Chapter 124 - Ball
translator: xiin
editors: apricot & juurensha
From the end of the corridor, Thin Fire looked at Wu Jin in a daze, “… Oh, we found Little Witch.”
Wu Jin tugged Vera along, “Brother Thin! The clue you have––”
Outside the window.
Caesar looked left and right, “How come I can hear someone yelling for that grandson Thin Fire??”
A few seconds later, Caesar suddenly stood up from beside the big hole, “Did you hear? That coquettish man has a clue!”
Thin Fire was confused, “What? What do I have?”
The sound of footsteps came from outside the palace gates. Caesar stuck out his head and raised his machete with a cry. His momentum soared as he chased after Thin Fire, “Hand it over, hand it over!”
Thin Fire cursed, “Are you a fool? Why are you going after me and not Little Witch??”
Caesar was amused, “The clue is with you, why would I chase after Little Witch?!” The long sword whistled as it sliced over, “I, your grandpa, just wanted to beat up a stupid grandson like you!”
From behind them, Wu Jin pulled Vera with them and withdrew, “Find a corner with no lines of sight and go back to the fragrance room.”
Thin Fire’s close combat abilities were a little worse than Caesar’s, and Ning Fengbei had to help Thin Fire fight. Little Ran thought for a moment before deciding to chase after Wu Jin without any hesitation at all.
The door to the fragrance room was very close now.
Vera pulled away and listened to the sounds being carried on the wind behind her––
Wu Jin directly pressed down on Vera’s shoulder, “You go look.” Then, he hefted the long sword and went to guard the door.
Just in time to meet the Little Ran who’d caught up with them.
Little Ran smiled, “Apologies.”
The knight’s sword was drawn out like a streak of white, and the female contestant cut down fiercely. Wu Jin held up his sword to fight––
Xiao Ran made a m.u.f.fled sound as she stopped Wu Jin’s sword. Wu Jin’s blade turned from a slice to a stab, pulling open the distance between himself and the other side’s blade. Moving from aiming at the vital points to attacking the other party’s wrist.
Dozens of kilometers away, in the Crosson Show live broadcast room.
Blood Pigeon was amused when he saw this.
Ying Xiangxiang raised her brows.
Blood Pigeon: “The most gentlemanly way to fight.”
The setting sun shone on the Grand Trianon Palace, pink marble casting pale shadows to one side. After Little Ran escaped towards the stone pillars covered with iris, the blade turned, and the youth took a step back, kicking open the side door to a fragrance mixing room.
It wasn’t surprising that Little Ran’s blade went out of control, the blade flying out to cut the display stand to the side.
Countless scents spread out––
Sandalwood and cedarwood were the most basic of the woodsy tones, mixed in with cardamom, the scents ranging from bitter to heavy. Little Ran gasped for breath, and Wu Jin held the handle of his sword with both hands. His pupils were as calm and even in the dim fragrance mixing room, like a crossbeam holding up against the wind.
His blade split the old wooden racks, forcing out the Little Ran who’d dodged behind a display frame.
The second row of wooden frames collapsed, and orange blossom, aldehyde, and cosmetic powders wafted out. Aldehydes and fats were the most exotic of perfume materials, like wicked, ancient girls. At first, it would hide the orange blossom scent, allowing even hawthorn or violent scents to dominate, but at an unexpected moment in time, it would allow a perfume to revert to its original flavor, giving off a strong and even pungent soapy scent––
Little Ran appeared once again, sword in hand. This time, she no longer held back, putting the strange moves that were her signature movements to use.
Female contestants had always been more nimble. Wu Jin was a little slower than she was, but he was more stable.
The third row of wooden frames was affected by the fight.
Little Ran’s sword moved faster and faster, the fine sword lights shifting like endless water.
Cool gra.s.s and peppermint scents were scattered about, but soon covered by the soapy fragrance as the aldehydes and fats finally prevailed in this chaotic and disordered feast of fragrances. A soap-scented Little Ran finally caught a weakness in Wu Jin’s defense and stabbed at his neck––
There was a clang.
Little Ran’s mouth dropped open in amazement.
The knight’s sword rang out as it fell. The handle of the long sword hit the young woman’s elbow, and then Wu Jin squeezed into the narrow gap between the wall and raised his hand to control the Little Ran who was trying to escape.
Cedar and sandalwood scents finally suppressed the fragrance of soap.
The youth’s eyes were bright, and the muscles of his left arm that held the hilt of the sword were firm and smooth. The zipper of the combat suit that was now soaked with woodsy fragrances was half open as he mercilessly collected Little Ran’s sword.
Little Ran sniffed, the back of her ears turning a little red. She looked straight at Wu Jin and said, “Hey, I give up. Can you––”
The door squeaked open.
