Chapter 43

Chapter 43

Ning Wang was momentarily stunned.

That hand was noticeably paler than his own, and the fingers were tinged with a chill.

Perhaps because Ning Shuo had spent a year or two in the modern world and no longer practiced with a sword, the calluses on his fingertips had vanished. Touching them felt like touching cold jade-smooth and delicate.

Seeing him daze off while he adjusted his cufflinks, Ning Shuo’s fingers paused.

A dark glint flickered in the depths of his eyes, and he asked in a low, beguiling voice, “What are you thinking about?”

“I was thinking…” Ning Wang snapped back to reality and paused. “About what it looks like outside the Ancient Castle.”

Ning Shuo’s suspicions gradually dissipated as he looked toward the window. “We’ll know if we just open it.”

Ning Shuo pulled back the curtains and froze.

The window was designed to open inward, but it wasn’t the window itself that surprised him.

It was the eaves.

The design of the window eaves was bizarre; the top extended outward and then curved sharply downward.

This forced one’s gaze toward the ground, making it impossible to see the sky at all.

On the ground outside the Ancient Castle lay an endless field of roses.

Strangely, they weren’t a single color; white and red roses were planted in an alternating pattern.

This design also made it difficult for light to enter. No wonder the room had felt so dark earlier; he had assumed it was just the blackout curtains.

Ning Shuo looked out the window. “What exactly is in the sky?”

There was no response.

A familiar sense of eeriness crawled up his spine once more. Ning Shuo looked back, but Ning Wang was nowhere to be seen.

The room was deathly quiet, save for the lamp on the nightstand-turned on by the Manservant who had delivered the clothes-which cast a sickly, pale light.

Ning Shuo paused, then headed for the door.

However, just a moment before his hand touched the handle, Ning Shuo noticed something off.

…Even though the handle was made of iron, would it really reflect light like that in such a dimly lit room?

It looked as if it had been coated in oil or splashed with water.

Just as Ning Shuo was about to pull his hand back, the shimmering light on the handle suddenly converged toward the center.

He frowned slightly and immediately recoiled. As that silver-gray luster gathered, the handle began to corrode at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Ning Shuo cursed under his breath. Seeing that the entire door was covered in this same luster, trying to break through would clearly be a death sentence.

The silver-gray corrosive substance surged toward Ning Shuo. Making a split-second decision, he bolted toward the window.

“Xie Ning!”

Ning Shuo snapped out of it. The voice shattered the illusions, causing his consciousness to suddenly clear.

Once he regained his senses, Ning Shuo realized his current position was precarious-

He thought he hadn’t even reached the window, but now he found that half his body was already leaning out of it.

Though he wouldn’t die from this height, if he actually jumped, he would be violating the rule: “Do not leave this castle at will.”

From an NPC’s perspective, Ning Shuo would have left the Ancient Castle for no reason at all.

Ning Shuo turned his head and met Ning Wang’s worried gaze.

He paused for a moment before saying with exaggerated flair, “Good heavens, thank goodness my Knight was here. This trap almost did this King in…”

“Ning Shuo.”

Ning Wang suddenly called his name, his eyes dark and heavy.

To Ning Shuo’s surprise, he couldn’t decipher the emotions hidden in Ning Wang’s gaze at that moment.

Just as Ning Shuo was wondering if watching himself almost die had triggered some strange emotional resonance, the man in front of him suddenly reached out and pulled him into an embrace.

The same build, the same face-the only real difference was their hairstyles.

Ning Shuo’s body stiffened.

A voice identical to his own, only slightly deeper and more muffled, carried an emotion called worry: “I… I was quite scared.”

Ning Shuo almost thought he had misheard. “I have the Lightness Skill. Even though my internal energy is barely a tenth of what it was, I can’t die from a fall like this. I wouldn’t even have a scratch.”

“Yes, I know.”

Ning Shuo chuckled. “You should have more faith in me…”

“I have always believed in you. But while I know your strength, I don’t know the depths of what you’re facing.”

“How strong Xie Ning is doesn’t conflict with the fact that I worry.”

A light breeze blew past, as if marking Ning Shuo’s narrow escape from death.
Ning Wang must have gone to a lot of trouble to wake him up.

Ning Shuo’s fingers curled slightly before he finally raised his hand and placed it on Ning Wang’s back. “Alright, I get it. Good thing you were there.”

