The next day, the King’s Headquarters building became unusually lively.

Because Yan Qingwen had returned.

And returned without a scratch — Yan Qingwen, Su Man, Lu Yuwen, Zhu Shu, all four of them, not one missing.

Whatever the four of them had gone through, they came back looking relaxed but utterly exhausted. There was no time to bring up anything about the labyrinth; they all went straight to their rooms and collapsed into sleep.

While they slept, the world outside erupted into celebration.

Because Yan Qingwen’s return meant that all four Kings currently at the base had secured their places in the first battle — and that was something well worth celebrating.

That same noon, Bai Youwei received a notice: there would be a victory banquet held at the headquarters restaurant the following evening.

She didn’t feel much about it, but Tan Xiao and Pan Xiaoxin were both thrilled — as were the staff members scattered throughout the building, every one of them glowing with festive cheer.

It was probably because people liked to use moments like this to encourage themselves.

However, Teacher Cheng was not on the guest list.

The examination results hadn’t come back yet, so his freedom of movement was temporarily restricted. He couldn’t be around crowds, and attending a banquet like this was out of the question.

Fortunately, Teacher Cheng was a broad-minded person and didn’t take it to heart. He packed up his things and moved into the Dollhouse —

The Dollhouse had transformed dramatically.

It had once been just a house perched on top of a hill. Now, flowers grew by the front door and vegetables by the back, grapevines climbed across a wooden trellis in lush tangles, and in the distance, a few chickens occasionally flapped their wings.

Teacher Cheng, wearing a turtleneck sweater on top and his trouser legs rolled up, gardening gloves on both hands, worked diligently in the backyard in his thoroughly mismatched outfit. He was trying to expand the fish pond he’d dug out earlier by one more ring.

Presumably making preparations for future food reserves.

The honest and earnest Teacher Cheng was busy covering his upper body, completely unaware that the tiny scales on his heels had long since been spotted clearly by Bai Youwei.

Bai Youwei sat with her legs crossed, sunning them on the bay window of the second floor.

Getting plenty of sunshine promotes calcium absorption in the bones, prevents calcium deficiency and osteoporosis — it was one of her beauty regimens.

Down below, Teacher Cheng straightened up and waved at Bai Youwei: “Weiwei, I’m going to collect some eggs. Tonight we’ll make egg pancakes!”

“Oh~” Bai Youwei responded lazily.

They had no experience raising animals. The chickens they kept roamed all over the hills, and the eggs turned up here and there with no pattern to them.

Having anything to eat at all was already pretty good. The headquarters building had such excellent conditions, yet the restaurant there had no fresh eggs — only preserved eggs and salted duck eggs…

Bai Youwei let her scattered thoughts drift away, pulled her gaze back, picked up the face masks she’d prepared beside her, and pressed them one by one onto her legs.

Sunbathing was good, but too much was not — it accelerated skin aging, caused moisture loss and dryness. So she needed to replenish moisture in her legs in a timely manner.

With the masks on her legs, she couldn’t move around easily, so Bai Youwei picked up her nail polish and painted her nails.

First the fingernails, then the toenails.

A severed hand crept over haltingly.

Bai Youwei was genuinely fed up with it. She kicked it away with one foot.

She had no idea whether its personality had been influenced by Mali, but it was extraordinarily vain — it was nothing but a severed hand, yet it was obsessed with decorating itself. Wrapped around its arm were over a dozen necklaces and bracelets, five fingers loaded with rings, glittering and gaudy in the most ridiculous way.

The severed hand rolled on the floor a couple of times, its pearl necklaces, jade bracelets, and gold bangles clinking and clanging. Then it dragged itself back, persisting in inching toward the nail polish.

“Alright, alright, stop pushing. I’ll do yours too.” Bai Youwei frowned, her tone full of disdain. “Once your nails are done, go collect the eggs. Understood?”

The severed hand raised one finger and crooked it slightly — that was its nod.

Bai Youwei suddenly thought of something, and a smile curved at her lips. She said to the severed hand, “Let me give you a proper makeover…”

—