Chapter 122: Morning Dew Ranch

On the other side.

Morning Dew Ranch was located southeast of the castle. The fog hadn't completely dissipated, and dew hung on the tips of the green grass.

Luna was abnormally silent along the way, her fingers constantly twisting the edge of her apron.

Pip tried to strike up a conversation several times, but was blocked back by her pale face.

The farmhouse was a brand-new wooden house, with empty milk buckets piled up on the porch.

A girl of about twelve or thirteen was spinning on her tiptoes, and several patches were sewn on her faded plaid skirt.

She heard footsteps and stopped, her eyes lighting up: "Mom!"

Luna managed to squeeze out a smile, secretly rejoicing that the first card she drew was about herself, otherwise she wouldn't even know her daughter's name.

"Ella, go back to your room and play."

On the wooden shelf against the wall, dancing shoes were densely packed.

Silk-faced, deerskin, decorated with cheap sequins.

"Does your daughter like dancing very much?" Willow asked softly.

"Yes, otherwise I wouldn't have gone to the ball."

As soon as the ball was mentioned, the daughter's eyes lit up immediately. "Mom! Did you bring back that pair of dancing shoes for me? The red dancing shoes Ella wanted."

Luna touched her head, "Sorry, Mom hasn't been able to win them yet."

The little girl was disappointed for a moment, but didn't say anything, kissed Luna, and pulled her, wanting her to see the new dance she had learned.

Luna was flooded with maternal love, being pulled away full of maternal love, leaving several people looking at each other.

"Looking at it this way, I don't think she's the murderer."

"Why do you say that?"

Pip looked at Felix. Felix coughed twice, "According to Su Mian's reasoning, after killing the King, this person obtained the red dancing shoes. Judging from her daughter's performance, it doesn't look like she has already obtained them."

Everyone strolled around the ranch for a while, didn't find anything, and planned to return home.

Felix, however, always felt something was wrong. Could it be that the clues from this morning were all they found?

He didn't follow the main force, but turned to go to the distant Wind Whisper Creek.

When Su Mian put on the rough denim shirt, Fuerdi was tilting his head and looking at her.

The slender snake tail swayed leisurely behind him, the tip tapping the floor one by one, as if beating a rhythm only he understood, a mute's self-entertainment.

Su Mian ignored him, sticking on a fake beard in front of the mirror.

The glue was a bit inferior, stinging her skin and making it itch.

She had just frowned when a cold, slippery tail rolled up silently.

The tail tip swept across her chin, hooked gently, and that tuft of brown beard she had just stuck on was peeled off, sticking to the scales.

Fuerdi held the tail in front of her, shook it, and his mouth curled into a smile like a prank had succeeded.

"..." Su Mian stared at him expressionlessly, reaching out.

Fuerdi blinked, the tail obediently handed back the beard, but the tip brushed across her palm, leaving a wet, cold trace.

Su Mian stuck the beard back on, lowered her hat brim, and checked the dagger tucked at her waist.

Fuerdi had moved to the first floor at some point, his arms hugging Su Mian tightly as she approached, bringing her safely to the ground, then transforming into human form, and the two slipped out of the castle silently.

The scattered few soldiers thought they were guests in the castle and scanned them casually before continuing their patrol.

This was the first time Su Mian saw the full view of the castle, feeling slightly shocked. It no longer looked as terrifying and grotesque as the previous few instances; on the contrary, it was dreamy and gorgeous.

The milky white castle main body towered into the clouds, with spires standing tall. The blue-green window decorations were the main color of the entire castle, echoing the endless lawn.

She looked at a somewhat abrupt and gorgeous bunker to the side, inlaid with many huge, exaggerated diamonds, but only three colors of gems: black, orange, and transparent white, looking somewhat strange.

"What is that guy looking at!"

The guard shouted fiercely. Su Mian immediately withdrew her gaze.

"That is the princess's pet! Don't try to approach. If you get eaten in one bite, we won't be responsible."

Su Mian pretended to be scared, nodded hurriedly, "I know, thank you, buddy."

As she spoke, she pulled Fuerdi and walked toward the gate.

Wind Whisper Creek was a stream hidden in the reeds. The place where someone was suspected to have died only had a pool of dark brown water left, and broken cloth strips hung on several trampled reeds.

Su Mian squatted down, her fingertips sweeping across the damp soil, "Even the bloodstains have been washed away."

She murmured, not finding anything unusual, so she stood up.

Why did the corpse appear only now?

Logically speaking, the red dancing shoes were picked up by the hunter Felix several days ago.

And if the milker's daughter died because of the red dancing shoes, why was the corpse discovered only now?

She looked toward the upper reaches of the river.

Perhaps it was washed down, so she pulled Fuerdi's hand and walked up, but didn't expect the end of the small stream to be on the other side of the mountain, looking perhaps far away, so she had to give up.

Returning to the starting point panting, she discovered a huge rock in the middle of the small stream.

And the rock only showed its head. She touched it, the foundation was unstable.

The stone swayed gently with her hand, inferred to be washed down by rain, not a fixed rock.

The corpse was very likely washed down from a certain section of the upper reaches, hit the rock, and was washed to the shore.

She suddenly had a flash of inspiration.

So, if there were no such rock, where would she swim to?

Thinking this way, Su Mian walked down the lower reaches again, and arrived after a while.

The end of the lower reaches was a forgotten abandoned spring. Dense dark green water grass grew out of the stone cracks on the edge of the spring pool, squirming strangely with the water flow.

Su Mian narrowed her eyes. Those water grasses spread out in a patch, covering half of the spring water.

Unreasonable.

Water grass only grows wildly in places with sufficient sunlight and slow water flow. The stream here is rapid, and the spring is in a dark place, making it difficult for water grass to breed in large quantities.

She picked up a wooden stick. The moment the tip of the branch entered the hair clump, she clearly felt some resistance.

Su Mian's scalp tingled instantly. She lost her strength for a moment. Fuerdi reached out and grasped the wooden stick, bringing her hand to pick up the heavy object in the water fiercely.

The black hair sea was lifted open by a gap.

A head floated to the surface.

The skin was swollen white, the eyes were two black holes, the mouth slightly open, revealing teeth yellowed by water soaking.

Hair strands wrapped around her cheeks like seaweed, and also wrapped around another floating face beside it.

Immediately after, the third, the fourth... like a chain reaction, the black "water grass layer" of the entire spring eye began to roll and bulge, one head after another emerging from under the water.

Men, women, young faces, foreheads covered with wrinkles, some still retaining expressions of terror, others calm as if sleeping.

Their hair was intertwined with each other, weaving into a huge floating carpet, covering most of the spring pool. ===== CHAPTER 123 =====