— They parted on bad terms.

It didn’t go so far as an actual falling out, but it was barely a step above a cold war.

The next day brought the victory banquet, and Bai Youwei’s anger still hadn’t dissipated. She stayed inside the Dollhouse and refused to come out.

Shen Mo was not skilled at coaxing people. His attempts cycled through the same few phrases, and Bai Youwei had grown tired of them. She pushed him toward the door.

“Really not going?” Shen Mo asked one last time.

Bai Youwei turned her head away and ignored him, letting out a proud, defiant huff.

Shen Mo said, “Four Kings, only three attending — they might mistake this for you withdrawing from the King competition.”

“Then you’re not allowed to go either!” Bai Youwei flared up.

“Preparing a banquet takes considerable effort and resources. Chu Huaijin sincerely wanted to celebrate for us. If neither of us shows up, it would be too hurtful.” Shen Mo said unhurriedly. “And Yan Qingwen just came out of the labyrinth — don’t you want to know what they went through? Su Man and Zhu Shu should have a lot to say to you…”

Bai Youwei lunged over and clamped her hand over his mouth. “You’re so annoying!”

Shen Mo caught her hands easily, subduing her with little effort, and said mildly, “Now that your legs are healed, you’ve become lively.”

Bai Youwei: “…”

Teacher Cheng, watching from the side with a cheerful smile, said: “Being lively is good. Weiwei was always too quiet before. Weiwei, go with Little Shen. When everyone sees that you can stand, they’ll definitely be happy for you. No need to feel embarrassed.”

Bai Youwei silently curled the corner of her mouth.

Was she refusing to go to the banquet because she was embarrassed?

Shen Mo stood behind her and steadied her shoulders, his voice low. “Come. It’s rare for everyone to gather like this today. As time goes on, chances like this will come less and less.”

For now it was only the preliminary rounds. As the war progressed, who could say how many casualties there would be.

Bai Youwei frowned and hesitated for a moment, then finally agreed.

…

The banquet had already started.

It was a buffet-style dinner. Glasses clinked freely in every corner, guests thronged the room, and a record player stood to one side of the restaurant playing a flowing, repeating melody.

Bai Youwei arrived in her wheelchair.

Fu Miaoxue spotted her right away and sauntered over, not sparing her venom: “Heard you made it out of the labyrinth~ What, the labyrinth couldn’t fix your legs either? They’re still quite crippled~”

But her opponent was more vicious still.

“You’re a prosthetic. You can’t eat, can’t drink — what are you doing at a banquet?” Bai Youwei asked. “Here to demonstrate indigestion?”

Fu Miaoxue choked on the comeback, huffed, and walked off.

Shen Mo let out a low laugh.

Bai Youwei glared at him with displeasure. “You saw someone insulting me and you laughed!”

“No, no…” Shen Mo said with the corner of his mouth curving up. “It seems like she really cares about you. With this many people around, she zeroed in on you right away — which means she was watching the door the whole time, waiting for you to arrive.”

“It makes perfect sense for her to care about me.” Bai Youwei pursed her lips. “Du Lai has always been trying to use the labyrinth upgrades to turn Fu Miaoxue back into a human. Since neither of them went to the labyrinth this time, they’d naturally be curious about whether my legs healed. She just came over to jab at me — probably fishing for information.”

Shen Mo glanced toward Fu Miaoxue and Du Lai. “Fu Miaoxue doesn’t have many puzzle pieces, so she can’t recruit many subjects. And Du Lai is a cautious and careful person. Faced with a shortage of people, he definitely wouldn’t enter the labyrinth on a whim.”

“Back then, when the two of them were just the two of them, they still went into the labyrinth anyway.” Bai Youwei said.

Shen Mo smiled faintly at that. “Back then it was a desperate gamble. Now that they have puzzle pieces and items in hand, of course they’d plan more carefully.”

If they could win more puzzle pieces, recruit more subjects, and then enter the labyrinth — their odds would be far greater.

“Ah! There you two are!”

Not far away, Tan Xiao came bounding toward them with great excitement, a large and solidly built man trailing behind him.

“Brother Mo! Sister Weiwei! You’ll never guess how small the world is!” Tan Xiao excitedly extended his hand, palm open, two lumps of grey-white clay resting in it. “Do you still remember Houzi?! He stole mine and Old Cheng’s clay — look! The clay came back!”

—