Chapter 119, Chapter Twenty: The Lost Manor
At three o'clock in the afternoon, Li Yufei was woken up by Cheng Yuzhou.
She used a nap as an excuse to calmly organize her thoughts, not because she actually wanted to sleep.
When Cheng Yuzhou gently shook her shoulder, she reluctantly turned over, covered herself with the blanket, and complained, "What are you doing? Don't make a fuss... Let Song Xiaona wait... What's wrong with her waiting for me?"
Li Yufei buried her head under the covers, leaving only a few curls of her beautiful hair on the pillow.
This long hair is extremely well-maintained; even the ends reflect a rosy sheen under the light.
Cheng Yuzhou lowered his voice and continued calling her, "Feifei, if you sleep any longer you'll get dizzy again."
A muffled murmur came from under the covers: "I'm dizzy right now... go away..."
Her normally full and clear voice softened into a delicate and languid tone as she became drowsy.
Cheng Yuzhou's Adam's apple bobbed slightly, and the tips of his ears turned a faint red.
When she spoke to him in that tone, it was really hard for him not to agree.
The last time he coaxed Li Yufei out of bed was when she was fifteen. Back then, waking her up was easy; all he had to do was promise to buy her the jewelry and bags she wanted if she woke up. Li Yufei would then overcome all obstacles to get up, stand with her eyes closed, and tilt her head to one side like a zombie, saying, "Okay, okay, I'm up, I'm awake..."
More than a decade has passed, and Cheng Yuzhou is unsure if this method still works—staying in the closed-off manor, he can't directly convert the money into cash for her yet.
He prepared something else.
Lifting the corner of the blanket, Cheng Yuzhou lifted Li Yufei's left hand and gently shook it, "Feifei, look at your hand."
"Hmm?" Li Yufei closed her eyes and gave a perfunctory, drawn-out hum.
Cheng Yuzhou shook her wrist, persisting: "Just one look, just one glance."
"What is it..." Li Yufei impatiently opened one eye, and after a moment, she suddenly sat up.
She held her left hand and was shocked to see that her left hand, which had only three nail plates left before she went to sleep, had returned to the state it had been in a few days ago.
The two manicure nails that were broken off by the scallop grew back exactly as they were!
"What happened?" She looked at Cheng Yuzhou in surprise.
"I saw a nail salon downstairs, so I borrowed their tools and studied them while you were sleeping. Does it look like the one you had done before?"
"It's exactly the same!" Li Yufei exclaimed with delight, turning her wrist to watch the golden-red rose pattern shimmer on her fingertips. "You have this skill? How come I didn't know?"
She paused abruptly after she finished speaking.
Of course, she had no idea that no human could achieve such a high level of manicure on their first attempt.
Even if Cheng Yuzhou is a genius, it would still take a lot of time to draw these. Even if she's fast asleep, she couldn't possibly be completely unaware.
This is not human power at all.
Oh right, she wasn't lying in bed taking a nap; she was thinking of a solution... Oh no, she fell asleep before she could come up with a conclusion.
Li Yufei covered her face in anguish, filled with regret.
Since things have come to this, I'd better hurry up and see Song Xiaona to hear what she has to say.
Li Yufei perked up, threw back the covers, and said, "Putting aside the manicure, what time is it now? We're not late, are we?"
Cheng Yuzhou's smile faded for a moment. "It's alright, this isn't a meeting, it's fine if it's a little later."
"I know, I just don't want to listen to her rambling on."
Li Yufei tied her hair up, tidied herself up quickly, and arrived at the agreed-upon gate before 3:30.
She arrived, but couldn't find Song Xiaona and Dean anywhere.
After waiting for about ten minutes, Li Yufei finally saw the two of them walk out from the front courtyard.
"You asked me to come over, but you're late!" Li Yufei exclaimed angrily. "We agreed on three o'clock, what time is it now!"
Song Xiaona gave her a cool look and said, "Yeah, what time is it now?"
Dean laughed and said, "Since you didn't come, we went to scout around and chatted with the others who left the castle."
Li Yufei's questioning instantly fizzled out.
She was speechless and looked away, feeling guilty.
"Enough with the nonsense, come with me." Song Xiaona turned around and led the group deeper into the first floor.
She entered a storage room, and after removing the portrait of the goddess hanging on the wall, there was a hidden alloy door in the wall.
"What is this?" Li Yufei asked in surprise.
“The basement.” Song Xiaona took out her phone, entered the password from the memo, and said, “Haven’t you heard? ‘The true face of every church is in its basement.’”
