Chapter 114, Chapter Fifteen: The Lost Manor
Having witnessed that neat barrier of corpses, no one dared to step beyond the manor's boundaries.
Perhaps it was just a prop or illusion meant to scare them, but who would have the courage to risk their own life to test it?
The sixty-five passengers spent the night and the day in panic, running around like headless flies, exhausted from the ordeal.
As night fell, the people who had been exploring the area were all forced back into the castle by the darkness.
They gathered together, sleep-deprived, their nerves stretched too thin for too long, sensitive and irritable, often shouting and arguing.
The entire lobby on the first floor was noisy and chaotic, but few people were willing to leave.
People abandoned their soft, comfortable beds and chose to gather together, taking turns to rest.
The only advantage of sleeping together on the floor was that no "divine messenger" appeared that night.
Not everyone saw the remains. Upon hearing the accounts of the returnees, some were terrified, while others scoffed and couldn't believe it.
The next day at dawn, those who had not seen the body the day before went to check again, still not believing the superstition.
This time, the S-curve leading to the outside world was deserted.
The horrific wall of corpses displayed here yesterday has vanished overnight.
"There's no body here!" "Are you in cahoots with this group, deliberately trying to deceive us!"
"How could that be? It was definitely there yesterday!" "Yes, we all saw it!"
"You're deliberately trying to scare us into staying here, aren't you!"
"What good would it do me to lie to you? I'm so anxious myself, I want to get out of here!"
"Keep acting! Keep acting!"
The conflict erupted again, escalating from verbal arguments to physical violence.
"Calm down! Everyone, calm down!" Someone tried to mediate, but was overwhelmed by the heated emotions and had no effect.
He stepped over the barrier only after an angry tourist stormed off.
He collapsed with a thud.
In less than half a minute, he went from a living person to a rotting, swollen corpse in front of everyone.
The argument fell silent instantly.
No one dared to leave the territory protected by the goddess anymore.
Time passed slowly, the first day was filled with fear, the second with unbearable anxiety, the third with unease, and the fourth...
Apart from the three daily Masses, there was no other activity at the manor.
For the past four days, Song Xiaona has not slept for more than six hours. She guards Dean but doesn't let Dean guard her. Only when Li Yufei is holding Cheng Yuzhou to sleep will she find a slightly closer place to sit and doze off for a while, setting an alarm to ring every half hour.
People tried all sorts of methods, capturing different animals and throwing them out.
Without exception, the animals rotted instantly after leaving the manor's boundaries.
They also tried begging the goddess and the ants to let them go.
The goddess did not respond, and the ants turned their antennae, disapprovingly accusing them of betrayal.
Unable to contain himself, someone grabbed an ant by the collar and yelled at it.
No sooner had he finished speaking than a golden-armored knight burst in, carrying him to the plaza.
It was yet another public execution.
His hands and feet were burned by quicklime, then splattered with molten lead, dried, and then layered with water, and so on, until they dried.
Human life is at stake, especially such cruelty. The onlookers couldn't bear it and loudly urged him to give in, repent, and pray.
Despite the excruciating pain of being sliced to pieces by the molten lead and the persuasion of those around him, he was only halfway through the second layer of molten lead when he tearfully apologized and begged for the goddess's forgiveness.
Fortunately, he did not offend the goddess, but only the priest ant, a derivative of the goddess.
When he cried out "Goddess, save me!" hundreds and thousands of times, God finally answered him.
The rose thorns that bound him retreated to the feet of the statue, and his bloodied legs were restored to their original state.
After that, no matter how much people wanted to leave, they dared not say a word to the ants again.
I dare not run away, and I cannot find a way to leave. Every direction leads to a dead end.
After three days of frantic attempts to leave, on the fourth day, the crowd fell into an unusual silence. Everyone was exhausted and speechless.
Physical and mental exhaustion had reached its limit, and the food I had brought with me was almost gone. It seemed that I could only act according to the will of this manor from now on.
