Automatic Deduction

Viola's running pace suddenly stopped, and she abruptly turned her head, her gaze piercing through the dimly lit corridor to the direction where Lu Xiu had just disappeared.

But I only glanced at it for a moment.

Viola quickly shook her head.

impossible.

That was a weapon that no ordinary country girl could touch or control, unless she could find and learn the magic scattered throughout the Witch's House—

Boom!

Viola's words could even finish processing in his mind, a dull, loud bang suddenly echoed from deep within the Mansion.

Immediately afterwards, the entire the Witch's House suddenly trembled violently—dark red veins of flesh and blood suddenly appeared on the wall in front of her.

They seemed to be in great pain, and began to writhe and spasm wildly.

Subsequently, large areas began to crack and wither.

Various eerie screams and strange cries echoed from the depths of the Mansion.

Dust fell from the ceiling in a soft patter.

The already chilly air seemed to freeze for a moment.

It was as if the Witch's House had suddenly gone mad, ignoring the rules and breaking free from control, starting to besiege something—and in the end, they lost.

This sudden change sent chills down everyone's spines, freezing all those inside the Mansion in place.

Even the purple-haired girl who was in a frenzied pursuit behind Viola was taken aback by this sudden turn of events.

Viola was also forced to slow down, her face showing undisguised bewilderment.

What happened?!

Just as Viola's mind went blank, a spatial ripple suddenly appeared in the darkness beside her.

"Ah.

Accompanied by a cat's meow.

The jet-black cat landed lightly at Viola's feet and then ran after her.

"Looks like something's happened."

"What happened?"

"I don't know, meow. All I know is that the Witch's House is furious, and those bound souls are disappearing one by one."

"What--"

I advise you to run away.

The Black Cat suddenly reminded him, "Otherwise, all our efforts will be in vain, meow."

Viola then noticed that the purple-haired girl behind her had come to her senses.

Her empty, bloodshot eyes were once again fixed on Viola, the overwhelming resentment of having everything taken from her completely overwhelming the fear of the strange events at the Witch's House.

"Return it to me"

She let out another chilling scream, and caught up again at a terrifying speed three times faster than before.

Viola could only suppress the shock in her heart and temporarily give up thinking about what had happened.

Escape!

Once she leaves this place, this vibrant body will belong to her forever!

Viola ran wildly ahead, but the purple-haired girl behind her pursued her relentlessly, like a persistent leech.

"They really are persistent."

Constantly being chased.

Viola was genuinely annoyed, so she simply dropped all pretense. "Viola- chan."

"This is the body you gave me, why do you want it back?"

"I'm so pitiful, aren't I? I've been suffering from an incurable illness, and I've been lying in bed unable to move."

Upon hearing this, the purple-haired girl let out another mournful cry and crawled forward desperately.

Viola burst out laughing, "Only one day? --- Heh heh, who remembers that kind of agreement?"

Rumble-

The entire Mansion shook violently once again, as the Witch's House itself was enraged and out of control, and the surrounding structure began to twist and change wildly.

The once straight corridor suddenly folded as if it were alive, and doors turned into bloody, mangled walls.

The two seemed trapped in a huge, writhing maze, endlessly circling the Mansion.

It took more than ten minutes to circle around.

But no matter how the terrain changed, the purple-haired girl, having lost her legs, was always just a little short and couldn't truly catch Viola.

"They actually tried to trap me here using the power within me. It startled me, but it's useless."

Viola skillfully navigated the intricate terrain. "Because this is my home, this house has always guided me, how could I possibly be trapped?"

"What's more, you also have your capable best friend, your childhood sweetheart, helping you."

"I know, Viola- chan and her father are each other's only family."

I also know that you and your friends are very close.

"Viola- chan, you've already given me your body, so why don't you just die with that pile of rotten flesh?"

1

These words seemed to pierce the purple-haired girl, who once again let out a muffled, mournful cry, and her pursuit speed increased dramatically!

But at that moment, the twisted, writhing wall of flesh in front of them suddenly split open to both sides.

The front hall came into view.

Exit!

The dawn of victory is just around the corner.

"It's okay."

Viola looked at the door, a smile blooming on her face again. Turning back to look at the despairing purple-haired girl behind her, she finally said, "I will be loved well, along with Viola- chan."

