Rose Manor (22) The Price of the Deal

At this moment, Qi Si could not see his full appearance, but considering the form of the ghost Miss Anna on the third floor, he figured he must look no better.

At the very least, he was currently wrapped from head to toe in vines, looking exactly like a monster cultivated from plants.

After the time reversal, he had managed to maintain his human state; at the same time, he bore the traits of a ghost, allowing him to move freely. To use a trendy term, he was "Schrödinger's Qi Si."

The original dead end had already been brought back to life.

His veins were flooded with power that did not belong to him, rampaging with a violent and majestic force as if it were about to destroy everything.

His vision switched between a limited perspective and a god's-eye view, with the details of every corner of the manor manifesting in his mind one by one.

Qi Si had a sudden intuition that he could now briefly control the entire Rose Manor, even overriding the authority of Miss Anna.

Yes, "Miss Anna" was a living person, while he was now a ghost, and ghosts could kill the living.

Qi Si pushed aside the corpses surrounding him and strolled toward the woman in black hiding in the corner of the garden—Annie, who had been posing as "Miss Anna."

He stopped in front of the woman and grinned, "Annie, the truth is you never loved Anna. You were just so immersed in your performance that you even deceived yourself."

"You left that red dress in the guest room and wrote those ambiguous words—how desperate you were to let us know of your 'sincere' love. It's a pity your performance was so deliberate that it only appeared hypocritical."

He saw the woman's ferocious expression as he had hoped, but that was all that changed. Under the effects of the time reversal, she was unable to move; even in her extreme rage, she could not twitch a single finger.

This sense of powerlessness pleased Qi Si greatly.

He let out a standard three-note chuckle and walked straight toward the manor gate. He crouched down beside the stone pedestal engraved with text and tapped the ground lightly with a curled index finger.

The Butler appeared silently behind him, wearing a programmed smile.

Qi Si's right arm was thick with sinewy vines; he thrust his hand straight into the Butler's chest. It was empty—there was no heart.

He realized with a start and teased with a smile, "I was wondering how a manor without servants could suddenly have a butler. So, you are that warrior who pursued Miss Anna."

Whether the Butler understood or not, he continued to smile meticulously, like a dull puppet.

Qi Si seemed to naturally know what to do, or rather, the techniques for utilizing ghost power had melted into his sea of consciousness as mastered knowledge the moment the roses and he became one.

He plucked a rose from the vines on his body and gently placed it into the Butler's chest. The latter's previously vacant eyes brightened for a moment before returning to a blank slate.

In a second, Qi Si gained control over this puppet and ordered, "Go to the third floor and bring Miss Anna down."

The Butler chuckled happily and entered the ancient castle with a stiff gait.

Qi Si's gaze fell back upon Annie, his smile laced with sarcasm, "If I'm not mistaken, what you loved was beauty itself. That is why you distanced yourself from Anna after she became ugly, and why you wouldn't even go to the third floor to take a look."

"Your pursuit of beauty was nothing more than a pathological displacement. Your parents' favoritism toward Anna gave you the illusion that beauty and being loved were one and the same. You craved to be loved, so you craved beauty."

"However, you were clearly aware that you could not obtain the trait of beauty in the short term. You could only project your need to be loved onto your beautiful sister. You watched her for a long time, hoping to become her."

"You mistook this for love for your sister, but it was nothing more than jealousy. Otherwise, why would you pray to the gods to make your appearance the same as hers?"

Annie could not speak. As Qi Si's words fell like a verdict, her expression turned ferocious and twisted. The initial resentment gradually faded, replaced by a sorrow of unknown origin.

She lifted her eyes toward the ancient castle, just as she had stood silently outside the window on the first night.

Qi Si followed her gaze, though from her angle, the interior of the second-floor room remained invisible.

In a fleeting glance, something seemed to flash between the dilapidated walls of the corridor.

Qi Si raised his line of sight slightly, and through the translucent glass, he suddenly saw a face covered in roses within the cracks of the bricks.

It was Anna's face.

Standing in the garden, one might not be able to see the guest lying on the bed on the second floor, but one could catch a glimpse of the sister wandering the hallway.

Qi Si narrowed his eyes.

