Chapter 46: Before Dawn  

A dead person.

Looking at the corpse before him, Viscount Bird’s face darkened, saying nothing. He didn’t know why this maid had appeared in front of him, but now these questions were meaningless. She was dead. And, it was by his own hand.

“My God!” At this moment, Thomson had also come to his master’s side. Seeing the corpse on the stairs below, he couldn’t help but shout with an ashen face.

“Master, you, you killed someone?!”

“Enough, this isn’t my fault!” Viscount Bird frowned, angrily shouting in a low voice. He couldn’t figure out what was going on with this damn castle anymore. Perhaps he shouldn’t have left the guest room at all, but now? Now he had no choice left. On both sides of the corridor, under the dim light, was an endless hallway. This damn place was obviously not right. And now Viscount Bird himself was quite confused. Things that shouldn’t have happened kept occurring one after another. All this couldn’t possibly be coincidence, and until now, apart from his servant, Viscount Bird hadn’t seen another person in the castle.

Could it be that the lord wanted to take revenge on him?

Viscount Bird thought for a moment, then shook his head. He himself was a low-rank swordsman, and his perception of the surroundings was quite sensitive. He could feel that at this moment, around him, he couldn’t see any trace of anyone, nor could he sense any living person’s aura. In fact, even for that maid, he hadn’t felt her aura at all, as if she had suddenly appeared the moment he showed up.

Although he had killed someone, the other party wasn’t someone with status. Maids were ultimately just commoners. At most, he would have to pay some compensation later. But the current situation made Viscount Bird very worried. He looked up and down, only to see pitch blackness. After all, it was already deep into the night. Even inside the castle, no one would be moving around casually.

And now, Viscount Bird faced a dilemma: should he go find that lord, or leave this ancient castle?

From the perspective of noble pride, he naturally wanted to go find Julian and demand an explanation. After all, he was the master here. As a guest, to be so frightened without any prior warning was definitely a big problem. But instinctively, Viscount Bird hoped to leave this ancient castle immediately. He stood by the stairs, looking at the steps disappearing into the shadows below, feeling a bit dazed. The stories he had heard as a child instantly flooded his mind – those terrible stories, those horrifying rumors, those imaginary corpses. The doubts and fears he thought had been dispelled now returned to him.

What to do? Leave? No, he couldn’t leave. Fleeing without a fight was a disgrace for a noble. Moreover, Twilight Castle was located on a high mountain. Even to get to the town below, he would have to go through that damn mountain path. And in the dead of night, rashly going down the mountain was obviously very dangerous behavior. Besides, who knew what dangerous things might be hidden in the woods on both sides of the mountain path? In comparison, the castle was much safer.

So, the only option was to go find that lord.

Thinking of this, Viscount Bird adjusted his tie, then snorted coldly, gripped his sword tightly, and slowly walked down the stairs.

The heavy footsteps sounded again.

As he passed the maid’s corpse, Viscount Bird couldn’t help but glance at her a few more times. Honestly, he felt a bit of regret for his rash action. After all, this girl was very pretty. It was such a waste for her to die like this. Moreover, no matter what, he was a member of the Bird family. If this matter got out and was spread by malicious people, the family’s reputation would suffer. This was absolutely not something he wanted to see.

But, that would have to wait until later.

Viscount Bird shifted his gaze, looking back at the steps beneath his feet, then leaned his back against the wall and slowly walked down.

“Hm?”

After turning a corner, Viscount Bird widened his eyes in surprise. Where there should have been a corridor was now a wall. There, decorative flowers and mirrors were placed, no different from the landing he had just passed. What was going on? Shouldn’t this be the first floor? How could a wall suddenly appear?

Viscount Bird frowned. If he had trusted his memory before, now he no longer dared to rely on it. Although he was very confident that he remembered very clearly and distinctly. But in the reality of this ancient castle, all sorts of discrepancies kept appearing. Viscount Bird instinctively wanted to look up to confirm his position, but Thomson’s footsteps were already coming from behind him, so he had to give up this idea and continue walking down. No matter how panicked he was, he had to maintain a transcendent calmness in front of his servant. Otherwise, it would be difficult to maintain his dignity as the master.

Turning another corner, bright light dispersed the heavy darkness. Seeing this bright light, Viscount Bird secretly breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed he had really remembered wrong. This should be the real first floor. Thinking of this, he turned around, instinctively lowering his head – then, he stood rigid on the spot.

A maid’s corpse lay on the stairs not far below his feet, her lifeless eyes wide open. Her beautiful face had caved in, forming a strange, twisted shape. A wound from shoulder to chest was slowly bleeding, blending indistinguishably with the deep red carpet.

