(Earl Carlisle)
Edited by Silver Wind
Da da da—
The horses" hooves tracked across the muddy ground, splashing a few drops of murky water.
The carriage jolted and swayed due to the unevenness of the road. Through the slightly agape carriage door, a group of men could be discerned as they crowded the carriage and made it a tight squeeze.
Shen Dongqing squirmed a little, trying to find a position that was more comfortable to sit in when a hand suddenly reached towards him and pulled him over.
He twisted his head and saw a smiling expression. A glint of light flashed past his eyes. "Why are you here?"
In the last world, Shen Dongqing was forced to leave before he could bid farewell to Zhou Wenyan.
He did not expect that he would meet him again.
Zhou Wenyan raised his hand and opened the window of the carriage to allow the drizzle carrying breeze to blow in, and it happened to fall between the two of them.
Shen Dongqing inhaled the fresh air and said: "My points were deducted to nothing and I even had to enter whatever punishment mode is. In the blink of an eye, I arrived here."
Zhou Wenyan: "It doesn"t matter, it"s a small problem."
Naturally, he had entered punishment mode as well, and because he was forced into a new copy, the time allotted for rest was revoked.
Just as his words fell, an aggrieved voice sounded out from beside them: "It still doesn"t matter? Punishment modes are notoriously difficult to clear and its death rate is around 70%. It"s all your fault, I knew I shouldn"t have come to find you so quickly."
Shen Dongqing followed the sound and looked over at the bespectacled, tall and thin young man who was seated next to Zhou Wenyan.
Wu Jia noticed Shen Dongqing"s gaze as he pushed his gla.s.ses up and said: "h.e.l.lo, I"m Wu Jia, and I"m this big boss"s younger brother. How should I address you?"
Zhou Wenyan turned his body and blocked Wu Jia"s figure before he said in a simple and rude manner: "Ignore him."
Wu Jia: ……
Can you not forget your loyalties so quickly after falling in love?
At that moment, the woodp.e.c.k.e.r ornament burst into a bird"s call and attracted everyone"s attention.
When everyone in the carriage looked at it, the woodp.e.c.k.e.r closed its beak, and unexpectedly, it started speaking with the voice of a soft little girl.
【 You have entered a B-level Copy 】
【 Due to the punishment mode that some partic.i.p.ating players have triggered, the difficulty of the copy has been doubled, and its final evaluation is 】
Once the sentence was finished, someone complained: "Why am I so unlucky, ah?"
Despite the player"s complaints, no one joined in to air their grievances. After all, the players in this copy were people who had been through several games, and they concentrated their attention on the woodp.e.c.k.e.r instead, waiting and hoping for more clues.
【 You are on your way to Earl Carlisle"s Manor 】
【 Earl Carlisle has a large expanse of territory, and there are a countless number of peasants living there. Earl Carlisle is a benevolent lord; he does not increase his taxes nor does he make it difficult for the peasants under him, and he only requests that six virgin maidens are offered to him every year to spend the seven day b.u.mper Harvest Ceremony with him. However, no one has ever come out of the Count"s Castle, and some have said that the maidens were covetous and vain, thus, they refused to leave… 】
【 You are one of the six virgin maidens 】
【 Kill Earl Carlisle or Survive through the b.u.mper Harvest Ceremony 】
Shen Dongqing pa.s.sively listened to each and every paragraph, but when he heard a particular phrase being used, he suddenly sat up and scrutinised the people in the carriage.
"Six virgin…"
But what he saw in the horse carriage from left to right was this: a burly and muscular man with thick sideburns, a thin and weak otaku in a chequered shirt, a middle-aged man with thinning hair, in addition to Wu Jia, Zhou Wenyan, and Shen Dongqing himself.
"…Maidens?"
Zhou Wenyan stroked his jaw and said with palpable amus.e.m.e.nt: "This Earl Carlisle has pretty heavy tastes."
Yu— The horse carriage came to a halt.
The coachman who was wrapped up tightly opened the door of the horse carriage.
Shen Dongqing got off the carriage first.
The weather was not the best today; a light rain had fallen over the lands and dark clouds shrouded the castle overhead, not allowing a single ray of sunlight to shine through.
The rest of the players got off the carriage one after another.
Not long after, the large gates of the castle opened with a creak, and a middle-aged woman outfitted in a maid uniform walked out.
Her expression was stern and the creases of her forehead were meticulously displayed.