He suddenly remembered that there was one last piece of information left, and it was with Zou Yan.

The staircase on the second floor of the ancient castle had been sealed off by wildly growing vines.

Zou Yan remained in a standing position, her body unable to move, save for the slight twitching of her vine-covered arm.

The moment the time reversal was triggered, she realized her plan was doomed. Someone had cleared the key to completing the level a step ahead of her and had put it into action.

Who could it be?

Chang Xu, who clearly had an official background? Qi Si, who seemed to hide many secrets? Or Lin Chen, who had appeared completely useless?

With too few clues, it was difficult for Zou Yan to make an accurate judgment. She could only hope that the person still possessed some humanity and would not kill her in cold blood...

Footsteps sounded behind her. Zou Yan's eyes turned slowly, attempting to see the person approaching through her peripheral vision.

However, it was in vain.

A chill struck her back, followed immediately by the pain that signaled death.

A hand pierced through her heart from behind, carrying away the warmth of life.

Blood cascaded from her chest like a waterfall, leaving winding red trails on her pristine white trench coat that stretched all the way to the floor, as if connecting to the veins of the earth.

Zou Yan slumped forward powerlessly, crashing heavily onto the floor and kicking up a cloud of dust.

From beginning to end, she simply lacked the courage to gamble; she had not dared to fully transform herself into a ghost. But Qi Si, on the other hand, was a man who dared to bet.

In the same situation, the one who places the larger stake deserves to reap the greater reward.

Qi Si had always understood the principle of cutting weeds by the roots; killing Zou Yan to eliminate future trouble was an absolute necessity.

He waited patiently for two seconds, then added a few more holes to Zou Yan's body. Estimating that she was thoroughly dead, he bent down to flip the fresh corpse over and reached into her jacket pocket to grope around.

It was bulging, containing a key and a statue.

[Name: (Data Deleted) Statue]

[Type: Item (Cannot be taken out of the instance)]

[Effect: Pray to the god, perhaps It will respond (Expired)]

[Note: The god does not love the world]

The statue was only the size of a palm, feeling as cold as ice to the touch.

Qi Si's gaze lingered on the statue's exquisite face; the fresh red in its hands and its slightly lowered eyes were exactly like the statue he had seen in the Dream Graveyard.

Memories connected into a continuous sheet, and in an instant, a flood of emotions that did not belong to him overflowed.

Countless thoughts churned in his mind, mixed with gibberish of indistinguishable content, as if countless people were praying in unison beside his ears.

"Welcome back," they said.

A pair of scarlet eyes opened at the bottom of his sea of consciousness, bathing his entire body in their gaze from the depths of his soul before transforming into blood that seeped into every pore of his body.

Blood-stained golden vines descended from the sky, their semi-illusory forms waving aimlessly like tentacles.

The anomaly lasted only a few breaths. The next second, cracks appeared on the statue, spreading from the top of its head downward, and within seconds, it crumbled into powder that fell through his fingers.

Qi Si swayed slightly, instantly losing the memory of those few breaths and subconsciously forgetting to think about the statue.

He took the key he had scavenged from Zou Yan and went to open the door to Room 1.

Inside the room, the third clue sat prominently on the solid wood desk by the floor-to-ceiling window.

On the papyrus, fresh red handwriting recorded lines belonging to the past.

[The Lord of Gods exiled outside the rules of the world]

[The Master of Souls who holds the authority of contracts and transactions]

[The Great Existence that predates the birth of history]

[I am willing to offer everything in exchange for the realization of my long-cherished wish]

[After Sister woke up, she seemed to have forgotten who I was. The way she looked at me was filled with fear amidst the unfamiliarity. All I could do was stay away from her, so as not to cause her any more distress.]

[I kept that man's corpse to serve as the butler of the manor. I wanted him to take care of Sister; perhaps Sister would feel a little better.]

[Sister actually remembered him! I hid him away, yet Sister went downstairs and searched for him room by room!]

[I asked the god why it was always others who were harmed in the transactions, while I did not have to pay any price.]

[The god said, day after day, a love that remains steadfast until death is itself a painful price.]

[I am tired, but I can no longer let go.]