Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
The crystal chandelier swayed, casting fragmented light spots, as Luna curled up in the ornate cradle, staring at the sharp silver-threaded butterflies of the Qian Si embroidered shoes.
The maid was polishing the astrolabe, and Luna recalled that the waft of nightingale grass fragrance had seeped through the intricate patterns—she remembered this part from the original book, where Lucius would turn the brass compass for the seventh time, causing Qin Si to step on a perfume bottle that the concubine maid had deliberately spilled.
"Ah!" Qin Si suddenly gasped as the iris on the embroidery frame was stained crimson.
Seizing the opportunity, Luna waved her small hand resembling an Oujie. The silver spoon, now smeared with paint, tilted unexpectedly, and ink spread out in winding traces on the Qian Si skirt.
Those dark spots bizarrely coalesced into an arrow shape, pointing towards the sheepskin map in Leonard's study room secret compartment.
Qin Si stared at the skirt, gasping in shock. The silver needles of her embroidered shoes trembled in the candlelight. "Young Miss, this is..." Before she could finish her sentence, Luna blew bubbles and grabbed her waist, revealing a piece of nightingale grass petal stuck in the inner seam of her scent pouch—specifically from the blue-violet variety unique to the outer chamber garden.
The diamond light spots cast by the window lattice danced across the ground. As Qin Si trembled and crushed the petal, Luna suddenly burst into giggles.
The infant Luna darted through a path of shimmering gold, causing Qin Si's emerald bracelet to crack and drop half a silver button engraved with the rose family crest—perfectly matching the one missing from Leonard's morning attire.
"Madam is verifying the gold leaf ledger in Rose Hall." Luna imprinted this message into Qin Si's mind with magic resonance while wrapping herself in a gold-threaded swaddle.
Qin Si staggered against a carved pillar, cold sweat trickling down her pearl earrings into her collar.
She knew this was a warning from the spirit of the magic castle through the infant, just like last Yue Lu when Luna had pointed to a teacup containing poison with her crystal pacifier.
Suddenly, Aelia's opened sheepskin scroll cracked with scorch marks, and ink transformed into black butterflies that fluttered towards the crystal chandelier.
Her hand, which was twisting a jade ring, froze mid-air as magical numbers began to twist on the gold leaf ledger—this was an alert from the magic fortress defense array regarding their mistress's emotional turmoil.
"Madam..." Qin Si's voice sounded like silk soaked in ice water.
Kneeling on the Persian carpet, she spread out a handkerchief scented with nightingale grass fragrance. The scenes restored by manifestation spell from Leonard's last night began to rise: Leonard’s cloak swept past the wisteria arbor as a blonde woman tiptoed to tie his silver-gray scarf; in the courtyard fountain floated a pocket watch engraved with the glory family crest.
The Jade Ring on Aelia's fingertip emitted a crisp sound, and scarlet Light Mist seeped from the cracks.
She recalled her wedding night twenty years ago when Leonard slipped the Family Signet Ring onto her ring finger, causing all the black roses on the terrace to suddenly bloom.
The moonlight was just as pale then, and he kissed her ear adorned with Magic Patterns, saying, "The Lingmai of Glorious Demon Fortress will always resonate with you, my lady."
Qin Si suddenly cried out, pointing at the wall tapestry, where the Eyes of the Embroidered Shoes and Golden Lion were weeping Blood Tears.
Aelia staggered to support herself against the Gilded Candelabra, seeing her reflection shattered in eighteen prisms—each fragment reflecting different memories: Leonard igniting an entire galaxy of Star Trails for her during the Winter Flame Festival; he cutting his palm to protect her Heart Vein with Blood Curse when she gave birth to Lucius; last year, for Ailya's Birthday Rune, he specially hunted an Ice Crystal Phoenix from the Northern Territory, its tail feathers still adorning her chamber curtains...
"The vines on the Castle Outer Wall are blooming backward!" The servants' exclamations came from the terrace.
Suddenly, the Gold Leaf Ledger in Aelia's arms ignited spontaneously, and from the ashes emerged half a Fire Seal marked with lip prints—completing a heart shape with the one locked in her jewelry box.
