Welcome to the World of the Strong [Unlimited Flow] 35p2

Chapter 35 p2: The Ancient Castle

The two of them went upstairs. Jiang Yu looked at the direction of the stairs. “Are we going to see the other guest rooms?”

But Shi Jun was not in a hurry.

“Do you think we’ll always be in just one room?”

Jiang Yu understood what she meant. “But won’t the assigned rooms be repeated?”

After all, there were seven days. If they had to be reassigned a room every night, what if they were particularly unlucky and were always reassigned to rooms A, B, and C?

But Shi Jun smiled and shook her head. “Don’t worry. It won’t.”

And maybe the later they got, the more “material” there would be in the rooms they were assigned.

Just like today, there was nothing in her room, but something interesting had appeared in Jiang Yu’s room.

The two of them returned to their rooms. Shi Jun took out the meat from the black plastic bag.

Jiang Yu looked down at the cut meat. “What exactly do you want to do with this?”

Shi Jun chuckled softly. “You’ll know in a minute.”

Then, Shi Jun took out a thin iron wire and strung all the meat on it. At the same time, she took out a bottle and sprinkled something on it. Then, she cut her finger and dripped some blood on it. Then, she directly opened the window and threw it outside.

Jiang Yu, who had witnessed this series of operations: ?

She could not quite keep up with Shi Jun’s rhythm.

“These operations of yours are…”

She frowned slightly, then glanced at the open window. “And you… are you sure you want to just throw the meat out the window?”

Shi Jun looked up and smiled at Jiang Yu.

Jiang Yu paused for a moment, pinched her fingers, and then forced herself to use her brain to think.

She thought for a moment and guessed, “This meat… is to attract ghosts?”

After all, besides them, there should not be anything else in the entire castle that would eat meat, especially raw meat with human blood.

Shi Jun nodded with a smile.

She sat down on the edge of the bed, looked up at Jiang Yu, and signaled for her to continue.

Jiang Yu pursed her lips and looked out the window. “But you threw it outside. I still don’t quite understand.”

Shi Jun asked, “Who do you think is the ghost who might be chasing us?”

Jiang Yu’s first reaction was, “The maid.”

Then she added, “And that master.”

But the master of the ancient castle had not shown up. Although they were set up as guests, they did not know why they had come here, or what their relationship with the master was.

The atmosphere today was too stiff, and Jiang Yu had not thought of asking the maid. Besides, they would subconsciously think that the master of the ancient castle would come out eventually. So, there was no hurry.

Shi Jun nodded. “That’s right. We already know the ghosts that are in the open. They’re in the servants’ room on the first floor. Then what about the master? Where is he?”

Jiang Yu frowned slightly. “Are you trying to find his room?”

But it should not be necessary…

Shi Jun shook her head slightly, a smile on her lips. “I just want to confirm if he is in the ancient castle or outside.”

Jiang Yu was stunned for a moment. “What… does that mean?”

Shi Jun rested her cheek on her hand. “Have you ever thought of a method? If all the ghosts are in the castle, then on the seventh day, maybe we can use some items to seal all the ghosts in the castle.”

Jiang Yu followed her words, “To escape the most powerful slaughter on the seventh day?” But she quickly added, “But on the seventh day, the ghosts’ power should be at its strongest. Can our items trap them?”

Shi Jun’s lips curved, and a deep smile was in her eyes.

“I can.”

She did not say that the items could, nor did she say that everyone could. Instead, she said very lightly but firmly, “I can.”

Jiang Yu looked at Shi Jun and met her deep black eyes. She could not help but pause for a moment and said in a low voice, “Why are you so confident?”

Shi Jun’s eyes curved. What she did not tell Jiang Yu was that she knew all the formations to trap or kill ghosts. At that time, if she gathered the blood of five different people, she could activate the formation and thus kill ghosts below B-rank.

Anyone could draw such a formation after learning it. The only difference was proficiency.

And the most important point was that it was time-consuming.

It had to be completed in more than six days. Therefore, Shi Jun had to start confirming the location of the ghosts at this time.

Shi Jun just said, “Don’t worry.”

Jiang Yu asked, “Then what if the ghosts are not in one place? Are you going to lure them all into the ancient castle?”

Shi Jun smiled faintly. “Why not?”

Jiang Yu did not ask any more questions.

Since she had decided to believe Zhong Yu, then she would not do anything “halfway.”

So, Jiang Yu asked, “Is there anything I can help you with?”

Shi Jun’s lips curved. “Not for now.”

Jiang Yu did not ask much and nodded.

After doing many things, they should also go to sleep.

Shi Jun asked Jiang Yu with a smile, “Have you decided? Do you want to sleep here?”

Jiang Yu paused for a moment.

To be honest, she was very tempted, because Jiang Yu was… not to say that she was resistant to sleeping alone, but she was still a little nervous in her heart.

