Chapter 11: CH 11

APRIL 30, 2021~ 8ONI

Edited by: Scarlett Co

Li Sinian grabbed and tugged the door a few times to confirm that the lock was firmly secured, before bringing out two bottles of wine and handed one to Fang Daichuan. The two sat on the corners of the windowsill face to face, looking down at the sea outside the window.                                                                                    

“I have not told you my identity, right?” Fang Daichuan said as he began to fumble around in his pocket. However, for a second, he forgot the fact that in order to prevent others from noticing his identity character, he had already disposed of any character-related things. So, at this moment, he was unable to prove himself, he then explained with an embarrassed expression on his face, “I am a witch. After realizing that, I bound up all the proofs and threw them into the sea. But wait, I can show you the potions.”

Li Sinian who was sitting on the opposite side waved his hand and spoke softly with a smile on his face, “No, I guessed it earlier and I believe you.” 

Fang Daichuan shook his head firmly and stubbornly took out the potions from his pocket; two glass test tubes, one was stuffed with an hourglass-shaped cork, and the other cork was in the shape of a skull.

He showed these to Li Sinian and insisted, “Well, if you guessed it, it’s your business. I don’t want any unnecessary hidden dangers and estrangements between us. Only by proving everything honestly, can you be sure to trust me.”

Hearing his words, Li Sinian was stunned and his smile dimmed. He looked up at Fang Daichuan for a long, long time, in a daze. Fang Daichuan sensed this and raised his eyebrows in question. There was a light flashed in his eyes which was similar to the lively fireflies wandering around in the mountains in early summer. It was warm and comforting contrasting to this hellhole. What Li Sinian could not deny was that at that moment, the seemingly dead mountains that had been buried inside his heart for a long time suddenly wavered.

(T/N: Somebody is falling~~~)

He suppressed his emotions, and then let out an indifferent smile again, “Are you accusing me of not being honest enough?”

Fang Daichuan didn’t deny,” I know that people like you don’t approve of a companion easily because you’re used to being alone. I also know that you have a lot of secrets. I showed you my card hoping that I can gain a little trust from you. As for you, in short, I have absolute faith in you. Whether you say something or not, I believe you. It doesn’t matter how many icebergs you hide in your heart.”

“I take back what I just said,” Li Sinian shook his head, feeling slightly pleased at Fang Daichuan’s words, “Still waters run deep*, you know. It’s no wonder that you can see clearly.”

https://www.purpleculture.net/dictionary-details/?word=%E5%A4%A7%E6%99%BA%E8%8B%A5%E6%84%9A

Fang Daichuan smiled triumphantly, “Obviously. Those who are in our circumstances and can’t see the situation clearly would have died long ago. I could survive today because I have a good attitude and can observe clearly.”

He opened the wine bottle Li Sinian handed him, shook the bottle slightly, and turned to gaze at the sea.

“It would be great if we had met elsewhere. If we are now in Qingdao, we can go to the beach to dive, surf, and drink. A sequel to a movie series that I have waited for more than ten years is on today, alas.” He sighed regretfully. 

Hearing this, Li Sinian stepped down from the window sill. Fang Daichuan felt a little strange by his sudden movement and turned his head to stare at him in question.

“Didn’t you just say you want to go to the beach?” Li Sinian asked rhetorically. 

“Diving and surfing on the deserted island is going to be hard but drinking and watching the waves can still be done. Let’s go now.” He waved at Fang Daichuan and went out first.

Perhaps it was the precarious danger that gave birth to a sense of rebellion, or perhaps Li Sinian was too persuasive when he said this, whatever the reason was, Fang Daichuan was easily bewitched. At this dangerous moment, where his life was hanging by a thread, he actually went out after Li Sinian, holding a wine bottle.

The whole villa was eerily quiet and the body in the hall on the first floor was still lying there.

Fang Daichuan carefully brushed past the deceased, and suddenly stopped. Li Sinian immediately noticed the unusual act and looked back at him.

“Say, do you think the deceased had time to destroy the character card before his death?” Fang Daichuan had a flash of inspiration to solve the mystery, “They have not left the villa. It stands to reason that unless the card is torn and thrown into the toilet, there’s no way it would disappear. But just in case, what if there is a clue on his body?” This was Fang Daichuan’s accumulated experience of playing stand-alone RPG games for many years. The clues given to you by the living were likely to lead to high-level tasks, but the clues from the dead would not. Yet, the clues from the dead were always important.

Li Sinian nodded, came closer, knelt down, and poked his index finger at the deceased’s body, “Dead Men Tell No Tales* what you said makes sense, then, you start searching him.”

(T/N: The author write this on English on raw)

“Me?” Fang Daichuan’s expression changed, “That is no good…”

Li Sinian raised his eyebrows at him, “You already carried a corpse on your back and you are still afraid of this?”

