Chapter 8: Rose Earl 8

He saw him.

It was the man from the portrait, the man from the dance floor.

The man still wore that golden classical Venetian Larva mask, but his once gentle and affectionate eyes were now filled with a bloodthirsty aura.

Looking at the man who seemed so different from last night, Xia Qi's right hand, holding the axe, trembled, and he could hear his own heartbeat quickening.

After the candle burned its final flicker, darkness enveloped the entire Corner Tower.

"Tap." The man finally stopped.

His tall figure merged with the darkness, and even standing still, he exuded an overwhelming presence.

"Hmm." Sister couldn't hold her breath any longer and let out a whimper.

Oh no!

With a "bang," before Xia Qi could even see how the man moved, the cabinet above the sisters shattered into pieces.

"Ahhh!!!"

Sister screamed and, without even thinking to grab her sister, jumped up and rushed towards the stairs.

The man sneered, reached back with his right hand, and instantly lifted Sister by her arm.

His tall stature and long hands made it seem as if he was grabbing a small chicken.

Seeming to find it boring, he threw Sister back onto the ground.

"Tell me, what is your purpose?" In the darkness, the man's voice was hoarse and filled with impatience.

Tonight, his voice was particularly low, adding to the chilling atmosphere of the eerie environment, making one's hair stand on end.

Sister crawled backward, tears streaming down her face, sobbing, "I know nothing, I'm sorry, waaah."

"Hand it over." The man said again.

"The necklace... I gave it to the butler..." Sister's voice changed pitch in fear.

The air around them suddenly turned colder. The man suddenly leaned forward, and with a series of "clicks," his right hand extended into a thin blade.

The icy blade silently pressed against Sister's forehead.

"Still not willing to hand it over?"

Fear spread from her feet up her spine, and Sister suddenly pointed at her sister, shouting, "No, it's not me! The ring is in her hand!"

"Sister?!" Suddenly singled out, Sister II froze.

Where did this ring come from?

Seeing Sister's guilty look, Sister II understood everything.

"Sister!" Sister II screamed, "It was you?! You secretly put the ring on me?!"

Just moments ago, Sister had taken advantage of holding hands to slip the ring onto Sister II's finger. Unfortunately, Sister II was too nervous to notice the extra item.

"Sister, how could you use me as a scapegoat!"

Sister II angrily pulled off the ring and threw it to the ground.

As the ring landed in the corner, she remembered how Xia Qi had demanded Sister to tell the truth, only for Sister to evade the question.

"This method was taught to you by that woman from the red side, wasn't it?!" Sister II's voice was hoarse, and her heart ached.

Sister's eyes darted, and she whispered, "You always helped me pay my debts, Sister. This time... you'll help me too, right?"

Wiping away her tears, Sister continued, "It's all the game's fault, it forced me..."

Seeing Sister's lack of remorse, Sister II deeply regretted coming to save her.

Taking a deep breath, Sister II calmly said, "It's not the game's fault; you've always been like this."

Even without the game, Sister would eventually sell her to someone else until she had no more value.

Sister II laughed coldly, stood up, and placed herself in front of the man's blade, saying, "Kill me, I don't want to play anymore."

At that moment, Xia Qi's voice echoed nearby, "Wait!"

Hearing Xia Qi's voice, the man immediately turned his head.

"...It's you?"

Seeing Xia Qi appear behind a pile of crates, the man panicked and quickly hid the blade behind his back.

At that moment, moonlight streamed through the small window, illuminating the Corner Tower, and the atmosphere felt like that night at the dance floor, enveloped in a gentle aura.

The man stared at Xia Qi, his eyes filled with surprise, joy, and awe, even a hint of... shyness.

Xia Qi paused. Why was the person in front of him shy?

"You look beautiful today."

Under the moonlight, Xia Qi walked over in the white dress he had given her, looking as if the Moon God had descended.

The man stood still, staring intently at Xia Qi, with a dark fire burning in his eyes.

Xia Qi hid the axe behind his back and slowly approached the man, saying, "She is innocent; she didn't steal the diamond ring. Can you let her go?"

The one who should bear the consequences of stealing the diamond ring should be the sister, not the younger sister. Seeing that the man recognized him, Xia Qi decided to take advantage of his relatively clear state of mind to explain the situation clearly.

"Hmm?" The man seemed not to have heard what he said and continued to look at Xia Qi with an expectant gaze.

His eyes sparkled, and the corners of his mouth curved into a gentle smile, almost as if he was wagging his tail at Xia Qi.

Just as everything seemed about to improve, right before Xia Qi reached the man's side, the sister suddenly cried out, "Ouch!"

