: “Putting aside the fantasy first, the character that Mother Ai is provisionally carrying is Aimeili 300 years after. She thought that Chief Mei was her fiancé the moment she saw him. Who was Aimeili’s fiancé 300 years ago? The Duke.”
Gu Liang said: “Except Chief Mei doesn’t recognise her as his fiancée, and he said that he doesn’t know her at all. Secondly, the current Mother Ai has already fallen in love with someone else, and that person is Magnate Rong.”
“Pfft.” Entertained by the plot developments, Yang Ye laughed until he choked, and he had to turn his head away to cough while his mouth was covered.
Gu Liang frowned. “Don’t laugh when you’re eating the fish. Let’s finish eating before we continue this discussion.”
“Okay. I have kept the concerns of my wife in my heart and mind.”
“……”
Li Xiao Yu was a little stupefied from what she heard. “What fantasy? What do you mean by revived? Duke Dahl didn’t travel over?”
Yang Ye pushed a small yellow croaker braised in soy sauce towards her. “Eat the fish.”
* * *
Once they were done with their meal, Gu Liang washed the dishes and cleaned up the kitchen. Then, he returned back to the room with Yang Ye.
Li Xiao Yu originally wanted to help, but her card vibrated so she had to leave first to follow her timeline.
After returning to the room, Gu Liang sat on the armchair and contemplated the case silently.
Meanwhile, Yang Ye was exercising at the side. Whether it was push-ups or squats… he did not slack off.
“Not having a place to run is too uncomfortable.” Yang Ye muttered, “I wonder when the back gardens will open.”
Gu Liang remained unresponsive as he continued to ponder with a lowered head.
Yang Ye walked up to him and propped himself against the sofa. The shadow he casted covered Gu Liang completely.
He stared at Gu Liang from a higher point of elevation as he said: “You should loosen up a little, you don’t have to constantly think about it. Does your head hurt? Do you want me to help you ma.s.sage it?”
Gu Liang shook his head. “It’s fine. I’m just trying to imagine what the stories of the other characters are like.”
Just as Gu Liang uttered those words, their cards vibrated simultaneously.
After looking through the card, Yang Ye grinned. Still holding onto the armrest, he went down on one knee in front of Gu Liang.
A moment later, Yang Ye brought the back of Gu Liang’s hand to his lips and kissed it gently, before he looked at him with deep emotions again. “Are you willing to marry me?”
Gu Liang had no choice but to recite the scripted line. “I… cough, I’m willing.”
This seemed to be the first time where his voice contained some faint hesitation and his emotions were fluctuating slightly as he recited his lines, and the calm tone of voice that was bereft of ripples and waves which he previously used was gone.
Furthermore, he turned his head to avoid Yang Ye’s gaze, and there was an apparent redness to his earlobes too.
Yang Ye chuckled. He asked Gu Liang: “Hey, getting married in the script is considered a marriage, right? Then according to this plot, I’ll be marrying you during the wedding ceremony tomorrow.”
For reasons unknown to him, Gu Liang recalled what Yang Ye said last night upon hearing those words— “before I marry you across the door on a palanquin with eight carriers, I won’t do anything.”
Therefore, what did he mean by that?
Was he insinuating something?
What did he want to do?
Gu Liang turned his head back. As he gazed at Yang Ye, an amusing thought suddenly occurred to him and it made him smile faintly. Subsequently, he uttered: “Don’t worry, my intuition tells me that this marriage won’t succeed because an accident is bound to happen.”
— Whether it was Lady Rong and Boyfriend Feng, or Aimeili and Duke Dahl, anyone who attempted to get married in this ancient castle scarcely had a good ending.
It was also at this moment where their door was knocked.
Yang Ye went up to open the door. Li Xiao Yu was outside.
“Xiao Yu? What’s the matter?” Yang Ye asked.
Awkwardly, Li Xiao handed Yang Ye something as she said: “This is an invitation. At 8 o’ clock tomorrow evening, I will be marrying Magnate Rong. You are welcome to join. I’m going to send the invitations to the rest…”
Li Xiao Yu heaved a sigh and left.
While Yang Ye was shutting the door, Gu Liang walked over and they looked over the written invitation together.
On the piece of white paper, the wedding invitation was simply written with a fountain pen. Even if they were to disregard the excessive sloppiness, the white paper and black words… it could not be denied that it looked extremely ominous.