Matryoshka Off-Limits Chapter 13 Part 2

Chapter 13.2 Night of the Ancient Castle

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The scream was accompanied by eerie noises, gradually fading away. Peng Lu made a gesture, indicating that they could go down.

The narrow passage felt even colder and more humid at night. Occasionally, a drop of condensed water would fall from the low wall above, with one drop landing on Peng Lu’s neck, causing him to shiver.

The door to the art studio was slightly open. Through the gap, Peng Lu looked inside with the help of candlelight from the corridor.

The formation had taken effect.

A withered hand rested on the cabinet door of the pigments. Half of the blood bride’s body was trapped in the demon-sealing formation. Her neck was infinitely elongated, trying to escape from the formation.

Sensing the presence of living beings, the blood bride struggled to turn her neck. Peng Lu and her eyes directly met, revealing her terrifying face. Her lips were tainted with red pigment, and the symbol water had corroded half of her lips, leaving pockmarked scars.

Peng Lu took out his weapon, a black flag with incomprehensible ancient text on it, used for summoning the undead. He was about to wave the flag when a gust of wind blew in, extinguishing the candles one by one in the corridor.

Luo Xiao rushed over to protect the last candle nearby.

However, the strange wind was relentless. Luo Xiao’s clothes billowed. She could only watch helplessly as the last flicker of fire was snuffed out by her own body.

The entire underground area was plunged into darkness.

In the darkness, the room felt crowded.

The thick scent of blood filled their nostrils.

Luo Xiao strongly felt that something had appeared around them, watching them, and there was not just one.

Eerie giggles echoed in the art studio. She instinctively took a few steps back, but there were laughter sounds behind her, and they were getting closer. The sound seemed to come from at least two different directions.

Both of them knew that this meant the remaining blood brides had arrived.

Luo Xiao took out the advanced version of the【Aggro Doll】which was already prepared, and stuffed it with half of Wen Shi’s hair.

The temperature in the art studio immediately rose, and the suffocating feeling began to subside. Luo Xiao sensed that the airflow was passing by her side without stopping, confirming that the prop had successfully taken effect. All those evil gazes in the darkness were now gathered elsewhere, filled with such malice that it couldn’t be ignored.

The 【Aggro Doll】 had ignited the blood brides’ fury to the extreme.

They drifted out of the main gate silently, searching for the source of that aura.

The distance between the two parties wasn’t too far. Wen Shi was sitting at a distant small table, gazing at the moon with a sigh.

As soon as he saw the blood brides, his eyes lit up.

There were two blood brides in total, a number not too difficult to handle.

The butler was attentive, and the picnic was well arranged. To compensate for the impoliteness of locking guests outside to eat, a red carpet was laid from the main gate to the lawn. The tableware used was top-notch, a unique form of compensation.

The bodies of the two blood brides were stitched together, their limbs not very coordinated. They didn’t rush to float over. Instead, they stood quietly at the end of the red carpet, their movements perfectly synchronized.

Bloodlines entwined around their fingers like gecko’s toe pads, firmly securing both ends of the red carpet.

In the faint moonlight, the blood brides simultaneously raised their slender arms and pulled with force. The bloodlines instantly tugged the carpet backward, causing the table to fall. Wen Shi stumbled and fell onto the red carpet, looking disheveled.

The bloodlines quickly reeled in the red carpet.

When they were about seven or eight meters away from Wen Shi, their movements abruptly stopped. The blood brides’ perception was nowhere near that of the Earl and Bushy Beard, and only at this distance did they finally sense something amiss.

Wen Shi acted like a docile lamb and solemnly said, “Don’t stop, please continue.”

A fragrance.

Floral scent.

They smelled it for the first time, a scent that only entered their noses for a few moments but left a profound impact. The weakest part of the monster pieced together in the painting was its head, and all of these substances infiltrated deep into their brains.

The blood brides ran off.

Speed was not their advantage. It took them a few seconds to remember they could float.

“Wait for me!” Wen Shi picked up a string of objects prepared on the carpet and pursued them relentlessly from behind.

The blood brides retreated desperately in the direction against the wind, as if fleeing for their lives. A certain unspeakable fear suppressed the resentment brought by the 【Aggro Doll】.

While running, Wen Shi’s hand-held objects collided, producing a jingling sound, somewhat like bells.

“This feeling is like chasing zombies.”

Am I really that awesome?

Unfortunately, he lost his phone when he came in, otherwise, he would have taken a photo and shared it on social media.

