They are not human! (From chapter 61)

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Wen Qing looked at his own upturned mouth in the mirror, momentarily stunned, and raised his hand to touch his face.
The person in the mirror also raised their hand to touch their face.
Touching his lips, Wen Qing paused; they were indeed curved upwards.
When did he smile?
Wen Qing felt a bit confused and turned his head to look at the butler, asking in bewilderment, "Did I just smile?"
The butler responded affirmatively.
Wen Qing looked puzzled, "When?"
How could he smile without feeling it?
The butler walked to the table and poured him a glass of water, saying indifferently, "While you were drinking tea."
Wen Qing pursed his lips, pondering to himself, could it be that the milk tea tasted so good that he unconsciously smiled?
But he didn't particularly like milk tea...
Wen Qing lifted his gaze and looked at the mirror on the wall again.
Perhaps due to the angle, the mirror only reflected himself, not the butler.
He sat in the chair with the same tea table, the same teacup, the same face, and the same posture.
Even though everything was exactly the same, Wen Qing felt an indescribable difference between himself and the person in the mirror.
Wen Qing blinked and asked 001 in his mind, "System, did you see the mirror?"
001 responded affirmatively.
Wen Qing stared at the scene in the mirror and asked again, "Do I look the same as the person in the mirror?"
"Why do I feel something is different?"
001 remained silent.
Another question it couldn't answer...
Wen Qing pursed his lips, took a sip of water, and cautiously glanced at the mirror from the corner of his eye.
The reflection glanced back at him, eyebrows slightly raised, inexplicably exuding a hint of laziness.
Wen Qing couldn't help but touch his own eyebrows.
They did seem slightly raised.
After hesitating for a moment, he put down the teacup and walked straight to the mirror, carefully examining it.
This time, there was no abnormality.
Wen Qing slowly raised his hand, pressing his fingertip against the mirror.
The mirror was cold, the chill seeping through his finger into his body, making him shiver.
Wen Qing withdrew his hand, using his fingernail to tap the mirror, producing a slight sound.
There was no indentation; it was just an ordinary mirror.
Wherever he poked, the reflection poked as well, meeting his fingertip.
So, did he just imagine the reflection not moving earlier?
Wen Qing lowered his hand and looked into the dark eyes of his reflection, staring straight back.
This mirror was unique to him, with an enviable function...
With Wen Qing's limited imagination, he could only think of the magic mirror from Snow White's evil queen.
He stared at the mirror for a while, then glanced at the butler.
The butler was still staring at him intently, blue light flickering in his eyes.
The butler didn't ask what Wen Qing was doing, and Wen Qing didn't explain, nor did he feel like reciting the evil queen's lines from his memory.
He was pondering how to get rid of the butler to examine the mirror alone when suddenly, a scream came from outside the window.
"Ah!!!"
The scream was short and abruptly cut off.
Wen Qing was startled and quickly walked to the window to look outside. It was the little gardener.
He was sitting on the ground, his pruning tools scattered in the rose bushes, clearly terrified.
The next second, Wen Qing saw Lily running over in a hurry.
She didn't help the little gardener up from the rose bushes; instead, she first tidied the roses trampled by the tools and sternly scolded the little gardener, "How could you damage the young master's roses?!"
Her voice was loud and slightly trembling.
It seemed like she was out of breath from running, or perhaps she was scared.
With the window open, Wen Qing could hear everything clearly.
The little gardener was different; Wen Qing couldn't hear what he was saying, only seeing him raise his hand, trembling, pointing at the nearby rose bushes.
Lily followed his finger and then scolded again, "That's none of your business."
"Your only job is to prune the roses!"
Soon, a few more maids arrived.
Two of them helped the little gardener up, while the others squatted on the ground, hurriedly dealing with the roses.
Lily seemed about to say something else.
A maid whispered something in her ear.
Immediately, Wen Qing saw Lily raise her head and look in his direction.
He couldn't see Lily's expression, but she bowed to him, clearly apologizing.
After that, Wen Qing couldn't hear what Lily was saying.
He only saw the little gardener being taken back to the wooden house by two maids, leaving the rest squatting to salvage the damaged roses.
They occasionally glanced up at the sky, working faster and faster.
The sky was overcast, and the light seemed dimmer.
Wen Qing stared at the spot where the little gardener had been.
The fourth circle, red roses...
Wen Qing's eyelid twitched, thinking, could he have seen what Lily and the others buried last time?
He immediately put the mirror issue aside and focused on the maids in the rose bushes.
