Chapter 84: Confronting the Duke, Nearly Dying from Anger

Two guests… no, two desperados felt no psychological burden whatsoever when intimidating people. The shaman even developed the illusion that “I’m actually kind and helpless.”

Those animals were brought in by him for bloodletting and sacrificial purposes. He never would have imagined they’d end up being used for this kind of purpose.

He can switch to all kinds of shells, enduring anything from men and women to the young and old—even if chopped to pieces, he can reassemble himself… but beasts are out of the question, especially those locked in dungeons, left to rot on the brink of death.

This was more effective than any threat could be.

Under the pig’s watchful eye, the witch doctor answered almost every question without hesitation.

From his words, You Huo and Qin Jiu learned the rough sequence of events—

It was true that a real outbreak of the Black Death had occurred in the Carlton Hill area. The disease spread with overwhelming force, and almost no one in the vast ancient castle was spared. The Duchess, with her frail constitution, passed away in just two days.

The Duke, being the closest to her, was also severely affected, holding on for only two days longer than her.

Next were the male and female servants.

The butler, Douglas, held out the longest. He organized the cleanup of the deceased servants and sealed the coffins of the Duke and his wife.

On the day before the planned burial, the witch doctor arrived at the castle.

At that time, the shaman had not yet borrowed the nun’s body. He was hiding in his previous shell, old and frail, swaying with every step he took.

This man, who seemed like he might pass away at any moment, told Douglas, “I can bring your master and mistress back to life.”

“Find a pair of people who resemble them—the more similar, the better.”

“Appearance and status are secondary; the most important things are the heart and soul.”

This is what the shaman told Douglas.

After giving him hope, he added a reminder: “The resurrection process is a bit bloody, but it is a sacred ritual. As the one resurrecting them, you need to willingly sacrifice yourself.”

Douglas said, “Alright.”

Late that night, he tricked a passing couple, knocking them unconscious and dragging them into the bedroom.

He pried open the coffin prepared for burial and brought back the Duke and his lady.

In the silent, empty bedroom, he severed the Duke’s head, limbs, chest, and waist, then pieced them back together. Candle wax dripped along the cuts, congealing into a milky-white seal.

After downing a few glasses of wine, he sat on the floor under the shaman’s gaze for a moment, then followed suit and dismembered Elisa.

White candles were arranged around them in a circle.

The witch doctor pointed to the two unfortunate passersby and asked Douglas, “Alright, only the final step remains. Let me confirm with you once more: these two poor souls truly resemble the Duke and Duchess, don’t they? If they don’t, this won’t succeed, you know.”

Douglas knelt before the passerby couple, splashing them with wine to wake them.

With his back to the witch doctor and without turning his head, he said, “They do. They are deeply in love.”

Amid the couple’s broken cries of despair, Douglas placed his hands on top of their heads.

……

The duke was revived that night.

The rotted parts of his body were replaced with those of the passerby, including most of his face, which was covered in sores.

The moment he opened his eyes, the young butler Douglas visibly aged at a rapid pace, turning into an old man in an instant.

Everything happened just as the witch doctor had said…

Unfortunately, the Duchess’ revival attempt ended in failure.

* * *

The witch doctor licked his lips, then said, “I can still remember the look on the Duke’s face at that moment. Next to him was the wife he had slaughtered, the mirror reflected the face he had pieced together himself, the floor was covered in blood, and beside him was an elderly steward he didn’t recognize at all… Tsk.”

He cast a sidelong glance at the bound old steward and said, “You are the most ruthless person I have ever met. Even when I first attempted to escape death myself, I wasn’t as decisive as you—I even shed a few crocodile tears.”

“But the Duke also surprised me.”

In the eyes of the witch doctor, the ancient castle was a breeding ground for talent.

The butler chopped people down as easily as slicing melons and vegetables, without any burden. And the resurrected duke only panicked for a few minutes before calmly accepting everything.

The witch doctor said that there were too many servants in the ancient castle, and reviving them one by one would be too troublesome. He had a way to let them continue existing—neither truly alive nor dead—like ghosts doomed to guard the castle for all eternity.

The duke expressed his gratitude to him.

The witch doctor asked, “What about your wife? Should she be reburied?”

The duke found a large wooden chest and ordered Douglas to put Eliza inside, replying, “It’s all right, I can invite some guests from time to time…”

“If they are lovers or a married couple, just like Eliza and me.” The duke said, “I have enough patience to wait, and Douglas will always stay with me, right?”

Douglas concurred, “I have always been here, and I will find the most suitable, most affectionate guests for you.”

The master and servant were surprisingly well-matched.

When the witch doctor mentioned that “revival and constantly swapping bodies come with a curse, causing flesh and blood to completely vanish,” they immediately set their sights on the town behind Carlton Mountain.

* * *

“How did the curse transfer?” You Huo clamped down on the other’s wrist.

