by N. Heller
They continued walking for some time under the same circ.u.mstances. When Lin Sanjiu heard the 'clippity clop' of a horse carriage on a cobbled street, she realized that the settlement was just right ahead. It was a typical medieval european settlement with short houses built from stone. There were a few peasant women on the street, with large bouquets of flowers and chickens following them. In the middle of the small provincial town, there was a tiny plaza with a well. A cat lay lazily at the edge of the well, l.i.c.k.i.n.g its own tail.
Lin Sanjiu was 100% percent sure that she wouldn't be able to find this town if she was alone.
"You seemed troubled, traveler," Cinderella spoke using a stereotypical tone that fairytale characters use.
"Um, well… That's right!" Lin Sanjiu suddenly had an idea, "As you know, I'm from a very faraway place. It's getting dark and I don't have a place to stay. I was wondering if I could stay at your place for a night."
Cinderella's jaw dropped. She looked at Lin Sanjiu and at the bright, mid-afternoon sun.
"Actually, I'm fine with it," as proven, the famous Cinderella was a very kind person, but she continued hesitatingly, "but, I am not sure if my stepmother and stepsisters will agree…"
"I can pay for the night!" Lin Sanjiu quickly added, "I brought many treasures from afar, I just need to stay one night and I will let them choose what they like!"
Lin Sanjiu had all sorts of paraphernalia that she retrieved from the supermarket. She figured that it wouldn't be difficult to shock someone from the medieval period. Cinderella seemed to know her stepmother very well. She hesitated for a few seconds and nodded before she led Lin Sanjiu to her house.
"This is my house." Cinderella looked dejected when she said this. It was a beautiful three-storey mansion. After they walked through the metal gates, they had to walk past a large garden before they reached the door. "Wait here. I'll check with my stepmother if she approves."
"Sure." Lin Sanjiu quickly replied while she watched Cinderella enter the house.
"Sigh…" Lin Sanjiu sighed while many passing pleasants stared at her inquisitively. She felt very weary. "What do I have to do in this pocket dimension?" She closed her eyes and massaged her face and tried not to think about Garden of Eden and whether anyone was hurt.
"I hope Li Tao and the others are okay…" Lin Sanjiu mumbled to herself. She was stunned when she opened her eyes.
Once again, she found herself lying in the flower-field. She noticed the same welcoming sun, the gentle breeze with the grassy aroma and that daisy squished by her feet.
The town, the passersby and Cinderella's house disappeared like a popped bubble, even without her noticing, they disappeared without a trace. Lin Sanjiu bit her trembling lower lips and looked at her wrist. There was a clear red mark from when she previously pinched herself. When she touched it, it still hurt slightly.
Just then, she heard a slightly peculiar sound. Still in a daze, Lin Sanjiu looked around and spotted a woman not far from her.
The woman had black hair and was in her twenties. Her hair was styled beautifully and she was wearing an unusually long dress which spread over the ground. Her face was flushed and she was waving a crystal goblet in her hand. The sun rays pierced through the wine-filled goblet and diffused into shades of deep-red.
"Why are you in my garden?" the woman asked with a groggy voice. The young woman did not seem to be really bothered by Lin Sanjiu's presence. She observed her goblet lazily with her half-opened eyes, "You! You probably never seen such a perfect crystal goblet like this, right? I think the king doesn't even have half the amount of treasures in the house behind my back."
Lin Sanjiu stared at her blankly.
"There is even a full-length mirror in the house. You can see yourself from top to bottom. They are all treasures that nobody had seen before…" the black-haired woman tilted her head and laughed out. She leaned in her chair and let the crystal goblet fall to the ground. Red wine stained the corners of her dress. "But with a husband like that, how can I be happy even with all the treasures in the world…"
"F*ck!" Lin Sanjiu cursed softly before she cautiously prompted, "Your husband is…"
The black-haired woman patted her own red cheeks and replied with unfocused eyes, "He isn't good-looking. He has a large blue beard, so everyone calls him Bluebeard. Have you heard of him before?"