Vera interrupted abruptly, “I found it! Aqua Tofana!”
The White Rose held up two or three books, and two bottles of perfume.
Little Ran: “……”
Wu Jin was instantly surprised. He picked up his new sword and stood together with Vera. Behind them, Thin Fire had already brought Ning Fengbei along to catch up with them––
Vera pulled at Wu Jin, “Run!”
Wu Jin: “Wait a moment.”
The blade struck out horizontally, and the remaining six rows of fragrance racks collapsed. Rose, jasmine, rum, and honeysuckle added to the nauseatingly rich aroma. The entire room was so intense that they felt like they would suffocate with every twitch of their noses.
Wu Jin no longer tarried, “Let’s go.”
The scents that had come out during the fight were finally covered up by scattered flavors.
The setting sun slanted to the West.
The two of them hid in a farm in Versailles. In the distance, the figures of people searching the Grand Trianon could still be seen.
“We’re still short the last item for clearing the instance.” Vera frowned as night fell.
“Caesar, Thin Fire, and the others are all inside. We’ll wait for them to leave before going back to dig again.” Wu Jin comforted her, “There’s still another hour until the dance. They’ll definitely withdraw.”
Next to the farm, they opened the book they’d taken from the perfume room to the page with the clues.
“Aqua Tofana is an odorless perfume, and it is occasionally also used as a whitening lotion when sold––but n.o.body will really put it on their face.” Vera read softly, “Aqua Tofana originated from Italy, and it is made up of minerals taken from volcanoes. It contains a.r.s.enite, which is toxic and lethal. In Italy, in the 17th century, women who were bullied by their husbands would buy Aqua Tofana from witches, murdering their husband with chronic poisoning…”
“It’s also used by women to ‘execute’ heartless men.”
Vera sighed, “Madame de Montespan was willing to make sacrifices to the devil in order to obtain Louis XIV’s favor, and finally, she also wanted to pull him with her into h.e.l.l.”
There were two bottles of perfume. One bottle was for Louis XIV, and the other was for herself.
“Poisoning incident––” Vera looked at the last line.
“A lady in the palace was permanently banished and could never return to the Palace of Versailles for life.”
The dark night finally shrouded Versailles, and the candles gradually lit up.
“Half an hour until the ball.” Vera finally began to get nervous.
Wu Jin looked quietly at the Grand Trianon Palace in the distance and suddenly stretched out a hand, “Give me the Aqua Tofana.”
Vera: “You––”
Wu Jin gestured for Vera to relax, “You go to the ball first.”
Seeing that Vera wanted to continue arguing, Wu Jin smiled, “Don’t worry. In the worst case scenario, if I can’t obtain a card before the dance starts, I’ll go back and join you with the Lemoyne ident.i.ty card.”
“If I don’t come back five minutes before the ball––”
“It must be because I’ve obtained the Montespan card. The significance of the ball is unclear, and one of us must go to scout it out in advance.”
Vera’s lips shifted, and she finally gave Wu Jin a hug. The two of them quickly split the materials between them.
“Do your best, but don’t force yourself.” Vera instructed.
In the Grand Trianon Palace off in the distance, Caesar finally gave up the search and ran off to the Palace of Versailles with Little Ran. Five minutes later, Thin Fire followed suit.
Wu Jin’s vision was blurred in the night, but he remembered the road very clearly and soon felt his way back to the Grand Trianon Palace.
He lit a dim candle.
Wu Jin then quickly picked up the shovel and went back to the hole they’d dug out before.
19 minutes before the start of the ball.
A pale 4D projection suddenly came out, and a baby with blood in his eyes came through the thick curtain of night, his pupils black and resentful. Even the scrolling comments outside the match arena was startled––
Wu Jin’s eyes were wide and round, his garbage eyesight only allowing him to see a series of scattered mosaics.
“Little Witch is really brave.” Ying Xiangxiang praised, emotionally.
17 minutes before the ball.
The shovel finally hit something hard, and Wu Jin quickly leaned close to study it in the candlelight.
Meanwhile, at the Palace of Versailles.
Vera had changed into a painter’s robe and had her head down as she looked at the rules––
289/350 players were still alive. The compet.i.tion was about to heat up, and card holders would select partners according to the priority given to them by their ident.i.ty in the next round.
The dance floor for the court ball, the Hall of Mirrors, hadn’t been opened yet, but there was already the bustle of noise outside. At this time, many contestants were still being dragged off by the program team to change their costumes, while the rest were full of gossip.
“The blue cards pick people first? After that comes the green cards––”
“Wait a minute, what if there’s a purple card, won’t they pick before everyone else?”
“Hey, brother, who is your card? Is it an aristocrat? This one looks like a guard…”
The Grand Trianon Palace.