After saying that, Viola turned around without hesitation, ready to unleash her last bit of speed and rush out of the door in one go.

However, the moment she turned her head...

A person suddenly emerged from the shadows on the side of the lobby.

She was a young girl wearing a simple long dress.

But now, the once clean long dress was completely soaked in thick blood, which dripped down the hem and splattered onto the wooden floor.

In Viola's sharply constricted pupils, Lu Xiu's delicate face, marked with a few bloodstains, was reflected.

Lu Xiu slowly walked to the front door and stood still.

And in her right hand, she was holding a knife.

It was a short knife, entirely black, with purple patterns adorning the blade.

now.

Dark red blood was dripping down the blade, drop by drop.

"Sorry, it took a little time to exorcise the spirits from the Witch's House."

Lu Xiu casually flicked the blood droplets off the blade and laughed, "I must say, this knife is really useful. I'm a genius."

In the dim light of the front hall, Viola could make out the shape of the knife.

Her mind went blank, as if she had fallen into an ice cave.

But due to the immense inertia of her forward momentum, she crashed headfirst into Lu Xiu's face.

There's no way to avoid it.

She immediately concealed all the malice on her face, suppressed the unease and fear surging within her, and cried out urgently, "Where have you been? We need to get out of here quickly—"

Before he could finish speaking...

Well!

Lu Xiu looked at Viola who had come in front of her, raised her hand, and grabbed her slender neck.

Viola's forward momentum abruptly halted; all her pretense, words, and even breath were trapped in her throat.

"Hey, what's going on here?!"

The all-black cat at Viola's feet saw this and made a sound, as if it wanted to say hello.

But it didn't finish its sentence either.

Because of the next second.

"Meow!!!"

Accompanied by piercing screams.

The entirely black cat, or rather, the Demon, was trampled under Lu Xiu's feet.

"Ah."

Lu Xiu glanced down at it. "Isn't this obvious?"

Next.

Lu Xiu pressed her foot firmly against the cat and turned her gaze back to Viola, who was struggling.

"You will be loved just like Viola- chan—"

Lu Xiu tilted her head and repeated Viola's victory declaration, "This wish might not be fulfilled, Viola —no, I should say, Ellen- chan."

Behind the front hall.

The purple-haired girl, who had been chasing after him with a frenzied roar and dragging her mangled flesh, froze on the spot upon hearing these words.

Her empty eye sockets, now just two bloody holes, stared blankly at the scene in the front hall.

Gazing at the figure who single-handedly pinned down the high and Witch, with Demon Black Cat under her feet, her body covered in blood yet remaining as calm as still water—Qingmei.

Upon hearing this name...

Viola —or rather, Ellen —who was being choked, immediately stopped struggling.

Although Lu Xiu plays the role of a child—but after Ellen swaps bodies, she is still just a child.

Furthermore, given the dungeon's design, obtaining the Soul-Severing Blade poses an immeasurable threat to the mystical realm.

"Ellen ----"

The fake Viola repeated the name.

Next.

She glared at Lu Xiu, her cute face contorted with anger, and suddenly screamed hysterically, "You really read the diary!!! Every time you disappeared!!! You really did go to collect my diary!"

"Since you've read the diary!"

"You knew perfectly well what I did! Why did you still help me?!"

I thought we were friends!!!

"Why!!!"

"Why are you doing this again now?!"

I thought you were different from those who abandoned me!!!

Watching the Witch break down and scream.

Lu Xiu tilted her head again. "The body isn't yours—it belongs to Viola. Of course I have to protect it. Otherwise, how would Viola use it if we switched back? Rather than saying I'm protecting you, I'd say I'm just protecting your body."

L

"

Behind the front hall, the purple-haired girl with broken legs remained rooted to the spot, staring blankly at Lu Xiu.

But those empty eye sockets seemed to have changed.

Upon hearing Lu Xiu's matter-of-fact statement, "I was just protecting Viola's body," Ellen's tears froze.

His face contorted even more, filled with resentment as he glared at Lu Xiu, his eyes bloodshot, hysterically unleashing centuries of pent-up hatred. "Then you know perfectly well what I've been through!!!"

"I was born with an incurable disease! The skin on my face and legs ulcerates every day, and I can't walk at all. Even my parents who gave birth to me don't love me! My mother abandoned me! My father ignores me! They both look at me like I'm trash!"

