Wooden Man and Find the Difference

About ten minutes later, the guests suddenly heard violin music coming from the stage.

The curtain slowly drew back, revealing someone in a red suit and a white puppet mask standing onstage, playing a violin.

Just then, all the puppets in the banquet hall suddenly began to move, turning toward the stage as though they, too, were watching the performance.

Startled by the puppets, Song You blurted out, "Th-these puppets... why are they moving?"

Liu Jinjian's expression shifted for a moment, and his body gave a slight shudder, but he concealed it well and declared loftily, "They're just props. There should be machinery inside. There's nothing to be afraid of."

Su Li, meanwhile, watched another direction out of the corner of his eye, the corners of his lips slowly rising.

[Holy crap, these things can move??]

[Mom, I can't watch anymore!!]

[That really scared me, a whole bunch of puppets suddenly moving like that.]

[Are these really props?]

[Is there some kind of mechanism inside? But if you don't know that, it really feels terrifying.]

[Liu the Bold is so brave!]

The production team had rented these puppets from a fairly well-known haunted house. They contained electronic equipment and could be controlled once their movements were programmed, a little like robots.

When the piece ended, the person onstage slowly bowed. "Welcome, everyone. I wonder what you thought of the food we prepared."

The guests exchanged glances. Su Li cheerfully raised his hand and answered, "It was great!"

[Li Bao looks like a little kid, even raising his little hand.]

[He's so cute!]

[Why isn't he scared again? Are we sure he isn't just playing to the crowd??]

[Anyone who's watched Li Bao's streams knows the kid's recklessly fearless.]

[Hey, commenter above, he's not stupid. Have you forgotten how he solved the puzzle and found the six body parts the day before yesterday?]

"Thank you for the compliment. Then, in return for this meal, would you play a game with these puppets of mine?" the masked person requested.

The task was finally here, the guests thought.

An Hui asked, "What game?"

The masked person's voice grew eerie and distant. "Have you ever played 1-2-3 Wooden Man and Find the Difference? It's been a long time since anyone played with them. Since we have guests today, I combined the two."

"There are thirteen puppets here that I created. The rules are: while I'm playing, they won't move, and you may observe them. But when I stop playing, you must freeze, whatever you happen to be doing. That's when the puppets will start moving."

"At that point, no matter what they do, you must not move. Otherwise... you must drink a beverage I made."

"Your task is to find the puppet that differs from the other twelve and tell me while I'm playing. You have three chances in total. If you fail to guess correctly all three times, you lose the game and will be punished."

The masked person gave a sinister cackle before continuing, "You have five minutes to prepare. The game begins in five minutes."

Liu Jinjian looked at Su Li and the others and ordered, "You'd better spread out, find the different puppet as quickly as possible, and move on to the next area. Don't waste time here."

His tone thoroughly repulsed the other guests.

"Uncle Liu, are you some kind of boss?" Su Li suddenly asked, his gaze innocent, as though he were genuinely curious.

Caught off guard by the question, Liu Jinjian didn't even notice how Su Li had addressed him. "No. Why do you ask?"

Disappointment instantly filled Su Li's foxlike eyes. "Oh, okay. From your tone, I thought you must be some big boss."

"Pfft!" Cheng Sirong and Chen Zhuo couldn't help laughing aloud. Even Song You was holding back a laugh.

Liu Jinjian's face immediately turned livid. "What do you mean by that?" he demanded.

"Sorry, Xiao Su is straightforward by nature. He meant every word he just said. Don't take it to heart." An Hui stepped forward, shielding Su Li behind him.

Cheng Sirong chimed in, "Exactly. Xiao Su is still a kid. Be a little more generous."

[Was Su Li being sincere or sarcastic? (doge)]

[Li Bao saying the most hurtful things with the most innocent eyes, hahahahaha.]

[Does Su Li have any manners, talking to Liu the Bold like that?]

[Mr. Liu wasn't wrong. What gives Su Li the right to mock him like that?]

[When is Su Li going to get out of showbiz? He never respects his seniors.]

[Since when does Liu Jinjian count as his senior? He's not even in showbiz. Did he come here just to throw his weight around?]

[Just listen to Liu Jinjian's tone. Who does he think he is? Does everyone have to obey him?]

[As a fan of the award-winning actor, I say Su Li was right to clap back.]

[What an iconic scene. An Hui and Queen of Songs Cheng backing each other up is killing me.]

Liu Jinjian felt anger surge in his chest, only to be bottled up with no way to vent it. Just as he was about to rebuke them, violin music rang out.

"Brother Su, the game's started. Let's hurry and check out the puppets," Chen Zhuo said, tugging at him.

"Okay." Before leaving, Su Li cast a seemingly casual glance at Liu Jinjian.

An Hui, Cheng Sirong, and Song You all went to examine the puppets, leaving Liu Jinjian standing there, his face flushed red with anger.

Su Li examined the puppets. There were both male and female ones, and they were indeed very lifelike, with strange poses. Many had wounds on their faces, and their eyes all held different expressions.

What interested him, however, was that an extra puppet had inexplicably appeared among the thirteen. There were now fourteen.

The other guests were so focused on playing Find the Difference that they failed to notice the extra puppet.

The violin music stopped abruptly, and even the lights grew dim, though not so dim that they couldn't see their surroundings.

At the sound, everyone froze in their current positions.

The seated puppets rose to their feet, and the others began moving as well.

Their movements were somewhat stiff and strange, but combined with their appearances and the bloodstains on their bodies, they looked terrifying.

[Even the lighting changes?]

[Oh my god, what a nightmare.]

[Who could handle this?]

[I thought the rules sounded simple at first. Now I see-sorry, I was too naive.]

The puppets walked back and forth near the guests without doing anything else. The guests breathed a sigh of relief. Even knowing they were props, the atmosphere and setting put them under tremendous psychological pressure.

The lights brightened again, the puppets froze, and the violin music resumed.

An Hui walked over to Su Li. "Xiao Su, have you figured out which one is different?"

Su Li shook his head. "Probably need another two rounds. Every one of these puppets is different. I haven't spotted it yet."

In fact, he already knew which one it was. He just wanted to play a little longer.

"Hah, playing to the crowd. Another two rounds? I doubt you could find it even with another whole day," Liu Jinjian suddenly sneered.

Chen Zhuo was displeased. "And you can find it? Then point it out this round. All you do is spout crap!"

"Not a shred of education or decency, and you call yourself a public figure?" Liu Jinjian said contemptuously.

"You're educated and decent? You call yourself a writer, but you can't even get into the Dragon Country Writers Association. All you do is bang away at your keyboard on Feibo. If nobody bought those lousy scraps of writing, they probably wouldn't even know your name, yet here you are telling everyone what to do?" Cheng Sirong fired back, her tone dripping with mockery.

Su Li exclaimed in surprise, "He's not even in the writers association? But isn't he a great writer?"

Chen Zhuo gave a mocking smile. "A self-proclaimed great writer."

"You..." Liu Jinjian pointed at them, too furious to speak. His failure to get into the writers association was a sore spot.