Chapter 199: Reunion
The moment Clark stepped out of the forest cabin, spacetime shifted. Looking back, there was no trace of the quaint forest shop, and the warm light inside seemed never to have existed. But at first glance, a pair of abrupt red shoes with white flowers, which shouldn’t be there at all, stood right behind him, the shoes slightly apart, just like an invisible person standing there.
“A blessing?” Clark suppressed his surging emotions, didn’t pick up the red shoes, and pressed forward stubbornly. Soon, he indeed heard light footsteps.
Tap… tap…
Like the sound of tears falling on bones, crisp and pleasant, yet eerie and sinister.
The shoes were really following him.
“Hey! Hey! Hey!!!” Just as Clark was growing numb to the shadowing blessing, he heard the girl’s urgent low calls.
Clark snapped back to attention and instinctively looked toward the source of the voice. There, Mireille, whom he had been desperately searching for, was hiding behind a huge painting that had been pushed aside. She was covered in dust and grime, her eyes vigilant like a rat afraid of being spotted by a cat.
“Mireille?!” Clark looked at her delightedly, while also shocked that the huge painting was actually a secret door.
“It’s me! Come with me quick!” Mireille beckoned to Clark, then reminded the approaching Clark to take some candlesticks from the nearby wall, saying it was darker below.
Clark did so, then entered the secret door with Mireille and quietly restored the painting secret door together.
Scratch!
Mireille lit a match and, before it went out, lit the candles on the candlestick. The firelight illuminated the dark secret passage.
“How did you end up here?” Clark was happy that Mireille was safe, but puzzled how she had evaded the fused monster’s tracking.
Mireille looked shaken, lowering her voice. “Didn’t you set Miss Hera’s room on fire? Butler Valente and Miss Hera had both chased out, and I wanted to escape during that gap, but I didn’t expect them to turn back. I got scared, couldn’t help crying out, and instinctively threw everything in my hands—the axe and oil lamp.
As a result, Butler Valente caught the axe and didn’t dodge the fragile oil lamp at all, but he didn’t anticipate the fire spreading from the spilled lamp oil, igniting them in an instant. They screamed in burns, and I took the chance to run. Dodging east and west along the way, I thought of getting a more powerful weapon to find you, so I ran back to Bluebeard the Count’s room, back to that secret chamber, and luckily found another secret passage there.
I never imagined Bluebeard the Count had set up so many hidden secret passages in the castle, almost covering the entire castle. I searched for you through the secret passages all the way until just now.”
Afraid Clark wouldn’t easily believe her, Mireille specially took him back to the secret chamber where Bluebeard the Count recorded the full process of observing the demon-subduing technique.
Actually, even without Mireille proving it to him, Clark wouldn’t have delved into the truth of it.
“Mr. Clark, what should we do now?” Mireille led Clark back into the secret passage, saying worriedly, “We’ll be discovered here sooner or later. Even if not, we might freeze or starve to death.”
Clark’s attention wasn’t fully on Mireille; he could still hear the footsteps of the third “person” by his ear, but Mireille seemed unaware. Remarking to himself how strange that was, it took him a while to belatedly respond to Mireille’s earlier question. He asked instead: “You’ve been exploring here for quite a while, right? Did you find a way out of the castle directly?”
“This secret passage doesn’t lead directly outside the castle.” Mireille shook her head. “The only way out I found is through one of the secret passage’s secret doors, very close to the castle door. But as I said earlier, going out of the castle now would mean freezing to death.”
“Here’s some good news.” Clark smiled slightly. “I just checked the sky outside the castle—it seems like it’s clearing up completely, and the blizzard is stopping.”
“Really!?” Mireille’s face lit up with joy as she bounced on her tiptoes in place.
Clark nodded. Just before entering the secret passage with Mireille, he had glanced outside the window—the weather indeed showed signs of clearing. As long as it cleared, there would naturally be a chance to escape the old castle, so they wouldn’t have to fight the fused monster like cornered beasts anymore.
“Where else does this secret passage lead? Is there a room that feels a bit safer?” Clark inquired, then explained, “Before waiting for the weather to fully clear, we at least need to find a place where we can observe the weather. We can’t see the scene outside from this cramped dark place.”
Mireille pondered in recollection, then said somewhat embarrassedly: “I didn’t pay much attention—it’s my first time in this secret passage, so I’m unfamiliar and don’t know where it leads.”
Clark said: “Then let’s search together.”
The two walked through the varied and complex secret passage holding the candle fire, discovering quite a few concealed secret doors like that huge painting frame along the way. Clark couldn’t help sighing: “No wonder people who come to the castle always disappear inexplicably—with so many secret passages and secret doors, who knows how elusive Bluebeard the Count could be in abducting people.
To create a secret passage network almost encircling the entire castle, one can only say Bluebeard the Count premeditated it all, preparing everything from the castle’s design onward.”
Mireille echoed with a sigh: “People who come here really are down on their luck—me too, all of us.”
While chatting softly, Clark and Mireille found another secret door, one at the top. They tried to quietly push it open but found it extremely hard to move, so the two gritted their teeth and pushed together, discovering they had reached the top of the castle’s highest bell tower. What had blocked the door earlier was thick accumulated snow.
“Perfect, we don’t need to search anymore. We’ll hole up right here—it’s well hidden. As long as we occasionally open a crack, we can accurately see the weather outside. I just took a look—the snow has lessened a lot, it should be about ready.” Clark turned and closed the secret door again, saying happily to Mireille.
Mireille was also very happy, obediently following Clark’s suggestion.
For the next period, the two squeezed into a corner of the secret passage, exchanging low voices to stay alert, huddling close to share warmth. Unknowingly, they pressed tightly against each other…
About three hours passed. Clark checked his pocket watch. He and Mireille were both somewhat frozen stiff, forcing their numb bodies to push open the secret door again. A ray of warm sunlight spilled onto him, instantly warming his chilled body. He couldn’t help laughing: “We… can go out now.”
