There was no way they were going to *taste* it. Not now, not ever—not even in another life.
Even if this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, no one was eager to try shattered glass.
Zhen Jia could only recall how not long ago she had spoken so reasonably with Xie Mingchi—that whole scene, in hindsight, felt like a damn joke.
Oh god, just who had she thrown her lot in with?
Zhen Jia was on the verge of losing it.
If Xie Mingchi had already been "converted" and was about to become like Aige, then what was the point of following him?
Everyone sat where they were, frozen in silence. Feng Yu, on the other hand, seemed confused and quietly thoughtful.
A thought began to form.
No way…
He stood up, walked over to Xie Mingchi, and took the shard of mirror from his hand.
Xie Mingchi gave him an approving look.
Feng Yu held the shard in his hand, examining it in silence for a full minute. Then, as if making a decision, he popped it into his mouth.
Zhen Jia: "!!!"
Janna: "!!!"
Xiao Xiao: "!!?"
Chu You: "...?"
The group showed various expressions of horror—everyone except Xie Mingchi and his inner circle, who simply watched Feng Yu eat the mirror like it was no big deal.
Within seconds, Feng Yu's face lit up with joy. He turned to Xie Mingchi. "It's candy, Senior!"
Xiao Xiao blinked. "Wait, it's… candy?"
Worried that Aige might return to the ninth floor and check the surveillance feed, Xie Mingchi spoke quickly, "Yeah, it's candy—but only the ones in front of her. The rest, including the wax blocks, are all real."
Xiao Xiao pressed on, "So… she eats candy, but gives us broken glass?!"
Chu You silently absorbed the conversation, deep in thought.
Xie Mingchi felt that was enough of a hint. If Xiao Xiao and Chu You were smart enough, experienced enough, they'd figure out what was really going on.
As for the others… either they'd never make the connection, or they'd stop at the surface—"oh, she eats candy, we get glass"—and not dig deeper into whether Aige's "Bloody Mary" persona was even real.
Aige would be returning to the ninth floor any minute. Xie Mingchi and the rest couldn't stay here any longer—they left the dining room.
Zhen Jia was still terrified, but the thought also crossed her mind: Maybe Xie Mingchi was actually okay. And if that was the case, maybe she could keep riding his coattails?
With that hopeful thought, she quickly followed him.
Back on the fourth floor, Xie Mingchi was walking ahead when he suddenly stopped in his tracks.
He'd just remembered Lu Meng and Xiao He.
He didn't particularly like them, but still—Xie Mingchi figured they should check whether those two were still alive.
"We should see if they're dead," Wan Wuqiu said suddenly. "If they are, there might be new rules we need to know about."
Xie Mingchi thought, Damn, you really are the worm in my gut.
He always knew exactly what Xie Mingchi was thinking.
They made their way to the room where Lu Meng and Xiao He were staying. Zhen Jia followed at a cautious distance.
Xie Mingchi knocked.
Knock knock knock—
No one answered. No sounds came from within.
He raised his hand and knocked again.
Knock knock knock—
He pressed his ear to the door, trying to catch any footsteps inside.
Still nothing.
A bad feeling crept into him. Had something happened to them? But he didn't smell blood.
Wan Wuqiu let out a slow "Hah—" and tilted his head toward Xie Mingchi. "Want me to take care of it?"
Xie Mingchi gestured politely: be my guest.
Wan Wuqiu gave a small smile, then turned and slammed his fist into the door with enough force to rattle the wall.
Then, in a cold, threatening tone, he said, "Open up, or die in there."
There was a pause.
Then, footsteps.
The door cracked open.
It was Xiao He. He cowered in the gap, only opening it a sliver. "D-Do you guys… need something?"
Xie Mingchi stared at him for a few seconds. "Nothing much. Just wanted to see if you were still alive."
Xiao He flinched, then nodded furiously. "Alive! We're alive!"
Xie Mingchi didn't buy it. He tried to peer inside. "Where's Lu Meng?"
Xiao He hesitated. "He… he…"
"Dead?" Wan Wuqiu asked bluntly.
Whether it was Wan Wuqiu's oppressive aura or just the tension in the air, Xiao He visibly trembled and quickly blurted out, "No no! Not dead! Just… sleeping!"
Xie Mingchi: "…"
What an idiot.
Even Aige wouldn't bother dragging this one into a bloodbath—he might be contagious.
He was clearly hoping to freeload: hide out in his room and do nothing while waiting for someone else to solve the puppet world.
No point digging deeper.
The group left.
Back in his room, Xie Mingchi thought about his conversation with Aige on the seventh floor. That should've convinced her he planned to carry out the summoning ritual and make a wish tonight.
If nothing went wrong, she'd come find him later.
He sighed, mourning his fate of constantly attracting major rules, but also thankful he hadn't broken any minor ones yet.
Since he wasn't going to sleep well tonight, he decided to take a nap now to recharge.
In lower-tier puppet realms, you didn't get hungry or thirsty, but you still consumed mental energy. Rest was necessary.
Wan Wuqiu decided to stand guard while he slept. Zhen Jia, unwilling to be alone, stayed too.
They waited until Xie Mingchi woke up, then the three of them explored the castle again.
From the first floor to the seventh, they found nothing useful. That suggested Aige had no lingering attachments on these floors.
