CH 36

“You ……” the housekeeper, who was trampled on the ground, had just spat out two words with difficulty, but she did not want Wang Ke to increase the force of her foot again and trample back her words.

This is a tragic and inhumane image of a woman living alone being attacked by an unexpected visitor in the middle of the night and none of the bystanders lending a hand, whether it is the depravity of humanity or the indifference of society.

Unfortunately, the group of stick figures in front of her had no sympathy for her situation; after all, the housekeeper had been in a good mood from the start and was quite happy to see the players fail through.

“If you have any questions, just ask.” As if he were a legendary bully who bullied the weak, Wang Ke waved expressionlessly at the door, gesturing for Xiao Lan to come in.

Wang Taidi looked at the butler on the floor who could no longer maintain his stereotypical rigour, knelt down and asked, “What exactly is going to happen tomorrow night?”

The housekeeper just gave him a hard stare but kept her mouth shut and ignored Wang Taidi’s question completely.

The housekeeper grunted but remained silent, looking stiff.

Wang Ke frowns.

In a flash, the long, blood-red knife he had seen before appeared in his hand. The cold glint of the blade appeared in front of the housekeeper’s eyes at a moment when she was unprepared, the tip of the blade just a few millimetres from her eyes. She could already feel the cold texture of the weapon, and a painful sensation faintly grew on her skin.

The housekeeper drew in a breath of cold air, she had never imagined that these men would dare to be so reckless, were they not afraid of being reprimanded by Lady Bella?

The housekeeper tried to calm down and said, “There is an important event being held on the …… estate tomorrow.”

Yet it completely avoids the point that players want to know.

Wang Ke flicked the tip of his blade, “I can give you another chance.”

This slight change was extremely obvious to the housekeeper’s eyes, and she shuddered and tried to restrain herself, not wanting to send her eyes to the point of a knife because of her mistake.

Torn for a moment between Lady Bella’s punishment, and the murderer before him who looked ready to strike immediately, the butler spoke with difficulty, “Tomorrow is the full moon, when …… Lady …… ”

She hesitated for a moment, glanced again at Wang Ke, who was stomping on her expressionlessly, and continued, “The Lady will open the dedication ceremony, which she herself will preside over, to …… her suitors.”

That’s where the players come in.

Xiao Lan inquired, “If she invites men to the manor for the purpose of sacrifice, is this something that happens once a month?”

“Yes ……” the housekeeper sighed, once the start had been made it would not be difficult to continue, “Her Ladyship has invited many males to the manor to identify the foremost sacrifice. She will choose the best of you as the final and most precious offering.”

Xiao Lan followed up with, “Who was the object of the sacrifice?”

“I don’t know.” The butler said with difficulty, “No one else will be present at the dedication but the Lady and the sacrifice, and we are never allowed to know the details of the dedication ceremony.”

“She’s not lying.” Wang Taidi said as she shook the lie detector prop in her hand that showed green.

Xiao Lan went on to ask the question that interested her, “Do you know Anne?”

The housekeeper said, “She was Madame Bella’s sister, but I never met her, she passed away before I entered the estate to work.”

Xiao Lan : “How long have you been in the manor.”

The housekeeper replied, “Thirty years.”

Xiao Lan : “Is there anyone here with more seniority than you?”

The housekeeper: “No more, there was not a single servant here when I came to the estate, the ones who came in later worked under my arrangement.”

“And do you know anything about Mrs Bella’s husband?” Xiao Lan asked.

The housekeeper replied with self-loathing, “I know that Madame had a husband, Edmund, who disappeared more than twenty years ago, and before he disappeared he used to stay in the piano room all day without coming out at all, and hardly ever saw Madame.”

Xiao Lan : “Have you met anyone else from this family?”

Housekeeper: “No, from the moment I arrived here, there was only Mrs Bella.”

It seems that the only person most likely to know the truth is the unaccounted-for husband, and that the other servants who might have known the truth were either sacrificed or disposed of by Lady Bella at a later date.

The key to leaving the estate probably lies in this Edmund.

Xiao Lan stood up, “One last question, where is the piano room.”

The housekeeper was on the verge of being numbed by the stomp: “The third floor, the room at the far end of the east side, is now boarded up.”

Seeing that Xiao Lan had finished her question, Wang Ke moved her feet and gave Wang Taidi a look.

Wang Taidi understood in a second and took out a long conch-like prop, he tapped on it and a housekeeper’s voice came from inside, “Tomorrow is the full moon, when …… Mrs. …… ”

The housekeeper’s eyes suddenly widened, “This, this …… you!!!”

Wang Taidi shook the conch in his hand: “Good cooperation, madam. And you don’t want to know what Mrs Bella’s face will be when she hears this, do you?”

The housekeeper’s voice trembled, “I won’t say, say anything.”

She just sat on the floor and watched the unreasonable bastards sail away, even as the smiling, handsome and most polite looking fellow took the entire floor plan of the estate off her desk.

It’s almost as if people don’t look like people.

They left the housekeeper’s room and headed towards the piano room, Luo taking out the plan of the estate he had just taken from the housekeeper to check that it was correct before they passed.

