Su Man, wearing a deep red dress with black lace trim, yanked her whip with an air of deep displeasure and said: “How am I supposed to fight in this? I can barely get up the stairs!”

Yan Qingwen said, “Too many people on the first floor would be a problem — the space is too small, and with more bodies, it gets even harder to dodge. Su Man, you take Li Li upstairs.”

Shen Mo thought for a moment, then looked at Tan Xiao: “You go up too.”

Teacher Cheng looked worried. “Will that leave too few hands down here?”

“It’s enough,” Bai Youwei said. “This time, I’ll be the one to present the stuffed bears — everyone else stand well back so you don’t get caught in the crossfire from the item. If the stuffed bears don’t work again, I’ll use the puzzle to leave the game before the bear can lunge at me. The rest of you focus on holding it back and keeping it from going upstairs to hurt anyone.”

She paused for a moment, then glanced toward the music box in the distance and continued:

“That said, I don’t think the chances of something going wrong are very high. If the stuffed bears had really been the problem, the overseer wouldn’t have answered so smoothly just now.”

The crystal ball sat on top of the music box, quiet and still, refusing to speak.

The people in the room looked at one another.

They had all witnessed what that item of Bai Youwei’s could do. If she was the one doing it, perhaps it really was possible.

Yan Qingwen handed the two stuffed bears to Bai Youwei.

Shen Mo picked up the rabbit from beside the fireplace where it had been charging, walked over to Bai Youwei, and gently set it down on her lap.

The rabbit had been warming by the fire all night and was completely dry, still carrying the warmth of the hearth — soft and toasty.

It sat perfectly still on Bai Youwei’s lap, alongside the two stuffed bears — looking, to all appearances, like nothing more than an ordinary plush toy.

Bai Youwei smoothed the fur on its ears, then said to Shen Mo: “Push me to the door, please.”

The others, hearing that, exchanged glances with each other and headed up to the second floor and attic to find places to hide.

Without much hesitation, Bai Youwei addressed the door: “Guest, please come in.”

The door creaked open again.

The mother bear sat hunched just outside the threshold. Once granted the master’s permission, it raised its powerful, massive frame upright and ambled inside with a swaying gait —

Up this close, the sheer oppressive weight of the enormous creature looming overhead was far more overwhelming than before. The sunlight from the doorway was almost entirely blocked by the beast, and its shadow fell over Bai Youwei.

The wild, rank smell of the animal drifted outward in waves, and she couldn’t help but wrinkle her nose.

The mother bear bent its head and pressed in close. The breath it exhaled was hot enough to make her want to squeeze her eyes shut. She gritted her teeth and bore it, holding out the two stuffed bears in her hands.

The bear sniffed at the little bear cubs nestled in her arms, then suddenly let out a roar, tilting its head back!

Bai Youwei felt a flutter of alarm — and then she saw it raise both paws!

On the other side of the room, Shen Mo tightened his grip on the fruit knife in his hand!

Yan Qingwen grabbed his arm and said in a low voice: “Wait and see.”

Those two solid paws came sweeping down at Bai Youwei — and with a resounding thump, pulled the stuffed bears she was holding into a full, tight embrace!

“Rahhh, rahhh, rahhh, rahhh, rahhh!…”

The mother bear let out roar after roar!

Whether from the joy of recovering what was lost, or from scolding the two children who had run away from home, it was impossible to say.

It clutched the two stuffed bears close and, with a satisfied air, turned and began to amble away — down the hillside, into the trees… and disappeared.

Shen Mo and Yan Qingwen both let out a breath at the same time.

Though they had been seventy or eighty percent confident before they acted, the moment they had seen the bear raise its paw, their hearts had still leapt with fear.

…At least it was over.

“Our deduction was correct — the bear rampaged the first time because we hadn’t changed into the dollhouse’s clothes,” Yan Qingwen said. “So in the guest’s perception, a player not wearing the right clothing can’t truly be considered the master of the dollhouse — they’re more like a stranger, an intruder — a kind of enemy.”

He finished and let out a wry, weary laugh. “Who would have thought the clothing would hide a secret like this. The overseer hid it on purpose — was that to make us witness a guest rampage at least once?”