After they finished, Wen Qing casually asked the butler, "Did you find what fell last night?"
The butler shook his head, "No."
Wen Qing turned to leave, saying to the butler, "Let's go check it out now."
"Yes," the butler replied, opening the door for Wen Qing.
Wen Qing quickly walked to where the little gardener had been. With many roses damaged, the spot was obvious and easy to find.
Wen Qing stood where the little gardener had been, looking down at the red roses.
One patch of soil was a different color from the rest, slightly lighter, with hints of red mixed in.
Wen Qing lowered his head, scrutinizing it closely.
It wasn't just the soil; the rose roots also had faint red streaks.
He took a step forward, reaching out to touch the rose petals.
Just as his fingers touched a petal, hurried footsteps sounded.
Lily rushed over, stopping his movement, "Madam."
"Please don't get too close."
Wen Qing was surprised Lily returned so quickly.
He glanced behind her, not seeing the little gardener, and asked, "Where is the little gardener?"
Lily's expression changed, lowering her head, and said to Wen Qing, "He was dismissed by the young master."
Wen Qing asked, "Because he damaged the roses?"
Lily nodded.
Wen Qing looked at the vibrant roses and asked, "Does Sikong treasure these roses so much?"
Lily opened her mouth but didn't nod or shake her head, seemingly unsure how to respond.
After a while, she said softly, "The young master likes to grow roses."
Wen Qing looked at her, pursing his lips.
Likes to grow...
He glanced at his fingertip.
Red.
These roses were dyed.
Were they like the one in the bedroom?
Seeing Wen Qing looking at the roses again, Lily spoke up, "Madam, please don't get too close to these roses."
Wen Qing responded, "Then pick one for me."
Lily's face turned pale, and she lowered her head, "I don't dare."
Wen Qing asked in confusion, "Only Sikong can pick them?"
Lily nodded.
Wen Qing replied, "Then I'll ask Sikong later."
Lily breathed a sigh of relief.
Wen Qing casually said, "I dropped a brooch here last night. Have you seen it?"
"No," Lily shook her head, asking, "Madam, what does the brooch look like?"
Wen Qing calmly replied, "It's an emerald."
Lily frowned slightly, "I haven't seen it..."
Wen Qing stood aside, saying to her and the butler, "Look for it now."
"Yes," Lily replied, bending down to search.
Wen Qing turned, kicking the soil with his toe. It was loose.
It might be here.
Yu Xing knew what was happening in the castle, and Sikong probably did too.
Thinking of wandering through the rose bushes last night, Wen Qing frowned.
He retracted his foot, about to speak, when he saw something grayish-brown mixed in the soil.
Wen Qing squinted, directly asking, "What is this?"
Lily froze, quickly walking over.
Seeing the item in the soil, her face turned pale.
Wen Qing glanced at her and repeated, "What is this?"
Lily's face was white, too scared to speak.
Wen Qing looked at the butler, hesitated, and said, "Dig it out."
The butler replied, "Yes."
He bent down, using his hands to clear the soil.
There was only a piece of grayish-brown cloth, forming a circle like a sleeve section, with reddish-brown stains on the edge.
It looked like blood.
Wen Qing's eyelashes trembled, looking at Lily.
Lily didn't notice his gaze, staring at the ground. Seeing only the cloth, she sighed in relief.
Wen Qing tightened his lips; there should be more here.
Sikong was the moody young master.
The maids feared Sikong.
The frequently changed gardeners.
Thinking this, Wen Qing's heart skipped a beat.
Could it be that Sikong harmed not just the players but the natives too?
The next second, Sikong's gentle voice came from behind, "What's wrong?"
Wen Qing froze, not daring to look at Sikong.
Lily, with her head down, nervously stammered, "The, the madam's brooch fell... and we found a piece of cloth."
"Is that  so?" Sikong lowered his eyes, glancing at the cloth on the ground, casually asking, "Lily, what's this about?"
Lily, pale with fear, knelt down, stammering, "This, this seems to be a sleeve from the previous gardener, probably accidentally cut off..."
Wen Qing pursed his lips, sleeve, cut off...
His eyelashes trembled, looking at the bloodstains on the cloth, recalling Sikong's words.
[The new gardener a few days ago was useless, his hand was cut off.]
Sikong waved his hand, and the grayish-brown cloth spontaneously combusted, the ashes scattering in the air.
He raised his eyelids, staring at Wen Qing's trembling eyelashes, and chuckled, "Mother, don't look, it's dirty."