Now that Lady Bella’s intentions are clear and that Lady Bella is still away from the manor, the players don’t have to continue to maintain normal behaviour in front of the maids, as everyone is bound to be torn apart by tomorrow night anyway.

Of course, it’s better not to be seen.

Xiao Lan raised her hand and knocked out one of the maids guarding the corner.

Wang Taidi looked crestfallen, “Didn’t you just say we’d be better off sneaking in covertly?”

Xiao Lan dragged the maid to an inconspicuous spot to hide: “Wouldn’t it be a perfect sneak to take care of anyone in sight? It’s called physical stealth.”

Wang Taidi : “……”

This is the kind of rough infiltration that I think you’ve greenlit.

He turned to Luo again and asked, “Don’t you …… have any objections?”

Luo replied with a sober and elegant smile, “Hmm? Is there a problem?”

Wang Taidi’s livid expression: “No …… is quite good, as good as my brother.”

Arriving at what was originally a piano room, unsurprisingly an ornate wall, several people again opened the door as before and entered it.

The piano room is as dusty as Anne’s room.

Both rooms appear to have been closed for a long time, probably shortly after the disappearance of Mr Edmund.

The gorgeousness of the piano room remains the same.

Beautiful and original crystal lamps hang from the ceiling, and the dusty carpet hints at the exquisite craftsmanship of the time. The exquisitely crafted piano sits in the middle of the piano room and directly opposite it is a huge floor-to-ceiling window which, although now covered by heavy curtains, must have allowed the player to look up and enjoy the view from the window.

Not far away there is a sofa and a desk clock, and on the table is a beautiful vase with a large bouquet of long-wilted roses.

This was supposed to be a pleasant and comfortable room for the player.

Wang Taidi looked at the piano and said excitedly, “From my experience when I used to play games at home, usually when this kind of piano appears in a puzzle game, if you play it as required, you will definitely get a clue.”

Xiao Lan is puzzled: “This is illogical.”

Wang Taidi shrugs, “As long as it fits the logic of the game, let’s look around and maybe we’ll find some kind of score or a note with a code on it.”

As a poor man with no time to play games, Xiao Lan was overwhelmed by Wang Taidi’s excitement.

But he searched around, after all, whether he needed to play the piano at the end of the day or not, he was going to search the room anyway.

A few moments later, Luo came over with a yellowed and brittle page in his fingers, which he handed to the others: “Look at this.”

Xiao Lan looks at the fragile paper and realises that it is really a score, or a handwritten pentatonic score.

Wang Taidi jumped up and down with joy: “Look! I didn’t play my game for nothing, hahahahahahahahahahahahaha.”

“Look at me.” He reached over and took the pentatonic, ran gaily to the piano, sat down directly on his butt despite the dust on the bench, opened the lid and began to tune it.

The piano was originally supposed to be very expensive and barely playable after more than twenty years of closure, although the sound quality has certainly long since deteriorated.

Afterwards, Wang Taidi played from the score, and I must say that he looked pretty standard.

Just …… Although Wang Taidi’s keys are all right, isn’t it an insult to the composer to call this a piano piece, which Xiao Lan is sure is not the fault of an aging piano?

Unsurprisingly, nothing changed in the room.

Wang Taidi scratches his head: “There must be something wrong.”

Wang Ke opened his mouth and said, “Have you forgotten how you got through piano lessons when you were a kid?”

Wang Taidi : “……”

At this point, Wang Taidi suddenly understands his brother’s daily desire to do justice to his own family.

Life is not easy, Taidi sighs.

Wang Taidi looked at his brother and changed the subject, “Brother, do you know anyone who can play?”

Wang Ke looked at the piano with a bitter look on his face, as if he wanted to cut it up: “Qi Ning can play, but that guy always runs away when he enters the game.”

Xiao Lan pondered, “I always thought that playing the piano might not be the necessary way to get clues, if all the players coming into this game didn’t know how to play the piano, wouldn’t they all be wiped out?”

“And yes oh ……” Wang Taidi’s little fire of a puzzle game in her mind snorted out.

Several people continued to start looking around the room for clues.

Xiao Lan was examining the one-person high desk clock in the room when he noticed what appeared to be inside and reached out and opened the glass of the clock.

There is a portrait resting quietly on the inside of the pedestal clock, and there is not even a speck of dust on the picture because of the protection of the clock.

Xiao Lan held out the portrait of a handsome blond man with ocean blue eyes, dressed in a modest gown, his hair immaculately combed, and with an aristocratic elegance and reserve in his manner.

On the back of the portrait is written – Edmund .

This is actually Mrs Bella’s husband!

Wang Taidi pointed to the portrait: “Is this dude in debt to the tune of $50 billion and was sold over by his creditors in a package!!!”

Xiao Lan looked wistful: “I’d love to know how he did it.”

Wang Taidi shocked: “You want to marry one of these too ……”

Xiao Lan said seriously, “No, I am trying to owe $50 billion.”

Wang Taidi : “???”

What kind of transcendental dream is this?