"Never heard of it."
"How about you read some books when you have time?"
The green light came on, and the alloy door opened.
A dark staircase appeared before the four of them.
Dean whistled, "Cool~"
They walked down, surrounded by plain white walls with only simple lights and doors.
The air circulation is poor, the dehumidification system has not been activated for a long time, mold has appeared in some corners, and although the ceiling is not low, the gray cement surrounding the room makes it feel oppressive.
Li Yufei murmured, "I had no idea there was an underground area."
“Most of the detached houses have a basement,” Song Xiaona said, turning on her phone’s flashlight to lead the way. “Many pieces of furniture and collections in the castle are not suitable for display, so the company has temporarily moved them to the basement.”
"I knew it felt like something was missing from the castle!"
"Don't act like we're thieves. And who are you?"
Li Yufei was speechless.
She was both angry and annoyed, but she was speechless.
Yes, what is her identity...?
Cheng Yuzhou, who was standing next to her, said, "Judging from the identity card she drew, she is Psyche."
This is Psyche's estate.
Li Yufei paused, and Song Xiaona turned around, glancing out of the corner of her eye at the man with a cold expression.
“Jianbin, don’t get too addicted to games—” Song Xiaona said softly and slowly, “She is Li Yufei, not Psyche.”
Cheng Yuzhou narrowed his eyes.
Dean, sensing something was off, immediately spoke up, "But Xiaona, what are we doing here?"
"We've arrived." Song Xiaona stopped in front of a cement house.
She pressed the handle, pushed the door open, and reached for the light switch on the wall.
The moment the lights came on, everyone was startled.
The storage room, which was forty or fifty square meters in size, was filled with cold weapons.
Bows and swords hung on the wall, and eight armored figures stood on the ground, their armor gleaming coldly.
Song Xiaona opened several boxes, revealing meteor hammers, shields, and spears stored inside.
“These are the original furnishings in the castle,” she told the group. “The appraiser said they are all genuine items that have been opened and were quite expensive. It wouldn’t be safe to leave them outside, so we brought them here.”
“No wonder.” Li Yufei suddenly realized, “I remember there used to be armored vehicles in the corridor.”
"Let me share my speculation," Song Xiaona said to the three of them. "Assuming Aphrodite is a demon, it's not hard to deduce the specific form of a demon."
“We have already seen demons in the shape of scallops. If there are other kinds of demons, they are probably 'swans,' 'doves,' and 'sparrows.'”
"Why?" Li Yufei asked.
Cheng Yuzhou explained to her, "Because these, like scallops, are symbols of Aphrodite."
"The most famous symbol should be the 'rose,' but given that the clergy and paladins here all wear rose symbols, I speculate that the 'rose' was 'possessed' by Psyche."
Song Xiaona glanced at Li Yufei, who pouted and put away her ten rose-patterned manicures.
What does possession even mean? She's not that domineering.
"Then Aphrodite will no longer appear in the form of a rose?" Dean asked.
"I'm afraid she'll fill the void left by roses with something else."
Dean understood: "I get it, playing games, right? Aphrodite wanted the rose, but Psyche banned it, so she settled for another hero? What was her second goal?"
Cheng Yuzhou and Song Xiaona spoke at the same time, "Poppy."
This disgusting tacit understanding caused the two of them to fall silent again.
Cheng Yuzhou stopped speaking, and Song Xiaona continued, "Of the three trials Aphrodite put Psyche through, the first was to have her pick out grains from poppies. Thanks to the help of the ants, Psyche was able to complete the trial."
"The ant has already appeared as the clergy's helper, so it's time for the poppy to appear as the villain."
Cheng Yuzhou hummed in agreement. Remembering that he couldn't talk to Song Xiaona, he said to Li Yufei, "It's a reasonable guess."
"Therefore, the demons that will invade the manor the day after tomorrow will probably fall into three categories: scallops, birds, and poppies."
Song Xiaona said, "I carefully recalled the day we repelled the scallops. Before Jianbin came to help, Dean and I were holding the door open when the scallops almost knocked it down; after Jianbin came, we were glowing red, and the scallops caught fire."
“Yufei also said that after she was bitten by a scallop in the confessional, a red light appeared on her body.”
"But neither when Yufei faced the scallop nor when Dean and I faced it, flames appeared—if Jianbin doesn't have some superpower, it means that faith power is cumulative."
"Accumulate?" Li Yufei didn't quite understand.
