Shen Mo stopped and asked her: “You think our current approach is wrong?”

Bai Youwei furrowed her brow, unsure how to put it.

The approach… the approach itself was naturally fine. Whether it was the earlier use of fire to separate Mary and the cat, or the current plan to use lassos to force the two of them apart — setting aside results for now, from a strategic standpoint alone, there was nothing wrong with it.

But, based on all the previous games they’d played, the conditions for completing a game were never a matter of driving every player to become a martial arts master. Nor would a game deliberately make things impossible for players —

If the setting gave Mary and the cat a near-“immortal body,” and then required players to kill them — wasn’t that a contradiction?

There was also one point that had been bothering her for a long time.

…Hide-and-seek.

Up to this point, she genuinely could not see what connection this game had with “hide-and-seek.”

But the clues right now were too scattered and impossible to piece together into a complete line of logic. She thought hard, but still had no thread to follow.

“Whatever the case, be careful.” Bai Youwei said softly. “Something feels off to me.”

Shen Mo shifted her higher on his back and said: “I’ll pass on the warning to the others.”

They continued upward. Reaching the topmost floor of the clock tower, the light was bright and clear.

Bai Youwei leaned against the railing and looked down.

Even without binoculars, she could clearly see Yan Qingwen arranging traps beside the carousel — ropes winding this way and that, with Lu Ang’s large iron anchor hoisted up as well, though what ultimate function it would serve remained unclear.

Setting traps required real skill in calculation and spatial reasoning.

Even the simplest rope-trip required consideration of the opponent’s stride length, the height of each lifted foot, the angle of each footfall, and so on.

Shen Mo didn’t stay long in the clock tower — he went back down quickly to help.

Bai Youwei leaned against the railing, watching them busy themselves below, and couldn’t help wondering: was she overthinking it?

The game, while not designed to turn every player into a martial arts master, did tend to favor those with higher combat ability — because:

If you could fight your way out of a rabbit stampede, you could always run back even if you chose the wrong path;

If you could kill the giant frog, you’d have unlimited time to search for the golden ball;

If they could now eliminate the cloth cat or Mary, this hide-and-seek game would be over…

She believed that across different games, there were certain common patterns. If something felt wrong, there must be a problem somewhere.

A few hours passed quickly.

Every effort that needed to be made — they had made it all. Now there was only the test of results.

The girl and cat on the carousel slept quietly, as if unaware of the deadly intent surrounding them on all sides.

Yan Qingwen, Lu Ang, and Shen Mo had all taken their positions.

In their hands they held strange rope loops — woven from hemp rope but wound with a circle of thin wire, apparently to add rigidity.

Yan Qingwen reminded them: “Watch out for the pointed corners of the carousel canopy — don’t let any part of your body rise above that line, that’s where you’ll enter the cloth doll’s field of vision.”

Shen Mo gave a slight nod and reminded him in turn: “If you catch it, immediately signal us and we’ll come help you.”

“Same to you.” Yan Qingwen looked at them. “If things go wrong, get to one of those hiding spots and take cover. Don’t push through it. When Mary and the cat can’t see any players, they’ll quickly go back to sleep. At that point we’ll still have a chance.”

Everyone nodded and turned their gaze once more toward Mary and the cat high above.

This was it — everything depended on this one attempt!

Everything was ready.

Lu Ang gripped the rope loop in his hands tightly. The coiled wire prickled at his skin, but he was completely unaware of it, his eyes unblinking as they stared at the cat on the carousel.

His mission: to lasso the cloth cat!

He inhaled deeply and tightened the rope loop once more.

Three…

…Two… One… Go!

—