Chapter 77

(This kiss was moist, scalding, and careful; Everyone is the Duke)

Truth to be told, Yang Ye’s and Gu Liang’s original plan after looking at the corpses was to go to Sc.u.mbag Yu’s room to inspect it carefully again.

At 3:30 in the afternoon, the mysterious man had gone over to look for Earl William.

He was talking to himself because Earl William could not be bothered to acknowledge him and went to the bathroom to shower.

After all, he was getting married at night, and he had to make use of the time he had to shower, do his hair, and put on some light touch ups.

The water from the shower was very loud; towards the noise happening outside his bathroom, Earl William could not hear it at all.

After taking a shower that lasted around half an hour, he stepped back into his room and there was no one inside anymore.

Under the premise that none of the players had lied, then as the actor of Earl William, Yang Ye was the last to see the mysterious man, and it was possible that the mysterious man had left some traces in Yang Ye’s room.

Regardless of whether this story had a fantasy background or involves elements of crossing over, the most important thing was actually looking at all the traces that were related to the homicidal case at the very end.

The two corpses at the scene of discovery had already disappeared.

They did not find any traces in the sunflower garden.

Therefore, it was extremely important to find the places where the deceased had been prior to their deaths, since it could allow them to restore the pathing that occurred on the day of the crime.

After they had witnessed the disappearance of the corpses in the sunflower garden, this was what Yang Ye told Gu Liang: “Disregarding the story and returning to the case itself first, two people have died this time around. But we still don’t know if one murderer killed both of them, if two murderers killed them separately, or if there are other situations.”

“Agreed.” Gu Liang said, “Furthermore, I can’t think of any possibility where— both of them walked to the sunflower garden on their own accord before they were killed simultaneously. After all, crosses were used to stab their hearts, not bullets from long-distance guns. It’s highly likely that it wasn’t the first scene of the crime.”

Gu Liang raised his flashlight to scan the surrounding leaves. “We can’t discern a lot of traces here either. The sunflower garden is too big and it’s night time, which makes it incredibly difficult.”

Yang Ye remarked, “If this isn’t the first scene of the crime and we don’t know where the real scene of the crime is, it would be better if we looked for clues from the places where the deceased have originally been to. We’ve already pursued the lead of Magnate Rong and we started from his room. Since we didn’t find any other special clues apart from that diary, we can only work from the angle of the mysterious man.”

Gu Liang nodded. “I concur. From what we currently know, the last place he appeared at was your room, we should return back and inspect it carefully.”

But neither of them expected that before they could go to Sc.u.mbag Yu’s room, they would be drawn to the fourth-floor piano room by the sound of the harpsichord first.

* * *

At the present moment.

The torches on the wall casted a dim and yellow glow on the entire piano room.

There were thick curtains in front of the windows, and the two faces of the walls without torch placements were filled with sunflowers.

In front of the harpsichord, Li Xiao Yu slaved over the instrument with extreme devotion.

Concurrently, her skin had suddenly become extremely pale like she had transformed into a vampire in that instant.

As she continued to play, the melody increased in its sense of melancholia and Li Xiao Yu’s tears were on the verge of falling.

“She is gone. Why did she leave me behind and depart on her own? Why was it met with the same ending this time around?”

Gu Liang could accurately infer that Li Xiao Yu was saying the female variant of “ta” (她) because Li Xiao Yu was using the English “she”, and she was speaking with a pure English accent.

She looked like she was possessed, for eloquent and pure old English spilled out of her lips whenever she spoke.

Gu Liang had a few conjectures in her heart.

Hence, he walked over to Li Xiao Yu’s side. He spoke softly in English: “I did not die, I have returned.”

“You…. You did not die?” Li Xiao Yu raised her head, looking at Gu Liang with stupefaction.

But her gaze was clearly looking through him, like she was looking at another person.

Yang Ye furrowed his eyebrows minutely but he restrained himself, choosing not to interrupt Gu Liang’s experiment just yet.

He only walked towards the windows and pulled open the curtains gently.

Outside the window, the entire night sky was pitch-black.

But abruptly, a small speck of white came floating down.

k2014; Was it snowing all of a sudden?

The wrinkles between the s.p.a.ce of Yang Ye’s eyebrows became even deeper.

The roses bloomed, the sunflowers flourished, and it was actually snowingk2026;

Under logical circ.u.mstances, could the elements in this scenery co-exist?

