421: 8.21 The Two Women

8.21 The Two Women

Five days… so it would be the fifth day. They had arrived at this mansion on Sunday evening so five days later would be Friday. Lu Yizhou still had no idea what the woman meant by 'reclaim what belongs to her' but he had a hunch that it would wreak havoc in the mansion. For starters, the song she had always been singing, it must have meant something.  1

— 'I didn't harm her… She lied to you…'

It sounded awfully like a love triangle. Maybe… the woman was Luca Knox's mistress and somehow, due to some unforeseen circumstances, she died unjustly in this house? Because Madam accused her? That was one possibility. 

Lu Yizhou quietly slid open the window and craned his neck out. His room was situated on the back of the mansion, facing the dark woods that spanned as far as one could see. Even though Lu Yizhou was on the second floor, the trees were much higher than that. Thin branches reached out toward the sky almost like the prayer of howling spirits that longed for the moonlight. Everything was barren and black, as if once a fire had broken out here to burn everything to death. 

Because his room was in such an inconvenient position, if Lu Yizhou wanted to sneak into the others' room to check the situation out, he had to scale the wall and crawl like a lizard. He looked down on his flowy skirt and soft bouncy chest and had a sudden urge to bang his head on the wall. How the hell could he move like he usually did in this body?!

He heaved out a long suffering sigh and looked at his stats. 'What does the number in the brackets mean?'

Ozzie jumped onto his shoulder and settled there into a fluffy loaf, butting her head affectionately against Lu Yizhou's cheek. 'That's the average number for normal human meow~'

Alright, so his strength and agility surpassed average, that's normal. His health was full, most likely because he had just consumed the health potion. But his stamina… 'Why the hell is my stamina so low when my strength is higher than average?' he demanded with a frown.

'That might have something to do with your current body, Daddy! Your stamina is below average, it means that you will be tired easily if a battle drags out and in exchange, influences your strength. I think you're more suited to short and explosive combat rather than a long one meow!'

That made sense, Lu Yizhou nodded. Now that he knew his full stamina was only seven, he feared that he would be exhausted first after scaling the wall before he could even get to the real battle. Sigh, that would be a real hassle… He was contemplating which move he should take first when he felt 666 stir awake in the back of his mind.

[666: Guh…? What has happened to 666…? AH— THE GHOST! WHERE'S THE GHOST?!]

'Took you long enough!' Ozzie huffed angrily. No doubt that if 666 had a physical body, it would definitely be Ozzie's favorite playground to sharpen her claws. 'How could you faint at such a crucial moment, you useless system?!'

[666: The ghost is not here anymore?! Gosh, that almost scared 666 to death! That was the first time 666 has ever seen a ghost! So scary…! QAQ 666 thought that 666 was going to die… Host, when can we get out of here? sob sob sob… 666 can't bear it any longer…]

[This is just the first day.] Lu Yizhou replied mercilessly. [Stop crying and start working. Get me the blueprints of this mansion.]

[666: Aye, what a cruel man… QAQ]

As he waited for 666 to finish putting together the blueprints, Lu Yizhou went to stand in front of the door and strained his ears. It might be faint, but he could still hear a few murmurs. Checking that nobody was standing in front of the door through the peephole, he quietly turned the handle and pulled the door open only for a crack. The voices became clearer and he was certain that one of them was Baines' voice. Who could he be talking to past the curfew?

Lu Yizhou smoothly slid out and closed the door behind him. The hallway in front of him was narrow and dim, only illuminated by the flickering flame from the candlesticks along the wall. Lu Yizhou was used to walking without a sound and was conscious not to leave any footprints, but now it was proven difficult due to the old, creaky floor. He was lucky that the conversation afar was accompanied by footsteps, masking the sound of Lu Yizhou's own as he crept forward, stuck himself to the corner of the wall and peered out.

A row of doors greeted his sight. Lu Yizhou remembered that Baines had given Ailín and Diana the first room and then the two protagonists the fourth room. Both of the doors were tightly shut. 'Can you sense if everyone is still in their room?'

'Wait a moment, Daddy~' Ozzie answered and stretched her neck out to sniff around. 'Hmm, their smells are the densest around here so they must still be inside meow!'

Lu Yizhou couldn't help but be confused. Were they not supposed to investigate at a time like this? What exactly were they doing locked up in their rooms? Or was it Lu Yizhou who was too impatient and nosy? 'Can you check what they are doing inside?'

'Hmm… I can hear light snoring that sounds like Ailín's! As for the others, they are most likely sleeping too meow!'

Lu Yizhou: "..." Alright, some people just had the luxury to sleep when their life and death was uncertain. Lu Yizhou really admired how carefree they were. He let out a quiet sigh and shifted his gaze to the opposite wing and coincidentally, he found Baines appearing from the corner and walking toward his direction!

Lu Yizhou drew back sharply and held his breath.