Scalding tears sizzled on the ashes as Qin Si fearfully noticed that her lady's ear adorned with Magic Patterns was fading to a ghostly white.
As Twilight soaked into the Stained Glass, Aelia stood before the Matriarchs' Portrait.
The Pearl Necklace suddenly snapped, and three hundred twenty pearls floated into a Star Map formation, three of which fell into the Frame, transforming into the Tear Mole of the First Matriarch.
When a Loud Cry from the Night Owl echoed from the North Tower, she finally discerned that in the background of a certain Image, the Wisteria Arbor perfectly overlapped with the courtyard of the illusionary Outer Chamber.
A fierce wind burst through the Liujin Window, and a torrential rain swept in with black Rose Petals.
Aelia tightened her grip on the Cracking Jade Ring, hearing a roar from the foundation of Magic Castle akin to a dragon awakening.
The Crystal Chandelier flickered ominously as her reflection split into countless weeping illusions among scattered pearls.
As the last ray of moonlight was swallowed by Wu Yun, a familiar sound of Dragon Scale Armor clashing echoed from the East Tower—this marked Leonard's regular return to the fortress.
The cold gleam of the Dragon Scale Armor pierced through the rain curtain, and ice crystals formed at the edge of Leonard's cloak fell to the ground.
When he removed his helmet, adorned with the Glory Family Crest, three pearls suspended in mid-air suddenly exploded into powder—this was the first sign in two hundred years that the mistress of the Magic Castle had refused to accept her husband's weapon.
"Darling, is it the Northern Merchants who have delayed their tax payments again?" Leonard handed his sword to the Mechanical Puppet while brushing away the black rose petals from Aelia's shoulder with his Xuan Tie Gloves.
This habitual gesture caused the Crystal Chandelier to sway violently, and within the Memory Crystals embedded in its frame, he recalled how every morning during their honeymoon, he would pluck Chen Lu from her hair.
Aelia's ear, where the Magic Pattern had faded, suddenly flared with a crimson hue, and the crushed Jade Ring left a scorch mark on her palm.
The blood-stopping silk handkerchief that Qin Si hurriedly brought over spontaneously ignited, and dark purple flames surged into the shape of a Wisteria Arbor in the Outer Chamber courtyard.
"Has your old injury from hunting the Ice Crystal Phoenix last year healed?" Aelia's voice was wrapped in the sound of ice crystals rubbing against each other.
She lightly tapped her fingertip, causing the floating Gold Leaf Ledger to flip back to last winter—the page recording "Fortress Lord's Demon Hunting for Seven Days" suddenly oozed blood, corroding the words "Icefield Giant Lizard" into "Canary Lane No. 23."
Leonard's movements faltered as his belt buckle, encrusted with Moonlight Gems, suddenly cracked open.
The rolling gemstones bounced on the Persian Carpet, each reflecting a different scene from Leonard's Last Night: his Silver Gray Scarf, a pocket watch floating in the Outer Chamber fountain, and a blonde woman pinning Nightingale Grass to his lapel.
"It's just dealing with some family secrets..." He reached out to embrace his wife but found that all eighteen reflections in the prism were avoiding contact.
The leftmost mirror suddenly reflected Leonard's Last Night from twenty years ago—his newlywed self was using a curse to bloom black roses all over the terrace, while at that moment, real rose vines were wildly entangling his Leonard's Boots.
Aelia swept her sleeve across the Dressing Table, knocking down an Enamel Jewelry Box. Half of a Fire Seal flew out from its lock core and collided with fragments in the Gold Leaf Ledger's ashes mid-air.
The complete Shan Na was pieced together, and the Ice Crystal Phoenix Tail Feather on the Four-Poster Bed Canopy snapped in unison. The Eerie Blue Glow that once illuminated the chamber now converged into a blade of light, striking Leonard's Chest Armor and sparking dazzling flames.
"The Lingmai of the Glorious Demon Fortress indeed resonates with me," Aelia said as she stepped over the pearls scattered on the ground, her hair ornament Jin Bu Yao shattering two panels of Stained Glass.
She pointed at the wall where blood seeped from the Tapestry, where the fangs of the Golden Lion embroidered shoes were gnawing at Leonard's Family Crest. "So when the Lingmai sensed its master’s betrayal, the Ancestral Portraits of the North Tower would rather blind themselves."
