Edited by Rinrin
Sorry for the later chapter orz
“Click.” The sound of the lock had Shan Ziwei’s heart jumping. The door closed, and the pavilion became an enclosed space, intensifying and condensing the eerie tension, stretched to the breaking point between the two.
Shan Ziwei hurriedly replied to the princess, “No no no, I’m very much willing. It would be my honour.”
Holy crap why did it feel like the princess was about to commit murder!?
Shan Ziwei’s words had the black-haired young lady pausing for a moment. She turned around, her hands pressed against the door, and gave him a sweet smile that clearly showed that this was how she thought things should be.
“Wonderful.” There was a slight flush on the princess’ pale face, like a bewitching, blooming rose. “You belong to me now.”
Shan Ziwei plastered a smile onto his face. Though he felt there was no harm in agreeing. or rather that he could use this to make the princess pick up the spindle, he couldn’t manage to shake the feeling that something had gone spiralling out of control. A sense of unease permeated his heart.
He swallowed thickly, repeating his request, “Good child, can you go and help me pick up my spindle now?”
“Okay.”
This time, the princess was unhesitant in her answer. She bent down to reach for the spindle that had been ignored up until now. Shan Ziwei reacted lightning fast, immediately using the AoE sleep skill the moment those slender fingers touched the surface of the spindle.
The green devil’s thorn began to grow wildly, recreating the scene described in the fairytale. The princess never managed to get back up once she bent down. She collapsed limply onto the floor, her silk-like dark hair blanketing the ground and tracing the contours of a dying black butterfly’s wings behind her. Looking at her peacefully sleeping face, Shan Ziwei’s wound up nerves relaxed.
Right now, the princess looked like a soft, poor, harmless young girl. Why did her presence feel so oppressive just now?
Shan Ziwei rubbed the blood that stained his fingertips. Just now, he had accidentally cut his hand on the devil’s thorn in his anxiety. No matter what, his job here was done. All that was left was for the prince to come and kiss the princess awake.
Should he go and find Princess Donkeyskin or Snow White next? Shan Ziwei looked down at his hand that had become old and gnarled under the effects of the disguise skill. He was currently in the form of an old grandmother, so he could use this disguise to go directly to Snow White who was with the dwarves and sell her a poisoned apple.
Now the problem was, how was he going to get a poisoned apple?
As a tech shut-in from the twenty-first century, Shan Ziwei knew a few toxic substances, like arsenic and cyanide, but that was science! Not magical at all! Once a human ingested it they’d just die! It wouldn’t be able to achieve that desired effect of creating a pseudo-death state once it was swallowed.
So, did that mean he had to use yet another wild card…?
Shan Ziwei’s fingers had only just touched the edge of the wild cards in his pocket when he froze. Think carefully, was this really unsolvable? Did he really need to use the wild card to do this?
No, he shouldn’t. He shouldn’t have this habit of using the wild card whenever he was met with any kind of difficult task. The alarm bells had gone off in Shan Ziwei’s head. Using the wild card was like dismantling part of a wall to build a different section. Considering his previous experiences, Shan Ziwei could imagine how the moment he used the wild card to create a potioneering scenario, the system would lump him with a scenario with a new fairytale, and thus a new princess. There were plenty of fairytales where both potions and witches appeared, like The Little Mermaid…
That thought had Shan Ziwei’s mood plummeting. He was reminded of his “lover” from his first official chessboard, The Prison Guard: Siren. That guy held a love for The Little Mermaid, and his true identity was both unknown and extremely dangerous. Though that chessboard was already a thing of the past, Shan Ziwei had this feeling that it wasn’t the last time he’d be seeing Siren. If he got involved with the Mermaid Princess now, then that terrifying feeling might just become reality.
No matter if he was just scaring himself or not, Shan Ziwei didn’t dare continue using the wild card for his every need. He let go of the cards and was about to pull his hand out of his pocket when it brushed against something cold and metallic.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
It was Bluebeard’s key.
C iluta yeiy lc Vtjc Ilkfl’r tfjv kfca boo. Lf tjv bcis atbeuta bo erlcu Diefyfjgv’r Bfs ab olcv qfbqif, yea kts cba bypfmar, abb?
Vtjc Ilkfl vfmlvfv ab ub jtfjv klat atlr lvfj ja bcmf. Lf abbx bea Diefyfjgv’r Bfs jcv jqqgbjmtfv atf vbbg mbnfgfv lc vfnli’r atbgc.
“I want to go to where the poisoned apple is.”
Under Shan Ziwei’s eager gaze, the door creaked open, revealing the silver watery barrier that glittered with a multitude of colours, opening up to who knows where.
Shan Ziwei quickly broke off a bit of devil’s thorn. Once all the preparations were made, he closed his eyes to make himself invisible and walked into the unknown.
As soon as he got through the door, Shan Ziwei felt his feet sink into soft mud, sticky and uncomfortable. Shan Ziwei didn’t even get a chance to get used to it before he heard someone speak to him.
