Chapter 13:Castle Stories 13 Head

The jar moved, revealing an old wooden trapdoor beneath, hinting at a space below.

Xu Nian knocked on it—hollow.

“Could it be dangerous?” Fu Ruxue asked nervously, her blinking quickening.

“Then… stay up here and wait?”

“Okay.”

Fu Ruxue agreed swiftly.

Lifting the trapdoor, a moldy, damp wood smell hit. An ancient wooden ladder stood at the entrance, worn with age, leading into pitch-black darkness.

Creak, creak—

The ladder snapped. Before Xu Nian could react, she plummeted, the light above retreating as she fell like a rag, crashing to the ground.

She leaned against the wall to break her fall, but still hit hard. Scrapes marred her body, and sharp pain shot through her ankle.

Already bruised from a fall in the bathroom, new pain layered on old, nerves screaming. Her body trembled instinctively, breath slowing to cope.

“Xu Nian? You okay?” Fu Ruxue’s ethereal voice echoed from above.

Xu Nian, sprawled on the ground, caught her breath before calling back, “I’m fine.”

“Good.”

Fu Ruxue peered into the dark abyss, worry flickering in her eyes.

Really okay?

In the basement, Xu Nian braced against the wall, dragging her injured leg to stand, dusting her pants, and limping into the dark.

Drip, drip.

Water droplets echoed in the silent darkness.

Wind whistled in the vast space. Xu Nian leaned against the wall, eyes adjusting. The inky blackness cleared slightly, vague outlines emerging.

A wooden table stood nearby, a bed further off. The basement mirrored other rooms’ furnishings, except…

Her gaze locked on the opposite wall.

A full set of torture tools hung there, beside a massive guillotine dominating the space, something indistinct atop it.

A box of matches lay on the table. She lit a candelabrum, pocketing the rest.

Her sweet yet cold face flickered in the dim candlelight, hair casting shadows on the wall. The faint glow revealed the guillotine’s indistinct mass.

The candle wavered. Xu Nian’s grip tightened, pupils shrinking.

On the bloodied guillotine, a head with braids rolled its eyes, blood streaking its forehead. Seeing Xu Nian, hatred consumed its gaze, sanity gone.

“Giggle… You killed me, you…”

The maid’s head, braids unraveling, hair tie snapping, tendrils of hair writhing like claws in the air.

Her once-delicate face turned grotesque, fangs bared, some hair propping it up, surging toward Xu Nian with an eerie wind.

Xu Nian stepped back, pain shooting through her injured foot.

“Hiss—”

She winced, lips pursed, facing the charging head.

Her sleeve-dagger was left in the kitchen. Confronting the head head-on was suicide.

Biting her lip to stay alert, blood seeping, she gripped the candelabrum, eyes locked on the head.

She blocked with the candelabrum, its light stalling the head.

It hit the ground, bouncing back instantly.

Hair swarmed, wrapping her arms, tightening, leaving marks.

The bloodied head opened its mouth, biting Xu Nian’s restrained arm. Sharp teeth pierced skin, sending sharp pain.

Desperate, Xu Nian shouted, “Maid! Your room’s dirty, you haven’t cleaned!”

The hair loosened slightly.

It worked?

Lips pale with pain, she pressed, “Clean now, or the Duke will dock your pay!”

At “Duke,” the teeth sank deeper, pain intensifying.

Xu Nian broke into a cold sweat. “The butler…”

“Hiss—”

The teeth nearly hit bone.

She racked her brain for what the maid cared about…

Her room!

A spark hit. “Don’t forget to deliver bread to the Young Lady!”

The pressure on her arm vanished, the hair releasing.

The maid’s head fell, eyes closed, freckled face blood-streaked, hair clinging to her temples, now eerily calm.

Xu Nian was braver than most, but handling a head barehanded? Not quite.

“Sorry.”

She clasped her hands, apologizing to the head.

She tore off the bedsheet, wrapping the head gently, cradling it like a baby. Blood dripped from bite wounds on her arm as she limped to the trapdoor, steps uneven.

At the entrance, she looked up, estimating a four-to-five-meter climb.

No way up…

Fu Ruxue, waiting above, heard movement and leaned in. “Find it?”

“Got it.”

Xu Nian’s calm voice reassured her.

She seemed fine.

The ladder, broken, lay half against the wall, half on the ground.

The remaining half reached midway. Xu Nian climbed painstakingly, kneeling on a loose rung, lifting the wrapped head with effort.

“Catch.”

Fu Ruxue grabbed it, puzzled by its weight. Unwrapping it, she nearly fainted.

She wanted to fling it away but held on, stealing a glance at the sleeping face.

“Go find the maid,” Xu Nian instructed.

“What about you?”

“I’m fine. The ladder’s broken, can’t climb yet. Find the maid outside the castle.”

The sooner they got answers, the better. The head might attack again, so reuniting it with the body was urgent.

“Okay,” Fu Ruxue promised. “I’ll be back soon.”

Desperate to ditch the creepy bundle, Fu Ruxue hurried off.

At the entrance, she bumped into Cheng Li, returning from the garden.

His face dark, shovel caked with fresh dirt, he blocked her. “What’s that?”

“None of your business.”

Focused on finding the maid, Fu Ruxue had no time for him.

She stepped forward, then turned back. “Have you seen the maid?”

“Nope. Who’d want to see that creepy woman?” Cheng Li grimaced.

Fu Ruxue hurried off in the opposite direction of the garden.

If Cheng Li didn’t see her there, the maid was elsewhere.

“Hey, where you going?”

Fu Ruxue didn’t answer, scanning as she rushed along.

The castle was vast; circling it took time.

The sky stayed gloomy, dark clouds blanketing it, the castle’s exterior increasingly ominous.

Through a wooded path, Fu Ruxue spotted a familiar figure under a tall cedar.

Unmistakable.

Headless, in a classic black-and-white maid’s uniform.

The maid crouched, pale hands hugging her knees, purpose unclear.

Closer, Fu Ruxue saw a jet-black cat with its head down, eating something.

Beside it, the maid had prepared minced cooked meat in a delicate bowl.

The cat ignored it, lapping at a red puddle on the ground.

Blood oozed from the maid’s neck, pooling into a small blood lake.

The cat was drinking it.

Recalling Zhang Zhuanghao’s fate, Fu Ruxue hesitated to approach.

She edged along the wall, inching closer. The crouching maid seemed oblivious.

Suddenly, the cat stopped, blood on its whiskers, heterochromatic eyes—one yellow, one blue—fixing on Fu Ruxue.

Its gaze was deep, cold, piercing.

Fu Ruxue froze.

The maid stood.

In the basement, Xu Nian leaned against the wall, pondering escape, when the trapdoor creaked open.

Creak—

Moonlight spilled in, outlining a woman’s figure, her golden hair glowing faintly.

She smirked, leaping lightly into the hole, landing before Xu Nian.

Her pristine clothes and boots contrasted sharply with Xu Nian’s dirt-streaked, disheveled state. The Young Lady met her gaze silently, eyes heavy with sorrow.

Her gaze fell on Xu Nian’s arm, marked with red welts, then to the bleeding bite wounds and swollen ankle.

Her lips pressed into a thin line.

“Why do you keep pushing yourself like this?”