Chapter 123, Chapter Twenty-Four: The Lost Manor
Song Xiaona's eyes darkened slightly.
Although hiding in a phone booth was a last resort, it was undoubtedly a poor choice.
More and more demons are gathering here; they are like a lone boat on the sea, destined to be surrounded and killed sooner or later.
Song Xiaona admitted that when she chose this location, she took into account the fact that Cheng Yuzhou would definitely come to rescue Li Yufei.
Her head, which had hit the phone, was still throbbing. She held tightly to Li Yufei to prevent herself from falling behind.
As soon as Li Yufei saw Cheng Yuzhou, she forgot her earlier embarrassment and waved to him frantically.
The two sides were about thirty meters apart, and countless birds flew along this stretch of road. They were still unsure of the extent to which their faith points could provide protection.
Assuming that it's impossible to defend against all monsters, then it would be quite difficult for Cheng Yuzhou to come over, and how to take people away after he arrives would also be a problem.
Li Yufei couldn't think of a solution, so she nervously pressed against the door, hoping that Cheng Yuzhou's clever mind could come up with a way out.
Immediately, Cheng Yuzhou slung his bow behind his back, mounted his horse, kicked the flanks, and charged straight at her!
Beneath the towering horse, the small glass pavilion appears fragile and delicate.
On horseback, Cheng Yuzhou's eyes were sharp as cold stars, radiating a chilling aura.
Li Yufei was shocked. What are you doing?! It's not like she hasn't kissed other people in front of him before, why are you so angry?! They even kissed before!
"Are you blind?!" As the distance drew closer, Li Yufei shouted, "This is clearly an accident!"
Is he crazy? What kind of logic would make him think that she and Song Xiaona were secretly kissing in a pavilion while being attacked by monsters?
"Are you crazy?" Song Xiaona was utterly astonished. What kind of logic was that she thought Cheng Yuzhou was coming over to trample them to death with his horse?
Cheng Yuzhou was taken aback. Seeing Li Yufei's terrified expression, he realized he had caused her misunderstanding. He immediately made a targeted gesture to let her know that his hostility was not directed at her, but at the demons surrounding her—
With one hand gripping the rope, Cheng Yuzhou picked up the talisman with the other and placed it in front of his lips.
The moment the card touched the lips, a dazzling red light shone from the card.
The two people in the phone booth squinted as the red light subsided, and a scene resembling a fantasy game appeared before their eyes.
Nearly a hundred golden-red light arrows hovered above and beside Cheng Yuzhou.
The arrows of light scattered and tracked the incoming birds, hitting them every time without missing a single one.
In an instant, the surrounding area was like a persimmon tree in July, with fruit falling down in a pattering sound, and dead birds littering the ground.
When the horse's hooves landed in front of the phone booth, the surrounding area of demons had already been completely cleared away by arrows.
Li Yufei realized that he wasn't just furious and trying to kill her, so she immediately pushed open the door and went out.
Song Xiaona held her tightly, and Cheng Yuzhou bent down to take Li Yufei's hand and pull her onto the horse—
As Li Yufei pulled out the radish, mud still clinging to it, one fell behind her.
Cheng Yuzhou stared at Song Xiaona, who had sat down with him.
The three of them squeezed onto one horse, back to back, chest to back, and buttocks to buttocks.
The hero who single-handedly broke through the encirclement to save the damsel in distress instantly lost his luster.
Song Xiaona had no intention of getting off from the moment she got on. She sat at the very front, gripped the reins tightly, seized control, and gave the order: "Go!"
Cheng Yuzhou's eyes darkened, and Li Yufei turned to him and whispered, "We can't really abandon her."
She was squeezed tightly from both sides, making it difficult to turn her head. She couldn't see Cheng Yuzhou's face clearly, only catching a glimpse of his taut lips out of the corner of her eye.
I'm not happy.
Horses galloped toward the castle. Li Yufei was late, and she and Song Xiaona had wasted a lot of time. By now, the entire manor was almost deserted, but demons were rampaging everywhere.
