Chapter 18.2 Night of the Ancient Castle
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The corridor’s lights remained as dim as ever.
As Wen Shi reached the dining room, the wall displayed chaotic black shadows, then twisted faces gradually “floated” out of the wall.
One of the faces almost approached Wen Shi’s own.
In the dim glow, Wen Shi focused on the twisted face’s eyebrows. Each monster had a uniquely beautiful organ mutation, and this face’s eyebrows resembled distant mountains, making it much more pleasant to look at than its overall repulsive appearance.
Under the same faction, the monsters appeared voluntarily this time, not launching a direct attack on him like on the first night.
“Aaron…” The cold wall was the nest where the monsters resided. Apart from avoiding the area near the underground art studio due to fear of the real bride, they roamed every corner of the castle at night.
“Aaron, I am William.”
【William. One of Aaron’s friends. Not long ago, after a gathering, you both visited the gallery and met the castle master. You were invited as a psychologist. William was invited to attend the wedding.】
【Aaron, it hurts so much, please save me. I don’t want to die.”
【Katie. One of Aaron’s friends. Not long ago, after a gathering, you both visited the gallery and met the castle master. Katie was invited to attend the wedding.】
“Save us.”
【Catherine: One of Aaron’s friends.】
……
Most of the people who died in the castle turned into monsters, and they were no exception.
“Aaron, come with…us. There’s a secret passage in the castle that leads to…the attic.”
The voice came in fragments, trying to convey a message to him.
“We want to live inside the picture frame.”
“Don’t let them crush us like cockroaches.”
Wen Shi hesitated for a moment, “But you wanted to kill me before.”
“My dear Aaron, we are being controlled by the devil, and our moments of clarity are brief.”
Wow, was he really acting along with them?
“I see.” Wen Shi swallowed and cautiously asked, “So, is there really a secret passage?”
“Of course. If we wanted to kill you, we would have done it already. Aaron, please save us.”
Wen Shi strategically paused for three seconds.
The monsters played their biggest card, “If you want to leave this place, you can’t do it without our help.”
After pretending to hesitate, Wen Shi nodded, “Alright, take me to the secret passage, and I’ll try to steal the picture frame for you.”
On the third floor, there were hardly any lights at night.
Holding the lantern, Wen Shi stood in the middle of the corridor, but the limited light couldn’t illuminate the path ahead. The wall’s color changed, and the stone walls seemed covered in a thick layer of powder. Wen Shi vaguely smelled the stench of rotting flesh. The walls appeared like bloated, decomposing bodies.
He followed the monsters to the study and, as instructed, removed all the books from the shelf where “Beauty and the Beast” was located. As the last book was taken down, the shelf lightened. It automatically moved to both sides, revealing a hidden passage behind the wall.
A clever design. Even after staying here for so long with Luo Xiao last time, he didn’t realize there was something behind that wall.
Before entering, he paused and said, “Everyone, follow closely. We don’t want to be easily discovered.”
There were no signs of the monsters leaving, but they symbolically moved back a bit.
Wen Shi stood at the entrance, hesitating, and lowered his demands, “You all want the picture frame too, right? None of us want to fail. William, Katie, Catherine…”
He listed the names of his old classmates one by one. “Just stick with me. I don’t know the others, but everyone, please follow me. I… I’m a bit scared too.”
Wen Shi usually resembled a thorny rose, resilient and dangerous. In reality, his appearance suited playing the role of a pitiful person, especially when his eyebrows drooped, showing his vulnerability.
The darkness couldn’t hide the monsters’ eyes. They were momentarily confused by the fragmented atmosphere.
The monsters whose names were mentioned had no objections.
But the other shadows inside the wall were unhappy. In an exaggerated posture, they twisted together. Wen Shi saw an exceptionally long and thin arm reaching out from a thin and elongated body, pulling at the heads of the monsters below, engaging in an odd struggle.
Before this conflict escalated into infighting, Catherine used her gentle voice to whisper something, achieving a brief compromise: half of the monsters stayed, while the other half accompanied Wen Shi.
Wen Shi started walking towards the secret passage, with monsters formed by his old classmates on both sides.
The passage was winding and gradually ascending, stretching quite a distance. Wen Shi stepped on something soft and sticky and looked down to find a mushroom.
It was quite damp all around. The monsters used the walls on both sides to move forward alongside him.
