"The night before yesterday, you found a killed pigeon upstairs. The pigeon's blood dripped along the window sill and onto my window sill. Have you forgotten?"
"There is no such thing..." Yirel retreated to the door angrily, "There are no dead pigeons here."
There are no pigeons.
I didn’t tell Lily a story either.
Is everything just an illusion?
"Did you... have some nightmare?" Yirel clasped his hands, "You have been too tired these days and should take a good rest."
Xiaolan nodded in compromise, "It should be... I'm too tired."
"After dinner, you can go back to your room and rest."
"Okay, I'll come back and have a rest after dinner," Xiaolan said dully, "I won't tell Lily stories every night anymore."
"That's right," Yirel said feeling relieved, "you don't need to go every night..."
Xiaolan looked at Yirel keenly.
Yrel's expression stiffened for a moment, then he changed the subject and said, "What I mean is that you already went to tell Lily a story the night before yesterday. You didn't go last night, and you don't have to go tonight..."
Xiaolan nodded hesitantly.
After the meal, Yirel explained Xiaolan's physical condition to the two children. The two children gave Xiaolan a few thoughtful words of concern and were sent back to the room by Yirel.
Xiaolan returned to her room.
She opened the window, and the moist and fresh fragrance of grass still filled the air.
Xiaolan leaned towards the outside window edge, lay on it and smelled it carefully.
There is no smell of blood at all.
Looking up, there are no traces of pigeon blood flowing under the window sill on the third floor.
But she didn't believe these were just hallucinations.
Beyond the rain curtain, Xiaolan looked towards the garden to the east of the manor. The spire was at the end of the garden, somewhere she couldn't see.
The bird in the cuckoo clock made a series of calls.
It's late at night.
Xiaolan put on the black cloak in the corner of the closet and opened the door.
The corridor was quiet, with only a few candles burning.
Xiaolan walked out of the door, pulled out a piece of hair, tied one end to the screw inside the door, and wrapped the other end around the handle outside the door.
She locked the door, put on her hood, and tiptoed toward the stairs.
The wooden door locked with a wooden latch.
There must be a secret inside the door.
Xiaolan walked through the garden and walked quickly under the trees by the stream. The rain was not too heavy. Even though she was wearing a cloak, Xiaolan's hair and clothes were still almost wet.
Soon, she walked around the east side of the castle, and the spire of the black tower appeared at the end of Xiaolan's sight.
Under the black and purple sky, the sharp spire is as sharp as an arrow.
She walked to the other side of the castle.
As Xiaolan walked, she looked at the front of the castle. These gray-black brick walls, the glass that had been washed away by raindrops for days and nights...
Suddenly, Xiaolan saw something.
In one of the windows, there seemed to be a white shadow.
The white shadow was blurry, outlining a vague human shape.
A bolt of lightning flashed across, and the sky and earth suddenly became bright for half a second.
But Xiaolan saw it.
That's Lily.
The raindrops fell on Xiaolan's face and into her eyes.
She stood on the bank of the river, looking at Lily who was standing by the window on the second floor.
Xiaolan knew she was looking at her.
In the middle of the night when it was raining heavily, the little girl was wearing a white nightgown, standing upright in front of the huge window glass, looking at the tutor in the courtyard.
I don't know how many minutes passed.
Xiaolan saw Lily raise her right hand, seemingly waving at her. The little girl put down her hand, turned around and walked back to the room, disappearing from Xiaolan's eyes.
Lily saw herself.
Will she tell Yrel?
Even if Lily would tell Yirel, she still had to see what was in the spire before she was stopped.
Xiaolan turned her head, pulled up her hood again, and ran towards the steeple.
It was pitch dark near the tower, and not a single night light was on in the empty corridor.
But this place is different from the place we saw last night. There are several huge camphor wood boxes placed in the open space under the tower. The ground inside the tower is higher than outside, so rainwater cannot flow in. Xiaolan walked to the box and looked at it.
, there is no lock, the lid can be easily opened, and there are canned food and various other packaged foods inside.
Yrel said that the servant found him at the bottom of the steps.
Xiaolan stood in the corridor and looked towards the steps. In her mind, she had indeed fallen nearby. After being washed away by the rain, no traces could be seen there, including the broken clay flowerpot.
Xiaolan walked up the spiral staircase.
The road leading to the top of the tower passed by several levels of platforms, and now each platform was filled with debris.
The smell has also changed.
Until we reached the top of the tower.
Xiaolan stared blankly at the door on the left side of the stairs with the wooden latch from last night.
The door opened.
To be precise, the door is missing.
There is no longer a wooden door here, only an empty door frame, and the entrance to the inner space is exposed.
Last night... obviously...
Are you really not dreaming now?
Xiaolan slowly moved towards the entrance. Inside was a small space with several camphor wood boxes stacked up. The four walls of the room were covered with strange wooden boards. There was no light in the whole space, but it was for
Storage, it makes sense...
That battlement last night...
The flower pots on the battlement edge were arranged in a neat row without any gaps exposed.
There is nothing left.
Xiaolan stood on the battlement, staring at the edge of the battlement and the ground under the tower.
Everything here is preventing me from finding the truth.
What is the truth?
Xiaolan smiled bitterly.
Just stay here for ten days, just ten days.
It's certainly not that simple.
On the way back, Xiaolan didn't meet any peepers in the castle. The candles in the corridor were still burning quietly. Xiaolan looked at the door of Lily and Moses' room, squatted down, and checked the door lock of her room.
.
Insert the key and turn the handle.
Through the burning candles in the room, Xiaolan could clearly see the hair hanging on the door lock.
The hair is intact, which means no one has come in.
Xiaolan breathed a sigh of relief.
She carefully twisted the hair around and walked through the door.
But as soon as she entered the door, Xiaolan felt a strange atmosphere.
The window was closed tightly, the candle was burning in the center, and the warm light was shaking and crackling.
Nothing seems to be different.
But...the strange atmosphere filled the room...
No, it's not unfamiliar.
It's the smell of blood, fresh, blood.
Xiaolan walked into the room step by step.
Walking around the large bed covered with curtains, Xiaolan saw her dressing table.
In the bright makeup mirror, he reflected himself in a black cloak and covered in rain.
But it’s not just me.
There is also a line of blood-red words written on the mirror.