by N. Heller
Lin Sanjiu was like a ghost now and that was fairly inconvenient. She couldn’t even touch the door as she was afraid that doing anything would use up those five execution points. Because she had to avoid touching the door, her view was blocked when she squeezed through the gap between the door, despite her superhuman reflexes. Without any time to dodge, a little figure knocked onto her calf. Lin Sanjiu quickly steadied herself and saw the words on a brick. "Knock down young Bluebeard, five execution points. Proceed?"
Chapter 142 - The Messy Timeline
At this time, Bluebeard was only about eight. His small average-looking face was clean and he didn’t have a single strand of blue whiskers on his face. But, on closer inspection, she realized that the root of his hair was a little blue. After Lin Sanjiu canceled the option, Bluebeard staggered and fell to the ground. "This shouldn’t count right?" Lin Sanjiu mumbled softly and only let out a sigh of relief when the words disappeared from the grainy surface of the brick.
Gloomy-looking Bluebeard got up from the ground without making a sound. He rolled his eyes and slid into another small alley without saying anything. Lin Sanjiu followed him immediately, without thinking. As she followed him, she scanned her surroundings. Once she started following Bluebeard, the previous buildings around slowly faded into the background and disappeared into thin air, like a soaked watercolor painting. After a cool breeze blew past them, she saw a small village shrouded in mist. In contrast to the town, the village appeared run-down and stricken with poverty. She didn’t see anyone else even after walking for quite some time. However, Bluebeard, who lived there, seemed comfortable with the environment. It was as if he didn’t even notice that their surroundings had changed. He walked briskly, stirring up quite a lot of dust.
[If I kill him here, Lila wouldn’t die in the future— ] This tempting thought suddenly flashed in her mind and echoed in her ears. If she thought about it carefully, Bluebeard’s story was special and different from the two other stories. He was the only one who could exist in a state of past and future in a single point in time. There was also some sort of connection between his story and Cinderella’s… If she killed him, it might change something. However, she couldn’t link his story to Red Riding Hood’s. In the end, Lin Sanjiu decided against that.
Lin Sanjiu followed behind Bluebeard for some time and estimated that more than ten minutes had already passed. She couldn’t help feeling anxious. Bluebeard’s father was an alcoholic and his mother was abusive. Neither of them showed a single shred of concern for their ugly son. After watching for awhile, Lin Sanjiu realized that Bluebeard had a pitiful childhood, considering the environment he was raised in. However, Lin Sanjiu still had no clue what she should do even after some time.
Unfortunately, time waits for no one. The sun which hung on the horizon like a yellow boiled egg yolk disappeared past the hills in a distance before she even noticed. Lin Sanjiu guessed that at least twenty minutes had passed since she saw the stone tablet. After, Bluebeard muttered something quickly to himself as he sat by the river. His eyes remained very still and if Lin Sanjiu didn’t see him breathing, she would have thought he died.
"So he was weird even when young…" Lin Sanjiu said to herself. She couldn’t wait any longer but everything around was totally foreign to her so she didn’t know where to go even if she wanted to leave. Just when she was stuck in this dilemma, she heard a bubbling sound coming from the river. Suddenly, a wet human head surfaced from the water…
"Are you the little chap looking for me?" The person who rose from the water wiped the water droplets off his face and flung back his clumps of gray-white hair to the back. He revealed a long wrinkly, wart-covered old face.
Lin Sanjiu stared blankly at the Old Man Fairy. She unconsciously made her breathing lighter, afraid to miss out on a single word. By the looks of it, Bluebeard was also surprised that the fairy summoning incarnation he accidentally stumbled upon really worked. He stammered and told the fairy his wish in a haphazard manner. The Old Man Fairy chuckled twice and didn’t reply but instead looked behind the boy.
Lin Sanjiu did not know if she was delusional, but she felt that the Old Man Fairy gave her a glance.
