Chapter 19: What's in the Tower? It's not a kiss that awakens the prince, but...

How can humans be slapped in the face so quickly?

Ye Wan climbed the huge tower again and again, following the spiral old wooden stairs. The damp, moldy smell and years of dust choked her and made her cough repeatedly.

The moonlight vine in her hand emitted a faint light, and she could barely see the corners covered with spider webs and the tattered stained glass windows. The temperature became lower as she went higher, and Ye Wan couldn't help but quickly stroke her arm.

The fog walls formed an inexplicable maze. No matter which way Ye Wan walked, the end was the extremely suspicious-looking red tower.

She sat cross-legged at the door for a long time, but no one came to rescue her, so she had to bite the bullet and go in.

When he climbed to the fifth floor, Ye Wan was already exhausted and out of breath. He simply sat down on the steps where he was. Moonlight slanted in from the dilapidated window.

She looked at the moonlight and swallowed.

"Muffin, I really want to eat kimchi stewed pork ribs and spicy tomato chicken noodles." She was hungry after running so much.

The kimchi soup is bright red and thick, and the broth reveals the tempting ribs. The ribs are stewed so tenderly that they fall off the bones with just one sip. The spicy and sour tomato chicken noodles are made with chicken thighs stewed with cherry tomatoes, and the noodles are all coated with a sour and spicy sauce. It is best paired with a glass of iced cola.

Ye Wan and Pancake sighed at the same time.

A strong aroma of tomatoes wafted out, and Ye Wan followed the scent with the Moonlight Vine in his hand. There were a few old parchments on the windowsill. In such an atmosphere, the parchments should have alchemical formulas written on them.

But no, there were messy notes on the parchment, saying 3 cups of cake flour, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, and a recipe for some dessert. Next to it was a bowl of fragrant tomato and spicy chicken noodles.

"I also want 1,000 monthly silver coins." Ye Wan took a look at the pot of freshly baked spicy and sour tomato chicken noodles, swallowed his saliva, and said sincerely.

But nothing happened.

"Well, I knew money wasn't that easy to make. Come on, Pancake, let's climb a few more floors."

She didn't dare touch the bowl of noodles, for fear that there might be some strange seasoning in it.

As Ye Wan climbed the stairs, she told Pancake the story of Rapunzel from Grimm's Fairy Tales: "There was a princess named Rapunzel imprisoned in a high tower. She had beautiful hair, and there were no stairs. If the witch wanted to get in, she would shout, 'Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let your hair down!' When the princess heard it, she would let down her hair, and the witch would climb up through her hair."

She joked with Pancake: "Is there also a blonde princess on the rooftop? Hahahaha."

“It really is.”

Ye Wan and Songbing finally climbed to the top floor and stared in amazement at a blond man lying on a large carved classical bed with his hands folded.

He had long light golden hair, a pale face, closed eyes, and long, thick eyelashes that cast a butterfly-wing-like shadow under his eyes. He was extremely handsome, with an almost coquettish beauty.

He wore a dark blue robe inlaid with precious sapphires, emeralds and feathers.

"Look at Pancake! This 'Rapunzel Princess' may not have the best taste, but she's really handsome."

Ye Wan moved closer and then took two steps back: “No, is he a little dead?”

Pancake was very brave. It jumped down from Ye Wan's shoulder, jumped onto Princess Rapunzel's head, and then squeaked twice at Ye Wan.

Ye Wan then mustered up the courage to walk over. She reached out to touch the person's hand and found it was warm. His breathing was steady and his pulse was beating regularly. He must have just fallen asleep.

"Since he's not dead, let's just ignore him. Let's go, Pancake." Ye Wan looked around the top floor of the tower. Apart from some scribbled star patterns carved on the wall, there was only "Princess Rapunzel" sleeping on the bed.

She was about to go back when a huge figure blocked the stairs.

Ye Wan almost bumped into a furry wall. She looked up and saw a huge gray rabbit with its hands on its hips looking at her. The rabbit was wearing a yellow plaid apron and two sponge gloves on its hands.

Ye Wan rubbed his nose and asked cautiously, "Are you the legendary evil spirit?"

It looked a little offended and said, "Nonsense, I am the guardian of the red brick tower."

"Now," it rudely threw a stack of parchment and a pen into Ye Wan's arms, "You must be the new adventurer. I don't have time to duel with you. Sign quickly and take this sleeper away. I don't have time to waste with you. I have a chiffon cake baking in the oven."

Ye Wan opened the parchment and saw a few large characters on it: "Red Brick Tower Awakening Agreement Contract"

Terms and Conditions

1. Wake-up time limit

Party B needs to wake up the sleeper tonight

2. Wake-up method

True Love's Kiss

3. Follow-up

After Party B completes the awakening, the sleeper will be fully owned by Party B, and they will share the responsibility for life and drown in the torrent of fate. If Party B is unable to take the sleeper out of the tower before the sun appears, both parties will sleep in the tower together (the tower is not responsible for any subsequent developments)

Contracting Parties

Party A's Red Brick Tower Guardian Spirit, Sean

Party B (Signature)

Ye Wan gritted her teeth and finished reading: "I don't want this sleeping man, I don't know him." She stuffed the parchment back into Rabbit's arms, but Rabbit refused to take it.

"This man has been sleeping here for a long time! It's prevented me from traveling far. No matter what, you must take him away today. You can be my servant. Otherwise, as written in the contract, the two of you will sleep in the tower together."

The rabbit looked determined to get rid of this stubborn tenant.

"There's no other way. Go give him a kiss, Pancake." Ye Wan compromised.

She didn't want to sleep in a tower with a stranger.

