Chapter 563-564: Ten Bride Candidates; Mo Yan |
563: Ten Bride Candidates
He wasn’t idle while recuperating from his hand injuries. He used the time to work on improving his strength and had trained using the cultivation methods passed down through the generations.
His strength now was considerably stronger compared to a few months ago, especially when it came to his barriers. He was confident even the blood princes of the demon realm wouldn’t be able to break through without expending a great deal of effort.
But the duke apparently broke through all of his barriers like child’s play.
Ming Xi clenched his fists tightly. He didn’t even realize his nails were digging into his flesh.
“Xiao Wu, I will find you. Wait for me. . . ” Ming Xi’s eyes were firm and clear. He looked toward the moon hanging high in the sky with determination.
Soft brilliant light shone down like layered light curtains as they spread toward the surrounding area. No one noticed the moonlight changing. . .
Feng Wu was awakened by loud bursts of crying. The first thing she saw when she opened her eyes was a deep, black sky. There wasn’t a single star, only a big blue moon. The moon seemed to hold some kind of magic that forced a deep sense of fear into the gazer’s heart.
“Why am I here? Wasn’t I asleep at home? What’s going on?” cried out a woman.
“Stop yelling. There has to be a reason why we’re all here. Let’s think about it calmly. Did anything strange happen before everyone arrived here?” One girl was still calm enough to think things clearly. She interrupted the wailing and yelling to rally everyone together.
“Where is this place? Why am I here?” Another girl woke up dazed.
"What's going on? Who are you? What do you want to do to me?" A stern voice came, obviously it was a girl who was quite favored at home.
Ai Lin and Zi Cheng were among the group as well, but the two of them didn't say much, they just stood in silence. Ai Lin was the first person who noticed Feng Wu was there as well. She walked over in a few steps and helped her up from the grass.
"Did you also receive the wedding invitation from Blue Moon castle?" Ai Lin asked in surprise.
Ai Lin never expected Feng Wu to receive an invitation. Obviously, because there was no Feng Wu in the original text, there shouldn’t have been a Feng Wu in the bride selection.
Ai Lin had suspected Feng Wu’s identity for a long time, but she failed every time she tried to verify it. Feng Wu didn’t seem to understand modern knowledge. It wasn’t until she had more contact with Feng Wu that Ai Lin realized she had been looking at it all wrong.
Feng Wu didn’t come from modern Earth like her and Zi Cheng, nor was she a reborn person like Zo, instead she was a time traveler from ancient times.
It took Ai Lin a long time to make this discovery. Once she did, she really wondered about her life. What was up with this world? The heroine from the original text was a time traveler. She and Feng Wu were both transmigrators from different times, and Zo was a reborn.
Zo’s rebirth could be considered a natural evolution of the world and Zi Cheng’s traveling through time was a requirement as the heroine of the novel and necessary to move the plot along. So, then what was the reason for her and Feng Wu’s addition to the world? Why were they here?
She was sure Feng Wu had never read the original novel nor did she have anything to do with the original world. Ai Lin didn’t understand why Feng Wu travelled through time to the current world.
She couldn’t ask Feng Wu directly because Feng Wu had Ming Xi guarding her. And who was Ming Xi? A big boss who was the future emperor of the Moon kingdom was what! It was best not to make waves with him.
Ai Lin kept her identity a secret from Feng Wu because of this. Feng Wu would never have come up with such a wild scenario on her own.
Seeing Feng Wu now, someone who shouldn’t appear in the duke’s castle, really shocked Ai Lin. She didn’t know if the Duke of Blue Moon brought the three of them there on purpose. If the duke could marry a man, would he have also brought Zo?
Ai Lin complained bitterly about the villain in the small theater of her mind.
After taking Ai Lin’s hand and standing up, Feng Wu realized something was wrong with her clothes – they weren’t hers.
She blinked and looked around at everyone suspiciously only to realize it wasn’t just her. They were all wearing wedding dresses as well.
All ten girls were wearing the same blue gown, the same tiaras, and even the little leather slippers on their feet were the same.
How weird. No wonder the one girl was crying so much. No normal person, when faced with such a strange situation where all their clothes were changed after waking up in an unknown place, wouldn’t feel put off. Who wouldn’t be disoriented?
“Yes.” Feng Wu replied.
“The wedding invitation from Blue Moon castle!” The other girls were close enough to overhear. Plus, Ai Lin hadn’t lowered her voice so it was easy to be overheard.
“Could our being here be related to that invitation?!” There were many smart girls in the group. After confirming everyone had received an invitation, they guessed it was what that brought them here.
“What the hell is going on? How did I end up here after getting an invitation? Why?” A delicate and weak girl cried pitifully, her pear blossom eyes rained tears down her pale cheeks. A pity they were all girls and there weren’t any guys around to appreciate her beautiful crying.
“Who brought us here? What’s the purpose?!” Another girl voiced her anxiety as she wrung her hands.
What purpose could there be? To chose a bride-made doll, thought Ai Lin secretly as she complained in her heart.
That was the only thing she could do. She couldn’t very well say her thoughts out loud. They weren’t things the main daughter of a small house should know.