The three people walking on the open ground were like a piece of sizzling, oily meat. Countless birds rushed towards them, only to be burned to charcoal by the power of their faith.
This relieved Song Xiaona and Li Yufei; it seemed that the combined faith of the three of them was enough to resist the demon.
However, just like the scallops outside the chapel that day, these demons were irrationally attracted to humans, and flocks of birds were burned in waves.
Within the range of faith points, they were consumed by flames; after the old ones fell, new ones formed an encirclement.
This continued repeatedly, with birds chasing the three of them, resembling circles of fiery fireworks.
While the birds are numerous and fast, they are the smallest of the three types of demons, and can be completely ignored by the combined faith of the three people; the troublesome one is the rampant poppy.
After they entered the manor, they multiplied wildly, not only covering the floors and walls, but also tangling together to form flower balls.
The green stems are tufted like yarn, with bright poppy flowers interspersed among them, like the eyes of demons, each eye spraying poisonous mist outwards.
Li Yufei had seen a cluster of strange flowers when she carried Song Xiaona away; in just ten minutes, these strange flower clusters had grown all over the manor.
The clusters of flower stems protected themselves, and the three of them passed by several clusters of flowers. The flames generated by their faith remained only on the surface.
They were so juicy that the flames didn't burn for long before extinguishing in the sap of the flower stems, leaving the inner layers mostly intact.
Suddenly, Song Xiaona, who was ahead, exclaimed in a low voice, "Is someone there?"
Li Yufei glanced over and was suddenly startled.
About four or five tourists were wandering in the distance.
Their presence outside at this time was already strange, and upon closer inspection, their peculiar appearance suggested they were not fleeing for their lives; their bizarre behavior allowed them to blend in with the surrounding demons.
Among them, some were headbanging and rocking, some were pounding their chests and stamping their feet, some were laughing hysterically, and some were howling like ghosts.
Their movements were all different, but they were all covered in poppy flowers. Their facial features were distorted and crazed, their eyes rolled back, and they drooled. They were completely insane and deranged.
Song Xiaona quickly scanned the group and pointed out the key point: "They all have a faith value of less than 10."
Cheng Yuzhou said calmly, "It seems that to prevent the poison of poppies, one needs at least 10 points of faith."
Li Yufei immediately covered her mouth and nose, staring in horror at the devilish flower balls on both sides.
She knew what the flowers were spraying, but since she hadn't seen any specific symptoms, she didn't pay much attention. She never imagined it would be so terrifying, capable of driving someone insane.
"careful!"
Just as they feared something, a flower stem emerged from beneath the horse's hooves. The moment they saw the people inhaling the poisonous mist, a flower stalk appeared.
The black horse neighed, then suddenly tripped and fell to the ground.
The three of them fell. Li Yufei was about to scream, but before she could, Cheng Yuzhou grabbed her from behind.
A strong arm gripped Li Yufei's upper back. This position awakened Li Yufei's muscle memory, and she subconsciously grabbed Cheng Yuzhou's other arm, her feet spontaneously taking a large spin.
The two dismounted mid-air, spun around in several large waltzes to dissipate the impact of the fall.
As the dance stopped, Li Yufei turned around in a daze and saw Song Xiaona fall to the ground, rolling around on the ground without any warning.
Song Xiaona's vision went black, and her joints burned with pain. She struggled to lift her head and met Li Yufei's gaze, who was standing perfectly fine not far away.
Is this retribution?
She used Zhang Fei as a joke to mock Li Yufei, and now it's her turn to experience Guan Yu?
Suddenly, she saw Li Yufei's pupils shrink and she yell at her, "Run!"
Still dizzy from the fall, Song Xiaona didn't have time to stand up before her ankle suddenly tightened.
She turned around abruptly, and the flower stem that had tripped the horse got tangled around her ankle, dragging her backward!
Song Xiaona's faith ignited the flower stem, but it soon began to go out.