"I just want a healthy body! I just want to run in the sunshine like a normal girl! I won't get true friends because I'm sick! Only with a healthy body can I be loved!!! I just want to be loved! What did I do wrong! She lent me her body willingly, it was her own choice!!!"

The Witch's resentful words echoed throughout the front hall.

"Ah, yes, yes, you're miserable, you're pathetic, so even at hundreds of years old, you still bully a teenage girl? You impose your own suffering on others? And then you feel perfectly justified in monopolizing her life? --- Is this what you call pathetic?"

Lu Xiu looked at the Witch who was now inhabiting someone else's body. "If it were two little girls causing this, then as a reliable adult, I would try to mediate, listen to your complaints, and see if I could help you. But unfortunately, it's not—you're not a little girl anymore."

"Then, as a reliable adult, I'll have to take another approach."

Lu Xiu slowly raised the knife.

But at that moment...

Bang!!!

The wooden door behind Lu Xiu was violently kicked open from the outside without warning!

A chilling wind instantly rushed into the hall, which was filled with the pungent smell of blood.

Outside the door stood a tall, weathered middle-aged man.

He came running in, panting, wearing heavy leather hunting clothes and carrying a dark, double-barreled shotgun.

This is Viola's father, the Hunter!

Lu Xiu's hand holding the knife suddenly paused, a hint of surprise flashing in her eyes.

etc----

The Hunter should never have forced his way in by breaking down the door!

Why?

But before Lu Xiu could think further, Viola, or rather Ellen, whose neck she was choking, immediately realized what was happening.

When she saw the Hunter, it was as if she had grasped at a last straw; the resentment and madness on her face instantly turned into fear and vulnerability.

She desperately reached out her hand towards the door, towards the man, crying out, "Daddy! Daddy, save me!!"

"Viola?!"

The Hunter saw the scene in the hall and heard his daughter's voice—finally snapping out of his shock, he recognized who was choking his daughter and, of course, saw the knife in Lu Xiu's hand.

In an instant.

His eyes were bloodshot with rage. Without hesitation, he leveled the double-barreled shotgun in his hand, pointing the dark muzzle at Lu Xiu's head, and roared, "Lu Xiu! Why did you do this?! Put down that knife! Release my daughter immediately, or I'll shoot!"

Lu Xiu: "...

And it was in this tense standoff that...

In the shadows behind the front hall, the purple-haired girl containing the true soul of Viola finally came to her senses.

Even with her eyes gouged out, and without relying on the remaining magic in her body, she could still clearly sense that familiar aura.

That was her father.

They were the family members who stayed by her bedside the whole time she was sick, and whom she longed to reunite with.

The purple-haired girl's chest heaved violently as she crawled forward a short distance. Then, she raised her bloodied, eyeless face, and a hoarse, pleading voice escaped her throat. "Uh... Dad... Daddy..."

This strange noise instantly caught the Hunter's attention.

He subconsciously glanced towards the corridor, and then his pupils suddenly contracted to their maximum size.

Because he saw a terrifying monster with no lower body and only two bloody holes in its eye sockets, crawling towards him while emitting chilling whistles!

The Hunter's instincts, honed by years of roaming the forest, instantly overwhelmed his reason.

"What kind of monster is this?!"

The Hunter took a half-step back in horror, abruptly turning his double-barreled shotgun to aim directly at the purple-haired girl on the ground, his finger instantly on the trigger, ready to fire.

The purple-haired girl was stunned, frozen in place, unable to believe it.

However.

Just as the Hunter was about to pull the trigger...

Swish-

Lu Xiu, who had been holding the knife, suddenly switched it horizontally, pressing it against the fake Viola's fragile carotid artery, and shouted, "Don't move!"

The Hunter's finger, which was about to pull the trigger, suddenly froze.

He stared at the short knife that could slit his daughter's neck, jerked his finger back, and dared not touch the trigger again.

She stood frozen in place, her eyes bloodshot as she glared at Lu Xiu, and roared incredulously, "You're Viola's best friend!"

Why do this?!

Faced with the Hunter's angry and heartbroken questioning.

Lu Xiu didn't explain the soul swap, nor did she state that the monster on the ground was the real Viola.

She simply looked at the Hunter and suddenly smiled.

That smile, combined with her delicate face stained with blood, made her appear exceptionally alluring.

