Chapter 33.1
No matter how strong Xiao Tangqiuâs heart was, he still almost got a heart attack from what Tang Mianmian had said. He not only felt a chill rising from his tailbone, even his scalp was numb with tiny pinp.r.i.c.ks. ââ¦â¦.Donât simply make jokes in a place like this, youâll frighten me to deathâ¦â¦..â
His voice swayed because he found that Tang Mianmian and Lu Siâerâs terrified expressions were genuine. It didnât look like they were joking or playing a prank on him. In the next moment, he suddenly felt his shoulders sag with a dull pressure â something seemed to have fallen onto his shoulders.
With that, Xiao Tangqiu felt pins and needles all over his scalp as his hair stood on end.
âQiuqiuâ¦â¦. yourâ¦â¦. your shouldersâ¦â¦.â Tang Mianmian looked even more frightened.
Xiao Tangqiu immediately felt numb in one shoulder as a biting chill spread along his entire back. He froze for a few seconds,
before suddenl
y reacting by trying to shake that thing off his shoulder.
He a.s.sumed that it would be difficult to get rid of it once it climbed onto him. However, to his surprise, he managed to fling it off with a jerk and felt his shoulder suddenly lighten. That thing was actually thrown off by him!
But he didnât dare to stay a moment longer in this room so he rushed to grab Tang Mianmian by the wrist and turned to run towards the door.
As he was running, he suddenly heard Tang Mianmian scream in horror, âQiuqiu! Qiuqiu! â
Xiao Tangqiu paused. Why did Tang Mianmianâs voiceâ¦â¦.. sound a little far off from him?
He turned and looked back, only to find that Tang Mianmian and Lu Siâer were still standing in the same place, staring at him with an expression of dread and horror.
â¦â¦â¦Wait a minute! If Tang Mianmian was over there, then whose hand was he holding now?
He turned his head stiffly and finally saw the object he was holding onto â the crudely made puppet he had just seen in the corner! Right now, he was holding the puppetâs tiny hand while it floated mid-air. Its eyes that were made of black stones glowed faintly in the flickering candlelight.
The puppetâs hand was very small and didnât have the cold texture of wood, but was warm and delicate like the touch of human skinâ¦â¦. At that thought, Xiao Tangqiu instantly felt his skin crawl.
He was so shocked that at that moment, he even forgot about how terrified he was. He stood there, staring up at the puppet. Then, all at once, he felt the fear in his heart intensify. Although it was a puppet, the texture of its skin was very supple and lifelike, comparable to real skin. No wood or resin material could produce such a lifelike, human texture. Moreover, upon closer inspection, the puppetâs hair seemed to be made of real hair. He could see strands of white hairs hidden in its mane of black hair. There was no way an ordinary puppet could grow white hairs!
Xiao Tangqiu immediately dumped the puppet aside, but as soon as he let go of its hand, the puppet fluttered leisurely into the air. Its black stone eyes looked at him with hatred and in the next second, the puppetâs hair suddenly began to grow wildly until it reached one or two meters in length. And then it bared its teeth at Xiao Tangqiu and shot its hair towards him.
Xiao Tangqiuâs wrist was tangled in the puppetâs hair in an instant. The hair was so thick and tenacious that no matter how hard he struggled, it only became more tightly bound. He watched helplessly as the puppet pulled him closer bit by bit with its hair, and broke out in cold sweat.
âDonât be afraid! Iâll save you!â Tang Mianmian shouted as he picked up a pillow from the bed. He swung it violently at the floating puppet. His strength was very strong but the puppet wouldnât budge despite being severely hit. Instead, the pillow fell apart and the feathers inside spilled out.
Feathers drifted in the air as the puppet glared bitterly at Tang Mianmian. It quickly separated several strands of hair to wrap around Tang Mianmianâs ankle, exerting enough strength to hang Tang Mianmian upside down in mid-air.
âAhhh! Help!â Tang Mianmian struggled desperately as he swayed to and fro.