Suddenly, Leonard erupted in fury, crushing the floating Gold Leaf Ledger. The splintered shards of Star Sand Parchment formed a layout of the Outer Chamber in midair.
Veins throbbed at his temples, and the Magic Pattern on his Xuan Tie Gloves glowed with a dangerous Purple Light. "Madam, you bury yourself in the Gold Leaf Ledger all day. Do you even remember when we last dined together?"
"Who was it that kept him company until dawn that night of Lucius Magic Surge, in the Forbidden Chamber!"
A roar echoed from the Dome, shattering like a cracked Liang Zhu, causing thirty-six Mechanical Puppet stewards to simultaneously cease their operations.
Luna's Cradle suddenly floated between them, and the swaddling of Gold Thread automatically unraveled into a Family Tree Diagram—the thread representing Leonard was branching out dangerously.
"So using the scent of Nightingale Grass Fragrance to mask the aura of the Outer Chamber, is that your revenge against loneliness?" As her Pearl Necklace transformed entirely into Stardust, the Gilded Candelabra melted into a sword in her palm.
From the East Side Weapon Vault, a resonant sound emerged as all of the matriarchs' swords lay sheathed, vibrating and shaking off layers of dust and cobwebs.
In a sudden motion, Leonard tore open his collar, revealing a dimming spell at his heart: "The spell of your blood that extended my life back then requires me to reopen this scar every full moon. Have you ever asked why this scar has not healed for twenty years?" The torrential rain behind him abruptly stilled, and within the suspended droplets emerged countless memories of him tending to his wounds alone on what he called his last night.
A cold laugh from Aelia shattered the reflection in the Dressing Mirror, causing shards that once reflected sweet memories to now stand upright in disarray.
As she stepped over a lens reflecting their date under the snow, the entire floor of the Magic Castle suddenly turned transparent, revealing boiling currents of Lingmai in the underground—once intertwined golden and silver energies were now violently tearing apart.
"Lord of the Fortress!" Qin Si's Qian Jiao pierced through the stalemate.
The Crystal Chandelier above everyone's heads crashed down, but was ensnared by the Black Rose Vine just a second before it struck Aelia.
The barbed vines suddenly bloomed with pale white flowers, each petal emerging with the image of a woman from the Outer Chamber caressing the Family Crest of Leonard's Last Night.
Leonard's Pupil abruptly constricted, and Leonard's Sword unsheathed itself, slicing towards the vines.
This protective action, however, sent the Underground Lingmai into a complete frenzy, as the Gold and Silver Dual-Colored Pillars burst through the Dome, tearing through the clouds with lightning.
When Lei Guang illuminated the unfamiliar Rose Emblem on his sword hilt, Aelia finally collapsed in despair, realizing that the Star Emblem she had carved years ago had long been worn away.
Luna's Loud Cry mixed with Magic Resonance exploded in everyone's ears.
The Defensive Formation beneath the baby carriage suddenly reversed, forcing Leonard back three steps.
Seizing the opportunity, Aelia tore apart the Silver Chain of the Corset, and twelve seals containing the Family Contract floated into a shape resembling a Vine Cage—this was the matriarch's final sanction against the family head.
"Madam!" Qin Si rushed forward, gripping her bloodied Wrist.
The Mechanical Puppets turned their magical stones towards the doorway, where Third Young Master Lucius's Dragonhide boots shattered the moonlight spilling across the corridor.
Further away on the terrace, vines on the Castle Outer Wall bloomed with more inverted flowers; some ancient defense mechanism was awakening...
Aelia staggered back a step as molten iron from the Gilded Candelabra formed a heart-shaped gap in the Ground.
She gazed at her Jade Ring, which she had not removed for twenty years—at this moment, dark red Blood Mist seeped from the spider web-like cracks, sharing its origin with Leonard's Heart.
A cry filled with sorrow echoed from behind as the Image of the First Matriarch suddenly fell from the Palace Dome, igniting into Ice Blue Flame upon hitting the ground.
In the eerie glow of the fire, Aelia saw her reflection in the eighteen Prisms, each silently repeating the vows of marriage from years past.
