Zhu Shu’s heart leapt into her throat. She watched helplessly as the beast showed unmistakable signs of reviving again, her limbs going nearly numb with shock, and she pushed the wheelchair in a panic, sprinting toward the far end of the corridor.

But once she ran fast, her footsteps became impossible to conceal, and that beast would inevitably track the sound and catch up with them.

“Head toward the staircase!” Bai Youwei commanded.

“But…!” Zhu Shu gasped, her face dripping with sweat. “I can’t run fast while carrying you down the stairs!”

Zhu Shu had been through the maze—her physical strength was enough to carry Bai Youwei on her back. Though she wasn’t as powerful as Su Man, she could still move quickly. But—

But that “quickly” was nothing compared to the beast.

Bai Youwei repeated, “Listen to me. Go to the staircase!”

Zhu Shu clenched her teeth and picked up her pace, sprinting toward the spiral staircase—

Heavy footsteps sounded behind them again. The beast-in-human-form had given chase once more.

After “Hua Jiang” transformed into the “Duke,” his speed and strength had vastly increased, and with his body’s constant self-regeneration on top of that, he was practically an indestructible killing machine.

He bore down on Su Man and Bai Youwei, step by relentless step.

The charred flesh had already rapidly repaired itself, but the outer layer of scorched skin and blood remained, making him look all the more terrifying.

Like a devil who’d crawled up out of an incinerator.

“My dear brides…”

A hoarse voice rose from his throat, threaded with a rattling laugh—half mocking their overestimation of themselves, half reveling in the excitement of prey about to fall into his trap.

He fixed his gaze on Bai Youwei. The burned-away flesh at the corner of his mouth peeled back in a wide, grotesque grin. “Since you’re so eager,” he said with a savage smile, “then… tonight’s dinner shall begin ahead of schedule.”

Zhu Shu gripped the wheelchair handles and stepped backward.

Bai Youwei bit her lip and said nothing.

He slowed his steps, savoring it—one step at a time, closing in on them…

“What’s wrong…” he sneered. “My bride, have your little gadgets run out?”

Bai Youwei lowered her head and gently patted the fluffy rabbit’s head, and said quietly, “They still work.”

The Duke froze.

“I said two more times, and you actually believed there were only two left?” Bai Youwei raised her head. The corners of her mouth curved into a smile—radiant and ruthless at once. “You. Absolute. Fool.”

The Duke’s heart lurched. Without thinking, he took half a step back—and in doing so, he found himself standing exactly at the top of the staircase landing.

“You—”

Before he could speak, a massive bolt of lightning crashed down over his head, engulfing him like a great crocodile—as if it would shred him to pieces!

“Zhu Shu!” Bai Youwei called out sharply.

Zhu Shu hurled her last three beads in rapid succession!

In her heart she prayed fervently: *Please explode—explode!*

*BOOM!*—

Fate finally smiled on her once more! One of the three beads triggered a thunderstorm effect, and combined with Bai Youwei’s lightning strike, it blasted the Duke clean off the staircase!

The enormous figure let out a shriek of agony. His body plummeted, smashing through the second-floor banister, and crashed with a thunderous impact onto the floor of the first-floor hall!

*THUD!*

…He lay still.

Zhu Shu stared down over the edge, her lingering fear not yet settled, and murmured, “Is he dead…?”

“He can’t die—but injuries this severe should keep him recovering for a while.”

Bai Youwei moved with swift precision, using the golden key to open the dollhouse. Ignoring Zhu Shu’s bewildered expression, she neatly tossed both the rabbit and her own bag inside, then unfolded her walking cane and stood up.

“Hurry—throw my wheelchair over the edge,” she said.

Throwing the wheelchair down was meant to mislead their pursuer. After all, a wheelchair made it difficult to hide, and as long as it was tossed down, the Duke would have no way of knowing which floor Bai Youwei was hiding on.

Bai Youwei leaned on her cane and walked into the room on the third floor nearest to the staircase.

Zhu Shu threw the wheelchair over the railing, then followed quickly, easing the door shut behind her—

—