Chapter 35.1
Xiao Tangqiu couldnât help but look at Shen Yuan, who was standing not too far away. But when he saw Shen Yuanâs cold and indifferent gaze, with neither waves nor billows, his heart sank again.
The others were equally as indifferent with regards to Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmianâs life and death encounter. Instead, Windbreaker Man, who had been the most cynical all this time, looked at them and asked with a fleeting smile, ââ¦â¦.How are you? Are you alright?â
ââ¦â¦â¦Iâm fine.â
Xiao Tangqiu lowered his eyes and hid his gaze but just as he was doing that, he found that he was holding something in his hand.
It was a bra.s.s pocket watch, similar to Mariaâs pocket watch which Tang Mianmian had found. But this was obviously much older than Mariaâs.
Much olderâ¦â¦..
he paused and suddenly recalled that this pocket watch had accidentally been torn off the monsterâs neck by him during their struggle.
âIâm fine as well! My wounds just hurt a little, thatâs all.â Tang Mianmian, who had received quite a bit of a shock, noticed there was something in Xiao Tangqiuâs hand and immediately put everything else aside. He leaned in curiously, âWhat is this? Another pocket watch? Did it drop when you were fighting the monster just now? Quickly open it!â
Xiao Tangqiu paused for a moment before opening the cover of the pocket watch. The clock hands in the pocket watch werenât moving and appeared to be broken. Behind the cover was a small black-and-white photo of a mother and son.
The content of the photo was a bit like Raphaelâs â
The Madonna and Child.
â The mother was holding a child tightly in her arms, and attached her face to the childâs at the same time. Her facial features were soft and her expression was loving. Her entire being radiated the glow of motherhood, and her deep love for her child was visible to the naked eye.
This was originally a very common picture of a mother and son. But when Xiao Tangqiu carefully looked at the womanâs facial features in the picture, he suddenly found something wrongâ¦â¦.. The womanâs facial features were very similar to Lily Marlene, and her eyebrow were exactly the same!
He was so shocked he took a good look at the picture carefully again. But the more he looked at it, the more he felt that the woman in the picture looked like Lily Marlene. However, what he had seen before was just a portrait of Lily Marlene. Even if the portrait was lifelike, it was still just a portrait. It would still be somewhat different from a photoâ¦â¦..
âIsnât this Lily Marlene?â Tang Mianmian stared at the woman in the photo for a moment, then blurted out, âThis is clearly Lily Marlene! This woman looks more like Lily Marlene than Maria. It must be Lily Marlene herself!â
Xiao Tangqiu frowned slightly and said: âBut I got this pocket watch from that monster. This should belong to it. Do you think that monster is Lily Marlene?â If that monster was Lilly Marlene, how could Lippin.o.bert bear to keep his beloved woman in the attic while plastering her portrait all over the house? Wasnât this behavior somewhat contradictory?
Tang Mianmian rubbed his chin and let his imagination run wild again. âMaybe he really loved Lily Marlene at first, but then his
white moonlight became rice grains and his red cinnabar became mosquito blood
. After the seven-year itch, he stopped loving Lily Marlene and locked her up in the attic. But on the surface, he made himself look like an infatuated man with deep emotions?â
Xiao Tangqiu thought about what Tang Mianmian had said and felt that it was quite reasonable. ââ¦â¦Who is this child then? Lily Marlene and Lippin.o.bertâs? Then where is the child now?â
Tang Mianmian continued to spit out ideas. âMaybe the child isnât Lippin.o.bertâs at all, but the neighborâs next door. Lippin.o.bert was furious and locked Lily Marlene up in the attic!â
âThis doesnât make sense. If Lily Marlene really made him wear a green hat, then why would he hang her portrait everywhere? Does he have a green hat fetish?â
As Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian continued to blindly speculate, Shen Yuan, who had been silent all along, suddenly turned and walked towards a wall. He slowly brushed the wall with one finger, then gently rubbed his fingers together.
âWhatâs the matter? Is there something behind the wall?â Windbreaker Man asked him.
Shen Yuan shook his head. He paused before saying, âThere was something hanging on this wall originally.â
Xiao Tangqiu quickly walked over. He took out his flashlight and shone it at the wall. Indeed, as expected, he found some parts with different shades on the wall but it wasnât very obvious. Even with a flashlight, it had taken him a while to notice it, G.o.d knows how Shen Yuan managed it.
âIt shouldâve been some photos or something of the kindâ¦â¦.â
âPhotos? Then where are they?â Tang Mianmian also leaned in. âDid someone tear them off? Why would someone do that though? Could there be a hidden secret?â
âThis secret chamber should be the most hidden and safest place in the entire castle. Can the man actually find somewhere even more hidden to hide those photos?â Xiao Tangqiu couldnât quite figure it out but all of a sudden, Shen Yuan turned to look at him.
Xiao Tangqiuâs heart jumped inexplicably. Then, he heard Shen Yuan repeat softly, âSomewhere thatâs even more hiddenâ¦..â
Xiao Tangqiu subconsciously gulped. âCould Lippin.o.bert have taken the photo? Could he have hidden the photo in his room? Should we take a look at his room? â
Wait a minute! There was another problem!
They didnât even know where Lippin.o.bertâs room was!