But considering that Zhong Yu was Shi Jun’s lover, and—she could not always rely on others.

Zhong Yu was not related to her. Even if they could become good partners in the future and could always be bound together to enter the instance, this did not mean that Jiang Yu could let herself go and make no progress.

To survive in the World of Strength, it was not enough to rely on others. The most important thing was to improve one’s own ability.

So, she had to train herself, even if she really did not want to face it alone.

Even if Zhong Yu was sincerely trying to support her now, but what about after one instance after another?

The gap between them would become larger and larger. At that time, could she still shamelessly stick to Zhong Yu and let the other party protect her?

Even if Zhong Yu was willing, but if one day she was not, then that day would be Jiang Yu’s death.

She could not let herself step by step hand her life over to another person.

Even if she trusted Zhong Yu at this moment.

Jiang Yu pursed her lips. “No need. I’m going back.”

Shi Jun looked at her with her eyes slightly raised, a bright light in them, and the smile on her lips slowly widened.

“You want to get used to it yourself, don’t you?”

Jiang Yu did not hide it and nodded.

“After all, the most reliable person is myself, isn’t it?”

There was no danger now. In a situation where it was just her own worries, she did not dare to face it alone. Then what should she do when there was real danger?

Jiang Yu’s mentality at this moment was probably like an eagle training a fledgling to fly, but the difference was that she was both the eagle and the fledgling.

Jiang Yu took a deep breath and refused Shi Jun again.

Otherwise, she was really afraid that she would not be able to hold it in.

Shi Jun looked at her and did not say anything more to keep her. But in her heart, more and more pleasure and excitement surged.

She liked Jiang Yu’s idea, and she liked Jiang Yu’s expression at this moment even more.

Most importantly.

Shi Jun gently bit her fingertip, restraining her slight trembling.

Most importantly—Shi Jun thought of a beautiful “future.”

Let Jiang Yu face and train on her own, and then save her when she was in mortal danger.

Let Jiang Yu be grateful, trust, and be close to her with all her heart.

Strengthen this kind of trust of saving and fighting side by side again and again.

And then at the last moment—abandon her.

Just the thought of that scene made Shi Jun unable to help but feel pleasure.

She took a deep breath, restraining her emotions, and smiled, her eyes curving to hide the expression in them.

Then, she said goodbye to Jiang Yu with a smile.

“Okay then. Good night.”

Jiang Yu looked back at her. “Good night.”

The door slowly closed in front of her. Shi Jun could no longer control herself and fell onto the bed. She covered her face with one hand, and what was revealed between her fingers was her slightly twisted and slightly excited smile.

After Jiang Yu returned to her room, she found the talisman she had taken out before.

It was divided into a warning type and a light attack type.

It was only the first night. Although Jiang Yu did not dare to be arrogant, she did not waste too much. She just took out a warning talisman and wrapped it around her wrist.

This way, if an uninvited guest really came at night, the talisman would automatically burn. The flame would not burn her, but the temperature would be able to wake her up from her sleep.

Then, Jiang Yu hid the weapon under her pillow.

After doing this series of things, she let out a breath.

The last thing was to wash up.

Looking at the bathroom, to be honest, Jiang Yu had a bit of an escapist mentality, but…

In the end, Jiang Yu still went.

She came out without any accidents or danger. Jiang Yu drew the curtains, lay on the bed with her shoes on, and closed her eyes to sleep.

The first day was indeed very peaceful. She slept until dawn. The two talismans were intact. It seemed that no ghosts had come out yesterday. Or rather, the ghosts had not found her room yet.

When Jiang Yu got up, she looked at the time. It was only past seven o’clock.

After she washed up, she went out and paused for a moment.

The originally empty walls were suddenly covered with many paintings, spaced between each door.

The content of the paintings was ordinary, just landscapes, fruit paintings, etc. The colors were also harmonious, and there was nothing strange—except that they had been hung up overnight.

Jiang Yu looked at these paintings but could not figure out their meaning.

She reached out and touched the paintings but did not feel anything worth paying attention to. There were no mechanisms, no extra things.

So, Jiang Yu temporarily stopped paying attention and came to Zhong Yu’s house and knocked on her door.

Soon, the other party opened the door.

Zhong Yu had changed into a new set of clothes. The upper body was a white shirt, with a form-fitting style that perfectly highlighted her waist. Her slender waist was hidden under the thin shirt. Looking through the light from the window, it seemed that you could vaguely see her figure inside.

The button at the collar was not buttoned, revealing her white, jade-like skin. Her collarbone was prominent, and her neck was long and slender.

Jiang Yu paused slightly, then subconsciously looked away to avoid suspicion.

Shi Jun looked up at her. “Good morning.”

Jiang Yu: “Good morning.”

Then she said, “I remember… we shouldn’t have brought any clothes with us.”