"It hurts!"

She clumsily crawled out from under the cabinet.

While Xia Qi was speaking, she had tried to crawl away from under the cabinet but accidentally hit the corner, leaving a hole on her forehead, with hot blood streaming down.

At this moment, a faint scent of blood began to spread in the air.

"Ugh." The man suddenly swayed, staggering backward.

"You, what's wrong with you?" Xia Qi asked in confusion.

"I, I..." The man swayed even more violently, supporting himself against the wall with his right hand, lowering his head to hide the dark red in his eyes, and gritting his teeth, "Don't come any closer!"

"What's going on with you?!"

As soon as Xia Qi finished speaking, the man suddenly shuddered, letting out a roar from his throat.

Amidst the sister's screams, the man's body visibly grew taller until his head touched the ceiling. His originally blade-like right hand extended to a meter long, becoming a gleaming giant blade.

Even more astonishing was the half of his face revealed beneath the mask. At this moment, the handsome face was covered in red lines, his lips as red as blood, and two sharp fangs protruded from the corners of his mouth.

"Run! BOSS has gone berserk!" The old man shouted, then quickly jumped up from the ground, climbed onto the window, and leaped out!

If not for witnessing the old man's escape, Xia Qi would never have imagined that there could be a sixty-year-old man daring enough to jump from the third floor.

"Thud!" With a loud sound, the berserk man took a long step, creating a deep pit on the ground, and strode towards the sister, roaring angrily, "Those who defile the contract—die!"

With a "clang," Xia Qi threw the axe on the ground.

Although the man looked invulnerable, Xia Qi couldn't bear to use such a violent axe on him.

Then, Xia Qi quickly pulled out the True Love Magic Wand from his backpack.

"Item Name: True Love Spell Wand (Bound)."

"Usage Effect: Consume True Love Energy Points, recite your love spell. The higher the True Love Value, the stronger the magic effect."

"Level: LV1."

"Other Notes: The game brings us together; cherish this connection. Let's witness a passionate true love!"

Xia Qi took a deep breath and tentatively recited, "Love spell?"

"Spell ineffective."

"Heavenly spirits, earthly spirits?"

"Spell ineffective."

Xia Qi gritted his teeth and continued without expression:

"Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo, transform completely?"

"..."

Xia Qi kept chanting to the magic wand, but it remained unresponsive. Seeing the man raising the giant blade towards the sister, Xia Qi asked, "System, can you write the item description more clearly?"

Guessing blindly would take forever. He needed to force this AI to reveal more information.

"Dear, the spell must be a love song to work."

A love song?

So, he had to shout out a love song-related spell that could actually affect the other person to make the magic wand work?

As a straight guy, Xia Qi had never been interested in mushy love movies or various love literature articles.

Reciting a love spell might as well be solving math problems for him...

But with lives at stake, he had to rack his brains and search his memory for love-related phrases.

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck him, and he remembered a sentence that could serve as a spell...

Xia Qi gritted his teeth, raised the pink magic wand, and shouted at the man,

"You are the wind, I am the sand, entwined we wander the world?"

Even the already berserk man paused upon hearing Xia Qi's shout, looking at him in confusion.

However, Xia Qi's magic wand still showed no response.

This classic declaration of love contained both love and magical elements, so why didn't it work?

...Could it be because it was too cheesy?

Just as Xia Qi thought about throwing away the magic wand, suddenly, an unexpected prompt appeared in his mind.

"True Love Value -1000"

"True Love Curse: Whirling Sand and Flying Rocks"

"Effect: This is a small tornado with PM2.5 levels exceeding the norm, capable of temporarily blinding the enemy."

"Duration: 00:00:03"

"Note: Due to your insincere love for darling, the effect of this curse will be very brief! Remember, a real man can die, but the duration must never be short!"

Xia Qi: "…"

This damn magic wand should really be renamed the Morality Magic Wand.

After the ding dong sound, the magic wand in Xia Qi's hand suddenly lit up, and then a gust of wind shot out from its tip, roaring toward the man.

The man was instantly blown away by the gust, and with a loud "bang," his body slammed heavily into the hard stone wall of the Corner Tower, creating a human-shaped dent in the wall.

If the man were not beyond the realm of normal humans, anyone hit by this tornado would likely be torn to pieces on the spot.

Seeing the gruesome scene created by the tornado, Xia Qi was instantly stunned.

What happened to the promised 3-second blinding effect?

Why was it so violent!

Author's note: [1] Reference to the song "You Are the Wind, I Am the Sand," original singers: Jay Chou and Ruby Lin.