Chapter 134 - Neapolitan Cake (2)
Carrying the drunken woman was like carrying a large heavy rock wrapped in a long, beautiful dress, she definitely weighed heavier than usual. Despite that, it wasn’t that hard for Lin Sanjiu to carry Lila into the house.
"Ah... you’re so strong." Lila blurted, sending a waft of alcoholic breath in Lin Sanjiu’s direction. Lin Sanjiu turned her head aside and Lila giggled and touched her face, "It would be great if you were a guy."
Luckily, the [Versu Poison] on Lin Sanjiu’s body had already been used up in Garden of Eden, otherwise Lila would have died on the spot. Lin Sanjiu kept a straight face and ignored the woman. She walked wordlessly through the garden until she reached the side door of a small castle. She bumped the door with her body and the wooden door squeaked open. Lila must have left it open.
"Go upstairs. Go upstairs. My bedroom is upstairs, I want to let you see my gorgeous bedroom…"
Lin Sanjiu sighed and shifted the woman onto her shoulder, carrying her like a sack of potatoes. While Lin Sanjiu climbed up the stairs, Lila lit the candles on the wall in her drunken state.
Under the flickering light of the candles, the gothic ceilings of the castle appeared higher and even more mysterious. Lila wasn’t exaggerating. The interior of the castle had an exquisite architecture. There were all sorts of tapestries of some unknown style on the walls. Silver candle holders with carved flower motif filled the entire castle. There was a clock covered with jewels and gems...
Somehow, the sky had darkened. When Lin Sanjiu dumped Lila on a big bed, she could see from the window in the bedroom that the sky had already become a navy blue. Lila laid on her bed, face down. She mumbled something and finally kept quiet. The room suddenly became silent.
"You don’t even have a single servant?" When Lin Sanjiu saw that Lila had fallen asleep, she massaged her own temples. She did not know what she should do next. Considering her present circ.u.mstances, it seemed like she would have to stay here for the time being. With the main character of the storyline near her, she was sure that she would find some clues soon...
"When will Bluebeard return?" Lin Sanjiu murmured. She walked to the window to pull the red velvet curtains. The moment she touched the soft curtains, the sensation disappeared and she suddenly found herself stepping on a dried branch. It broke with a crisp sound which quickly melted into the dark silent forest.
Though this wasn’t her first time, she could not repress her shock. Lila’s room had disappeared and when Lin Sanjiu looked up she could only see the branches of countless old trees form the canopy of the forest which blocked the sky from view. There was barely any light in the forest so her white shirt was now closer to a shade of dark blue.
A cold, emotionless wind swept through the forest, rustling the leaves on the trees, making the forest more isolated and gloomier than it really was.
"What’s wrong? If we don’t hurry, it will be night soon." Red riding hood turned to look at Lin Sanjiu.
"It’s nothing. I’m just distracted," Lin Sanjiu said quietly, letting out another sigh.
"Hey, if we walk a little more, we will reach it soon." Red riding hood chirped as she pointed to somewhere in the distance. Apparently, she did not hear LIn Sanjiu’s previous reply. Lin Sanjiu made an affirmative sound and looked in the direction she pointed. Amidst the old trees, she managed to make out the roof of a wooden cottage.
"The sky is a little overcast. I hope it doesn’t rain." Red riding hood looked up at the sky, pulled her hood closer to her face and quickened her pace. "My granny hates rainy days."
"Why?" Lin Sanjiu asked casually.
"Becau
se there are fewer guests on rainy days."
"Guests?" Lin Sanjiu was sure that the story did not mention that the grandmother ran any sort of business...
"Oh, I haven’t mentioned this to you," Red riding hood suddenly lifted her chin, her eyes sparkled and she said proudly, "My granny is an e.r.o.t.i.c dancer."
"E.r.o.t.i.c... what?"
Red riding hood seemed blissfully unaware of the impact her words had on her listener. "That’s right! Even though my mom doesn’t like granny’s job, and I’m not supposed to tell other about it, I feel that my granny is so cool!"
If the girl’s grandmother was in her teens when she had a child, she might be in her late thirties. If she maintained her figure, it wouldn't really be that unreasonable that she was a dancer...
