strokinit Chapter 173 The Dark Corner
Chapter 173 The Dark Corner
Chapter 173 The Dark Corner
So dark.
In the goblin's mind, there remains a distant memory, a fragment so remote and vague that Goblin cannot distinguish whether it belongs to this life or a past life.
He huddled in a dark corner, but he wasn't afraid—the darkness was warm and safe, carrying the faint scent of a woman.
Is it her mother, or her lover?
Something soft yet firm clung to his skin, pressed against him, squeezing him, forming a sealed space with the blanket—a safe haven belonging only to the boy.
The boy's breathing circulated within the narrow, enclosed space formed by the blanket and the woman's thighs. The temperature inside the blanket rose with each exhale, gradually becoming damp and warm. The boy slowly felt short of breath, but not uncomfortable. Instead, he was intoxicated by the warm, psychedelic sensation brought on by a slight lack of oxygen, like an infant submerged in amniotic fluid, floating in an endless sea of consciousness.
Where did this memory come from? Gebu was momentarily lost between reality and the past. He tried to recall, but the threads of memory flowed from his fingertips like yellow sand, impossible to grasp or hold onto.
Oh, right, the boy remembered.
When he was little, he liked to crawl into his mother's bed, bury his head between her thighs, and hide himself in the cramped corner like an ostrich until he couldn't breathe.
Why did he do that? Perhaps even the boy himself didn't know the answer. Maybe the outside world was too terrifying, and only this dark yet warm corner could make him feel safe.
"Hello, Xiao (Ge) Qi (Bu)." The mother's voice came from outside the blanket, familiar yet strange.
What did she call me? Is my name Gebu? the boy wondered.
Am I human, or a goblin?
A gust of fresh, cold air blew in through the gap in the blankets, and the boy shivered. The warm darkness was pierced by a blinding light. Gebu rubbed his eyes.
"—Have you had enough? Are you suffocating in there? Get out now!"
The swordswoman's voice pulled the goblin wizard back to reality. He peeked out from under the woman's skirt, saw that no one was around, and then crawled out.
"Has anyone caught up with us?" Gebu asked.
"—No, this is the second floor—"
Gebu quickly surveyed his surroundings. He couldn't remember what had happened under the woman's skirt, only that he had been kicked and twisted by the woman's two strong thighs, stumbling and falling as he climbed the steps. It was much quieter here than in the dance hall on the first floor; the music could be heard faintly through the floorboards, making the previous commotion seem like a distant memory.
"I think I'm oxygen-deprived—my mind isn't clear, and I'm remembering some strange things—" Geb pressed his temples and said in a low voice.
The woman with the sword pursed her lips and didn't reply immediately. She hesitated for a long time, and her face turned slightly red.
"————You filthy scoundrel————"
"Ah—I'm sorry." Gebu finally realized what he had just done and scratched his head sheepishly. "But luckily I bumped into you, and luckily I reacted quickly, otherwise I don't know how I would have gotten away with it if those people had stopped me."
The woman straightened her skirt, coughed lightly, and pretended nothing had happened. Then she asked, "You mean those people wearing crow-beak masks?"
"Indeed, you noticed too?"
"Having been a mercenary for so many years, I can tell at a glance who's a seasoned veteran and who's never even touched a sword. The nobles of the New Kingdom don't have a tradition of martial arts. And these masked men's physiques and movements clearly indicate they're combat personnel, making them stand out from the other masquerade ball guests."
"I guess they are Peacock's men, and we met because of the crow's beak mask."
Gebu crept up to the railing near the steps on the second floor to see if anyone was following him—luckily, he didn't see any suspicious people nearby.
"What do we do now?" the swordswoman asked.
"The plan remains unchanged. We anticipated that Peacock would send people to investigate. Now that we know how to identify her subordinates, staying away from the Crowbeak people is the best course of action—by the way, I asked you to scout the terrain of the Silver Moon Corridor. How's it going, Thigh?" Gebu accidentally slipped up and quickly corrected himself. "—Thigh Woman, oh no, I mean Sword Woman."
"—Believe it or not, I'll squeeze your head like a watermelon and burst it—" The swordswoman glared fiercely at Gebu.
Gebu knew this guy was skilled in physical combat and was probably not joking. He smiled awkwardly, still feeling lingering fear.
"This palace has four floors. The first floor is the ballroom, which you've already explored. The second floor, which is the floor we're on, is the gallery, divided into three areas," the swordswoman said, pointing to the left, right, and front of the staircase.
"The left wing is called the Glory Gallery, which displays military-related exhibits; the central hall is called the Hall of Piety, which mainly features religious displays; and the right wing is called the Rose Salon, which houses a collection of artworks."
Gebu looked around. The second floor was the same as the first floor, open to all guests, but the popularity was vastly different. Apart from the faceless waiters, he only saw a few couples wandering through the gallery. Some were making pretentious comments, some were having secret rendezvous, and some were using it as a temporary rest area, briefly escaping the noisy dance hall to sit on the sofas, eat fruit, and catch their breath.