Fang Daichuan half-crouched next to the corpse in a very reluctant manner, he first tapped his forehead, jaw, left and right shoulders, made a cross on his chest, and silently recited the words ‘I have no choice, please don’t blame me’ before gritting his teeth and lifting the dead man’s clothes.

A thin card in his trouser pocket was an identity card imprinted with fingerprints. Apart from that, there was no medicines, cards, or manual. Fang Daichuan picked up the identity card, brought it under the light and examined it carefully but he could not see anything.

“There are no potions, at least this means that he is not a wolf or a witch.” Li Sinian said.

The two people searched for ten minutes, but they found nothing.

Fang Daichuan thought for a while, “Do you know the arrangement for everyone? How many witches and seers are there?”

Li Sinian shook his head, “These boxes were not prepared by me, and I don’t know the specific details. According to the general rule, with thirteen players, there should be three special roles, three or four werewolves, and the rest are all villagers.”

(T/N: Because I did not think it is a spoiler, yes there is only 4 special role here, you can read it on the link below, so yep Chuan’er is the only witch in this game)

Li Sinian said while tidying up the deceased’s clothes, “Let’s go and drink. Since we have wine today, why don’t we get drunk today? Tomorrow’s problem, leave it to tomorrow.”

The sound of the sea waves remained the same as always, calm and comforting. The two climbed up the high rock and sat facing the sea.

Li Sinian gazed into the distance of the vast sea. The dark reef was abruptly cut off from the sea at one point, with a vertical dip of more than three metres between it and the sea level, standing cliff-like on the shoreline. They stood above the cliff, listening to the ocean’s wailing that seemed to come from the abyss, dread, sorrow and resentment surging over the two’s hearts.

“In fact, apart from the fact that the conclusion is wrong, you have actually guessed a lot. Technically speaking, I have some ties with this island.” Li Sinian couldn’t help confessing.

You are reading story Witch, Open Your Eyes at novel35.com

Fang Daichuan sat beside him, holding his legs in his arms, and listened quietly.

“I suspect that my father’s death is related to this island,” Li Sinian dropped the bomb. When he said this, there was a shadow of a smile on the corner of his mouth, as if it didn’t quite matter to him. There was nothing but boundless regrets and despair as he brought up a painful past after so many years, the death itself didn’t seem to bother him anymore.

He mumbled, “All these years, I have been trying to get to the truth. What is the secret of this island? My father disappeared on this island without a trace. Did he die or did he somehow manage to leave this island under a new identity? I don’t understand. I have sneaked in here several times over the years, but I didn’t get anything,” he took a deep breath before continuing, “Later this deserted island was bought at a high price. It was that man who released this game. A while ago, I found out that my father left some information about this island. I was aware that the time of the nearby volcano’s eruption is just around the corner, so I couldn’t help but come in pretending to be a mercenary, hoping to find clues about my father before the final destruction. Well, I didn’t expect things would come to this. Come to think of it, maybe the boss* has already noticed something and deliberately threw me into this game, but then, I’m not sure.”

(T/N: boss is in English in raw)

Fang Daichuan took a sip of wine and raised the bottle towards him, “So you entered this game, solely because you have a reason?”

Li Sinian shook his head, “Everyone who enters this island has their own reason. Do you really think they came for the 20 million dollars? I haven’t found out yet who they are, however, they more or less must have something to do with this island. You have seen the situation tonight. Some people have shown signs that they know each other. Tomorrow voting must be exciting. Just wait and see.”

Fang Daichuan took another sip of wine when the singing tunes of seabirds drifted from afar.

“How about it? Isn’t it cool to drink like this?” Li Sinian temporarily put aside those annoying thoughts and opened the cork with a pop. Some drops of light golden liquid splashed in the air, and the thick wine was like flowing gold foil. He raised his head and took a big mouthful, feeling the sweet and sour warmth from his throat all the way through the esophagus, and into his stomach.

Fang Daichuan nodded, “Actually, I don’t know how to drink wine properly. Once, Deng-ge specifically brought someone to teach me how to behave, how to turn glasses, how to sniff, how to say a bunch of nonsense things that I don’t understand to compliment the other party’s wine. He used to ramble that it’s a kind of wine etiquette. Now I just want to say, fuck etiquette!”

The sound of the sea breeze is like the whimper of a pipe organ, while the sparkling wine conveyed an illusion of jubilation and exhilaration with the taste of intoxication.

The two drank and chatted for a while before carrying the wine bottles, and walked down to the reef together. The more you went down, the louder the organ’s sound became, the low whimper and the occasional high pitch made people feel a sense of horror.

(T/N: I think it is this sound, but I might be wrong, feel free to comment if anyone knows better~~~ I don’t bite and I always appreciate any comment)

“What sound is that?” Fang Daichuan turned his ears to listen.

Standing beneath the rocks and listening quietly for a moment, Li Sinian guessed, “Perhaps the rising and falling of the tide squeezed air into the interior of the reef,” he looked up at the cliff-like reefs more than three metres high, “These reefs should be rich in air holes, or even large internal cavities. The rise and fall of the tide drives the change of air pressure in the air holes, which is derived from the principle of the pipe organ.”