"Let me go! Zheng Jianbin, let me go!"
In her extreme exhaustion, Song Xiaona suddenly heard a loud voice.
She lifted her eyelids and looked out the window. Outside, Li Yufei and Zheng Jianbin were arguing about something.
Everyone else looked haggard, but she could still produce such a full and bright voice, as hot as fire.
Song Xiaona's attention was diverted to Li Yufei's shout, "I'm going to use insecticide to kill them!"
“Feifei, they are not real ants, and besides, they are so big that even a whole box of insecticides would hardly be effective.”
How will you know if you don't try!
"You saw what happened in the square just now. Forget about killing them, even laying a hand on them would result in such terrible punishment. Feifei, please, please don't act impulsively."
"I saw them! I saw them, that's why I'm killing them!" The fox-like eyes were wide with shock and rage. "Why aren't we killing these terrifying creatures? Why are you and those other people standing by and doing nothing?"
Cheng Yuzhou's eyes flickered slightly.
In just four days, after two minor warnings, everyone became timid and submitted.
Why were those others unmoved and trembling? Why was she the only one, despite her fear, still resilient and full of life?
His Fei Fei was different from ordinary people.
But he had to suppress her brilliance and stop her from going: "There are too many knights. If we attack the ants, we won't be able to..."
"Are you stupid? If you can't do it openly, try something sneaky." Li Yufei really thought these people were hopeless; they didn't even know how to beat someone up. "Just put a sack over its back, or hide behind the idol and spray it with insecticide. Just make sure it and the knight can't see our faces."
“I’m afraid it’s not that simple.” Cheng Yuzhou frowned. “Ants are different from humans. They can’t see, but they can smell. And these aren’t ordinary ants.”
"How do you know if you haven't even tried! They're definitely not ordinary ants, they look just like people—maybe they see with their eyes too, just like people." Li Yufei said impatiently, "At worst, if they catch me, I'll just shout 'Goddess!' It's not like I'll die. It's better than sitting here sighing and waiting to die."
Cheng Yuzhou held his breath. Her cheeks were flushed from the noise, and a hint of fierceness flashed in her foxy eyes. She was stunningly beautiful and dazzling, radiating charm from head to toe.
He almost failed to stop her.
"You're right." A deep, cold female voice interrupted Cheng Yuzhou's panic. His heart-pounding palpitations instantly cooled, and he turned to look at Song Xiaona who was walking towards him.
Song Xiaona was in a bad state, just like everyone else, but after hearing Li Yufei's words, she suddenly felt a glimmer of hope.
Seeing Song Xiaona suddenly appear, Li Yufei raised an eyebrow and asked, "What are you doing here again?"
“I’m here to cure your stupidity.” Song Xiaona held the book “The Covenant”, her eyes were dark, but the corners of her lips curled up. “I have a way to exterminate insects openly and honestly.”
Cheng Yuzhou narrowed his eyes.
Dean looked bewildered: "Xiaona, what are you talking about?"
“Take a look at the latest rule in the Covenant.” She opened the book and spread it out among the four of them.
The last item on the third page reads:
[VI. The confessional is open 24 hours a day. When feeling lost, in addition to praying to Goddess, one can also go to the confessional to seek guidance from the clergy. The noble Goddess will not possess a mortal body. If the clergy in the confessional act strangely, please be aware that it is not the descended Goddess, but an infiltrated demon! Leave immediately, or kill them!]
"Demons appear in the confessional, and no normal person would go there willingly. I've been wondering if going to the confessional would bring some kind of reward, or if we could team up with demons to break through this place."
Li Yufei was stunned. There was actually a way to team up with the devil?
Damn it, Song Xiaona thought of that, but she didn't!
"After hearing what you said, I suddenly realized that the reward is 'slaying the demon'."
When clergy are possessed by demons, they can kill them in a legitimate way.
"Wow!" Dean exclaimed, suddenly realizing, "Xiaona, you're a genius!"