The witch doctor hesitated, unwilling to speak, his fingers locked in a struggle with You Huo as he tried to pull back, at least a little further from the pig. Yet no matter how hard he tried, the other remained as steady as Mount Tai.

The witch doctor’s face flushed a fucking dark red.

“How could you bear to strike a woman so harshly?” He demanded, wearing the nun’s skin, his eyes fixed on You Huo.

You Huo remained unmoved. “I could be even harsher.”

The witch doctor was speechless with rage.

Taking advantage of You Huo’s proximity, he fixed his gaze on You Huo’s eyes, switching from force to persuasion, once again attempting to bewilder You Huo: “This handsome gentleman, actually, I have many more— Mmm!”

Halfway through his sentence, Qin Jiu pressed his knee against the witch doctor’s back.

The witch doctor’s body collapsed forward, planting a kiss on the pig right then and there.

“……”

Qin Jiu glanced at You Huo, suppressing a smile as he threatened the witch doctor in a low voice, “You’ve given the wrong potion. This fine gentleman here is clearly running out of patience, can’t you see? But compared to him, I’m the worse one.”

His low, resonant voice echoed in the witch doctor’s ear like a devil’s whisper: “I can chop up a pig no problem, and chopping up a person like you—no problem either. If you keep being this uncooperative, you might not even get a whole pig. I can’t wait to serve you a single pig’s head.”

“Or a mixed platter of pork and mutton would work too.”

The witch doctor: “…”

The elegant gentleman and the devil sang in perfect harmony, coldly stating, “Three choices, one second. You have three seconds to decide.”

The witch doctor felt he had encountered a pervert.

“Three.”

“Two.”

The witch doctor immediately spoke: “Rely on food and wine.”

“The food and wine prepared by the Duke for the townspeople are both mediums. Consuming these things is akin to making a promise to sacrifice oneself. The more one eats, the deeper the bond, and the sooner the curse takes effect.”

“Food and wine?”

You suddenly remembered Zhou Qi’s inability to eat and sudden fever, and turned to ask the butler, “Is this also what the castle provides for its guests?”

Douglas remained silent, which was clearly a tacit agreement.

The witch doctor chimed in, “Of course, guests who’ve been tricked with such difficulty—even if the Duke doesn’t need your bodies, he can use you to block part of the curse. Why let that go to waste?”

You Huo and Qin Jiu exchanged a glance, both frowning in unison.

This was not a thought to dwell on.

If the scope of the curse extended beyond just the town to include the examinees as well… then those half-dead, bloody people in the church probably weren’t all townsfolk either.

“How do you lift the curse?” You Huo asked the witch doctor.

The witch doctor said, “Weren’t you listening in for a long time? I told you, just transfer it to someone else.”

“I mean removing it completely.”

You Huo bent down, staring at him coldly.

The witch doctor met his gaze for a moment before admitting defeat, throwing caution to the wind as he said, “Kill the cursed one, or kill the Duke.”

“You—”

The butler, who had been hanging his head, suddenly sprang up. Just as he was about to speak, Qiu Jiu stuffed a pig’s trotter into his mouth.

The witch doctor cackled, repeating, “Just kill the Duke, and everything will be fine.”

One side’s words are inevitably deceitful. Qin Jiu looked at the blood-covered figure curled up in the corner and said, “Father?”

The bloodied figure seemed lifeless. After a moment, he weakly raised his head and nodded: “I remember this…”

Qin Jiu: “Thank you.”

His gaze swept between the witch doctor and the butler, and he suddenly joked, “The interrogation is over for now. Chief Examiner, what do you think of their performance? How would you rate them, A, B, C, or D?”

You Huo released his grip, indicating the witch doctor with his chin. “This C, take the exam again.”

Witch doctor: “……”

He then pointed at Douglas. “D, eliminated directly.”

Qin Jiu raised his hand and touched his temple, giving a roguish salute. “Give me half a minute.”

The wrinkles at the corners of Douglas’s mouth pulled downward, his numbness tinged with a hint of despair.

* * *

The dim underground environment made it easy to lose track of time. When You Huo and Qin Jiu emerged from the small hut with their formal attire in hand, the sky was already nearing evening.

In the distance, the sky was once again shrouded in dark clouds, heavy with moisture as they gathered toward this place.

They put on their formal attire and returned to the church, only to find everyone gathered around the bowling pins, the atmosphere eerily strange.

Gao Qi called out to them from afar, “Finally back! If you didn’t show up, we were about to go dig up the backyard.”

“What’s going on?” Qin Jiu glanced at the crowd.

Gao Qi said, “We’ve found some clues and figured out what it means to cure the patients.”

Everyone flipped over a few stretcher beds to show You Huo and Qin Jiu the bloody words written on the back.

“There are overlapping parts, but to put it simply…” Gao Qi took a deep breath and said, “Killing them sets them free.”

He also specifically pointed to one of the bed boards and added, “This message was definitely left by a candidate. Killing one patient earns 3 points, with no upper limit.”

