When the Comic Man finished speaking, the Puppeteer was clearly unconvinced and was about to retort, when the Ghost Flame — who had been lurking about furtively — spoke up softly from a corner of the wall:

“If we go by the first interpretation, the item we’re looking for must be obviously distinct from everything else inside the Candy House, and yet we’ve been searching for so long and still haven’t found anything…”

The Puppeteer: “So it definitely isn’t the first interpretation! The only things here that don’t belong to the Candy House are ourselves — us!”

“Not necessarily…” the Ghost Flame said weakly. “Is it possible… that the item isn’t in the Candy House yet?”

Since it was an item that didn’t belong to the Candy House, it must have been brought in from the outside world — and if it hadn’t been brought in yet, that would explain why they kept coming up empty.

The Comic Man furrowed his brow deeply. After a moment, he turned to look at Bai Youwei beside him:

“Weren’t you supposed to be pretty clever? Come over here and offer some ideas.”

Bai Youwei had been grimacing as she scrubbed chocolate off her hands. She glanced up at him, utterly indifferent, and said, “Didn’t one of the Inspectors want to try something earlier? Just let them try it. Once they do, won’t we know what’s going on?”

The Puppeteer said, slightly irritated: “Look, Jacky — they all refuse to believe us.”

The marionette replied: “It’s fine, Jackie! I believe you! We’re the best partners ever! Oh yeah~”

Bai Youwei muttered under her breath: “This guy’s split personality is impressively thorough.”

The Puppeteer and its marionette strode toward the door with heads held high, chanting as they went: “We’re the best partners~ Oh yeah! We’re the best partners~ Oh yeah!…”

BOOM!!

A blinding white light crashed down like a colossal blade!

Outside the door, the Puppeteer and its little marionette were instantly reduced to charcoal.

The Ghost Flame shuddered.

The gray-robed elder let out a weary, world-worn sigh. “It seems ‘we’ is not the answer.”

The Comic Man raised a hand and rubbed his chin, musing: “Tangtang’s drool isn’t the answer, and neither are we — those of us currently inside the Candy House. So what is the answer? There must be something hidden in this house that doesn’t belong to it.”

Bai Youwei gazed at the charred lump outside the door — and at the coal-like remains of the Puppeteer — with profound sympathy. “They’ll be okay, right?”

“They’ll be fine… we have many duplicates…” the Ghost Flame’s voice trembled, as if it might extinguish at any moment, “But… it will hurt a lot…”

Bai Youwei: “…”

So those without duplicates were at a serious disadvantage, weren’t they?

“What do I do if I don’t have a duplicate?” Bai Youwei looked seriously toward the Comic Man and the gray-robed elder, then at the Ghost Flame trembling incessantly in the corner. “That’s not fair!”

“After you get charred, it will fashion a new shell for you,” the Comic Man said lightly with a faint smile.

The “it” being referred to was undoubtedly Tu Shenshi, who was outside.

Bai Youwei wrinkled her nose. “No thanks. I like myself exactly as I am.”

The Comic Man let out a soft laugh tinged with a trace of contempt. “Then you’d better work hard to clear this dungeon. Though who knows if that famous luck of yours still holds.”

Unexpectedly, Bai Youwei didn’t fire back. She was silent for a moment, then turned and walked off to one side, beginning to search in earnest.

The Comic Man withdrew his gaze, and noticed the gray-robed elder standing nearby, completely motionless.

“Why did you stop searching?” the Comic Man asked. “Have you given up?”

“Heh…” the gray-robed elder laughed — a mysterious, unfathomable sound — and answered in his raspy voice, “This old one has already discerned the method to clear and win the dungeon. There is no need to expend further effort searching.”

“You found it?” the Comic Man said, mildly surprised. He looked the gray-robed elder up and down, but the elder was wrapped from head to toe in a large cloak, revealing nothing.

Bai Youwei said, “You’d better keep searching. He definitely won’t tell you how to clear it.”

That much was true — even though they were both Inspectors, within this game they were also competitors.

—