After he finished speaking, he scratched his head again, "But how can we ensure that all the clergy will be possessed? There are two churches in the manor, a total of two priests and eight nuns. It makes no sense for one or two to die."
Song Xiaona said, "Unless this rule is abolished, it won't just be one or two people who die."
Li Yufei: "Why? Does a demon possess someone and then shower them all with its blessings?"
Song Xiaona glanced at her and sneered, "This time it's not your fault. It's really hard to imagine someone who never goes to work."
Li Yufei vaguely felt as if she was being mocked.
She didn't want to admit that she didn't really understand what the sarcasm meant.
Cheng Yuzhou lowered his head and explained softly to her, "Feifei, you can think of it this way: suppose there are 10 staff members in the haunted house. Some are responsible for watching the surveillance cameras, some are responsible for checking tickets, and each person has a different job, but one of them must play the role of the 'devil'."
"One day, the staff member who played the 'devil' resigned. In order to ensure the haunted house runs smoothly, the 'devil' had to be chosen from the remaining 9 people."
“When the new ‘devil’ leaves, then one more person from the remaining 8 people must play the ‘devil’.”
"In this way, we can exorcise all the 'demons' one by one."
After hearing this explanation, Li Yufei immediately understood.
She glanced at Zheng Jianbin.
That sense of déjà vu arose again, as if the person standing in front of her was not Zheng Jianbin, but Cheng Yuzhou.
Cheng Yuzhou… How could she think of Cheng Yuzhou again when she was with Zheng Jianbin?
“With fewer people, the project is still going, so the remaining employees will have to do it,” Song Xiaona chimed in. “It’s normal that you don’t know since you’ve never worked a day job.”
"Just say it, is it really necessary to go through all that trouble to deliberately belittle me?" It's fine if it's just casually mentioned normally, but to come here and insult me in such a completely different way is too deliberate.
“I have a question,” Dean pondered. “Even a lay believer like me can be instantly healed by praying to the goddess, so if a clergyman prays before he dies, he can be resurrected, right? Wouldn’t that make it endless?”
Song Xiaona said, "I speculate that demons are not qualified to pray to God."
"Why?" Li Yufei asked. "Isn't it said that one can become a Buddha by laying down the butcher's knife?"
“The subject of your proverb is a person. If you change it to a demon, a paradox will occur,” Song Xiaona said. “Can a demon who worships a goddess still be considered a demon? If it is not a demon, then there is no such thing as a ‘clergy possessed by a demon,’ and the whole rule will be overturned.”
That makes some sense.
Cheng Yuzhou suddenly asked, "Even if demons cannot be resurrected, how are we supposed to fight them?"
This concern is very real. Song Xiaona frowned. "There is no other way. This is the only breakthrough."
“Reckless action is not advisable,” Cheng Yuzhou said disapprovingly. “Feifei, this is too dangerous.”
"Of course I know it's dangerous, but staying here is even more dangerous!" Li Yufei glanced at her boyfriend in puzzlement. "Zheng Jianbin, why are you such a coward?"
Shouldn't he be the first to rush forward?
Upon hearing this, Song Xiaona also glanced at him.
Cheng Yuzhou lowered his eyes. "This time is different. I don't think we ordinary people have the ability to deal with demons."
"It's not entirely hopeless," Song Xiaona said.
She turned to the first page of the Covenant and showed them the numbers on the inside cover.
The rose pattern is marked with golden numbers. "When I first saw it, it was 3, but now it's 13. I guess this is what's called faith value, or faith 'power'."
In the past few days, this number has already attracted the attention of travelers, and even Li Yufei has used it a few times.
When food ran out, she chose the food sold by the townspeople over the "holy food" offered by the ants.
When they shopped, the shop assistants told them that a certain amount of faith points would be deducted from their purchases.
At that time, Li Yufei's faith value was 5. After she carefully ate a bowl of noodles, a gray number "4" appeared next to the golden 5. After eating another meal, the gray "4" turned into "3".