Lin Sanjiu’s initial thought was that she could get some clues to leave the pocket dimension if she followed the main characters of the stories, but now she genuinely wanted to meet Red riding hood’s grandmother.
Grey clouds loomed over their heads as if it was about to rain. The two people walked for some time and finally the green scenery around them abated, revealing a plot of open land. A small wooden cottage sat in the middle of a clearing in the forest. It looked old and the paint on its wooden walls was peeling. The only sign that someone was living in that house was a single fresh red flower in a vase by the side of the door. Not far from them, there were a few other cottages hidden within the forest.
"Is this your granny’s house?" Lin Sanjiu pointed at the dilapidated cottage.
"Yes! The other cottages are resting huts used by the hunters around here." Red riding hood noticed that Lin Sanjiu seemed curious about the other cottages nearby so she explained, "But they are weird people."
"Why?"
"They always badmouth my granny. But when she walked past them, they would just stare." Red riding hood suddenly used a serious tone, "Do you know, my granny is really awesome! She danced for the king in the past. You have never seen the king before, right?"
A woman coughed. "Red riding hood, is that you? Why did you travel such a long way here?" a woman asked from behind the door, her voice sounded nasally.
The person opened the door while she said this and a normal female face appeared from behind the door. As Lin Sanjiu had guessed, the woman was perhaps only in her late thirties and her hair was a healthy brown. Though the woman looked pale, she had a pair of alluring, uptilted eyes and an aura of m.a.t.u.r.ed beauty.
[It is not a wolf.] Lin Sanjiu breathed a sigh of relief and turned her weapon back into a card.
Red riding hood’s grandmother looked at Lin Sanjiu, puzzled, "This is?"
—
"I told you about her. She is a traveler from a faraway place." Cinderella spoke cordially in her gentle voice to a middle-aged woman, there was a hint of caution in her voice.
Lin Sanjiu was about to take a step into the wooden house when she pulled her foot back. She lost her balance and nearly fell to the ground. This instantly drew the attention of the middle-aged woman and the two younger women behind her.
Lin Sanjiu saw a well-decorated living room with a thick wool rug on the floor. The wood in the fireplace in the living room was cackling noisily. Lin Sanjiu watched the middle-aged woman’s judging eyes and regained her balance while Cinderella’s stepsisters chuckled. She rolled her eyes and took a deep breath, "Um, hello madame." Lin Sanjiu felt as if she could still see the afterimages of the wooden cottage in the forest despite the fact that the situation had changed.
The middle-aged woman was probably a little worried about the weird, clumsy woman. She sat up straight on her comfortable couch and glared at Lin Sanjiu, "You wish to stay in our house for a night?"
"Yes," Lin Sanjiu remembered what she said to Cinderella, "if you let me stay here for a night, I will let you and your daughters choose something from my many treasures."
The middle-aged woman immediately leaned back in her chair and pursed her lips. "I don’t care for your treasure. As you can see, we are rich." While she said that, she flicked her hand at Cinderella as if chasing a dog away. "But, I am interested in exotic things…"
From her tone, Lin Sanjiu could tell that the woman wanted to have a look at what she could offer. Cinderella’s two stepsisters were not as restrained as their mother. They beckoned for Lin Sanjiu to show them what she brought.
"Okay. Okay. My bag is outside so I just have to go get it…"
Lin Sanjiu was not going to take her things out from nowhere in front of the women, so she made up an excuse and headed for the door while she considered the items she had.
Meanwhile, Charlotte and Katy whispered to each other behind her back, though Lin Sanjiu could easily hear their conversation.
"I wonder if she really has anything good."
"I wish she had some nice hair accessories…"
"Oh, or maybe some wonderful fabrics. Just like the dress that the princess wore last week…"
Lin Sanjiu paused and quickly turned behind in shock. "Which princess? Where is she from? Is she so unbelievably beautiful that the prince spent the entire night dancing with her and no one else?"
[So Cinderella had already danced with the prince? How many times did she dance with the prince? Did she already lose her glass slipper?] As she thought about this, she found herself walking into Lila’s bedroom.
She was really going insane...
