She Was Sentenced to Life Imprisonment [Unlimited] - Chapter 45

Chapter 45: Rose Manor (Part 10)

◎ Is she sick? ◎

Jiang Nan was in a daze, and only came back to her senses when the person beside her squeezed her fingers.

She glanced at Luo Ning, who looked bored and weary from having nothing to do. Then she heard her ask a seemingly casual question.

“What’s a pollen allergy?”

Hearing this, Jiang Nan frowned, but Luo Ning’s expression suggested she was just a little curious about the topic, with a hint of newfound interest.

A normal person would immediately understand what it was, but Luo Ning wasn’t normal. She would get curious about things she had never heard of, like a newborn child who had never been intentionally taught.

The players here came for their desires, and Luo Ning didn’t seem like someone who had ever made friends, so it was natural that no one had ever explained it to her.

Jiang Nan thought for a moment, then patiently told her, “It’s when touching too many flowers could kill you.”

Luo Ning nodded thoughtfully, then saw Jiang Nan hesitate for a moment before asking her, “Has no one ever taught you these basic things?”

Luo Ning was stunned for a second, then smiled carelessly, looking out the window. Her expression held a loneliness others couldn’t understand. She spoke slowly, her beautiful voice making it sound like she was stating a simple fact.

“From the moment I could see this world, everyone passed by in a hurry, never staying. It took me a long time to understand what they were saying on my own.”

Suddenly, Jiang Nan felt that beneath Luo Ning’s arrogant and flamboyant exterior was a soul as lonely as her own.

Perhaps that’s why Luo Ning could attract her so much.

“Jiang Nan, you don’t belong here. I am your home,” Luo Ning said.

She met her eyes and saw the certainty in them.

Neither of them could truly be called a person, yet they were both kindred spirits.

“What about you? Where is your home?” Jiang Nan asked her.

It seemed she had never thought about this question, and for a moment, Luo Ning found herself unable to answer.

Jiang Nan wanted to hear an answer, yet she didn’t know what answer she truly wanted.

“My home… I don’t think I have a home… I just want to escape it, to leave this place…”

Luo Ning showed a rare look of confusion, mumbling to herself.

Only then did Jiang Nan see her lower her guard, putting away her smile and revealing her most vulnerable side.

…

The gardener finished their work and sat down in front of them again. Unlike before, this time their face showed a mix of worry and caution.

Jiang Nan noticed their nervousness and took the initiative to ask, “Is something wrong?”

The gardener scratched their head, looking a little embarrassed. “I wanted to ask, how is Miss Helianna’s illness?”

“She’s sick?” Jiang Nan frowned, remembering that Helianna had indeed looked pale and unwell.

The gardener sighed, a hint of worry in their voice. “We heard a rumor that sometime ago, a message spread from Miss Helianna’s family that she was ill. They even specially invited many witch doctors to treat her. Someone who went to deliver flowers saw many people dancing and jumping around Miss Helianna from a distance, later we heard they were trying to exorcise a demon from her body.”

As if afraid they wouldn’t believe it, they quickly added, “The bounty notice is still hanging on the billboard. We’re all worried about Miss Helianna.”

What kind of illness did Helianna have that her family went to such great lengths to perform an exorcism ritual on her?

A flicker of understanding passed through Jiang Nan’s eyes. After a moment of thought, she told the gardener, “Miss Helianna is doing very well now. She would be happy to know you’re so concerned about her.”

Hearing her reply, the worry on the gardener’s face disappeared completely. They placed a hand on the cross around their neck and murmured, “God bless her.”

“We knew she’d be alright, but her family… ah…” The gardener sighed and shook their head, as if feeling sorry for her.

“Ever since Miss Helianna fell ill, her family members have passed away one after another. Now only she and a butler are left. She is a very unfortunate person…”

The gardener was still lamenting when Jiang Nan interrupted her.

“Do you know a person named Gabriel?”

The owner of the map. The people in the castle certainly wouldn’t answer her questions.

The gardener thought for a moment, then suddenly remembered something. “Miss Helianna has many admirers. The most famous one is a nobleman named Gabriel, the son of a duke. He once boasted that he would win Miss Helianna’s hand.”

“He’s been here, right?” Jiang Nan continued to ask.

The map had ended up in the manor, so the person must have been there before.

But when they mentioned Gabriel, the gardener’s face showed a hint of disgust. They still answered Jiang Nan’s question.

“He brought many people with him, like an army. He came with a map to challenge the riddles Miss Helianna had set. We didn’t like him. He ruined our flowers as soon as he arrived. But we haven’t heard from him since, so I’m sure Miss Helianna didn’t like him.”

Jiang Nan’s eyes drooped slightly in thought. Just then, something suddenly flew in through the window.

Seeing the flying object, the gardener was instantly enraged. They picked up a handy tool nearby and ruthlessly smacked it down, then said with a grim expression, “Why are these birds back again? All they do is destroy our flowers.”

The creature knocked down by the gardener was the same vulture Luo Ning and Jiang Nan had brought. Already seriously injured, it was now twitching on the ground.

The gardener’s face softened when they looked at them again, their expression returning to a simple, honest smile. “Please wait a little longer. We’ll have the flowers packaged and ready for you to take back soon.”