The gold and gray numbers are displayed side by side on the inside of the book cover. The gold number only increases and never decreases, while the gray number is deducted after each purchase.
Several people took out a pair of the Covenant.
Song Xiaona was startled and asked Cheng Yuzhou, "What did you do? Why is your faith value so high?"
Regarding the faith value, Song Xiaona made a preliminary calculation based on her own and Dean's several numerical changes, as well as the surveys and interviews she conducted with the others.
Gray faith can be viewed as currency; it is deducted upon consumption.
Gold Faith is the sum of Faith values, recording all Faith values throughout history; it is only deducted under special circumstances.
There are various ways to increase faith points: watching an execution grants 2 points, attending a full Mass grants 1 point, and casually praying to the goddess will not grant any points.
Conversely, violating the Covenant will result in a deduction of varying amounts of Gold Faith Points.
For example, Dean's faith in gold is 8 points less than Song Xiaona's, but he only attended one less execution and one less mass than Song Xiaona, so he should only be 3 points lower than her.
Song Xiaona speculated that the other five points were deductions caused by his attempt to escape Psyche's shadow.
She verified with other tourists. In the past three days, in addition to looking for a way to escape, Song Xiaona also talked with all the tourists, recording their basic information and the intelligence she obtained after entering the manor.
The findings of the investigation were largely as described.
Cheng Yuzhou watched one less execution than her. Even if he didn't miss the next mass, he would only have a maximum of 15, so how could it be 47?
Li Yufei, who was traveling with him, was only number 11, which proves that they attended Mass less often than she did.
"I haven't paid much attention to this number change, and I don't know when it was added," Cheng Yuzhou pondered. "But judging from the literal meaning of 'faith value,' could it be because I made a contribution through 'missionary work'?"
"Missionary work?" Dean asked in surprise.
“On the first morning Mass, I demonstrated to everyone how to properly consume ‘Holy Food,’ and later I told the injured patients how to pray for healing.” Cheng Yuzhou asked, “Was it because of these two actions that a lot of ‘faith’ was added?”
Li Yufei's eyes darkened slightly.
It wasn't just these two times; in the past few days, she followed Cheng Yuzhou and witnessed firsthand how he helped everyone he encountered who was in need.
His way of helping was through this kind of "missionary work," suggesting that they pray to the goddess.
Cheng Yuzhou's reasoning was reasonable. Song Xiaona frowned and could only say, "That's a good thing. Ant said that besides the baptismal tablet, our power also comes from faith."
"Your faith level is so high, it should be of great help. Let's not delay, let's go to the confessional now."
“We don’t know how to use faith points, or even if they can actually work on demons.” Cheng Yuzhou still objected, saying to Li Yufei, “The situation isn’t urgent enough to be irreversible.”
Song Xiaona said sternly, "We need to figure out the demon, figure out this faith value, and it's necessary to go to the confessional to refresh the demon."
"Feifei".
Li Yufei understood her boyfriend's lingering concerns, but this time she chose Song Xiaona, saying, "I don't want to fight demons either, but I don't want to stay in a place where even demons exist! Zheng Jianbin, if you're a man, come with me!"
Cheng Yuzhou sighed helplessly, "Alright, since it's your decision, I'll go with you. But we've already run around to so many places today, Feifei, do you want to rest for a bit?"
"What rest? Let's go!"
As you walk toward the chapel, the chill peculiar to the lower floors seeps into your skin, and every time you reach that dark, shadowy section leading to the chapel, it sends shivers down your spine.
The evening mass had ended, and candles were lit on the brass chandeliers.
The ground floor of Psycheburg retains as much of the style of the old church as possible, with more candles than electric lights.
The castle's confessionals are located on the side of the chapel; there are only two of them.
"Such a large castle, yet it only has two confessionals? That doesn't seem right," Dean asked.
“I think it’s quite unreasonable to have a confessional here.” Li Yufei glanced meaningfully at Song Xiaona, who denied it: “I don’t know.”
