Are You Cheap Enough?

York noticed Yu Xing's gaze, grinned, and then whistled arrogantly. As the shattered doll fell to the ground and struggled to piece itself back together, York kicked it away without hesitation.

Whether intentional or coincidental, York kicked one of the dolls' severed bodies, sending it flying past Alex's cheek before crashing into the ceiling with a thud.

Alex looked at York with a somewhat surprised expression.

But he quickly revealed a cold smile, touched his wind-blown face, and locked his gaze on York with a wicked, bloodthirsty look.

Masha exclaimed in surprise, "We're out of charms!"

She was somewhat desperate. Fire could only drive the dolls away. To truly stop the dolls, she would have to directly attack Angel, who controlled them. However, between them stood an army of dolls and Alex, the wizard, who moved freely.

Otherwise, York's cross, with its excellent sacrificial function, might have already been caught by the nearby doll and was done for.

Wait, why, why can she only bring props and not offerings!?

She had already figured it out; the system restricted the abilities of the three of them to varying degrees. Her offerings were sealed, York could only use one offering, and his items might be sealed as well. Roy was in an even worse situation, seemingly having never used any items or offerings from beginning to end, clearly in a completely sealed state.

It's difficult.

Just looking at the densely packed dolls made her scalp tingle, let alone the fact that each one of them could take her life.

Is this what deduction is supposed to be? If deductions of mixed junior high and advanced levels are already this absurd, won't the deductions at Differentiation Tier be even more disastrous!?

One of the stray dolls lunged at Masha's ankle, and she quickly retreated. She was debating whether keeping her eyes on it would give a large group of dolls in front of her an opportunity when, in the next moment, a small cardboard box on fire rushed up and chased away the nearest doll.

It's Roy.

Masha breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank you!"

Seeing that she had run out of talismans, Yu Xing pulled her back a little. Yu Xing noticed that Alex was attracted by York and that there was no one guarding Angel nearby. A strange light appeared in his eyes.

"Masha, watch out for dodges, and remember to wind up the toy."

Masha was taken aback, not knowing what Roy was suddenly talking about.

However, when Roy took out Susan's music box, quickly wound it up, and shoved it into her hand, she couldn't help but widen her eyes.

Suddenly, a melody drifted out, its gentle folk tune like a sharp blade piercing Angel's heart.

Angel's numb expression finally shattered. She screamed, dropped the unfinished doll in her hand, and tried to back away, but was bound by white silk ribbons from all sides, too terrified to breathe.

As soon as she stopped controlling them, the dolls scattered like headless flies, Masha finally understood what Roy meant by telling her to dodge.

She was quite quick-witted; realizing Roy probably had a solution, she wound up the music box repeatedly and watched as Roy flew away.

Oh no, he just jumped out.

However, due to the long jump distance and high speed, in Masha's mind, Roy's leap was no different from flying, and it was hard to imagine how strong the explosive power of this person's leg muscles was.

Yu Xing's target is Angel.

He leaped up, taking advantage of the chaos to jump more than two meters, using his dynamic vision to find a foothold in the middle of the dolls, and then jumped again, arriving directly next to Angel.

Alex's pupils contracted. He didn't know how the music box ended up in Roy's hands. To deal with this uncertainty, he had Susan, who owned the music box, die beforehand.

He was the one who watched Susan die, when did that damned guy...?

Suddenly, he remembered.

Before going upstairs to the study, Roy, out of "curiosity," poked Susan.

Was it around that time?

Roy wasn't curious at all; he just used the object to take the music box from Susan's hand!

How cunning...

Alex's face darkened with malice, and he was just about to grab Roy when a cold blade appeared in front of him.

Even though the dolls were running around, they wouldn't venture into areas with fire. York, taking advantage of the flammable debris that Yu Xing scattered earlier, stood in a relatively safe spot, very close to the wizard Alex.

Actually, it was Alex himself who shortened the distance, making York close enough to stop him.

Yu Xing had no worries. He stood among the flammable materials that he had deliberately thrown around Angel. Although the heat was scorching his legs, it meant nothing to him.

He looked at Angel.

Susan's diary mentions that Angel disliked singing, Mrs. Brown often hummed songs to Susan, and that the dolls, after absorbing human souls, would sing at midnight.

Angel's fear of singing likely stemmed from multiple sources: a subconscious fear of his mother, an unwillingness to accept that he had killed someone, and a fear of gradually turning into a monster...

All these factors combined made Angel's singing his greatest weakness.

Of course, Yu Xing figured that not having a music box wasn't a dead end either; the deducer could sing it himself, but a music box was undoubtedly the easiest and safest option.

Angel's face, ravaged by music, was contorted in pain; all that tranquility was gone, along with the rationality she had strived for since childhood.

Yu Xing asked, "Do you want to get out now, or do you want to die?"

Because Yu Xing discovered that Angel was bound by white silk, making it difficult for him to die. Even the one around his neck would only cause discomfort, not suffocation.

He wanted to confirm Angel's position one last time.

For him, committing a crime voluntarily and being forced to commit a crime have different meanings.

"I... I can't die..." Angel murmured after a long pause.

Alex, who had somehow produced a knife, clashed with York's fruit knife. Hearing Yu Xing's question, he spared a moment to scoff, "Don't waste your energy. Who would want to die?"

Yu Xing completely ignored him, saying coldly but firmly, "Angel, you yearn to live, not because you want to live."

Angel shed tears.

Yu Xing: "The wizard told you that if you complete the goal, you can set your brother free, right?"

Angel's breath hitched; he felt a sharp pain in his heart.

Yes, she herself was already unforgivable; all she had left was her younger brother. All she wanted was for him to leave this place safely...

"Your brother is dead." Yu Xing ruthlessly shattered her hopes.

Alex, his face slashed and bleeding by York, looked at the excited York and shouted, "Angel, your brother is fine! Don't listen to these prey's nonsense; they're only lying to you so they can survive!"

"Angel."

Yu Xing's tone grew increasingly emotionless, as if she were declaring a settled matter. "Your brother's body is in the garden; I just dug it up this morning. The wizard used some method to skin your brother and wear his skin. Otherwise, how do you think the wizard could disguise himself as Alex and stay in your house without even your mother and sister noticing?"

"Don't be silly. Your brother has been dead since the day the wizard 'left'! And you're still helping Alex collect souls for the murderer who killed your brother. Aren't you shameless?"