dead end

But to be honest, Jiang Nian himself couldn't be sure whether this person could be considered a human being.

You might say that someone without facial features is not a human, but I can feel the other person's gaze on me.

If he is a human, then where are his facial features?

The fingertips that were supporting his side turned slightly white due to the force.

Jiang Nian held her breath, raised her eyes and looked straight at the flat-faced man who was bending over and slowly approaching her, waiting for the opportunity to stand up and fight back.

There was still room for a stalemate. Some places were in her blind spot and she couldn't see them at all. She could only wait for this person to get closer to her and then pretend to be afraid and retreat.

While he was still thinking about how to observe the entire room to prevent hidden weapons and avoid possible attacks from the non-human creature in front of him, a third person appeared in the small room.

Slowly, a round of applause sounded from behind Jiang Nian, and a strange voice also emerged: "Miss Cui is worthy of being the descendant of a leader in the bishop's group. Her courage and insight are indeed extraordinary."

It was unclear whether this was a mockery or a compliment. After he finished speaking, he chuckled strangely, and a mask appeared in front of Jiang Nian. The blood around the eye sockets of the mask had not dried yet, and the smile reached the corners of his mouth, looking particularly weird.

The fishy smell hits you in the face.

Jiang Nian resisted the urge to frown, raised his hands to cover his mouth and nose without hesitation, and moved his body back a little.

"Are you the steward the maid mentioned?"

"Butler?"

When this person heard this word, it was as if something had been said that made him want to laugh so much that he started to chuckle again. It was not until the flat-faced man next to him turned his face towards him that his laughter barely stopped.

"So that's what she ordered..."

"Never mind, it's convenient!"

Having said this, he turned around, bringing up a gust of fishy wind.

"This girl, I see, is not like those people before. They would strangle the extraditionists when they got angry, nor would they cry and make a fuss. Instead, she is very quiet and doesn't say much. She is quite steady!"

The other person took a few steps forward, then turned around and grinned at her.

——The mask might be stuck to his face, so the arc of the muscles at the corners of his mouth can be seen through the shaking of the mask.

"I think you've passed the test, go!"

Without waiting for Jiang Nian to say anything, the man turned around and waved to the Pinglian people, saying, "Take her away—give her a new life!"

"It must be clean, pure and flawless, without 'the slightest stain'!"

After he finished speaking, he withdrew his arm, which was full of vigor and vitality, and suddenly turned his head to look at her.

"If it's not cleaned properly, it's worse than an animal."

"Go! Don't stay here!"

Jiang Nian was just about to stand up from the ground when the flat-faced man who had just stood in front of her suddenly turned around incredibly quickly. His movements were many times faster than before, and his entire body seemed to have been moved at a faster speed. Before she could see clearly how the flat-faced man made his move, he grabbed her collar, lifted her up, and walked out of the narrow door.

“…”

Since the room is built underground, the ceiling is particularly low.

When the flat-faced man was about to walk straight over to her without lowering his height, Jiang Nian lowered her head and shrank her neck to prevent her forehead from being hit by the door frame above the room.

The worn floor below her sight was kicked up by the flat-faced man's steps, and sand was raised. Jiang Nian lowered her head and walked through the door frame. A gust of wind blew past her from behind. She shrank her neck and felt only the empty wind on her neck.

When these winds touched her, it was as if they had encountered something extremely interesting, and they just stuck to her and wouldn't move away.

It first entered through the collar of her maid's dress, and then, as if it had consciousness, it moved through all of her limbs. However, it did not dissipate like the usual wind, but paused for a moment, and then -

The bone-chilling cold suddenly penetrated her skin and penetrated into her bones, freezing her limbs so much that she could no longer feel them.

For a moment, Jiang Nian's mind went blank, like a screen covered in snow. A moment later, consciousness returned.

…

It feels like all the memories in my mind have been browsed by outsiders.

Jiang Nian blinked, tried to move her limbs, and glanced at the flat-faced man who was leading her to an unknown place.

The flat-faced man seemed unaware of her gaze. His round head didn't turn at all. He continued walking straight forward and then stopped at a corner.

The wooden pole in the inconspicuous corner fell down, and a slight noise came faintly from above.

Jiang Nian raised his head and looked up.

It was a simple windlass on a square platform.

The rotating tool consists of a wheel installed on the top of Zuihua Tower and a guide rope connecting the wheel and the plane.

As the flat-faced man lowered the wooden pole, the not-so-big platform also slowly fell down.

The not-so-loud sound of the rope turning rang in my ears, and in my sight, the platform that seemed to be at a very high place slowly descended, and then stopped steadily on the ground.

The flat-faced man walked up stiffly, and then loosened his grip on Jiang Nian's collar.

The ground suddenly became larger in his field of vision. Jiang Nian immediately stretched out his hands to support his body and landed on his knees. However, because of the thick layers of maid's uniform as a cushion, it didn't hurt when he hit the wooden floor.

Shouzan took aesthetics into consideration when designing Zuihua Tower, so he designed a structure at the corner of Zuihua Tower that allows for a view of the sea in the distance outside the building.