“Don’t run, turn around and look at me.” With the night breeze gently blowing, Wen Shi sang in excitement, “I’m chasing you~ The gentle wind blows~”

He recalled the night not long ago when he was chased by a blood bride, screaming in fear. Now, fate took a turn, and the tides changed in his favor!

The intense emotions intensified the fragrance of the flowers, and the pollen coalesced deep within the brain, forming new seeds.

The addition of a new nucleus in the brain causes a tidal wave of dizziness.

The blood brides couldn’t float anymore, unsure of where they might float to.

Before losing further control, the blood brides forcefully expelled the object. The pigment turned into bloodwater, ripening the mutated pomegranate flower seeds. In the next few seconds, the withered petal trembled, and a half-open flower appeared between their lips.

The emaciated bride, her blood-stained white veil, spat out flower buds under the moonlight, exhibiting an eerie and mournful beauty.

Seizing the opportunity while they were vulnerable, Wen Shi closed the distance between them.

Another wisp of floral fragrance wafted with the night breeze.

Shortly after, another flower bud was spat out from the blood bride’s mouth.

A game of cat and mouse, as she tried to escape, but he pursued relentlessly, and flower buds kept coming out.

Finally, Wen Shi circled in front of them, crouched down, holding his face, and said, “Look at my little flower!”

There were no flowers on the ground, only a young man crazily pretending to be a flower, more outrageous than the monsters.

Wen Shi had polished the silver plates to a shine and wore them on both hands and around his neck, as well as eight more as makeshift abs. From a distance, he looked like a giant silver armor.

A grown man covered in tableware was indeed a comical sight.

However, humor can be quite effective in certain situations.

The reflective tableware caused the movements of the two blood brides to falter.

Without any warning, a burning sensation struck their eyes. The blood brides convulsed in pain, causing the bloodlines to wildly scatter and attack in all directions. The dried-up bloodlines broke apart one after another, and the blood brides, like sculptures, were frozen in place, desperately trying to turn their heads but failing as their eyes stubbornly stayed in their sockets.

The injured blood brides’ white veils turned black.

Just like the black-veiled woman Wen Shi encountered on the first night.

During the skill task, his ankle had been pierced by a bloodline, and the subsequent female pursuer only used brute force. Before that, there was only one incident when Wen Shi tried to use a silver spoon to see what was behind him. Considering all the second-floor rooms designated for players had dressing tables but no mirrors, everything gradually became clear.

It was probably the moment when he picked up the silver spoon that the reflected image harmed the blood bride lurking behind him.

The blood brides’ behavior further solidified Wen Shi’s idea.

They liked hunching their bodies, keeping their heads down while walking, never making eye contact with others. This was a self-protective measure to avoid revealing their true selves in others’ eyes.

【Blood Bride Codex Update

Breed: Blood Bride

Description: They are very dangerous, with somewhat sluggish movements. They always believe they are the most beautiful beings in the world, and their blood is their best weapon.

By the way, don’t let them see their true appearance. It will cause them to break down】.

Indeed, they were breaking down.

In such dim lighting, a mere reflection already has such a deadly effect, let alone now.

Wen Shi suddenly recalled that the castle master had no shadow but could eat normally. Could this be the difference between high-level monsters and ordinary NPCs?

The blood brides covered their eyes, their actions of spitting out flower buds becoming faster and finally making strange ‘aba aba’ sounds.

Just when Wen Shi thought everything was about to settle, one of the blood brides suddenly changed her target. The bloodline penetrated her companion’s body, greedily absorbing the blood.

Wen Shi’s eyes widened, “That’s cheating.”

How could you fight when someone was carrying a blood bag around?

There were multiple instances of cheating.

The blood bride gathered some of her blood, forming a blood barrier around herself, blocking the air. This method also caused significant harm to herself, but the enraged blood bride no longer cared about that.

Wen Shi: “!”

He immediately turned around, and in an instant, their positions switched from offense to defense.

“Don’t come any closer!”

As fortunes turned, each turn led them closer to death. Wen Shi ran while shouting frantically, “You’ll regret coming closer, really!”

The moon was momentarily obscured by floating clouds. Coincidentally, the only source of light in the castle, a small bright spot, went out as if there was a power outage.

What a dog game.

How could such a coincidence happen in the world, where two things just happened to come together?

Despite cursing, Wen Shi’s running footsteps never stopped.

He rushed out of the castle, but the silver plates on his body were hindering his speed. Wen Shi kept one plate and threw the rest behind.

Wen Shi: “Do you still remember your companion? If there’s an afterlife, she wouldn’t want to be my enemy. I’m serious, you still have a chance to turn back.”

The blood bride pursued even more ferociously.

