"What do you mean, 'behind the iron gate'...?"
Zhao Wen Shan didn't understand at first. When she realized what Bo Yi meant, her voice abruptly rose-
"They're dolls?!"
She pointed at the guests, her voice filled with disbelief. Only after Bo Yi's reminder did Zhao Wen Shan notice that the clothes these "guests" wore looked somewhat familiar... Last night, when she'd peered through the iron gate to watch the master of the house, her gaze had indeed swept over a row of cabinets displaying dolls. And what these "guests" wore were clearly those dolls' clothes.
Zhao Wen Shan suddenly shivered.
Her raised voice was still echoing through the deathly silent hall, and the dolls had all turned their faces toward her in perfect unison. Finally snapping out of her thoughts, Zhao Wen Shan abruptly found herself facing one deathly pale face after another. The boldness she'd just mustered instantly drained away.
Worse still, she noticed that the dolls had suddenly begun to move. She darted behind her brother, leaving only her eyes showing as she cautiously peeked out.
The dolls retreated to either side in orderly ranks, revealing a path. At its far end sat a "young girl":
She had long hair as black as ink. Though the passage of time had faded her dress, it was easy to imagine its original exquisite beauty. She sat perfectly upright in a tall, ornate chair, holding a bouquet of lush roses in her arms, "watching" them with her eyes closed.
Nine figures dressed as servants stood around her chair, their heads quietly bowed as though awaiting orders. Of course, the most striking thing about these nine servants was that they had eyes.
While the players were furtively examining these newly appeared "characters," the girl in the chair suddenly moved-
She extended a hand toward the players, her palm held flat and facing upward, as though she were...
"Wh-what... what does she mean?" Zhao Wen Shan stammered, looking up at Bo Yi, who stood at the front.
Bo Yi looked thoughtful. "It looks like she's asking for something..."
Zhao Wen Shan immediately grew agitated. "Something?! What something?! We don't have anything to give her!" She was close to breaking down. They-or rather, Bo Yi-had finally managed to defeat the master of the house, the big boss, and she'd thought they could clear the instance smoothly from there. Instead, no sooner had the master gone than another monster appeared, seemingly the "mistress"!
They didn't have a single clue about this newly appeared "mistress." How were they supposed to clear this instance?!
"I wouldn't say we have nothing..." Bo Yi slowly swept his gaze around the castle hall. "After all, it's time for the banquet..."
"And didn't the master say right at the beginning-"
"That he'd display his new work at the banquet."
"So you mean..." Bo Yu picked up where he left off. "She's asking us for a doll?"
Bo Yi nodded.
"But where the hell are we supposed to get a doll?!" This sudden turn of events had made Zhao Yi irritable too, and he growled under his breath, "Aren't all the fucking dolls in the castle standing right here?!"
Not only had they all gathered in the hall, these dolls had also blocked the front doors completely! Even the "mistress's" chair sat directly in the middle of the doorway. If that wasn't deliberate, he'd eat his words!
Bo Yi lowered his eyes and gave him a cool glance. "Isn't there still one more?"
"What?" Zhao Yi froze.
"The Butler Doll you were holding earlier."
"Right!" Zhao Wen Shan excitedly slapped her brother's shoulder. "Where's that doll, bro?!"
"I-I-I..." Zhao Yi stumbled over his words. "I left it in the corridor!"
"I'll go get it right now!"
"We'll go together," Bo Yi decided. He gestured to the girl to ask her to wait a moment, then led the others back into the corridor they'd come from.
"Where did you put the doll?"
Looking at the spotless corridor, Bo Yi turned to ask Zhao Yi.
Zhao Yi stared in disbelief, gesticulating wildly. "I definitely put it right here!" So why was it gone now?!
"Could Zheng Rong have taken it?" Bo Yu asked. "The four of us have been together the whole time. None of us left."
"Yes, yes! That must be it!" Zhao Yi nodded hastily.
"But why would he sneak off with the doll?" Bo Yu asked, puzzled.
Zhao Wen Shan ventured a bold guess. "Could he have overheard us, then taken it before we could so he could clear the instance?"
Bo Yu didn't understand. "This isn't a race instance. There's no extra reward for finishing first." In fact, whoever went first would risk angering the monster if they handed over the wrong thing. There was absolutely no reason for Zheng Rong to do this in secret.
Bo Yi agreed, though his reasoning was completely different from Bo Yu's. He had a very bad feeling. Because-
The long blade the master had dropped in the corridor was gone too.
If Zheng Rong really had come to take the Butler Doll, there was no reason for him to take the master's blade as well. So Bo Yi was more inclined to believe-
That the master, who had become a doll, had left on his own.
After all, there was already a whole crowd of dolls that had turned into "people" outside. It would make sense if the master had also "come back to life" as a result...
Speak of the doll, and the doll would appear. Perhaps they'd spent too long here, because while the other players were still discussing where to find Zheng Rong, the dolls outside had already lost patience. Four of the male servants were slowly closing in on them.
And judging by the occasional silver glints from behind their backs, each of them carried a blade.
Bo Yi made an immediate decision. "Run!"
But when they rushed out of the corridor, they found that the "guests" in the hall had already blocked the exit. They reached out to grab the players' clothes, limbs, even their hair... using every means possible to slow them down. Although they held no weapons, those densely packed, constantly flailing pale arms were even harder to deal with than the four male servants.
"What do we do now?!"
Everyone struggled to dodge, frantic with worry. There were too many opponents for them to fight! Worse still, probably because these "guests" had originally been dolls, even if their hands or feet were cut off, they could pick up the severed parts and reattach them.
The players, obviously, had no such ability. Before long, they all bore wounds to varying degrees. Bo Yi alone wasn't quite so battered.
He stared intently into the distance. "We have to find a way to give 'her' what she wants." Behind the dense "crowd," the "girl" in the chair still held her palm upward.
Furious, Zhao Wen Shan tore off the "hand" clutching her hair and flung it away. "I know that! But we don't know where Zheng Rong went with the doll!"
"What the hell is he thinking?! Why hasn't he come out and handed over the doll yet?! Is he waiting until we're all dead before he makes his move?!"
Bo Yi kept his eyes fixed on the "girl," murmuring, "Maybe... there's something else that could satisfy her..."
"Something else?! Where are we supposed to find anything else right now?!" Zhao Wen Shan kicked away a doll that lunged at her. "And she won't speak! How are we supposed to know what she wants?"
As she spoke, she even tried to find some humor in their misery. "Should we guess based on what girls her age like? Dresses? Designer bags? Luxury cosmetics?"
Zhao Yi joined in. "Her eyes are closed the whole time. I don't think cosmetics would be much use to her..."
Huh? Bo Yi whipped his head around. "What did you just say?"
Zhao Yi froze. Thinking he'd said something wrong, he lowered his voice. "I said, 'Her eyes are'-"
"That's it!"
Bo Yi cut Zhao Yi off, excitement spreading across his face. "It's eyes!"
"Give her eyes!"
Before you continue