Chapter 14 (Two in One) Rose Festival 08 (New...
Dinah's pulse was so weak that it seemed like sand slipping through her fingers. If she wasn't careful, it would completely disappear.
Although the person is still alive, these signs of life are flickering like a candle in the wind and may be extinguished at any time. Immediate treatment is required without any delay.
Zhu Yu did not hesitate and planned to start directly with the plague virus.
She knelt on the cold, wet ground and lifted Dinah's frail body onto her legs.
If Lady Lucia or any of the servants saw her doing this, they would definitely speak out to stop her.
After all, this distance is far beyond the safe range for plague transmission.
But Zhu Yu was not worried.
After talking with Anthony and George, her main quest has been unlocked by 33%, and her wizard level has been promoted from "Wizard Apprentice" to "Junior Wizard".
In this promotion, in addition to the improvement of her "purification" ability, her own immunity has also been strengthened. At least the current plague infection is ineffective against her.
Zhu Yu took a deep breath and gently placed his palm on Dina's forehead.
A warm white light emerged from her palm, wrapped around Dina's body like a silk thread, and slowly seeped into her blood vessels.
An invisible force fluctuated in the air, and a soft light enveloped the two of them like the first ray of sunlight emerging from the morning mist, dispelling the darkness in the morgue.
Zhu Yu could feel the strength in her body being constantly drained away, as if an invisible hand was greedily sucking away her energy.
Her breathing became increasingly rapid, and cold sweat dripped down her temples.
The overdraft feeling brought by her first witchcraft made her arms tremble slightly, but she still stared at Dinah without blinking, not wanting to miss any of her changes.
The black spots on Dinah's skin that symbolized death gradually faded, and her breathing gradually became stable.
Zhu Yu secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Her efforts were not in vain. She pulled Dina back from the brink of death.
After a moment, Dina's eyelashes trembled slightly, and her eyes opened slightly, her eyes were unfocused, as if she was trying hard to see the person in front of her clearly.
"I'm a wizard from a secret society in another town." Zhu Yu leaned forward and lowered his voice. "It was your good friend, Madam Lucia, who asked me to come and save you. Now I'll pick you up and we'll go out together."
"Wait, go to... Rose Manor... backyard... find... tell Lucia... tell her not to..."
Dina struggled to raise her hand and grabbed Zhu Yu's sleeve to stop her from getting up. Her voice was as weak as a thread, "... help us get revenge..."
Before she finished her words, Dina suddenly spat out a large mouthful of dark red blood, which flowed down from the corners of her mouth.
Soon after, blood began to seep out of her nose and ears, staining her originally gray face red.
Zhu Yu's pupils suddenly shrank, and before he could react, the light in the eyes of the person in his arms quickly dimmed, and his arms fell limply without a sound.
Dinah is dead.
Zhu Yu stood there in a daze, his mind going blank.
She had successfully eliminated the plague virus from Dinah's body, but she still died.
Which step went wrong?
Zhu Yu's chest felt like it was being pressed down by a huge rock, so heavy that she could hardly breathe.
Before coming to prison, she had made up for her lack of knowledge on "exorcism potions".
This potion will quickly drain the magical power from the user, causing the user's body to become increasingly weak until death.
But according to records, it usually takes five to seven days from taking the medicine to death.
Judging from the time, although Dina's body had been damaged, she shouldn't have died so soon.
Not only did she arrive early to save people, but she had just purified the plague virus, so her health should have improved.
But Dina...still died.
wrong.
Zhu Yu reached out and gently touched Dina's cold cheek, with a strange look in his eyes.
Although she had never witnessed the process of death after taking the "exorcism potion", she was sure that the black and red blood gushing out of Dinah before her death was definitely not caused by the "exorcism potion".
Dina's reaction before death and her appearance after death were more like poisoning.
Zhu Yu pursed his lips and laid Dina's thin body off his legs onto the straw mat.
Then she carefully rolled up her sackcloth prison uniform.
Dina's thin shoulders, collarbones and abdomen were gradually exposed to the cold air.
When the cloth rolled up to the lower abdomen, Zhu Yu's hand paused slightly——
There was a fingernail-sized incision on Dina's right waist and abdomen, near the liver.
The edges of the wound were red and swollen, and even oozing pus. It looked like it had been stabbed repeatedly by a sharp object, causing the skin and flesh to curl up.
For some reason, when Zhu Yu saw the wound, he felt an inexplicable chill in his heart.
[Main quest advancement value +2%, current plot unlocking value is 35%]
The system prompt sounded abruptly in the silence. Zhu Yu's hand trembled, and the linen material slipped off, covering the wound again.
