Translated by Eve
Edited by Wuxian
Everyone tried out all sorts of escape routes: the doors, the windows, the balcony…however, this manor seemed to be sealed shut, leaving them without even the slightest hope for escape.
The manor was also completely different from its shabby, dust-covered self yesterday. The entire manor seemed to have been completely replaced with a new one that was clean, tidy, splendidly lit—as if it had always been well-kept by its owner and used attentively. There was not the slightest trace of its previous antique feel.
Meanwhile, contrary to the manor’s liveliness, this place was completely empty. Aside from the seven of them, it was completely void of life.
“It really seems like…we have mistakenly entered an entirely different dimension…a different timeline,” The bespectacled youth pushed his glasses up, trying to analyze, “There have been quite a few stories of this kind that have been published in Sci-Fi magazines. In our dimension, or our timeline, this manor has been abandoned. However, in another dimension or timeline, it was always kept in usage by its owner. We suddenly broke through the dimensions, which is why we see this clean manor. However, because the people that live here are not in the same space as us, they completely cannot see us.”
“…If it’s like that, then why are there seven portions of breakfast and that bloody ‘welcome’…?” The robust girl asked, powerlessly. Right now, she was in great pain. She was clearly famished to the point of not being able to hold it in anymore and yet she had to suffer being enticed by food. She also didn’t know when they would be able to leave, or when she would be able to eat. It was simply a kind of cruel torture.
The bespectacled youth did not speak. Obviously, even he wasn’t convinced by his ‘scientific’ inference.
“What we need to concern ourselves with the most right now is whether we can eat this stuff…” The bad boy tightly clenched his face, expression revealing his internal struggle.
Just now, when he realized that they were trapped, his reaction had been the most intense. He had inspected the entirety of the manor, and used great strength to pull at the door and windows. This expenditure of physical power had depleted the rest of his meagre energy. At this moment, the already exhausted bad boy could only use the residue of his willpower to combat his hunger.
“I once heard a story…if you eat food from the underworld, you’ll be trapped there forever…” The quiet and gentle girl licked her lips, voice hoarse, “You can give it a try. I won’t stop you. However, I, for one, don’t want to eat that at all.”
“Who knows what was used to make that?” The robust girl snorted. She sounded like she was trying to persuade herself, “This manor evidently has some kind of ability to confuse people. In one second, it can completely change a dilapidated manor into one that looks completely new. Perhaps this food has already spoiled, or maybe it’s made of rats, cockroaches, or maggots. Only, this manor is confusing our senses, preventing us from perceiving what it truly is. If we eat it, we might end up dying of food poisoning, ne!”
The bad boy retched upon hearing her words. His heart that had originally been wavering because of the delicious-looking food firmed up at once. He basically did not dare to even so much as glance at the ‘seemingly delicious’ food, as if he could see the nauseating ‘true colours’ beneath the beautiful exterior.
The four supporting leads huddled around the dining table for a discussion. Meanwhile, the two protagonists were also not idle. However, they did not share their opinions regarding the food.
“Since ‘welcome’ is written here, and the number of portions placed here matches the number of people we have, this means that this manor has an owner. Furthermore, this owner has a very clear self-awareness,” Yang Yue told his analysis to Ming Hai, who was tightly clutching onto Sui Yuan, as if afraid that in a lapse of concentration, he would be led away by the allure of food and eat those things of unknown origin, “We can’t sit here and wait for our deaths. The longer this drags out, the more disadvantageous it is for us. We must find the owner as soon as possible, ascertain his goal, or….”
Yang Yue did not actually say the last four words of ‘find his weak spot’. He had already confirmed that the owner was an entity that they could not see. With the entity clearly around, it was prudent that they do not reveal all of their plans and thoughts.
Ming Hai’s eyes flashed and he nodded slightly, tacitly understanding Yang Yue’s line of thought.
Since they made such a decision, everyone began to move with haste, examining closer the manor’s interior once more. Although at the very beginning they had explored the manor once while looking for an exit, the crucial point had been finding some kind of escape route. Right now, however, what they had to do was inspect things more carefully, not missing even a single detail.
