Act Two

The filming of the scenes in the village went smoothly, except for a small issue when Joshua, playing Gaston, confessed his feelings to Belle.

Given I Nuo's personality, no matter what Joshua asked, she wouldn't dare show any dissatisfaction. But reality was reality, and acting was acting.

Joshua had to spend a long time talking to I Nuo to get the Succubus to reject his confession.

This was the only part of the entire shoot that required a few retakes. Everything else was filmed smoothly in one go.

The next part of the story was the true Beauty and the Demon.

'Target has left the village and is expected to reach the Teleportation Portal location in about an hour. Zennas, be prepared and don't let the target discover any trace of the Teleportation Portal.'

Joshua sent a message to Zennas through the chat window he created. Belle's 'mother', Ma Linna, had already boarded the carriage, said goodbye to Belle, and was preparing to travel to the Magic City of Nolan, which was over ten kilometers away from the small village.

A rune, the only one Zennas possessed, popped up on the window, indicating that he had received the message.

Joshua also tightly gripped his left hand, which was marked with an imprint, and began to concentrate on controlling the actions of the Banshees. This imprint could not only control undead creatures but also allow Joshua to share their senses.

Here, Joshua only shared the Banshees' vision. Switching between the perspectives of twelve Banshees would be enough to make someone with 3D motion sickness lie in bed for ten days to half a month. Fortunately, Joshua didn't have this condition.

In the view of one Banshee, Joshua saw the carriage traveling through the snow-covered forest.

Ma Linna pulled the cloak tighter around herself. This year's snow season had arrived exceptionally early. When she left, a light snow had already begun to fall.

This was not a good sign. If the snow intensified in the next few days, the road from the small village to Nolan would be blocked.

To get Belle into her new home as soon as possible, Ma Linna had to hurry to Nolan.

Her urgency made her constantly urge her servant and the old horse.

The snow on the road gradually began to accumulate. Suddenly, Ma Linna felt a sense of unease.

She slightly pulled down the hood on her head and looked around.

The forest was still the forest, and the snow was still the snow, but Ma Linna felt that the atmosphere around her had become somewhat strange.

It was too... quiet. Although Ma Linna was old, her mind was not slow.

The forest had suddenly become excessively quiet. Just a moment ago, she could occasionally hear the calls of unknown birds, but at this moment, it seemed as if all the animals living in the forest had disappeared.

The snowflakes falling from the sky were also becoming denser. It wouldn't be long before a Blizzard arrived here.

A Castle? As Ma Linna was thinking about where to take shelter from the Blizzard, an ancient and solemn building came into her sight.

This wasn't the first time she had traveled back and forth on this road to Nolan, but she had never seen such a solemn Castle in her memory.

Could it have been built by a great Mage?

The heavy snow falling from the sky left Ma Linna no time to think too much. She told her servant to drive towards the Castle, only hoping that the owner of the Castle would be kind enough to let her stay for one night.

The carriage entered the slightly eerie Castle garden. Ma Linna got out of the carriage and motioned for her servant to take the carriage to the stable inside the Castle.

She tidied her belongings and stepped onto the stairs, arriving at the Castle's main gate.

Before Ma Linna could knock, the Castle gate slowly opened.

"Thank you..." Ma Linna walked through the door, thinking that one of the Castle's servants had noticed her. But when she looked behind the Castle gate, she found that there was no one there at all.

This surprised Ma Linna a little, but she was a well-traveled businesswoman. Mages usually had all sorts of strange and wonderful abilities, so she politely closed the Castle gate.

"Is anyone there?"

Ma Linna called out loudly, her voice echoing through the empty interior of the Castle. The atmosphere and lighting inside the entire Castle were somewhat dim.

"Is anyone there? Sorry to bother you... I'm a traveler, just hoping to come in and take shelter from the Blizzard."

Ma Linna called out again, but still no one answered her.

But in the darkness, countless pairs of eyes were staring at this uninvited human, including two Ghosts.

"Duke Zennas actually allowed a human into his territory. If it were before, this human would have been eaten by my relatives outside the Shadow Dusk Forest..."

"Shut up, Hua Luo. Duke Zennas has already allied with Prince I Nuo. Prince I Nuo's command is Duke Zennas's will. Your Highness specifically asked the two of us to participate in... that thing..."

"The movie, Fuk," another sneaky voice reminded him.

"Right, it's a great honor to be part of the movie's filming. Stop complaining. Have you memorized your lines? Those Banshees are floating over. What was the first line again?"

The candlestick on the table opened its eyes, tapped the alarm clock next to it, and said in a low voice.

"He must be lost in the forest."

"Quickly shut your mouth."

The whispers in the darkness instantly caught Ma Linna's attention. She looked towards where the sound was coming from but didn't see anyone, except for a candlestick and an alarm clock placed on the same table.

"Excuse me, is anyone there?" Ma Linna slowly walked towards the table, her gaze quickly drawn to the two exquisite candlesticks and the alarm clock on the table. She picked up one of the candlesticks and examined it.

As a merchant, she could tell the value of these two items at first glance, but she didn't dare to have any thoughts of stealing. This place was simply too strange.

She put down the gilded candlestick and looked around, quickly finding the only place in the dim hall that emitted firelight.

"I just want to find a place to warm up!"

Ma Linna said loudly, hoping someone would hear her. At the same time, she followed the guidance of the firelight and slowly came to a room with a fireplace.

The warm Flame emanating from the fireplace was enough to make Ma Linna happy. She quickly walked towards the fireplace. The temperature emitted by the Flame quickly dispelled the cold brought by the Blizzard.

Immediately after, Ma Linna heard the sound of bowls and chopsticks coming from the adjacent room. Ma Linna followed this sound to that room and found that a dinner had already been set on the table.

It was as if it had been prepared specifically for her.

"Thank you very much..." Ma Linna looked around. Although she didn't know where everyone in this Castle had gone, due to her hunger, she still sat down and began to enjoy this hard-earned dinner.

But before she could eat a few bites, the teacup on the table suddenly moved on its own.

Ma Linna looked at the teacup in astonishment. It was then that she suddenly realized that there seemed to be a human face on the teacup.

"Mommy said I shouldn't move around randomly, it might scare you."

The teacup said to Ma Linna in a childish voice.

Ma Linna's brain froze for two or three seconds. No wonder she hadn't seen a single living person in this Castle. It was because the Castle itself was alive; it didn't need living people to manage it at all.

"Sorry," the teacup said to Ma Linna in a very sincere voice.

"It's... it's okay."

Ma Linna tried her best to remain calm, but... had all the living people in this Castle turned into furniture? Was this Castle under some kind of curse?

Soon, various fearful thoughts filled Ma Linna's heart, making her resolutely choose to escape this haunted place.