——That’s right. A person, speaking to him, who was invisible.
“Don’t use the AOE sleep skill.”
Shan ZIwei jumped, almost using the AoE sleep skill. He froze in place, his brain shutting off like an overloaded CPU——That sentence, that voice, the person speaking was…!
The other seemed to give a soft huff of laughter. “That’s right, it’s exactly what you’re thinking. Don’t open your eyes, you mustn’t see me and I mustn’t see you——you know why.”
That’s right, he knew why. No one knew better than he did as to why.
“I’ve got the poisoned apple here with me. Now, remember well what I’m about to say.”
The other continued speaking with barely a pause in his words. Shan Ziwei didn’t even dare to breathe too loudly, listening to the other speak holding his breath almost the entire way.
“I’ll put the poisoned apple opposite you. Once I say ‘go’, you can open your eyes and take the poisoned apple to the current Snow White.” The other spoke rather slowly, as if trying to etch each and every single word into Shan Ziwei’s brain. “Once the princess bites the apple, take the poisoned apple to Mobius Cabin at when the sun shines the brightest.”
“——and then, you’ll know what to do.”
Shan Ziwei hadn’t managed to digest everything yet before the other already gave the command, “Go.”
Shan Ziwei’s eyelids trembled violently. Should he believe it, or should he not? Was this a trap? Was the one who was speaking to him now… really “him”?
“Yes, it’s me.”
As if able to read Shan ZIwei’s mind, the other suddenly replied. Hearing the emphasis in those words, Shan Ziwei decided to open his eyes. What appeared in front of him was a very much normal cabin in the woods. It seemed as if it had just rained, so the mud around it was wet. Shan Ziwei had stepped on this soggy, soaked mud. He couldn’t help but look around. Though he knew he wouldn’t be able to see the other, he still couldn’t help trying to find them.
There was only a single table inside the cabin, and he was able to see everything inside with just one glance. Shan Ziwei didn’t see anyone, as he expected. His gaze fell onto the table in the middle. An apple so red it hurt his eyes sat there. It was clearly that poisonous apple that the other had talked about.
Shan Ziwei walked forwards and grabbed the apple. Since he had decided to believe it, he would follow the other’s directions all the way through. Shan Ziwei took the key that was still warm with his body warmth and gave one last glance at the empty cabin before he opened the door.
“I want to go to wherever Princess Snow White is.”
The door slid open silently and Shan Ziwei went through the water barrier with his eyes closed, bidding farewell to this cabin of strangeness.
Once he arrived at this new place, Shan Ziwei habitually tried to make out what was going on around him with his hearing. It wasn’t a quiet area, filled with the sound of nature: the cry of wind, birds and insects all mingled together. Amidst them, there were some man-made clacking sounds, too, like a sharp, hard object being drawn across the surface of rock or wood. Shan Ziwei listened carefully for a while, but was unable to figure out what was going on around him. He hardened his heart and opened his eyes.
The hypersexual had it all thought out: if there was going to anything he should watch out for, that person would’ve told him. So he opened his eyes without a hint of worry or uncertainty. In the end, it was very safe to do so. Shan Ziwei was currently standing at the door of a duplex house. He could see a pair of snow white hands holding a small knife and carving something into a wooden, cylindrical object through the window on the left.
Shan Ziwei recognized that pair of hands. He stepped to the side to reposition himself and, as he expected, he saw Snow White’s beautiful, goddess-like face. The black haired princess had grown up a little since the last time he had seen her. Her facial features were finer and more sculpted. Her attention was completely and solely on the wood in her hands as she deftly etched the surface with patterns, clearly having done this countless times.
Under the creaking and clacking of wood, Shan Ziwei tidied up his attire with a hint of anxiety. Poisonous apple in hand, he walked towards the window, feeling guilty.
“Beautiful young la-”
Shan Ziwei’s words lodged themselves in his throat. It was like he had been struck by lightning, staring in stricken horror at the… room behind the princess.
Dolls, wooden dolls everywhere. Each one with a head of shockingly white hair, their empty black eyes wide open, and their cold and stiff bodies entrapped in dresses of blue, so familiar it made his hair stand on end.
Shan Ziwei’s inner monologue was filled with “wtf”: wtf, you, too, Snow White?! Are strange hobbies like this contagious!? Could this be some little-known mandatory class for princesses——who the fuck would believe that!?
Shan Ziwei’s little inner self was stacking up skyscrapers with the tables it had flipped by now. He had to take some time to compose himself. Yet before he could, the princess had already turned her head to look over at him. She seemed a bit annoyed at being disturbed, her slender brows furrowed. However, when she saw Shan Ziwei, she first narrowed her eyes before the crease in her brow disappeared.
“Are you looking for me?”
Shan Ziwei did his best to pull his gaze away from the dolls. He gave a cough and found his words.
“Beautiful young lady, would you like to buy some apples? You can have one for free. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.”
