Could it be that simply destroying the puppet wasn’t enough—that sealing all the evil spirits within the manor was the true conclusion of the story?
“Anyway... there are still plenty of props here. We can each prepare a few more...”
Though she said that, no matter how she looked at it, something felt off.
Despite the strange feeling, when the three of them returned to the hall from the secret passage, the butler, who had been watching them with a ghostly aura earlier, was nowhere to be seen.
Armed with the tools to seal spirits, they decided to search the entire manor. Strangely, not only was the butler missing, but the mysterious gardener had also vanished without a trace.
The whole manor thus became eerily empty.
Not only that, but the pervasive supernatural presence that had initially shrouded the estate had also inexplicably disappeared.
“Strange... Could this task really be over just like that?”
Could it be that the peculiar puppet was indeed the greatest evil in this story, and that destroying it would end all paranormal events and conclude the tale?
Xiao Bai couldn’t be sure. Perhaps, with the story’s end, all related characters would vanish as well—an explanation that seemed plausible.
But why hadn’t they received a notification of the story’s completion, nor any prompt for the teleportation to activate?
This still left Xiao Bai deeply unsettled.
It was an unprecedented sense of safety, yet it stirred a palpitation in her heart. At that moment, another question struck her.
There were two characters in this story that the participants had overlooked.
Though they had faded from the narrative’s focus, they still existed—the painter couple!
According to the clues found in the secret room, the painter couple were no longer the real ones but had been replaced by summoned evil spirits.
And the story’s requirements clearly stated that they, as participants, must stay in the manor for seven days!
In other words, perhaps this was why no completion notice had appeared—because there were still ghosts in the story that hadn’t been eliminated. The events weren’t fully resolved, so they couldn’t leave and had to wait until the task’s time limit ended, as per the story’s rules!
“Anyway, since we’ve resolved the incident early, there should be no danger for the next few days. The story’s final test for us will likely come after the painter couple returns.”
“Still, it’s a good thing we’ve obtained the sealing tools. Even facing two evil spirits, our chances are pretty good.”
Though she said this to reassure the other two, Xiao Bai’s heart wasn’t truly at ease.
She kept feeling that this story seemed far too simple.
The biggest clue was that the puppet had never actually attacked the participants from start to finish.
So, was sealing it really the solution to this story?
Despite her doubts, Xiao Bai didn’t show them.
As if to prove her concerns were groundless, the manor remained peaceful for several days. Though the butler and gardener had vanished, the absence of the strange puppet meant the participants were no longer bound by the list’s demands.
Freed from the task’s oppressive fear, they realized how beautiful the manor truly was—exquisite, elegant bedrooms, lush gardens, a lovely lake...
Waiting for the end time to arrive felt almost like a vacation.
In short, as long as they waited until the story reached the seventh day, they could teleport away directly!
And so, time passed quietly until...
The night of the sixth day...
That night, heavy rain fell again. Through the downpour, Xiao Bai suddenly noticed two beams of light swaying and moving through the rain.
It took her a few seconds to realize that what she saw from the window were the headlights of that black sedan.
Then, the roar of the engine reached her ears, and Xiao Bai’s heart sank slightly.
The appearance of that black sedan meant the manor’s owners had returned!
This story hadn’t ended as peacefully as the participants had hoped. The painter couple, who seemed like mere background characters, had returned on the sixth night.
The faint hope in their hearts was shattered. They would ultimately have to face these two ghosts!
As the headlights on the mountain road drew closer, the three of them tensed up again.
The puppet had been destroyed, the butler and gardener had vanished mysteriously—such drastic changes in the manor would likely trigger a deadly crisis if discovered by the couple.
Could this be the story’s most dangerous moment?
Would the painter couple discovering their child’s disappearance lead directly to mission failure?
This possibility wasn’t just real—it was highly likely!
“I... I have an idea!”
Since the list’s constraints were gone, the three participants had moved into the same room for the past few days. Ye Xiaomei pointed to the bedding nearby: “Let’s grab any doll, wrap it in a blanket, and say that thing... is asleep... As long as we make it to midnight, we’ll have completed the seven-day task requirement, and then we can leave this manor!”
“Great idea!” Hearing Ye Xiaomei’s suggestion, Ke Shufan’s eyes lit up, and she immediately got to work.
The task didn’t force them to seal all the evil spirits in the story. As long as they safely passed these final few hours of the test, they could leave the manor and teleport out of the supernatural world.
And now, it was less than three hours until midnight the next day!
Without delay, Ye Xiaomei and Ke Shufan quickly prepared everything. After all, dolls all looked more or less the same—as long as no one looked at their faces, it was hard to tell them apart.
By the time they finished, the car’s engine roared in the courtyard, and the participants’ hearts leaped.
They were now certain that the painter couple were ghosts in disguise, and they had to act as if nothing was wrong in front of them.
If it came down to it, they could only rely on their props, but they hoped it wouldn’t come to that!
As the door opened, the painter couple appeared before them again. Whether it was the rain and lightning that made their faces look somewhat sinister and terrifying, their cold gazes swept over the three, as if searching for any sign of abnormality.
“We’re back.”
“Nothing happened here while we were away, did it?”
-- PS: Did you watch last night’s World Cup match?