"Uncle, come a little closer, and I'll tell you."

Lu Xiu's voice softened. "By the way—I can also release Viola and return her to you, while also explaining the misunderstanding."

The Hunter stared at Lu Xiu, his eyes filled with wariness and fear.

Although he didn't know why he was afraid of a little girl.

But I'm just scared!

She thought this person was crazy!

but.

Seeing his daughter's tear-streaked face and her pitiful, pleading eyes as a knife was held to her neck, his fatherly instincts ultimately prevailed over reason.

He held the double-barreled shotgun in his hand and walked cautiously, one step, two steps, toward Lu Xiu.

But just as the distance between them shrank to a mere step, the two of them were now within arm's reach.

A sudden change has occurred!

Lu Xiu suddenly loosened her grip on the fake Viola's neck with her left hand, roughly tossing the cumbersome figure aside.

Immediately afterward, taking advantage of the moment when the Hunter's attention was drawn to the fake Viola, she pushed off with her feet and lunged forward, slamming her head directly into the Hunter's stomach!

Headbutt!

This sudden, brutal collision, carrying all of the body's weight and explosive force, sent the tall Hunter staggering, losing his balance and falling backward.

The Hunter let out a muffled groan, and with the violent impact, the double-barreled shotgun slipped from his hand and flew into the air.

The moment he fell to the ground, the Hunter realized something was wrong and struggled to his feet to retrieve his weapon.

But Lu Xiu was much faster than him!

Just as the double-barreled shotgun was about to hit the ground, Lu Xiu twisted with incredible agility, lunged forward, and caught the falling weapon.

Without any hesitation.

Using the weight of the gun, she deftly traversed a semi-circle in mid-air, aiming the sturdy wooden butt at the Hunter's head and delivering a merciless blow.

The Hunter stared wide-eyed in disbelief, still not quite understanding what was happening.

The next instant, the gun butt was right in front of me.

Bang!

The butt of the gun slammed into the Hunter's face.

With the impact, his eyes rolled back, and he fainted instantly.

"Whoosh----whoosh----"

Lu Xiu, panting, immediately raised the heavy double-barreled shotgun, aimed it at the fake Viola who was about to get up, and picked up the knife from the ground again while adjusting her breathing. "A long, long time ago—there was a rich man who was transporting a large cart of treasures in a handcart, but the cart suddenly broke down in the forest. At that moment, a Hunter and a dog happened to pass by, and the rich man asked the Hunter to watch the handcart for him, and the Hunter readily agreed."

With the Hunter helping to guard the treasure, the man felt at ease going to find a replacement handcart.

But as night fell, the Hunter began to worry about his elderly mother who was home alone.

So the Hunter left his dog there to watch the cart while he went home to take care of his elderly mother.

When the rich man returned, he saw that the dog was staring at the cart, so he gave the dog a silver coin and told it to carry it back to its owner as a reward.

"But the dog ran home and gave the silver coin to its master, who then killed it, shouting before killing it, 'I told you to watch the cart, and you actually stole a silver coin?'"

"You've seen the jokes in the library, haven't you? They're really funny."

"The Hunter is a joke indeed----"

"But I'm not."

Hearing Lu Xiu tell a joke while slightly out of breath.

The fake Viola couldn't laugh no matter what she did; not only could she not laugh, but her body also began to tremble violently uncontrollably.

And behind the front hall.

The purple-haired girl who had lost both legs stared blankly at her father lying on the ground with empty eye sockets, then turned to look at her childhood friend, who was holding a hunting rifle and a short knife, like Shura.

She had been stunned because her father was about to shoot, but then she suddenly let out a sob.

Two shocking lines of bloody tears slowly flowed from those eye sockets, which had no eyeballs and were now just bloody holes.

"Alright."

Lu Xiu glanced at the unconscious Hunter, and after confirming that this only variable would not wake up anytime soon, she casually tossed the heavy double-barreled shotgun aside.

She gripped the Soul-Severing Blade tightly again and walked forward. "Now that the troublemaker is dealt with, come on, Ellen- chan, let's continue what we were doing."

"No—don't come any closer—don't come any closer!"

Ellen looked at Lu Xiu, whose face was covered in blood, and desperately backed away, bracing herself against the floor with both hands.

Only one thought remained.

She was more savage than Hunter, and more ruthless than Witch.