Besides, it wasn’t good to share too much information. What if the girls couldn’t stand it and committed suicide? What would she do then? Dare destroy the duke’s game, that kind of felony would earn her a miserable death.
564: Mo Yan
Ai Lin was afraid of the mysterious and unpredictable Duke of Blue Moon. No, it was more accurate to say she was very afraid of the Duke of Blue Moon.
The other girls were worried as well, but for a different reason. They were dazed after just waking up and still confused. They didn’t feel desperate yet, probably because they didn’t know the duke’s methods.
“Distinguished ladies, welcome to Blue Moon. I am Mo Yan, head steward of Blue Moon castle. Allow me to sincerely welcome all of you on behalf of His Grace.
Somehow, without any of them noticing, a man in a black robe appeared close by.
He had black hair and looked in his forties. His steps were completely silent and none of them knew how long he had been standing there. They only detected his presence after he spoke.
“Ah! Who are you? What do you want? Money? I can give you lots of money, just let me go home quickly. My father will not let you off easily if you keep me here any longer!” The girl who spoke clearly didn’t understand how dangerous their situation was. She acted superior, like a spoiled young lady.
Head Steward Mo Yan didn’t even frown. “Miss Simia is such a jokester. That you can be here means you’ve already earned the opportunity to be His Grace’s bride. It is a great honor. Please do not speak such disrespectful words again.”
Mo Yan’s eyes were full of reverence and admiration as he spoke about the duke. There was also a hint of madness lurking on his face.
When Ai Lin saw him, the three words “rabid brainless fan” popped to mind.
Honor my foot. What honor? Be killed and turned into a doll? Ai Lin didn’t want any of it. She slandered the duke and the steward mercilessly in her heart. She didn’t have any good feelings toward the duke or the steward who worshipped him like a mad lunatic.
The steward was most definitely a lunatic. To a certain extent, his craziness was comparable to the Duke of Blue Moon.
“The duke’s bride? What nonsense are you spouting? When did this young miss agree to be his bride? You trapped this young miss here just to force her and commit a crime? Let me tell you, you can keep dreaming!
This young miss is the granddaughter of the vice president of the dignified Pharmacist guild. Not everyone can be worthy of me. If you are sensible, you should release me. Otherwise, when Grandfather hears about this and leads people to find me, none of you will have a good end. . . ”
Simia was blind to reality. She still thought they were in the regular world, where people wouldn’t dare slap the Pharmacist guild.
In the outside world, Simia was a cherished child, but here in Blue Moon, she was less than nothing.
The Duke of Blue Moon didn’t give anyone face. A mere vice president of the Pharmacist guild? Please, that was beneath him.
Ai Lin could see it all clearly.
Feng Wu stood silent to the side as she watched Simia and the man named Mo Yan interact.
Zi Cheng also remained silent. Normally someone like Simia was exactly the kind of person she would have wanted to build favor points with. But this time she chose not to jump in. An ominous premonition had dogged her ever since she woke up.
She knew she wouldn’t feel so strongly without a reason, so it was best to avoid confronting her captors until she understood the danger level and who the owner of the castle was.
By the sheer fact that the other party was able to bring her out of school to this place without disturbing anyone showed they had ability. Their strength was probably more than twice her own.
The others were not as calm. When Simia revealed her identity and wanted to force a release, two more girls joined in and made the same demands.
The two girls were from good backgrounds as well. Their identities, had they been on the continent, would have carried considerable weight.
A pity, none of the girls knew they had encountered a pervert, two perverts in fact. Two abnormally strong perverts.
Other than the three young ladies, no one else stood up to speak. The rest of the girls began to calm down as they studied their surroundings closer. They guessed the strength of their host was not something they could trifle with.
Ai Lin looked at these smart girls with approvingly. If they hadn’t been selected by the duke, they would have led good lives and married into aristocratic families.
They had excellent temperaments and strong hearts, but unfortunately it was useless. There was no escaping other than with the cheat item from the heroine. They were all going to be cannon fodder.
Ai Lin wasn’t going to die without a fight, however. She hoped the preparations she made wouldn’t be in vain and that she would be able to escape.
What about Feng Wu though? They were both fellow transmigrators, even if they were from different places. They got along really well too.
Would Feng Wu be able to escape? Ai Lin was so worried about her. But wait, she didn’t have time to worry about someone else! She couldn’t even protect herself; she needed think about herself more!
Ai Lin was just done thinking it over when Mo Yan finished answering their questions.
The end result, of course, was they didn’t get sent back. Mo Yan led them through the castle.
They weren’t stupid. Mo Yan’s attitude was good, but there wasn’t any respect in his eyes. He looked at them with a calmness that was unnerving.
No matter how harshly Simia and the others spoke, he remained unaffected. The other girls felt his thoughts were unpredictable and profound.
Ai Lin knew better. She knew it was because Mo Yan didn’t have the motivation to bother with people who were going to die soon.
They were all dead things in his eyes. How could an old monster like him, who lived for who knows how long, get angry at dead things?
Mo Yan led the ten girls, all dressed in beautiful blue wedding dresses, through a meadow to a splendidly enormous and majestic castle.
All the girls who entered before either had something extraordinary in themselves or something extraordinary in their identities, and every one of them had extraordinary knowledge about something.