At that moment, a disturbance came from the East Tower, as the Ashes of the Ice Crystal Phoenix Tail Feather floated toward the terrace, coalescing in the downpour into a Blood Arrow leading to the Forbidden Chamber.
Aelia's Fingertip dug deep into Qin Si's Shoulder Blade, and cracks in her Jade Ring released tiny specks of light.
The suspended Family Contract Seals suddenly lost their luster, falling with a crackle onto the Persian Carpet, scorching the Qian Si Skirt with a charred Starry Pattern.
Leonard's Dragon Scale Armor shattered two Stained Glass windows, as rain swept in with Wisteria Petals from the Outer Chamber, forming a bizarre heart shape amidst a pile of bloodied pearls.
"Madam, Lingmai is boiling!" Qin Si exclaimed in terror, noticing that the Gilded Candelabra was melting into Silver Liquid, seeping through the Floor Tile Gap into the Underground.
The once entangled gold and silver dual energies suddenly crystallized into ice, enveloping the entire castle in an eerie silence.
Aelia stumbled and fell before the Burning Image of the First Matriarch, as Ice Blue Flame licked at her scattered Hair Tips.
The Jade Ring she had worn for twenty years suddenly shattered; as shards cut into her Palm, she saw a Blood Pearl form in midair into the shape of a Heavenly Wedding Wine cup from her first marriage. "He said Lingmai would always resonate with me..." Her broken laughter startled the Magic Messenger between Liang Zhu, causing Silver Blue Light Spots to collide against the frozen Lingmai barrier, exploding into fine snowflakes.
Trembling, Qin Si unfastened the Silver Chain of the Corset and sprinkled Hemostatic Powder onto Aelia's bleeding Palm.
As the powder touched her wound, memories emerged—Leonard's Last Night at Lucius' Hundred Day Feast—when Leonard had cut his Palm and dripped blood into the Magic Pattern on an infant's forehead.
At this moment, those memories twisted and distorted; Lucius in his swaddling suddenly transformed into a baby in a woman's arms in the Outer Chamber.
"Do you remember?
Last year's Winter Flame Festival..." Before Qin Si could finish, Aelia grabbed his wrist.
Both of them simultaneously saw the blood-stopping silk scarf on Qin Si's wrist: Leonard was wiping his sword in the Northern Territory hunting grounds, and the reflection in the sword's body clearly showed the carved door plaque of No. 23 Canary Lane.
Aelia suddenly tore off the pearl necklace around her neck, and three hundred twenty beads bounced on the ground, forming a star map trajectory.
As the eighteenth pearl rolled under the bed, the entire Magic Castle shook violently, and the ice-sealed Lingmai barrier cracked open in a spider web-like pattern.
The Ice Crystal Phoenix Tail Feathers hanging from the top of the four-poster bed stood upright, reflecting the full view of the outer chamber courtyard in an eerie blue glow—under the Wisteria Arbor, three children resembling Lucius and Mei Yan were chasing a magic firefly.
"Three..." Aelia's pupils dilated sharply as her blood-stained fingertip pointed at a node on the star map.
The gold thread representing Leonard suddenly split into three dark red branches, each entwined with a strange birth rune.
The Jin Bu Yao in her hair automatically disassembled into counting rods, and the results rapidly deduced in the void made Qin Si gasp—those children were already eight years old, born in the year Lucius first experienced a magic surge.
Vines from the castle's outer wall suddenly pierced through the stained glass, revealing images of Leonard from different periods on the pale petals of inverted flowers: he was absent during Lucius's magic awakening ritual that night but was actually celebrating their eldest son's birthday in the outer chamber; claiming to be dealing with merchant disputes in the Western Realm for three months, he practiced basic curses with their second daughter every evening; even when Aelia was gravely ill last year, the Nightingale Grass fragrance on his collar was not from visiting her but rather from soothing their young child to sleep with Anshen incense.
"Madam, be careful!" As Qin Si lunged to pull Aelia away, the gilded candelabra completely melted into a silver blade, flying past Aelia's ear and severing half of her pearl earrings.
The fallen pearls suddenly floated into a structural diagram of the North Tower, each marked with the location of secret rooms—the very places where Leonard interacted with the children of the outer chamber.