You’ve got to be kidding!

Viscount Bird gritted his teeth. He was certain this was the maid he had just killed on the second-floor landing, but shouldn’t she be on the platform above his head now? This definitely wasn’t someone deliberately playing tricks. After all, even if someone wanted to do this, there wouldn’t be enough time. So, had he remembered wrong again? That was even more impossible!

Heavy breathing came from behind. Without turning around, Viscount Bird could recognize it was Thomson’s voice. Obviously, he had also seen this corpse and was very nervous – perhaps he also recalled the terrifying rumors about this castle. After all, he had been by his side since childhood and naturally had heard those scary stories. So what to do now?

Faced with this scene that had completely exceeded his understanding, Viscount Bird was truly at a loss for a moment. He was inclined to walk back to confirm that corpse – but what was the point? Even if he really confirmed that the corpse was on the stair landing above him, so what? How to explain this identical corpse below? And what if that corpse was gone? What should he do then? Viscount Bird was starting to get confused about where he was now. He wasn’t even sure if he was still in the ancient castle.

Damn it!

Just then, a nameless rage suddenly surged in Viscount Bird’s heart.

I am a noble! I am a member of the Bird family! How can I be frightened by this damn curse? No, you can’t scare me!

Thinking of this, Viscount Bird again strode down. He no longer looked back at the maid’s corpse, but kept going down. He had made up his mind that no matter what, he must find this damn exit. There must be an exit here!

Ten steps, fifty steps, a hundred steps…

Viscount Bird had lost count of how many stairs he had descended. He felt tired, but every time he turned the corner landing, he would always see that corpse lying not far below, still in the same position, motionless. Viscount Bird’s mindset was gradually changing. He was already tired. Up to now, he couldn’t remember how many stairs he had gone down, but he knew very well that this had long exceeded any reasonable concept. Now he was like a mouse trapped in a circular cage, helplessly running, trying to reach an end that would never exist.

And with all this, Viscount Bird’s mood began to become irritable and anxious. This emotion reached its peak after he saw that maid’s corpse again.

“You again!!”

This time, Viscount Bird didn’t step over her body like before. Instead, he shouted as he walked to the side of the corpse, raising the sword in his hand high, his face ferocious and ashen.

“Fine, you want to follow me, right? I want to see how long you can follow me!!”

A flash of cold light.

The sharp sword easily cut off the maid’s head. Then Viscount Bird gritted his teeth and kicked the head hard. Soon, that deformed head flew down the stairs like a ball, disappearing into the endless darkness.

“Come on again! You bitch!!”

Viscount Bird roared again as he raised his sword and stabbed it into the girl’s body. He frantically, forcefully stirred, cutting one wound after another on the corpse.

“I’ll cut off your head! Cut off your hands! Cut off your feet! See if you can follow me again! Let you follow me again…!!”

Viscount Bird shouted frantically, as if venting the fear he had been accumulating, almost losing his composure. Under his sword, that corpse gradually became a bloody mess. Blood splattered all over the walls. Just then, suddenly, Viscount Bird heard a faint sound coming from the stairs behind him.

“Thud… thud… thud…”

With a rolling sound, a twisted, deformed head slowly rolled past Viscount Bird’s feet, lying again beside the corpse, just as it had been when it was cut off, without any change.

After seeing this scene, Viscount Bird’s body froze with the sword raised high. He stared blankly at the head at his feet. Those lifeless eyes had no expression, reflecting only Viscount Bird’s own fear.

“Thomson… go see what’s going on below.”

Suppressing his fear, Viscount Bird gave his final order. All along, to maintain his dignity as the master, he had walked in front. But now, Viscount Bird no longer wanted to do this.

No one responded. Heavy breathing still came from behind him, but there was no response.

“Thomson, didn’t you hear what I said?!”

Viscount Bird angrily turned around, but then he was surprised to find that the one who had been following him all along wasn’t his servant at all…

“Master?”

Looking at his master’s back, the loyal servant was a bit confused. After seeing that maid’s corpse, his master had been standing motionless at the stairway entrance for a long time, as if he had lost his soul. What had happened to him? What was he thinking?

Thinking of this, Thomson felt uneasy.

“Master, what’s wrong with you? Please answer me!”

The terrified Thomson forcefully pulled on Viscount Bird’s shoulder, making him turn to face him. Then, as if he had seen something horrifying, he screamed and fell backward, his eyes rolling back as he completely lost consciousness.