"If you wish to be incredibly rich, I could make a deal with you, dearie," the old man said with his crafty and hoarse voice. "But it is too early now. You will have to wait for your 25th birthday, I will definitely look for you then…"
Bluebeard wanted to say something quickly but the Old Man Fairy raised his hand and stopped him, "Eighteen years pass quicker than you think… Okay, I still have to go to another pitiful little lady’s house to make a deal. She lost her biological mother and fell into a sorry state…"
[Cinderella?] This was the first name that came to Lin Sanjiu. [But, the timeline doesn’t fit? If Emma and Bluebeard’s age made it probable for them to exist in the same time, how could Cinderella, who was only older than Red Riding Hood by ten years or so, be a teenager at this point in time? Is he talking about someone else?]
Lin Sanjiu had never known herself to be that intelligent, so her mind was just in a confused mess. The Old Man Fairy got out from the river, shook his fly-like wings and stretched them, flying away into the distance. With no time to think, Lin Sanjiu just followed the man.
It was really quite strange to chase after a fairy.
No matter how fast she ran, she occasionally lost sight of him. That hunched back often disappeared from mid-air and reappeared in another direction before she could react. His body glowed slightly but it wasn’t that obvious, it was only visible because it would be night time soon. Lin Sanjiu was quite afraid that she would lose her way.
For a second, Lin Sanjiu only felt shocked and baffled. She really couldn’t make sense of anything. [Is the timeline in this pocket dimension just a jumbled mess? If that was so, how could she figure out what is the "one action" which would change everything?] She stared mindlessly at the two people in the garden. Though she did not take her eyes off them, her mind was in complete disarray. She only got her focus back when she heard Cinderella’s slightly raised voice, "I don’t understand what you mean. I don’t know what you mean when you say I have to pay a price…"
The old man gave a helpless expression, as if he had a headache, "Ah, ah, ah… Well, it is just something like digging some holes along a road. Come. Just sign here and agree to my conditions. I will send you to the ball right now…"
[Digging holes?] That was one more mind-boggling question for Lin Sanjiu. She watched Cinderella, who was partially numbed by all these but still anxious.
Cinderella bit on the pen with some hesitation. She looked at the sheepskin parchment which was almost one meter in length and quickly dismissed the thought of reading through the entire thing. When she heard the word "ball" she clenched her teeth and signed her name on the line that the old man was pointing to. The Old Man Fairy laughed out happily. He shook his hand and the contract disappeared into countless dots of light which entered his bracelet.
[That sheepskin parchment was a special item!] Lin Sanjiu's mind raced. She was way too familiar with that. Even though she didn’t know what magic was supposed to look like, she had seen so many special items and those small dots of lights definitely meant that the parchment was a special item!
"Hahaha! That’s great, dearie!" The old man laughed loudly as he waved his hands and a wand appeared in them. There was a flash of golden light and Cinderella’s hair was quickly bundled into a beautiful bun with a gem-studded hair accessory. A beautiful necklace hung from her neck over her dazzling dress.
If Lin Sanjiu launched a sneak attack at that right moment, she might get that sheepskin parchment and even stop Cinderella from going to the ball. If Cinderella couldn’t go to the ball, the prince could die a thousand times and the royal family would not look for her… However, it seemed impossible to save all three people.
The pumpkin carriage pulled out from the garden, rumbling, and Lin Sanjiu leaped and landed on top of it. In her moment of hesitati
on, she lost sight of the Old Man Fairy. The only people left were Cinderella and that horse which had turned into a footman. The howling wind blew Lin Sanjiu’s hair to the back of her ears. She sat on the top of the carriage, feeling at a loss of what to do next. She didn’t know how much time she had left. The palace ball was a great event as it was opened to the entire kingdom. Many lavish carriages headed in the same direction, converging toward the road to the palace. Cinderella pulled the curtains aside and looked outside, and asked her footman, "Who are the people in those carriages? They look different."
Lin Sanjiu looked up and realized that she could recognize those people.
"That is the dance troupe that would be performing for the king… Miss Cinderella," the footman replied politely. "Other than the dance troupe, do you see those carriages? The best circus in the kingdom would also be performing in the palace!"
