“All that’s left now is to find the items the summer and autumn guests need — and we should be able to clear the game,” Shen Mo said. “But since the bear’s bow had to be drawn and sewn ourselves, the second round’s treasure probably won’t be straightforward.”

Yan Qingwen nodded. “I think so too. For now, the ship seems to fit the description of a treasure, but what counts as ‘treasure’ might not just be gold and jewels.”

“There’s still time,” Shen Mo said. “Once we’ve seen the summer guest, there might be more clues.”

Yan Qingwen headed for the staircase. “I’ll go call them down.”

Shen Mo gave a small nod, then took hold of the wheelchair handles and pushed Bai Youwei back into the living room.

Bai Youwei reached over and set the rabbit back in its charging spot to continue recharging.

“What do you think the treasure might be?” Shen Mo asked.

Bai Youwei shook her head slightly. “The nursery rhyme doesn’t give much to go on. Before seeing the guest, it could be anything.”

She asked Shen Mo in turn, “You’ve had this whole house turned inside out — did you come across anything suspicious?”

“If we’re talking about treasure, it should just be the ship model Tan Xiao and Li Li found,” Shen Mo said.

Bai Youwei frowned.

The game’s difficulty should escalate, not drop. If the first round’s stuffed bears required the players to do handiwork themselves, how could the second round possibly be this simple?

She glanced sideways at the overseer in the distance.

The crystal ball, which had a habit of reveling in others’ misfortune, had been pointedly silent after watching everyone suffer such a disaster just now — which was very unlike it.

Bai Youwei noted this and looked away without giving it any further thought.

By now, their companions upstairs were coming down one by one. Su Man stayed behind in the attic to look after Li Li.

The eight of them gathered in the living room to discuss their next steps.

“The second part of the nursery rhyme goes: ‘Summer — the rain falls so hard, pitch black, impossible to see where the treasure lies.'” Yan Qingwen looked around at them. “Does anyone have thoughts? Speak up.”

“Isn’t the treasure just that ship Xiaoxin and Li Li found?” Tan Xiao said, looking left and right.

Lu Ang picked a toothpick and tucked it in the corner of his mouth to take the edge off the craving for a cigarette. He asked with a vague drawl, “How confident are we that it’s the ship?”

Yan Qingwen thought for a moment and said, “Thirty percent.”

Tan Xiao’s eyes went wide. “Thirty percent?! That low?!”

Unconvinced, he turned to Bai Youwei: “Youwei! He says it’s only thirty percent!”

Bai Youwei gave him a languid glance: “If you ask me… maybe ten percent.”

Tan Xiao: “…”

Shen Mo: “From what we currently know about the doll game, the difficulty should increase as it goes on. The chances of it being the ship are genuinely low. We have under four hours left before summer arrives. I think we should do one more search of the house — not looking for treasure this time, but observing every single detail in this house with fresh eyes, noting every suspicious point we find, and then once the summer guest arrives, we can put all the clues together and reason it out.”

Yan Qingwen nodded and said, “There’s a study and three bedrooms upstairs — that’s four people. Assign three more to the ground floor. Once each person finishes their own section, they swap with someone else so every area gets covered by at least two people. Su Man is in the attic taking care of Li Li — she can cover the attic.”

He paused for two seconds, then looked at Pan Xiaoxin: “Also, Xiaoxin, in addition to searching your own assigned area, please also go through the staircase and the hallway. You’re young — you tend to notice things the rest of us might miss. Do you think you can do that?”

Pan Xiaoxin’s small face went solemn as he nodded.

“One more person needs to be pulled aside,” Bai Youwei said. “Up until now, we’ve only been searching inside. The eaves, the window ledges, the rooftop outside — those should all count as part of this house’s range.”

Yan Qingwen gave a slight inclination of his head, his gaze sweeping across the others.

Choosing who was the problem.

Outside was more dangerous than inside. He thought Shen Mo would be the best candidate — but Bai Youwei might not agree. Though they hadn’t known each other long, he had already noticed that Bai Youwei was very attached to Shen Mo.