Chapter 6 Escape I remembered that mysterious, magnetic young voice, "..."
The long-haired woman was the tomb's caretaker, while the long-braided maidservant was the servant who did the work.
The Black Princess transforms into a crow, devouring dead souls and spewing them at the doll, thus giving the doll "life."
The dolls sing around the circular offering plate, possibly performing some kind of ritual to comfort the soul of the deceased.
On the other side of the moat were towering city walls. Since I couldn't jump over the walls, I decided to try jumping off them. So I jumped into the moat.
I swam to the edge of the city wall and dived into the cesspool. To my disappointment, I didn't see any holes in the wall or any damaged parts. The moat surrounded the city like an impregnable fortress.
After swimming a long way, just as he was about to surface, his elbow suddenly bumped into a loose brick.
When I took out the brick, I found a small black box. I quickly took it out and put it in my pocket.
I surfaced and swam through the excrement to the shore. I was worried I wouldn't be able to hide the little black box, but surprisingly, no one noticed me. Everyone's attention was drawn to a group of girls dressed entirely in black.
I shook off the filth from my body and looked over curiously—
A silver-glowing hole appeared in the city wall on the other side of the moat, and a group of girls in black with chains on their feet walked out of the hole one by one.
I suddenly realized that this silver cave might be the passage between the outside world and the tomb. After crossing the long log bridge over the moat, I arrived at Black Castle, which is the Great Gate. Beneath the gate lies the "great" tomb that Black Castle was used to protect.
Why did these girls in black come here?
Looking at my hands, which have aged again, and touching the skin on my arms, which have lost their elasticity, my legs trembled.
The girl in black came here to replace us as we grow old, and we, being old, have no value left to live—we'll be turned into meat patties in no time.
Looking at most of the girls carrying loads on the riverbank, almost all of them looked at the obviously older girl with pity or mockery, including myself.
The girl with the carrying pole who had just kicked me into the river was looking at me with a mocking gaze.
They clearly knew the fate of the girls who would grow old. Even though they might one day end up like that themselves, they couldn't help but mock others, and even if someone showed them pity, it was a pity tinged with schadenfreude.
Beneath the surface, all that exists is infighting.
The group of girls in black walked quietly toward the Black Castle. Leading the way was a long-haired woman, the one who had been assigned work that day.
It should have led me to the dark room where I stayed on my first day here.
Fate will repeat itself.
Late at night, I hid behind a stone pillar in the corridor, took a deep breath, and opened the small black box.
In the dim moonlight, I could hardly believe my eyes. It was a horror comic I had seen in modern times. I quickly took it out and read it several times.
It has nine pages in total.
The first page bears the title of the comic: "The Mysterious Elf Case Files".
On the second page, a dilapidated black castle stands on the vast sea.
Page three: a dilapidated, dark, winding corridor, a crumbling corner covered in cobwebs.
...
I skipped the middle few pages and flipped directly to the last three pages, and was stunned the moment I saw them—they were still blank.
After a moment of stunned silence, I remembered that mysterious, magnetic young voice, "You have to guess the last few pages, and there's a prize for the correct answer."
Does this mean—perhaps the prize is on these last three pages, and the prize is the secret to escaping the Black Castle?
***
Half an hour later, filled with immense fear, I stood once again before the circular altar in the underground tomb, taking a deep breath before daring to step onto it.
The comic is about a silver-haired boy, and the model of the silver-haired boy is here.
Without a pen, I bit my index finger until blood gushed out.
This is the idea I came up with last night while staying up all night—to draw a picture with blood. If this is a haunted castle, then human blood might have an unexpected use—isn't that how it's always written in novels?
Whatever, let's give it a try.
He closed his eyes and pressed his trembling index finger onto the seventh blank sheet of paper.
At first, there was no sound at all, only a bright red fingerprint.
But ten seconds later, a miracle happened.
I suppressed my excitement and watched in disbelief as the blood gushing from my fingertip began to spread, forming strange lines that created a bizarre picture—
On the screen, a girl with a blurred face and long braids is seen firing a flintlock pistol, easily defeating an equally blurred woman who is coming towards her...
After filling the blank sheet of paper, I moved on to the eighth sheet and bit my finger again.
Blood continued to swirl and twist into lines on the blank paper. I saw a semi-circular glass dome placed on an empty space, then being lifted by a pair of bloodied hands…
The ninth painting: A volcano erupts, the crimson sky resembles a flowing river of blood, and flocks of crows scramble to fly up into it.
I was stunned.
What is this? A prophecy? Will the volcano erupt? Will this place be destroyed?
"Hey, what are you doing here?" A woman's loud shout pierced my eardrums, startling me.
"I noticed someone broke in last time, so it was you!" the woman roared.
I quickly tore all the drawing paper to shreds. Several long-haired women rushed over from not far away, grabbed me, and tied my hands and feet with rope.
I resisted and bit back, but it was no use.
I was bound hand and foot and carried to the Stone Hall. The long-haired female manager who had assigned me the job sat in a high-backed chair, her sharp eyes fixed on me.
This is the second time I've seen her since I came to Black Castle.
