Chương 82: Chapter 82
Yan Su ran all the way to his room. As he pushed the door open, he heard the sound of rushing water from the bathroom, spilling onto the floor. His heart sank, and he pushed open the bathroom door with a forceful shove. The bathtub was full of water, but Zhen Ai was nowhere to be found.
All the worries he had suppressed with logic exploded in that moment.
Could it be that this was all Arthur's scheme? Zhen Ai hadn't thrown the actor-killer into the sea; instead, she was taken away under his control?
No, when Arthur mentioned the killer, he hadn't lied.
Zhen Ai was still somewhere in this castle.
The No. 7 castle? No, he hated that bathroom.
Zhen Ai's room? He dashed in, checking the bathroom and the bed—nothing.
The frantic running made his wound split open, blood seeping through his shirt, but he was oblivious as he searched room by room.
His mind was filled with images of Zhen Ai unconscious in the bathtub, water overflowing, while she lay submerged, eyes tightly shut.
Zhen Ai, where on earth are you?
With thousands of rooms and thousands of bathtubs, where had Arthur hidden Zhen Ai?
Damn it!
When he left Zhen Ai behind, why did he think his room would be the safest place…
Yan Su suddenly understood Arthur's feelings and sprinted towards the butler's room at the end of the hall.
He pushed the door open, his heart dropping halfway.
Zhen Ai lay quietly under the covers, the sea breeze wafting in through the window, billowing the sheer curtains across the bed.
Yan Su walked over slowly. She slept peacefully, her small face pale, making him feel uneasy. He lifted a finger to touch her lips. After several seconds, he sensed her warm, shallow breath, a feather-light touch against his fingertips.
His racing heart finally calmed.
He remembered how Alex had once laughed at him for being aloof, ignoring the pursuits of girls. Back then, he had responded, "Love is the most boring thing in the world; letting a logician study it? Hmph, what a waste of time!"
Who would have thought that now, the man who never allowed himself to make mistakes would willingly stumble over this issue?
Yan Su walked to the window and looked outside. The sea shimmered like blue satin, and Arthur's speedboat left a long white trail behind, darting away like an arrow until it quickly shrank to a dot on the horizon.
He had a premonition—the prologue had just begun.
Yan Su returned to the bedside, hesitated briefly, and gently lifted a corner of the blanket. Zhen Ai was wearing a white nightgown, the loose lace collar showing deep red marks.
His fingertip lingered on the lace for a long while, but he ultimately didn't pry it open to see more.
He could probably guess Zhen Ai's past with Arthur. He couldn't know what kind of harm she endured during her last moments of captivity within the organization.
No matter what had happened, he didn't care or hold a grudge. He only felt pity and heartache.
Now, although he could see the lies on Arthur's face, realizing he hadn't harmed Zhen Ai, he remained in the dark about how long they had been together and what had transpired.
Yan Su looked down at her peaceful sleeping face. She seemed to frown slightly, and he reached out to brush her brow, which was delicately soft.
He slipped under the covers, enduring the pain in his chest, turned on his side, and rested his arm on her flat abdomen, warm and gently rising.
She was alive. Thank goodness.
He pulled her closer, leaning in towards her ear, whispering, "Ai, I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."
Within the blankets, her hand suddenly moved, reaching for her stomach, clasping his arm weakly, her grip gentle, almost like a tickle.
He looked up, and she was still asleep, her lashes long and thick, unconsciously leaning closer into his embrace, mumbling softly, "Dear." Her little hands instinctively grasped his arm and then stilled.
He remained still, the corners of his lips curving up slightly, and closed his eyes in peace.
He was tired too.
---
After the police and the writer-maid teacher arrived at the castle, they were orderly guided by the three of them to locate the bodies of the victims and examine the scene.
The writer was a CIA agent. The police coming to the island were from the local precinct of Weiling Island, where the population was low and violent crimes were even rarer. Seeing the eerie wax figures and multiple corpses in the castle, they all felt a chilling dread.
One officer even muttered to himself, "The curse of Silverland can kill."
Under the maid's guidance, everyone searched room by room. When they reached a door that wasn't closed, they found a man and woman peacefully sleeping under the covers.
The police internally grumbled: their psychological resilience was astonishing.
The teacher approached to wake them. Zhen Ai suddenly jolted awake, her memory still stuck at the moment she lost consciousness, and she reflexively kicked out, sending the blanket flying. But when she looked again, she found herself lying neatly in Yan Su's arms, her racing heart calming once more.
As the blanket fell away, Yan Su sat up at a leisurely pace. He was fully dressed in a trench coat, while Zhen Ai appeared tired, her nightgown only reaching her knees, exposing her slender legs.
The police turned pale: were they really having an intimate vacation in this cursed place?