The first place they visited was the kitchen that neighboured the dining room. The kitchen seemed like it had been used by someone: the element on the stove was turned on with a pot cooking atop of it. The bubbling sound that echoed around the room, and the enticing aroma proved that there was indeed something cooking within.
Everyone could not help but swallow down their saliva, trying their best to bear with their stomachs that were currently rebelling against them, and painstakingly shifted their gazes away from the pot. The bad boy walked up to the counter, hesitated for a moment, and then pulled out a kitchen knife, inspecting the knife’s sharp edge.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Lfs, ktja jgf sbe vblcu?” Ktf delfa jcv ufcaif ulgi reymbcrmlberis yjmxfv eq ktfc rtf rjk tlr jmalbcr. Ktf gbyera ulgi kjr jirb ulnfc j ogluta jcv mbeivc’a tfiq yea jrrewf j uejgvfv qbrlalbc.
“Obbxlcu obg j rfio-vfofcrf kfjqbc, jt,” Ktf yjv ybs rtba atfw j uijcmf ogbw atf rlvf, oeii bo vlrvjlc bnfg atflg mbkjgvlmf, “Pc atlr vjwcjyif qijmf, kbeivc’a sbe offi wbgf ja fjrf klat j kfjqbc ab qgbafma sbegrfio klat?”
“…What weapon? Will that even work against the ‘things’ here?” The bespectacled youth was quite hesitant.
“Who cares if it’ll work or not? It’s still better than not having one, ba?” The bad boy waved his knife, satisfied upon hearing the sound of the sharp blade cutting through the air. Soon after, he revealed a very fierce smile, “If something ignorantly dares provoke me, then I’ll hack it to death!”
“OK, OK, we all understand. Be more careful, don’t hurt yourself!” The quiet and gentle girl promptly placated him. Although she had an instinctive fear against this sharp weapon, at this moment, she couldn’t help but admit that the bad boy was right.
To have a self-defense weapon was better than not having one. At least it would give oneself comfort.
Even the two protagonists couldn’t help but hesitatingly gaze at the knives stand and begin planning on finding a weapon to use to defend themselves with. However, who would have expected that just as they were assessing the knives, the bad boy, who had just been waving his knife, immeasurably self-satisfied with his foresight, would suddenly let out a terrified shriek.
Everyone was frightened and reflexively stepped away from the bad boy. Afterwards, they gazed at him and met with the sight of the bad boy clenching the knife with both hands, subconsciously backing up, as if he was fighting against some invisible thing in a tug-of-war for the knife.
——It was really…something invisible!
“What are you doing?! Release quickly!” Yang Yue’s cry of alarm woke up the bad boy. He came back to his senses and released his grip abruptly, his retreating steps sounding ‘thump thump thump’. His legs went weak and he fell down to the ground.
Everyone stared blankly at the bad boy’s knife that was floating in midair, waving around in a threatening manner. Soon after, it floated back towards the chopping board on the counter and moved up and down, as if it was rhythmically chopping some invisible ingredients.
Everyone was stupefied at the unscientific scene before them. Even if they knew that this manor was abnormal, to personally see this made them suffer quite the serious attack.
The first to break the deathly stillness was Yang Yue. His complexion had changed greatly as he spoke, “…Oh. Sorry. We didn’t know that the things here belonged to the owner and we casually touched things. We were truly impolite.”
“Yang Yue?!” The robust girl could not help but raise her voice, looking at him as if he’d grown another head, “W-what are you saying, ah?”
“Yi?” Yang Yue looked at the robust girl, stunned, “Didn’t you guys hear its words just now?”
“What words?! I utterly did not hear a single thing, ah!” The robust girl could not help but shriek, subconsciously backing away, staying far away from Yang Yue.
Yang Yue was stunned. He looked around and tried to make out a contrary response from the others’ faces, but everyone’s infinitely bewildered gazes told him a truth—it was only he who had heard the voice just now.