Xiao Tangqiu was moved by Tang Mianmianâs resolve to save him. Seeing that the puppet was distracted, he immediately used this opportunity to break free, but the puppet soon sensed his intention and tightened its hair around him again.
âLet me go! You ugly monster!â Tang Mianmian shouted as he struggled. It wasnât certain if the puppet could understand what he had said but it soon divided a strand of hair, wrapped it around Tang Mianmianâs neck and threw him violently against the wall with a loud
bang
. The force was so great that Tang Mianmian nearly fainted.
Xiao Tangqiu fought desperately to remove himself from its grip and indicated with his eyes for Lu Siâer to find something to save them. However, Lu Siâer merely stood at a loss. Obviously, her brain had gone completely blank. Xiao Tangqiu didnât know how else they could be saved them and could only think of the object calledâ¦. âLighter! Do you have a lighter?â
Lu Siâer turned pale with fear, âNo, noâ¦â¦ I donât smokeâ¦â¦.â
Xiao Tangqiu didnât have one on him either. All he had with him was some hemostatic sprays and a flashlight. Even the only piece of candy he had brought from the real world had been eaten up. Tang Mianmian had even less on him. He continued to cry out without hope, âWhat about scissors? Or a knife? Do you have any of these?!â
Lu Siâer said in despair, âI donâtâ¦â¦.â
Xiao Tangqiu was at the point of desperation, but under the threat of death, he suddenly remembered his special skill card. Before this, someone had given him a flashlight, would someone else give him something that he could use right now?
He held onto the last glimmer of hope as he used his special skill card. At once, a barrage of comments emerged in front of him.
âExciting content up ahead!â
âExciting content up ahead! s.e.xy streamer live streams his one-on-one fight with evil puppet!â
âCome and bet! If you think the streamer will win, comment 1; if you think the evil puppet will win, comment 2; if you think theyâll end up killing each other, comment 3!â
â11111 I bet cute little streamer wins! I bet 10 yellow talismans! Give it your all Mr. Streamer!!!!!!â
â¦â¦
â¦â¦ What the h.e.l.l were these?! He was dying ah! Why were they still betting?! Human life comes first ah! Why wasnât there anyone rewarding props at the most critical moment?
Just when Xiao Tangqiu was so depressed that he could vomit blood, the only suggestive comment immediately caught his attention â âWhy not use the picture on the wall to smash the puppet? Isnât that more lethal than a pillow?â
He reacted instantly,
yes! The picture frame had sharp edges and could be considered as a lethal weapon!
âPainting! The picture on the wall! Throw it to me!â Xiao Tangqiu quickly shouted at Lu Siâer.
Lu Siâer paused for a moment. Although, she was a little afraid of the painting, she rushed to take it down and threw it at Xiao Tangqiu from a distance â¦â¦.However, her strength was a little lacking, so instead of successfully making it into Xiao Tangqiuâs hands, the painting fell directly onto the puppet.
Xiao Tangqiuâs heart sank at once. All he could think was,
itâs over, itâs over.
However, at that moment, something completely beyond his expectation happened â the moment the painting touched the puppet, the puppet suddenly gave out a shrill scream; one that was full of fear. Instantly, the puppet disappeared!
Xiao Tangqiu stared at the scene before him, dumbfounded. When the puppet disappeared, its hair naturally disappeared as well. Tang Mianmian immediately fell to the floor with a
thump
, as the back of his head knocked into the hard surface.
âf.u.c.k! Iâm about to die from the pain!â
Lu Siâer asked blankly, âWhatâ¦â¦ what happened just now?â
âf.u.c.k! f.u.c.k! I definitely have a concussion! Iâm going to lose my memory!â Tang Mianmian wailed and scrambled from the ground, ââ¦â¦What the f.u.c.k is stabbing me?!â
Xiao Tangqiu hurried to help Tang Mianmian up, âAre you alright?â
âWhat the h.e.l.l is stabbing my hand?!â Tang Mianmian picked up something from the floor. Xiao Tangqiu leaned over and realized it was a cla.s.sic pocket watch with a very delicate design and a beautiful embossed pattern on the outer metal cover. It mustâve been what was p.r.i.c.king Tang Mianmianâs hand.
