Chapter 11 – Rose Manor (10): Suggestive Induction

Along the stone walls inside the ancient castle, snaking water stains seep like ulcers, and the withered vines seem to have grown a little more, deepening the cracks in the weathered, crumbling masonry.

Qi Si descended the stairs to the ground floor; he saw neither Miss Anna nor the Butler.

Most of the time these two NPCs vanish from the castle as though erased, appearing only when necessary—perhaps kindly leaving players ample room to explore, or perhaps because they know that ‘fear springs from the unknown’ and hide in the shadows to heighten the tension.

Qi Si pushed open the castle’s great doors, and a vast sea of roses burst into view.

The ashen-purple overcast lent the scarlet roses a leaden hue; beneath the interlaced foliage lay thick blackness, giving an instinctive sense that secrets and horrors were buried and lurking there.

Qi Si followed the path outward; raising his eyes he saw Zou Yan standing amid the flowers not far off, looking toward him.

When their gazes met, Zou Yan nodded in greeting, then bent to toy with the roses before her.

Qi Si walked straight over, parted a cluster of roses, and cleared a small patch where he could stand.

He stood still in the damp chill, then turned to face the castle.

The towering structure loomed in decay, cloaked by sourceless natural light in a gray, ghastly shade. Ancient vines crisscrossed up the outer walls, long since become part of the castle beneath the dust of ages.

He stood at the very spot where Miss Anna had lingered the night before; from here he could see the second-floor guest-room windows, but through the weathered glass only a tomb-like gloom was visible.

From this angle the light was behind him; anyone inside the room would be invisible. What had Miss Anna been looking at last night?

Qi Si stepped back to take in the whole castle.

Its outer walls were mottled with fading paint, speckled by tiny fungi and mildew; huge stones gaped like open wounds, dead vines threading the cracks. For an instant he felt the castle was a person—one bound in layer upon layer of chains.

Zou Yan beside him suddenly asked, “Qi Si, what do you think of Miss Anna?”

Qi Si turned his head, meeting the woman’s eyes. “In what respect?”

Zou Yan smiled. “Just chat; idle talk, nothing more.”

Two images flashed through Qi Si’s mind: a woman chewing flesh at the dining table, and a sorrowful, resentful figure standing in the rose-scented night. Human shapes lingered for two seconds before automatically dissolving into skin, meat, and bones, rearranging into every possible plan—how to dissect, how to craft specimens, which techniques to use, what kind of display… A gentle curve crept into his smile: “By general human standards, Miss Anna has a healthy appetite and perhaps suffers mild insomnia.”

“…”

Seeing Zou Yan’s odd expression, Qi Si lowered his lashes and added something more normal: “Of course, she is very beautiful; if she weren’t a Ghost, she’d be the sort plenty of people would fall for.”

Zou Yan seized the opening: “And you? If she were alive, would you fall for her?”

If she were a corpse, I might be interested in adding her to my collection.

Qi Si’s smile was utterly sincere: “Due to my profession, to me a person is merely an embryo of a ghost; every living thing is no more than a skeleton not yet rotted.”

“And if her hands were stained with blood?” Zou Yan gazed silently at Qi Si; her brown eyes spread like water-soaked pigment, as though to draw his soul into a vortex. “One who shares the exact same sin can understand your interests, hobbies, and past. Even a lone beast accustomed to solitude may feel loneliness in the endless night…”

This time Qi Si offered no answer; instead he asked, “What do you think of Miss Anna? You seem rather concerned about her.”

Zou Yan gave a bitter smile and shook her head. “She’s probably a pitiful soul—lonely, sad. I don’t know more than that; after all, I’ve never spoken a word to her.”

“True; I’ve only exchanged three sentences with her.” Qi Si turned and walked deeper into the roses, the rustle of stems and leaves brushing against his steps.

Behind him a sudden wind whispered, carrying a long, soft sigh.

It had been a probe: Zou Yan hoped to fish out more clues without revealing what she already knew, even resorting to a few psychological tricks.

But she failed.

Since childhood Qi Si had undergone no fewer than two hundred counselling sessions; he could recite every therapist’s lines backwards. In the end he himself became quite accomplished, successively curing six doctors of their mental illnesses.

By now he was long past the age of being induced, suggested, or hypnotized; even in his dreams he remained awake. “Still, does this count as the mutual-fishing stage?” Qi Si rubbed his chin with interest, his gaze falling on Chang Xu at the far side of the garden… Rose Manor’s garden was broad and empty, planted solely with roses no higher than a person’s waist, offering almost no cover; with a single glance one could take in everyone’s movements.

Chang Xu held a shovel, digging beneath the withered vines at the castle’s base—he seemed to have found some remarkable clue.

Ye Zi bent among the roses, searching aimlessly, absent-minded, as if she had simply wandered out because she didn’t want to stay inside.

Qi Si strolled along a path with few petals, drifting away from the castle, and spotted a rust-eaten iron gate barring the far end of the road.

A clumsy padlock hung from it, long fused shut; no player could force it open.

Beside the gate Qi Si noticed a small patch of bare ground—no grass, no roses—where a rectangular stone slab was set, engraved in English with several lines.

【Here lie our dearest Mummy and Daddy. Anna & Annie】

【Here lies Anna, my beloved big sister. Annie】

It was a family tomb: apparently the parents died first, followed by Anna, with little sister Annie the last to survive.

Qi Si remembered the Butler said he lived “underground,” yet the castle had no basement—so “underground” could only be taken literally.

He crouched before the stone slab and tapped the ground twice with a knuckle.

A sharp wind howled past his ears, accompanied by a suspicious rustle—the sort of omen that precedes a ghost in a horror film.

The Butler in black uniform appeared abruptly behind the slab, his plastic face wearing an exaggerated smile: “Honoured guest, you may not leave the manor yet; Miss Anna would be cross.”

Qi Si met the Butler’s eyes, voice earnest: “I wasn’t trying to leave. I came only to ask where Miss Anna might be.”

The Butler replied, “The young lady is naturally where she wishes to be.”

“Is that so? A pity.” Qi Si lowered his gaze and sighed. “I notice Miss Anna always avoids us; apart from meals we never know where to find her. Could it be… she dislikes us guests?”

He let his voice drop to a hush, as though lamenting Miss Anna’s attitude, yet a veiled threat glimmered within the question.

Panic flickered in the Butler’s eyes; he shook his head repeatedly: “No, she does not dislike you. Miss Anna likes her guests.”

—rule Three: 【Miss Anna likes her guests and bears them no malice】.

As expected, the rules constrained not only players but also the instance’s NPCs; true fairness was unattainable, but the façade was easy enough to maintain.

Qi Si curved his lips in a smile: “Then may I meet her in the garden now?”

Seeing the Butler’s reluctant look, he added softly: “It won’t take long; if she still refuses, I’ll let it go.”

With matters pushed this far, the Butler had no choice but to bow reluctantly: “Please wait a moment, honoured guest; I shall fetch Miss Anna at once.”