I'm a Master in India

Mary and Lena climbed up the slope, and gradually the metal railings disappeared.

In the darkness, Mary, who was in the lead, suddenly felt a set of stairs.

After only a few steps, they arrived in front of a door.

It was a small wooden door with inlaid flowers, very small but incredibly exquisite, looking at first glance as if it were designed specifically for children.

Mary turned the doorknob, it was easy. She pushed the door open, and light surged in.

This was an attic room, with a row of four stained glass windows from which the light came.

The vertical triangular windows, like those in a church, protruded from the roof.

This space seemed to be independent of The Palace, the only way up was through a secret passage hidden within the walls.

The great fire had not reached here, but it still looked bad.

The walls were blackened, with scorched, wavy black lines. There were also holes in the floor, revealing the space between it and the ceiling of the room below.

However, the overall condition of the room was good; the carpet covering the floor and the exotic wallpaper had not been damaged.

The furniture was also placed there intact, and Mrs. Elizabeth was sitting in a throne-like chair. Her face was contorted, glaring fiercely.

Mary and Lena clenched their fists and the daggers in their hands in unison. They slightly bent their backs, their chests rising and falling rapidly, like leopards ready to pounce at any moment.

But soon the two noticed a slight abnormality; Mrs. Elizabeth's malicious gaze was not directed at them.

To be precise, her eyes were unfocused; she was gazing with resentment at a moment in the past.

The two carefully approached, her eyes becoming increasingly hollow, as if she were trying in vain to grasp something.

At this moment, Mrs. Elizabeth was heavily made up, with thick powder. It was so thick it was like a mask, making it impossible to see her original appearance.

Her mouth was enlarged by lipstick, her eyebrows thickened by drawing, and her cheekbones appeared higher due to the makeup.

When close enough, one could see saliva dripping from the corners of her mouth, onto her thighs.

She was enveloped in the smell of alcohol, mixed with other fouler and more disgusting odors.

Her hair was completely covered by a wig; the thick, curly blonde wig was slightly askew, revealing the short, sparse gray hair underneath.

She wore a green evening gown, the high collar covering her throat and propping up her chin. Her legs were crossed, her feet resting on the seat of the chair next to her.

She wore soft silk slippers, her hands resting on her thighs, hanging lifelessly, just like her slack mouth.

Mary and Lena approached blankly; they had never imagined they would see such an expression on Mrs. Elizabeth's face.

In their memories, although her heart was as venomous as a scorpion, she was a genuine beauty. The kind of beauty that radiated from within, captivating the soul.

Now, she was not beautiful, but ugly.

That beautiful skin had been swept away by the great fire, leaving only ashes.

The moment Mary and Lena saw Mrs. Elizabeth, they knew she was finished.

Her spirit had been drained, she was weakened, and her entire being exuded decay.

She was floating on a black lake, and soon the dark water would drag her to the bottom.

Deep silence permeated the room; even breathing was barely audible.

Mary and Lena fell into a daze; their anger for revenge had quietly vanished.

They were shocked and confused, not understanding why their former instructor had suddenly fallen into such a state.

They stood right in front of her, yet she paid them no mind.

"Mary, we..." Lena was distraught, the dagger in her hand quietly loosening its grip.

"She won't live much longer, the great fire destroyed The Palace, and it also destroyed her."

"I..." Tears flickered in Lena's eyes, she wanted to say something, but was suddenly interrupted by a scream.

A heart-wrenching, ear-piercing scream like a wild boar's roar came.

Mary turned sharply, Mrs. Elizabeth's eunuch, Abu, was rushing towards them.

She subconsciously raised her arms to block, but it was too late. Abu's sudden collision made Mary lose her balance.

Holding Mary, he crashed through an attic window, Mary's body tilted back, suspended outside the window.

"Mary!" Lena screamed, pouncing like a leopard.

As a result, another figure crashed into her mid-way, and the two fell and rolled.

Lena saw the face clearly, a face identical to Abu's. Also with a braid, shaved eyebrows, and a tattoo on the bald chin.

They were twin brothers! Mrs. Elizabeth's two personal servants were actually twin brothers!

In his hand, he held a curved saber as thin as a cicada's wing, pressing down fiercely towards Lena.

Lena desperately resisted, she turned her head to look at the window, Mary was still there.

The broken glass cut Mary's arms and ears, the wounds were deep, and cold blood flowed out.

She was pressed against the window ledge, she could see the blue sky above her head, and Abu's frantically shaking head.

Abu desperately pushed Mary forward, his feet moving forward strangely on the ground, not worrying at all about himself falling out the window.

Mary realized that he had the idea of mutual destruction, pushing both of them out and then falling heavily to the ground.

Abu had no confidence in defeating Mary, so he could only strike first, using a life-for-a-life fighting style.

Mary hooked the window ledge with one leg, her body suddenly leaning back to release the force. Caught off guard, Abu rushed forward and fell onto the windowsill.

Mary took the opportunity to flip back into the window, she grabbed Abu's braid with one hand. Then, using her feet and shoulders, she threw Abu out with a shoulder throw.