Lin Sanjiu was stunned. She looked over and saw a colorful troop of carriages nearby. There was even a sign on one of the carriages which wrote, "Come see the extraordinary man with a natural blue beard! It’s magical!" The sign was shaped like a splatter of butter and gradually disappeared from her sight into the darkness and the carriage pulled further and further away from her.
Like an old computer processor, Lin Sanjiu’s brain finally crashed and she could no longer process anything. [What should I do next?] Lin Sanjiu laughed wryly. Just then, she suddenly saw something blinking at the corner of her eyes.
She looked down and she noticed a line of words which had appeared on the roof of the carriage at some unknown time.
"Countdown: You have only 59 seconds remaining of your 30 minutes limit."
She had to execute an action within this 59 seconds to save all three people...
Chapter 143 - So That Was You
Lin Sanjiu found herself in absolute darkness and she couldn’t see a thing. The forward momentum of her body was too strong for her to stop herself and she finally knocked onto something hard, hurting her rib cage in the process. "Sss" she hissed in pain. Ignoring the pain, she felt around and touched something. It had a smooth surface and seemed to be some sort of handrail. She felt as if she was blindfolded while she walked blindly in the total darkness. When her heartbeat and her breathing finally relaxed, she was finally hit by the pungent smell of mildew and the dust in the air. It seemed like no one had been here in years so the air had probably been sealed for quite some time. Yet, this stench was like a god-sent gift.
She exhaled deeply and sat on the first step of a flight of stairs. She sighed, "I’m out." Honestly speaking, she didn’t know how she managed to get out of the pocket dimension and even what she did just now. When there was only 40 seconds left, Lin Sanjiu really thought that her journey would end right there in that fairytale pocket dimension. She had too little time, but even if she was given a week, she didn’t have the confidence to unravel the mysteries.
---
Three carriages from three different directions were all heading for the palace. If the carriages didn’t reach the palace, perhaps everything would be solved. Emma wouldn’t enter the palace, so she might return to her daughter. Bluebeard wouldn’t enter the palace, so he might not meet with the Old Man Fairy. Needless to say, Cinderella would also be saved. It might just have been Lin Sanjiu’s wishful thinking, and the stories may develop in other ways—for example, Emma might become an e.r.o.t.i.c dancer in another place; the Old Man Fairy might take the initiative to look for Bluebeard; Cinderella might meet the prince two days later, etc. and so the characters may end up dying—but that was the best idea Lin Sanjiu could think of.
She mustered her strength and jumped off from the top of the pumpkin carriage. With a few leaps and bounds, with the remnant sensation of standing on the carriage still in her feet, she had sped far ahead of the carriages in the direction of the palace. Her plan was to destroy the only path to the palace. Even though it was a crazy big action, she thought that it should be considered as "one action". Lin Sanjiu activated her [Mosaic Censorship] and jumped up onto the tall statue of the king which was positioned right at the gates of the palace. She gathered all her focus on her hands and leaped down from the top of the statue, with her hands facing the ground.
She was at the gathering area outside the palace, which was designated for parking carriages. If she destroyed that place, the carriages that hadn’t reached the palace would be stuck outside—
"Destroy this road, 5 execution points. Proceed?"
While Lin Sanjiu kept the downward momentum, she shouted, "Yes!" The next second, her two fists struck the ground with an enormous impact, breaking the ground before the words even fully disappeared.
The impact was much larger than Lin Sanjiu expected but she didn’t know if it was because she had confirmed her action in the pocket dimension. Boom! A rain of broken cobblestone fell from the sky with Lin Sanjiu right in the epicenter of the eruption. They struck the ground creating multiple deep holes. There was a large hole in the middle of the road and a large fissure started to appear on the ground very quickly.
Lin Sanjiu squinted her eyes as she stood in the middle of a great cloud of stone, dust and smoke. She tried to look out for the forthcoming carriages. However, she suddenly felt her body go cold. Because… past the cloud of destruction, she realized that it was once again a cool afternoon.