All that remained were shattered real mirrors—and the fake ones in the hallways.
They didn't revisit the eighth or ninth floors—they'd already searched those in the morning, and Xie Mingchi didn't think Aige would've planted anything new in the meantime.
Afternoon passed quickly. By dinnertime, they were back in the dining hall early.
Everyone else arrived one after another—except Lu Meng and Xiao He, who were still no-shows.
So be it. Hiding in your room wasn't always an advantage.
If everyone tried to freeload, the gatekeeper puppet would've swallowed them all already.
You couldn't have people like that on a team.
During dinner, Aige kept glancing at Xie Mingchi. The look in her eyes was filled with unspoken meaning.
But there was also a hint of probing and wariness.
After all, he had won the soul thread in the last puppet realm. He was powerful, and that made Aige cautious. What if he was lying? What if he was planning something?
Not that it mattered. Even if he was, they'd never find her soul thread. And if they did, there was no way they'd retrieve it safely.
Puppeteers like him were too naive. Many had died in her puppet realms. Did they really think no one had ever found her thread before?
Of course they had.
But no one had ever taken it successfully.
She wasn't some low-tier puppet. You couldn't just snatch her soul thread by brute force.
The more she thought about it, the better she felt. She even ate a few extra wax blocks.
But she didn't stop watching Xie Mingchi.
He wasn't stupid. Sensing her gaze, he would glance back occasionally, wearing a nervous but hopeful expression.
After all, he was about to summon Bloody Mary tonight. Of course he'd be nervous.
He was the first in their group to try it. A pioneer.
He had to look anxious.
Satisfied, Aige eventually left.
As she did, she called back, "Remember, my dear guests—make a wish, and I will make it come true…"
Xie Mingchi: Yeah, yeah, I got it. Just leave already.
Back in their room, Wan Wuqiu gave Zhen Jia a look filled with gossip and bitter single-dog vibes, then dragged Xie Mingchi into the bathroom.
He leaned close and whispered in his ear, "Are you really going to summon her?"
Xie Mingchi looked at him like he'd lost his mind. "Of course not. That was all for show."
Wan Wuqiu let out a soft "Oh," then asked, "What do you think of Zhen Jia?"
"What do you mean, 'think of'?"
"Like… do you feel anything? A flutter?"
Xie Mingchi: "…"
He was speechless.
"Should I be feeling something for her?"
Wan Wuqiu pressed, "What about Janna?"
"No."
"Xiao Xiao?"
"She has a boyfriend."
"What if she didn't?"
Xie Mingchi chuckled in disbelief. "Still no."
Wan Wuqiu looked at him, smiling gently. "What about me?"
Xie Mingchi thought Wan Wuqiu had definitely taken the wrong meds tonight. What kind of bizarre questions were these?
But then he noticed Wan Wuqiu's clenched fist, the crisp line of his sleeve crushed by tension.
Maybe this wasn't a joke.
Truthfully, to say he felt nothing for Wan Wuqiu would be a lie.
This man was his ideal type standing right in front of him.
And even though nothing good had ever happened to him since meeting Wan Wuqiu, he had been helping him.
Throw in that whole "met in a past life" business, and all their recent close interactions…
Xie Mingchi had a revelation.
Wan Wuqiu was flirting with him.
No way. You couldn't just see someone's orientation. That wasn't scientific.
But if Wan Wuqiu was asking these kinds of questions…
Then maybe…
He stared at Wan Wuqiu for a moment, then casually tossed out a single line:
"You, huh? Keep trying."
Wan Wuqiu had a hard time falling asleep that night.
Xie Mingchi's answer was… incredibly ambiguous.
Now, even as Xie Mingchi slept beside him, his back turned, Wan Wuqiu's mind was racing.
Overthinking in a puppet realm was dangerous—he knew that. He had always avoided it.
But this was Xie Mingchi.
The one he had waited for. Watched over for a thousand years.
Every word from him was enough to make his long-dead heart start beating again.
Ah Chi…
You haven't changed at all.
Wan Wuqiu reached out, wanting to stroke Xie Mingchi's hair, but held back at the last second.
You've slept so long, forgotten so much.
But you're still you.
Just then, from the corner of his vision, he saw a flicker of red light.
He turned—and saw a reflection in the vanity mirror.
It was Aige, in her blood-red dress.
The moment their eyes met, her smile stretched unnaturally wide, as if her stitched skin might split open at the seams.
"Do you want to make a wish? I can make your dreams come true…"
Wan Wuqiu was silent. Then he sat up and stared at her, his eyes glinting cold.
For some reason, Aige's heart skipped a beat.
That didn't make sense.
This was her domain. Why should she feel afraid of an outsider's gaze?
She hesitated, then asked, "Who are you?"
Wan Wuqiu didn't answer. He just looked at her, lips pressed into a thin, flat line.
That gaze…
It made her shiver.
She began to search her memory.
Nothing. Nothing.
She had never seen him before in all her time managing this puppet realm.
Panic rising, she dove even deeper—further back, to the time before she became a puppet.
And then—
There he was.
Aige's eyes snapped open wide.
Her legs gave out, and she collapsed to the floor.
She had found the memory—from after she died, when she became a puppet.
It was him.