"How could you not know?" Li Yufei scoffed. "Besides you, who else would set up a confessional here?"
Back then, Cheng Yuzhou built a castle, a place for them to get married and vacation, not a place to actually run a church.
If chapels are used for wedding ceremonies, what are confessionals for?
“It can’t be that he made me come here to repent every day.” Li Yufei, ever vindictive, threw back the boomerang she’d just used. “Is this how you work? You’re working on your own multi-million dollar project, and you don’t know anything about it when asked.”
“That’s hard to say,” Song Xiaona chuckled. “How twisted and perverse must someone be to sculpt Cupid into a cripple? Maybe he just wants to use the confessional to play some disgusting role-playing game.”
Li Yufei suddenly stopped, "Respect for the dead! Song Xiaona, don't you have any manners?!"
Her face was terribly dark. Song Xiaona was taken aback and subconsciously retorted, "You, the most unruly school bully from the Third Middle School Affiliated Elementary School, dare to talk to me about manners?"
"I'm warning you, if you spout another word of Cheng Yuzhou's nonsense, I'll pluck all your short hair right here and now!"
Cheng Yuzhou was stunned.
"Stop arguing! Stop arguing!" Dean quickly separated the two with his body. "Calm down. No matter what kind of deep-seated hatred we have, we can't argue here."
Song Xiaona hesitated, then glanced at Li Yufei's tense and angry face, and finally swallowed her words.
"Alright, alright, business is business." Dean pulled Song Xiaona aside. "Look at these two confessionals... hey, there's a sign that says 'Do not enter multiple people at the same time.' What, what should we do? It's too dangerous to go in alone. What if we encounter a demon..." Before he could finish speaking, Song Xiaona had already pushed open the door on the right and walked in with a cold face.
"We haven't discussed it yet, Xiaona!" Dean exclaimed in surprise.
The door closed in front of him, and Dean rushed over to press the handle, only to find it locked and unable to be opened.
He knocked on the door, but Song Xiaona inside did not respond.
After waiting for a while, Dean could only walk to the other side of the door, sighing in despair, "Alright, then we'll go in first, Jianbin, you—" He gestured with his eyes to Li Yufei, who also had a cold face, so that Zheng Jianbin could take this opportunity to appease her.
Li Yufei saw the look in Dean's eyes, a look that made her realize that Zheng Jianbin and her current boyfriend were behind her.
Everything that had just happened, every single word, entered his ears.
Cheng Yuzhou didn't stop the argument immediately; he was taken aback by Li Yufei's defense and reacted a step too late.
She stood with her arms crossed and turned to the side.
That figure was filled with a barbed, cold hardness, still trapped in the emotions of the argument.
After a long pause, Cheng Yuzhou stepped towards her, "Feifei..." "I can't explain."
He had barely opened his mouth when she interrupted him.
On the copper chandelier at the corner, dozens of candles burned quietly, their flickering light casting shadows on her.
She turned her head away from him and said, "Zheng Jianbin, I'm sorry, let's break up."
Cheng Yuzhou was stunned.
Having said it, Li Yufei felt a sense of relief.
It should have been said a long time ago.
From the very first day she arrived at this manor, Cheng Yuzhou had been haunting her mind.
She was fed up with this indecisiveness. She couldn't sort out her feelings for Cheng Yuzhou, but she could sort out her feelings for Zheng Jianbin, so she decided to start with his situation.
"Feifei, what did I do wrong?" Cheng Yuzhou asked in surprise. "We...we're very much in love, aren't we? Is it because of what Song Xiaona said just now? Is it related to your...past men? It's okay, Feifei, I don't care. You're such a good person, it's normal to have dated a few men, I can understand."
"here we go again……"
"What?"
"I said you're annoying!" She suddenly turned around. "No, I'm the one who's annoying! Lately, whenever I see you, it feels like I'm looking at someone else. Forget it, Zheng Jianbin, let's just break up."
