Chapter 200: 196 Reunion

The moment Kelake stepped out of the Forest Cabin, space and time shifted. When he looked back, the antique Forest Cabin was nowhere to be seen, and the warm light within the shop seemed as if it had never existed. But when he looked down, a pair of abrupt, white-flowered Red Shoes that had no business being there stood right behind him, the two shoes slightly splayed, as if an invisible person were standing there.

"A Blessing?" Kelake suppressed his surging emotions. He did not pick up the Red Shoes and instead steeled himself to walk forward. Before long, he indeed heard light footsteps.

Tap... tap...

It was a sound like tears falling onto white bone—crisp and melodious, yet eerie and sinister.

The shoes were truly following him.

"Hey! Hey! Hey!

!" Just as Kelake was becoming somewhat numb to the Blessing that followed like a shadow, he heard a girl's urgent, whispered calls.

Kelake snapped back to reality and instinctively looked toward the source of the sound. He saw Milaier, whom he had been searching for so desperately, hiding behind a massive portrait that had been pushed aside. She was covered in dust, her eyes as vigilant as a mouse afraid of being discovered by a cat.

"Milaier?!" Kelake looked at Milaier with pleasant surprise, while simultaneously shocked that this enormous portrait was actually a secret door.

"It's me! Come with me quickly!" Milaier beckoned to Kelake, then reminded him as he walked over to take some candlesticks from the nearby wall, saying it was quite dark below.

Kelake followed suit, then stepped into the secret door, and together with Milaier, quietly restored the portrait secret door to its original position.

Click!

Milaier struck a match and, before it went out, lit the candles on the candlesticks. The firelight illuminated the dark secret passage.

"How did you end up here?" Kelake was happy for Milaier's safety, yet puzzled as to how she had evaded the tracking of the fused monster.

Milaier looked as if she still had lingering fears and lowered her voice, "Didn't you set Miss Hela's room on fire? Butler Walunte and Miss Hela had originally chased after you. I wanted to take advantage of that gap to escape, but I didn't expect them to turn back. I was terrified, couldn't help but scream, and instinctively threw everything I had in my hands—my axe and my oil lamp."

"As a result, Butler Walunte caught the axe and didn't dodge the fragile oil lamp at all, but he didn't expect the fire to spread along the spilled lamp oil. In an instant, they were set ablaze. They screamed as they burned, and I took the chance to run away. I hid and dodged all the way, thinking I should find some better weapons to go meet up with you, so I ran back to Count Bluebeard's room and returned to that secret chamber, and then luckily found another secret passage there."

"I never imagined that Count Bluebeard had set up such numerous and hidden secret passages in the Castle, almost covering the entire Castle. I just kept looking for you in the passages until just now."

Fearing that Kelake might not easily believe her, Milaier even specifically took him back to the secret chamber where Count Bluebeard recorded the entire process of performing the demon-subduing arts.

In truth, even if Milaier had not proven this to him, Kelake would not have delved into its authenticity.

"Mr. Kelake, what should we do now?" Milaier brought Kelake back into the secret passage and said worriedly, "We will be discovered here sooner or later, and even if we aren't, we might freeze or starve to death."

Kelake's mind was not entirely on Milaier; he could still hear the footsteps of the third "person" in his ears. However, Milaier seemed not to have noticed. He muttered to himself that it was strange, and it took a while before he realized Milaier had just asked a question. He turned to ask: "You must have been exploring here for quite a while; did you find a path that leads directly out of the Castle?"

"This secret passage doesn't lead directly outside the Castle." Milaier shook her head. "The only path I found that leads out is one of the secret doors in the passage, which is very close to the Castle's main gate, but like I said just now, if we go out of the Castle now, we will freeze to death."

"I have good news for you." Kelake smiled slightly. "I just looked at the sky outside the Castle; it seems to be clearing up completely, and the blizzard is about to stop."

"Really!?" Milaier's face lit up with joy, and she hopped in place before landing.

Kelake nodded. Before he entered the secret passage with Milaier, he had glanced out the window, and the weather indeed showed signs of clearing. As long as it cleared, there would naturally be a chance to escape the Gubao, and this way, they would no longer have to fight a desperate battle against that fused monster.

"Where else does this secret passage lead? Is there any room that feels a bit safer?" Kelake asked, then explained, "While waiting for the weather to clear completely, we at least need to find a place where we can observe the weather. In this cramped and dark place, we can't see what's happening outside."

Milaier appeared to be thinking as she recalled, then said somewhat awkwardly: "I didn't pay much attention. This is my first time in this secret passage, so I'm very unfamiliar with it and don't know where it leads."

Kelake said: "Then let's look for it together."

The two walked through the complex and changing secret passage holding candles. During this time, they discovered quite a few hidden secret doors like the one behind the massive portrait. Kelake couldn't help but sigh: "No wonder people who come to the Castle always disappear for no reason. With so many secret passages and hidden doors, I don't know how elusive Count Bluebeard must be when he abducts people."

"To be able to build such a secret passage that almost surrounds the entire Castle, one can only say that Count Bluebeard had long premeditated this and made all preparations at the very beginning of the Castle's design."

Milaier also echoed the sentiment: "Those who come here are truly unlucky, and so am I; we all are."

While chatting in low voices, Kelake and Milaier discovered another secret door, one located on the ceiling. They wanted to push it open quietly but found it extremely difficult to move. The two of them gritted their teeth and pushed it open together, only to discover that they had arrived at the top of the Castle's highest clock tower. What had been hindering them from opening the door was thick snow.

"Great, we don't need to look anymore. We can just hunker down here. It's very well hidden. As long as we take the time to open a crack every now and then, we can accurately see the weather outside. I just took a look; the snow has lessened a lot, it should be about time." Kelake turned and covered the secret door back up, happily saying to Milaier.

Milaier was also very happy and obediently followed Kelake's suggestion.

For the next period of time, the two huddled in a corner of the secret passage, whispering to each other, staying awake, and pressing close to one another to provide warmth. Without realizing it, they were pressing against each other very tightly...

About three hours passed. Kelake took a moment to glance at his pocket watch. Both he and Milaier were nearly frozen stiff. Straining their rigid bodies, they pushed open the secret door once more. A ray of warm sunlight spilled onto him, instantly warming his cold body. He couldn't help but smile: "We... can go out now."