With the window open to let in the wind, Yan Su leaned over to pull the blanket back, wrapping it around her fragile form, and looked coldly at the others.
The police coughed a few times, "You two should change clothes first."
The group stepped outside.
Zhen Ai had no idea how she returned to this room. Her mind was spinning, unsure how to approach Yan Su, but he gently brushed her hair and said, "Aren't you going to change clothes?"
"Oh." She slipped off the bed, picked up the clothes piled at the head of the bed, and slipped into the bathroom.
Yan Su silently watched her close the door for a long moment, then flopped back onto the bed, closing his eyes.
As Zhen Ai changed, she noticed the pain in her right hand had disappeared, and then realized that Arthur had applied medication to his lips. She guessed that he wouldn't have left her in the bathtub, but instead had carried her to the bed. But this wasn't her room; from the view outside, it should be the butler's room at the end.
Was the butler Arthur? On the day she had a spat with Yan Su, she had walked and talked with the butler in the No. 7 castle.
Yan Su was so smart; he must have noticed something. Would they end up misunderstanding each other?
She lowered her head, feeling a bit regretful.
When she opened the door, a doctor accompanying the police was applying medication and bandaging Yan Su. He sat up straight on the edge of the bed, bare-chested. The floor was covered in blood-soaked bandages, and the doctor couldn't help but scold, "How can you be so reckless after getting hurt?"
Zhen Ai didn't know that when Yan Su came back to find her, he had run too fast, causing his wound to split open.
Yan Su shot the doctor an annoyed look, and when he finished, he unceremoniously put on his shirt. He donned his trench coat and took Zhen Ai's hand, leading her out.
As soon as they stepped outside, they encountered the writer and police discussing the disappearance of the actor and the butler.
Yan Su paused, his mind echoing Arthur's words: "Hidden in a place where you'll never find it, no matter how thoroughly you search the entire castle."
He furrowed his brows in contemplation. This place was, in fact, quite simple.
The police had come from the southeastern entrance of the castle, near the southern sea, while the locked Room 7 was to the west...
"Near the northwestern wall of Room 7, the real actor and butler are likely hanging on the castle's outer wall, alive."
The writer turned, looking at him curiously. "How do you know?"
Yan Su scoffed at his inability to grasp the crux of the matter. "Isn't the priority now to save people?"
The police went to the spot Yan Su indicated and indeed found the actor and butler hanging outside, exposed to the cold wind. Upon closer inspection, however, they noticed subtle differences in their appearance and physique compared to before.
It was then that the writer and the others realized that those two were fakes. This complicated matters, as the two most suspicious suspects were wearing masks, making it impossible to circulate their photos for capture. He knew they would coat their fingerprints with glue. His trip had been in vain.
The people present took notes and provided statements, leaving their contact information to cooperate with the local police on Weiling Island as needed.
The surrounding area was bustling with activity. Yan Su took Zhen Ai aside and said, "We're leaving soon with the police; do you want to take a look around?"
Zhen Ai understood his meaning. Once they left, it would be difficult to return, especially since she hadn't cracked her brother's code yet.
The two inquired about the route to the butler's highest tower and soon reached the castle's pinnacle—a square observation deck over thirty square meters, with small windows on all sides offering an excellent view.
Zhen Ai stood at the very top of the tower, gazing into the distance. The sky and the ocean created a deep and pure blue world. The salty sea breeze enveloped her, making her feel as if she were at the center of a time-sealed sapphire, with only the howling of the wind piercing through.
Her heart was quiet, and she could hear her heartbeat slowly.
"Dear," she said, "I feel like there was a night when Chace stood right here."
Yan Su watched as the dazzling daytime transformed into pitch darkness at night. It matched the latter part of that poem. However, squinting slightly, he noticed a point on the horizon.
The sun rose from the eastern sea horizon, gradually illuminating the dark castle, transforming its colors in the sunlight.
Zhen Ai was astonished to see a magic show unfold before her. Where the light touched, the massive outer wall of the castle seemed to cast a spell, changing from ominous black to red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet, like a rainbow.
Arthur, playing the butler, had not lied—by day, this place was a beautiful candy house.
Zhen Ai's eyes brimmed with tears in an instant.
"What's wrong?" Yan Su looked down at her.
Tears glimmered in her eyes, but they sparkled with warmth. "I understand what my brother meant now. The sun sets, but it will always rise again."
She began to tell him her brother's story.
That year, she was fifteen, and her brother was twenty.
Her brother had gifted her a giant plush bear, but their mother had thrown it into the fireplace. It was her second act of rebellion, and she was locked in the dark room. Unlike her obedient childhood, this time, she resisted. Seven days later, everyone found that the food and water sent through the window had gone untouched, and the girl was barely alive.