Li Xiao Yu’s voice sounded out very quickly. “Really? You have returned? Is that you, Meili? I finally met you again, right?”

Yang Ye did not know if it was his own delusion, but just as Li Xiao Yu finished uttering those words, the snow outside the window seemed to lighten a little.

When he turned his head around again, Yang Ye saw Li Xiao Yu stop playing the harpsichord as she rose to her feet.

Even though she stopped playing the instrument, the melody did not cease.

The harpsichord was moving on its own, and the sorrowful and heavy melody continued on.

Subsequently, Li Xiao Yu stretched her hands towards Gu Liang in an attempt to hug him.

But upon careful scrutiny, her actions were very strange.

One of her hands were preparing to hold Gu Liang’s waist while her other hand was preparing to tug on his hand.

This was not the posture of a girl hugging a boy, but the reverse.

At this moment, Li Xiao Yu seemed to become an incarnation of the Duke, and she treated the Gu Liang in front of her as Aimeili.

Yang Ye finally took large strides forward, becoming the stick that struck against the mandarin ducks as he slid between both of them horizontally.

Following, he raised his right hand and snapped his fingers beside Li Xiao Yu’s ears loudly, causing Li Xiao Yu to sober up at last.

The sound of the harpsichord ceased abruptly.

Li Xiao Yu covered her ear and looked at Yang Ye, dazed. “When did both of you arrive? What happened?”

Despite wearing a frown, Gu Liang went to the front of the instrument and sat down, placing his hands on the keyboard.

Noticing his movements, Yang Ye held onto his wrist. “What are you doing?”

Gu Liang raised his head, staring at him as he said: “Testing it.”

Yang Ye understood his intentions instantaneously and he could only release his hand.

Then, Gu Liang turned towards Li Xiao Yu: “We’ll be troubling you to go outside the door first, lest you disrupt the sound of the instrument. After some time, knock on the door heavily, just like how you sobered us prior to this.”

Li Xiao Yu pondered briefly before she understood. She nodded her head and retreated outside the door.

After Li Xiao Yu left, Gu Liang glanced at the music score that he did not understand in the least and placed his hands on the keys to give it a try. Slowly, albeit unexpectedly, he managed to play the harpsichord with practiced ease.

Accompanying the gradual rise of the melody was the imperceptible changes in the atmosphere.

Gu Liang had a pale complexion to begin with, and with the overly dim lights in the room, no peculiarities could be distinguished from his skin for the time being.

But his expression went through an obvious change.

The line of his lower jaw tightened, his lips pursed, and his gaze became nervous and sorrowful.

The melody became increasingly melancholic as grievous sorrow gradually seeped into Gu Liang’s gaze, and the snow outside the window became a little heavier.

At this moment, Yang Ye walked up to his side and told him in a soft voice: “I’m back.”

“You… have you truly returned?” Gu Liang seemed to be in disbelief.

Yang Ye said: “Yes. I’ve returned. Although there was a separation of 300 years, you found me.”

Gu Liang’s fingers left the keyboard.

However, the music coming from the harpsichord still continued, except the melody was no longer as melancholic.

After a long moment, Gu Liang stood up slowly, one arm wrapping around Yang Ye’s waist while using the other to raise up Yang Ye’s hand. Following the melody of the piece, he began to lead Yang Ye in a waltz without requiring a teacher.

The torches darkened a little, like the light was on the verge of being exhausted.

Correspondingly, the snow outside stopped abruptly, as if the warm spring was about to arrive.

Amidst the deep and profound music, they spun, embraced, and cuddled…

Lastly, it was Gu Liang who pressed Yang Ye against the wall.

Beside them were the windows and the heavy velvet curtains.

And because the strength that Gu Liang exerted was quite heavy, Yang Ye’s shoulder was pressed against a portion of the curtains, thus causing a deep crease in the fabric.

With one of his hands still wrapped around Yang Ye’s waist, Gu Liang used his other hand to cup Yang Ye’s chin. Slowly, he closed the distance between the two of them.

In time with the tempo of the melody, Gu Liang’s lips slowly inched towards Yang Ye, and just when he was about to kiss him— Chief Mei’s anxious voice rang out suddenly from the door. “What is with the sound of the instrument here?!!”

Evidently, Li Xiao Yu had become entranced as she stood by the door, watching, and she had forgotten Gu Liang’s instruction.

Hence, the person who shattered everything became Chief Mei, since he was drawn over by the sound of the instrument.