âIs this a pocket watch?â Lu Siâer, who was still in a state of shock, studied it for a while and seemed to recall something, âIt probably fell out of the pillow when you hit the puppet earlier.â
Tang Mianmian seemed to realize something as well, âItâs no wonder I thought I heard something fall out of the pillow at that time; a
dong
sound! At that time I didnât think more about itâ¦â¦ â
âIs this Mariaâs? But why did she hide the pocket watch in the pillowâ¦â¦â Xiao Tangqiu examined it, then opened the cover of the pocket watch. The pocket watch consisted of two parts â the bottom part was the clock dial which told the time, and the top part had a compartment for a photo. There was a small photo of someone on it.
âIt canât be Lippin.o.bertâs anyway.â Tang Mianmian said, touching his chin. âHe has no reason to hide his stuff in Mariaâs pillow, right?â
Xiao Tangqiu took a closer look at the photo and immediately froze. There was no doubt that the woman in this black and white photo looked just like Lily Marlene, especially her eyes.
If this woman was Mariaâ¦â¦ was the similarity in her appearance and Lily Marleneâs purely coincidental, or was it someoneâs intention?
Tang Mianmian also leaned in and immediately discovered that the small figure in the photo resembled Lily Marlene. âWhy does this Maria look so similar to Lily Marlene? Could they be sisters or relatives?â
âJudging from the letter from Lippin.o.bert, that shouldnât be the case,â Lu Siâer shook her head and denied. âThey just look alike.â
âIt seems that Lippin.o.bert was rather obsessed with Lily Marlene. Not only does he hang her portrait everywhere in the castle, he also looked for someone with a similar appearance to be his wife. This must be true love!â Tang Mianmian sighed with emotion, âI didnât expect that weird guy to have such an infatuated side to him. You really canât judge a book by its cover.â
Xiao Tangqiu frowned slightly, âThis pocket watch should be an important clue or prop. Letâs put it away first.â
Tang Mianmian didnât think too much as he casually dropped the pocket watch into his trouser pocket. Xiao Tangqiu turned away to look at the painting that had fallen to the floor. He rubbed his chin while he studied it.
âBy the way, what happened just now? Why did the puppet suddenly disappear?â Tang Mianmian suddenly remembered this unusual occurrence in hindsight and quickly asked.
Xiao Tangqiu shook his head and pointed to Lily Marleneâs painting. âI donât know, but it seems that the puppet disappeared after being hit by this paintingâ¦â¦â
Tang Mianmian suddenly realized, âIs this the power of the first wife? The halo of true love? As long as this queen is still around, everyone else are merely concubines?â
Xiao Tangqiuâs mouth twitched, âI donât know, but itâs most likely due to this painting.â
âIt seems that this painting is quite useful! Shall we take it with us then? â Tang Mianmian asked.
âNo, this painting is everywhere. If we meet that puppet again, we can just take one down from the wall,â Xiao Tangqiu shook his head. âBesides, itâs too troublesome to carry a painting everywhere. What if Lippin.o.bert sees us and thinks that weâre thieves?â
âYes, it would be embarra.s.sing if Lippin.o.bert thought we were in love with Lily Marlene and wanted to rob him of his wife,â Tang Mianmian nodded and said earnestly. âHe loves his wife so much that he would definitely kill us.â
Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian put the painting back together, and then rummaged through the other corners of the room with Lu Siâer. There was nothing else of importance, so they left the room.
âWhere should we go next?â Tang Mianmian turned to ask Xiao Tangqiu. He just finished speaking when a loud scream echoed from the distance. âAhhhhh!â