The princess’ gaze landed on the poisonous apple in Shan Ziwei’s hand. She had this weird look in her eyes, as if looking at a beautiful flower blooming on a rotting corpse. It was impossible to tell if there was more delight or more disgust.
“Do you want me to eat this apple?”
Her voice was as raspy as ever, but it had filled out with a certain smoothness to it, like the harmony of a flute and a sheng, giving it a bewitching ethereality. Shan Ziwei nodded absentmindedly. He watched as the princess slowly raised her head. Her gaze, indescribable, practically “crawled” up from his hands and onto his face, causing him to shudder.
The princess locked eyes with him, blood red lips curving.
“Okay then.”
The princess agreed just like that, so easily that Shan Ziwei could barely believe it. He watched as the princess reached out through the window and took the poisonous apple in his hands.
Then, the bright red apple was split into two. Under Shan Ziwei’s stunned gaze, the princess put the small knife away and gave him half the apple.
“Let’s eat it together.”
Shan Ziwei stared at the poisonous apple, panicking just a little. Snow White was just as sharp as Briar Rose. Her eyes narrowed like a cat’s, catching Shan Ziwei’s hesitation.
“You don’t want to eat it?” The princess leaned forwards, placing their faces close as she looked down at Shan Ziwei with her black hair cascading around them, locking them in. “Or, is there something wrong with this apple?”
“……no, there’s nothing wrong.”
Shan Ziwei took a step back out of the other’s sphere of control. He had already taken the poisonous apple handed over by the princess in hand. It was like they were playing a dangerous game only the two of them knew about, but didn’t make known. Like Russian Roulette, someone was going to die, if not me, then you.
The princess smiled at Shan Ziwei, raising the other half of the poisonous apple as if in cheers. “Come, let’s eat.”
The black haired young lady placed the apple at her lips, but didn’t take a bite. She stared at him, urging him to join in with this death game. Shan Ziwei didn’t hesitate, taking a bite out of the apple, chewing and swallowing.
Seeing that Shan Ziwei was fine, the princess’ eyes widened. She didn’t exactly seem surprised, but rather disappointed and angry. Her red lips parted and she, too, took a bite out of the apple.
“Thud.”
The bitten apple fell to the ground and Shan Ziwei picked it up. He looked at the unconscious black-haired young lady and gave a soft sigh.
Phew, thank god he remembered that the only part that was poisonous was the skin of the apple. The flesh was fine to eat.
Were all princesses so imposing nowadays? Both Briar Rose and Snow White had his heart in his throat. What a trinity. Now, there was still Princess Donkeyskin to go.
However, according to the message he had been given before, he should now take the poisonous apple to Mobius Cabin when the sun was at its brightest.
Shan Ziwei glanced at the poisonous apple in his hand only to find that, to his immense surprise, the bitten and cut in half apple had returned to its original form, round and shiny without a hint of damage.
Shan Ziwei’s heartbeat sped up. He suddenly realised something and quickly headed to the door of the house, jamming Bluebeard’s key into the lock.
“I want to head to Mobius Cabin when the sun is at its brightest!”
The door opened, revealing the glittering film of mercury. Shan Ziwei swallowed thickly. He already had an idea of what was about to happen. It was too fantastical, beyond human imagination.
He walked straight into the barrier of mercury with his eyes wide open.
In an instant, his bright outdoors surrounding turned into a dimly lit room. In front of him was a cabin in the woods. It seemed as if it had just rained, so the mud around it was wet. Shan Ziwei had stepped on this soggy mud and stared at the table in the middle of the cabin. There was nothing on it now, but before, there had been a red apple. The very one that was in his hands.
Shan Ziwei’s mind raced as he approached the table and returned the apple to where he had picked it up.
The moment he placed the apple down, he heard a squelch, like someone had accidentally stepped into mud and gotten muddy water all over their foot.
Shan Ziwei slowly turned his head around. There was no one there, but a footprint had appeared in the soft wet mud in front of the door.
In that moment, there was no need for anyone to tell him anything, he had already spoken before he could properly take in everything.
“Don’t use the AOE sleep skill.”
Rinrin: !!! Time paradox?!! So the ‘him’ wasn’t host but future Shanzi??
Joui: Heheh yup
Dun dun duuuuuuh!!! Twas himself, a kinda unexpected twist I gotta say. Anyways,
Thank you for translating!!💋💕♥️❤😍💕
Oooh I can’t believe I didn’t think of that ending!
Thanks for the chapter! 💕
oooh so it was him that said that?? and skskjs this is so goood (′ꈍωꈍ‵)
Lol. Am I the only one who thought it was a time paradox from the start?
Damn! That was just too shocking! I’m shook!
hell….even I thought that it was host…hahaha
mindboggled
Its hard to be a witch nowadays.. _(´ཀ`」 ∠) _
^
Aw so many of us hungering for some host action 😅 these time slips though are making my head hurt lol
Ahh so the author used the harry potter time travel paradox. Nice I like that!
All these princes(s) are full yandere mode now , hope we dont see that frigid passion in full force