It wasn’t night time yet and she didn’t see the decorations from the ball. Cinderella’s and Bluebeard’s carriage had disappeared. Lin Sanjiu stared blankly as a large stone also half the size of a person crashed down onto a carriage. It destroyed the entire frame of the carriage instantly and it broke into pieces. This was followed by the sharp cries of a few women. That carriage, which belonged to the dance troupe, wasn’t the only that was damaged. The drivers of a few carriages couldn’t react fast enough, so their carriages had overturned to the side of the road with their horses. The air was suddenly filled with the fearful cries from the people and the sound of the agitated horses neighing.
The countdown had already ended long ago, but Lin Sanjiu was still in the pocket dimension. The road had been destroyed but other than injuring the members from the dance troupe, it seemed useless. Lin Sanjiu felt her body go cold. Instead of stepping forward, she tumbled to the ground. Lin Sanjiu did not expect that Cinderella and Bluebeard would be ‘transported’ away just like her previous experiences.
She stuck her fingers into her hair as she looked expressionless in the direction of the dance troupe. She couldn’t even feel an ounce of strength. If she failed the quest in the pocket dimension, what would happen to her?
"Ah, ah! Please be gentle. My leg. My leg."
Lin Sanjiu heard a familiar voice sobbing out. She turned and saw a few soldiers from the palace working together to rescue the people who were trapped under the broken carriage. The person who was sobbing was none other than Emma.
"It’s alright. You just fractured your leg. You will be fine after some time," a soldier who had a blushing face consoled her softly, but he didn’t dare to look directly at Emma’s face.
"No, I have to dance, I need to dance…" Emma wiped her tears as she continued whimpering by the road side. As her leg had been struck by a piece of large rock, blood poured from her wound, creating a large blood stain on her dress.
[I’m a person that is going to die soon, yet I still implicated Emma...] Lin Sanjiu sighed. She couldn’t help feeling guilty about her action.
"You can’t dance like this…" The soldier who had helped Emma came over again when he was less busy. He handed Emma a handkerchief, "Why don’t you use this to clean your face first…"
Lin Sanjiu felt her vision blurring. Somehow, Lin Sanjiu felt her eyes welling up with tears. She really didn’t want to die just like that… But before she finished her track of thoughts, her body suddenly felt very light. It was as though someone had pulled her up by her feet and tossed her into the air. As the scenery turned upside down and the world around disappeared into a spiral. She suddenly blacked out.
The last thing she saw was the gray stone tablet and then she found herself in total darkness.
After she hit the handrail, it took quite some time before Lin Sanjiu realized something: she was back. She was back in the black tower. [But, what actually happened? Emma was hurt, so she couldn’t dance. Following that logical track, I probably saved only Red Riding Hood and Cinderella.] Lin Sanjiu froze for a few seconds as the confusion from the pocket dimension slowly sunk to the back of her mind. She was once again faced with the cold reality. [I am out of there and that’s all that matters!] Being in the pocket dimension had definitely delayed her plans. She didn’t know how much time had actually passed outside. Maybe, everyone else was still fighting. For Lin Sanjiu, her priority was to look for the power source in this black tower so that she could destroy the glass globe!
Feeling her legs grow weak, Lin Sanjiu wiped the tears from her face and drew out her [Ability Polishing Agent]. A silver light instantly gushed out like water, filling up the surrounding space. The large door where she entered through was still sitting silently in place. Just as she expected, the space within the black tower was very small. The area was not more than ten square meters. The flight of stairs she was now sitting at took up quite a large amount of that space and crawled upward in a spiral.
Lin Sanjiu didn’t know how tall the black tower was, but the spiral staircase seemed to reach the top. [After escaping the pocket dimension on the first story, there shouldn’t be any more dangerous traps, right?] Lin Sanjiu held her [Ability Polishing Agent] and climbed up the staircase cautiously.
She could only hear her own breathing and footsteps as she climbed up the quiet black tower. After being surrounded by this still silence for too long, Lin Sanjiu’s heart skipped a beat when she suddenly heard an ear-piercing sound of the doorbell resonating through the tower. For a moment, she thought she had misheard that sound—