Chapter 16: Rose Manor - One O'Clock |
"The most brilliant strategy is to remain behind the scenes—to observe, to probe, and to gather the most information while everyone else remains oblivious."
"Zou Yan, this can't be your second instance, can it? A rookie couldn't possibly have an item like that. You must be a veteran who spent points to choose this instance, right?"
Back in Guest Room 1, after time had rewound, Zou Yan smiled at Yezi. "You're not so simple yourself, are you? You and Shen Ming are both from the Sila Guild, aren't you?"
The moment the word "Sila" left her lips, Yezi's eyes widened. For the first time since entering the instance, she truly lost her composure.
She opened her mouth, forcing a smile. "Zou Yan, how did you figure it out? Will you tell me?"
The smile on Zou Yan's lips deepened, but she let out a sigh. "He didn't tell you, and you never bothered to find out for yourself. I suppose you still don't understand what 'teaming up' truly means in this game, do you?"
Yezi recalled how Shen Ming had warned her repeatedly before the game began, insisting she not reveal that they knew each other.
She had assumed it was all part of some act they were supposed to put on together. So, the moment she understood Zou Yan's desire to cooperate, she had immediately played Shen Ming as a bargaining chip.
Could it be...
Zou Yan chuckled softly, then gently took Yezi's right hand and applied light pressure to her little finger.
On Yezi's smooth, pale skin, a black ring slowly materialized over her knuckle. Its surface bore the embossed shape of a decorative butterfly, which on closer inspection also resembled the letter 'S'.
Zou Yan slid the black ring from the girl's finger. Throughout the process, Yezi was completely paralyzed, able to do nothing but force guttural, choking sounds from her throat as she stared in horror.
A loud, resonant bell tolled from beyond the door. It was one o'clock in the afternoon.
Zou Yan tilted her head, studying the terror in Yezi's eyes. Smiling, she rested her hand on the girl's neck.
"God won't be saving you."
...
"Shen Ming was from the Sila Guild. Liu Qingye knew him, so I suspect she's a member too." Chang Xu's voice was as placid as still water as he pushed aside the thick vines in front of him.
They were on the third floor of the manor, where dark green tendrils had burst from the four corners of the room, slithering up the gray-black walls like reptiles.
The thick vines pulsed with a vigorous life, growing toward the ceiling at a visible rate before draping back down to the floor, sealing off the entire level in a dense web.
Qi Si tested a vine as thick as his finger, slicing it with a blade. Green sap splattered onto his face, instantly congealing into downy tendrils that tried to burrow into his skin.
He raised a hand to pull them off, but they took a thin layer of his skin with them.
"Interesting vines. Don't tell me they're parasitic," Qi Si remarked, putting his blade away. He began parting the growth with his hands, just as Chang Xu was doing, clearing a path just wide enough to squeeze through. "...So how did you know Shen Ming was with the Sila Guild?"
He had no idea what the "Sila Guild" was, but from Chang Xu's matter-of-fact tone, it was clearly well-known—the kind of name any veteran player would recognize.
Chang Xu paused and pulled a ring from his pocket, holding it out for Qi Si to see.
It was a simple black ring, inlaid with a black butterfly twisted into the shape of the letter 'S'.
"I found this on Shen Ming. It's their insignia," Chang Xu explained. "The Sila Guild is far ahead in their research of the Weird Game. They can already craft their own items to bring into the instances. This ring, for example, increases the odds of two people entering the same one."
The Sila Guild... can craft their own items?
A flicker of understanding crossed Qi Si's eyes as he gently touched the silver bracelet on his right wrist.
Sensing his temporary partner's curiosity, Chang Xu added impassively, "If you're interested, you can look it up on the forums. Pretty much all the publicly available information is on there."
He seemed to recall something else and added, "The Sila Guild has done a lot of heinous things. They're a target for everyone now, hunted by various factions in both the game and the real world. It's only a matter of time before they're wiped out completely."
...Is he worried I'll join this Sila Guild?
Qi Si, ever the instigator, raised an eyebrow at Chang Xu. "Sounds to me like you might have had something to do with Shen Ming's death, then?"
Chang Xu gave him a puzzled look. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"...No fun at all."
Behind a curtain of vines, a door stood tightly shut, its rusty keyhole clogged with dust.
Qi Si stepped forward, drew a thin wire from his bracelet, and inserted it into the keyhole.
A few seconds later, a soft *click* echoed in the hall as the lock gave way.
Chang Xu watched this unfold, his expression skeptical. *You call this the work of a taxidermist?* "My father was a locksmith. I learned from him growing up."
Qi Si retracted the wire and stepped back, offering Chang Xu a small smile. "I'm a bit of a clean freak. Hope you don't mind."
Chang Xu glanced at the doorknob, which was caked in a thick layer of dust, and didn't seem to doubt him. He took the lead and pushed the door open.
Qi Si waited a deliberate two seconds. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he followed at a leisurely pace.
The room had clearly been untouched for a long time. As they stepped inside, a cloud of dust billowed toward them, carrying the musty, decaying scent of forgotten years.
In the center of the room stood a large bed, covered by a dusty quilt. The uneven contours of the blanket clearly outlined two figures lying beneath it.
Qi Si stepped forward and pulled back the quilt.
Beneath it, two skeletons lay side by side, their bare white bones sending a chill down the spine.
For a moment, the line between the game and reality blurred in his vision. Countless memories he had deliberately tried to bury surged to the surface of his mind.
First the red dress under the sheet, now skeletons under the covers... I have to admit, Miss Anna's tastes are surprisingly similar to my own...
After a long moment of silence, Qi Si let out a low chuckle. "These must be Anna's parents."
Chang Xu stared at the stark white skeletons, the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end. "How can you be so sure?" he asked.
The smile never left Qi Si's face. "What if I told you it was just a guess? Would you believe me?"
Death is inevitable. The dead vanish without a trace. It is only the living who cannot accept this, who resort to futile means to preserve what remains, deceiving themselves by keeping the dead in lifelike poses as a memorial.
—That is the essence of taxidermy.
Qi Si straightened up, his gaze falling upon the skeletons lying silently on the bed.
After a moment, he slid his hand beneath the pillow one of the skeletons was resting on. Just as he expected, his fingers brushed against several sheets of paper.
Pinching them between two fingers, he drew out the pages. They were covered in lines of writing.
...
Anna and Annie were born at the same time. In the old legends, one of every pair of twins is born with a curse. We don't believe in such things. They are both our beloved daughters, and we only want them to grow up happy.
...
Anna is always so obedient, but Annie is always full of strange, bizarre ideas. It's such a headache.
...
Anna is growing more beautiful every day. She is so perfect; she will surely find happiness. Annie's behavior has become more and more bizarre. We suspect she means to do something to Anna. We're holding a banquet, so we'll just lock her in her room for the day.
...
The family cat is dead. We found its body in Annie's room. She killed it. She used its blood to draw terrible symbols on the walls. She is cursing us!
...
Our illness grows worse and worse. We are dying... It must be Annie...
...
The notes ended there.
Suddenly, a grating *creak* came from the bed.
Qi Si's head snapped up. The two skeletons on the bed had sat bolt upright and were now turning their heads to face him.
He felt a sudden dampness on his fingertips. On the pages in his hand, the black text was turning red, the color bleeding from the paper like fresh blood and trickling downward.
He tried to let go, but the pages seemed glued to his hand. He couldn't shake them off. The blood-red words sprouted tendrils that burrowed into his flesh like the roots of a rose.
Qi Si's pupils constricted.