She frowned subconsciously. The wound was already strange, and now the system's prompt made her more certain that there must be some key clues hidden here.
She raised her hand, ready to peel back the fabric again for a closer look.
"Boom, boom, boom" -
Suddenly, a burst of hurried footsteps sounded at the end of the door, gradually approaching the room where the bodies were stored.
Zhu Yu's heart tightened and he withdrew his hand instantly.
She quickly smoothed out Dinah's clothes, pulled the straw mat over the body, and then picked up the other bodies as quickly as possible and put them on the flatbed cart.
She had just finished moving the two bodies when the door clicked open.
"Susie, why are you so slow today?"
The flame in the oil lamp trembled in the cold wind, making the person's face flicker. The deep eye sockets and slightly upturned lips made the face look particularly eerie.
Zhu Yu raised his head, trying to make himself look nervous and embarrassed, and whispered:
"I'm sorry, sir. I'm not feeling well today, so I'm a little slow... Please give me a little more time, I'll be fine soon."
She scratched her head and quickly added:
"And, sir, I'm not Suzy, I'm Irene."
"Ah-yes yes, you are Irene."
The warden dragged out the last line of his voice, with a half-smile on his lips, "You two look so much alike that I can never tell you apart."
He slowly took a step to the side, revealing two jailers behind him wearing dark leather armor and with short swords on their waists.
The cold sweat on Zhu Yu's back instantly soaked his clothes.
If she had not reacted to the other party's temptation in time, she would probably have been held down by the two jailers in front of her and taken away for interrogation.
Fortunately, before leaving, she read all the information Betty gave her completely and remembered all the details.
The guard's name, "Irene", happened to be only one letter different from "Irena", so she remembered it clearly at a glance.
But she didn't let her guard down.
According to the information she had, at this point in time, only an ordinary guard was responsible for transporting the bodies, and the warden would never show up in person, let alone bring two prison guards with him.
There was a big change in the plans for tonight.
Zhu Yu quickly thought of a countermeasure in his mind, but on the surface he maintained just the right amount of restraint, lowering his head slightly so as not to let the other party notice anything unusual.
Suddenly, she heard the faint sound of leather boots stepping on stone slabs.
Zhu Yu raised his eyes suddenly and saw the warden holding up the oil lamp in his hand and taking a big step forward.
The orange light reflected on her face, and the warden's sharp eyes scanned her facial features inch by inch like a knife, as if looking for any flaws.
The air is stagnant.
"Charlie, David," the warden suddenly spoke, his tone cold, "didn't you hear? The guard tonight is not feeling well. How could you bear to let this poor girl carry the body alone? What are you still standing there for? Go and help quickly, so that everyone can go home earlier."
He withdrew his scrutinizing gaze, turned to look at the two jailers behind him and gave instructions.
Zhu Yu keenly caught the flash of disappointment in the warden's eyes.
disappointment?
Why feel disappointed?
Are you disappointed that you didn't see someone?
She resisted the urge to raise her hand to touch her face to check if there were any flaws in her disguise, forced herself to calm down, and walked quickly towards Dina's straw mat.
While bending down to carry it, she secretly glanced at the remaining time of the disguise skill card.
【Remaining usage time: 35 minutes. 】
About half of the 60-minute disguise time has passed.
Zhu Yu was not sure how long these people would stay here, and he did not dare to show any abnormality. He could only speed up and move the cold and stiff bodies one by one onto the cart.
The plague outbreak has doubled the number of bodies in the morgue tonight, to nine.
Fortunately, with the help of two prison guards, all the bodies were piled on the cart in less than ten minutes.
"Let me push it—"
Just as Zhu Yu opened her mouth, a jailer came forward, pushed her aside impatiently, and gripped the handles of the cart with both hands. The heavy cart creaked and the wheels rolled forward.
Zhu Yu touched the tip of his nose and muttered inwardly: It seems that except for the warden, no one is willing to work overtime for one more minute.
The morgue is not far from the crematorium, only three minutes away.
But the burning process was agonizingly long.
The flames danced in Zhu Yu's pupils, and she wanted more than once to summon a fire dragon to add fuel to the incinerator.
Of course, it would be even better if we could burn the haunting warden as well.
Time passed by minute by minute, the incinerator emitted a disgusting smell, and Zhu Yu's fingers quietly tightened under her dress.
The skill card time is running out.
Until the last corpse turned to ashes, the time left on the system interface was only "02:13".
"Okay, get lost."
The warden waved his hand in a cold tone, as if he was shooing away an insignificant insect.
