socalfunplaces Chapter 1411 The Madwoman and the Mad Scientist
Chapter 1411 The Madwoman and the Mad Scientist
Shao Yun blinked, then blinked hard, as if afraid that she was seeing things in the dark.
He quickly raised the lantern in his hand and, by its light, leaned forward to examine it closely.
Eyebrows, features, and that signature beret and blonde hair—that's Nicole Lane!
Filled with doubt, he muttered to himself, "It really is Nico Lane... It's been over a year since I last saw her, what would she do here in Nata?"
What puzzled him even more was that Nico Lane in front of him was completely different from his usual lively self. His eyes were empty and unfocused, and he looked extremely haggard. He stood motionless in place, as if he had lost his soul, and did not react at all when he approached.
Shao Yun, carrying a lantern, looked down at Nico Lane, who stood in the middle of the road, looking lost and dejected.
After a moment of silence, Shao Yun greeted her casually, "Long time no see, Miss Nicole Lane. Judging from your appearance, I guess you're not here for a vacation in Nata, are you?"
Nico Lane remained motionless. About ten seconds after hearing Shao Yun's voice, he slowly raised his head. His empty eyes focused on Shao Yun, but his gaze was still unfocused, as if he couldn't see the person in front of him clearly through a thin mist.
As Shao Yun was wondering, a strange, bewildered voice suddenly rang in his mind—it was Nico Lane's voice.
"Why? Yes, why?"
Looking at her erratic, almost insane appearance, Shao Yun frowned slightly and asked with a hint of confusion:
"What do you mean, 'why'? Judging from your condition, it looks like you haven't had a proper rest in a long time?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Nico Lane's eyes suddenly narrowed, as if he had been provoked by those words. His previously empty eyes were instantly filled with madness and despair.
She suddenly raised her hands and grabbed her golden hair that hung over her shoulders with such force that it seemed she was going to tear it off alive. She didn't make a sound, but a hysterical scream exploded in Shao Yun's mind.
"Why?! Why can't we do anything without that Fourth Adventist?! We planned so well, step by step, why did that bastard Dottore win in the end?!"
Seeing her hysterical, sore-loser-like behavior, Shao Yun's smile vanished instantly, a clear look of disgust flashing in his eyes. He then unceremoniously berated her:
"Here it comes, I knew it! You're at it again, playing the emotional card for no reason. Your affected, hysterical behavior makes me want to vomit!"
What he disliked most was this kind of behavior where, despite failing, one would only fall into a frenzy and endless complaining.
After being scolded by Shao Yun, Nicole Lane's madness intensified. She abruptly released her grip on her hair, her disheveled blonde hair plastered to her pale and haggard face. She stared at Shao Yun with venomous eyes, transferring all her anger and despair onto him.
He didn't speak, but the sharp, venomous accusations echoed clearly in Shao Yun's mind.
"It's all your fault! It's all your fault! We're doomed, Teyvat is doomed! It's you who will destroy Teyvat!"
The sharp, venomous accusations from Nico Lane echoed in Shao Yun's ears again and again, making his head throb with pain and wearing down even the best temper.
He was too lazy to argue with this completely insane woman any longer, so he simply reached out and grabbed the carriage reins again.
"Tch, do you have anything else to say? If not, I'm going home. I don't have time to play this crazy game with you."
As soon as he finished speaking, Nico Lane remained standing there, staring at his carriage with empty and venomous eyes, offering no response. Yet, those incoherent, mad ramblings continued to seep into Shao Yun's mind, refusing to leave.
"Teyvat is going to be destroyed! The Crescent Moon goddess is dead! We're doomed! We're all doomed!"
Shao Yun felt a headache coming on and didn't want to stay any longer. He cursed under his breath, "madman," tightened the reins slightly, and shouted, "Giddy up!"
The two Shire horses understood, gently raised their hooves, and the carriage slowly turned its wheels, carefully bypassing Nico Lane, who was still standing in the middle of the road in a mad manner, and headed towards home.
The sound of wheels rolling on the ground gradually faded away, and Shao Yun's carriage soon disappeared into the boundless night, leaving only the dim yellow lamplight, which was gradually swallowed by the darkness.
Only Nico Lane remained, as if all his strength had been drained away, or as if he were possessed. Suddenly, his eyes rolled back, and his face lost all trace of madness and resentment, leaving only a strange numbness.
She stood silently in the moonless night, her lips moving slightly but making no sound. Only a passage of obscure scripture, one she herself had never heard before, was silently recited in her heart, over and over again, carrying endless despair and eeriness.
“We are doomed. I saw it… When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in the heavens for about a quarter of an hour.”
“Then I saw seven angels standing before God, and they were given seven trumpets. Another angel came and stood beside the altar with a golden censer. And he was given a great quantity of incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne.”
"The smoke of the incense and the prayers of the saints rose up together from the hands of the angels to God."