“‘Faith power’ is too abstract, so let me put it another way—‘firepower’,” Song Xiaona said. “At the time, the three of us had a firepower value below 20, which wasn’t enough to ignite the flame. That is, until Jianbin, whose ‘firepower value’ was as high as 47, joined us.”
She brought her five fingers together, making a flame shape, and said, "The temperature gathered to the devil's ignition point, and the scallop caught fire."
"And why does faith value turn into fire instead of water or holy light—" Song Xiaona smiled. "Have you noticed? Whether it's scallops, birds, or plants, they are all afraid of fire."
Dean and Li Yufei were stunned.
Cheng Yuzhou said to Li Yufei, "Aphrodite was born from the ocean. Water and fire are natural opposites, which is probably why faith points can be transformed into flames."
Li Yufei glanced at him, as if she had returned to junior high school.
The teacher was speaking loudly at the top of the class, while Cheng Yuzhou was quietly adding his own comments below.
Before she even opened her mouth, he knew there was something she hadn't understood.
Song Xiaona said, "On the other hand, the power of faith is a flame, which further corroborates the view that 'Aphrodite is a demon.'"
"Oh, oh, oh!" Dean clapped enthusiastically. "As expected of Xiaona, the beautiful and academically gifted student from the Finance Department of University A, you are so smart. I don't even know the symbol of Aphrodite, how can you be so knowledgeable?"
“It was a coincidence,” Song Xiaona said. “My family has been deeply involved in the tourism industry since my grandfather’s generation. Working in this industry, I have a basic understanding of humanistic mythology.”
She patted Dean on the shoulder. "Help me take that bow off."
"This one?" Dean pointed to the smallest wooden bow on the wall.
"right."
Song Xiaona took the bow and tested the string. "We've roughly determined the types of enemies, so let's all choose weapons for self-defense. There are a lot of birds, so if you know how to use a bow and arrow, you can choose a bow."
Faith and divine tokens are too mystical; having a knife in hand is more practical than mystical power.
This is why Song Xiaona brought them here.
"You can also use a bow?" Dean asked in surprise.
Song Xiaona said, "I participated in a club in college. After I started working, I found that my overseas clients really liked this sport, so I would touch it from time to time."
She asked Dean, "Can you?"
Dean shook his head. "I can't."
Song Xiaona then looked at Li Yufei and said, "You wouldn't, would you?"
“…Hmm.” Li Yufei felt frustrated. This was the one thing she disliked about her since childhood; she knew all of Li Yufei's shortcomings!
“You’re not very smart, but you have good athletic ability,” Song Xiaona said. “There’s still a day and a half left, why don’t you give it a try?”
"Hmm?" Li Yufei's eyes lit up, and she was excited. "Great!"
Bow and arrow, that sounds kind of cool.
Song Xiaona nodded, "Then I..." "Then I'll teach you, Feifei."
Cheng Yuzhou took down another small bow. "This one weighs 76 pounds. Take a look at the weight."
"You can shoot arrows?" Two voices rang out at the same time.
After Li Yufei finished asking her question, she glanced at Dean, who had asked the same question at the same time. It wasn't his fault; the person in front of him wasn't his good brother Zheng Jianbin, so it was normal for Dean not to know.
But she had no idea!
"I've learned a little bit before." Cheng Yuzhou tried the string and went to find cut-resistant gloves.
Song Xiaona said, "Then I'll still..." "But Feifei, I still recommend that you use melee weapons, or take a shield."
"I don't want to!" Li Yufei immediately refused. "I dare not go near it."
Cheng Yuzhou understood and told her to put on gloves. "Then let's go outside and try out the bow first?"
He picked up a quiver of arrows, slung the bow over his shoulder, and said, "Let's go."
After being interrupted twice, Song Xiaona's expression darkened slightly.
Just as she was about to follow, Cheng Yuzhou, who was leading Li Yufei out, suddenly turned around.
His gaze swept over her, and Song Xiaona suddenly froze, raising her hand to cover her neck.
In that instant, it felt as if an arrowhead had grazed her throat.
They knew perfectly well what was going on, yet they looked at each other from afar.
Li Yufei was taken to the police station by Cheng Yuzhou.
Leaving the rose garden from the side and walking a short distance, you'll find a small horse stable equipped with three rings of targets.
Cheng Yuzhou demonstrated it to Li Yufei twice. She took it with great interest, then froze.
Long manicures shouldn't be held!
