Large water marks seeped through the stone walls of the castle like ulcers, and a mysterious and deadly mist spread darkly.
The dead vines seemed to have grown a little more, adding more and deeper cracks to the weathered and loose walls.
Qisi followed the twisting and turning stairs all the way down to the first floor.
There was no shadow of Miss Anna in the dark and damp flat floor, and naturally no figure of the housekeeper appeared.
Most of the time, these two NPCs disappear into the castle out of thin air, never showing up unless necessary. Perhaps they are kind-hearted enough to leave players with ample space for free exploration, or they are well aware of the principle that "fear comes from the unknown" and hide in the castle. Secretly bluffing.
Qisi pushed open the door of the castle and stepped out. What he saw was the sea of roses that he had seen countless times.
Large areas of roses are in full bloom, and there is a large area of shadow under the intersecting branches and leaves, giving people the illusion that some secrets and horrors are buried and hidden.
The gray-purple cloudy sky without the sun paints the red petals with a leaden dark color. At a glance, it seems that every flower is staring at the passers-by with dark eyes.
The air was filled with steaming water vapor, as if it had just rained, and the fragrance of flowers fermented the garden into a dazzling atmosphere.
Qisi tightened his shirt and looked up to see Zou Yan standing among the flowers not far away, looking towards him.
The woman who calls herself a psychiatrist has a slender figure and stands upright. If she hadn't been wearing a white trench coat, Ziss would have hallucinated her as Miss Anna at that glance.
After their eyes met, Zou Yan nodded in greeting, then lowered her head and bent over, reaching out to fiddle with the roses in front of her.
There are four words of warning "Beware of Roses" engraved on the system interface. People with average psychological quality would never dare to touch the roses in the garden at this time.
Qiss walked over and pushed aside a rose bush, clearing a small area for himself where he could stand.
He stood still in the wet chill and turned to face the direction of the castle.
The tall buildings stood slumped, cast a gray and eerie color by the natural light that could not find its source. The criss-crossing ancient vines climbing up the outer wall have long since become part of the castle in the dust of the years.
The position where Ziss stood was exactly where Miss Anna stood last night. What he could see was the window of the guest room on the second floor. Through the weathered glass, he could only see the gloomy dome as deep as a tomb.
What on earth was Miss Anna watching last night?
Zou Yan suddenly asked: "Qisi, what do you think of Miss Anna?"
Qisi turned his head and looked directly into the woman's eyes and asked, "What do you think?"
Zou Yan said: "We can talk about anything."
Two scenes flashed through my mind, one was a woman chewing flesh and blood on the dining table, and the other was a sad and resentful shadow standing in a sea of roses at night...
Qisi carried out his character of "not good at solving puzzles" and said in a serious tone: "He eats well, and may have a little insomnia."
"..."
Seeing Zou Yan's strange look, he added a more normal answer: "Of course, she is indeed very beautiful. If she is not a ghost, she is indeed the type that many people will be moved by when they see her."
He took the initiative to offer the conversation, and Zou Yan took it and asked with a smile: "What about you? If she were a living person, would you be attracted to her?"
If she were a dead body, I might be somewhat interested in putting her in the collection.
Qisi answered in his heart, but the smile on his face became more sincere: "To me, after death, any living being is just a skeleton without skin and flesh."
"What if her hands are stained with blood?" Zou Yan stared at Qisi silently, her brown eyes dizzy like water-soaked paint, as if she wanted to suck his soul into the vortex, "Having the same sin, you can Understand your interests, hobbies and past. Even a beast that is used to walking alone will feel lonely in the endless night..."
This time, Ziss did not answer, but asked: "What do you think of Miss Anna? It seems to me that you care about her very much."
Zou Yan didn't seem to expect him to ask this question at all. She was stunned for two seconds and then said thoughtfully: "She is probably a poor person too. I don't know how much more. After all, I haven't said a word to her." Said."
"Yeah, I only said three words to her." Qisi said with a smile, turned around and walked into the depths of the sea of flowers.
This was a test. Zou Yan hoped to get more clues without revealing the information she already knew, and even used some psychological methods.
She failed.
Qisi didn't know whether Zou Yan saw that he was a newcomer, or whether he felt that he had some kind of psychological defect that would make it easier for him to take advantage of him, but there was no doubt that he had chosen the wrong partner.
He had received no less than two hundred psychological counseling sessions since he was a child, and he knew the words of psychiatrists by heart. In the end, he even gained a lot of accomplishments and cured the mental illnesses of six doctors in succession.
Now, he has long passed the age where he can be induced, suggested and hypnotized, and he is awake even in his sleep...
