Chapter 56: Castle Exploration (Part 14)
The moment she finished speaking, everyone around froze as if someone had pressed the pause button.
The twins holding the mop exchanged a glance, as if something amusing had crossed their minds. A playful smile flickered across their lips briefly. But the expression vanished as quickly as it appeared, and the young man turned to look at Qi An with a gentle, melancholic gaze—as if worried for this young man who had been suddenly dragged into something.
Compared to the girl who had just spoken, Qi An was clearly at a disadvantage.
He showed none of the vitality a person his age should have. Every gesture revealed a weakness that could not be ignored, and now, with his eyes clouded in confusion, he appeared even more helpless and fragile.
On the floor in front of Qi An was the cloth the girl had offered.
The girl kept saying sorry, but her pitch-black eyes held no focus. Her gaze remained locked on Qi An's face, as if shrouded in gray mist, filled with a mix of emotions—guilt, shame, but above all, relief and madness.
Qi An glanced at her, then at the slippers on his feet, and extended his hand. His slender arm slowly rose, almost touching the edge of the rag.
But at that very moment, a deafening crash echoed through the room.
A sound of something heavy hitting the floor, followed by a series of crackling noises, as if the impact had been tremendous.
The incident had initially occurred in a very confined area, but within seconds, countless eyes were drawn to it.
They were indoors, all the windows were sealed, yet wind had appeared inside the house. A strong gust that sent every摆设 in the room flying in disarray. The things they had just tidied up were now scattered everywhere, as if shelled by artillery. Water from the buckets splashed out, and debris from various objects littered the floor.
The lights in the villa began flickering again, but this time they didn't stop after a single flicker. The frequency increased, and the brightness grew stronger and stronger.
Finally, it became blinding, impossible to look at directly.
The people inside the villa instinctively searched for the source of the sound, then all froze. In front of the mural on the second floor, the girl's body lay crumpled against it, blood flowing continuously from the wound caused by the impact.
Her arm was still raised, clutching a piece of rag.
What had happened?
"What's wrong?" someone shouted, asking for an explanation.
"Shao Tian just asked Qi An to wipe the mural, but, but then Shao Tian suddenly collapsed." The girl standing beside Shao Tian spoke with terror threaded through her voice, "Qi An, Qi An he..."
The young woman stiffened as she looked at Qi An. His arm was also raised, but perhaps having been startled by what he witnessed, both his arms trembled uncontrollably. His pupils dilated slightly, and his face was paler than anyone else's in the room.
He couldn't have looked more fragile if he tried.
—But his identity was absolutely not the lowest among them, as everyone assumed!
"Why? Why? Didn't everyone say Qi An's status was the lowest? So why would something like this happen... We were just asking him to help wipe something, how could this turn out like this..." An ordinary-looking boy rushed from the first floor to the second. He seemed to know the collapsed girl, his expression twisted with grief.
The boy knelt in front of Shao Tian, his hand trembling as he reached for her cheek. Once he touched her, his expression grew even grimmer.
"Just asking Qi An for help and someone dies." Gao Lijun stood in the distance, coldly watching it all unfold, as if musing aloud.
"Qi An..." The boy kneeling beside Shao Tian had bloodshot eyes. His fists clenched tightly—Qi An could clearly see the veins bulging on the boy's hand—but he said nothing, simply using his other hand to touch Shao Tian's face.
[An'an, Gao Lijun is making enemies for you again!] The system sounded indignant. [And this has nothing to do with you. If she hadn't tried to push such a dangerous thing onto you, how would she have triggered the rule?]
[Hmm.] Qi An's voice was flat. Once this happened, the way everyone looked at him changed instantly. Just this morning, they had regarded him with sympathy and a sense of superiority, but now it had shifted to suspicion and uncertainty. [This is actually quite interesting.]
The emotions in everyone's eyes grew complicated.
But just like the boy standing in front of him, no matter how angry they felt, how much they wanted to vent, none dared to take action.
[That expression really is interesting.] Qi An lowered his hands, which had been raised helplessly, his eyelashes trembling involuntarily.
"How is the cleaning of the villa coming along?" Just as silence settled over the mansion, the butler's voice rang out with a smile.
Looking at the chaotic mess around them, everyone's hearts tightened.
As expected, the butler's tone instantly shifted. "Why? Why is it in such a mess!"
"We worked so hard to decorate this place, all for his comfort, and you've ruined it! You... you deserve some punishment..."