An Ruo hid in her room until almost two in the afternoon before cautiously stepping out. If Hu Feiyan hadn't told her she had to be present for the performance at two-thirty, she wouldn't have dared to venture out.
As she walked, An Ruo meticulously scanned every corner around her.
Upon reaching the staircase, she suddenly heard a noise from upstairs.
"No," An Ruo clasped her hands tightly, "whatever it is, it has nothing to do with me."
Despite her resolve, An Ruo inexplicably found herself ascending to the fifth floor. Just as she rounded the corner of the fifth-floor staircase, she saw Chen Cai, the lighting technician for the art troupe, his expression panicked, rush out of Yawei's room and back into his own.
Faint sobs seemed to emanate from Yawei's room. An Ruo couldn't hear clearly from her distance. Fearing she was running out of time, and seeing nothing else happening, An Ruo hurried downstairs.
Soon, it was time for the rehearsal performance. This time, everyone followed Jing Minghe's suggestion and sat close together.
The performance proceeded exactly like the previous day.
From the very beginning, Jing Minghe and the others' attention was not on the stage, but constantly on the people seated beside them.
Even so, shortly after the performance began, You Mi and Xia Rong spoke simultaneously.
"Qiao Qiao is gone!"
"Si Lian is gone!"
Just as everyone couldn't help but try to stand up, the situation was the same as yesterday; they were unable to move. Furthermore, any slight movement caused them to sink deeper.
With no other choice, they had to force themselves to calm down and wait for the performance to end.
An Ruo had intended to close her eyes, to think of nothing and see nothing. But just as she closed her eyes, she suddenly heard someone call her name, and the source of the voice was on the stage.
No, this must be a hallucination. An Ruo tightly shut her eyes, repeatedly telling herself not to look.
"An~Ruo~"
But the voice grew closer, as if inching towards her ear.
Just one glance, to prove there's nothing, to prove it's truly a hallucination. This thought kept circling in An Ruo's mind.
Finally unable to resist, An Ruo opened her eyes. On the stage stood the two people she least wanted to see.
"No!"
An Ruo cried out and abruptly stood up, fleeing the stage.
"How is this possible? An Ruo?" Xia Rong looked at An Ruo, who had fled, with surprise. "How could she stand up?"
As Xia Rong spoke, he tried to stand, but sank even deeper.
On the other side, Gu Chenhui said faintly, "Do you think being able to stand up is a good thing?"
Xia Rong glared fiercely at Gu Chenhui but was unable to retort.
Fortunately, time passed quickly. The moment the performance ended, Jing Minghe and the others stood up at the fastest possible speed and left the performance hall.
"Split up and search, quickly!"
The remaining six people, Jing Minghe and Chi Hao, You Mi and Gu Chenhui, Xia Rong and Gong Liang, formed pairs to search for the missing people and An Ruo.
Xia Rong's target was, of course, An Ruo, who had inexplicably left the performance hall early.
They arrived at An Ruo's room. However, no matter how hard Xia Rong knocked, there was no response from inside. He thought about breaking the door down, but after several attempts, he failed.
"Gong Liang," Xia Rong said, dissatisfied, to Gong Liang, "can't you help? Help me break down the door together."
Gong Liang glanced at Xia Rong expressionlessly. "Are you very concerned about her?"
"Nonsense, she's my teammate!"
"Oh?" Gong Liang's eyes held a hint of depth as he said slowly, "Gu Chenhui is also a teammate."
"He..." Xia Rong's eyes darted away, feigning composure. "What kind of person is Gu Chenhui, that I need to worry about him? Besides, he's doing just fine."
Gong Liang let out a cold laugh. He had no interest in the feuds between others. While Xia Rong was speaking, his gaze had already shifted to the doorplate, where An Ruo's name was faintly visible.
In the room, An Ruo trembled under the covers. She believed that if she pretended not to see, they couldn't harm her. She had done nothing; she just wanted to live.
·
Qiao Qiao found it unbelievable. She had been watching the performance with everyone, and in the blink of an eye, she had turned into a puppet, completely unable to move.
She didn't know where she was, only that the surroundings were dark and she couldn't see anything. Su Dan Novel Network.
When Qiao Qiao realized she could move, a light flashed in a certain direction. She clearly saw An Ruo run in from outside. After An Ruo closed the door, the room became dark again, but not as dark as before. She could still see An Ruo hiding under the covers and trembling, appearing very frightened, after returning.
"Kill her!"
A voice entered Qiao Qiao's ears.
"Kill her, and you can live and return to your original form. Otherwise, you will become my puppet forever and remain here."
What?
Qiao Qiao wanted to find the source of the voice. However, in the room, besides herself, there was only An Ruo hiding under the covers.
The voice spoke again, repeating what it had just said.
Kill whom? Qiao Qiao wondered. Do they want me to kill An Ruo? Why?
"Yes, kill her," the voice said as it reached her ears, its tone changing. "Kill that person. Only one of you can live."
No, Qiao Qiao couldn't believe it. Why should she kill someone? And a player like her?
"Either she dies, or you die. Kill her, and you can live."
"Who are you?" Qiao Qiao asked. "Why are you doing this?"
Her questions received no answer, only the repeated words "Kill her."
Qiao Qiao felt ridiculous for asking such questions. This was a dungeon in the City of Death. This voice was probably just executing system commands. How could it possibly answer her?
The voice stopped. A countdown appeared in the void before her eyes after the voice ceased.
It was clear that if An Ruo was not dead when time ran out, then she would be the one to die.
·
You Mi and Gu Chenhui arrived at the exhibition room on the second floor. In the empty glass display case that had appeared that morning, there was a puppet.
"Is that Si Lian?" You Mi walked closer to the glass display case, looking at the puppet inside, dressed in the same clothes as Si Lian. "Gu Chenhui, do you think it is? If it is, can we save her?"
Gu Chenhui glanced at the photos on the wall of the exhibition room, which had returned to normal, before walking next to You Mi and replying, "Perhaps, but I don't know how to save her."
Si Lian, who had turned into a puppet, looked hopelessly at You Mi and Gu Chenhui standing before the display case. After she had become a puppet and was placed inside, she had known how she could be saved, but at that moment of knowing, it was also the moment of her greatest despair, because she had lost the chance to be saved.
Is this revenge for them not saving her when she was in danger?