"Zou Yan? He seems to be an interesting guy. Although some of the things he said before are disgusting, it's understandable if he was just pretending..."
"But why don't you wait a little longer and attack Lin Chen? It doesn't look like your IQ is so low that you can't choose a target well. Could it be that you know something?"
Qisi rubbed his chin, the desire to explore in his eyes almost overflowing.
For a moment, he understood the mentality of "eating from the bowl and looking at the pot". Just now, he really thought about whether anything interesting would happen if he didn't choose Lin Chen as his tool and contacted Zou Yan directly...
Of course, I can only think about it.
…
In the shadow of the corner of the garden, Zou Yan tucked the hair hanging in front of her cheeks behind her ears, and she had already made a decision: "I have got what I need to get. Since there is no clue required to complete the level perfectly, let's take another route. "
From beginning to end, she never mentioned cooperation, or never considered the possibility at all.
A smart person never treats others as fools. She could see Chiss's bloodthirsty and alienation, and naturally knew that Chiss could see her hypocrisy and calculations.
Cooperation is nothing but mutual exploitation. Rationalists are often self-interested and are more willing to extract value from others than to provide benefits to others.
Zou Yan looked at the back of the black-haired young man, his eyes as deep as a pool of water.
The first time she met someone who was immune to her hypnosis, she was inevitably a little concerned, and she wanted to keep the person here and study it carefully.
But in the face of more important goals, personal likes and dislikes must be completely discarded. No matter how interesting a person is, they cannot afford to risk further contact.
Zou Yan thought of the doctrine she believed in, "Eliminate the gap and achieve absolute fairness." When that day comes, the value of everyone becomes equal, and perhaps we can unite without any scruples.
And before the ultimate goal is achieved, any sacrifice is necessary and valuable.
At this moment, Zou Yan raised her hand to draw two triangles on her chest, smiled and murmured:
"May God bless you."
…
The garden of the Rose Manor is wide and empty, but fortunately, only roses are planted. The tallest rose plant only reaches a person's waist, so it does not provide much shelter. Looking around, you can see several people in the garden. All the movements are visible.
Chang Xu took a shovel and dug under the dead vines at the base of the castle wall. It seemed that he had found some incredible clues.
Ye Zi bent down and rummaged among the rose bushes, aimlessly and distractedly, as if he came to wander in the garden simply because he didn't want to stay in the castle.
Qiss walked nonchalantly along the path with rare petals, walking away from the castle. He saw a rusty iron gate in the distance, standing heavily at the end of the road.
There is a large, clumsy iron lock hanging on the door, which is rusted to death. It must be impossible to open it with the player's strength.
Naturally, a weird game cannot allow players to leave on their own, but I don’t know what the purpose of putting this door here is. Is it a bad idea for players to get what they want?
Zisi noticed that there was a small bare space on one side of the iron gate. There were no plants or roses on it. Instead, there was a rectangular stone platform embedded with a few lines of text engraved in English.
He remembered that the housekeeper said that he lived underground, but the castle did not have a basement...
The clue was clear. Qisi squatted down in front of the stone platform, bent his index finger and tapped on the ground twice.
There was a sound of wind behind him, accompanied by a suspicious rustling sound.
Qisi stood up and turned around, only to see the butler in black uniform standing behind him at some point.
There was an exaggerated smile on that plastic face: "Mr. Guest, you can't leave the manor yet, otherwise Miss Anna will be angry."
Ziss was not surprised and said with a smile: "I don't want to leave. I came here to find you, but I just wanted to ask, where is Miss Anna?"
The housekeeper said: "The lady is naturally where she wants to be."
"Is that so? What a pity." Zis lowered his eyes and said calmly, "I think Miss Anna always avoids us. Except during meals, we don't know where to go if we want to see her. Could it be that... Does she hate us guests?”
He lowered his voice very softly and slowly, as if he felt sorry for Miss Anna's attitude, but a hint of threat was looming in the question.
Panic flashed in the butler's eyes, and he shook his head repeatedly: "No, she doesn't hate you. Miss Anna likes guests."
——The third rule, [Miss Anna likes guests and has no ill intentions towards them].
Sure enough, the rules will not only restrict the players, but also the NPCs in the dungeon. In a sense, it is really fair...
Part of the guess was confirmed. Qisi raised the corners of his lips and asked with a smile: "Then I want to meet her in the garden now, is that okay?"
Seeing the embarrassment on the butler's face, he added softly: "It won't delay her for too long."
When the words came to this point, the housekeeper had no choice but to bow and said, "I'll go and invite Miss Anna right now."