She wanted to help Lena, but Abu jumped up again and rushed over, screaming.

Mary swiped at her waist, and a dagger appeared in her hand.

In the gap when Abu rushed over, she ducked and slipped out from under his arm, then turned around "Swish! Swish! Swish!" a few times.

Abu screamed in pain, his legs and back were full of wounds, cut very deeply.

Yet he still charged again fearlessly, anxiety flashing in Mary's eyes.

She knew Abu wanted to buy time for his twin brother; Lena was in imminent danger.

A woman's explosive power is ultimately not as sustained as a man's; the curved saber in front of Lena was getting closer and closer, only a few centimeters from her pupils.

Lena became fierce, preparing to trade injury for injury, sacrificing an ear in exchange for an opportunity to counterattack.

"Thud!" A muffled sound echoed abruptly in the room.

The figure above Lena's body trembled, then slowly tilted and fell.

Everyone looked towards the doorway in unison; Ron was standing there with a pistol, no one knew when he arrived. Anil, and a few subordinates were also cautiously spread out around the attic, searching for suspicious hidden targets.

"This is my first time shooting, and it was quite accurate." He let out a light sigh of relief.

Lena slumped to the ground and smiled.

"brother, did you deliberately choose this timing to be a hero?"

"Don't mention it, that broken staircase broke as soon as I stepped on it. I searched for a long time before I found my way here."

"You came just in time." Mary also smiled.

A scream interrupted their greetings; Abu suddenly gave up on Mary and turned to rush towards Ron.

The sternness on his face turned to shock, then transformed into ferocity, anger, and hatred to the extreme of malice.

That hatred made his screams pierce the eardrums, chilling to hear.

He charged towards Ron like a madman, ignoring the bleeding wounds on his body.

Fire, a raging inferno, and surging rage, burned him so fiercely his eyes were about to split.

Bang! Anil raised his hand and fired a shot; he aimed at the eunuch's abdomen.

Abu's legs went weak, and he fell sideways. He rolled on the floor, whimpering in pain, arching his body and holding his bleeding wound.

He groaned, yet with great perseverance, he crawled up, limping towards the throne-like chair, shielding Mrs. Elizabeth with his body, protecting her with his exposed chest.

He glared fiercely at Ron; he knew he couldn't protect his Master, yet he still did so.

Anil raised his gun, Ron reached out to stop him, and he looked at Mary and the others.

"Do you have anything you want to ask?"

"Never mind, The Palace is finished, and they are finished too."

Abu was at the end of his rope; his twin brother had long since fallen silently in a pool of blood.

Ron examined Mrs. Elizabeth in the chair; this was the first time he had seen her.

It was impossible to tell her exact age or nationality; she might have Russian descent, or perhaps be of Spanish origin, or even have Greek blood.

"Very different from the photos." Ron commented.

"You haven't seen her when she was young." Lena crawled up from the floor.

"So what exactly happened?" he asked.

"Let's talk outside, and why did you come up anyway?" Mary walked over.

"I wasn't at ease, you were inside for too long, and there was no sound at all. Honestly, this building is very dangerous; stepping on the floor, I felt something was wrong."

"Okay, it's over." Mary stood at the attic doorway and turned her head.

Abu collapsed below the throne chair, his eyes staring blankly at the ceiling, his chest no longer rising and falling.

Mrs. Elizabeth's eyes were still hollow, her slack mouth half-open.

She was motionless like a puppet, without breathing or heartbeat, a slight push would likely make her fall over.

The few people turned to leave, but the secret passage suddenly collapsed; it couldn't support the weight of so many people at once.

They fell down, through the burnt wood, landing heavily on the hard floor.

"Cough, cough... Damn it!" Ron crawled out of the secret passage, covered in dust.

"We almost died here." Mary pushed Lena off her, feeling lingering fear.

The stirred-up charcoal ash and fibers made the few people cough violently, spitting out dirty things from their mouths.

"Are you alright, Master?" Anil was the last to land.

"Listen," Ron tilted his head, "Something's wrong, run!"

A faint creaking sound came from the ceiling, like the sound of ice cracking.

The few people were scared out of their wits, quickly ran out of the building, and left through the back courtyard.

Boom! At the top of the third floor, that attic, collapsed diagonally, falling to the ground and raising a large cloud of dust.

"Damn it, good thing we ran fast!" Ron felt lingering fear.

He guessed that the collapse of the secret passage just now triggered a series of chain reactions.

The secret passage was connected to the attic, and it had only this one exit.

Mary and Lena stared blankly at the ruins, silent.

Ron couldn't quite describe the feeling; they seemed to have shed a burden, feeling both light and exhausted.

"It's over." Mary sighed.

"We're free." Lena smiled.

"Ladies, let's save the emotional words for later. Before outsiders come to check, we'd better leave quickly." Ron had to interrupt them.

"You're right, tonight we're going to have a good drink."

"Yes, we won't go home until we're drunk!" Lena shouted.

Ron took a final look at the ruins of The Palace, his eyes flickering.

Mrs. Elizabeth, deceased.