Pancake kissed Rapunzel's face hard without any hesitation, making a loud "bo" sound.

Rapunzel looked as if she had had a nightmare, her handsome brows furrowed in a look of disgust.

Ye Wan: “…”

rabbit:"......"

The muffin was rejected and it was very angry.

Rabbit looked at Ye Wan: "How about you..."

"There's no such possibility." Ye Wan refused firmly, "Don't make up such weird rules. What's the true love's kiss? I haven't even met him, so how can there be true love? Find another way to wake him up."

She stopped talking suddenly, and then she smelled something burning in the air. Apparently, the rabbit had noticed it too, because it shoved its face with its gloved paws in fear and then sprinted downstairs, its long ears twitching.

Ye Wan hurriedly followed it downstairs. There was a secret door on the edge of the second top floor. Inside was a golden kitchen. The huge gray rabbit took out a burnt cake from a big oven with tears in its eyes.

It looked very depressed, with its two big ears drooping. Ye Wan looked around the kitchen. Unlike the dusty tower, this kitchen was very clean and it was obvious that the owner took good care of it.

She had a good idea.

"Can you lend me the kitchen? I'll teach you how to bake a perfect cake, but I want to take the cake away."

She wanted to try to wake up Rapunzel with the scent of the cake.

The first step in making the batter is to beat the butter with sugar, beating constantly so that the batter becomes emulsified and fluffy.

Ye Wan looked around. This rabbit didn't have an electric mixer, so she had to stir it manually.

"You must be patient. This is the key step to baking a soft and fluffy cake. When you feel the butter becomes light and the bubbles begin to become dense, it is almost done."

She showed Gray Rabbit that the churned butter was liquidy.

"Remember to make sure the egg yolks are thoroughly mixed with the butter before you put any in." She took two lemons from the basket, cut the golden peels into snow-like crumbs, and mixed them into the cream along with the lemon juice.

The gray rabbit took a piece of parchment and took notes carefully.

Ye Wan put the batter into the oven: "Put the cake base in the middle. Remember not to open the oven door to check for the first 15 minutes, because the temperature will drop, which will cause the cake base to not be cooked through."

It was as if she had cast a spell on the oven. As the temperature rose, the sharp, sweet and sour aroma of lemon couldn't wait to come out from the cracks in the oven.

The gray rabbit said nothing, but just nodded and shook its two long ears.

After about twenty minutes, Ye Wan opened the oven and casually picked up a chopstick and inserted it into the center of the cake.

"If the chopsticks don't get sticky with the batter, it means the cake is done." Ye Wan tore off the baking paper and placed the cake on the table.

Ye Wan taught Gray Rabbit how to put cream on the cake. The dense cream gently wrapped the cake base like velvet, and a layer of rich lemon jam was spread on the bottom.

A lemon cake is ready.

The outer layer of snow-capped cake was dotted with snow-like lemon peels, and Ye Wan also sprinkled a layer of syrup, which looked like crisp and shiny sugar crystals after solidifying. She used a silver knife to cut the cake, and the moist lemon jam inside began to flow along the edge of the cake.

The lemon cake was a success.

Ye Wan carried the cake upstairs. Gray Rabbit was completely impressed by her cooking skills, and looked at her with admiration in her big eyes: "You are really amazing! I have been making cakes for so many years, and this is the first time it has been so successful. If you have any secrets, please teach me!"

Ye Wan was a little embarrassed: "I learned it at school. If you have nothing to do, you can sign up for a class."

The gray rabbit complained, "I want to leave too, but the guy on the top floor is restricting my movements, so please be kind and give him a kiss and take him away."

"I've already told you, I'll either give you a kiss or die."

The handsome man was still sleeping soundly.

Ye Wan helped him up and fed him a bite of cake.

A minute later, nothing happened.

Five minutes later, nothing happened.

The gray rabbit grabbed his own ears and said, "I knew feeding cake wouldn't work. Sure enough, we still have to follow the contract and give it a true love's kiss. Go quickly!"

"I've already said I don't know him. You've been here with him for so long. I think you're the one who truly loves me. Why don't you just kiss him with your three-petal mouth?" Ye Wan refused to be outdone.

The two were arguing enthusiastically when they heard rustling sounds from behind.

The gray rabbit was startled and raised its paw tremblingly: "He...he..."

Ye Wan sneered: "Don't tell me that person woke up suddenly."

Muffin turned around and patted Ye Wan's shoulder in surprise.

Ye Wan then realized something was wrong, and she was the last one to turn around.

The velvet curtains on the big bed were swaying in the night wind outside the window. The man's slender fingers went around the back of his neck and rubbed it gently. His face, neck and even knuckles were all shining like a cold white mother-of-pearl in the moonlight.

He finally sat up, his golden hair hanging messily, which added some charm to his charming features.

He walked towards Ye Wan, and the teardrop-shaped jade on his earrings flashed a tiny light in the air as he walked.

The man was very tall, at least 1.9 meters, so he had no choice but to look down at Ye Wan.

From this angle, Ye Wan could just see his smoky crystal eyes, which were like cracks on the surface of ice. These eyes added an indescribable coldness to him.

Ye Wan wanted to speak but was stopped by him.

"Shh..." He stretched out his fingertips towards Ye Wan, like a sharp blade: "Let me guess... Are you the thief who broke into the tower?"

Ye Wan also raised his finger and pointed at him.

The fog outside gradually dissipated, and the moonlight became brighter, casting the shadows of the two people onto the wall. The shadows overlapped and entangled, like lovers reunited after a long separation.

Ye Wan pointed at his face and said, "Wipe the cream off your mouth first."