Li Yufei turned to Cheng Yuzhou, asking the coach for a solution.
"Shall I remove your left hand first?" he tentatively suggested.
"They were only born an hour ago!" Li Yufei hugged her sparkling new nails. "You're so cruel!"
Cheng Yuzhou quickly assured him, "It's okay, I'll make it up again."
"What do you mean it's okay! I'm not saying you're cruel to them, I'm saying it's to me!" Li Yufei clutched her nails. "I just got them done, do you know how painful and damaging it is to remove new nail polish? Don't you have any skills for shooting arrows while wearing manicures?"
Even if Cheng Yuzhou obtained superhuman power and could create things out of thin air, it would still be difficult to solve the technical problem of "how to effectively hold a bow using long ballet crystal armor".
He could only stick to his original answer: "Feifei, I have a method for removing nails that doesn't hurt or damage the nail bed. Let me try it."
Thank goodness he wasn't alive; if he were, Li Yufei would have just rolled her eyes at him.
Considering his supposed supernatural powers, Li Yufei asked with some skepticism, "Really?"
"Yes, really."
"Okay." Li Yufei reluctantly stretched out her hand. "Then you can try."
Since the thin veil hadn't been pierced yet, Cheng Yuzhou couldn't just take her fingernails directly; he needed to borrow some tools to make it look like a proper operation.
He didn't know what professional nail polish removal was like, only that Li Yufei had posted a "DIY at Home" series two years ago, one of which taught how to remove nail polish at home.
The materials used were very simple. After a moment's thought, Cheng Yuzhou had a general idea of what was going on.
"Let's go back first and find some tools."
Carrying the bow, the two returned to their room on the seventh floor, where Cheng Yuzhou took a bottle of high-proof tequila from the wine cellar.
Most substances that are insoluble in water are soluble in alcohol. He poured the alcohol into a long dish, soaked his nails thoroughly, and then took a piece of dental floss, like a small saw, and used the floss to cut the adhesive surface between the nail blade and the nail little by little.
Removing five manicure nails is a time-consuming and laborious task.
Li Yufei rested her chin on her right hand as she waited for him.
The spicy and strong scent of agave filled the air between the two of them. She sat cross-legged on the high bed, watching Cheng Yuzhou on the small stool, head down, carefully cutting the agave.
His knees were open, and his two long legs were forced to lean outwards, but he didn't look like a scoundrel at all; he remained as well-behaved and quiet as ever.
He was a good boy and a good student since childhood, and later became a considerate and tolerant fiancé. Zheng Jianbin's face is not suitable for him at all.
If Cheng Yuzhou were still alive, what would he look like now...?
Cheng Yuzhou.
She gazed at him silently.
Why did he come back? And why did he pretend to be Zheng Jianbin? Why didn't he just acknowledge her as his wife?
He had unspeakable difficulties, just like Eros;
Or perhaps he wants to get something...
What exactly does Cheng Yuzhou want to do?
The name Cheng Yuzhou has accompanied Li Yufei for more than 20 years, from childhood to adulthood. His life and death are also her past and new life.
She had no idea what Cheng Yuzhou was up to. As for her, did she like him? Did she love him?
Does she want him...?
Li Yufei lifted her foot and touched Cheng Yuzhou's side.
He looked up at her, and Li Yufei said, "You're not... getting revenge on me, are you?"
Cheng Yuzhou was stunned.
Li Yufei figured it out; after a day of agonizing over it, she came to her answer.
Just ask.
There's no other way.
Avoiding your real identity and asking about other things tactfully should be fine.
"Revenge?" Cheng Yuzhou murmured in astonishment.
"Hmm," Li Yufei observed his expression and tentatively asked, "Are you here to get revenge on me?"
“How could this be…” Cheng Yuzhou stopped abruptly, his eyelids drooping.
It's not surprising that she thought this way—that he had taken over her lover's body and trapped her in such a horrible place.
Cheng Yuzhou pursed his lips, a hint of bitterness creeping into the corners of his eyes and brows.
He truly never imagined that one day Li Yufei would seriously ask him—
Was he here to get revenge on her?
“I don’t know how to explain this.” He lowered his head, the rose pattern in the cold wine twisting and turning. “I also dislike the current situation. If I could, I really wouldn’t want it to be in such a bloody form—but, Fifi, it’s necessary.”
His voice was low, yet he murmured his unwavering faith, "I had to do this; every sacrifice was meaningful."
Every wave of fear that descended became his strength to protect her.