Zhu Yu bowed his head and nodded, suppressed the urge to roll his eyes, turned around and left the prison.
29, 28, 27...
When the countdown of the skill card entered the last thirty seconds, Zhu Yu finally felt that the prying feeling like needles on his back completely disappeared.
She counted silently in her mind and started running as fast as she could until she ran into a familiar alley, then she let out a long breath.
Not far away, Betty and several guards had been waiting for a long time.
After seeing Zhu Yu's figure, they walked towards her quickly.
The second before they walked in front of her, the skill card time was reset to zero.
Zhu Yu's face returned to its original appearance in the night.
*
Rose Manor.
As night fell, the magnificent manor was still brightly lit.
Mrs. Lucia could not sleep for a long time. Ever since Zhu Yu insisted on going to the prison to save people, her heart has been hanging and she couldn't let it go.
"Avella? Why aren't you asleep yet?"
When Zhu Yu walked into the living room, he saw the little girl curled up on the sofa, hugging her knees with her face buried in her arms.
Zhu Yu's gaze shifted from Elvira to Madam Lucia, a hint of confusion in his eyes.
She didn't intend to let Elvira know about tonight's actions.
Elvira is still young and needs enough sleep to grow. There is no need for her to worry about these things with them late at night.
Hearing the familiar voice, Avella raised her head, rubbed her sleepy eyes, and said with a slightly nasal voice: “I had a nightmare.”
Madam Lucia sighed softly, reached out to tidy up her messy hair, and said in a gentle tone:
"Avella is very sensible. She had several nightmares in a row but kept silent about it, for fear of worrying others. If your guards hadn't discovered that something was wrong with her, I'm afraid she would still be hiding in bed alone."
Zhu Yu followed Mrs. Lucia's words and looked at 996 who was standing beside him.
996 did not respond, but picked up the wooden bowl on the table and stirred it gently. White hot steam rose from the bowl.
"This is the soothing soup I just made. Drink it while it's hot."
Elvira took it obediently, holding it in her hands and sipping it in small sips.
After a while, Elvira's eyes began to blur, and she yawned several times. Her little head nodded slowly, and finally she fell asleep in Maggie's arms.
Maggie picked her up gently and took her back to the room to rest.
After everyone left, Zhu Yu withdrew his gaze and sat down on the chair opposite Mrs. Lucia.
She raised her hand and pressed her brows, her expression showing a rare tiredness.
"I'm sorry...the jailbreak plan failed."
Mrs. Lucia's expression froze, and she clenched her fingertips into fists.
She didn't ask immediately, but just waited quietly for her to continue.
Zhu Yu did not tell all the circumstances.
She omitted the part about her use of purification abilities.
After all, her magical powers are still a secret.
There were too many reasons and doubts about the unexpected appearance of the warden, and Zhu Yu planned to sort out his thoughts before deciding whether to tell the other party.
So she only told Lady Lucia about Dinah's last words and how she ended up being burned.
Listening to Zhu Yu's narration, Mrs. Lucia did not show any overly intense emotions.
In fact, when she saw Zhu Yu returning alone, she already had the answer in her heart.
This time, she was much calmer than before. After seeing the frustrated look on Zhu Yu's face, she even comforted her:
"With Victoria's experience as a lesson, I was actually prepared for Dinah to never come back from the day she was captured."
However, she couldn't help herself when she heard Dinah's last words.
Tears rolled down her eyes, she covered her mouth, and her shoulders trembled slightly.
"Dina is worried about my safety. She is afraid that her death will make me want to seek revenge... She hopes that I can let go of my resentment and continue to lead the Secret Society with the president."
Mrs. Lucia choked up and wiped the tears from her face with her handkerchief.
The night wind rolled up a corner of the curtain. Zhu Yu looked out the window at the dark night and said in a gentle tone:
"It's late at night, go and get some rest. Since Dinah doesn't want you to be bound by hatred, then listen to her... Treat all this as a nightmare. When you wake up tomorrow, everything will be fine."
She helped Mrs. Lucia to her feet and walked her back to her room. She watched her walk into the room before turning and walking towards her own bedroom.
At the corner of the corridor, Zhu Yu and 996 met head-on.
The tension and fatigue of the whole night made her in no mood to say more. She just nodded slightly at him and continued walking towards the stairs.
996 walked side by side with her, neither of them spoke a word, their footsteps leaving clear echoes on the wooden floor of the corridor.
When Zhu Yu pushed open the door and was about to step into the bedroom, 996 suddenly stretched out his hand to hold the door frame, blocking her way.
At the same time, his voice sounded in Zhu Yu's mind.
