Zhao Wen Shan stared in astonishment at Pan Lulu, who seemed to have become an entirely different person.
Her features were unchanged, yet her entire demeanor had undergone a complete transformation in those few short seconds.
If the old Pan Lulu had been a timid little rabbit whose eyes filled with tears at the slightest disturbance, then the current Pan Lulu was a vividly colored venomous snake, putting people on guard with a single glance.
Zhao Wen Shan involuntarily took a step back.
She had even complained to her brother Zhao Yi earlier, wondering where Pan Lulu found so many tears to shed. Now it seemed that it had all been superb acting.
Given that her crying performance had never stopped since she entered the instance, it was no wonder they had all been fooled.
Now that she had been exposed, Pan Lulu dropped the act and smiled at Bo Yi. "How did you come to suspect me?"
"I thought I'd done a pretty good job acting..."
Bo Yi ignored her question and simply asked, "What did you tell Tian Xiuyun?"
"Oh, that..." Pan Lulu brushed back her hair. "You've really misunderstood me there."
"I truly never meant to hurt Xiuyun... I only told her that I'd met the master of the house, and that he'd given me an item that could save my life."
"Tian Xiuyun was the one who scared herself half to death last night after getting some of that liquid from Wang Xing's hand on her."
"She thought she wouldn't survive the night, so she secretly took my flower... Ah, I did lie to you about that. I'd been carrying the flower with me all along. I hadn't thrown it away."
"It was such hard work pretending to sleep while she stole things from my room... Oh, now that I think about it, I really ought to thank Wang Xing..."
"Why, you!" Zhao Wen Shan was about to charge at her in fury, but Zhao Yi grabbed her.
"An 'item that could save your life'..."
Bo Yi lowered his gaze to the rose in his hand and said flatly, "And that wasn't a lie?"
Pan Lulu spread her hands, looking utterly innocent. "After all, before yesterday, I didn't know what this flower would bring either... Who knows? Maybe it really could have saved a life..."
Zhao Wen Shan looked indignant and was about to argue further, but Pan Lulu had already turned away decisively. "All right, since my 'performance' is over, I won't keep playing house with you..."
With her back to them, she waved arrogantly. "From here on out, we're each on our own~"
"What does she mean by that?!"
Zhao Wen Shan furiously shook off her brother's hand and kicked a picture frame on the floor. A hollow echo rang out from inside the thick frame. "What does she mean, 'playing house'?! What gives her the right to say that's what we're doing?! Who does she think she is?!"
"All right, all right." Zhao Yi soothed his furious sister while looking at Bo Yi. "What do you think?" Even though he now knew Bo Yi was a newcomer, he still instinctively sought his opinion.
The banquet was tomorrow night, yet they still understood only bits and pieces of the instance's overall background.
They were running out of time.
"I'm more curious about..."
Bo Yi looked at the rose in his hand. "What exactly happened to Tian Xiuyun last night..."
"Hey, you... you're not thinking of..." Seeing his expression, Zhao Wen Shan had a bad feeling, even forgetting to keep cursing Pan Lulu.
But Bo Yi's next words confirmed her premonition-
"I'm going to take a look tonight."
"You finally came..."
An icy breath brushed his ear, and Bo Yi knew the master of the house had arrived. Without a change in expression, he pulled free of the man's arms. Once he had moved away from that ice-cold chest, he took out the rose. "I want to see what's behind the door..."
The master paid no mind to Bo Yi's resistance. At his words, he gave a low chuckle. "Of course, my honored guest."
He took the rose from Bo Yi's hand and turned. "Please follow me."
The heavy iron door swung open, and a chilling gust rushed out to meet him. The darkness seemed to close tightly around Bo Yi like an invisible net.
"Please." The master thoughtfully lit a candle and led Bo Yi into the profound darkness.
"Creeeak..." The iron door slowly swung shut on its own behind Bo Yi.
Bo Yi surveyed the room.
Beyond the iron door appeared to be a workshop:
Broken arms, shattered torsos, and hollow heads hung haphazardly all over the walls... These unfinished pieces were covered in dust and cobwebs, casting grotesquely distorted shadows on the walls in the dim, flickering candlelight.
At the far end of the room stood a long wooden table, strewn with tools, parts, and miscellaneous clutter. Thick, dark-brown crusts of blood covered both the tools and the tabletop. Scraps of fabric lay scattered across the floor, and Bo Yi immediately spotted some that looked very "similar" to Tian Xiuyun's clothes.
The faint smell of blood lingering in the air mingled with the mildew of rotting wood and the stale odor of the unfinished dolls, making it difficult to breathe.
"This way, please, my guest..." The master led Bo Yi to a row of display cabinets, a hint of excitement in his voice. "These are all my creations."
Various dolls were arranged neatly on the wooden shelves. Some stood and others sat, holding all manner of contorted poses, with traces of blood remaining in their empty eye sockets.
Bo Yi's gaze settled on the doll in the very center.
It was a doll shaped like a young girl, sitting perfectly upright on a delicate little wooden chair and cradling a bouquet of lush, vivid roses.
Black hair hung loose over its shoulders. Its pale face wore a calm expression, and its empty eye sockets faced Bo Yi directly. The dress it wore had faded and whitened with age, but Bo Yi still easily recognized it as the aristocratic gown he had briefly glimpsed on Pan Lulu.
"That was my first creation."
Noticing Bo Yi's gaze, the master began introducing it enthusiastically. "I spent a long time figuring things out on my own back then. It took several failed attempts before I managed to piece this one together. Watching someone else do it really is different from doing it yourself..."
His voice was full of nostalgia and emotion. Had Bo Yi not noticed the faint traces of blood remaining around the doll's joints, he might truly have thought the man simply loved his craft.
"You figured it out on your own?" Bo Yi looked away from the doll and began chatting with the master in a seemingly casual manner. "Why didn't you find a teacher?"
The master smiled faintly. "This is... a family craft. How could an outsider be allowed to learn it..."
Bo Yi gave him a thoughtful look, then pointed at the dolls standing behind the girl doll. "Then these... did you make them too?"
Nine dolls stood behind the girl doll, arranged in a circle around it. Judging by their equally faded servants' uniforms, there were precisely four men and five women.
They looked somewhat out of place among the other dolls, not only because their joints had been crafted with greater skill, but also because these nine dolls had eyes. Whatever material those eyes were made of, they looked remarkably lifelike. Glimpsed in passing, they seemed to be watching you.
Strangely, however, there was an empty space among the male servant dolls, as though it had been specially reserved for someone who had yet to arrive.
At Bo Yi's question, the master's face darkened. "What do you mean by that, my guest?"
His face was filled with offended displeasure. "Do you think I couldn't make eyes that beautiful?"
"I simply hadn't found suitable materials. But now..." The hand he held behind his back slowly reached for a knife on the long table. "I've found them-"
"Give me your eyes!"
A silver-white blur stabbed toward Bo Yi's eyes with a whistle of displaced air.
"With your eyes, I'll definitely be able to make a perfect doll this time!"
"Squelch-"
The sharp blade sank into an eye socket. Warm liquid spurted out, then slowly trickled down a cheek.
Bo Yi held a scalpel in one hand and gripped the master's bulging, vein-covered arm with the other.
"What a coincidence..."
Specks of blood from the master's eye still dotted his face. Smiling, he tilted his head. "How did you know..."
"I wanted your eyes too."
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