Under Chief Mei’s yell, Gu Liang’s intelligence slowly returned, and when he realised what had occurred, he froze.

However, before he had the time to do anything, Yang Ye had already clasped the back of his head.

Gu Liang’s entire body was made to turn by Yang Ye, his back was pressed flush against the wall, and his chin was lifted up subsequently after.

After their positions as the attacker and receiver were switched, Yang Ye pulled over the velvet curtains from the side, thereby covering both of their bodies with the heavy fabric.

Then, he inclined his body and kissed Gu Liang’s eyelids.

Subconsciously, Gu Liang closed his eyes. There was an immediate and apparent heat on his lashes, alongside a slightly moist and tactile sensation, and this feeling made his eyelids itch a little.

In that instant, he slanted his head away like he wanted to dodge but his surroundings were filled with the heat that Yang Ye’s breathing brought, and he practically had nowhere to hide.

Following closely, the kiss slid down, landing on his nose gently.

Lastly, the kiss continued to rove downwards, finally covering his lips.

Moist. Scalding. Careful.

Prior to this, Gu Liang had been frowning as if he was resisting.

But in the moment where that kiss finally landed, Gu Liang did not know why but he released a faint sigh.

It was like a speck of dust, constantly being suspended in mid-air, causing a person’s heart to hang there, unable to find peace from beginning to end.

It was only when the kiss completely landed that the unease finally became calm for the time being.

Soon after, however, another kind of restlessness surged up.

The heart which just sank down after being suspended, started to beat furiously again.

This sort of feeling was too unfamiliar.

Gu Liang could not make sense of the cause.

Yang Ye held onto him tightly as if he wanted to deepen the kiss.

Gu Liang remembered there were people outside so he wanted to push him away.

As the pair went back and forth, it proceeded to pull at the curtain around them.

Subsequently, the entire curtain was pulled down and it slid to the ground from their bodies.

* * *

The curtain issued a rustling noise as it impacted the ground.

Immediately after, the atmosphere quietened down completely.

Gu Liang did not have the audacity to look at the other players.

Yang Ye seemed to understand his thoughts as he s.h.i.+fted Gu Liang’s head, allowing him to bury his head in his shoulders and prevent anyone from seeing his expression.

In reality, Yang was not willing to let anyone see Gu Liang’s current expression either.

And in the instant where he embraced Gu Liang, Yang Ye could clearly sense that— his heartbeat was particularly intense.

Gu Liang merely released an exhale softly, and shallowly.

During the exchange, he could only hear their collective breathing.

It was like they were the only two people left in this world.

* * *

A short while later.

Chief Mei looked at Yang Ye, Gu Liang, and Li Xiao Yu. He asked: “What you’re trying to say is, as long as you play that harpsichord, you’ll become the Duke? Let me try.”

When Chief Mei tried it, he was no different from the rest; he learned the piece without requiring a teacher and he sank into some kind of hallucination.

And after Chief Mei, Sister Mei and Su Lan arrived at the piano room one after another.

Every person tried it.

And none of them managed to escape the established law.

Chief Mei could not help but ask again: “Is there a spell on this harpsichord?”

The six players sat in the piano room together, sinking into deep contemplation.

That lasted until a certain moment where Li Xiao Yu pointed outside the window. “All… All of you, look…”

Owing to the fact that the curtain had been completely torn down, the scenery outside was immediately and plainly visible to them.

— First was the heavy snow that blotted out the skies and covered the earth as the snowflakes fell, dyeing the entire world white in an instant.

Following closely was the clear sky after the snow, and the moon irradiating the pitch-black night sky.

Seconds later, the round moon disappeared in the blink of an eye.

In the next instant, the sun brightened the entire night sky, suffusing light throughout the skies and earth.

Big sunflowers upon big sunflowers bloomed, flew up, and floated into the skies.

As the sunlight came through the window, it shone on every single person. Gu Liang’s gaze swept across all the players one by one— none of them were afraid of light.

At that moment, Gu Liang finally voiced the conjecture that had been slowly materialising in his mind: “It’s not the sound of the harpsichord that has a spell. Rather, it’s because each and every one of us are the Duke. Or perhaps, we are the characters he imagined in his fantasy.”

The translator: “Oh hey, a short 3.4k chapter for once” :DD

*looks at the next chapter*

*sees a 10.4k chapter*

*issues a cacophony of angry birb noise*

I SEE YOU STARRING IN MY NIGHTMARES