“Ahh!” Mary’s face drained of color. She flipped aside to dodge!

But still — a step too late.

The sharp blade severed her arm!

*Thud, thud* — the slender white arm fell to the ground. Shen Mo’s brow furrowed as he raised his sword again, bringing it down toward Mary’s skull.

Mary let out a terrified shriek!

The cat outside lunged in. She sprang upward, leapt onto the cat’s back — and then the stuffed cat, carrying Mary, burst out of the candy shop and leapt onto the rooftops.

Shen Mo raised a foot to pursue, but heard Bai Youwei shout to him from behind:

“Shen Mo!!!”

Shen Mo’s step faltered. He turned to look — and saw the severed arm on the ground, which had wrapped itself firmly around Bai Youwei’s ankle.

Five fingers were digging into the flesh of her ankle, as if they meant to crush it right off.

Shen Mo’s chest contracted sharply. He spun back and drove his sword through the arm.

The five fingers on her ankle finally released their grip. Bai Youwei immediately pulled her foot back; pale skin showed a clear imprint of five fingers, already flushing dark blue and purple.

“Are you alright?” Shen Mo asked as he picked her up.

Bai Youwei shook her head and caught her breath. “Mary must have gone after the others. The way we were hiding probably had a problem — otherwise she shouldn’t have found us this fast. Unless she has X-ray vision!”

Shen Mo’s expression was dark and still as water. “If Mary knows the location of every single one of us, this isn’t a game of hide-and-seek. It’s a hunt.”

He and she had been thinking the same thing.

But the situation was urgent. For the moment, neither of them could identify where the problem lay.

Screams rang out from outside.

The cries cut through the chaotic blare of music — spiking sharply, then cutting off abruptly — and there was no telling who had been attacked, or who was now fleeing for their life.

Bai Youwei looked out the window, frowning. “Go help the others. Quickly.”

Shen Mo glanced at the severed arm on the floor. “And you?”

“I’m fine. Go.” She reached out and pushed him. “I can handle things here.”

Shen Mo looked at her for a long moment.

Under his gaze, Bai Youwei felt a sudden rush of courage she couldn’t quite explain. She reached up, cupped his face in her hands, and bit down hard on his lips.

Two seconds later she released him, drew a deep breath, and said, “Don’t die. If you can’t handle it, use a puzzle piece — do you understand?”

The depths of Shen Mo’s eyes shifted in an instant — dark, deep, fathomless.

He set her down, gripped her chin, and spoke in a low voice: “There isn’t time right now. I’ll pay you back once we’re out.”

With that, he turned and left, striding quickly in the direction of the screams.

Bai Youwei stared blankly at his retreating figure until it disappeared from view, and only then did her racing heart slowly return to calm.

She let out a long breath, turned, and looked at the sword-pierced arm still on the floor — still struggling. But Shen Mo’s strike had been too forceful, too deep; it couldn’t break free. The fingers clawed at the floor in helpless frustration, like a fish on a cutting board — bloodless throughout.

That wasn’t particularly surprising. The cat was a stuffed cat; naturally, Mary was not a living person either.

Bai Youwei used the golden key to open the Doll House.

Cheng Weicai and Pan Xiaoxin inside saw her in such a disheveled state and were both startled.

“You — Youwei?! Are you alright?!” Teacher Cheng asked anxiously. “Where’s your wheelchair? Your crutches? Isn’t Shen Mo with you?”

“I’ll explain in detail in a moment.” Bai Youwei rattled off her instructions quickly. “Go over to the fireplace and throw me some burning firewood. Dry wood too — as much as you can find.”

“Of course, right away!”

……

Bundles of flame were hurled out from the Doll House, igniting the wallpaper, the display shelves, the toy dolls.

The candy in the candy shop melted in the heat, rivers of sugary liquid spreading across the floor and catching fire, filling the air with an intermingled scent of scorched sugar and cloying sweetness.

The flames burned on, roaring higher and higher.

—