However, because the colored glaze of that era had not yet reached the level where it could be used as a building material, the platform was surrounded by wooden railings layer by layer to prevent people riding the windlass from falling off.

Jiang Nian took a look at the scenery that could be seen from the outside of the platform, and immediately found her current location in the drawing that Bu Qu had restored to her.

It was one of the locations of the talisman formation that Xizhen pointed out to her last night.

That place is very close to the windlass.

Was the flat-faced man taking her there to 'wash away the pollution'?

Pollution from the outside world.

With the influence of incense, he completely became a person who could never escape from the Wu Mi crowd.

——At this point, you become a completely clean and flawless person without any pollution.

“…”

Jiang Nian was thinking about how to avoid being contaminated by the incense, while at the same time making them feel that they were covered in fragrance.

On the other hand, she still remembered her image as the daughter of the Cui family. She frowned as if she was hurt from the fall, took the opportunity to rub her aching knee and stood up.

The flat-faced man did not react to her actions, but stood upright with his hands hanging down.

The windlass slowly rose upwards. Jiang Nian, holding the bag, bent down to brush off the dust on his clothes. His left hand quickly reached into his wide sleeve, took out the perfume from the bottom of the fan, placed it on the edge of the sleeve pocket, and then pulled the sleeve pocket closed by the string.

The whole action was done smoothly and to outsiders, it looked like she was just bending over to wipe off the dirt on her skirt that had just fallen to the ground.

After a while, the platform stopped at the level where the talisman array was located, just as Jiang Nian had expected.

She looked around timidly, then pursed her lips and took small steps out of the windlass.

The flat-faced man reached out and lifted her up again—as if he was afraid that she would dirty the clean and shiny wooden floor inside Zuihualou.

Because he had been lifted up once just now, and this time he was lifted up by the flat-faced man, Jiang Nian carefully put himself in a slightly more comfortable position.

The four-story Zuihua Tower was serene. Aside from the faint presence of elegant music, all Jiang Nian could see were white mist-like gauze curtains.

Some are long, hanging from the top of Zuihua Tower to this floor, while others are short, just draped over the screen and hanging down from the screen.

A faint fragrance filled his nose. Jiang Nian lowered his head and suddenly felt uncomfortable. He raised his hand to rub his nose.

Before coming to Zuihua Tower, fearing that she was not well prepared, she specially made a thin sheet in her Youguan Mansion that could protect her from all kinds of poisonous fragrances. Before the carriage arrived at Zuihua Tower, she crushed a piece of the sheet and left the scent on the pads of her right thumb and index finger.

She specially mixed the flavor of this slice into a combination of Fengyoujing and Liushenshui. Only those who breathe it can feel this refreshing, refreshing and relaxing feeling.

As she raised her hand to rub her nose, a thin layer of refreshing air spread around her nasal cavity, choking and making Jiang Nian cough a few times.

The flat-faced man who was leading her didn't react at all.

She lowered her eyes and stopped coughing quietly.

Since I didn't feel anything unusual, maybe the fragrance was indeed a bit pungent and the uncomfortable feeling I just had was a misjudgment. Or maybe there really was something unknown mixed in with the fragrance.

—

After reaching the upper floor of Zuihua Tower, the flat-faced man's movements were much faster than in the basement. The layout of the fourth floor of Zuihua Tower in Jiang Nian's vision quickly became a blur. After blinking a few times, the flat-faced man took her to a corner.

In the corner, because the light was not as bright as in other places, the talisman array painted on the ground was a light golden color, and a cluster of light was emanating from the center of the array.

This light is deeper and brighter than gold, but you cannot stare at it for too long, otherwise your consciousness will be bewitched and you will be lost in it.

…

Jiang Nian glanced at the talisman formation, then lowered his eyes, trying his best not to see the talisman formation with his peripheral vision.

Just as Xizhen said, this really is a talisman formation.

but……

What was the purpose of the flat-faced man bringing her here? To incense her here, and then take her to the talisman formation to test whether she was completely incense.

Or is it that the incense that belongs to her is not made yet?

“…”

An idea suddenly came to her mind, and she glanced at the flat-faced man in front of her.

Since he has no nose, he shouldn't be able to smell fragrance, right?

It feels like this person is not a real person, but something like a monitor.

Someone was observing her through this flat-faced man tool, or perhaps instructing the flat-faced man to perform some actions to test her reaction.

If the flat-faced man was truly a human, the Wu Mi people would not have mistaken such an advanced and unpredictable person as someone who "cleaned up" for the lowly maids.

I can't try anything right now, I can only take a gamble.

Jiang Nian bent his fingertips and rubbed his fingertips lightly.

There was still the coolness of the perfume bottle.

The flat-faced man let go of her again and threw her onto the ground. Then he turned around and moved extremely quickly to the place behind the white gauze.

Is that where the incense is stored?

Looking out from the fourth floor, all I could see was a blanket of white gauze curtains. Golden light filtered through the window paper not far away, and dust slowly fell from the sky close to the ground. The wooden floor had a warm sheen.