After forcibly injecting her with nutrients, she broke the thermometer and swallowed the mercury, clenching her teeth with her last bit of strength. No matter how much Arthur Bert or her mother pleaded, she refused to open her mouth for the doctor to wash out her stomach. It was Chace who eventually arrived.
Afterward, she didn't cry but simply gazed at the rainbow in the sky and said, "I hate my mother's forced life. I wish I could live in a castle as colorful as a rainbow."
At the time, Chace had ruffled her hair and said, "Life is still long; every wish you have will come true. Promise me, no matter how difficult it gets, never give up on life. Only those who are alive can see the seven colors of the sun."
From that moment on, through all those years, she never gave up, no matter how desperate the situation became. And at this moment, this castle represented the colors her brother had left for her!
Her brother had never gone back on his promises!
Yan Su listened, recalling another event.
When they graduated with their doctorate, many undergraduate girls took photos hugging plush toys. Chace suddenly said, "That little genius, if she were in school, would be graduating at this age too." He had then taken Yan Su to a toy store.
Yan Su had thought he was buying a toy for the neighbor's little girl, and when Chace picked up a huge bear, he remarked, "Little ones love big toys; they feel safer psychologically."
Coincidentally, when he met Zhen Ai, he had given her the same large bear.
After sharing, Yan Su smiled knowingly, and Zhen Ai did too. It felt as though their bond had strengthened; they had been connected all those years ago.
Zhen Ai looked down at her feet, the azure sea stretching out below, with only this colorful castle standing on it—like the candy box she had dreamt of countless times as a child.
"Chace, I'm home. I'm home."
---
On their way out, Zhen Ai forgot her seasickness and leaned over the railing, gazing longingly at the deep blue silk that wrapped a box of candies—Chace's gift that she adored.
Yan Su fished her phone out of her pocket, leaving Zhen Ai puzzled.
He wrapped his arm around her from behind, whispering softly, "You fool!" He pressed a button, and the phone screen captured the beautiful moment.
The phone returned to her hands.
Zhen Ai felt a bit embarrassed; she always forgot to use high-tech gadgets.
After putting her phone away, she spotted the actor from the same boat and couldn't help but poke Yan Su's arm. "Did you notice that the previous actor was from the organization? How did you figure it out?"
A hint of embarrassment flashed across Yan Su's face. "She was too attentive toward me," he added, "which definitely means she had ulterior motives."
Zhen Ai blinked in surprise. Did this man really not realize how charming he was?
Yan Su continued, "Moreover, she said something wrong."
Zhen Ai loved listening to his observations and perked up. "What was it?"
"When we found the racing driver's body, the boat shook, and I went to support you. The actress said, 'It seems we still have some good men here.'"
Zhen Ai understood instantly, admiration flooding her.
"Some," the actress had used the plural form.
Given her disdainful attitude toward men, this statement was a slip—there were her companions present. Now that she thought back, the actress had meant to suggest that Yan Su was a good man while also including the butler, who was Arthur, in her count.
"Who killed the racing driver?"
"The actress."
Zhen Ai pondered for a moment. "From the scene, it's still the same reasoning. There was no struggle or defense, so it's likely the killer was a woman."
"Exactly. Moreover, considering the motive for murder, a killer usually doesn't want to be discovered. If it was revenge, there would be no need to use wax figures to attract everyone. The motive was to create panic."
Zhen Ai understood.
The organization's plan was to randomly kill one person at the start, then use the threat of a coded message to force others into mutual destruction. But the group had started infighting.
"So during the blackout, the actress moved the racing driver's wax figure under the table?"
"Otherwise, how could the model be busy?" Yan Su said. "There's an actor in between the model and the race car driver. If the model goes to move the wax figure of the race car driver, she might bump into the actor in the dark."
Now, the case was pretty much solved, though the murderer couldn't be brought to justice.
Zhen Ai felt a bit melancholic. Among so many who came with her, only a few would leave alive.
But after reaching Welling Island, all those negative feelings were cast aside.
They booked a flight back to New York for that night. In the afternoon, Yan Su took Zhen Ai to browse the market and bought her the red scarf she had dropped in the sea.
After shopping, he took her for a walk around the island and, intentionally or not, they ended up in front of a church.
Zhen Ai looked at her watch. "It's time to go to the airport."
Yan Su asked, "Aren't you going to get what Chace left for you first?"
Zhen Ai was taken aback. "Didn't he leave me the colorful castle?"
"That's just one of the items," Yan Su said. "Don't forget why he wanted you to come here on the summer solstice."
Zhen Ai frowned; that was indeed a puzzling aspect.