The hard object that had just been dug out finally revealed the whole picture. It was a small and exquisite crystal Holy Grail, inside which a blank card was placed. There was no note, or even a pa.s.sword dial for inputting letters. Wu Jin studied it for a long time before noticing a small line of words engraved at the bottom of the cup.
Gift from Louis to Madame de Montespan.
There was a small pouring icon at the mouth of the cup.
Wu Jin quickly came to his senses and quickly opened up the two bottles of Aqua Tofana, pouring it inside––
The card became soaked with the chemicals, and the outer layer faded away, finally revealing the complex lines on the card.
A small line of text appeared.
Character card – Madame de Montespan (1640-1707).
He’d obtained the card.
Wu Jin quickly picked up the character card, discarded everything else, and ran off to the Palace of Versailles. There was still some unknown liquid on the card that carried a strong scent of apple vinegar.
Wu Jin breathed a sigh of relief.
No matter what kind of props the program group had used for the Aqua Tofana, they hadn’t used real a.r.s.enite in the liquid––
Two minutes before the ball.
The melodious orchestral music started up inside the Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles. The invisible ghosts in the hall handed champagne to the guests from a distance, and all the instrumental music in the orchestra pit seemed to be played by transparent hands. At first glance, the scene was extremely strange.
Wu Jin was out of breath when he finally made his way over from the Grand Trianon Palace and was almost tired enough to crawl his way over the gate to the Palace of Versailles.
All of a sudden, he was stopped by a law enforcement machine.
30 seconds before the ball.
All the lights in the Hall of Mirrors were on. 483 mirrors reflected the pearly light, until everything blazed with light. The dance floor was luxurious and as bright as day. A French meal was served by invisible hands, and the hungry contestants’ eyes almost popped out of their heads.
The players on the dance floor at this time all wore different clothes. They could vaguely be distinguished as palace bodyguards, bards, celebrities, and scholars. Chu Chu took advantage of the time before the ball began to eat a small cake and arrange her skirts gracefully.
“I want Madame de Montespan’s little dress…” Chu Chu spoke plaintively, “Princess Anne’s dress isn’t as flattering…”
Wei Shi was unmoved.
Chu Chu ate too fast and ended up with hiccups, “If I’d known earlier, we should’ve taken the Montespan card… Wuwuwu, now it must be in Vera’s hands. Wuwuwu she’ll look better than me… It wasn’t easy for me to pick out six skirts, but they were all taken away by the program team…”
Chu Chu suddenly stilled and stared at the entrance in a daze.
Vera was coming in anxiously from a side door and what she was wearing was clearly the court painter’s long robe.
The ball was about to begin.
“…Vera is the court painter? They didn’t get the Montespan card?” Chu Chu was thoughtful, “Wait, why don’t we see Little Witch? Sister Vera looks very anxious, no way, could it be that she also doesn’t know where Little Witch is…”
At this time, all the players were already making their way inside.
Outside.
Wu Jin was knocking desperately at the door, but was stopped by two law enforcement machines and struggled desperately, “This is unreasonable! Impossible! Can I trade cards with my teammate first––”
The law enforcement robots were merciless as they picked up Wu Jin and tossed him into a cubicle in the corridor.
They then scanned the code on Wu Jin’s admission card, “Madame de Montespan, your card has been verified. Please equip the props.”
A cloth bag was tossed to the ground, and a corner opened up, revealing a gorgeous and complicated top, a long dress, underskirts, and wigs.
“……” Alarm bells were ringing in Wu Jin’s heart. He turned around and tried to run out the door––
A dozen cameras zoomed in on him.
On his left wrist, the wrist watch beeped, “Contestant 300012 Wu Jin, first negative performance warning, first negative performance warning.”
Wu Jin was going crazy, “No, no! I’ll wear it, okay––”
The ballroom dance floor.
The gentle and warm string music turned into a minuet, the sound of the violin light and airy. Wei Shi’s eyebrows were slightly twisted together, and Wu Jin couldn’t be seen across the entire ballroom.
Ming Yao, who was recounting the sin of Wu Jin’s ‘clue forgery’ from nearby, was amused, “Hey… could it be that Little Witch was eliminated?”
Just then, the entrance to the dance hall suddenly opened.
Champagne petticoats fluttered and quivered, holding up the overlapping red embroidered hem. The skirt was pulled up in arcs and was held high by the arched petticoats. Above it came a slim waist, and soft, curly blonde hair––
Wu Jin’s expression looked like he had nothing left to live for.
In the hall, only the sound of the violins could be heard.
All the players’ brains crashed.
Juurensha: …..AHAHAHA. It’s okay Little Witch! I’m sure you look lovely! And I’m sure WS had this in mind all along!
xiin: lolll~