Chapter 341: The Secret of the Ancient Castle
"A pair of lunatics," the baby-faced man muttered quietly to Xu Huo after the Ma couple had left.
Xu Huo finished his breakfast without any change in expression, said "Excuse me," and left the dining room.
He didn't rush to wander around outside but instead looked at the portrait of the castle's owner, He Pu, in the hallway.
Although the person in the painting was dressed in European style, his features were close to Asian. The butler and servants in the castle were all Asian as well, and the decorations in the castle bore traces of Chinese feng shui.
The butler walked silently past him from behind. Xu Huo stopped him and asked, "How long has Mr. He lived here?"
He had only asked casually, but to his surprise, the butler gave an unexpected answer: "Five years."
Xu Huo turned back and carefully studied the completely expressionless butler before continuing, "Does Mr. He have time to see me today?"
"I'm not sure about that," the butler said, showing no intention of talking further. He quickly left. Xu Huo wanted to ask him to introduce the plants in the castle, but the butler refused, saying he would find a maid to guide him instead.
The other players had already begun searching inside and outside the castle. Xu Huo crossed the spacious hallway and went straight to the third floor. However, he hadn't expected to be stopped at the first room as soon as he stepped onto the stairs. A woman with a stern face came out from the next room. Carrying a laundry basket, she glared at him harshly. "The master doesn't like outsiders entering the rooms on the third floor. Guests can only move around on the first and second floors. Please leave the third floor immediately."
"I said this to all the guests yesterday."
Xu Huo's expression remained calm. "I arrived at midnight. You forgot to tell me this."
The maid's face darkened. She was still very displeased and pressed aggressively, "Even if no one reminded you, is it proper for a guest to just walk into the master's rooms as they please?"
"Didn't they say we could look around freely?" Xu Huo said. "Besides, this room's door is painted with cheap paint. It probably doesn't hold anything too valuable. What's the problem with taking a look?"
"The third floor is off-limits!" The woman leaned toward the door, sniffed the smell, and pulled a long face. "How did Mr. Dong buy the wrong paint again? The castle receives plenty of freeloading guests every month. Can't he spare this bit of money? As the butler, he doesn't even care about the master's dignity!"
Even as she said this, she watched Xu Huo go downstairs before hurrying off to find Butler Dong.
After going down to the second floor, Xu Huo headed to the study at the end of the hall. As he arrived, two people were coming out—the baby-faced man and the dark-faced man.
The baby-faced man was talking to the dark-faced man. "...Seems pretty rich, but they don't even clean the study. Cobwebs in every corner. Disgusting!"
When the three met, the baby-faced man showed no goodwill, but the dark-faced man nodded at him.
They passed each other, and Xu Huo entered the study.
The study's collection of books rivaled a small library. The entire oval-shaped wall was filled with bookshelves, with several standing cabinets in the middle, all containing books sorted by catalog. Some of them had already been disturbed.
Presumably for guests to browse, books related to the castle were all placed on a low cabinet near the entrance. Besides mentioning the castle's construction background and architectural style, they also listed the names of its past owners. The current owner was named He Pu, who had purchased the estate fifteen years ago and was granted the title of baron.
Xu Huo's finger paused on the word "fifteen years." He put down the book and pulled out a photo album from the cabinet.
Aside from landscape photos and some celebrity group shots, the beginning of each year featured a photo of He Pu and Butler Dong standing in front of the castle, continuing until five years ago.
Five years ago was also when Rose Castle stopped being open to the public.
"Knock, knock." The study door was tapped.
"Come in." Xu Huo put down the photo album, picked up a history book, and walked to the window. Looking up, he saw Dong directing servants to trim the hedge maze in the garden.
A young servant brought in black tea and pastries. Seeing him looking at the maze, she said, "Sir, are you interested in the garden maze? You might as well go down and take a walk, but it's better to look from outside. A few guests went in earlier, and Mr. Dong had to lead them out."
Xu Huo took a sip of black tea. "Can't we go into the maze?"
"It's not that. It's just that the maze is too big. Once, a worker got injured and passed out inside. It took two days to find him, and it was almost a disaster. After that, Mr. Dong only lets people trim the outer walls," the servant said. "If you want to go in and take a look, I'll need to inform Mr. Dong in advance. Only he knows the way inside."
Xu Huo nodded and then asked, "Why are there so many spiders in the castle? Is there some significance?"
The servant smiled coyly. "The spiders in the castle were all raised by the master before. After he fell ill, he stopped caring for them and didn't look after them much. But they don't hurt people, and where there are spiders, there are fewer other bugs. We're all used to it."
"It seems that female housekeeper doesn't like them much," Xu Huo remarked.
"Female housekeeper?" The servant was surprised, then it dawned on her. "You mean Hu Shan."
"Rose Castle only has one butler, and that's Mr. Dong. Hu Shan is Mr. He's personal maid. She's been taking care of his meals and daily life since he fell ill, so she's... quite strict." The young maid looked a bit shy.
"I see," Xu Huo said with a sigh. "That makes her practically a female butler."
Then he sighed again, looking at the garden maze outside. "Such a beautiful castle. It must have attracted many visitors in the past."
The young maid wore a proud expression. She took out another photo album from the drawer. "These are all photos from past years. Many political celebrities and movie stars used to come. But I arrived late, so I never saw that grand scene."
Xu Huo had already looked through that album. He took it, flipped through a couple of pages, asked a few more casual questions, and then sent her away.
He had gathered quite a bit of fragmented information from his time in the study, the most critical being the time point of five years ago.
Five years ago, the castle's owner, He Pu, fell ill, faded from public view, and closed the castle.
Also five years ago, the castle seemed to have changed its staff. At least most of the servants he saw in the photos entertaining flower-viewing guests were not present in the castle now.
Additionally, He Pu and Mr. Dong had stopped taking photos together five years ago, and Mr. Dong didn't avoid this fact. Xu Huo wasn't sure if this was meant to mislead or hint at something.
One of the game tasks, "The Disappeared Guest," could refer to guests who had disappeared in the past or players who hadn't disappeared yet in this instance. As for the second task, "Truth" probably didn't just mean pointing out the culprit behind the guests' disappearances—that answer would be too simple.
The key to the task should still lie in the castle's secret.
After some thought, Xu Huo left the study and headed downstairs.
By then, aside from the Ma couple resting in their bedroom, the remaining nine people were all gathered in the first-floor hall.
The servants had been sent away. Confirming no one was eavesdropping nearby, the dark-faced man said to the others, "I know there are cannibal players participating in this mission. I'll make it brief. No matter what kind of player you are, if you fail to clear the instance, you won't get a ticket or a return ticket. So we're all in the same boat now. Only by cooperating can we complete the task within the time limit."
"Cooperation is fine," the tall, thin man across from him said. "But this game didn't clearly specify whether it's a cooperative submission or individual submissions. I think individual submissions are more likely. In that case, the worst outcome is that each person has to find one 'disappeared guest.' Even if the first task can be submitted multiple times, how do we ensure the answer is shared?"