translator: honeydew
The second floor was very dim. Before Zhou Jiayu could move, he saw Xu Ruwang take out an object. He looked carefully and found it was a delicate compass. The compass was the size of a palm. The eight trigrams were drawn around it and a small needle was in its middle.
Xu Ruwang spoke: “Can you feel anything?”
Zhou Jiayu looked around and nodded. The black mist on this floor was even thicker than on the first floor, making him feel very uncomfortable.
Xu Ruwang said, “I’ll take a look at this floor, what about you?”
Zhou Jiayu hesitated for a moment before deciding to follow his gut: “I’ll go upstairs and take a look.”
Xu Ruwang said, “Alright, stay safe.”
Zhou Jiayu nodded and turned to leave.
As Zhou Jiayu made his way to the third floor, Xu Ruwang lowered his head to look at his compass. As soon as Zhou Jiayu left, his compass began to spin wildly. He raised his eyebrows slightly and cast a thoughtful look at the place where Zhou Jiayu had stood.
Zhou Jiayu went up to the third floor alone. The style of the third floor was similar to that of the second floor, with lifelike dolls arranged all around, but there are also some other things in the corridor. On the walls of the third floor, various photos were hung every few meters.
There was the handsome master, the beautiful mistress, and their lovely children. The family of four was embedded in a wooden picture frame, smiling sweetly at those who approached. Such sweet photos were simply out of place with the gloomy atmosphere.
The timeline of these photos was very complete, from their wedding to the birth of their second child. Every stage was unbroken.
Zhou Jiayu looked at them as he walked, and said, “What a pity.”
“That’s right,” Jiba responded in his mind. “A family of four, all gone.”
And according to Xiao Dou, it seemed that the killer had not yet been found. As Zhou Jiayu sighed in his heart, his footsteps stopped. Unconsciously, he had walked to the end of the corridor.
The last photo was a family photo. The father held his daughter and the mother held her son, standing on the lawn with happy smiles. Across from the photo, there was a staircase going up to the fourth floor. Due to Xiao Dou’s previous advice, Zhou Jiayu did not intend to go up. He was about to turn around and leave, but faintly heard a child’s screams.
“What’s this sound?” Zhou Jiayu was surprised.
Jiba said, “It seems to come from the fourth floor…”
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.
It indeed came from the fourth floor. Zhou Jiayu held his breath and concentrated. This time, he clearly heard those sounds again…
Itbe Aljse tfrlajafv obg j wbwfca yea ralii vfmlvfv ab ub jcv ajxf j ibbx. Coafg jii, tf kjr meggfcais lc j mbwqfalalbc jcv la kjr ecilxfis jcsatlcu qjgalmeijgis rmjgs kbeiv bmmeg. Lf aegcfv jcv ribkis jrmfcvfv ab atf obegat oibbg, yea jr tf jqqgbjmtfv atf aegc bo atf rajlgr, tf uijcmfv yftlcv tlw. Ktlr uijcmf wjvf ubbrfyewqr fzqibvf jii jmgbrr tlr ybvs— bc atf ojwlis qtbab tjculcu jmgbrr ogbw atf rajlgr, atf tfjvr bo atf akb mtlivgfc tjv ecfzqfmafvis aliafv lc bcf vlgfmalbc ja rbwf qblca, jcv atf qjgfcar’ tfjvr kfgf aliafv lc atf batfg vlgfmalbc. Ktflg qbraegfr kfgf ffglf, jcv mbeqifv klat atflg rwlifr, la wjvf qfbqif’r tjlg rajcv bc fcv. Itbe Aljse jiwbra wlrrfv j rafq.
“Fuck.” Zhou Jiayu cursed softly, “What is this?”
Jiba spoke: “Calm down, this must just be your illusion.”
Zhou Jiayu: “En?”
Jiba said, “Some things only certain people can see. To explain scientifically, you exactly match its frequency.”
Zhou Jiayu listened in a daze.
Jiba continued, “To give an example, if a person is trembling and you tremble with the same frequency as them, then in both of your eyes, the other person is stationary.”
Zhou Jiayu: “…” In such a gloomy place, listening to Jiba’s scientific explanations, he felt his heart was filled with the brilliance of socialism.
As they spoke, he had already reached the entrance on the fourth floor. A black iron door blocked Zhou Jiayu’s path.
The iron gate looked very ancient, and Zhou Jiayu noticed through the dim light that there were also some dark red marks in the corner under the iron door. If he guessed correctly, they were blood stains.
Upon seeing the door, Zhou Jiayu hesitated a bit. The sound he had heard earlier also disappeared. According to Jiba, the sound might’ve been his hallucination… in that case, it was better to leave.
Zhou Jiayu thought this and was about to turn, but suddenly felt as if he had stepped on something. His body lost balance and stumbled forward.
Due to inertia, he fell towards the iron gate. In order to prevent slipping, Zhou Jiayu had to extend his hand to support him.
A change occurred at this moment.
It was difficult for Zhou Jiayu to describe the feeling. It was as if his surrounding environment had been distorted, and his soul had been forcibly pulled into an unknown place.
