Chapter 60: Castle Exploration (Part 18)
This was the clue Si Mao had received about this world, in addition to the ones he'd mentioned to Qi An earlier, after completing his task in the previous world.
Moreover.
Si Mao couldn't help but glance at Qi An in his wedding dress. The gown suited him well, making his skin appear even paler. Qi An still looked frail, seemingly incompatible with the glamorous temperament the dress typically conveyed. But when Qi An truly wore it, there was none of the contradiction Si Mao had imagined—instead, it was remarkably harmonious.
His movements still carried that sense of weakness, yet with each gesture came a touch of radiance and vitality.
Due to his habit of keeping his head lowered, combined with his frail demeanor, Qi An's presence had always been unremarkable.
But right now, the elaborately decorated wedding dress commanded attention, drawing everyone's gaze to whoever wore it. Qi An's delicate features were completely revealed before all.
He truly was beautiful.
Even though the dress was adorned with rare gems worth a fortune, even though those gems glittered so brilliantly under the lights, Qi An wasn't overshadowed by them in the slightest.
When he raised his pale yet exquisitely beautiful hand, it made people think instead—
He should have worn clothes like this, raised in pampered luxury.
Si Mao stood frozen for a moment, then quickly lowered his eyes, furrowing his brow as if contemplating something.
"I'll step away for a moment." Qi An looked down at the hand Zhang Zhaoqi held his with—their fingers interlaced, the contrast in skin tones creating a unique aesthetic between their joined hands.
"Alright, I still haven't finished cleaning the first floor anyway." Zhang Zhaoqi nodded and naturally released his hand.
Qi An nodded, then walked to Si Mao's side. "What did you want to tell me?"
Si Mao didn't speak, only leading Qi An to an empty area. As if weighing his words, Qi An noticed the clear hesitation that flickered through the young man's eyes. "Besides the clue 'Beasts recognize their own kind,' we received another clue in the previous world."
"And that is—absolutely do not touch the mural on the second floor. The things inside are very important."
Qi An hummed in acknowledgment, waiting for more.
Furrowing his brow slightly, Si Mao continued, "But even with that warning, for the sake of the mission, we obviously had to run some tests. So, I had two people touch that painting."
Recalling the sensation of touching the mural earlier, and the boy who had just been devoured, Qi An turned his head to look at this young man whose face was covered in dust. "What happened?"
"The two we selected—one wore animal slippers, that was a companion of mine. The other wore slippers with a different pattern. After they touched the mural, both were swallowed by it." Si Mao spoke calmly. He mentioned his companion, yet no emotion appeared in his eyes. "Just in case, we'd made a communication device with our companion beforehand, so we learned what was inside the mural."
Qi An's expression shifted slightly.
"There's another space inside, identical to the scene depicted in the mural. But according to our companion, that space is collapsing, as if something that was supporting it has been lost, constantly collapsing."
This seemed to catch Qi An's attention. Si Mao saw the person in the wedding dress watching him intently with dark eyes, and his pupils contracted slightly. He turned his head away first, breaking the gaze. "That's about it. After he finished saying these words, we couldn't reach him anymore."
"After that, we examined the mural more carefully and discovered something." Si Mao's voice paused. "An additional beast-person had appeared on the mural, identical to our companion."
"And... what about the other person?" Qi An's voice carried a tremor.
"Couldn't find him. We examined the mural over and over, but still couldn't locate him anywhere on it." Si Mao finished saying this calmly.
Qi An slowly lowered his head, dark hair blocking others' view, hiding his expression. Noticing this from the corner of his eye, Si Mao paused, then spoke again. "Because the mission target is the lord of the manor, we searched the entire villa. Other than the room you occupy that we can't enter, there's absolutely no one inside the villa."
Qi An was silent for a while before speaking quietly, "Why are you telling me all this?"
"Because... I want to complete the mission." Si Mao smiled faintly, though something unusual flickered in his eyes.
His task in the previous world had been to help a ghost with amnesia... recall her beloved.
The ghost's beloved hadn't been in that world.
So they had gathered many clues and reconstructed what that beloved looked like, their personality, and the events they'd experienced...
Gao Lijun sat at the table, her hand trembling as she reached up to touch the scarred wound on her face. Her eyes suddenly took on a terrifying, ferocious quality.
But the next second, her expression changed.
A gust of wind suddenly rose outside, and the door she hadn't closed slammed shut with a loud bang.