Aelia's magic pattern suddenly spread from her ear to her neck, and the faded lines were redrawn in blood color.
She stepped barefoot through the chaos on the ground, each step causing a dragon-like wail from the underground Lingmai.
As she reached the edge of the terrace, the torrential rain revealed the intricate Magic Engravings on the Castle Outer Wall—marks left by her over the past Twenty Years to reinforce the Defensive Formation, each Ke Hen now seeping blood.
"Look at the East Tower!" Qin Si suddenly pointed to a shattered Colored Glazed Window.
The tower, once entwined with Golden Vines, was now being consumed by Dark Red Thorns, each Spike adorned with a Rose Emblem of Yin Ling.
As the Cold Wind from the Northern Territory swept through, the sound of bells eerily matched the melody of Lucius's childhood Lullaby.
Aelia's cold laughter awakened the slumbering Magic Puppet Legion, three hundred armored figures with scarlet light igniting in their eye sockets.
She tore down the tattered Wedding Canopy to wrap her bleeding feet, and the last golden hairpin in her hair automatically transformed into a key shape—this was the final seal to unlock the Crypt of the Magic Castle. "Go fetch Third Young Master Lucius..." Before she could finish her sentence, the entire castle was plunged into absolute darkness, even the sound of rain abruptly ceased.
In the suffocating silence, Luna's Cradle suddenly burst forth with Liujin light.
The baby's mindless murmurs transformed into an Ancient Incantation, leaving a Burning Track in the void.
As the light swept across the West Wall of the sleeping quarters, the long-hidden will of the First Matriarch emerged, inscribed on Parchment with a Blood Curse: "When stars fall into the eyes of betrayers, the door to the Crypt shall open for a shattered heartbeat."
As darkness receded, Aelia heard her heart roar like an explosion.
Her palm gripping the terrace Railings was suddenly covered in frost; looking down, she saw that beneath the Ice Layer formed by Lingmai, gold and silver spiritual energy was being torn into a whirlpool shape.
Further away on the Training Ground, black Black Slime seeped from the Eye Socket of the Lineage Head statue, pooling on the Ground to form a Blood Arrow pointing towards the Crypt.
"Madam! The Moonlight Wine in the Cellar has all turned to blood!" The drenched gardener burst through the doors of the sleeping quarters, his Crystal Bottle swirling with Scarlet Liquid.
Behind her, the Magic Candelabra hung upside down, the melting Wax forming the outline of a woman on the Ground in the Outer Chamber.
Aelia tucked her blood-stained Hair behind her Ear, as the Magic Pattern spread to her Collarbone.
She picked up a half-broken Fire Seal marked with Tooth Marks from the ground and pressed it gently against her Heart: "Tell Lucius..." But suddenly, a Horn Sound drowned out her words, signaling that the Magic Castle had entered a state of high alert.
As the clock tower chimed for the seventh time, all the Servants' Pupils turned an eerie Silver Gray.
Qin Si was about to assist Aelia, but he noticed his mistress's Tears crystallizing into ice under Luna.
At the moment those ice crystals hit the ground, a chorus of loud infant cries echoed throughout the castle—yet the Glorious Demon Fortress had not seen a Newborn in a decade.
The most bizarre occurrence was when one of those cries approached Luna's Cradle, causing the Defensive Formation to automatically lift its alert status.
As the torrential rain poured down again, Aelia caught sight of her reflection on the Ice Layer.
The young woman who once adjusted Leonard's cloak while wearing a Jade Ring now had only the spinning Eerie Blue Glow of the Crypt seal left in her eyes.
She tore off her tattered Pearl Shawl and threw it into the void, allowing those beads that held sweet memories to be swallowed by the whirlpool of Lingmai.
When the last sliver of moonlight was consumed by Wu Yun, the inverted flowers on the Outer Wall of the Magic Castle suddenly wilted en masse.
The pale petals gathered in torrents amidst the downpour, rushing toward the direction of the Crypt.
The moment Aelia stepped barefoot onto the edge of the terrace, she heard her wedding vows—unwavering for twenty years—being forcibly stripped away by some ancient power from within the Castle Keystone.
Comment 0 Comment Count