Before Gu Chenhui could finish speaking, a giant puppet suddenly lunged at them from the ceiling. Caught off guard, the group scattered to evade the puppet's attack.
Jing Minghe and Gu Chenhui shouted in unison, "Don't go upstairs or downstairs, quickly return to your rooms!"
As everyone dispersed, the surrounding space began to warp. Hearing Jing Minghe and Gu Chenhui's words, the others had no time to hesitate and stumbled towards their respective rooms.
An Ruo, who had hastily retreated to her room earlier to dodge a ghost that had floated towards her, found herself escaping one predicament only to fall into another.
"No," An Ruo turned to open the door, but it wouldn't budge. Pressing herself against it, she fearfully turned to face the two "people" inside.
"No, you, you're already dead."
"Yes," one of them slowly floated towards An Ruo, his ears and nose reduced to bloody, gaping holes. "We are dead, killed by you. Chen Hui Ge had already saved us, but you betrayed us!"
An Ruo shook her head desperately. "No, it wasn't me. It was Xia Rong, he made me do it, it wasn't my idea."
"None of you will escape!" The other also floated closer, its face contorting. Blood streaks appeared on its face, and pieces of skin began to peel off.
"Don't come near me! Let me out!" An Ruo pounded on the door, shouting outside, "Help me, someone save me, I don't want to die!"
Just as An Ruo thought she was doomed, the room suddenly fell silent. Trembling, she turned around, but there were no ghosts behind her.
She meticulously examined every corner of the room, absolutely certain that no one else but herself could move within it.
Could it have been a hallucination brought on by her own tension?
With a mix of doubt, An Ruo mustered her courage and cautiously stood up. She tiptoed around the room, checking every space and even crevice. Only when she was absolutely sure there were no abnormalities did she finally relax.
Even so, An Ruo didn't dare close her eyes for the entire night, fearing that the two players she and Xia Rong had caused to die might claim her life in her sleep at any moment.
An Ruo sobbed quietly. She felt indignant. Wasn't this how things were in the instance? She had only been trying to survive, what was wrong with that? Besides, she hadn't intentionally wanted to kill them.
On the other side, Jing Minghe and the others had narrowly escaped back to their rooms. Although most were still shaken and on edge, keenly aware of potential dangers, they were unknowingly forced into a deep sleep by the instance.
As the next day dawned, Jing Minghe's eyes snapped open. He leaped out of bed with a whoosh and rushed towards the door. Just like the day before, he saw Chi Hao and Gu Chenhui opening their doors at the same time.
Yumi and the others followed shortly.
When everyone had emerged, only An Ruo, who had been the first to retreat to her room the previous day, was still missing.
Before Jing Minghe made a move, Xia Rong had already gone to An Ruo's door. He knocked and called out, "An Ruo! Are you okay? An Ruo?"
After Xia Rong called out several times, An Ruo's door finally opened.
Although An Ruo only poked her head out, everyone could clearly see that she looked extremely haggard. Her eyes were dark, as if she had smeared charcoal around them. In a weak voice, she asked Xia Rong, "Is it morning?"
"Yes," Xia Rong frowned. "What's wrong with you? What happened last night?"
An Ruo's gaze drifted, and she shook her head. "No, nothing."
Qiao Qiao strode over and glared at An Ruo with displeasure. "An Ruo, if you encountered something, you must tell us. Concealing it benefits no one, including yourself."
After Qiao Qiao said this, An Ruo slammed the door shut with a bang, locking everyone out.
Seeing this, Gu Chenhui walked over to Xia Rong and said in a warning tone, "You'd better get the truth out of her. Otherwise, you can stop participating in our discussions. If you keep taking things without earning them, you won't live much longer."
"You!" Xia Rong let out an indignant sound but lacked the confidence to say more. He could only turn away from Gu Chenhui with displeasure and leave.
Each with their own thoughts, they gathered in the first-floor restaurant for breakfast. During the meal, they received another notification from Hu Feiyan, asking everyone to attend a rehearsal at 2:30 PM.
Si Lian curiously asked, "Will the art troupe continue rehearsing? Wait, did someone die?"
Hu Feiyan said with a relaxed expression, "Dead people are insignificant. As long as someone is still alive, the performance will not be stopped."
With that, she left directly, giving no one an opportunity to speak.
After breakfast, Jing Minghe suggested they search separately, emphasizing thoroughness and looking for any overlooked details.
The anomaly of the previous night had made everyone realize the urgency of clearing the instance, and they all consciously went their separate ways to explore.
Jing Minghe and Chi Hao went to the third floor. Chi Hao walked from the lounge onto the stage, while Jing Minghe stood in the very center of the audience, looking up at the stage. Chi Hao, standing on stage, appeared elevated yet exuded a sense of detachment, as if he were both present and absent.
Gu Chenhui and Gong Liang went to the exhibition room on the second floor.
"Heh," Gu Chenhui chuckled and walked directly to the glass display case in the center of the exhibition room. "Another one has appeared. Interesting."
Gong Liang approached the new puppet that had been added the previous day. Gu Chenhui then asked, "What? Who do you think it resembles?"
Gong Liang subtly curved his lips. "We're all smart people. You should be asking who will be the next one placed in this display case."
"Oh?" Gu Chenhui leaned closer to Gong Liang, his tone laced with a hint of provocation. "Who do you think it will be? And more importantly, are you safe?"
Gong Liang scoffed. "In this place, no one is safe."
"Is that so?" Gu Chenhui distanced himself from Gong Liang and turned to look at the photos on the surrounding walls. They were all pictures of puppets, with no apparent changes.
Believing there were no new clues in the exhibition room, Gu Chenhui was about to leave. However, after taking two steps, he abruptly stopped and turned back to look at the photos again.
"This is wrong!" Gu Chenhui strode back, his gaze sweeping across each photo on the wall.
"You noticed it too?" Gong Liang looked at a photo of a puppet in front of him with a knowing expression. "This expression... it seems full of resentment."
Gu Chenhui narrowed his eyes. Each puppet in the photos had the exact same expression. Although they were just puppets, their faces displayed anger, grief, and terror.
"A tragic death."
Seeing such expressions, the words "tragic death" came to Gu Chenhui's mind. "So, who died tragically? Who is the murderer? Is this, truly the puzzle we need to solve to clear the instance?"