Vol 6 Chapter 183

XH 183

As predicted, as soon as she returned, the first place Tian Chi went was Doctor Bai's courtyard to meet the Third Prince. Following her was Yang Ling and Jing Ke.

Long Zhu send someone to notify his grandfather and teacher as they were involved with the topic of discussion. It was his teacher’s idea to search for the gate first and his grandfather supported it. 

The news from the trio was not life-threatening or urgent, so it could be postponed to later. As etiquette was strict in the matter that during meal times, no one was allowed to talk, so the discussion will have to be postponed again to after dinner. If they truly decided to discuss while dining, Long Zhu could expect that no one would be able to eat peacefully. 

Surprisingly, Long Zhu mercilessly kicked the silent Jing Ke and the noisy Yang Ling that had been complaining about his sore body from the travel since his arrival, to go away to have their own meal.

Yang Ling switched the topic of the complaint to Long Zhu's stinginess and became more vocal when he saw the delicious dishes that were carried into the room by Tian Chi and kitchen staff.

All the while, Xiao Hua did not speak, content with allowing her curiosity to control her eyes to follow after the figure of Jing Ke with the white mask. She was still a little scared of the simple yet eerie mask, but her curiosity helps to increase her bravery.

"Jing Ke used to be a handsome man, but an unfortunate tragedy scared his face," The Third Prince unexpectedly said.

Xiao Hua: ‘...’ Your honesty did lessen my curiosity quite a bit, but your words should not be said right in front of the sensitive subject!

Xiao Hua was afraid to even look at Jing Ke! Oh, silly her, she could not even look at his expression that was hidden under his mask anyway!

To her horror, Yang Ling decided to voice out what he thinks of it. "Yeah, Jing Ke in the past is a dashing man that many ladies fell for. Tsk, tsk, even his married status did not deter those hungry ladies! But the very same ladies quickly ran away when he turned into a very ugly man. If not for the great and talented Doctor Bai taking pity on him, he will have to continue staying as an ugly man!"

Unable to resist, Xiao Hua turned to look at Jing Ke in dread. She jolted in shock when his eyes, who should be staring at the people that were talking bad about him, was actually staring at her instead!

Xiao Hua: Waaaaaah! I'm just an innocent passerby ah!!! Σ(°△°|||)︴

"Want...to...look?"

"No!" Xiao Hua hastily declined and waved a palm. "I have never expressed interest in what lies behind your mask, Lord Jing Ke."

She naively assumed that she had hidden all her interest away and pushed the fault to the Third Prince and Yang Ling, but her poker face was about the same level as the Eighth Prince. Both of their facial expressions were like an open book, truly threaten other people’s good conscience to not trick them!

"Jing Ke won’t mind letting you look!" Yang Ling said carelessly.

Xiao Hua: Of course you can say that! That’s not your face to begin with!

"No, truly, I can survive without seeing Lord Jing Ke’s face." Xiao Hua flinched, feeling that her words were rather harsh. "It will be inappropriate for an engaged lady to look at other males."

From what she could smell from Jing Ke in the past, she had an inkling that his skin must be badly burned to still have the smell of smoke coming from him. There was certainly no need to add more nightmares! She doubted that Doctor Bai could truly gave him a new face that could pass as a natural born face. 

"There's nothing inappropriate when no one here will talk about it!" Yang Ling, who decided to be helpful, easily untied the string behind Jing Ke's head that was attached to the mask.

From his movement, it could be seen that it was not the first time Yang Ling remove Jing Ke's mask. Jing Ke might be slow in speaking, but his movement speed was normal, yet he did not stop Yang Ling's naughty fingers. 

The mask slowly slips away from his face, attracting Xiao Hua's eyes to what was hidden underneath it despite fearing what she would see. Her breath slowed down and all her attention was focused on the skin that was revealed inch by inch like a strip tease. 

Xiao Hua had imagined a badly burned skin, with dark red scars that was close to black, just like what she has seen from the movies or anime. But to her relief, her eyes saw a white skin with an unblemished, glossy surface.

The mask was removed completely and Jing Ke's whole face was finally revealed!

"Hahaha! This is Doctor Bai's greatest creation that I’ve ever witnessed! If other doctors tried to make the same face, they would fail to put it on Jing Ke's face! Doctor Bai make sure the mask does not itch, rot, or harm Jing Ke in anyway! I originally thought such a good mask would look ugly, but who would have thought it does not look bad at all! Hey Jing Ke, why do you still put on your mask when you already have another face mask?" Yang Ling said excitedly, even going as far as rubbing Jing Ke's face, eating as much tofu as he could before the face would be hidden under the mask again.

Standing beside Xiao Hua, the Third Prince was extremely attentive to Xiao Hua's every movement. He was also the first and fastest to notice her unusual state.