Strange thoughts kept getting to her, it was so annoying! Why was Zheng Jianbin starting to look more and more like Cheng Yuzhou?!
The light of a candle is always dimmer than that of an incandescent bulb.
The cluster of flames on the chandelier only illuminated half of Li Yufei's face. Her left eye was lit by the firelight, while her right eye was in darkness, yet it still shone brightly.
He had clearly given her a hint, but her beautiful eyes remained sharp and bright, ignoring the ambient light.
It was as if—through this body, she had fully understood the soul within.
He was completely exposed and utterly vulnerable in front of her.
"Did I remind you of your ex?" After a long pause, Cheng Yuzhou asked, "What kind of person was he?"
"I don't want to talk about it." Li Yufei turned to the side.
Her reaction was tough and cold.
Cheng Yuzhou thought that it probably wasn't love; she was just righteous and kind, and it was inevitable that she would feel sympathy for her deceased old friend when she revisited the place.
“Feifei, now that it’s me by your side instead of him, I guess there must be a reason why you two can’t be together.”
He dared not take any risks. He had finally acquired this body and a legitimate identity. "If some of my actions remind you of him, you can simply treat me as him."
Li Yufei immediately turned around, her fox-like eyes widening, "Are you crazy?"
Even the tragic heroine in a stand-in trope couldn't bear such humiliation, yet he could calmly and magnanimously say such things.
“We are lovers,” he replied with a gentle yet firm tone. “I love you; your experiences, your emotions, and your thoughts are all part of you.”
"If the breakup is because you hate me, I have nothing to say; but if it's because I remind you of someone you can't face, then you might as well vent your emotions on me."
He looked at her gently. "Lovers are people who carry each other's emotions. That is the meaning of my existence. Whether it is good or bad, as long as it is your feeling, I am happy to accept it."
Li Yufei was stunned.
Her silence made Cheng Yuzhou uneasy. He tentatively reached out his hand to her, unconsciously pleading, "Is it okay?"
Li Yufei walked towards him.
She didn't take his hand; instead, she kept her head down, her forehead touching his collarbone.
"Bullshit nonsense..." Her voice came from his heart, slightly hesitant and muffled, "Did you drink fake alcohol?" At first glance, it was quite touching.
Cheng Yuzhou breathed a long sigh of relief.
He raised his hand, wanting to hug her, his fingertips touching the back of her head before moving down to her back.
The body in his arms stiffened, and his clothes were grabbed.
The doors to the two confessionals were tightly shut. The moon was just rising, and outside the window, cicadas chirped peacefully, while the air was filled with the scent of roses in the night.
They nestled together quietly, not too close; she didn't cling to him, and he didn't hold her tightly, leaving room for the evening breeze to pass by.
After a long while, Li Yufei buried her face in Cheng Yuzhou's chest and said, "It's easy for you to say now, but if I really asked you to be my substitute, could you handle it?"
Cheng Yuzhou closed his eyes, "I will try my best."
Twenty years ago, he failed to portray Fang Yuzhou well, and he wanted Cheng Yandong to know that Fang Yuzhou was dead and that he was not her.
But if it were Li Yufei, if she truly loved this man that much, Cheng Yuzhou could try his best to hide under Zheng Jianbin's body.
He will try his best to play the role well, to play the role she hopes he will play.
“Heh, then let’s give it a try—” Li Yufei looked up from his embrace, “I’m going to call your ex by his name.”
Cheng Yuzhou accepted it readily, asking in a relaxed tone, "What's his name?"
"Cheng Yuzhou".
Cheng Yuzhou paused.
That was his name, just three ordinary words, but when she uttered them, he suddenly felt at a loss for words.
Wandering in this deserted manor, he hadn't heard anyone call him for far too long.
A sharp pain shot through her collarbone, and she lowered her head, burying it deep into his chest.
A warm, damp sensation spread from his chest.
She said, "His name is Cheng Yuzhou."
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