Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 884 - 1 Confusion in the Group

Chapter 884: Chapter 1 Confusion in the Group

The window was covered with thick curtains, plunging the room into darkness. Only on a table at the center, a slender candle struggled to burn its final remnants, emitting a feeble glow. Under the dim light, several pale and rigid faces were revealed, each expression focused and tense as if waiting for something significant to happen. A gruff and deep voice arose from beyond the light, with only a vague shadow visible, small yet brawny, its race and identity indecipherable.

"Young Johnson was filled with terror, madly sprinting along the mountain path in the darkness." The gruff voice seemed to grow hoarser and deeper from tension, whispering, "Strange rustling noises kept coming from behind him, as if the Undead were chasing him through the night. There was no moon that night, and the mountain road was pitch black. The small child stumbled and tumbled down the mountain, falling countless times along the way."

"Finally, Johnson burst out of the mountain’s jungle and saw the faint lights of the distant village and a young peasant woman carrying a basket of mushrooms, apparently delayed in returning home by mushroom picking, hurrying back to the village through the night." The gruff voice paused, as if to brew emotion, and when it resumed, it was even deeper, "Although the peasant woman appeared unfamiliar to Johnson, she was still a living person. The small child ran to her side, clung to her legs, and burst into loud cries, all the while pointing to the dense woods on the hillside and yelling, ’There, there, there are so many Undead, waaaaah, so scary.’"

The owner of the gruff voice deliberately pinched his throat, speaking in a childish voice, but the hoarse timbre pretending to be childlike only made it feel chilling to the bone.

"The peasant woman bent down and hugged the trembling child, stroking his head and consoling him until he gradually calmed down, then patiently asked, ’What kind of Undead were they?’" the gruff voice continued, "Johnson began to shiver at the memory, but with an adult present, he wasn’t as scared as before and replied through sobs, ’They were all skulls, incomplete, some without arms, some without legs, and some even without heads. They made a clattering noise when they moved; it scared me to death, scared me to death.’"

"No heads? The peasant woman felt puzzled and pressed the young Johnson, ’If they have no heads, can those skulls still move?’" the gruff voice mimicked the two characters, "Still a child, Johnson was extremely frightened, stuttering out, ’Yes, yes, they can move, not only that, but they can also take their heads off and toss them around in the air, and the heads flying in the sky can still let out terrible laughter, aaaah, so scary.’"

"’To think they can do that,’ the peasant woman exclaimed and suddenly snatched off her own head, holding it in front of Johnson and shrieking at him, ’Look, is it like this?’" The gruff voice narrated up to this point when, with a sudden gesture, it truly detached its own head, placing it under the candlelight. The ghastly white skull glowed faintly in the candlelight, its jawbone snapping open and shut, laughing shrilly, "’Just like this, just like this, do you see, is it like this?’"

"Ahhh~~~~~" more terrifying than the scream of a girl frightened, was the scream of a group of girls all at once. The candle was knocked over and extinguished amidst the screams, and in the darkness, the sounds of colliding chairs, chaos, footsteps, screams, and laughter filled the air as if some tragedy had occurred to those unaware.

With a "bang," the room’s door was suddenly kicked open, and the chaos inside ceased abruptly. A burst of light shot out from behind the person who kicked the door, hanging in the air and illuminating the entire room. The one who kicked open the door was a priestess garbed in a white robe with silver hair, her eyes swiftly taking in the seemingly frozen scene in the room with the help of Vivian’s illumination spell.

There were many people in the room, but the blood vessels on the priestess’s forehead throbbed violently with each face she clearly saw. The storyteller was none other than Little Deer, the skull, who had boldly appeared in front of the girls without disguise, now holding her head in her arms while being chased around by the other girls. Two pairs of twin sisters were furiously pursuing Little Deer, holding cushions and relentlessly slapping the headless little skeleton, and the most infuriating was the banshee Annie, herself an Undead yet frightened by the story to the point of flickering as if to dissipate, was also gritting her teeth trying to intercept her fleeing kinswoman from the air. Moreover, in one corner of the room, two adult women sat shoulder to shoulder, covering their mouths and snickering at the children’s interactions.

For a moment, the room fell into a deathly silence, then, after a brief pause, it was the two adult women who first snapped back to reality. They chuckled shakily and said, "Hahaha, well, we have to open our shop tomorrow, and we definitely need to sleep early tonight, hahaha, we’ll be leaving first, no need to see us out."