Shi Jun pointed to the closet and said casually, “I found new clothes in there. They have tags, so I took them off and changed.”

“…”

Jiang Yu did not know what to say for a moment.

Compared to her, Zhong Yu did not seem to be worried at all about what would happen in the instance, let alone about triggering any taboos. She changed her clothes whenever she wanted, as long as she was comfortable.

Jiang Yu smiled helplessly.

Then she said, “Something has changed outside. You should come and see.”

Shi Jun walked out and saw the oil paintings hanging in the corridor.

She looked at them for a few moments. “They were painted by the same person.”

Jiang Yu looked over.

She did not know much about painting. She could only describe her feelings about the paintings from the perspective of an audience who did not know much. But she did not know much more.

Jiang Yu also tried to find a pattern between the paintings, but she could not find one.

Shi Jun took a step closer, touched the painting with her hand, and then smiled faintly.

“Rita.”

Jiang Yu looked up and frowned slightly.

Shi Jun’s long, slender fingers tapped a few places on the painting.

“Do you see it?”

As her fingertips slid, Jiang Yu’s eyes widened slightly. Only then did she see the four letters that were cleverly hidden in the painting.

And these four letters formed a name.

“The painter’s name?”

“And the name of the master of the ancient castle.”

“…”

These letters were perfectly integrated with the content of the painting. If it were not for Zhong Yu outlining their shape with her fingers, then with her own observation skills, Jiang Yu would never have discovered them.

“What do these paintings represent?”

Shi Jun was thoughtful, then smiled faintly. “They shouldn’t have any special meaning, at least for now. These paintings should be like other clues, just clues that appear with the passage of time.”

Hearing this, Jiang Yu nodded.

Shi Jun said, “Let’s go. Let’s go down first.”

Her fingertips gently tapped the painting.

The two of them walked toward the first floor.

After going down the stairs, Shi Jun looked down at the situation on the floor. Some “footprints” that others could not see appeared in her eyes.

From the inside of the first floor, leading to the outside.

These footprints should be from the maids, because the footprints were not single. It was obvious that it was a group action.

Besides that, there were no other footprints in the room.

Shi Jun understood in her heart.

When they came downstairs, there were obviously not many people there. But this was normal. After all, no one had a fixed time before, and the NPC did not have this requirement, so it was obviously not realistic to require everyone to gather downstairs in the morning.

Currently, only Gu Dong and Xiao Man were sitting on the sofa.

Seeing Jiang Yu and Shi Jun come over, Gu Dong greeted them. Then, he rubbed his stomach and made a bitter face.

“What do we do? I’m a little hungry.”

Shi Jun looked up coldly. “Then eat. The maid should have prepared breakfast.”

Gu Dong: “But after what happened yesterday, I… how can I dare to eat the food they sent!”

Shi Jun smiled faintly. “Why not?”

Gu Dong said in a small voice, “What if today’s food is not clean?”

Shi Jun’s lips curved in a smile. “I see. That’s indeed a problem.”

Gu Dong: “Then…”

Shi Jun: “Then you can just go hungry.”

“…”

A gentle smile was on Xiao Man’s lips. She glanced at the frozen Gu Dong and comforted him in a soft voice, “Don’t worry. If there are no surprises, then only the late-night snack should be special.”

“Really?”

Xiao Man nodded slightly.

Gu Dong did not say whether he believed it or not, but he was more or less relieved.

Of course, he did not tactlessly ask Xiao Man how she knew. He just nodded quietly and sat back down.

Not long after, a maid came over and informed them that breakfast was ready. She did not do anything extra. Seeing this, Gu Dong asked, “Should we go and eat breakfast?”

Shi Jun stood up. “Since it’s ready, why not eat?”

Jiang Yu followed Shi Jun’s steps and came to the dining table.

The dining table was filled with very normal Western and Chinese breakfast. It was very standard, and there was nothing wrong with it. They were not asked to choose blindly again.

In fact, there was only one maid, not one behind each person like when they were eating a late-night snack.

Her appearance was terrifying, like a grim reaper coming to claim lives in disguise.

Gu Dong looked around. Seeing that Shi Jun and Xiao Man were eating their congee without any distractions, he also quietly picked up a bowl of congee.

Shi Jun took a sip, frowned slightly, and put the bowl back down.

She smiled, her eyes curving, and looked at the maid next to her. “Can you remake the food?”

The maid came over. “Guest, may I ask what happened?”

Shi Jun’s fingers tapped the edge of the bowl. “Your food is not delicious. I request a remake.”

The maid’s expression did not change at all. She just said, “Yes. May I ask what you would like to eat?”

Shi Jun rested her cheek on her hand, as if she were really thinking.

“Hmm, I can’t think of anything right now. How about this? Why don’t I go to the kitchen and see, choose what I want to eat, and then you can make it for me?”