Chapter 267: Officially Entering the Main Storyline Deduction Phase

Chapter 267: Officially Beginning the Main Storyline Deduction

Just as Jiang Qian and Jiang Mubai frantically prepared to activate the one-minute emergency escape passage, Wu Yue suddenly shed her cloak.

She draped the cloak over Leah, shielding her completely from outside scrutiny.

Wu Yue whispered softly, "Mrs. Leah, it's very late. You should go rest."

Leah looked at Wu Yue in confusion, "Aren't you going to ask me anymore?"

Wu Yue shook her head, "A girl's feelings shouldn't be exposed before so many people. Let's go."

Wu Yue glanced at the precariously swaying chandelier on the ceiling. Her Mental Corruption was escalating rapidly. If she didn't stop immediately, the falling debris from the illusion would impale her, leaving her a bloody wreck.

Wu Yue watched as Leah fled in tears. This time, she clearly saw Leah heading in the opposite direction of the spiral staircase—toward the basement.

Undoubtedly, Leah's real room was there.

After Leah left, all the masked apparitions that had appeared earlier vanished. Yet, the murmurs of laughter and chatter lingering in the ballroom air still did not cease.

This clearly indicated the true Boss.

She was nothing more than a pitiful, manipulated pawn.

Shen Que quickly approached Wu Yue and saw the tears of blood streaming from her eyes. The earlier confrontation had caused Wu Yue's Mental Corruption levels to spike dangerously.

Forced to close her eyes again, Shen Que removed the black cloth from himself and covered Wu Yue's eyes with it.

Shen Que said, "Try to relax completely."

Wu Yue nodded, "Mhm."

Seeing Mrs. Leah hurry away and the immediate threat subsided, the participants dispersed from the ballroom and fanned out to explore various parts of the ancient castle.

Following the clues Wu Yue had just uncovered, they returned to the second-floor terrace balcony.

Jian Suiyu said, "Let's review what we know:

Leah was originally a swamp-dwelling black witch, brought into the human castle after saving someone.

First possibility: She fell in love with a human, grew jealous of the lady of the house, and attempted to swap their fates using black witchcraft. Later, wracked with guilt, she lived in fear, developing delusions and a split personality.

Second possibility: She was deceived and manipulated by humans, forced to exchange her fate with the lady of the house through black witchcraft. After becoming the lady, she was persecuted, leading to mental instability and a shattered mind."

Jiang Yuhua added, "Whether it's the first or the second, one thing is clear—"

The group's faces darkened, as they all realized the same thing:

That is,

There is another Boss in this dungeon—one who survived unscathed despite the black witch's persecution, lurking in the shadows all along.

Perhaps even the architect of this scheme, who, through the fate swap, has fully acquired all the dark witchcraft powers of the black witch, making her even stronger!

Wu Xiuli bared her teeth in a cruel grin, "How dare she scheme against our witch clan! Even if witchcraft has its Eastern and Western branches,

as fellow witches, I will never let her go!!"

Jiang Huaizhi asked, "If such a Boss truly exists, with the story already past the halfway point, what would she do next?"

The group exchanged glances and suddenly realized,

"She’ll intervene and eliminate the one who's been rapidly advancing the plot!!"

Wu Yue!!

Their gazes swept the area,

Wu Chong suddenly spoke up, "Wait? Yue Yue was right here—where is she?!"

Jiang Yuhua sharply turned, "What’s going on? Didn’t Shen Que stay right by Yue Yue’s side?"

Jian Suiyu’s expression darkened, "Shen Que’s disappeared too!"

Fu Yanqi quickly cast a divination and looked at the group, "The reading shows they’re underground, safe for now. Most likely, they triggered the main storyline and were directly taken away by the plot."

The group exchanged glances, "Let’s split up and search the castle for more useful clues based on what we have."

"Got it!"

"Main storyline prompt: Mrs. Leah has invited you to tour the castle."

....

"Butler Harald, did Mrs. Leah ask you to entertain us?"

Led by the butler, Wu Yue and Shen Que descended step by step into the underground.

Harald nodded, "Yes, Mrs. Leah considered her sudden departure terribly rude. For a guest as cherished as Miss Wu Yue, she asked me to convey her apologies on her behalf. Moreover, she has made an exception to grant you and Mr. Shen exclusive access to the castle’s most renowned wine cellar.

The cellar houses wines aged over a century, and at its far end lies another famed feature of the castle: the *Crimson Mary Pool*. The entire pool is filled with exquisite wine, an ultimate beauty treatment for women.

Mrs. Leah hopes Miss Wu Yue and Mr. Shen will enjoy themselves fully."

Inside the cellar, racks of century-old wines were stored, their rich aroma seeping through the seals.

Amid the fragrance was a hint of blood—imperceptible to most, but Shen Que’s keen senses caught it immediately.

Given the castle’s sealed history, these wines were likely brewed from the blood of the dead. Fermented for a century, they had long become deadly poison. The wine-filled pool was nothing short of a corrosive pool of death.

The pool’s design was unnervingly strange—far from the usual spacious rectangle.

In such a vast space, it was built as a narrow, single-lane passage, stretching into bottomless darkness. Less a pool, more like the mercury-filled channels used to seal ancient imperial tombs.

The Mental Pollution here was overwhelmingly strong, causing even the signals to buzz with static interference.

As a black bat suddenly dove into frame, the screen went completely black.

The last thing Jiang Qian and Jiang Mubai saw were the bat’s blood-red eyes.

Both men immediately understood—

"This is the dungeon's final area!!"

....

Jian Suiyu and Fu Yanqi entered the master bedroom of the castle, turning the place upside down for clues.

Jian Suiyu said, "As soon as the black witch left, Wu Yue and Shen Que jumped right into the next main story beat. Most likely, the real Mrs. Leah invited them to move on to the next story chapter."

Fu Yanqi added, "Ever since the ballroom incident, the Mental Pollution in the entire castle has been extremely high. We need to move quickly, or I'm afraid Wu Yue's psyche might break."

Jian Suiyu set his mouth in a firm line and sped up his actions.

Suddenly, he spotted a painting placed inside a cabinet.

It was a painting starkly different from the style of the entire castle, with childish brushstrokes exuding an innocent and lively atmosphere—clearly a child's drawing.

The role the child played in the whole story was still a complete mystery to them.