Xiao Tangqiu suddenly realized this. From start till now, they didnât know where Lippin.o.bertâs room was because every time they went to the hall, Lippin.o.bert was already there, and they didnât know where Lippin.o.bert came from.
ââ¦â¦Do you know where Lippin.o.bertâs room is?â
Windbreaker Man smiled and shrugged, âNope. When we were exploring the castle earlier, we didnât see Lippin.o.bertâs room at all. Of course, we didnât see the housekeeperâs or the maidsâ rooms either.â
âDo they all live in the bas.e.m.e.nt?â Xiao Tangqiu couldnât help wondering, ââ¦â¦.Or will they automatically disappear at night?â
Maybe thatâs why they donât need a room at all?
Windbreaker Man shook his head and then curved his lips. âWe still donât know what the housekeeper and maids are, but Lippin.o.bert is definitely a living person.â
Xiao Tangqiu remembered that they had said before that Lippin.o.bert was the only living being in the castle. He couldnât help but wonder more. This Lippin.o.bert looked so creepy from every angle, how could he be alive? Arenât the housekeeper and maids puppets? What else could they be besides puppets?
Right then, Shen Yuan suddenly said, âNo, letâs look here.â
Xiao Tangqiu paused for a moment and immediately turned to look at Shen Yuan.
On the other hand, Shen Yuan merely looked straight into his eyes and repeated faintly, âThisâ¦â¦ should be the most hidden place. Start looking.â
Xiao Tangqiu hadnât responded yet but Shen Yuanâs companions had already started searching the room. No one had bothered asking why. They were obviously very used to him giving orders.
Shen Yuan also began rummaging through the messy workbench.
Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian looked at each other and joined in the search.
The secret chamber wasnât very big and all four corners could be seen at a glance. Apart from the workbench, there were a bunch of other completed and unfinished puppets all over the floor.
Xiao Tangqiu looked at the puppet on the ground and suddenly paused.
Wait a minuteâ¦â¦ Puppet?
He casually picked up a puppet, studied it, then put down the puppet and picked up another one.
Xiao Tangqiu examined several puppets in succession and found nothing special. However, he didnât give up and went on searching. Finally, when he turned to the umpteenth puppet, he suddenly found something in the puppetâs dress.
He dug his hand inside and pulled out a small fragment of a photograph. He was immediately delighted and cried out, âIâve found something.â
âWhat did you find?â Tang Mianmian was the first to go over. Soon, the others also gathered around him.
âPhoto fragments?â Windbreaker Man arched an eyebrow and showed an interested look. âWhere did you find it?â
Xiao Tangqiu honestly admitted. âI found it in this puppetâs dress.â
âIn its dress?â Tang Mianmian immediately widened his eyes as if he had suffered a blow. âI didnât know you were this sort of person! I was wrong about you! Thatâs just a doll! You wonât even let off a doll!â
Xiao Tangqiu rolled his eyes, ââ¦â¦Get the h.e.l.l out of here now.â
They immediately studied the photo fragment. Obviously, there was something in the photo, but because the fragment was too small, it was impossible to piece together the truth.
Shen Yuan said solemnly, âThe other fragments should also be hidden within these puppets. Letâs continue looking.â
At his command, everyone turned around and continued the search, but this time they had a goal in mind. Instead of blindly searching, they aimed for the puppets.
Soon, they found another fragment in one of the other puppets. Tang Mianmian and Xiao Tangqiu ended up finding several other pieces. When they were sure that there were no more fragments to be found, they put the fragments together like a jigsaw puzzle.
There were many tiny pieces that made out three photos. But in the end, there seemed to be one fragment missing.
âWhy is this photo missing a pieceâ¦..â Tang Mianmian said, pointing to the empty spot in one of the photos.
One of the women coldly said, âWe couldnât find any other fragments.â
âThatâs strange. Could it be on that monster?â Tang Mianmian wondered.
Xiao Tangqiu stared at the empty spot for a moment, then suddenly realized, âThis should be it!â
He quickly flipped open the cover of the pocket watch and put the photo from the cover into the empty spot, which was an exact match!
âf.u.c.king h.e.l.l!
Thereâs even such a thing! Youâre too d.a.m.n smart!â Tang Mianmian excitedly cried, âOk! Itâs whole photo now! Perfect!â
They looked down at the three photos. Xiao Tangqiu was unwilling to move backwards so he stayed in place and carefully studied the photo. These three photos were of two people. In the first photo, a young woman was carrying a small child. In fact, that was basically the theme of all three photos. The only addition to the photo in the pocket watch was the background.
Upon closer look, Xiao Tangqiu found that the backgrounds of the three photos were actually the same. They were in front of the gates of this strange castle and the castle in the three photos looked exactly the same, without any change whatsoever.
In the second photo, the same woman was still holding a delicate-looking little boyâs hands. The boy was about five or six years old and looked at the camera coldly.
In the third photo, it was still the same woman but she was much older, and the person standing beside her had turned into a teenager of 16 or 17. The teenager was really good-looking. Even though the photo was old and yellow, he could still see his red lips and white teeth. He was very beautiful and his facial features were even more delicate than a dollâs.
Xiao Tangqiu stared at the young man for a moment. He didnât know why but he was suddenly reminded of the beautiful young man,
Narcissus
, who fell in love with his own reflection, chased after his reflection in the water and drowned to deathâ¦â¦..
Narcissus shouldâve been at least this beautiful, right?