"Nicole, Rachel, you two are acting guardians, and you don’t even manage these crazed children?" Watching the two adults flee without using the door, jumping straight out the window, Lina gritted her teeth and shook her fists at their retreating figures, "You wait for me, tomorrow I’ll come to wreak havoc in your shop, huh, those two really ran off fast. And you lot, where do you think you’re going?"

"Haha, haha, so it’s Sister Lina, when did you guys get back, we missed you so much." The liveliest Michelle quickly spun her eyes, opening her arms to embrace Lina, "Wuwuwu, I thought you didn’t want us anymore."

"Stop acting with me." Lina snapped, extending a hand to block Michelle’s forehead and prevent the hug, pouting, "You always try to look pitiful like this, you’re the sneakiest; don’t think I’ll fall for it again. Hmph, come clean now, what madness are you guys up to this time? Huh?"

"Tsk." Michelle secretly curled her lip, then quickly switched to an innocent expression and said with wide, bewildered eyes, "We’re not crazy, you know, hehe, just telling bedtime stories."

"Oh, bedtime stories." Lina’s smile held a hint of sarcasm as she looked around the room: the upturned tables and chairs, the shattered teapot and teacups, the soaking wet carpet stained with tea, the snacks scattered on the floor, the candle that had burned a small hole in the carpet, the cake that had landed cream side down, and the copious amounts of red jam on everyone’s clothes. As her gaze swept over each item, the ingratiating smiles on the girls’ faces stiffened further. By the time she had finished her survey, their expressions were uglier than if they had been crying, but Lina just nodded with an ambiguous smile and said, "Well, well, quite the bedtime story you have here. Are you girls planning to challenge the Guardians or do you think our house is too shabby and in need of demolition?"

"Um, we know we did wrong." Ansha blinked at the other girls to follow her lead, hung her head sadly, and spoke first, "Please don’t be mad, Sister Lina. We won’t dare do it again, sob, sob."

"You could say that ten times a day." Lina crossed her arms and remained unmoved, snorting coldly as she said, "Your punishment is to clean up this mess right now. No sleep until it’s done. And tomorrow, you all will wash the carpet and your clothes until they’re squeaky clean. If there’s even a speck of dirt left, be prepared for a spanking."

"Yes!" the maid sisters cheered, relieved, "We’ll tidy up right away."

"Not you two—I meant for those four to do it themselves." Lina snorted again and spoke to Pansy and Mimosa, "You two will have a different punishment later, which I’ll discuss with you separately. And Little Deer, how did you manage to crawl out of your plushie?"

"Everyone already knows, including Rachel and Sister Nicole, and those two weird sisters who always appear hugging each other out of nowhere." Little Skeleton was holding her skull in a corner Lina couldn’t see, making biting gestures at a timid Ansha with her skull, and suddenly panicked when the focus shifted to her. Hastily she put her head back on her body, adjusting the direction back and forth as she answered, "Nobody really minds me being like this. Apart from some initial discomfort, they didn’t react much, so I feel safe coming out at home. Everyone likes Little Deer, and Little Deer loves everyone too, hehe, I really love living here."

"You will still be punished," Lina’s roar, dragon-like, caused the four children to scatter in alarm, each searching for tools to clean up the room. Only then did Lina rub her forehead with a sigh, turned and left the room, muttering, "You two, come with me. Let’s discuss your punishment now."

The maid sisters timidly followed behind Lina and upon exiting, caught sight of several people standing at the door, familiar faces, none missing, all struggling to suppress their laughter at Lina who looked like a mother plagued with a headache.

Realizing that these faces were all still there, a strange sense of reassurance suddenly welled up inside the sisters, who could not understand why they suddenly felt such bizarre emotions, being from the City of Innocence.

When they reached another room not far away, Lina suddenly turned back, staring intently at the sisters until their foreheads were beaded with sweat. Then suddenly, she reached out, pinched Mimosa’s face, pulling it into a ridiculous smile, then squeezed and kneaded it while saying, "You’re doing fine, and I’m pleased, but you could do better. I’ll be even happier then."

"Back off." Catherine slapped Lina’s teasing hand away and patted the sisters on the head, "But she’s right. You’ve done well. You’re trying hard to act like normal girls and fit into this family, and we’re all pleased. The day you no longer need to hide who you are but instead genuinely join in the fun with them, that’s when you’ll truly be out of the City of Innocence’s shadow, and we all look forward to that day."

"Mhm." The sisters suddenly felt an inexplicable stinging in their eyes, hastily blinked back the tears, and nodded, "We’ll try our best." (To be continued. If you like this work, please come to qidian.com to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)