"Six young…" Before she could finish speaking, she saw the six men lined up in front of her, and the sight of them surprised her to the point where she forgot her etiquette. Her mouth opened and closed, but she could not find it in herself to spit out the word "ladies" in the end.
She muddled over it: "I am the Lord Earl"s housekeeper, and will lead you to the rooms that have been prepared for you, if the six of you would follow me. Please attend the evening banquet once you have rested."
The housekeeper brought the party into the castle.
Compared to the time she appeared, her footsteps were faltering, and it was apparent that she could not accept the six guests that had arrived this year.
The six "virgin maidens" who came to partic.i.p.ate in the b.u.mper Harvest Ceremony had their rooms arranged on the third floor of the castle and due to the fact that there were six rooms on the third floor, each person was allocated one to themselves.
Shen Dongqing"s room was in the middle, with Wu Jia on his right and Zhou Wenyan on his left.
The room was furnished with a vintage western aesthetic.
It was probably prepared for a female guest as the room had an exquisite dressing table and a wardrobe that was at a person"s height. Bypa.s.sing the folding screen, there was a double bed behind it with a thick and heavy bed canopy draped down from above.
Shen Dongqing walked over and he picked up the gorgeous dress that had been lying on the bed. He shuddered as he inspected it, causing the small bells that were adorned on it to jingle.
"I don"t have to wear this, right?" He mumbled.
With a face of disgust, he dropped the gown.
Just as he was intending to study the rest of the room, an unexpected "dong" sound traveled from the window.
Shen Dongqing pushed open his window to take a look, and saw a stone pebble rolling in a circle on the ground. Lifting his head again, he saw Zhou Wenyan standing on the balcony of the next room, playing with a small stone between his fingers.
Seeing that Shen Dongqing had come out, Zhou Wenyan dropped the stone he was holding and propped his hand on the balcony bal.u.s.trade. With one large stride of his long legs, he flipped over to the other side.
His movements were smooth and natural, and he even had the time to quirk his lips at Shen Dongqing.
It conformed to the standards of a handsome rake.
Shen Dongqing was slightly puzzled: "Why didn"t you use the door?"
Zhou Wenyan"s smile stiffened.
On the other side, someone laughed.
Zhou Wenyan raised his eyes, sweeping a cold gaze towards the source of the laughter.
Wu Jia stopped laughing instantaneously and he flipped over the bal.u.s.trade as well.
His attempt was more pitiful of course; he had to exert greater effort to come over by slowly climbing up the bal.u.s.trade and he hesitated for him a moment before he jumped over. It was a sharp contrast to Zhou Wenyan"s graceful maneuverer.
All of a sudden, three adult men were standing on a narrow and small balcony.
Shen Dongqing tilted his head: "To be honest, I didn"t lock the door."
Wu Jia: ……
Then why did he waste so much effort to come over for?
Unhappy, Zhou Wenyan narrowed his eyes at Wu Jia in disapproval : "What are you doing here?"
Wu Jia pushed up his gla.s.ses. "Didn"t you come over to discuss some countermeasures? We have to spend seven days here and we don"t know what dangers are lying the castle, so we have to gather some information."
Zhou Wenyan ignored Wu Jia"s long exposition and returned one word: "No."
Wu Jia scratched his head, "Then what did you come over here for?"
Zhou Wenyan"s eyes flitted away momentarily, and he did not speak.
Wu Jia clasped his hands together, saying: "Boss, the difficulty for this copy is A, and I really don"t want to overturn my car here."
Zhou Wenyan stared at for a long while before he suddenly said: "I feel that as my younger brother, you should know how to act quickly according to the circ.u.mstances."
Wu Jia: "?"
Zhou Wenyan: "For a start, it would be best if you could quietly roll back to where you came from."
Wu Jia"s gaze shifted between the two of them before he readily took a hint. He bopped his head: "Understood, understood." He was one foot over the bal.u.s.trade when he retracted it.
"I"ll use the door," Wu Jia smiled dryly and retreated while he was facing them. "I"m older and my waist isn"t what it used to be…"
Finally, only Shen Dongqing and Zhou Wenyan remained on the balcony.
After such an interruption, Zhou Wenyan did not know where he should start. He coughed softly: "Actually, I wanted to…"
He had yet to finish speaking when Wu Jia returned.
Zhou Wenyan twisted his head and looked at him, before using a voice that sounded like it had been squeezed out from between his teeth, "What did you come back for?"