Luo Ning nodded. The dazed look from her conversation with Jiang Nan was gone, and she was smiling again, speaking with elegance and grace. “We’re happy to. We’d like to go for a walk. Miss Helianna specifically asked us to visit you on her behalf.”

They then left the gardener’s house and wandered around the village.

“Someone’s behind us. Don’t be afraid,” Luo Ning said, pulling on her wrist to comfort her.

Jiang Nan knew it, too. Not long after they came out, someone had started following them. They were on horseback, but the person was following them on foot, trying to stay hidden.

They were aware that their sharp tongues could offend people, and in a life-or-death scenario like this dungeon, there would always be people who wanted to kill them.

Fortunately, the map was very detailed, even showing a small village. They took several turns, enough to make anyone dizzy, and the person following them was running out of stamina.

They finally stopped at a notice board the gardener had mentioned. The paper on it was yellow and peeling, but the writing was still clear.

As Jiang Nan looked at it, she took a moment to ask, “Who was that person behind us?”

“Little Jiang Nan, have you forgotten? Besides us, there’s only one other person who has a map that can get here now,” Luo Ning reminded her.

“Oh.” Jiang Nan understood now. It was the person they had tricked into digging for a corpse all night.

Jiang Nan read the content on the notice and roughly understood the gist of it.

Helianna’s family was very worried when they found out she was sick and had specially invited witch doctors to come and treat her.

But Jiang Nan didn’t understand. The note subtly mentioned the words “sickness of the heart” and “family disgrace.” Just from those words, she couldn’t figure out what was truly wrong with Helianna.

After a long time of looking at it, Jiang Nan suddenly realized something. She turned her head and saw that Luo Ning was once again idly staring into the distance.

“You can’t read this, can you?”

Hearing this, Luo Ning was stunned for a moment. No one had ever asked her that question before.

Her gaze lingered on the board for a few seconds before she finally spoke. “I can’t.”

Her frankness was still accompanied by a nonchalant smile. Paired with her bright and striking face, it made her seem like she was joking.

But Jiang Nan knew she wasn’t.

Immediately, Jiang Nan felt a pang of sympathy. She just realized that Luo Ning wasn’t truly idle; it was just that because she couldn’t listen or read and no one would ever intentionally teach her, she had grown to treat everything with an air of indifference.

“I’ll read it to you,” Jiang Nan said, her eyelashes fluttering, hiding the emotion in her eyes.

“Okay.”

Luo Ning suddenly moved closer, from behind her, so it looked as if she was hugging her. She placed her hand over Jiang Nan’s, leaned in slightly, and whispered into her ear. “Lend me your knife.”

A killing intent came from behind. An unexpected flash of cold light passed by, and before anyone could react, bl00d filled the air, and a heavy thud was heard as something fell to the ground.

[Player Chen Lei has died.]

The system’s announcement echoed throughout the dungeon and reached their ears. Jiang Nan turned her head and caught a glimpse of the sharp, bloodthirsty look in the eyes of the person behind her.

It was a side of Luo Ning she hadn’t seen before, yet it still made her feel completely safe.

“That’s done. Now we don’t have to worry about them sneaking around,” Luo Ning said, handing the knife back to Jiang Nan and stretching lazily.

The gardeners, hearing the commotion, gathered around, shocked at the grim-looking corpse on the ground.

“What happened here?”

Seeing that the gardeners were already looking at them, Jiang Nan leaned lightly on Luo Ning, put a hand to her mouth, and with her fingers slightly curled, frowned. She looked pale and coughed a few times before speaking. “This person was a thief who was following us.”

Chen Lei’s body was a mess, covered in dirt, which fit Jiang Nan’s lie perfectly.

The gardeners, seeing Jiang Nan’s frail appearance, took her for a weak, young girl. Even with a knife in her hand, they thought she had been forced to use it.

Just then, one of the gardeners frowned at the body on the ground and said, “He’s not a thief.”

Jiang Nan’s eyebrow twitched, thinking her lie had been exposed. Luo Ning’s expression didn’t change at all.

But the gardener’s next words made her fall into deep thought.

“This is one of those hateful big birds, back to destroy our flowers again.”

Jiang Nan went along with what they said, replying, “Yes, we must have been mistaken.”

After she spoke, she looked at the body on the ground. It was clearly a human corpse. Yet, all the gardeners saw was the body of a vulture.

While Jiang Nan was thinking, she remembered Luo Ning’s warning from this morning.

This person ate the prepared fried eggs.

The gardeners were kind-hearted and extremely disgusted by the vultures that destroyed their flower fields. They immediately had a few people drag the body away to dispose of it, so as not to frighten Jiang Nan.

Luo Ning took the opportunity to put an arm around Jiang Nan. Seeing the latter glance at her, she spoke up. “Wait a moment. That large bird… it hid a map. Could we have it?”

The gardener took the map from the corpse. Noticing the red-marked areas, they made a sound of surprise and asked, “Huh? Why are so many places marked? They don’t look like the burial sites of Miss Helianna’s family.”

Suddenly realizing they had said too much, the gardener quickly fell silent and handed the map to them.

Hearing the gardener’s words, Jiang Nan wanted to ask more, but the gardener was now firm about not speaking, so they had no choice but to give up.