In just a few breaths, three or four poppies surged in from all directions, gathering together and trying to swallow Song Xiaona like a cocoon!
Song Xiaona felt her scalp tingle and gripped the ground with both hands, completely unable to resist the strength of the flower stem.
She was dragged away inch by inch, screaming in terror and despair: "...Help!"
Li Yufei pushed Cheng Yuzhou away and ran towards her, but Cheng Yuzhou grabbed her, saying, "Danger! Feifei, don't go!"
"She's going to die!" Li Yufei cried out anxiously, "Quick, quick, do it again!"
"...card skills can only be used once every half hour."
"Why didn't you say so earlier!" Li Yufei stopped arguing with him, grabbed her sword and rushed over. Her hands, slick with cold sweat, gripped the sword and thrust it heavily into a flower stem!
*Sizzle*
The sharp instrument pierced the flower stem's surface, and the power of faith penetrated deep within, burning off one of its tips.
This was undoubtedly a drop in the ocean, and instead enraged the poppy stems.
The severed flower stem, like a snake with a broken tail, howled and danced wildly. Another poppy immediately wrapped around Li Yufei's wrist, pulling her along with it into the nest of reunion.
"Feifei!"
"Ah! Ahhh!!!" It was Li Yufei's turn to scream. Despite her screams, she remained firmly standing, leaning back and wrestling with Poppy, slapping and hitting her entangled wrists, making a hissing sound as if a cockroach was crawling on her hand:
"Help! Help—!"
Her hysterical screams completely drowned out Song Xiaona's, deepening Song Xiaona's despair even further—
Perhaps it would have been better if our ancestors hadn't come at all?
A long arrow shot towards the flower stem that was entwined around the two of them.
Cheng Yuzhou drew his bow, scattering some of the newly formed flower clusters, and the force pulling on Song Xiaona loosened slightly, giving her a few seconds to catch her breath.
She looked up and saw the coldness in Cheng Yuzhou's eyes.
In that instant, Song Xiaona realized that he had long regarded her as a thorn in his side and was waiting for this scene, waiting for her to "die" in a reasonable way!
"Family card!"
Li Yufei's suicidal rescue attempt, while not of great benefit, was still somewhat helpful.
Under the theorem of conservation of energy of fear, she felt fear for Song Xiaona, and Song Xiaona immediately calmed down.
She gripped the ground tightly with her fingers and yelled at the screaming Li Yufei, "Kiss your cards!"
Completely bewildered, Li Yufei immediately obeyed the instructions.
She shakily reached for the cards in her pocket, and before doing so, she quickly tapped the flower stem that was entangled around her.
The card depicts a stunning goddess surrounded by vibrant red roses; it is the only Psyche card among the sixty-five visitors.
Li Yufei held the card to her lips.
Suddenly, a dazzling red light shone from the cards, enveloping Li Yufei.
The two people in front of and behind her held their breath, staring intently at her, waiting for the miracle triggered by the card—
The red light faded, and Li Yufei stood still.
The three waited for a while, and then a while later, the flower clusters regrouped, and Cheng Yuzhou fired another arrow.
Half a minute later, Song Xiaona couldn't hold on any longer and urged urgently, "How about it! Hurry up and unleash your skill!"
"I don't know!" Li Yufei exclaimed anxiously, her voice trembling. "I didn't do anything!"
"How is that possible! The light is on, look carefully!"
"Okay, okay, let me see, let me see, just hang in there a little longer." Li Yufei spun around in circles like a headless fly.
The flower stem, which Song Xiaona had dragged for several meters, was wrapped around her hand, making her look like a willow branch, without hindering her from turning around freely in all directions.
"Got it!"
"What happened?" Song Xiaona rubbed her chin on the ground, struggling to stay upright.
Li Yufei looked at Song Xiaona, "You, you have grayish-blue on you, and a bit of yellowish-green!"
"...What?" She's almost dead, what is she saying that's completely nonsensical!
