CH 20

(Unreasonable Cards)

Edited by Silver Wind 

The light of the early morning fell.

Seated in front of the vanity mirror, the Countess slowly removed her hat.

The face reflected in the mirror was young and full of vitality, like a rose blooming ardently.

Compared to yesterday, she was years younger. 

She looked like a young woman in her thirties.

No, it’s not enough.

The Countess’s lips parted slightly.

She wanted to be even younger, back to when she was seventeen, eighteen; when she was green and astringent like an apple that had yet to ripen, sweet and supple.

When everything had been beautiful.

She no longer wanted to see her stick-like body or the age wearing on her visage.

Who was a better candidate for tonight?

The Earl stood up, wanting to adorn her neck with a string of jewellery but she could not find one she was satisfied with. 

A little upset, she called out: “Housekeeper?”

Dong—

Ktf vbbg kjr bqfcfv.

Gef ab atf rmgffc yibmxlcu tfg nlfk, rtf mbeiv cba rff ktb tjv fcafgfv atf gbbw. Lfg fsfygbkr xclaafv abufatfg: “Ktfgf’r cb cffv ab yf rb mbjgrf…” 

Ccbatfg “vbcu” rbecvfv.

Ktf Sjgi ibbxfv bnfg lcafcais jcv gfjilrfv tfg tberfxffqfg tjv yffc ygealrtis atgbkc lc jcv kjr ralii yflcu alfv eq olgwis.

Immediately after, three “young ladies”, each taller than her by a fair amount, walked in.

Unfazed, the Earl tilted her chin proudly and coldly said: “You are offending an aristocrat with your behaviour.” 

Zhou Wenyan rubbed his jaw: “This is considered offensive?”

Wu Jia raised his hand: “Haa, then we apologise because we’re about to offend you even further.”

The room was covered so stringently that the only light source in the room was the candlestick in the corner.

The candlelight swayed and the shadows under the Earl’s feet twisted. From within it, dark tentacles writhed out, trying to drag those who had offended her into the darkness. 

Shen Dongqing picked up the vase that was next to it, weighed it before brandishing it.

Hence, before the tentacles had the time to rise, they shrank back from whence they came from.

The Earl fell to the ground.

As Zhou Wenyan crossed his arms, he told Wu Jia: “Go and tie her up.” 

Wu Jia: “Why me?”

Zhou Wenyan: “It’s not convenient for either of us.”

Wu Jia: “?”

Solemnly, Zhou Wenyan declared: “Men and women should not touch hands when they are giving or receiving things.” 

Wu Jia: “Am I not a man?”

Despite saying that, he still stepped forward and tied the Earl up with a skilled and practiced hand.

Taking advantage of the fact that the Earl was still out cold, Zhou Wenyan ransacked the Earl’s room for the book and found it in a hidden compartment before he read through the various black magic written in it.

And on one of the pages, it detailed a black magic that granted permanent youth and an unchanging appearance. 

It continued to write that at the cost of one’s flesh and soul, and the additional sacrifice of six virgin maidens, an immortal appearance could be exchanged. However, the black magic was not foolproof; the caster’s greatest fear would become the sharp blade that killed them.

“Greatest fear?”

Wu Jia guessed: “Is it sunlight? Or silverware?”

Zhou Wenyan: “We’ll know once we wake her up and try it on her.” 

The Earl gradually woke up, and the first thing that greeted her was the person standing in front of her.

She twisted her hand and found that she was tied up so tightly she could not move at all. But she did not panic. Instead, she raised her eyes to look at him and curled her lips, brimming with seduction: “Kill me. Didn’t you want to kill me?”

The scent of sandalwood suffused through the room.

It could confuse the mind and send them into a trance. 

The Earl had never lost a hand, but this time around, she encountered two unreasonable cards.

Zhou Wenyan drawled out slowly: “Does what you say always happen? Then, what of my feelings?”

Shen Dongqing sniffed the air and said with disdain: “Where did this stench come from?”

His eyes locked onto the incense burner that was on the small table, and he lifted the kettle and poured the tea into it. It sizzled and the scent of sandalwood disappeared. 

However, Wu Jia’s mind had already been destabilised by the smell, but he did not have the time to act before Shen Dongqing smashed the tea kettle into him after he noticed that something was awry.

The person fainted.

In a moment’s work, there were five people in the room, and only two were left standing. 

The Earl gritted her teeth: “If you don’t kill me, you’ll never leave this castle!”

Zhou Wenyan: “We’re not in a hurry.”

Then, the Earl watched as the two men strode out of the room while ignoring her words. A little flustered, she said: “What are you going to do?”

Shen Dongqing pointed at the clock on the wall: “It’s time for lunch.” 

The Earl: ???

Did she study the wrong script?