"What about the third floor?" Gebu asked. The woman with the sword turned her gaze to a closed staircase between the left wing and the central hall—a tall, faceless servant stood at the entrance, avoiding eye contact with any guests, exuding an aloof and unapproachable air, like a doorman.
"The third floor and above are the VIP area; only guests with special status are allowed in," the swordswoman whispered. "I tried to pretend I didn't know and force my way in, but that guy stopped me—I guess if Peacock comes, he'll be up there."
"The VIP area—hmm—" Gebu stroked his chin, pondering for a moment. "Where is the statue of Our Lady of the Rosary? Is there a garden here?"
"The garden is outdoors. Passing through the ballroom on the first floor and exiting in the opposite direction from the main entrance, you'll find the back garden—"
In the center of the garden was a huge plant maze. Afraid of getting lost, I didn't dare go in. A servant told me that at the very center of the maze stood a statue of the Rose Saint.
"Understood, that's where Yvette's men set up their ambush." Gebu used a telepathic spell to speak to the swordswoman, revealing crucial information. "By the way, how many exits does that maze have?"
"I circled around, and there's only one exit," the woman with the sword said. "Why are you asking that?"
"It'll come in handy later," Geb replied casually. A rectangular maze with only one exit has a hard solution; there's no need to bring anything like yarn to guide you.
After a moment of thought, Gebu came up with many ways to sneak into the third floor, but first he wanted to try the simplest and most direct method.
"Knife Girl, it's not good for me to show myself on the first floor right now. Those 'Crow-Beakers' are looking for me," Gebu texted to the Knife Girl. "Go and keep watch at the stairs on the first floor. If you see any of the 'Crow-Beakers' looking up, come up to me before they do."
The swordswoman nodded, lifted her skirt, and quickly disappeared down the spiral staircase.
Gob walked straight to the steps leading to the third floor and said to the Faceless Guard in a straightforward manner, "I am Tissant-Cedric's guest, and I would like to go to the third floor."
The guard smiled politely at Gebu, half-blocking the entrance to the stairs without moving.
"What's up here? I want to see." Geb repeated his request, his tone direct and unceremonious, like a pampered nobleman who had never been told no by anyone.
"I'm sorry, you were not invited," the Faceless Man said politely but firmly.
"How could that be? Where's the list? Let me see it." Gebu said, deliberately with a hint of displeasure. "Do you know who I am? Who's my father?"
"You were not invited, nor was your father," the man replied slowly, his politeness infuriating.
Gebu pretended to be angry and rushed into the stairwell. The man reached out to stop him, but Gebu was short and ducked under the man's arm—half his body and one foot stepped into the stairwell. Suddenly, he felt uncomfortable all over and reacted instantly, jumping out of the stairwell as if he had been electrocuted!
The faceless guard hadn't anticipated Geb's reaction and quickly dodged to avoid colliding with the guest. Geb had only been in that stairwell for half a second, but he broke out in a cold sweat!
"Fine, if they won't let me in, I don't care anyway," Gebu muttered, quickly turning around and walking away. Only after turning the corner and leaving the guard's sight did he dare to clutch his chest and catch his breath, his heart pounding.
As soon as the goblin wizard stepped into the stairwell, he felt as if the blood in his body had turned into jelly, congealing in his veins, and all his magical power had stopped flowing.
This disgusting, nauseating feeling—yes, it's from antimagic silver!
Geb had witnessed this special material, designed specifically to counter magic, when facing witch hunters; any approach would instantly destroy any magical effect. There must be an anti-magic device or barrier installed in that stairwell.
Whether it was the peacock's doing or the Silver Moon Corridor itself had such defensive measures—this place was a key location for the New Kingdom's nobles' courtly intrigues, so it was not surprising that it had such a mechanism.
Fortunately, Gebu was wearing a fox mask, otherwise the magic effect of the Thousand Faces might have been dispelled.
Gebu had originally planned to use his magical pet to check the situation, and if the pet couldn't handle it, he would use invisibility to sneak up himself. This plan fell through. If they tried to force their way in, it would definitely cause a huge commotion.
Are there any other ways to jump up from the outer wall using a jump spell? It's too conspicuous—should I become invisible before jumping?
Or perhaps you could hide yourself in a dimensional bag and have the swordswoman throw the bag up there?
That's too risky. Geb thought:
I am completely unfamiliar with the terrain above, and I have no idea what the consequences of the interaction between magical items and anti-magic devices will be—if the 10,000-dimensional bag explodes and things fly everywhere, then there will be a major disaster.
What should I do?
As Gebu was calming himself down, a faceless servant approached from the side, carrying a silver champagne tray, and politely asked, "How are you, sir?"
Geb turned to look at the faceless servant. The man looked somewhat familiar; it seemed he had been offered champagne by Geb before.
"I'm fine—I just had a couple too many drinks." Gebu pretended to wipe the sweat from his forehead. "I'll be fine after a rest."
"Do you need to go to the balcony for some fresh air?" the servant asked.