Li Yufei rubbed her eyes, certain that she wasn't mistaken. Behind Song Xiaona floated a human-shaped cloud, a mixture of gray, blue, yellow, and green.
What is this?
Cheng Yuzhou's voice came from behind, "Psyche is the goddess of the mind and soul, Feifei, I'm afraid what you saw was the color of the soul."
"Huh? What's the use of that?" Li Yufei turned around blankly.
She froze upon looking back.
Cheng Yuzhou.
She saw Cheng Yuzhou.
A refined and composed young man stood behind her, no longer resembling Zheng Jianbin.
Having not seen him for many years, her memory of his appearance had become blurred, but the moment she saw him again, the memories surged forth.
Li Yufei knew every part of this face, every inch of his bone structure and skin like the back of her hand: his jet-black hair, his fair skin that didn't cake up with foundation, his double eyelids that made it easy to apply eyeliner, and his jawline and nose that couldn't withstand too much contouring...
She had applied makeup to this face hundreds of times, wiping and applying it repeatedly, countless times. She could never forget it, and she would never forget it in this lifetime.
Li Yufei stood there, stunned.
His time stopped six years ago, frozen along with the lost manor at the moment before their wedding, endlessly hoping in the frozen sea of time.
The questions that had been lingering in Li Yufei's mind these past few days resurfaced:
What are her thoughts on Cheng Yuzhou?
Does she like him? Does she love him?
Does she want him?
She didn't know, she didn't know! She just wanted to grab him immediately and drag him out of the fire, from the ground, from the grave—
Cheng Yuzhou, you bastard! His wedding dress is still in her closet, taking up a huge space!
Li Yufei walked towards the young man with the bow involuntarily, but stopped after taking two steps.
She turned her head and looked at the poppy wrapped around her wrist.
Ah, it's still there.
Yes—she's still there! She's been captured by a demon!
"Li Yufei!" Song Xiaona, clinging to the ground and gritting her teeth, cried out, "Do you even have any skills?!"
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Li Yufei snapped out of her daze, returning to her previous anxiety. "Then what's the use of this card?"
It's not like we're playing Werewolf, what's the point of seeing the color of everyone's soul!
"Feifei, what color do you think I am?" Cheng Yuzhou asked.
"You, you?" Li Yufei shifted her gaze slightly, inexplicably afraid to meet his eyes. "Red... uh, so red."
Unlike Song Xiaona's mixed colors, the soul that emerges behind Cheng Yuzhou is as pure and rich as a ruby.
She glanced at Song Xiaona, who showed no change in expression, as if in her eyes Cheng Yuzhou was still Zheng Jianbin.
Could this also be the power of the Psyche Card, that only she can see the true soul beneath the body?
"Feifei, I have a guess." Cheng Yuzhou shot another arrow at the flower cluster behind Song Xiaona, relieving her pressure.
"Uh, um?" She felt so uncomfortable that she didn't dare to look at him.
"The ant said that the cards contain 'Goddess's Blessing,' so the power of these cards comes from Psyche. You happen to have a Psyche card in your hand. Is it possible that you can bless others and replenish the power consumed by the cards?"
"That makes sense, I'll give it a try."
Li Yufei blocked out her complicated thoughts and focused her attention on the current predicament.
She held up the cards in her hand to Cheng Yuzhou and shouted, "Bless me!"
After shouting, she asked expectantly, "How was it?"
Song Xiaona also looked up.
Cheng Yuzhou took out the card and kissed it again.
Nothing happened.
He shook his head. "The energy is still empty."
"Is the method wrong?" Li Yufei thought for a moment, then shouted repeatedly, "Blessings! Blessings, blessings!"
There was no movement.
Is the incantation wrong, or should I add some actions?
Li Yufei jumped up and down holding up the sign: "May good fortune be bestowed upon him!"
He clasped his hands in prayer: "Goddess, please bless him!"
He lit his temples and meditated, "May the goddess bless him!"
