The castle was so big that Qiao Ying, who had expended quite a bit of energy, felt a little tired from all the walking. Her steps were visibly heavier than before.
She walked neither fast nor slow, recovering her strength as she went.
Finally, she walked back to the front hall.
Compared to before, there was now an extra chair in the middle of the front hall, as if specially prepared for her.
Feeling a little tired, Qiao Ying went straight over and sat down on the chair. She tore off her bloodstained sleeve and nonchalantly bandaged her sliced palm.
Then she looked up, gazing straight ahead.
The throne-like armchair was no longer empty but occupied by someone.
Not just one person.
As the view panned out, the entire front hall was filled with people.
This was the basement level of the castle, identical in every way to the above ground level, right down to the placement of objects.
It was like a mirror image reflection.
Yet a closer look upwards would reveal discrepancies. The lofty dome was merely an illusion created by the mirrored surface, and there was no large door here that led to the sea breeze when opened.
Qiao Ying's gaze shifted from the man on the throne to the young man in front of and to the right below him. The young man had a slender build and sharp, handsome features, around the same age as Qiao Ying.
It was the fake Xiao Yi who had been poisoned but did not die.
There were more than just these familiar faces. Beside JOKER there was also a girl, with soft yet intensely aggressive features.
Her lazy coolness and innate charm made her peerlessly beautiful.
Qiao Ying was definitely most familiar with her out of everyone present, without a doubt.
It was because of this girl that Sack had left the hospital in an almost crazed state, causing the already worried Qin Hanyue, Ye Si and the others to become even more anxious and concerned – she was Qiao Ying's clone.
Qiao Ying had not expected to be able to see her own body from a third-person perspective. It was quite novel.
She looked the clone up and down, as if she could not get enough.
Her wolf-like gaze made even the emotionless clone feel uncomfortable. If the clone was not female, she would definitely have been seen as a pervert.
Tsk, she really is gorgeous~
It’s a pity Qin Hanyue is not here, otherwise he would have to take a good look at Qiao Ying's own body no matter what. That unfortunate old man, if he had known her in his past life and dated her own body, he would have died a happy man.
Qiao Ying was completely relaxed, as if she had returned home.
Compared to the leader of the Dark Shadow surrounded by his dead soldiers, she looked more like the one on the throne, more like the owner of this castle.
Qiao Ying’s gaze returned to the man on the throne. His appearance was somewhat strange, not that he was ugly per se, just ordinary. He even gave off an amiable, kind-looking impression.
Yet there was an indescribable awkwardness about him.
If you had seen the Ace of Spades, King of Hearts, Queen of Clubs and Jack of Diamonds, you would understand why Qiao Ying said he looked strange.
Because that man had the Queen of Club’s brows and eyes, Ace of Spade’s nose, Queen of Hearts’ lips, and Jack of Diamonds’ chin.
His face was a patchwork of theirs.
When Qiao Ying looked at him, she saw the deceased Queen of Clubs and the others. He had no blood relations with the Queen of Clubs and the rest.
The leader of Dark Shadow never revealed his true face to others. The two times Qiao Ying had seen him on screen, his face was either glitching or completely black.
He was extremely cautious and bordering on paranoid.
He had forced the Queen of Clubs four to graft his facial features onto their own faces, just so he could use them as scapegoats if necessary.
Dark Shadow originally had another high-ranking member.
He had shielded JOKER in this manner before being hunted down.
Whenever Qiao Ying saw his face, she felt a little psychological discomfort. Fortunately they rarely appeared in front of her at the same time.
JOKER: “We finally meet.”
Qiao Ying: “To be honest, I really don’t want to see your face with other people’s features.”
Upon hearing this, JOKER regarded Qiao Ying with an even more profound gaze.
That piercing look was as if he was seeing through this body that he had only seen a few times, towards another person more familiar to him.
[To be honest, I really don’t want to see Leader with other people's features grafted on his face] Blood Shadow had said the exact same words to him before.
In Dark Shadow, only Blood Shadow dared to be so blunt.
JOKER amiably corrected her, “You’ve got it wrong. It’s other people with my features.”
Qiao Ying did not want to waste time chatting with him. “Where are my people?”
JOKER: “So impatient. Don’t you want to catch up first?”
Qiao Ying remained expressionless. “Catch up? Are we close?”
JOKER: “Not close? I see~”
He acted somewhat disappointed, then looked towards Blood Shadow’s clone and asked, “If you’re not familiar with me, are you familiar with her then?”
Qiao Ying took a glance and asked, “Just one?”
JOKER: “Hmm?”
Qiao Ying: “At most eighty percent genetic similarity, plus the innate defects of a clone, that can hardly be called an ace.”
Qiao Ying had a faint smile at the corner of her lips.
JOKER’s expression changed slightly again.
He had not expected Qiao Ying to know even this.
Qiao Ying: “No more? I thought there would at least be a clone army, at least a hundred Blood Shadows and a hundred Feng Yings. With just this line-up, you look rather shabby.”
Those words were quite aggravating.
Qiao Ying suddenly recalled something and sincerely apologized.
“Oh right, I forgot. Your clone army was burnt to death by me in their incubation chambers before they could be ‘born’. My bad.”
Even more aggravating words.
“As their father, you must be quite upset, no?”
JOKER laughed. “Yes I was upset, but look, I still have a child here.” He glanced at Blood Shadow’s clone.
“Whether it’s Blood Shadow or her clone, she's always been my favorite child.”
At that moment, Qiao Ying’s expression turned cold.
The Blood Shadow clone then spoke, “Father.”
JOKER: “Good girl.”
This father-daughter display made Qiao Ying nauseous.
Qiao Ying sneered derisively, “It seems the defects are far greater than I imagined.” Even Blood Shadow’s clone would never address JOKER as Father.
This showed the difference between them.
JOKER: “Yes there are defects, but your injuries aren’t light either. It helps even out the gap in strength between you two. I expect it’ll still be quite a sight when you fight.”
He then said, “Since you don’t want to catch up, let’s take a look at your friends then. I quite enjoy watching others catch up.”
He clapped his hands.
Footsteps sounded and Sack was escorted out from the back hall.
As if to spite Qiao Ying, JOKER also apologized, “I promised I would treat him well. That was thoughtless of me. He was just too disobedient.”
Qiao Ying looked over.
Sack's injuries did not seem much lighter than Yue Ying’s. Given Sack’s current state, the handcuffs restraining him were redundant since he had no capacity to act anyway.
Qiao Ying then eyed the youth escorting Sack out.
Calling him a youth was more apt – young, at most eighteen. He looked even younger due to his small build, like an underdeveloped fifteen or sixteen year old boy, with gloomy eyes.
He resembled an autistic child, the youngest in Shadow Squadron.
He looked harmless enough, yet his strength was second only to Feng Ying. He excelled with all kinds of cold steel weapons, even better at making firearms. Nicknamed the walking arsenal, he was a child prodigy killer – Flowing Shadow.
A formidable opponent.
