The girlish half of the creature’s face took on a strange liveliness. "You know... us?"
The creature seed surprised as well, for the newcors mirrored its own state: a vengeful spirit tenderly embracing a human. Could it be they were unaware of each other's true nature?
"If it wasn't for Lu Li, you two probably wouldn't be together," Anna conceded, relaxing slightly at the sight of familiar faces, though she still kept herself protectively in front of Lu Li.
"Anna," Lu Li said, his eyes fixed on the creature and his hand near his pistol, "these aren't the sa Sarah and Adam we knew. We're strangers to them."
The Deadly Arena of Sarah and Adam—Lu Li recognized them instantly.
"I see..." Anna's gaze swept over them. Compared to the black silhouette of the Shadow Puppeteer, these originals seed far more vivid—and more dangerous.
However, events took an unexpected turn. Sarah spoke, her voice slow and soft. "We're... curious. Tell us... about this other 'us'..."
"I can try to explain. It might save us so trouble," Anna offered, rembering a lesson Lu Li had taught her.
Lu Li didn't object. Perhaps this was a step toward restoring her emotions.
Anna spoke more than she had since her death. The story ca out in a jumble at first, but as she went on, filling in the details, it began to take shape. She recounted Sarah's sacrifices for Adam, the efforts she and Lu Li had made, and the final outco—not perfect, but acceptable. They were together forever, and nothing could ever tear them apart. In a way, it was a mirror image of their current situation.
"I like that ending..." Sarah said slowly.
"We... like it..." The male half, Adam, spoke for the first ti, anding his beloved's words. "I never knew you did so much..."
"But did it matter?... We're... already together..." A happy smile blossod across Sarah's face.
"How lovely..." Anna murmured, pressing closer to Lu Li, her eyes crinkling at the corners as she smiled. Perhaps... she was moved by Sarah and Adam's love story.
Lu Li remained composed. First, this Sarah and Adam were not the ones he knew. And even if they were, the other Sarah had hardly been easy to deal with—their love story concealed a dark undercurrent. The knife scar on his stomach was a constant reminder of that. Second, their grotesquely human bodies, fused into one, seed more unstable and sinister than any ordinary monster's, a reflection of their twisted idea of love. They couldn't even kiss, and their embraces looked like a ridiculous attempt to hug themselves.
"We... don't know you..."
Nevertheless, the story had clearly softened Sarah and Adam's disposition toward their guests. "But you did so much for the other... us..."
A table materialized in the living room, laden with delicious-looking cakes and drinks.
"Why don't you stay a while... like friends?" Sarah offered.
"We need to get to the Echo Cathedral to investigate sothing," Lu Li declined.
"The ga ends in half an hour... You can leave then..." Sarah said, lifting the hem of her dress in a slight curtsy. She and Adam moved to the table. "So please, sit..."
They were clearly making a gesture of goodwill, promising to let Lu Li and Anna go. Refusing was not an option. Lu Li sat down, hoping the plan at the Echo Cathedral hadn't been set in motion yet.
The attentive Adam held a piece of cake to Sarah's lips. She pursed them shyly before taking a delicate bite, leaving a crescent-shaped mark on the sweet. The sight was far from romantic; its unnaturalness provoked a deep, unsettling feeling.
Suddenly, a similar piece of cake appeared right before Lu Li's lips. He leaned back slightly. Anna was holding it, gazing at him expectantly. After a mont's silence, Lu Li took a small bite but didn't chew. Instead, he turned to Sarah and Adam.
"Is this sothing humans can eat?"
"Of course... We took it... from another house..." Sarah replied with a dignified smile.
Just like at a proper reception, the hostess, Sarah, chatted with Anna while the n sat in silence. About halfway through, Adam poured Lu Li so tea and quietly slid the cup toward him. Stuck to the side, hidden from Sarah's view, was a damp, folded note. Sarah, it seed, hadn't noticed a thing. Lu Li peeled the paper off and unfolded it beneath the table. It was covered in dense script—clearly, it had taken more than a minute to write.
Whoever you are, if you're reading this, it ans I've decided to trust you. It also ans you managed to escape our ga.
My na is Adam. I am Sarah's husband... though we never officially married. Our story began two hundred years ago, but that's not important. What I need to tell you is... Sarah is... not herself anymore.
"How long have you and Mr. Lu Li been together?" Hearing his na, Lu Li folded the note and looked up. Sarah and Anna were discussing their relationships. When Sarah ntioned that she and Adam had been together for two hundred years, Anna gasped in surprise, showing the animation of a real girl.
The half-hour flew by. True to her word, Sarah opened the door to the outside. The sounds of the street flooded the room, reminding Anna that this wasn't a friendly gathering at the manor from her past life, but Paradise, a place teeming with anomalies.
They said their goodbyes to Sarah and Adam and stepped outside. To their surprise, the carriage was still waiting for them down the street. Once they were settled inside, they set off again for the Echo Cathedral.
Once they were on their way, Lu Li took the note from his pocket. In response to Anna's questioning gaze, he said, "It's from Adam."
When I first t Sarah, she would often complain in her letters about her father's noisy bird, but she never hard it. Sarah was so kind and gentle back then. But look what she does now. She tornts poor souls just for fun...
Decades ago, I tried to stop her, but she convinced
that this was the only way for us to maintain our power and stay together... How many people have we killed in two hundred years? Hundreds? Thousands?
I've grown weary of this life. She is always by my side, her wonderful voice in my ear, but I can only see her face in a mirror.
I tried to put an end to it, but... I couldn't.
How could I harm the Sarah who sacrificed everything for ?...
Please, help . For the sake of all the innocent lives lost, kill us.
Go to Wayne-Fort County. Our true bodies are in the cetery of the Flarand sanatorium. I don't know if they're still there; I haven't been back in a long ti... I hope you can find the cetery, find the headstones with our nas, dig up our coffins, and burn them.
Help us find peace.
A pleading Adam.
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