"On the summer solstice, the sun reaches the Tropic of Cancer, and after this day, it begins to move south. Ai, when he said the sun has set, he wasn't referring to the sun setting in the west; he meant moving down from the Tropic of Cancer on the map."
"Down means south." Zhen Ai raised her eyes. "The true south of Silverland is Welling Island. He left something on this island?"
"Yes. The ancient gray stone and desolate grass described in the poem—did you see them?" He pointed to the church.
Zhen Ai hadn't seen it, but she understood.
In medieval times, churches were always accompanied by cemeteries. That poem actually referred to the church on Welling Island.
Yan Su continued, "He said, 'In the lonely scenery, nothing can be seen or heard,' and spoke of searching for a 'place of rest.' These words refer to a coffin."
The dead lying in the cold ground painted such a scene.
"But there's no cemetery here."
"There's a columbarium."
Zhen Ai was stunned; the columbarium is just like a wall for urns, small coffins.
The two entered the church, explained their purpose to the priest, and went to the columbarium. The wall was lined with small boxes, each inscribed with a verse from the Bible. Zhen Ai quickly found Chace Lancelot's box.
Yan Su noted that the inscription outside the box read: "I am the first and the last, the beginning and the end." This is from Revelation 22:13.
Zhen Ai entered the name, and a small door opened. Inside was a white box covered with a layer of dust. When she opened it, she found seven iPods in the colors of sunlight.
Her brother had left her a message!
Zhen Ai looked up, surprised, at Yan Su.
He smiled lightly. "Go find a charger."
Zhen Ai sat in the first-class seat, holding the colorful iPod that was charging.
While waiting, she gazed out the window at the gradually shrinking island, and when the plane took off, she once again saw the candy house on the blue sea.
She couldn't help but grip the iPod tightly; she loved its silky touch.
Meeting Yan Su in winter, unraveling her brother's password in summer—what other surprises were to come?
She was looking forward to it.
Her life was beginning to turn colorful.
Lost in thought, a shadow suddenly crossed her mind. Yan Su must have known about her situation with Arthur, but neither of them had mentioned it. Wasn't that a bit too polite and evasive?
She turned to look at him. He was leaning back in his seat, eyes closed, with faint shadows under his lashes. She knew he was tired and cautiously draped a blanket over him. As soon as the blanket fell onto him, he opened his eyes, gazing at her with clear eyes.
Zhen Ai thought she had woken him and felt a little embarrassed.
He saw through her thoughts and said lightly, "I can't sleep in a place like this; I'm just thinking."
Zhen Ai's heart skipped a beat. She asked softly, "What are you thinking about?" In that moment, she felt like a little woman, worried about whether he was contemplating her relationship with Arthur.
He replied candidly, "I'm thinking about everything related to this matter's passwords."
Zhen Ai: ...
She had overestimated his emotional intelligence. Of course, his mind was filled with codes all the time.
"Um," she instinctively shifted in her seat, feeling as if there were thorns on it, hesitating, "Well, on the island, aren't you going to ask me about that...?"
Yan Su looked at her, her awkwardness and anxiety reflected in his calm, clear eyes, a faint smile emerging as he said, "Don't ask about the past; don't fear the future."
Those eight words left Zhen Ai speechless, dispelling all her worries.
He then closed his eyes again, looking serene.
Zhen Ai leaned back in her seat, feeling her heart soften like warm water flowing through her. She put on her earphones and closed her eyes.
After many years, she once again heard her brother's gentle voice:
"Cheryl, how old are you this year? Are you still doing experiments every day? Have you ever lost your temper and thrown things because of constant failures, haha?"
She pouted. "When have I ever had a bad temper?"
"…Have you ever been so busy that you forgot to eat? Has anyone bullied you? Are you afraid of the dark and curl up in your blanket? Have you felt so lonely that you wanted to cry? Have you ever felt like there's no one around you that you know? ...Ah," he sighed deeply, "Are you doing okay by yourself?"
Tears shimmered on her long, dark eyelashes. No, I'm strong. I'm not lonely; I'm doing just fine.
"Have you been living a normal life? Are you in school? How are the teachers and classmates? You're so cute; they must all like you, right? Don't be silent, make more friends.
Have you met someone you like? Is he good? Ah, what kind of man would our Cheryl like? Would you like me to teach you how to confess? But I'm worried; what if you get deceived…"
She held the small iPod, eyes closed, tears on her lashes, a smile on her lips.
Beside her, Yan Su remained quietly with his eyes closed, but his heart was not as easy.
As he had suspected, for Zhen Ai's safety, Chace had not revealed the whereabouts of that 1 billion, but he always felt that this password wasn't complete.
If he guessed correctly, one color of the iPods left by Chace was missing, taken by someone.
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