Fang Daichuan tilted his head and took a sip of the wine, then turned the bottle over and looked at the output origin and the year, mumbling, “A semi-dry sparkling wine from the Burgundy estate, high in residual sugar, with a subtle musky flavour, good with foie gras or whatever seafood, it’s refreshing enough to drink like this, but still a bit of a shame.”

“Is this also a compliment with a bunch of nonsense that you don’t understand?” Li Sinian turned around, laughing.

Fang Daichuan nodded while drinking, “It’s a pity that the owner of the wine is not in front of me. Now, he can’t hear my compliment.”

Li Sinian laughed carefreely at his words, his smile bringing out his eyes which sparkled playfully. After taking a sip of wine, he suddenly tore open his shirt. His skin was extremely white, under the rare misty light blue moon, it resembled an ice emerald. It looked cold, hard, and impersonal, but somehow, it gave people an illusion of being warm and gentle.

“Foie gras can’t be done, but just wait here, brother. I will get you seafood.” After saying that, he turned around and looked into Fang Daichuan’s eyes intently, backing away with a smile, and before Fang Daichuan could react, he plunged backwards into the sea.

“Fuck!” Reaching out his hands, the shock and fear quickly sobered up Fang Daichuan. Although they had walked down from the topmost reef, this was not a shallow place either, and the shadows of the sea and the rocks blended together in the darkness making it look like there was no end. Fang Daichuan leaned close to the shore, wiped the splashed water on his face, and looked around the dark sea in bewilderment.

There was a low organ-like hum, a lighthouse in the distance, a star at the junction of the sky and the sea. However, there was no movement on the sea surface.

“Li Sinian?!” Fang Daichuan didn’t know why he felt so terrified and the unfathomable dark sea multiplied the panic. He shouted into the dark empty sea, “Li Sinian!”

No one responded. The sea was still and only the stars flickered lightly as if responding.

After looking around the sea for a second, Fang Daichuan gulped down half a bottle of wine abruptly, took off his T-shirt, the belt, and pulled his feet out of the trousers.

“What are you doing?” Suddenly, Li Sinian popped up from the surface of the sea, dripping with water from the ends of his slightly longer hair, with a smile on his face.

Fang Daichuan watched Li Sinian come out from the water and climb the reef. He blew the drops of water on his bangs and stuffed Fang Daichuan with a handful of wet things. Fang Daichuan felt a weight in his hands. Li Sinian was wiping the water off his body with his shirt. He looked down at his palm. Three oysters trembled and spitted out some foam in his palms, timidly exposing their own soft flesh.

Fang Daichuan went mute for a while. It seemed that ever since he had met Li Sinian, he had often experienced brain freeze moments. He had to take a moment to recover from the panic he felt. 

“What kind of supernatural power is this?” Fang Daichuan looked down at the oyster in his palm, then looked up at him, “You can actually catch oysters just by casually diving?”

Li Sinian used a stone in his hand to pry open the shell, then washed the raw oyster meat with the liquor. 

“I told you, when it was a deserted island, I have sneaked in countless times here. I am very familiar with this place. Naturally, I know that there are oysters growing under this reef.” He explained, handing the washed oysters to Fang Daichuan, nudging his chin at him to take them.

Fang Daichuan was an authentic Chinese. He had eaten a lot of grilled garlic oysters*, but he had never eaten raw like this. He looked down at the sea and thought, ‘This place is a private sea, far away from the national border. The water is very clean and there should be no heavy metal pollution.’ He hesitated for a while, but decided to follow Li Sinian’s instruction anyway and  stuffed the oyster directly into his mouth.

[蒜蓉生蚝碳烤, Suàn róng shēngháo tàn kǎo] Pic for your stomach

Taste of freshness and sweetness flooded into his tastebuds. With a soft and creamy texture, the oysters had a touch of wine in them since they had been washed down with sparkling wine. He nodded with approval as he chewed, his eyes glistening with amazement at the wonderful taste in his mouth. Li Sinian smiled softly at his reaction and handed him the remaining one.

‘If only the next seven days and seven nights were a dream…’ When Fang Daichuan later recalled this misty night, he couldn’t help feeling that way. How wonderful it would be if when he woke up, he and Li Sinian were still sitting on the beach, drinking sparkling wine, eating oysters, and reminiscing about his childhood and Li Sinian’s father together while recalling faint memories of their past interactions. There should be no thrilling, no twists and turns, no blood and fear. How nice it would be.

The memory should have stayed at that moment, or even earlier. He wished fate had turned a corner before they had the chance to meet; for a lighter, brighter scene and for an uncomplicated relationship.

(T/N: So, ahem, sorry for the cliffhanger but I need to take 2 weeks break, top, for this project. So, the next chapter should be around 17th May, more or less.)

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