With her hands on her hips and holding up a sign, she declared, "On behalf of the goddess, I bless this man!"
"May the goddess wish him abundant energy and all his wishes come true!"
"Are you filming a New Year's vlog?!" Song Xiaona was about to collapse. "You brat, get over here! The card is in my left pocket. Take it out and stick it in my mouth!"
She was on the verge of death, and the mastermind behind all this tormented her accepted the blessing of that idiot Li Yufei right in front of her?
Did he think she hadn't noticed? That bitch couldn't suppress a smile.
Whenever Song Xiaona has her hands free, the first thing she does isn't to grab the cards, but to slap each of the two men.
Especially Cheng Yuzhou—he had no intention of saving her at all; he wished she would die here!
"Why didn't you say so earlier!" Li Yufei was still angry, stomping her foot in frustration. "You should have told me you brought the cards!" It made her rack her brains for a blessing.
"Feifei, don't go over there!" Cheng Yuzhou hurriedly hugged her. "She's too close to the flower clusters, it's too dangerous! Let's try another method."
Cheng Yuzhou's jet-black hair clung to her face, and Li Yufei almost jumped up: "Wh-what method?"
They're different, so different... Cheng Yuzhou and Zheng Jianbin are completely different.
My heart is pounding, it's probably because being hugged by a dead person is really exciting. Stop thinking like that, go check on Song Xiaona!
Li Yufei focused her attention on Song Xiaona.
Haha, she's so pitiful.
Hahahaha.
Cheng Yuzhou hesitated, then stammered, "The way to obtain the blessing power of the goddess in the cards is to kiss the god card... so perhaps..."
Baka!
Before he could be shy and hesitant, Li Yufei kissed him on the cheek.
The next instant, the divine tablet in Cheng Yuzhou's hand immediately emitted light.
"It works!" Li Yufei exclaimed excitedly. "Quick! Hurry!"
Cheng Yuzhou swept his hand over Song Xiaona's body on the ground.
Song Xiaona's existence is indeed a problem, but now is not a good time to send her away from the ghost stories.
He kissed the talisman as Li Yufei wished, and hundreds of golden-red arrows immediately appeared, shooting swiftly and fiercely at the flower cluster, turning the branches, leaves, and flowers into rotten pieces, making it impossible for them to reunite.
As soon as her ankle loosened, Song Xiaona immediately struggled violently.
Li Yufei ran over and helped her up.
She's not as despicable as Song Xiaona; she wouldn't do something as immoral as recording a video at this time.
Covered in plant sap, Song Xiaona escaped in a rather disheveled state.
She glanced coldly at Cheng Yuzhou, and the young man smiled faintly back at her.
Song Xiaona was all too familiar with that smile.
From the time Cheng Yuzhou hinted to his teacher that she was lying when she was seven, every time she was criticized by her parents and teachers, lost a competition to Cheng Yuzhou, or her hard-earned project failed, this man would always smile at her with an innocent and sympathetic expression.
His malice was undisguised, and she suffered countless hardships at his hands.
Does she regret bullying Cheng Yuzhou when they first met?
No, every year after that, Song Xiaona only regretted that she hadn't been quick or ruthless enough back then!
She should have pulled down Cheng Yuzhou's underwear and put it over his head, grabbed his hair and slapped him twice, stomped on his things, and then splashed him with excrement!
This hypocritical and disgusting man is so despicable that even Heaven can't stand him. He should die young and suffer a terrible death. Why does he have the nerve to come back?
Li Yufei turned around, and Song Xiaona watched as the mockery on the man's face turned into worry.
Ha. She laughed in anger and walked past him.
We'll see.
-----------------------
Author's Note: Cheng Yuzhou: Go to hell! Go to hell! Go to hell! Go to hell! Go to hell!
Song Xiaona: You die, you die, you die, you die, you die, you die!
Li Yufei: I'm actually a support?! Is that even fair?!
Poppy: desperately trying to pull Li Yufei along.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