"I told you, I just need a rest." Gebu waved his hand impatiently, trying to get rid of this meddlesome guy as soon as possible.
"I insist." The Faceless One reached out to support Geb's arm, and the halfling instinctively took a step back. Just as he was about to launch a further counterattack, the servant suddenly lifted a corner of his mask, revealing a sly smile.
"It's you?!" Geb exclaimed.
Yvette!
"Where the hell were you all this time?!"
"Shh, sir, please come with me." Yvette made a shushing gesture, put her mask back on, looked around, and then beckoned to Geb.
Guided by the dark-skinned half-elf, the two arrived at a small terrace on the second floor. Seeing that there were no outsiders, Yvette turned around and smiled at Geb, "So, did Peacock fall for it?"
"It's not that simple—by the way, I can't get to the third floor. Is the peacock there?"
"Most likely," Yvette shrugged. "The difficulty lies here: the third floor of the corridor is called the Mermaid Bath, and only special VIPs of the corridor can enter. The fourth floor is the Moonlight Terrace, which even VIPs can't access; only the patrons of the Silver Moon Corridor can personally invite them. Peacock isn't on the first or second floor, and she has no chance to go up to the fourth floor; she can only possibly be hiding on the third floor."
"Wasn't there a contingency plan for this?" Gebu said, somewhat displeased. "You guys are being a bit careless."
"We have a contingency plan—but we've run into a little trouble." Yvette stuck out her tongue.
"What do you mean?"
"We didn't expect Peacock to receive an invitation to the VIP area: her underground business is quite large, but on the surface she's just a potion seller from the old kingdom, not someone with that much power in Martina City. Besides, I thought that since Peacock chose to come to Martina, she would definitely show up in the ballroom on the first floor to dispel the previous rumors about her poisoning—who knew she would just hide there. What is she doing here?"
Gebu knew in his heart the purpose of the peacock's trip, but he didn't say it.
"So, do you have a way to get me on the third floor?" Gebu asked bluntly.
"There is a way," Yvette said after thinking for a moment, "but it's not simple."
"Speak quickly, there's not much time left."
"Have you heard of Princess Elaine?" The half-elf winked playfully. "Would you like to have a chance to date the legendary most beautiful woman in the kingdom?"
After some conversation, Geb said to the half-elf with a hint of helplessness, "So, your plan is for me to find Princess Elaine disguised at the ball, and then use the opportunity of meeting her to sneak into the third floor?"
"To be honest, if we had known in advance that the peacock would be hiding on the third floor, we would definitely have planned a way to infiltrate. But things happened so suddenly, and if we didn't want to force our way in, this was the best method."
"Holy crap—" Gebu felt a headache coming on. Things had taken an unexpected turn; he'd gone from trying to seduce an old lady to playing a guessing game with a middle-aged princess.
It's quite interesting to think about.
Since using magic to take shortcuts is too risky, it's better to go in through the main entrance honestly.
"If I'm looking for this princess—do you have any clues?" Geb asked. "I heard that the princess does this every year at the masquerade ball. How did people discover her before?"
"Hey, now that you're telling me this, I'm wide awake," Yvette said, her eyes sparkling. She seemed more excited about "finding the princess" than about the important matter at hand, making Geb wonder if she was there to work or just to have fun.
According to Yvette's description, the "game" itself is a secret, known only to regulars who frequent the Silver Moon Corridor, so few people participate in the "Princess Search" event each year.
The princess hasn't been found for several years, and there are rumors that the game has long since ended and the players involved were just having fun.
But Yvette was certain that the princess would be at the ball this year!
During the ball, the princess leaves clues in the corridors every year. These clues form a series of extremely obscure and complex puzzles, which only frequent visitors to the corridors can decipher. Three years ago at the ball, someone discovered that the portraits that were originally of women had been replaced with portraits of men without anyone noticing. She used the first letters of the names of the replaced portraits to spell out the ancient sage word "Leo".
That is, "lion".
The clever guest spotted the only one wearing a lion mask—she had concealed her femininity with a bodice and men's clothing, fooling everyone. This lucky woman gained a private meeting with the princess, and rumors circulated that she became Princess Hiren's new lover.
Unfortunately, perhaps because this person was too cunning, the princess quickly grew tired of her. Someone saw this lucky lover sneak into the Hundred Flowers Palace under the cover of night, and then she was never seen again.
"This time, I discovered a very important clue—I'm a musician myself, and I'm very sensitive to the music at balls. Every year, the 'Masquerade Ball Under the Moonlight' has a fixed program, played in chronological order, and it's never changed. But this year, I noticed that the program has changed; each piece has been condensed into a chapter, making it shorter."
"It's not a big deal, is it?"
"No, the structure of a dance piece is fixed. If a chapter is missing, each piece becomes incomplete—we musicians have trained ears, and such an imperfect performance would drive musicians crazy! So there must be a reason why they do this. Shortening each piece indicates one thing."
"They're going to insert a new piece of music in the middle of the program! And this piece is the clue the princess left for us!"