"I suspect there's something wrong with Elvira's nightmare."
Zhu Yu paused and turned around in surprise. Just as she was about to ask, she saw 996 turn sideways, put his index finger to his lips, and signaled her not to make a sound.
The voice in my head continued:
"Host, please pretend you know nothing and go in. I discovered today that there are spies from other forces in the manor."
Before he finished speaking, Zhu Yu reacted immediately.
Her eyes darkened, and she suddenly grabbed 996's collar, pulled him into the room, and closed the door. The whole action was smooth and without making any sound.
Inside the room, the flames in the fireplace danced, and the warmth it emitted resisted the night wind that came in from outside when the door was open.
Not far away, in the bathroom connected to the bedroom, a dark oak carved bathtub was filled with hot water, with a layer of rose petals floating on the water.
The bathroom door was ajar and Maggie was standing by the tub, checking the water temperature and pouring a bottle of rose oil into the water.
Hearing the sound of the bedroom door opening, she pushed it open and walked out.
She saw 996 at a glance, but the expression on her face only froze for a moment, and then returned to normal, as if she had not seen him. She only bowed slightly to Zhu Yu and said respectfully:
"Miss, the hot water is ready, please come in and take a bath."
Zhu Yu: "Okay, you go out first."
Maggie lowered her eyes and nodded, then quietly retreated and closed the door.
*
The bathroom was filled with mist, and warm water vapor filled the air, blurring the outlines of the surroundings.
Zhu Yu was alone in the bathroom, taking a relaxing hot bath, while 996 stood outside the door, and the two continued to communicate intracranially.
Zhu Yu: "Tell me, why do you think Elvira's dream is wrong?"
996: "Because I noticed something was wrong through the abnormal air fluctuations in her room. An ordinary nightmare would not have produced such a reaction."
Zhu Yu: "Air fluctuations? Could it be referring to fluctuations in magical power?"
She immediately thought of the divination ability that Elvira demonstrated in the previous copy and this copy.
Zhu Yu: "Aivira must have drawn a wizard card in this instance. Her ability is more towards divination. So the nightmare she had tonight..."
996: "That's the picture she predicted!"
The two came to the conclusion almost in unison.
Zhu Yu: "Did she tell you what she saw?"
996: "She briefly described it to me, but perhaps because her magic power was still relatively weak, all she saw were some blurry and confusing fragments."
“She said she saw the floorboards beneath her bed melt away and turn into a black abyss like hell.
Countless twisted and howling figures struggled to climb out of the abyss, screaming and stretching out their rotten arms, trying to grab her.
Then, the rose vines grew wildly, climbed up from below, and tightly wrapped around her ankles, trying to drag her down with them..."
Listening to 996's story, Zhu Yu couldn't help but frown.
This is indeed a frightening and disturbing dream.
She reached out her hand and gently stirred the water a few times. Looking at the ripples that appeared, she suddenly regretted letting Maggie leave.
Neither she nor 996 spoke any words. The room was so quiet that she could even hear the faint crackling of the candles burning in the corridor outside.
Zhu Yu leaned on the edge of the wooden barrel, thinking about the meaning of Elvira's dream and recalling the unexpected events that happened in the prison tonight. He suddenly lost his good mood for taking a bath.
She didn't stay in the bathroom for too long. She quickly dried her body, changed into a soft nightgown, and walked out with her long wet hair.
"Forget it. I'm too tired today. Let's talk about it tomorrow."
She waved her hand, signaling 996 to go back, then she lay down on the bed and closed her eyes.
Sleepiness soon came over her and pulled her into a deep sleep.
*
The next day, Zhu Yu woke up and went downstairs to eat.
Everything in Rose Manor was normal, the servants were busy in an orderly manner, and the air was filled with the aroma of baked bread and morning dew roses.
But with the reminder of 996 last night, she always felt that every servant passing by had an ambiguous look in their eyes, as if they would convey some unknown information at any time.
She had instructed Maggie and Betty early in the morning to keep their men under control and not to make any big moves in the near future to avoid attracting unnecessary attention.
After getting up, Zhu Yu reviewed his actions of the past few days in his mind.
She had always deliberately avoided Lady Lucia's servants and was always cautious.
George would disguise himself as her guard every time he entered the manor.
She placed the family's two secret envoys in a family-controlled shop in Beleriand, where all the people were her own people.
So she shouldn't have exposed these things yet.
Zhu Yu picked up a piece of melon with a silver fork and put it into his mouth.
The melon juice was sweet, but it failed to ease her frown in the slightest.
Those people lurking in the manor probably did not sneak in last night, but had been lying in ambush here at an earlier time.
