Chapter 33: You’ve Changed in Forty-Two Years
“Black magic? What black magic?” Leona sniffed the air coming from the gap, detecting nothing but the smell of dust and mold.
“There’s a magic circle inside, and it’s not an ordinary protective one,” Abyss said with certainty. “You’re a Dou Warrior. Your understanding of magic is probably just so-so. You wouldn’t be able to discern the subtle difference between forbidden magic and ordinary magic.”
Flora added, “I also have a bad feeling about this. There’s something inside the wall, Leona. It’s better to let Abyss, who knows more about these things, take the lead.”
Leona didn’t argue. When it came to magic, she wasn’t completely clueless, but her skills were limited to reheating cold food and knocking over chairs from three meters away after stumbling through the incantation. So, the proud princess yielded the lead to the expert in this field.
Abyss dived headfirst into the gap beneath the wall.
The gap was narrow at first, and the three mice squeezed through with difficulty, relying on their flexibility. But after passing the narrow entrance, the space opened up. The palace walls weren’t completely solid. For insulation, there was a layer of foam-like material inside, possibly the solidified sap of some plant. This material was pliable, but the gaps between the fibers were large enough to be like a network of paths for small mice.
“Logically, only exterior walls need insulation. Why would interior walls have this material?” Abyss wondered, navigating the paths nimbly, following the faint magical reaction. Leona and Flora followed closely behind. Soon, he found the source of the magical reaction: a small skull, its fontanelle still open, seemingly belonging to a goblin infant. The skull was impaled on two crossed twigs, stuck in the wall.
The sight of the skull shocked Flora, who had just transformed into a mouse. She hid behind Leona fearfully. “Abyss, what is that?”
“Necromancy, as expected,” Abyss said, his tiny mouse eyes narrowing. “This is a node in a necromantic circle. By arranging the skulls of intelligent beings in a specific pattern and performing a magic ritual, one can extend a person’s lifespan. In theory, if the ritual is successful, as long as these skull nodes don’t crumble, the person at the center of the circle can live indefinitely—even if their body decays and turns to bone, they’ll still be alive. To think there’s something like this inside the wall… things are getting interesting.”
“We need to see Empress Siana!” Leona suddenly exclaimed, realizing something. She quickly burrowed through the insulation material, reached the floor, and ignited her translucent Dou Qi flames. With a few swift swipes of her claws, she created a hole large enough for them to pass through.
The three mice quickly scurried out of the hole, immediately assaulted by a suffocating stench.
An old woman with sparse white hair, dressed in a luxurious gown, sat at the desk with her back to them. The stench emanated from her withered body. She was applying makeup, using a dim bronze lamp to illuminate the mirror before her. Her breathing was raspy, as if her throat was filled with sand.
There was no need to maintain their mouse forms now. Abyss immediately dispelled the transformation on himself and the two girls. Their bodies rapidly grew, their clothes reappearing. In the blink of an eye, they stood behind the old woman in their human forms.
The old woman continued applying makeup for a while before realizing someone was behind her. She slowly turned her head, looking at the three figures standing there.
Just by looking at her face, Leona could hardly recognize the withered old woman as the once beautiful and graceful Empress Siana.
She wore a jeweled eyepatch over one eye. Her sparse white hair was styled in an elaborate updo, but it looked more like a tangled mess of weeds due to its dryness and thinness. A priceless tiara was perched precariously on her head, as if forcibly attached. Her face was covered in wrinkles, and her skeletal skin was heavily made up, failing to conceal her lost youth. Her remaining eye was cloudy and lifeless. Most of her teeth were missing, visible through her lips, which she couldn’t fully close.
“Oh… Leona… My Leona… You’re back… I’ve been waiting for you…” Empress Siana’s eyes flickered with a glimmer of recognition upon seeing Leona. She tried to get up from her chair, but her legs struggled to accomplish this simple task.
“The one who cursed and killed me is waiting for me? What for? For me to come and beg for your forgiveness?” Leona asked coldly, staring at Empress Siana without moving.
“Hehehe… It was me, I killed you… Ah… My Leona, you truly belong to me only after death… No, you belong to my master…”
Empress Siana’s disjointed words, coupled with her appearance, sent chills down their spines.
“Ah… Come… Come embrace me… I crave your embrace… Hehehe…” She turned her body, her hips leaving the chair, and slumped to the floor with a thud. But she didn’t stop, her eyes fixed on Leona as she crawled towards her on all fours.
Leona stepped aside in disgust. “Abyss, explain this quickly. I’m afraid I can’t help but kick her head in.”
“It seems Empress Siana is on the verge of death. The necromantic circle outside is keeping her alive. Without it, she’d be lying in bed unconscious, tormented by nightmares, spending her last days in misery,” Abyss said, his face devoid of disgust. He had seen things far more repulsive than Empress Siana. He simply stared at the old woman crawling towards Leona’s feet, shielding the nauseated Flora behind him.
“Look at this… Look at this! You’ll fall into my arms after seeing this… My Leona… My Leona!”
The Empress suddenly exclaimed, as if remembering something. She reached up and removed her eyepatch.
Beneath the eyepatch wasn’t an eye, but an orange, diamond-shaped gemstone, embedded directly into her empty socket. The surrounding flesh was festering, the source of the foul stench emanating from her body.
Leona’s disgust intensified, and she took another step back.
“Leona… Leona? Why haven’t you come to embrace me… Why…” The Empress’s expression suddenly turned vacant. She stared at Leona’s abdomen with her remaining eye, her voice weak and questioning. “Ah… You… Your tongue, your tongue is gone… Why is your tongue missing? Who? Which shameless thief? Aah…”
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