"Xiao Hua?"

Her face was deathly pale, with her eyes still glued onto Jing Ke's face. But her eyes were blank without spirit, unnerving the Third Prince.

When she did not respond, he touched her arm and called her again, but nearly gotten heart attack instead when her eyes fluttered shut and her body crumpled down like a doll whose string was cut off.

If Long Zhu was not quick enough to catch her and break her fault, she would have injured her head.

"Elder Sister Hua!" A worried Tian Chi's hurried to Xiao Hua’s side and quickly used her Qi to heal any injuries that the younger girl might have.

Yang Ling and Jing Ke were so shocked at Xiao Hua's unexpected response. They were stunned and it was not until Da Bei suddenly flashed in front of them and pressed his thin sword at Jing Ke's neck did they reacted.

"Get out," Da Bei said coldly with a freezing gaze piercing right at Jing Ke.

Everyone with eyes can see that Xiao Hua was terrified upon seeing Jing Ke’s face!

"Da Bei! Don't be rude to Lord Jing Ke!" Da An exclaimed as he dashed into the room. They were hiding up the roof to guard with their ears trained to the inside conversation but Da Bei took a step further by training his eyes inside the room after peeling off a roof tile, much to Da An's disbelief.

That pale, glossy face, with a lightly painted blush on the cheeks.

The small, pouty red lips that was carefully painted, the color eerily resembling blood.

That stiffness of his face without any aging lines, making it hard to guess his age.

A living doll.

Xiao Hua.exe has stopped working, asking for permission to reboot. 

Le XiaoTing could be said to be a scaredy cat. She was kicked out of her mother’s bed at the age of ten to finally sleep alone in her own bed that was long ago prepared for her.

At the age of fifteen, her shyness and lack of friends nearly gotten her bullied if He Zhu did not happen to pass by and saved her in a whim.

Since then, the pressing issue of being brave and independent was no longer a priority for her. He Zhu might have ordered her around like his personal aide, but he provided a safety net from the outside danger that she does not dare to face.

But when he graduated and leave, she was forced to be independent. It was then she learned how tough it was to be independent, and how much He Zhu had done for her just to allow her to remain inside her own cage, never complained about the added burden.

Like a baby deer, she learned the ways of the world, trying her hardest to stand on her own feet. She slowly opened her door to meet other people and make friends, how to survive in the world, and learn to decide important matters by herself. The world may always throw hardship on her way, but there was always a solution to pass those trials. 

But there were always unexplained things with no solution in this world. With her new university friends that loved to exchange ghost stories, Le XiaoTing started to fear what could not be seen. She had never encountered any spirits before and would do anything to maintain that status. 

Then horror and thriller movies started to increase as years goes on… with few of them introducing haunted dolls.

The 'Rozen maiden' anime's characters were mostly cute, living porcelain dolls with flashy powers, not scary at all. But when reality mixed in, that was when the horror strikes in. She was actually not that afraid of human like dolls, but one prank from her boss changed everything.

"I...I'm sorry. Please tell Lord Jing Ke that I'm just… tired and had let him experience a fright because of me," Xiao Hua spoke to the hard chest pressing against her face. 

The Third Prince had hugged her since the moment she fainted and refused to let her go even even after she was conscious. Fortunately she had only fainted for fifteen minutes. 

Da Bei and Da An had the rest of them get out from the room and she does not know where they had gone.

"Jing Ke will not appear before you again."

"You can't do that! My fainting have nothing to do with him!" Frightened, Xiao Hua quickly dissuades him and wanted to peel her face away from his chest but his grip was unyielding. 

"You are scared of Jing Ke's face."

"W-Who said that I-I'm afraid of him?"

The Third Prince rubbed her back. "If you are not afraid, then why are you trembling?"

After realizing that her body was indeed trembling in fear, she tried to stop it, but it took a lot of effort to calm down her body. Knowing that she could no longer hide it, she could only switch to a different direction to dissuade him. 

"If I'm to be your wife, how can I avoid your good friend! It would certainly hurt his feelings!"

Long Zhu: '...' He's already hurting after you faint from the sight of his face. 

Nevertheless, he was pleased that Xiao Hua already refer herself as his wife. "A wife must not meet a gentleman behind her husband's back."

"I'm not going to meet him alone without you!" Xiao Hua snapped before letting out a long sigh. "If I meet him for a few more times, I would get used to his face."

Xiao Hua enveloped her arms around his waist, returning a strong hug. "I can see you trust Jing Ke a lot and friends like him are hard to come by. So treasure him, okay? I will do my best to conquer my fear of dolls."

"...Alright." He will just make sure Jing Ke has no reason to meet Xiao Hua.