Volume 2 Chapter 9: Illusion

After the banquet ended, Qin Lun strolled around the castle with his hands clasped behind his back.

It was night now, but still too early to rest. Normally, this time would be perfect for the host to serve tea and chat with guests. However, at the banquet, Baron Albert’s son, Bonnie Albert, had questioned Qin Lun. This clearly made it awkward for Baron Albert to invite guests for tea and talk now.

Qin Lun’s current identity was that of a doctor, specifically a guest invited for his expertise in curing the plague. Avoiding that topic would seem rude, yet bringing it up again felt like an interrogation under the circumstances—hardly the way nobles entertained guests.

Besides, the Albert family weren’t doctors. Questioning someone’s professional field once could be called curiosity. Questioning a second time would betray basic courtesy. As a hereditary noble, Baron Thomas Albert couldn’t do that.

Of course, the Baron didn’t yet know his daughter, Miss Laura, had already questioned Qin Lun once.

Albert Castle’s interior was vast. The Main Keep connected to four surrounding Subsidiary Keeps via soaring stone bridges. In contrast, the Albert family and their servants residing within weren’t numerous, lending the place a slightly desolate feel.

Viewed from outside during the day, it appeared majestic. But at night, this giant structure perched on the cliff felt eerie and terrifying due to its lack of life. A few circling crows cawing, and people might believe it was haunted.

As a distinguished guest invited by the Baron and explicitly granted permission to explore, Qin Lun moved freely throughout the castle. Naturally, he knew better than to “visit” the master’s bedroom or study.

His wandering wasn’t just to learn the castle’s layout and terrain—he had another secret purpose.

“How do I get to the parapet walkway?”

Remembering the Baron say one could see all of Odia from the castle’s heights, Qin Lun stopped a maid in the corridor to ask. (The parapet he referred to was the battlement on Albert Castle’s outer wall—a raised walkway like an additional defensive corridor atop the Main Keep. As for Odia, it meant the Town of Odia and the surrounding inhabited region.)

Following the maid’s directions, Qin Lun quickly reached the castle’s outer parapet via its winding corridors.

The heavy rain outside had stopped. A cool breeze heavy with moisture felt refreshing. Below the mountain, the scattered lights of several small towns looked like stars dotting the night, creating a serene and peaceful moonlit scene.

“Is Odia beautiful?” A bright, childish voice came from the darkness.

“Hmm?” Qin Lun turned to see a small figure emerge from the shadows of the parapet.

“Miss Elizabeth?” Qin Lun looked with surprise at the Baron’s adorable little princess. “Is no servant with you?”

“I don’t need them to look after me!” Elizabeth shook her head like a little grown-up, her expression serious.

Qin Lun touched his nose and smiled as he studied the cute, beautiful little girl. Even his detached nature had to admit she possessed a charm that could enchant anyone.

“It certainly is beautiful. But the wind is strong up here, Miss Elizabeth. You should go back to your room to sleep!” Qin Lun crouched in front of the little girl and reached out to gently take her arm.

“I don’t want to sleep yet. Mister Stan, can you lift me onto your shoulders? I’m too short to see the night view of faraway Odia.” Elizabeth puffed out her cheeks and made her request without ceremony.

“Alright, but after we see, we go back. Deal?” Qin Lun slipped his hands under Elizabeth’s arms and lifted her onto his shoulders. Instantly, his brows rose in surprise. “Huh? Why are you so cold and damp? Did you get caught in the rain?”

“So beautiful!” Instead of answering, Elizabeth spread her little arms like an adult, as if wanting to embrace the whole of Odia. “Wellington? Have you ever been rained on?”

“Miss Elizabeth, you should call me Mister Stan!” Qin Lun felt an unprecedented strangeness, but still answered honestly: “I don’t get caught in rain much, and I dislike wet, damp weather.” Whether in the asylum or Handan Heavy Penalty Prison, rainy days always made cramped cells colder and more humid. Qin Lun would never like rainy days like that.

“Mmm, I can feel you’re telling the truth this time!” Elizabeth murmured, looking into the distance. “I don’t like rainy days either. Rainy days have no sun. It feels like ages since I saw sunlight. Sometimes I truly wish I could stand here all night, waiting to see the sunrise!”

This time was truth? When wasn’t it true? Maybe this little girl is the key!