The sound of conversation was growing clearer and clearer. "...so glad to be given this opportunity. Many thanks to you, Baines. Without you, this will not be possible."

"You're too kind, Miss," Baines answered humbly. "It's all but your continuous effort. Master has seen how sincere you are and is convinced that you will certainly be able to perform this task magnificently. So please do not let him down, ladies."

"Of course! Just leave it to us, we will do our best!"

Lu Yizhou raised a brow. Those voices sounded kinda familiar… but where had he heard that before? He was just digging through his memory when Ozzie piped in, 'Daddy, they are the two women who were late to the dinner earlier meow! Oh my God, where will Baines take them to? Daddy, they won't possibly be killed, right?!'

Lu Yizhou put his finger to his lips and gestured for Ozzie to keep quiet. The footsteps had stopped and only tense silence remained.

One of the women asked curiously, "Baines, is there something wrong?" 

Lu Yizhou's heart skipped a beat. He could just imagine the scene vividly; the three of them standing on the mouth of the hallway that led to the left wing, their silhouette casted by the candles were half hidden in the shadows. The two women shared a glance of confusion as Baines stopped to stare at the empty hallway, his murky eyes unreadable. On his shoulder, Ozzie tensed up and held her breath sharply, Lu Yizhou could hear how hard her heart was thumping inside that small furry body of hers.

Had they been discovered? No… Lu Yizhou was sure that he had not made any sound and Ozzie had not moved from her position as Lu Yizhou's fluffy scarf either. But he had to take into consideration that Baines was not an ordinary human like Ailín had said. What if he could sense something on Lu Yizhou?

Before he could think of something to salvage the situation, Baines' voice sounded again. "...No, nothing's wrong. Please, ladies, Master and Madam have been waiting."

Lu Yizhou waited until the footsteps grew further away before he came out from his hiding place. Confusion brewed within him. Did Baines really not notice anything? Then why had he stopped to look at the general direction on where Lu Yizhou was hiding? Or did he deliberately pretend not to be aware? Lu Yizhou had no idea, and he was never good at guessing games. The best he could do was to face the problem head on. 

After making sure that nobody was around, he summoned his skill 'Invisibility Cloak' and felt it flutter around his shoulders.

'Ready?'

'Let's go, Daddy! If those two women are indeed meeting the Master and Madam, then it's possible that we can also catch a little glimpse!'

Lu Yizhou hummed, albeit he was a bit dubious of that. Luca Knox's level of distrust was impossibly astronomus, Lu Yizhou was not confident that he could fill 10000 points before his time here was over. He guessed that there must be something that could make Luca's trust skyrocketed; otherwise how could the players be granted an official audience with Madam and Missus? Wouldn't the game become a scam that way?

…And the way to do that was definitely not being late to dinners. Baines had gone out of his way to warn them that Luca disliked tardiness, and judging from the coldness in Luca's eyes that time, Lu Yizhou was uncertain whether the two women could make it past tonight. 

Quietly, he melded into the night and trailed after the three people's back until they climbed the stairs to the third floor. Coincidentally, 666's blueprints came at the right time, enabling Lu Yizhou to judge that the destination they were heading to was most likely to be the master bedroom. The air seemed to grow colder up here, or perhaps it was just because the candlesticks were sparse in number.

Lu Yizhou did not fear that he would be discovered, but just in case, he stood a few meters away from them. Close enough to scrutinize each of their moves and expressions, but not close enough that he couldn't make a run for it in case something happened.

Baines knocked on the large double door that was carved with delicate designs. Behind him, the two women were visibly nervous yet excited at the same time as they smoothed down their skirts and straightened their postures. "Master, this servant has brought the doctors here."

Luca's voice drifted out from inside. "My good Baines, here you are. I have been waiting for you. Please come in."

Lu Yizhou frowned. Was it only his imagination or Luca's voice sounded quite different? It was more… grating, hoarse like sand grinding against paper. Almost as if the owner was ill or had not drunk anything for a very long time. 

Baines pushed open the door and gestured for the women to go inside. 

Lu Yizhou's eyes widened. For a split second after the door cracked open, he clearly saw a faint swirl of black shadows surging out to envelope the women. They were akin to sentient smoke, devouring and caressing the women before pulling back. Everything happened in less than one second, so fast that Lu Yizhou almost thought that he had seen it wrongly.

But no, in the next second, the women's eyes abruptly turned dazed and their movements became sluggish as they dragged their feet to enter the room! Lu Yizhou did not see wrong, something had indeed happened in that split second! 

He saw as Baines trailed after them but not before stopping to turn around and swept his gaze around the empty space before him. Lu Yizhou stilled subconsciously, not daring to move or breathe as Baines' murky eyes grazed past him. Not finding anything suspicious, Baines finally stepped in and closed the door behind him, effectively sealing the two women's fate.

Lu Yizhou eyed the fully shut door with a dubious look. Should he follow them in or not…?

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