Bai Youwei was irritated by his rambling. “Shut up!”

Shen Fei was still in a panic: “Or we could use fire again?… No, fire takes time to get going, and besides — besides, there’s not much flammable material inside the Crystal Tower, it would be really hard to make it burn…”

“Shut up!!!” Bai Youwei snapped impatiently.

Shen Fei startled, froze in place, and stared at her blankly.

Bai Youwei grabbed his hand roughly and shoved a lighter into it, then commanded: “Go to the Jungle Adventure section and set it on fire. The bigger the fire, the better!”

Shen Fei stood there stunned.

Why the Jungle Adventure section?

— If the goal was to deal with Mali, the choice should be the Crystal Tower.

— If the goal was to deal with the stuffed cat, the choice should be the Ghost Ship.

Why on earth the Jungle Adventure?!

But Bai Youwei was no longer looking at him. She grabbed the walkie-talkie and spoke quickly: “I’m heading to the Crystal Tower now. You all stall for time on my behalf. My mobility is limited — Mali won’t rush to deal with me. What she wants most right now is to kill everyone before dawn arrives! So don’t worry about my safety — just focus on drawing them as far as possible from the Crystal Tower! Get the rag dolls and the cat as far away from it as you can!”

With that she turned — and found Shen Fei still standing there. Her eyes went wide: “Why are you still here?!”

Shen Fei stammered: “Why… why do we go to the jungle… and start a fire…”

“What planet are you from, you baby?!” Bai Youwei said, exasperated. “Your injuries haven’t healed — you can’t run, you can’t jump, and you can’t bait the cat and the dolls like the others. Of course setting a fire is the only way you can divert Mali’s attention!”

Shen Fei couldn’t help but flush. “Baby is a bit much, isn’t it…”

“What are you flushing for?!” Bai Youwei was completely at a loss for words. She shoved him twice. “Get going!”

She herself folded up the map, wheeled her chair toward the Crystal Tower, and stopped paying any attention to Shen Fei.

Shen Fei lingered in place, fighting the urge to chase after her and ask: if the goal was to divert attention, wouldn’t setting the Grand Theater on fire be a far better choice? Why did it have to be the Jungle Adventure?

Why though?

Why though?

Then he recalled Bai Youwei calling him a “baby from the planet of ‘why'”…

Mortified, Shen Fei lowered his head and hurried off toward the Jungle Adventure.

……

Bai Youwei reached the Mysterious Crystal Tower without incident.

Her wheelchair was not particularly slow, but once inside the tower, there was only a spiraling staircase, and she would have to get out of it.

And she had no crutch.

Her crutch had been lost somewhere long ago. If she was going to climb, she would have to rely entirely on her two barely functional legs — gripping the railing, easing her way up one step at a time.

Mali had presumably not rushed to deal with her for exactly this reason.

Bai Youwei took in the surroundings as she moved, and brought the walkie-talkie to her lips:

“I’ve reached the Crystal Tower. There are crystal decorations everywhere, along with some cartoon pirate sculptures. Mali is probably at the top — I’m heading up now. What’s the situation on your end?”

“…I’m starting the fire, almost… almost ready…” Shen Fei’s voice came through, broken up with static.

Bai Youwei frowned. “I didn’t ask you — I was asking about your brother!”

After a pause, Shen Mo’s voice came through: “Yu Yaqing and I are on the Ghost Ship. The stuffed cat is ramming the hull — it seems to be trying to knock us into the lake.”

His voice was perfectly still and calm. If she hadn’t heard the heavy thumping of the stuffed cat against the hull, she would have found it hard to imagine he was in danger at that very moment.

Bai Youwei tipped her head back, looking up the staircase, and drew a long, deep breath.

“Everyone help me hold them off — for ten minutes.” She looked toward the top of the tower and said: “Ten minutes from now, we will win.”

—