Qin Lun’s expression darkened. A glint flashed in his eyes as he asked in a low voice, “Miss Elizabeth, does your family not believe I can cure the epidemic?”

“Giggle, only the Albert Family guards Odia!” Elizabeth’s silvery child’s laughter tinkled. “My father said Odia is the Albert Family’s duty, its protection, its glory—built over a thousand years! No one can replace the Alberts in guarding this land!”

“That really is heavy responsibility. Is your father His Lordship the Baron, or Sir Bonnie?” Qin Lun gave a noncommittal smile. Arguing such points with a little girl was pointless.

“No, not them! Alright, put me down now. I must go to sleep.” Elizabeth patted Qin Lun’s head lightly. “Thank you, Wellington. You’re a good person!”

“Walk carefully, Miss Elizabeth!”

Having essentially been called a “good person” by a child, Qin Lun watched helplessly as Elizabeth bounced away and vanished around the corridor corner.

……

Not even the eight-year-old girl in this castle believed he could cure the plague! Qin Lun pondered this as he slowly walked towards his guest room.

No. If they truly had zero belief, they wouldn’t have questioned the surgical procedure. Their questioning meant the Alberts were still uncertain if surgery was effective against this plague.

Conversely, they never questioned the “World Tree Dew”—the “Magic Potion” spreading like wildfire among the townsfolk. This proved they didn’t think any medicine could treat the plague. This family knew something. They might even understand the plague’s origin and spread completely.

Additionally, Elizabeth claimed she wasn’t the daughter of the Baron or Bonnie Albert. So was she… the daughter of that man? Stephen Albert?

Deep in thought, Qin Lun finally arrived at his guest room door.

Entering and closing the door, he instinctively scanned the empty room. When his gaze fell on one particular spot, the serial killer’s pupils constricted to pinpricks.

“Ungh!” Qin Lun doubled over in painful dry heaves, sweat beading densely on his forehead. He instinctively covered his face with his hands, a low, animalistic growl rumbling in his throat.

A savage, bloody aura erupted from him, filling the room. Between the fingers covering his face, two bursts of frenzied scarlet light flared.

At the same moment, in a bedroom elsewhere in the castle, a figure jolted upright in bed as if startled. Two faint blue flames ignited in the darkness.

“That direction… Such a ferocious, terrifying aura!” The figure muttered softly. “I thought the bloody scent on him came from doctoring… Getting old, truly blind! Seems our Doctor Stan isn’t a little lamb… but a big, bad wolf! Should I tell them? Ah, forget it. Let them stay in the dark. This should be quite entertaining! Heh heh…”

The soft murmur faded into the room’s silence as the figure lay back down. Gentle snores soon followed. But in Qin Lun’s room, he had reached his limit, teetering on the edge of total madness.

“Damn it! Flashes again! Someone’s doing this… doing this deliberately!” The animalistic snarl spilled from Qin Lun’s mouth.

“Impossible… No… Joey… This isn’t like the illusions we faced before!” The tone abruptly changed, fiercely resisting.

“Let me handle it! Give me control!” The snarl surged back.

“No! This place is warped! We’ll fail—we’ll die!” Qin Lun dropped to his knees, clutching his head, and slammed it hard against the floorboards.

“Let. Me. COME OUT! AGH—”

“No! I must stay! I promise! I PROMISE!”

Bang! Bang! Bang! Urgent knocking rattled the door.

“Doctor Stan? Are you inside?” Steward Jason’s voice came from outside.

“Remember… Remember this… You promised… You swore…” Qin Lun went rigid. The snarl in his throat subsided slowly.

“Steward Jason, my apologies. I knocked a few things over.” Qin Lun rose slowly, drenched in sweat, face chalk white.

“Oh? Shall I send someone to clean up?” the old butler asked, concerned.

“No need. I’ve handled it. Please, don’t trouble yourselves,” Qin Lun insisted firmly.

After dismissing the old butler, Qin Lun took a deep breath, calming his nerves. He turned back and gazed with intense reluctance at the desk beside the wall.

Lying flat on the desk was a wrinkled scrap of paper—a note. Names and place names were written on it. Random black lines, like a child’s scribbles, marred the words.

This was the very note Qin Lun had torn up and thrown into the stormy abyss beyond the cliffs!

Yet, it wasn’t just undamaged—it showed no sign of ever being wet. Instead, beneath the original writing, a line of neat, graceful script had appeared:

“Please save us.”