A long-haired woman respectfully handed her a tray filled with shredded paper.
"What is this?" The long-haired female steward frowned slightly.
“When we found her, she was looking at these drawings, which she then tore to shreds.”
The long-haired female manager picked up a few sheets and looked at them, but couldn't figure them out.
I tore it into tiny pieces; you can't even tell what the original image was.
The long-haired female manager looked at me with a cold smile, "What are you drawing?"
"The castle." I licked my lips to calm my fear.
The long-haired female manager scoffed, tossed the piece of paper aside, clearly uninterested.
"Were you the one who sneaked in last time?" she asked.
"No," I denied. Only a fool would admit it.
What were you doing in the tunnel tonight?
"I... I accidentally went in and got lost. I drew a map from memory, hoping to find my way out."
The long-haired women standing beside me laughed out loud, and the long-haired woman in charge had a terrifyingly cold gaze.
"I knew you were a troublemaker. You caused trouble on your very first day," the long-haired female manager said coldly. "I was planning to have you contribute on the appointed day, but now, let's do it ahead of schedule."
Several girls with long braids carried in large bundles of firewood from outside the stone hall, while several long-haired women brought in a large bucket of water.
A large bucket was placed on firewood, which was then lit to boil water.
Suddenly I understood the meaning of "in advance".
I'm going to be made into meat patties ahead of time. It wasn't supposed to be this early, but I wouldn't listen, so I'm moving it forward. Now I'm boiling water so I can wash myself before making the patties.
I screamed in fright.
Several long-haired women ripped off my smelly clothes, picked me up, and were about to throw me into a large bucket of water that was almost steaming hot.
But I clung tightly to the edge of the large bucket, refusing to fall in no matter what.
A long-haired woman forcefully pried my fingers apart one by one. Just as they were about to fall off, in my despair, I caught a glimpse of a black gun at her waist.
Suddenly remembering the seventh painting, a scene resembling a prophecy, I bit the long-haired woman's hand hard. The long-haired woman cried out in pain and pulled back, and I actually managed to snatch her gun.
Having previous experience playing Counter-Strike, I instinctively pulled the trigger. With a bang, the long-haired woman was shot in the waist and fell to the ground screaming.
Everyone was stunned by this unexpected turn of events.
—The prophecy in the seventh painting has come true.
I quickly jumped off the large water bucket, took out my gun, and aimed it at the several long-haired women surrounding me, firing several shots in quick succession.
A chorus of wails, screams, and panicked fleeing filled the air...
I never knew I had such good skills and such great potential.
Imitated it from TV.
The long-haired female manager was the first to react, and she also pulled out a black gun and started firing at me.
I mimicked the moves I saw on TV, rolling several times on the ground and managing to dodge the combo. I then raised my black gun high and fired three shots at the long-haired female manager.
The long-haired female manager, having been shot in the right leg, angrily fired at me again.
The other long-haired women also realized what was happening, and those with guns all pulled them out and pointed them at me.
I panicked a little and tried to run away, but I accidentally bumped into a large bucket of water that had just been heated. I grimaced in pain, but then an idea struck me. I quickly pulled out a few burning pieces of firewood and threw them at the long-haired women who were about to shoot me.
The long-haired women screamed and dodged, their guns naturally missing their mark.
I pulled out a few more burning pieces of firewood and threw them at them...
With a bang, I was suddenly struck in the shoulder. Pain shot through me, and I saw the long-haired female manager holding a gun, grinning at me.
Ignoring the excruciating pain, I retaliated swiftly, bang bang—
The long-haired female manager deftly dodged and fired at me again.
I rolled off the ground again to avoid it.
The long-haired women who had almost been shot at by the firewood surrounded me again and pointed their guns at me.
I retaliated again, firing as I fled the stone hall...
Suddenly I remembered the eighth painting and began to flee to the underground tomb as fast as I could.
More long-haired women appeared, firing shots as they relentlessly pursued me, just like a gunfight scene in a movie.
My arms, shoulders, and back were all hit, but thankfully it was just abrasions. Oh my God, I've never experienced anything so terrible in my life.
I've never run so fast before. I sprinted into the doll room at the speed of a sprint champion, locked the door from the inside, used several boxes that held the dolls to prop the door open, and then ran towards the underground tomb.
I stumbled and bumped my way onto the circular altar, lunging to grab the semi-circular glass dome, but a burning pain made me pull my hand back.
I tried again, but I still got burned.
With the pursuers closing in, I was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.
Suddenly seeing the blood-soaked left arm, I don't know where the inspiration came from, I swept my left arm across it. The semi-circular glass dome tilted a little, but my left arm was also burned, but the burning sensation was obviously less, much better than the burning sensation of holding it directly with my hand.
The coldness of fresh blood can actually block out a bit of the burning sensation.
He swept his bloodied right arm across again, and the semi-circular glass dome crashed to the outside of the circular sacrificial plate with a bang.
I tried picking it up with my hand again, and it wasn't hot at all...
Just as the long-haired women rushed over, I had already grabbed the semi-circular glass dome and run through the narrow door next to the circular altar.
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