The reason why her actions last night were leaked was because she was careless.
She had always thought that the people in Lucia's manor were trustworthy, so she would directly tell her plan in public.
Zhu Yu put down his fork and tapped the table lightly with his fingertips.
Fortunately, no one knew that she had the Camouflage skill card, which allowed her to escape at the critical moment.
But the existence of those lurkers still made her feel uneasy.
Who is behind this secret plot?
The mayor? Anthony? Or the Colin family?
Zhu Yu raised his eyelids and looked at 996 for a moment.
No, maybe it’s not just these three forces—
"Good morning, Elena."
Mrs. Lucia walked into the restaurant and interrupted Zhu Yu's thoughts.
Mrs. Lucia looked much better than last night. She looked at Zhu Yu with a smile and said, "The florists and craftsmen will come over later to finalize the decoration of the floats in preparation for tomorrow's parade. Do you want to come and take a look?"
"No thanks, ma'am." Zhu Yu felt that he was only one step away from the truth, so he declined politely: "I prefer to keep a little surprise."
“I see.”
Mrs. Lucia nodded with a hint of regret.
"By the way, Madam," Zhu Yu put down his knife and fork, "I want to go around the city this afternoon. After all, the Rose Festival is coming soon, and the streets of Belran should be quite lively."
Madam Lucia was stunned for a moment, then readily agreed: "Of course, but there are too many people on the street recently, and your servants may not be able to take care of them. Why don't you let me arrange a few more people to help."
Zhu Yu waved his hand: "No need, I will be able to take Maggie and a few guards with me."
Seeing her firm attitude, Mrs. Lucia no longer insisted.
*
In the afternoon, Zhu Yu changed into a low-key long dress and took a carriage to the city center.
On the eve of the Rose Festival, the shops in Beleriand are filled with festive rose products.
Spice shops sold rose ointments, rose jams were displayed in the glass windows of pastry shops, and even wandering bards put on rose-colored cloaks and played the prelude to the festival on street corners.
The crowd was flowing continuously, and the air was filled with a cheerful and warm atmosphere, which was completely different from the depressing atmosphere that Zhu Yu experienced in the trial court prison last night.
After walking around most of the city, Zhu Yu suddenly stopped the carriage in front of a small herbal medicine shop.
"Most of the herbs stored in the manor are for infectious diseases. I remember that the herbs for Elvira's tranquilizing soup are running out. Maggie, go buy some."
Maggie got out of the car in response.
After buying the herbs, seeing that it was getting dark, Zhu Yu went straight back to the manor.
After dinner, everyone went to rest early because they had to get up early the next day.
*
The next morning, the sun was shining brightly, and the streets of Beleriand were decorated with red roses, like a dream.
The long procession of floats slowly passed through the main street, and countless people gathered along the way to watch.
They held up their handkerchiefs, waved and cheered to the people on the cars, children held bouquets of flowers and threw them onto the cars, and vendors along the street took advantage of the excitement to sell rose wine. The whole town was filled with a joyful atmosphere.
Zhu Yu sat on the flower car prepared by Mrs. Lucia, with the scent of various flowers lingering around his nose.
She looked up at the clear blue sky, her eyes flickering slightly.
Such good weather and such a warm festive atmosphere seemed to dilute the haze brought by the plague in an instant, as if nothing had ever happened.
"Ms. Elena!"
Just then, a scream suddenly came from behind her.
In an instant, Zhu Yu keenly sensed a slight vibration coming from the bottom of the car, and a strong sense of crisis suddenly surged from his heart.
She turned around and saw two black-clad assassins rushing out from behind the float, with blades pointing directly at her heart!
Zhu Yu reacted instantly and dodged to the side. One of the sharp blades brushed past her arm and pierced through one of her sleeves.
The horse was frightened and suddenly raised its hooves and neighed, and the whole float shook violently!
Madam Lucia was caught off guard and was knocked to the side. The other blade that was originally stabbing at Zhu Yu instantly pierced into her shoulder!
"lady!"
The guards reacted quickly, drawing their swords and rushing towards the float.
The two assassins were obviously prepared. After their attack failed, they immediately jumped off the float and disappeared into the crowd.
The onlookers were frightened by the sudden attack and screamed continuously. The small area near Zhu Yu’s float was suddenly thrown into chaos.
"Host, are you okay?"
996 pushed aside Mrs. Lucia's guards, and together with Maggie helped Zhu Yu out of the car, and asked with concern.
"It's okay," Zhu Yu steadied herself, then she remembered something, raised her head and glared at 996, her tone somewhat helpless:
"You really are a crow's mouth."
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