Chapter 81: The Unveiled Conspiracy (12/26)

It was only at this moment that the White Queen finally stepped out of the café. She glanced at the situation outside, covered her mouth with a white feather fan, and spoke.

“Sister, what happened here?”

“Nothing much, just someone trying to ambush me, but these two intervened,” came the reply.

By now, Ou Xiaolu had already sheathed his sword and approached to meet the Red Queen and the White Queen, while Xudra went forward to examine the corpse.

The memories of the Red Queen and the White Queen had not been altered; they recognized Ou Xiaolu, who had been sent to Booth, at a glance. Though they still had to keep up appearances, their attitudes were clearly much warmer—they would at least trust everything Ou Xiaolu said.

After Ou Xiaolu feigned an explanation of the incident, the Red and White Queens exchanged a meaningful glance, a silent display of their acting rapport. Even Xudra, who had finished examining the corpse, did not notice their performance; he merely assumed they were digesting the information Ou Xiaolu had conveyed.

Once their performance ended, Xudra stepped forward and said, “That was one of my corpses, but I’ve discovered something. Come and take a look.”

Ou Xiaolu was somewhat curious, while the Red and White Queens played along with the act. They walked over to the skeleton, and this time, the two queens dropped all pretense. The Red Queen directly lifted the skull, carefully tracing the spade-shaped mark upon it.

At last, the Red Queen spoke uncertainly, “There’s a trace of my style in this mark, but its essence has changed—it’s a variant of the Playing Card Soldier.”

“Playing Card Soldier?” Xudra asked, intrigued.

The Red Queen produced a deck of cards—eleven in all, from Ace to Jack of Hearts. At the same time, the White Queen took out a collection of white chess pieces: fourteen in total, including rooks, bishops, knights, and guards.

Both Ou Xiaolu and Xudra could sense that these cards and chess pieces contained fragments of the Red and White Queens’ power.

The White Queen explained, “These are soul fragments created from splitting our essence. They can forcibly transform a humanoid being into one of our soldiers. Of course, there’s a limit to the number of soldiers we can control. No new soldiers are made unless the old ones perish in battle.

“My sister discovered that this person was being controlled by someone else, using a method identical to our soldiers’ branding—soul fragments turned into imprints on humanoid beings. But instead of transforming them, as we do, the enemy left them unchanged in appearance. In our case, once branded, transformation is immediate and irreversible, lasting until death.”

Xudra was no fool; he quickly grasped the implication. “You mean someone has learned your method, but instead of forced transformation, they’ve allowed these branded beings to remain hidden?”

“That’s right,” the Red Queen nodded. “And it’s likely the same species, since the enemy used playing cards as well. My own soldiers are few and of limited types—only the Jack, who serves as a commander, can be of a different species; all others must be of the same kind.

“So their infiltrators are probably lurking among their own.”

“Can you determine who might be harboring such a hidden presence?” Xudra was now tense. His household comprised only two people; the rest were corpses. If those corpses weren’t under his control, his family would be doomed.

“I can, but you’ll need to gather all such corpses together so I can investigate,” the Red Queen replied with confidence.

Seeing her certainty, Ou Xiaolu asked the White Queen, “Is your sister truly capable? Her playing card soldiers don’t seem as formidable as your chess soldiers.”

“Our approaches differ,” the White Queen replied. “I have more chess soldiers, and they work better in concert, but my power is focused on recovery. My sister’s Giant Magic, however, is the perfect complement to her playing card soldiers—when enhanced by it, one of her soldiers is worth two of mine.”

Ou Xiaolu could imagine what method the Red Queen had in mind. If both types of card soldiers were similar in nature, then casting Giant Magic over the group would provoke a reaction in the enemy’s spade soldiers as well.

So, if Giant Magic were cast over all, any who changed would be the enemy.

Now convinced, Xudra invited them all to his family’s island. He needed some time to summon all his household servants.

Naturally, Ou Xiaolu would accompany them. After all, he was the one who had ‘discovered’ the issue, and his display of strength was reassuring to the Tyrisha family in this precarious situation.

The Tyrisha estate lay on a small island off the coast near Newtown, larger even than Ou Xiaolu’s valley. At the island’s heart was a spring—the only source of fresh water—around which the estate had been built.

Thanks to the fresh water, the island’s trees were lush and abundant. Yet, as the group landed, it was evident that beneath nearly every tree, one or two corpses were pacing restlessly.

“Those are the island’s defenders. They never leave the island and only patrol around their designated trees. Anyone approaching them will be attacked, so keep close and don’t stray,” Xudra cautioned, leading the way.

Ou Xiaolu seized the opportunity to observe the corpses, noting that each retained a faint trace of vitality—not solely the aura of the undead. Closer inspection revealed that this vitality originated from the tree each corpse circled. Every tree’s life force was unique; should a mistake occur, the corpse would lose all vigor and collapse into a pile of bones.

This explained why the corpses only circled their specific trees.

“This is a clever method, far better than any earthbound spirit,” Ou Xiaolu remarked.

Xudra beamed with pride. “Our family spent years developing this technique. If you understand it, feel free to experiment, but I won’t tell you the key.”

“Thank you. It’s like a paper window—once pierced, all is clear,” Ou Xiaolu replied politely.

“It’s nothing. The technique is not so important; what matters is how the corpses are made,” Xudra said, his tone growing darker. After all, the undead were the Tyrisha family’s foundation, and now, realizing that someone had branded his family’s core, he could barely contain his anger.

After leaving the island’s woods, they saw a bald man in a wheelchair being pushed by a corpse. At the sight, Xudra immediately introduced him, “This is my father, the head of the Tyrisha family—Schmidt Tyrisha.”