Ming Hai was obviously the calmest out of them all. Or rather, he was the closest to Yang Yue and would not distance himself from him, be guarded against him, or treat him as a monster because of this. Ming Hai reached out to press his hand against Yang Yue’s shoulder, just as he was about to lose his head from fear, “Just now, what did ‘it’ say?”
“It said…” Yang Yue subconsciously repeated, ” it said ‘kids these days are really becoming more and more impolite. Not only did they casually enter another’s home, but they even messed with someone else’s things’….”
In an instant, everyone’s expressions flickered through a variety of colours. To be ridiculed by a ghost as if it was teaching the younger generation a lesson…it really made one feel complicated….
“Can you see what it looks like?” The bespectacled youth asked probingly.
“No, I can’t see it. I can only hear its voice,” Yang Yue shook his head.
“This is a good opportunity,” Ming Hai stared at Yang Yue, encouraging him, “Only you can hear their words amongst us. You can communicate with them. Can you try asking it what we have to do to leave here?”
At this moment, Yang Yue’s heart also began to settle. The shock of feeling ‘abnormal’ also disappeared. Right now, they weren’t in the mood to care about other things. To be able to communicate with the ghosts in the manor ought to be a good thing no matter how you looked at it. At least, they had a direction to head towards. It was much better than flitting around randomly like a headless fly.
Yang Yue nodded gently at Ming Hao and then faced the spirit that had been chopping something all this time, trying to extract information regarding this manor from it.
Unfortunately, while this ghost seemed friendly, it was actually very shrewd. It expressed that it could tell them about the manor, but the condition was that they had to help it retrieve the rings that was stolen away by a ‘Clown’.
“Those were the wedding rings belonging to my wife and I. If I let her know I let Clown take away out wedding rings, she would definitely not let me off…” The ghost’s tone was mournful.
Yang Yue：“……………………”
——A ghost also has a wife and wedding rings? This was breaking the fourth wall!
Although it was disconcerting, Yang Yue still honestly told everyone else the ghost’s demand. No one disagreed. At present, aside from accepting the ghost’s commission, they had no other choice. Moreover, if they refused, what would they do if the ghost suddenly got angry and became hostile? They, who had no way to protect themselves, did not want to face off against the ghost at all!
“OK. We can try to help you get your rings back,” After seeing that everyone was of one mind, Yang Yue once again turned to the ghost, “However, can you tell us where ‘Clown’ is? You know that we can’t see you guys so it’s really difficult to look for someone.”
“Clown? The place he likes to stay at the most is the entertainment room. He is most likely there. So long as you guys call his name while in the entertainment room, it should be fine,” The ghost happily gave them a clue, “Oh, right, Clown likes to play games and pranks. Be careful, oh~!”
Yang Yue politely said his thanks and then took the others out of the kitchen.
Everyone’s steps were heavy. Although things have progressed, however, the development was a bit unexpected. They had originally thought that these ‘non-human entities’ in the manor were their enemies. Thus, it was surprising to see, this enemy become their client the next second. It seemed rather friendly. Was there really nothing wrong with this kind of unusual development?
“Actually, this isn’t that bad,” As the only person who could communicate with the ghosts, Yang Yue’s impression of the spirit in the kitchen wasn’t bad. He felt that it was more-or-less a kind-natured uncle, “At least, it seems that it isn’t as dangerous as we initially thought. To be able to communicate is much better than not understanding anything and only knowing how to slaughter.”
“It would still be better to be careful,” Ming Hai slightly furrowed his brows. He was not as kindhearted and optimistic as the protagonist shou, “Sometimes, intelligent beings are even more dangerous than things without intelligence that just act out of instinct.”
Everyone had their own thoughts. For a moment, no one spoke. They searched for the entertainment room in silence and eventually located it.
The entertainment room seemed tidy but was actually a complete mess. There were some rather high-end instruments of all kinds, as well as toys for children, all arranged in a terrible mess around the room. Yang Yue swept a look around and did not see any silhouettes. Ultimately, beneath the others’ anticipating gazes, he gathered the courage to raise his voice and shout, “Clown, are you here?”
After calling out several times. Yang Yue finally heard the reply he was hoping for: “Why, there are newly arrived fellows, ah~ Why did you guys come looking for me?”
