"Then they didn't try anything else, did they?"
Li Xian continued asking.
Ji Xie shook his head.
That slap of his had certainly cleared their heads, guaranteed to knock every thought out of them, whether they should have had it or not.
It was rare for him to have Li Xian all to himself. Ji Xie was in no hurry to turn back into tentacles. Instead, he leaned back against the sofa and edged closer to Li Xian.
"What did you bring back?"
He poked twice at the clothes bundled on the other man's lap, then glanced at the unidentified object on the sofa that had been severed into two pieces.
"This is a costume."
Li Xian handed the Doll Costume to Ji Xie. After unfolding it and taking a brief look, Ji Xie set it aside with little interest and picked up the severed Doll Cat instead.
After carefully examining the colors of its fabric, he asked:
"Is this the one from our house?"
Li Xian shook his head. "No, the patch of fabric on its ear is different."
Ji Xie took another look but still couldn't recall any difference between the two. Then he remembered there was something else he hadn't mentioned:
"Oh, right. I saw your dad, too."
Li Xian froze.
"In... the Toy Factory?"
"Yeah."
Although Li Xian had only tasked him with following those two players, Ji Xie had also taken a quick look around the factory.
"He and a few other parents were all... making dolls."
Li Xian's brows drew together slightly.
"What kind?"
Ji Xie shook the doll's head in his hand. "Pretty much like this one."
"Your dad was in charge of the final step, sewing them shut. He had a box of bones beside him. Once he put one inside a