We left the nursery, not forgetting to circle the hallway one more time to ensure no minor detail was overlooked. Passing by the Mistress's room, we both held our breath, our footsteps as light as possible to avoid making a sound. Fortunately, we made it downstairs smoothly without encountering any "thing" we shouldn't have seen.
Upon reaching the ground floor, I saw Butler Li meticulously using cotton pads and disinfectant to treat the wounds of Wu Mengqiao and Tu Qinghe. Watching his practiced movements, a memory suddenly flashed in my mind: the weathered safe in the butler's room.
I looked at the reassembled scraps of paper in my hand, and a bold hypothesis emerged: (Could this be the code to open the safe? Perhaps it doesn't open with numbers, but by tracing this symbol?)
I turned to Xi Yong'an. As if sharing a telepathic bond, he was also looking at me with glowing eyes; clearly, we were thinking the exact same thing. We quietly circled behind the space under the stairs, giving a subtle wink to the two injured girls.
Understanding the signal immediately, Tu Qinghe skillfully spoke up to divert the butler's attention:
-"Oh, that's enough, we can handle these small scratches ourselves. We're really sorry for bothering you all this time!"
Butler Li paused for a beat, his cloudy eyes sweeping over the two girls before he slowly packed the first-aid kit:
-"Then I shall leave you to it."
With that, he silently turned and walked straight into the kitchen. The moment his back disappeared, my heart began to race in anticipation of our next plan.
When Butler Li's back was completely hidden behind the kitchen door, the two girls gave a slight nod. Only then did Xi Yong'an and I dare to step out from the shadows beneath the stairs.
Yashu, who had been standing dazed, staring at the old mirror on the wall, breathed a sigh of relief the moment she saw we were safe. She hurried over, her voice trembling with anxiety:
-"How are you two? Did you run into any trouble?"
-"We're fine. In fact, we managed to harvest a very important secret signal," I replied, unable to hide a hint of excitement in my tone.
Hearing our voices, the others hiding in the rooms began to file out one by one. After a tense period of being separated, all 11 of us were finally gathered together. I carefully placed the four reassembled pieces of paper on my palm, holding them in the center of the circle for everyone to observe.
Pham Bach Kha narrowed his eyes, his expression full of surprise:
-"It looks like an ancient incantation... but it feels more like some kind of guiding symbol."
I nodded, looking directly at everyone as I voiced my deduction:
-"Did anyone happen to observe the lock on the safe in Butler Li's room?"
-"Not yet, the situation was too urgent back then; none of us dared to get close to that spot," Tu Qinghe replied softly. But then, as if realizing something, her eyes lit up: "That's right! That safe doesn't have a rotary dial. The front of it has a very strange recessed groove... That must be it!"
The group seemed to snap awake; the atmosphere, once thick with tension, suddenly eased with the thrill of being so close to the truth. Pham Bach Kha mused:
-"So the next destination is Mr. Li's room, then?"
At that moment, Ky Kha Nhien - who had been lazily leaning against the wall, observing in silence - curled her lips and spoke up:
-"I feel like we're ninjas. Real professional infiltrators."
Having said that, she let out a faint, self-deprecating laugh. Everyone else kept a serious face, no one bothered to react to a joke so ill-suited for the situation. However, Yashu suddenly let out a soft giggle. The light laughter of the blue-haired girl made Ky Kha Nhien freeze in surprise. In this hellish place, while everyone was preoccupied with their lives, someone had actually paid attention to her words. A strange sense of warmth rose within Kha Nhien, but she immediately masked it with a long, sleepy yawn.
While we were calculating our plan of action, Butler Li suddenly appeared, inviting the group down for lunch. What sent a chill down my spine was the fact that we had left the kitchen less than ten minutes ago. This speed... was truly abnormal.
Entering the dining room, a shocking sight hit our eyes: the decorative potted plants were transforming. They had clearly only sprouted a few small branches yesterday, yet today they were stretching long, drooping and swaying as if decades had passed.
It felt as though time within this mansion was being warped, flowing at a frantic pace. No one dared to utter a word. We all understood clearly: when the scenery begins to distort, it is a sign that the demon is losing patience, and danger is closer than ever.
Today's lunch took on a shape so grotesque it was nauseating. Li Junjie suddenly stiffened, his face turning pale, his breathing becoming rapid. It took a few seconds to compose himself before he tremblingly pushed his plate to the center of the table for the group to see.
On the plate, pieces of meat and vegetables had been intentionally arranged to form the likeness of a brutally murdered little girl. Her body was contorted, bones seemingly broken to be stuffed into a cramped, gloomy space. A deathly silence blanketed the dining table.
An ill omen surged in my heart like a violent wave. Yashu looked at me and whispered, her voice just loud enough for us to hear so it wouldn't reach Butler Li's ears:
-"Do you remember yesterday? Your food had a strange shape, and that very night, our room was the first to be 'visited' by the demon. Could it be that this time, the target is..."
She left the sentence hanging, but everyone understood. The faces of Li Junjie and Hoang Nhat Tan were now darker than the bottom of a pot, cold sweat drenching their foreheads. They were roommates, and this omen was clearly calling their names.
Pham Bach Kha placed a hand on Junjie's shoulder, reassuring him in a low voice:
-"Stay calm, brothers. In a moment, we'll plan this together, prepare the exits and defense strategies. We won't let things happen like they did last night."
Thanks to Bach Kha's words of comfort, their breathing gradually stabilized, though the remnants of ultimate terror still lingered in their eyes.