Maybe if all of them are killed, this exam will come to an end.

But as You Huo roughly counted, aside from the priest who was left to his own devices, there were originally 25 patients here, and the number remained exactly 25—not a single one missing.

Not a single examinee reached for the points.

You Qin raised an eyebrow.

Before he could speak, someone among the examinees muttered, “Besides that, we found some other traces. We think… at least four or five of these patients are just like us, examinees from one of the rounds.”

If they were mere NPCs, they could kill them without any burden.

To have lived till now, who hasn’t slain a few minor foes?

But once they learned there were real people among them, no one could bring themselves to do it.

Three points are quite substantial for the majority.

However, as Gao Qi and Zhao Jiatong had said, not yet.

They haven’t been pushed to the point of killing examinees for just 3 points—what a fortunate thing that is.

However, this atmosphere was soon broken because Qin Jiu shared with everyone the information he had gathered in the dungeon.

At that moment, everyone’s faces turned green.

Among them, Gao Qi was the most verdant.

He had drunk more wine than all the other candidates combined. If the curse were to take effect on the candidates in this round, he would definitely rank among the top three.

* * *

The downpour came crashing down before nightfall.

The ancient castle stood in the curtain of rain, like a crouching beast.

In the spacious bedroom on the first floor of the West Tower, the Duke was raging at the footmen. He smashed a cup, ruined an oil painting, and kicked over everything he could in the room…

Because the butler was nowhere to be found.

More than a dozen carriages fetched all the guests, yet Douglas was nowhere to be seen.

Wasn’t coaxing guests into making mistakes his specialty? What could have delayed him until now?

The Duke spun the ring on his finger, the air around him so tense that no one dared approach.

For a moment, he suspected that Douglas and that witch doctor had teamed up, perhaps secretly doing something behind his back.

But soon, he persuaded himself again.

Anyone could be wrong about him, except Douglas.

“Master, it is time for the dinner,” a manservant reminded him.

Although the servants were no longer considered living beings, their demeanor exuded a rigid, lifeless air, yet they still felt fear.

The duke paused for a moment, his expression grim as he gave instructions, “If Douglas returns, have him roll back here and wait for me. I need to teach him a proper lesson on punctuality.”

After speaking, he assumed a perfunctory smile and turned to head toward the banquet hall.

Tonight’s banquet was incredibly strange.

The guests stared at the wine and roasted chicken, their expressions grave. Only three gentlemen stood out noticeably—

You Huo and Qin Jiu acted as though they were unaware of any curse, just like last night, casually tasting all the food at their leisure.

As for Gao Qi…

Since it was hopeless anyway, he decided to let go and drink freely.

The duke gently tapped the rim of his glass, smiling as he said, “What’s the matter? Are my dear guests not feeling very hungry today? This was carefully prepared by the kitchen, and if it goes uneaten, I might feel a little sad.”

“……”

Fine, since you’re the question, your face is the biggest.

The examinees took a deep breath, wearing expressions of warriors steeling themselves, and used their forks to scoop up a tiny piece of chicken skin…

The Duke clasped his hands together, his eyes crinkling behind the mask.

At 10 p.m., the banquet concluded.

The Duke sat at the head of the table, watching as the examinees left the hall. His gaze never left the two perfect gentlemen, hoping that Douglas would return soon and bring him some happy little news.

As the last examinee left, a manservant hurried over.

“Your Grace.”

“Hmm, has Douglas returned?”

The manservant’s pale face surprisingly managed to shift through several shades of color. He stiffened for a moment, then nodded and said, “Um, he just returned…”

“And where is he now? Waiting for me in the bedroom?”

The servant hesitated before replying, “No.”

The Duke furrowed his brow. “Why not?”

The servant recoiled slightly, his voice timid. “The butler… uh… went straight into his own room as soon as he returned.”

The duke was a bit angry and also somewhat puzzled.

He ordered the servant to lead the way and stormed into Douglas’s bedroom with a stern face.

“What kind of game are you playing, Douglas?” the duke snapped as he pushed the door open.

The expected response never came.

The expected figure was nowhere to be seen.

“Where is he?!” The Duke glared at the servant.

The servant pointed to a corner of the bedroom and said, “There… There he is…”

The Duke looked closely:

A pig wrapped in the butler’s shirt lay sprawled there, with a piece of parchment still pinned to the collar of the shirt.

The Duke strode over, plucked it off, and took a look.

The handwriting on the paper was wild and unrestrained:

Your Grace, I am Douglas. You sent me to cause some minor trouble for the guest.

Did this little inconvenience meet your satisfaction?

Have a pleasant day.

“………………………………”

The duke was so furious he nearly dropped dead.

Shivering, he crumpled the parchment and turned to head back to his bedroom.

As he walked, he said to the servant, “Tonight, I want the bodies of these two guests! Not a single one shall escape!”