Quiet… quiet… Zhou Jiayu gasped fiercely as he crouched on the ground, smelling the strong scent of blood.
Be quiet… don’t make a sound… that voice continued to murmur in his mind. Zhou Jiayu lowered his head and saw the bright red blood stained on his hands. The blood was fresh, emitting a strong scent. He seemed to be hiding under the bed, and his body had transformed into that of a child’s, trembling on the ground.
It took Zhou Jiayu a few seconds to react— he seemed to have been dragged into the scene of the murder, and his body belonged to a victim who had died in the villa.
The sound of clattering footsteps sounded like high heels on the floor. Zhou Jiayu felt as if his body was so nervous it was about to vomit. In order to remain silent, he tightly bit the back of his hand.
“Darling, where are you? Cluck, cluck…” The voice of the lone woman rang out.
I’m so scared… I’m so scared… Help, someone, save him… Zhou Jiayu’s mind was filled with thoughts that didn’t belong to him. His eyes began to fill with tears of fear, and his breathing became rapid.
The woman seemed to walk around the room, and when her red high heels stopped in front of the bed, Zhou Jiayu’s heart seemed to stiffen.
“So you aren’t here,” the woman said, turning around and slowly leaving.
Zhou Jiayu breathed a sigh of relief and buried his face in his arms. However, when he looked up again, he saw the woman who was supposed to have left bending down and looking at him with her head tilted. Her face was stained with blood, and there was a ferocious smile at the corner of her mouth. She said, “My darling, what are you afraid of?”
This face was very familiar to him— it belonged to the mistress of the villa.
Zhou Jiayu’s scream was suppressed in his throat. He felt his hand being grabbed by the woman and was dragged out forcefully from under the bed.
The woman held a knife in her right hand and made a giggling noise, saying, “Bad child, bad child— why did you break Mother’s doll—”
Under the sharp blade, Zhou Jiayu’s body emitted a mournful cry.
A broken doll was thrown in front of Zhou Jiayu, and the woman said, “This is Mother’s favorite doll, why did you do this, bad child—”
His body seemed to be being dismembered, but Zhou Jiayu couldn’t feel any pain or move.
“Since it’s broken, I don’t want it anymore,” the woman said coldly.
Next, Zhou Jiayu saw with his own eyes her cutting the doll into pieces with her knife. After cutting up the doll, the woman slowly turned her head, and smiled again: “Bad child, it’s your turn.”
The whole room was covered in blood, and his vision was a suffocating red.
Zhou Jiayu saw too many fragmented images, and his mind couldn’t handle everything at once.
“Zhou Jiayu, Zhou Jiayu! Are you alright?” Jiba’s voice floated over indistinctly.
Zhou Jiayu slowly opened his eyes and found himself fallen on the corridor of the fourth floor. No other contestants had come, and he didn’t know how long he had been lying there.
Jiba was a little anxious, repeatedly calling his name.
Zhou Jiayu said, “Ah… how long have I been like this?”
“If you slept a little longer, the competition would’ve been over,” Jiba said.
Zhou Jiayu: “…” Oho.
Jiba said, “I thought you were going to stay asleep until someone came to find you.”
Zhou Jiayu sighed and leaned against the edge of the stairs, reaching out his hand and wiping his face heavily. “I seem to have seen something I shouldn’t have seen…”
Jiba: “En?”
Zhou Jiayu said, “I saw the murderer.”
Jiba’s tone suddenly pitched upwards, and its entire bird body jumped in surprise: “Say what? You saw the murderer?”
“That’s right,” Zhou Jiayu said. “The appearance of the murderer.”
Jiba spoke: “Who is it?”
Zhou Jiayu said, “It’s… the mistress of this house.” If he guessed correctly, the fourth floor should’ve been where the murder occurred. Looking back at the surroundings at the time of the murder, it was normal for it to have been sealed up.
Jiba was stunned, and didn’t expect Zhou Jiayu’s answer to be as such. He said, “But the mistress… didn’t she die?”
Zhou Jiayu sighed, “I don’t know.” He slowly got up and wiped his face before realizing that his face was covered in tears.
Jiba said, “Let’s stop chatting, and find a doll first. If we really can’t find a doll… well.”
Zhou Jiayu could only agree.
As he stood up, he glanced at his feet and saw what had caused him to fall. It seemed to be a beautiful hairpin, made of glass and shaped like a butterfly. Even when he had stepped on it, it didn’t break. It looked very similar to Xiao Dou’s style, and may have been accidentally lost by her when she was cleaning the house.
Zhou Jiayu rubbed his head and came down from the fourth floor, but on the third floor, he didn’t see anyone. Something not too wonderful came to mind and he quickly ran to the first floor. Sure enough, nine beautiful dolls had already been placed on the tea table in the living room on the first floor, and there were only twelve minutes before the competition ended.
Zhou Jiayu: “…” I’m doomed!
I stand by it being xiao dou
Thanks for the regular updates 💕
So creepy !
Yep xiao dou is definitely the 10th doll. And now that zhou jiayu knows who the murderer is, extra points for him!
Thank you for the update ❤️💯
Thank you for your translation 🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