Doll Castle (22)

"Hah..."

"Hah..."

Bo Yi ran through the castle, panting heavily.

Not far behind him, the master of the house followed at an unhurried pace, knife in hand.

"Where might our guest be going?"

The bloodstained tip of the knife scraped lightly along the wall. The scalp-prickling screech, accompanied by the steadily approaching footsteps, sounded like a death knell. The master paid no mind to the ugly scratches his knife left on the wall. He simply stared fixedly at the figure ahead, whose pace was visibly slowing. "The banquet will begin soon..."

He licked the corner of his mouth in delight. "But my work isn't finished yet. Why don't you... lend me a hand?"

Bo Yi refused to let the voice behind him distract him. He was carefully thinking through his options.

After leaving the gallery, he had noticed something was wrong: the master, who should have been chasing Zheng Rong, had switched targets once they left the gallery and begun chasing them instead. Everyone had immediately decided to split up. But perhaps because Bo Yi had drawn too much of the master's hostility the night before, the master had doggedly pursued him after they scattered. By now, all the other players had hidden themselves, leaving Bo Yi and the master as the only two figures visible in the entire castle.

Strangely, the master was in no hurry to attack. Instead, he seemed to be enjoying the chase, like a cat toying with a mouse.

At first, Bo Yi had thought he hadn't triggered a death condition, so the master couldn't attack him. But he soon discovered the real reason-some invisible force seemed to have restrained him. Not only did it slow his escape, but it also drastically depleted his stamina.

He leaned behind a corner on the third floor, gasping for breath. While keeping a wary eye on the master's movements downstairs, he took the opportunity to recover as much strength as he could.

At a time like this, he had to be "grateful" for the master's "playful mood," which gave him a chance to catch his breath during this game of cat and mouse. Once he had rested, he prepared to turn and leave.

But the moment he turned, he discovered that his clothes had snagged on something. Bo Yi looked down. More precisely, it was the little doll in his pocket: one strap of its overalls had caught on a room's door handle, leaving almost half its little body dangling outside his pocket.

Hm? Bo Yi frowned slightly.

How did the doll get caught? Had it accidentally bounced out while I was running?

The little doll hanging from the door handle looked perfectly innocent, its head tilted up and its red eyes staring motionlessly at him. Bo Yi had no choice but to reach out and unhook it first.

That brief delay was enough for the sound of the master's footsteps coming upstairs to reach him. Bo Yi could only grit his teeth, push open the door, and slip inside.

Clutching his wound, Zheng Rong cautiously poked his head out from behind the stairs and looked up.

He had just heard the master chasing Bo Yi upstairs. Judging by how far away the sounds were, they had probably reached the third floor. Only after determining that the master wouldn't return anytime soon did he dare stick his head out for some air. There wasn't much space behind the stairs, and curling up beneath them with his injury had been extremely uncomfortable.

He slowly eased out from behind the stairs, keeping his movements quiet. Just as he was about to find another hiding spot, a woman's eerie voice suddenly sounded behind him. "So this is where you are..."

The sudden voice made Zheng Rong shudder, and he nearly cried out. He whipped his head around to find Pan Lulu leaning over the stair railing, smiling.

"You!" Zheng Rong was furious. But given his injury and Pan Lulu's previous deception about being a newcomer, he had no idea what she was capable of and could only swallow his anger. He turned away, intending to get out of there and put her out of sight, but Pan Lulu showed no tact whatsoever and called after him without lowering her voice. "Hey, where are you going?"

"Shh!" Zheng Rong had to stop and warn her first. "Why are you being so loud? Are you trying to lure the NPC over?! If you want to get yourself killed, don't drag me into it!"

"Oh, Mr. Zheng, don't be so nervous..." Pan Lulu remained draped casually over the railing, seemingly unafraid of drawing the master over. "Haven't you noticed... the NPC is only chasing Bo Yi...?"

"So... so what?" Zheng Rong stiffened his neck, not understanding why Pan Lulu had suddenly brought this up.

Pan Lulu shook her head, seemingly dissatisfied with his reaction. "You still haven't figured it out? Obviously, he did something without our knowledge-"

"And judging by how Zhao Wen Shan and her brother Zhao Yi reacted this morning... those two clearly know about it."

"The master's unusual behavior this morning might well have been because of Bo Yi. My guess is that Bo Yi must have obtained some important clue."

"I've spelled it out this clearly. Surely you understand now-we're the only two being kept in the dark. If we don't help each other, we might end up dying without even knowing how it happened."

"So..." Pan Lulu finally revealed her purpose. "Where did Bo Yi hide just now?"

"I don't know." Zheng Rong firmly insisted that he didn't know.

"Oh, how loyal of you." Pan Lulu wasn't angry. "What a shame, though. You're so loyally keeping their secrets, yet they don't consider you one of their own..."

"Otherwise, why didn't they warn you when you were the first to leave the gallery this morning?"

Zheng Rong's expression grew uglier with every word Pan Lulu spoke.

Pan Lulu glanced at him and curled her lips in satisfaction. "And that's not all..."

"Why do you think Bo Yi told you to run outside back then?" Taking advantage of the fact that Zheng Rong hadn't returned to his room yet, she brazenly twisted the truth. "Obviously, because if you brought him inside, the master would go after Bo Yi instead..."

Her voice was soft and gentle, but her words were like a devil whispering in his ear. "Bo Yi was using you as bait to lure the master away..."

Even though Zheng Rong knew Pan Lulu couldn't be trusted and that her words weren't necessarily true, he still instinctively glanced up the stairs after hearing them.

Pan Lulu, who had been watching him closely, immediately caught that little movement. She patted his shoulder in satisfaction. "Think it over carefully..."

After watching Zheng Rong leave in a daze, Pan Lulu stepped onto the stairs, humming.

What she hadn't told Zheng Rong was that she had actually learned what the "materials" the master kept mentioning were before any of the other players present. After all, once Tian Xiuyun took her "clue," she had naturally followed in secret to find out what happened next.

Whether the master had done it deliberately or simply knew she was following him, he hadn't closed the door when he "processed" Tian Xiuyun. So she knew exactly what sort of materials he wanted.

Unlike that bunch of idiots who only knew how to follow a newcomer, Bo Yi, around, she still remembered what the master had said when the instance began-"My new work isn't finished yet."

And the banquet was being held to showcase that new work. If the master still hadn't finished it by the time the banquet began...

That simply wouldn't do!

Pan Lulu climbed the stairs with light steps.

She had to go lend the master a hand~