Chapter 35.1 (1/2)
Xiao Tangqiu couldn’t help but look at Shen Yuan, who was standing not too far away, but when he saw Shen Yuan’s cold and indifferent gaze, with neither waves nor billows, his heart sank again.
The others were equally as indifferent with regards to Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian’s life and death encounter. Instead, Windbreaker Man, who had been the most cynical all this time, looked at them and asked with a fleeting smile, “…….How are you? Are you alright?”
“………I’m fine.”
Xiao Tangqiu lowered his eyes and hid his gaze but just as he was doing that, he found that he was holding something in his hand.
It was a brass pocket watch, similar to Maria’s pocket watch which Tang Mianmian had found. But this was obviously much older than Maria’s. Much older…….. he paused and suddenly recalled that this pocket watch had accidentally been torn off the monster’s neck by him during their struggle.
“I’m fine as well! My wounds just hurt a little, that’s all.” Tang Mianmian, who had received quite a bit of a shock, noticed there was something in Xiao Tangqiu’s hand and immediately put everything else aside. He leaned in curiously, “What is this? Another pocket watch? Did it drop when you were fighting the monster just now? Quickly open it!”
Xiao Tangqiu paused for a moment before opening the cover of the pocket watch. The clock hands in the pocket watch weren’t moving and appeared to be broken. Behind the cover was a small black-and-white photo of a mother and son.
The content of the photo was a bit like Raphael’s “The Madonna and Child.” The mother was holding a child tightly in her arms, and attached her face to the child’s at the same time. Her facial features were soft and her expression was loving. Her entire being radiated the glow of motherhood, and her deep love for her child was visible to the naked eye.
This was originally a very common picture of a mother and son. But when Xiao Tangqiu carefully looked at the woman’s facial features in the picture, he suddenly found something wrong…….. The woman’s facial features were very similar to Lily Marlene, and her eyebrow were exactly the same!
He was so shocked he took a good look at the picture carefully again. But the more he looked at it, the more he felt that the woman in the picture looked like Lily Marlene. However, what he had seen before was just a portrait of Lily Marlene. Even if the portrait was lifelike, it was still just a portrait. It would still be somewhat different from a photo……..
“Isn’t this Lily Marlene?” Tang Mianmian stared at the woman in the photo for a moment, then blurted out, “This is clearly Lily Marlene! This woman looks more like Lily Marlene than Maria. It must be Lily Marlene herself!”
Xiao Tangqiu frowned slightly and said: “But I got this pocket watch from that monster. This should belong to it. Do you think that monster is Lily Marlene?” If that monster was Lilly Marlene, how could Lippinobert bear to keep his beloved woman in the attic while plastering her portrait all over the house? Wasn’t this behavior somewhat contradictory?
Tang Mianmian rubbed his chin and let his imagination run wild again. “Maybe he really loved Lily Marlene at first, but then his white moonlight became rice grains and his red cinnabar became mosquito blood. After the seven-year itch, he stopped loving Lily Marlene and locked her up in the attic. But on the surface, he made himself look like an infatuated man with deep emotions?”
Xiao Tangqiu thought about what Tang Mianmian had said and felt that it was quite reasonable. “……Who is this child then? Lily Marlene and Lippinobert’s? Then where is the child now?”
Tang Mianmian continued to spit out ideas. “Maybe the child isn’t Lippinobert’s at all, but the neighbor’s next door. Lippinobert was furious and locked Lily Marlene up in the attic!”
“This doesn’t make sense. If Lily Marlene really made him wear a green hat, then why would he hang her portrait everywhere? Does he have a green hat fetish?”
As Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian continued to blindly speculate, Shen Yuan, who had been silent all along, suddenly turned and walked towards a wall. He slowly brushed the wall with one finger, then gently rubbed his fingers together.
“It should’ve been some photos or something of the kind…….”
“Photos? Then where are they?” Tang Mianmian also leaned in. “Did someone tear them off? Why would someone do that though? Could there be a hidden secret?”
“This secret chamber should be the most hidden and safest place in the entire castle. Can the man actually find somewhere even more hidden to hide those photos?” Xiao Tangqiu couldn’t quite figure it out but all of a sudden, Shen Yuan turned to look at him.
Xiao Tangqiu’s heart jumped inexplicably. Then, he heard Shen Yuan repeat softly, “Somewhere that’s even more hidden…..”
Xiao Tangqiu subconsciously gulped. “Could Lippinobert have taken the photo? Could he have hidden the photo in his room? Should we take a look at his room? “
Wait a minute! There was another problem!
They didn’t even know where Lippinobert’s room was!
Xiao Tangqiu suddenly realized this. From start till now, they didn’t know where Lippinobert’s room was because every time they went to the hall, Lippinobert was already there, and they didn’t know where Lippinobert came from.
“……Do you know where Lippinobert’s room is?”
Windbreaker Man smiled and shrugged, “Nope. When we were exploring the castle earlier, we didn’t see Lippinobert’s room at all. Of course, we didn’t see the housekeeper’s or the maids’ rooms either.”
“Do they all live in the basement?” Xiao Tangqiu couldn’t help wondering, “…….Or will they automatically disappear at night?” Maybe that’s why they don’t need a room at all?
Windbreaker Man shook his head and then curved his lips. “We still don’t know what the housekeeper and maids are, but Lippinobert is definitely a living person.”
Xiao Tangqiu remembered that they had said before that Lippinobert was the only living being in the castle. He couldn’t help but wonder more. This Lippinobert looked so creepy from every angle, how could he be alive? Aren’t the housekeeper and maids puppets? What else could they be besides puppets?
Right then, Shen Yuan suddenly said, “No, let’s look here.”