"The pain is temporary, and the balance will be reached soon."
He lifted her fair hand from the spicy liquor, the rose petals in the liquid shimmering.
"Just treat it as a game from a real-world perspective. I assure you, there won't be any truly irreparable damage."
"But someone has already died!" Li Yufei didn't understand. "What makes you say that? Is there some kind of resurrection card here?"
Cheng Yuzhou nodded. "You can understand it that way."
"I don't understand!" Li Yufei opened her eyes wide. "Why do we have to play this game? What will happen if we don't play? Will you die? Or are we all destined to die, and only winning the holy war will allow us to survive?"
He didn't speak, which made Li Yufei so anxious that she wanted to pinch him.
She hated the riddle teller, yet feared that revealing the secret would cause him harm.
She was fed up; she couldn't stand this kind of nagging.
"I'll tell you when the time is right."
The world laws revealed in Yanzi's words startled Cheng Yuzhou; he had not yet figured out the system behind the strange tales and Yanzi herself.
There's no point in revealing all this to Li Yufei too early.
She scorned his love, proud and confident. If she knew that this nightmarish game was only to protect her, she would be furious and vehemently oppose it.
He might as well have spoken ambiguously, letting her automatically fill in the gaps in her mind regarding his actions and his reasonable motives.
Cheng Yuzhou forced a sorrowful smile. "Feifei, no matter what, I will not hurt you."
Li Yufei stared steadily into his eyes.
His dark eyes were filled with her. As Cheng Yuzhou said, he had never hurt her from childhood to adulthood.
"What about the day after tomorrow?" she frowned. "We really have to fight demons? Won't people die?"
Her tone softened, and Cheng Yuzhou immediately said, "I will guide everyone to minimize the sacrifices. Don't worry, since even the most serious injuries can be healed immediately through prayer, then death is not so scary."
This statement does indeed sound like it involves items like resurrection cards or resurrection fountains.
His earnest guarantee made Li Yufei feel a little better.
Come to think of it, if Cheng Yuzhou really had that much ability, would he need to stay in this desolate wilderness?
Wouldn't it be better if he became human and returned to being the young master? He can control such a large estate, so controlling a conference room would be a piece of cake for him. Wouldn't he be able to sign any contract he wanted, however he wanted?
If he really had that ability, he wouldn't need to cower here.
She'll trust him this once.
"Mmm." Li Yufei straightened her five fingers, ending the conversation, and urged Cheng Yuzhou to remove his armor.
Knowing that she had let him go, Cheng Yuzhou immediately smiled, understanding that this was because Li Yufei trusted him.
She didn't love him, but she could trust him and indulge him, which was already a precious feeling.
He continued to remove his armor from the plate.
Half an hour later, Cheng Yuzhou dried the agave on her hands. "Is it alright?"
Li Yufei raised her hand and looked.
Heh.
The five nail beds are pinkish-red and so shiny they reflect light.
This person has never even seen what nails look like after removing their manicure.
"It'll do," she said, shaking her hand. "Then let's continue shooting arrows."
“It’s too dark outside,” Cheng Yuzhou said, drying his hands. “Let’s practice in the hallway.”
Li Yufei glanced out the window; after such a long delay, it was indeed dark outside. "How can we practice in the corridor?"
Cheng Yuzhou picked up two cushions, "Let's use these as targets."
They left the room and went to stand in the hallway.
The straight, bright corridor, with a crystal chandelier every five steps, is a great place to practice archery.
Cheng Yuzhou fixed the cushion to the table against the wall and gestured to Li Yufei, who was fifteen meters away, "The arrowhead has been removed, so it doesn't matter if it's off-target."
Li Yufei nodded excitedly.
We'll talk about other things later. She's never shot an arrow before, and she looks so cool drawing the bow while wearing professional gloves.
Cheng Yuzhou stepped back two paces, making way, "Pull it up, pull it up again—"
"Raise your aim, don't just look at the target point, aim above the target point."
"Alright," he waved, "release the string!"
Bang!
The nearly 100-pound crystal chandelier crashed down!
Cheng Yuzhou's pupils shrank sharply; the arrow, now without its arrowhead, had actually snapped the metal sling.
Crystal shards littered the ground, and the bright area was instantly plunged into darkness.
Li Yufei gripped the bow, staring blankly at the large chandelier on the ground, then glanced at her own hand.
The fox-like eyes blinked repeatedly.
After a moment of silence, she shouted, "It's all your fault! How did you teach me!"
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