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Chapter 163 Lilya

The next leg of the journey took them by surprise with its smoothness.

The three of them encountered no further dangers, and aside from the longer path, it felt like a picnic.

Although the scenery for this “picnic” wasn’t great.

After quite a while, they finally returned to the ground, and Ling Mo realized they had arrived at the entrance hall where they first entered the castle.

At this moment, the castle’s main door was open, and it was no longer night outside; instead, a lush forest basked in the warm sunlight of spring. It seemed that if they stepped out of here, they would forever escape this dangerous castle and return to true safety.

Which also meant they were about to clear the dungeon.

Ling Mo exchanged a glance with Xia Xinyan, puzzled: “Could it be that we’re clearing it just like this?”

He still hadn’t figured out why this witch was their target to save, but since Xia Xinyan had made the decision, he wouldn’t question it.

He just thought, this supposedly high-difficulty dungeon didn’t seem as hard as he imagined…

Except for the initial entrance being fraught with danger, the monsters they encountered afterward weren’t even a threat.

Plus, the witch, who he assumed was the dungeon boss, had inexplicably turned into their target for salvation.

But if this was the case, then the Lilya they rescued earlier… could she be the dungeon boss this time?

That seemed like a problem for Tang Nian Nian and Hao Nan to deal with. He and Xinyan just needed to get the witch out of the castle to clear the dungeon.

“Let’s go.” Without lingering, Xia Xinyan left the castle with Ling Mo.

Finally bathed in sunlight again, the gloom caused by the castle lifted somewhat, and their spirits improved noticeably.

At the same time, Ling Mo noticed the witch on his back trembling slightly, seemingly too excited—

“Ah… have we… escaped?”

Ling Mo paused: “You can talk now?”

Xia Xinyan hurriedly came closer: “Let’s put her down first.”

She reached out and gently patted the witch’s head, soothing her a bit: “Yes, we’ve escaped. You’re safe now.”

Cradled in her arms, the witch struggled to say something but managed to utter only one word before a figure suddenly stepped out from the forest ahead—Lilya.

“You actually saved her.”

Her tone held some surprise, yet her expression remained as dazed as before.

Ling Mo immediately stood protectively in front of the two: “You’re the witch?!”

She had already left the castle?!

What about the others? Did she kill them all?

Lilya did not deny: “I have a name now; I’m called Lilya.”

“I… am… Lilya…” the witch, being held by Xia Xinyan, replied laboriously. Thanks to Xia Xinyan’s healing potion, her wounds had eased somewhat, allowing her to barely speak coherent words, though she still stuttered.

Desperate to defend herself, the more anxious she became, the more fragmented her words became.

Lilya interrupted her: “I’m surprised you’re still alive; didn’t you say you would help me? Why have you gone back on your words now?”

“What do you mean?” Ling Mo frowned.

Lilya stared at them for a while and then spoke in a very flat tone—

“She intruded into my castle, and I guided her to my bedroom. I told her I was dying, and she could help me live, and she agreed. I exchanged our bodies so she could die in my place. That was her promise to help me.”

The witch struggled again: “I… didn’t… I didn’t know…”

“You exchanged bodies with her?” Xia Xinyan looked up at Lilya.

“Yes.” Lilya nodded.

“Is there a way to switch back?”

“No,” Lilya seemed puzzled as to why she would ask, “After the exchange, I’m no longer the witch; I am Lilya. She is the witch now—she was planning to control the castle to kill me, but the castle has always known I am the true master, so it has been doing its utmost to help me escape. You are here to help me leave as well, right? Your mission is complete, and you can leave now.”

This could also explain the oddities they encountered in the castle earlier.

“I am… Lilya…” The witch continued to struggle, trying to crawl toward Lilya. If Xia Xinyan hadn’t held her tightly, she might have fought with her.

Then Ling Mo made his move.

Now that the game background was mostly laid out, he assumed he would have to fight this real witch next. So, with the intention of seizing the initiative, he immediately treated this girl as a formidable opponent and aimed to subdue her.

—And he succeeded in subduing her.

He easily grabbed Lilya by the neck and lifted her up without facing any resistance—she seemed completely caught off guard, which even surprised Ling Mo himself.

It wasn’t until he saw Lilya’s face turning red from choking that he quickly put her down and stepped back several paces, looking at her with uncertainty.

This development was not right!

Wasn’t this supposed to be a boss battle?

Why did this girl look completely powerless?

Lilya fell to the ground, coughing for a long time before recovering. She looked at Ling Mo, her face showing some bewilderment: “You want to kill me? Why? Even if you kill me, you can’t save the witch. She’s dying. Besides, she agreed to help me live; I didn’t do anything wrong. Why are you trying to kill me now?”

Ling Mo furrowed his brows even tighter: “She promised to help you live? Didn’t you trick her into switching bodies?”

“I didn’t trick her,” Lilya replied calmly. “I showed her my castle, let her see what I looked like, then told her she could help me live. She agreed to aid me, and I didn’t deceive her; moreover, she gained my powers and my castle. That was my repayment to her. I had lived here for quite some time and wanted to see the outside world. My former body couldn’t do that; my new body can.”

Just then, the game suddenly gave a new task prompt—

【Current Task: Kill the witch or let her go】

Xia Xinyan’s expression turned somber.

At this point, things had become pretty clear.

The witch, who originally lived in the castle, had inexplicably turned into this half-dead state—indeed, she was about to die. So when she saw the girl who accidentally entered the castle, she guided her to herself and asked for help, and the girl, due to her innocence and sympathy, agreed to her request.

The witch hadn’t deceived her; at most, she just failed to inform the girl about the cost of that help.

Plus, given the perils in the witch’s castle, it would have been impossible for an innocent girl to survive without the witch’s assistance.

From her current behavior, the witch’s character seemed odd, almost like an inexperienced child; while her actions were detestable, seeing her like this made it hard to hate her.

Lilya, who mistakenly wandered into the castle, seemed pitiful too… but she could be saved, with those ten thousand points.

So if both could be saved, was the witch deserving of death?

But before she could figure it out, an ice spike shot out from behind her, piercing Lilya’s body.

Watching the ice spike protruding from her chest, a faint look of shock appeared on Lilya’s dazed face.

Maintaining that expression, she slowly toppled over.