When the smart mirror was singing the Requiem with thirty-seven different voices, Lin Xia was locked on a hydraulic bed, undergoing "bride training". The butler's tentacle pushed the eighth syringe of dragon blood, and she felt fine, pearl - textured scales growing on her gums.
"Please repeat Article 3 of the 'Code of the Dragon - born Bride'." A mechanical voice mixed with bubbling sounds seeped out from the ceiling.
Lin Xia stared at the fine blue scales gradually covering the corners of her eyes in the mirror and said, "Do not look directly at the master's scale - shedding ceremony..." Before she could finish, the restraining straps were suddenly replaced by bronze chains gushing out from the blood pool. The inner sides of those chains were engraved with the last words of successive brides. The latest line in Tagalog was still oozing blood: "He turns into..."
"Wrong answer." Lu Chen's voice came from the mirror. He was wiping his Kris knife through a holographic projection. "The correct answer is - you should look me in the eyes and recite the code while wearing lace suspender stockings."
Suddenly, a dragon - tail虚影 stabbed out from Lin Xia's coccyx, cracking the medical pod. This was the seventh gene mutation this week. Every act of resistance would accelerate the corrosion of the dragon blood. She touched the scale of the ghost - eyed fish hidden in her corset - a communicator stolen from the aquarium last night. At this moment, it was sending encrypted Morse code from Aaliyah.
"Today's afternoon tea ingredients: 2004 Bordeaux plasma, paired with the finger - bone cookies of the 35th bride." The butler pushed the dining cart in with its suction cups. The spout of the skull - shaped teapot was steaming with a sulfur - like smell. "Mr. Lu specifically instructed that you should practice heating sugar cubes with dragon flames."
Just as a wisp of blue flame ignited at Lin Xia's fingertips, the entire medical pod suddenly flipped into an interrogation room. The walls were挂满 with the wedding rings of successive brides. The inner rings of the rings were engraved with the same string of numbers - 1914.7.28, the date when Lu Chen was locked in the church cellar in the illusion. In the glass box at the end, she saw her own contract ring melting, revealing a micro - tracker inside.
"A nanoscale holy object from the Vatican, an engagement gift from Aaliyah?" Lu Chen's real body emerged from the blood pool, with a crushed cross chip pulsating in his palm. "How about we play a game -" He snapped his fingers, and the torture rack automatically unfolded into a gambling table. "For every question about me that you answer correctly, I'll tell you the cause of death of one bride."
The first card showed a pattern of a church stained - glass window: "On July 28, 1914, why was I nailed to the cross?"
"Because you're a demon." Lin Xia deliberately gave the wrong answer, and secretly scraped some dragon - blood crystals from the tabletop with her fingernail.
"Wrong." The dragon patterns in Lu Chen's pupils split into a spider - web shape. "That day was the day my mother sold me to the church in exchange for a place for her lover in the Palace of Versailles." He suddenly tore open his shirt, revealing the old wound on his chest torn by the holy nail. "They drained my dragon marrow until the sound of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand came..."
When the second card popped out, the entire manor suddenly shook. Taking this opportunity, Lin Xia stuffed the dragon - blood crystal into the ghost - eyed fish scale, and Aaliyah's sound wave immediately exploded in her mind: "Bronze tripod energy fluctuations detected in the Icelandic volcano! Your brother's gene chain is..."
"Shh -" Lu Chen crushed the sound - wave frequency with his canine teeth. The broken dragon wings on his back suddenly became solid. "The second question: Why do all the successive brides not live more than three months?"
Lin Xia's temples throbbed. She remembered the hidden content of Article 72 of the contract terms: "Because they can't withstand the resonance of the dragon blood..."
"Because they all tried to poison my hematopoietic system." Lu Chen sneered and showed the cookies on the tea table. There was a micro - poison sac embedded in the finger bone of the 35th bride. "Just like you're trying to send information with the ghost - eyed fish now."
At this moment, the alarm sound tore through the air. Lin Xia was shocked to find that the scale on her little finger was falling off, revealing the biological chip below that was connected to her brother's hospital room monitor. The holographic projection suddenly switched to the picture of the Icelandic volcanic crater: Aaliyah was leading an exorcist team to dig out the bronze tripod, and floating in the tripod was Lu Chen's sealed half - dragon heart!
"Surprised?" Lu Chen licked the blood bead seeping out from behind her ear. "Your dear best friend is helping the Vatican prepare for a dragon - slaying holy war." He controlled Lin Xia's dragon flame to ignite the gambling table. "The third question - guess what will happen to the half - tube of dragon blood in your brother's body when I retrieve my dragon heart..."
Lin Xia's dragon tail suddenly became completely solid, smashing all the surveillance cameras. In the thick smoke and the alarm sound, she crushed the Kris blade hidden in her wisdom tooth. Her blood - stained tongue stuck to the holy - nail scar on Lu Chen's chest: "I choose to overturn the table."
When the butler rushed in with the fire - extinguishing system, he only saw the gambling table melted by the dragon flame and the mess all over the floor. All the brides' wedding rings on the wall were missing, and there were blood - stained pearl scales left in the ventilation duct. Lu Chen stroked the new tooth mark on his chest and chuckled: "The 39th attempted husband - killing. This time, you've improved by 0.3 seconds."
A dull rumble came from the Icelandic volcano. At this moment, the third eye of the dragon heart in the bronze tripod opened.