Clown’s voice was frivolous and lively, as well as a bit ear-piercing. Yang Yue sighed in relief, slightly, and told him of their reason for coming. Clown laughed and unexpectedly agreed, “I have to return that old fellow’s wedding rings? No problem, ah! So long as you guys play a game with me!”
Yang Yue recalled how the ghost from before had mentioned that Clown liked to play games and pranks and was not surprised, “Then, what kind of game, ne?”
In the next second, everyone watched as seven coloured dolls appeared: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and purple. Very quickly, they were arranged in a straight line before them.
Clown’s voice was especially happy and perked up, “The rings are in the stomach of one of these dolls. When you pat their heads, each of the dolls will tell you one sentence. Only, only one of the dolls will tell you the truth, hey~ You have five minutes to find the doll that has the wedding rings. Furthermore, the child that guesses wrong will receive a pun~ish~ment~oh~”
Yang Yue’s face paled and reflexively felt that this ‘punishment’ was not something to trifle with. He quickly told the others of Clown’s demand and soon after, he heard Clown happily shout, “Begin~!”
This was a very common logic puzzle. Only, because time was short and because of the threat of the ‘punishment’, very few people were able to calmly think at this time.
Fortunately, the protagonist gong and shou were unlike ordinary people. Not only were their minds flexible, but their ability to work under pressure was first-class. Without any hesitation, they walked up and patted the first doll’s head.
The red doll emitted a sharp and clear laugh: “The rings are in the yellow doll’s stomach, oh~”
The second, orange doll had a shrill voice, “It’s definitely in the red doll! The wedding rings are in the red doll’s stomach!”
The third, yellow doll snorted, “No matter what, you can’t trust the purple doll. It’s always full of nonsense!”
As each doll was patted, everyone’s faces went taut, afraid of missing a clue. However, the more nervous they were, the more sluggish their thoughts became.
At this moment, it was probably only Sui Yuan who was not nervous in the least—oh, and probably also that Destroyer, if he/she was a human, that is.
With the plot that held the walkthrough in hand, Sui Yuan did not need to trouble himself. Moreover, it was the time for the protagonists to shine right now. As for him, this cannon fodder that was equivalent to a background prop for the entire story– except for at the very end when he had to fiercely up his presence–, he just needed to stay quiet.
Five minutes passed by very quickly. Yang Yue clenched his sweaty fist and exchanged glances with Ming Hai. Then, he calmly answered when Clown asked for his response, “The wedding rings are in the green doll’s stomach.”
“Green….”
——Wait a second! Green?! Sui Yuan’s worried expression that was directed towards Yang Yue suddenly changed, pupils contracting. He nearly gave himself away.
It-It’s not green! The answer in the plot is clearly indigo!
The author has something to say:
The protagonist gong and shou cannot be replaced by the Destroyer. They can be eliminated first, oh! As for Zhao Xihe…en, actually if he truly appeared, everyone will be able to tell….
Eve: Ooooh~?
Wuxian: Huh. Still no ZXH. Interesting…
Whoopsies. Not good.
Thanks for the great translation ♥️
The Destroyer is Clown, then? He changed his riddle, a little insignificant detail to see if there is an Actor?
Ooh, that’s an interesting idea, I like how you think
I kinda miss ZXH hahahha
ZXH where are you?? SY is being squished between Shou and Gong!!!
Yep. I also miss ZXH and his possessive jealousy!!!! 😢😢😢😢😢😢😢
P.S.: i still bet ZXH is the manor lord. He still hadn’t appeared since they all couldn’t see him (a ghost)! 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 if this is it, then the author is a genius coz, ZXH literally didn’t appear, but just expressed his presence. Author is really not playing tricks on us of ZXH’s appearance time 😂😂😂😂😂
Green doll’s stomach, huh? It’s a shame we couldn’t hear the whole riddle.
Thanks for the hard work love the story ^_^
Somehow the doll scene reminds me about the game IB with the coloured paintings telling IB lies and truths.
Anybody home? 🙂