While Wen Shi was paying attention to the occasional mushrooms popping up, a slender black shadow emerged from the wall. The arm that had previously attacked its friend extended like soft clay, but this time it was heading for Wen Shi.
Wen Shi seemed unaware and continued walking.
Only when the shadow touched his neck did he react and dodged to the side, summoning the Wandering Corpse. As blood drained from him, Wen Shi’s face and lips turned slightly pale, “My old classmates, what are you doing?”
“Fragrant.”
The wandering shadows stared at him with eager eyes, but the fragrance they referred to was not the same as what the castle master mentioned.
After losing quite a bit of blood, the forcibly awakened Wandering Corpse finally appeared beside Wen Shi.
Wen Shi: “Good, now you’re awake. Watch as Dad performs for you.”
All the shadows instantly pounced, not at Wen Shi, but at the Wandering Corpse.
Wen Shi intentionally raised his voice as if he suddenly understood something and shouted angrily, “Ba—ards!”
He shielded the Wandering Corpse behind him and confronted the monsters.
As the monsters surrounded him from all sides, Wen Shi’s handsome face displayed anger, “I promised to help you steal the picture frame, but you want to devour my friend!”
He ordered the Wandering Corpse to go back.
“Hand it over.” The slender arm tightened around Wen Shi’s neck.
Another arm from the other end grabbed Wen Shi’s wrist. A shadow emerged from the ground, pulling his leg towards the wall, as if intending to tear him apart in this secret passage.
“I… will never betray… my friends.” With his limbs seemingly about to be torn apart any second, Wen Shi endured the pain and spoke each word slowly.
【Wandering Corpse’s loyalty to you +1】
【Wandering Corpse’s rationality increases by 0.5】
“Aaron, you are too naive.” Catherine’s feigned sorrowful tone reached him. “After being a doctor for so long, you even treat that monster as your friend.”
Yes, that’s right, introduce me like that!
Wen Shi gritted his teeth and said, “I won’t abandon, any one, of my friends.”
【Wandering Corpse’s loyalty to you +1】
【Wandering Corpse’s rationality increases by 0.7】
Catherine’s tone turned persuasive, “Aaron, hand over that thing, we are your true friends.”
“No!” After another refusal, Wen Shi could barely speak. His throat was squeezed too tightly. His vocal cords were injured, causing him to emit only a whimpering sound like a young animal.
【Wandering Corpse’s loyalty to you +2】
【Wandering Corpse’s rationality increases by 0.8】
When it was dropping, it felt like riding a roller coaster, and when gaining points, it increased by a small increment. What was going on?
Even on the verge of death, Wen Shi didn’t buy any items and tried to stop the shadows and run out to find Xie Tangyan for help.
Because it wasn’t necessary. If these monsters wanted to kill him, they should have done it from the beginning, just like the first night they chased him, with a direct attack.
Now, killing him wouldn’t help them steal the picture frame or devour the Wandering Corpse. It would all be in vain.
“Since you won’t kill me…”
Despite suffocating, Wen Shi’s face showed an unusual and cheerful smile. He mouthed, “Then, just wait to be killed.”
The blood river silently flowed downward, submerging the mushrooms in its path. A graceful figure rose from the river, first reclaiming some blood, making the body more solid.
The monsters first noticed a paper knife, then the real bride standing in the blood river.
After a brief moment of astonishment, the shadows scattered in fear.
Wen Shi regained his breath.
The real bride wielded the paper knife with no expression on her face, one slash at a time. Her other hand wasn’t idle either, as her bony fingers directly pulled out a shadow from the wall. The monsters were chopped into pieces like worms and swallowed into her belly.
The real bride didn’t even blink as she continued to swing the paper knife.
“Aaron,” the wounded monster cried out in pain, “You said you wouldn’t abandon any friend. Save me!”
Disgusting.
Everything now was orchestrated by Wen Shi. Only a madman would try to stop it.
Despite his thoughts, he said, “When you wanted to harm my other friend, we were no longer friends.”
Holding the lantern, Wen Shi looked indifferent as he watched the monsters being massacred, while opening a panel.
【Creature: Wandering Corpse
Current Rank: Advanced Monster, with a certain probability of transforming into a Corpse Guard.
Rationality Value: 3 (adequate loyalty can compensate for low rationality)
Loyalty: 5 (his loyalty to you is surprisingly not zero, he loves you a lot)
Summoning method: Blood summoning】
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Aww, PengPeng/General.. that’s so cute <3