The person embracing him tightened his grip for a moment, then let go. “Let’s go.”

Ning Shuo could no longer read Ning Wang’s emotions. It was only when Ning Wang turned his back to him without any hesitation that Ning Shuo realized, with a start, that they had reached a point where they could unconsciously trust each other with their lives.

It had been the same in the corridor just now. If Ning Wang hadn’t destroyed that painting, Ning Shuo wouldn’t have even realized Ning Wang was behind him.

Ning Shuo wondered if he had simply been careless or if he was so familiar with Ning Wang’s presence that he hadn’t even bothered to maintain his guard. As he pondered this, a suspicious point suddenly occurred to him.

Ning Wang had walked a short distance when he noticed his “dear brother” hadn’t followed. Thinking he might be trapped by something again, he looked back only to find his brother staring at him thoughtfully.

Seeing him turn around, Ning Shuo frowned and asked suspiciously, “Why do you insist on sharing a room with me?”

Ning Wang’s fingers instinctively curled. Ning Shuo noticed the movement, his eyes narrowing slightly behind his glasses.

Ning Wang was nervous.

On the surface, Ning Wang remained stoic. “Your health is poor. Besides, as you saw just now, it’s better if I’m around to lend a hand.”

A glint of light reflected off Ning Shuo’s lenses. “Once you enter the System, no matter how poor your health is in the outside world, you are at least physically sound within the System.”

Ning Wang: “…”

He was momentarily speechless, failing to notice that Ning Shuo had completely bypassed the topic of “lending a hand.” Just as he was racking his brains for an excuse, Ning Shuo let out a strange laugh. “Ha! I get it~”

Ning Wang’s fingers curled even tighter, yet his face remained expressionless.

The more nervous he was, the more he tried to hide his emotions, making himself appear almost catatonic.

*My past self was actually quite cute.*

However, this nearly expressionless face didn’t allow Ning Shuo to read anything else. He drew out his last word for a long time before saying, “So, you just wanted to show off how reliable of a younger brother you can be.”

Ning Wang’s fingers relaxed. He shot him a glance and cleared his throat. “Does my reliability even need to be demonstrated? I’ve always been reliable.”

*Did I guess wrong?*

Ning Shuo looked at him suspiciously for a moment before picking up his Cane. “Then let’s go, my reliable younger brother.”

Lian Lu had only told them to change clothes; they were free to move around the Ancient Castle for the rest of the afternoon. When the bell tolled, the castle doors would open, and guests who had performed good deeds that day could go outside to see the beautiful scenery surrounding the castle.

Calling it “beautiful scenery” was a stretch; when Ning Shuo opened the window and looked down, he saw nothing but a sea of roses.

No wonder it was called the Rose Castle.

They went to find Rao Lin and the others first.

Rao Lin was tugging at his clothes, muttering, “This outfit is way too tight. I can’t even stretch properly…”

Luo Li was wearing a magnificent Rococo-style dress, and judging by her expression, she seemed quite satisfied with it.

After hearing Ning Shuo describe how he had almost met with disaster, Song Zhu frowned. “There are two types of NPCs: hidden NPCs who judge whether you are OOC, and threatening NPCs. But regardless of the type, they should be related to the Script’s plot. The situation you just described… I can’t see a connection for now.”

Rao Lin added, “And those Good Deed Points. I have a feeling it’s not as simple as just separating us into different rooms. Everyone can leave the Ancient Castle, but what the duration of that stay represents is the real question.”

Qi Yang’s luck truly couldn’t be called bad. Although his Points had been deducted for whispering, he had gained points for washing dishes. Lian Lu had punished Zhang Qicheng and the others while rewarding Qi Yang, calling it a reward for his courage to resist.

Lucky Little Qi was overwhelmed by the unexpected favor. When rooms were being assigned, he looked at the others, intending to share a room with another player. Luo Li, chewing gum, said, “Stay with me.”

She glanced at the other players, who clearly didn’t want to be with Qi Yang, and let out a cold snort. Turning back to Qi Yang, she said, “Listen to me, and I’ll get you through this.”

The other players who had been about to step forward froze.

They had chosen to ignore Qi Yang when he was being framed, and because they had lost points, they naturally didn’t want to be associated with him.

And of course, they didn’t want to be associated with Zhang Qicheng either.