“The angel took the censer, filled it with the fire from the altar, and poured it on the earth. Then there was a thunderous roar, a loud cry, lightning, and an earthquake.”
As she recited the scriptures, a faint rumble of thunder seemed to echo from the distant horizon, resonating with her prayers and adding an eerie atmosphere to the moonless night.
……
Shao Yun drove the carriage away from that mad figure without looking back, ultimately giving up on the witch Nicole Lane who had suddenly appeared and could speak nonsense in other people's minds.
On the way back, the carriage wheels kept turning, and the ravings of Nico Lane still lingered in Shao Yun's mind.
Shao Yun grew angrier the more she thought about it, so she simply launched into a tirade, showing no mercy whatsoever.
"What the hell is wrong with me? What kind of lunatics are the Witch Society?"
"Rhinedoth is a mad alchemist, Alice is a brainless idiot, and now this Nico Lane has become a crazy fool who only knows how to chatter in other people's heads!"
"Now I know why those medieval madmen burned witches. With their crazy antics, if I were in their shoes, I would have burned them too!"
Of course, this was just a rant made in the heat of the moment...
……
He thought that after getting rid of the mad witch, he could finally go home safely and get a good night's rest, but little did he expect that one problem would be followed by another.
As Shao Yun drove his carriage slowly to the gate of his own ranch, just as he was about to pull the reins to stop, his gaze inadvertently swept over the figure at the gate, and he instantly froze, his impatience replaced by astonishment.
Under the streetlights at the entrance of the ranch stood a blue-haired man. The most striking feature was the bird-beak mask he wore, which covered most of his face, revealing only his sharply defined jawline.
Shao Yun recognized that iconic outfit at a glance—it was Dotole!
At this moment, Dotole was no longer the sinister and flamboyant man he used to be; instead, he appeared unusually "gentle." He held an exquisite gift box in one hand, the box wrapped with a silver ribbon, which looked very sophisticated.
Upon seeing Shao Yun's carriage arrive, he bowed slightly to Shao Yun, his tone polite and even tinged with feigned familiarity, and greeted him:
"Hello, Mr. Shao Yun, it's been a long time, I've missed you dearly..."
Seeing Dottore's sudden "friendly" demeanor, and recalling his earlier encounter with Nico Lane, Shao Yun felt a throbbing pain in his temples. He immediately rolled his eyes and bluntly retorted:
"Damn it, I missed it so much! What kind of evil spirit did I encounter today? How come there are so many amazing people! It's like a herd of immortals!"
"First it was that crazy, idiotic witch, and now it's you, this mad scientist. At this rate, is even the law of nature going to come to my ranch as a guest tomorrow?"
Dotole didn't seem to care about his rudeness and complaints; a faint smile still lingered at the corners of his mouth beneath the mask.
He raised the hand holding the gift box and handed it to Shao Yun.
"Hmm... Mr. Shao Yun seems to be in a bad mood. He must have encountered something troublesome."
"I brought a small gift with me today. I heard that your daughter recently turned two years old. This is a gift I specially prepared for her. Please accept it, Mr. Shao Yun."
Upon seeing this, Shao Yun immediately jumped off the carriage, strode up to Dotore, looked at the exquisite gift box in his hand, and spoke with a sarcastic tone, every word laced with barbs.
"Wow, it's like the sun has risen in the west! I never thought that someone as arrogant and conceited as you would actually be so polite, bringing a gift to my door?"
Faced with Shao Yun's undisguised sarcasm, Dotole did not get angry. Instead, he smiled slightly, and his laughter came through the bird-beak mask.
He remained neither humble nor arrogant, and his tone remained gentle.
"Mr. Shao Yun is too kind. Not everyone deserves such courtesy from me, but you are one of them."
Shao Yun glanced at the gift box, showing no intention of taking it. He simply waved it away impatiently, as if shooing away a fly:
"I won't accept the gift, and don't give me this nonsense. If you have something to say, say it. If not, get lost. I've been working for a whole day and night, and I'm exhausted. I don't have time to waste pretending with you."
Upon hearing this, Dotole's eyes, hidden behind his mask, paused slightly.
Shao Yun said he had been busy all day and night, and a bold idea suddenly popped into his head...
If he were to strike now, the exhausted Shao Yun might not be his match. Perhaps... he could test the power of the Three Months' Authority.
But as soon as the thought popped into his head, he forcibly suppressed it.
He silently warned himself: Don't be foolish!
Having finally obtained complete control over the three months and gained the power to break free from the shackles of fate, now is a crucial time for planning important matters. We must not act impulsively and risk a direct confrontation with Shao Yun, as it would be a losing proposition.
Suppressing his inner thoughts, Dotore complied with Shao Yun's wishes and put the gift box away.
He put his hands behind his back, his posture still upright, and said, "Oh, since Mr. Shao Yun is unwilling to accept it, then I won't force him. Perfect, we can have a good chat."
"Aren't you curious about what I was doing while you were hiding in Nata, living a peaceful life on the ranch?"