Wen Shi’s gaze turned fierce as he charged towards the narrow path.

The blood bride’s attack power had been weakened by more than half. Though her bloodlines seemed softer compared to before, the monster’s strength, albeit diminished, was still a monster. She favored targeting his ankles and the back of his head. Wen Shi occasionally looked back, and just as the bloodline was about to pierce the back of his head, he rolled on the ground, protecting his head. The bloodline aimed at his head struck his arm and ankle instead, causing fresh blood to flow.

“Your health is decreasing.”

“Your health has decreased by more than 10 percent.”

“Don’t need to remind me, I know.” Wen Shi gritted his teeth, persevering as he rolled to the vicinity of a streetlight.

Reaching back, he firmly grabbed the two bloodlines and pulled them forward with force. Near the streetlight, there was a large puddle reflecting a distorted and hideous image. The blood bride’s eye sockets were surrounded by bruises in an instant.

During the daytime, when Wen Shi passed by in a carriage, he had specifically looked to confirm that the puddle he saw on the first day was still there.

The castle lost power, but the streetlight remained lit. Wen Shi wasn’t surprised at all. This streetlight was like a perfect tipping point.

The blood bride’s eye sockets continued to bleed.

Wen Shi could sense the fiery rage accumulating beneath her frail body. He didn’t provoke her at this crucial moment. Holding his breath, he waited for the blood bride to weaken further.

The barrier formed by congealed blood was withdrawn and returned inside the blood bride’s body, partially restoring her vision.

Wen Shi: “Are you polite?”

Wasn’t a second round of blood supply too much?

The blood bride no longer cared about creating seeds. The double damage had deprived her of the ability to control the bloodlines. Her bony fingers reached out toward Wen Shi and in the next second, they appeared rapidly behind him.

Her slender arms wrapped around his vulnerable neck, avoiding eye contact entirely. The blood bride gradually exerted pressure, resembling the process of a python strangling its prey.

Wen Shi noticed that these NPCs enjoyed tormenting their prey, savoring the thrill of killing them bit by bit.

He admired this aspect.

The night was long, and too many dreams could lead to unexpected changes—this was a lesson that monsters could never learn.

Wen Shi quite liked his current position.

The blood bride would avoid eye contact, so she would prefer attacking from behind.

Wen Shi closed his eyes and forcefully leaned backward.

The game had strict limitations, and even the slightest deviation would result in punishment. The streetlight marked the boundary. When he first entered the game, he had almost been eliminated for crossing this line.

Wen Shi was already on the edge of the safe zone. A slight misstep could lead to being identified as attempting to escape the game, which was almost inevitable.

As long as he fell and landed on the blood bride, the mysterious skeletal hands from the depths of the earth would prioritize capturing her.

“Let go.” The blood bride was getting annoyed. How could there be such a despicable person?

At the moment her body leaned backward, she could already feel the chill from behind. In that darkness, other monsters lurked, not weaker than her.

Wen Shi firmly held onto the hand entwined around his neck, straining to squeeze out a few words, “Together in life, together in death.”

His tone carried a hint of reminiscence, “In the past, I was just like this, tightly hugging a companion like you. However, the story didn’t end well. I almost ended up skewered by the Earl.”

“Sigh.”

Wen Shi let out a heavy sigh.

The blood bride wished she could bite off Wen Shi’s throat, but he clung tightly to the arm wrapped around his neck, as if holding onto the last scarf that could keep him warm in winter, leaving her no opportunity to attack.

Of course, there was another reason. If she opened her mouth, she would spit out flower buds.

The condensation of the seeds required a process, but the blood bride couldn’t tolerate it, continually trying to ripen them. The mutated pomegranate flower would curse anyone mistreating the seeds, and with her constant inhalation of pollen, it created a vicious cycle.

The back of Wen Shi’s head touched the petals, and he began to sing hoarsely, “I have already planted nine hundred and ninety-nine roses for you…”

The blood bride exploded immediately, “Ah! Shut up!”

While cursing, another flower bud appeared in her mouth.

Wen Shi continued, “From the day of parting, nine hundred and ninety-nine roses…”

“Go to hell!”

Wen Shi sang, “Flowers wither, and people grow weary…”

“Shut up, shut up! Are you even human?”

The blood bride finally couldn’t hold on anymore, and both of them fell backward at the same time.

Wen Shi kept his gaze upwards, seeing the moon in the sky. Suddenly, something new appeared in his field of view. He was briefly surprised, then a faint smile appeared on his lips.

Short bursts of laughter reached the blood bride’s ears, inexplicably sending chills down her spine.

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