Shen Mo and Yan Qingwen made their way toward the shooting range together.

Although the dolls scattered along the route had been cleared away earlier, in the nights that followed, some of them seemed to have shifted position — appearing at intersections, behind trees, and by windowsills when the two weren’t paying attention…

Not long after they set out, those dolls had already spotted their movements.

Right away, Mali sensed them and sent her rag doll riding atop the stuffed cat in pursuit —

Since they had already traded blows with her before, both Shen Mo and Yan Qingwen had a clear measure of Mali’s speed and strength. They stayed calm as ever, working together to retrieve the bow and arrows, then planned to use the cover of the nearby buildings to make their way back to the hideout and regroup with the others.

Colorful lights flashed along both sides of the street, and music blared without pause.

During the chase, Mali caught sight of the bow and arrows in their hands — and hesitated for just a moment. Both the stuffed cat and the rag doll riding on top of it went completely still.

After a brief pause, she suddenly retreated!

The stuffed cat backed up a few steps, then spun around and sprinted away in the opposite direction at breakneck speed, taking Mali with it!

The two men stopped in their tracks, frowning as they watched the stuffed cat disappear into the distance, then turned to look at each other.

Just two seconds passed before Yan Qingwen’s expression shifted sharply. He broke into a run after it: “Mali wants to hide!”

Shen Mo’s brow furrowed tight, and he immediately gave chase as well!

But no matter how fast they ran, they couldn’t keep up with the large yet agile stuffed cat. They chased it all the way to Treasure Bay, and finally lost Mali’s trail entirely.

Yan Qingwen refused to give up, searching in every direction in an attempt to figure out where the stuffed cat had gone — but the dazzling lights played tricks on his eyes, and the darkness blurred his vision further.

As he was hunting for traces, the enormous stuffed cat leaped out from the shadows! It lunged straight at him!

Yan Qingwen threw himself to the side and dodged!

Shen Mo swung his sword and hacked down!

The blade sliced through the cotton fabric on the cat’s paws, and the stuffing that spilled out drifted like rolling clouds — inflicting no pain, causing no harm whatsoever.

Every effort seemed utterly futile!

The two escaped from beneath the cat’s claws and ducked into the kitchen of an island-themed restaurant. The cat kept meowing endlessly outside, as if it knew perfectly well they were hiding nearby, pacing back and forth around the restaurant.

“Mali is gone.” Yan Qingwen stared straight out through the gap in the kitchen door. “Mali has hidden herself — she’s somewhere in Treasure Bay!”

“Let’s head back first.” Shen Mo frowned and urged him. “That cat outside is too much to handle. Let’s go back and regroup with the others, then look for another chance in the daylight.”

“No!” Yan Qingwen flatly refused!

Shen Mo paused slightly, and his expression darkened.

Yan Qingwen seemed to realize he was losing his composure. He took a deep breath, steadied himself, and explained:

“The moment we leave, Mali will move to a new hiding spot! This amusement park is enormous — trying to find a single rag doll in it would be absolutely impossible! But right now… at least right now, we know for certain that Mali is in Treasure Bay! So we can’t leave!”

He took another deep breath and stressed to Shen Mo: “We can wait and make our move in the daylight, but right now, I cannot leave!”

Shen Mo looked outside as well.

Unable to find them, the stuffed cat lingered restlessly nearby. Riding on the cat’s neck was a metal-skeleton puppet — its body nothing but framework, though its head retained a human appearance, with yarn hair hanging loose behind it, and its pupils glowing with an eerie light.

This “fake Mali” should have been carrying a rag doll on its back — but now, it was gone.

The real Mali had vanished.

Yan Qingwen stared outside, his voice firm: “I cannot leave here. This is our only chance to find Mali. Shen Mo… don’t worry about me. I’ll keep my cool and wait until dawn.”

Shen Mo glanced at him, his voice carrying no particular emotion: “You want to wait until tomorrow — but they may not give you that chance. If Mali is truly hiding here, she will do everything in her power tonight to sweep the park clean. Just the two of us would have a hard time handling that. You stay here and wait; I’ll go back and inform the others.”

—