Chapter 135 - Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf
After shuffling between the three stories for quite a few times, Lin Sanjiu was exhausted. She sighed and laid on top of a wooden table. The wooden table was extremely hard. Even though Emma, Red riding hood’s grandmother, had placed a thin mattress over it, Lin Sanjiu could feel the uncomfortably hard surface. Compared to Lila, Emma’s life was too tough. The small wood cottage had only one room which served as both a bedroom and a living room. She did not have even one guest bed and the only furniture which looked a little more expensive was a mirror that the king had given to her as a gift. Mirrors were hard to produce in the past, so they were considered rare luxuries.
Light reflected off the polished surface of the mirror as Lin Sanjiu flipped in her makeshift bed a few times. As the granddaughter and grandmother chatted softly, the anxiety she felt was like a fire which burnt away any chance of her sleeping.
It was night time at all three places.
First, Lila was pulling her arm, requesting for her to sleep in the same large bed. Then, she found herself banished by the stepmother to a small room. She was to share a straw bed with Cinderella. When she opened her eyes again in Emma’s house, she had lost all sense of time.
As everything around her was changing all the time, Lin Sanjiu couldn’t even estimate how long she had been in the pocket dimension.
Had Xueqin and the rest seen her letter? Could they trust the escape route provided by Gong Daoyi? Most importantly, how was she ever going to get out of this pocket dimension?
Currently, even though she was an extra character in all the stories, the stories seemed to be progressing normally. The only thing which hasn’t happen was that the big bad wolf had not appeared in red riding hood’s story...
[Could this be the key?]
But, Lin Sanjiu had not even made sense of the goal of this pocket dimension. She could only sigh. The house went quiet after she sighed and Red riding hood asked quietly, "What is bothering you?"
"No, I’m fine." Lin Sanjiu replied hastily and felt that Emma was watching her. "I just need to get to somewhere urgently, so I am feeling a bit anxious…"
When they were sharing the cake that Red riding hood had brought, Emma had tried to get more information about Lin Sanjiu. Perhaps, she had a complicated past, so she was more guarded than her granddaughter. Though she couldn’t find anything wrong with Lin Sanjiu’s reply, Emma chose to sleep on the side of the bed closer to Lin Sanjiu and let her granddaughter sleep on the other side. As they chatted quietly for some time, they suddenly heard the sound of rain hitting agai
nst the windows. Through the windows, Lin Sanjiu could see the rain getting heavier and heavier. Soon, raindrops were violently assaulting the small dilapidated little cottage.
Lin Sanjiu couldn’t help thinking about what Red riding hood said about having no guests. She suddenly asked without thinking, "Emma, where do you... umm dance? The rain looks really heavy today."
"Smack!" There was a sudden sound in the darkness. This was followed by a yelp from Red riding hood. The little girl was hit by her grandmother.
"This little girl always spout nonsense…" Emma sounded a little embarrassed, "That was years ago. I’ve stopped after my daughter started avoiding me. Right now, I basically sell some handicraft for survival." Emma shared a little more perhaps considering that Lin Sanjiu was also a woman and did not seem to look down on her.
"After I stopped dancing, my relationship with my daughter is getting better… See. When she heard that I was unwell, she sent Red riding hood here to give me a cake." She seemed a little gratified after saying that.
Lin Sanjiu had a sudden urge to ask if they had ever seen other "travelers from other lands", but before she could ask, she was interrupted by a series of barks outside. A number of dogs were barking loudly outside, and the noise got closer and closer to the door.
The three people in the house quickly got up and rushed over to the windows. Through the pouring rain, the three of them could see the black figures of a few dogs. They were large dogs which stood at almost the height of half a human. They were barking crazily at the small cottage.
Red riding hood grew frightened and quickly held Lin Sanjiu with her small cold hand. She looked at her grandmother and asked with a sobbing voice, "Whose dogs are those? Why are they acting this way? It’s scary."
Emma’s face had turned a little pale, "They are Ive’s dogs…"
Her words seemed to suggest that the man called Ive was one of the hunters around this area. Lin Sanjiu wasn’t even half worried about the dogs, not even if they were some sort of demon dogs. She headed to the door and was about to say that she could chase them off when an angry male voice disrupted her thought.