As soon as the flat-faced man left, she had some free time with no one to watch over her, giving her time to do some tricks.

Jiang Nian retracted his gaze, reached into his sleeve pocket with his left hand, pulled out the perfume bottle, sprayed a certain amount on himself a few times, and then quickly put it back into the bag.

The original purpose of perfume bottles was to mask odors, stun people, and leave a tracer powder when a certain amount was used.

And besides that... the perfume Xiao Yingzhu originally wanted to give her was personally concocted by Xizhen.

Last night, the person who participated in the production of this bottle of fragrance told her everything in person.

Now, she was covered in powder so fine it was barely noticeable in the light, and the scent was concentrated, the power of the flakes resisting the scent of the perfume bottle that would have stunned her.

When the flat-faced man comes later, we will see his reaction to see if he is dizzy or not. We will also be able to judge whether he has facial features or not and whether he is just a tool.

Without facial features, you won’t be dazzled.

With five senses, you will be intoxicated the moment you smell the fragrance.

...Of course, it is also possible that the nose is affected but the person is not knocked unconscious.

But people can’t be so unlucky.

The expedition was at a disadvantage from the outset.

Jiang Nian, who had already sprayed the perfume bottle on his clothes, sighed and raised his hand to straighten his sleeves.

The situation was urgent. She didn't know how long it would take for the flat-faced man to come back, but judging from his speed, he would probably be back in less than half a minute. Now she had to think about what to do next.

Not far away, a talisman array on the ground emitted light silently, and all around was silent.

There was no special change because she secretly sprayed some perfume.

strangeness.

I did feel uncomfortable when I came in just now.

If it wasn't to detect foreign incense in the air, then what was the purpose of the unpleasant fragrance just now?

“…”

Suppressing her doubts about the fragrance in the air around her, Jiang Nian lowered her eyelashes to block her thoughts and began to focus on the bottle of incense that belonged to her alone.

Since she had already applied a layer of perfume on her skirt, when the flat-faced people fumigated her with perfume, their perfume would cover her original special perfume.

The two different layers of incense were superimposed, and the fragrance was diluted. The effect of the incense that was unique to her was weakened, making it difficult to maintain the original effect of the array talisman.

The logic is sound, but there are bound to be flaws.

What if the fragrance is not diluted much?

It’s true that I trust Xizhen, but I’m also afraid of what might happen.

Jiang Nian lowered his eyes to look at the fine powder that could only be seen when looking closely under the light, and suddenly thought of another idea.

Since the Wu Mi people attach so much importance to the incense and each person gets one, in order to prevent unnecessary trouble, the incense will definitely not be handed over to them.

So, now that the flat-faced man has taken the incense out from somewhere on this floor, will he put it back later?

…Anyway, let’s take a gamble.

Anyway, you won't lose money. At most, you might make a wrong bet and lose money, or you might be discovered and arrested.

When the flat-faced person appears, whether she burns the incense herself or the other person does it, she only needs to lightly apply the powder on her clothes to the other person. In the subsequent actions, she can follow the traces of powder and find where her incense is hidden.

Once you obtain the incense, or smell its unique aroma, you can find the ingredients to mix it yourself, and then infuse this fragrance on others.

This way, she could obfuscate her own unique scent and hide it among other fragrances.

And when the flat-faced man asks her to go to the talisman array to check whether she has been infected with the fragrance, she should cast the spell of Xizhen first and stop for a while.

...Although it would alert the enemy, Xizhen didn't say whether they would be discovered if the talisman formation was paused for a while. Or, did Wu Mizhong add other ways to prevent the talisman formation from stopping after Xizhen left Wu Mizhong?

Time was too tight for her to immediately come up with a better solution.

If they are unlucky and the Wu Mi people discover the talisman formation as soon as it stops, they will have to skip all the ambushes and go straight into the chase.

Jiang Nian lowered her eyes, stopped guessing about the talisman formation, and shifted her attention again to the bottle of incense that only represented her scent.

Rather than following the traces of the flat-faced man and adjusting the scent himself, Jiang Nian would rather get the incense.

The Wu Mi people would not give the maid so many opportunities.

However, they probably didn't expect that the person who developed the talisman array to control the maid was already from her camp.

But even so, to get rid of this talisman formation, it still requires the help of curses and secret guards, and on this basis, it is also necessary to gamble.

Ordinary people...without these, there is absolutely no possibility of escaping.

His thoughts stopped here for a moment, and the smell of the flakes in his nose dissipated a little. Jiang Nian blinked and felt a little dizzy.

In her field of vision, the figure of the flat-faced man appeared again in the large white gauze curtain in front of her, walking towards her rapidly.

……!

Oh no.

This four-layer incense can make people unconscious!

This will directly prevent the maids from doing anything when they are spraying perfume.

She was still conscious, and if she stood, the flat-faced man would definitely notice something was wrong.

Jiang Nian then put the bag aside and lay down on the smooth and shiny wooden floor in a fainting posture.

In her vision, the moment she closed her eyes and entered the darkness, the flat-faced man came out silently from behind the gauze curtain and stood in front of her.