Chapter 445: Anyone there?

With the hint, spotting the doll in the corner wasn't difficult.

Upon close inspection, Gentle Kiss's eyes lit up; the doll was wearing a red hat!

Since the problem in this stage lies with the Big Bad Wolf, perhaps Little Red Riding Hood can help a bit.

With a target, Gentle Kiss sprang into action!

She dodged the Big Bad Wolf doll's attack, quickly creating distance and moving toward the stage.

The Big Bad Wolf had long lost interest in other players, who all avoided it; only that damned Gentle Kiss kept leaping and taunting it!

Thus, it naturally caught up with Gentle Kiss!

Kiss Sister, of course, wasn't a pushover; she surged forward, forced her way through a Big Bad Wolf lunge, and stepped onto the stage edge in a few strides.

She thought victory was within reach, but the moment she set foot on the stage, a sudden anomaly erupted!

The once‑still forest on the stage seemed to come alive. The rough wooden trunks creaked, and branches, like animated tentacles, whipped with sharp wind from all directions toward Gentle Kiss!

But Gentle Kiss is actually the fourth‑ranked player in the Long Guo region—and also a Lone Wolf player!

That ranking carries genuine weight.

She placed fourth mainly because the second and third combined all faction resources; individually, only Wu Ya could consistently outclass her and hold the top seat.

Facing this situation, Gentle Kiss even had time to curl her lip, showing a barely excited grin.

Daggers fluttered between her fingers; each precise block or slash sent wood shavings flying with a crack. She didn't just brute‑force; she used the attacks as levers, deflecting while closing in on the small doll in the stage corner!

A rust‑spotted axe blade whooshed past her head.

That was the method Gentle Kiss devised.

Pfft!

The dagger sank in, but the feel was off.

It wasn't the expected sensation of piercing wood; it felt more like stabbing into a cold, viscous liquid.

But it seemed to have some effect.

The process was off, but the answer was right!

Gentle Kiss's eyes lit up and she kicked Little Red Riding Hood's rear.

Fearing another mishap, she used full force.

The small doll was launched by her kick, its wooden body arcing like a parabola toward the audience.

Driven by canine instinct, its gaze instantly locked onto the soaring red.

It let out an excited low growl, crouched its hind legs, wiggled its rear cutely, then thrust powerfully; its massive body leapt like a gray cannonball, its gaping maw flashing fangs in the dim light, precisely targeting the half‑airborne doll.

Immediately, a mouth‑watering chewing sound rang out.

Wood shavings, stuffing, and the Little Red Riding Hood hat were all bitten by the Big Bad Wolf.

It flicked its neck, flinging the broken doll body into the air, then clamped down again, tearing it wildly as if playing with a favorite toy.

The doll's stuffing scattered across the ground like snow.

Meanwhile, the trees' assault on the stage abruptly stopped. They froze mid‑air, then slowly retracted, reverting to harmless set pieces.

Gentle Kiss instantly put distance between herself and everything, half‑kneeling at the stage center, watching the Big Bad Wolf feast.

It was diligently tearing the wooden carcass in its mouth, as if gnawing a prized bone, emitting satisfied rumbling from its throat, eyes half‑closed, seemingly savoring a banquet.

What kind of wolf is this, anyway?

It's clearly a big dog.

The players below were stunned, watching the scene, not daring to breathe for fear of disturbing it.

Cheng Shuili also stared at the scene, still not grasping its meaning, when another scorching gaze pulled her attention away.

Turning, she saw Gentle Kiss perched on the one‑way glass of her SVIP private room, eyes fixed intently on the interior.

Her gaze was so scorching that Cheng Shuili began to doubt whether the glass was truly one‑way.

After a while, perhaps seeing no movement inside, she tapped the glass and whispered, "Wuya Lao Da?"

Inside the glass, Cheng Shuili's mouth twitched imperceptibly.

It can even be watched?

Through the one‑way glass, across the massive stage commotion, Gentle Kiss could still pinpoint her location by sound and recognize her voice?

Should we say this guy's intuition is terrifyingly sharp, or that she has an almost blind obsession in seeking her teammate?

Cheng Shuili stayed still and silent.

She leisurely took a piece of jerky from the Abyssal Ring, placed it in her mouth, and chewed slowly.

Her gaze calmly returned to the nearly flattened face posted outside the glass.

Outside, Gentle Kiss, receiving no reply, furrowed her brows even tighter.

She knocked twice more, her voice a bit louder: "Hey? Anyone there? Wu Ya? Is that you?"

She even pressed her ear to the glass, trying to hear inside.

Cheng Shuili: "…"

The more she called, the less Cheng Shuili wanted to respond.

A bit embarrassing.

Really.

At that moment, the Big Bad Wolf shook its head, flicking the last wood shavings from its mouth; its bright green eyes reopened, but the ferocity and hunger had largely faded, replaced by a post‑satiation laziness with a hint of cluelessness.

That very cluelessness made the otherwise unsightly monster look oddly cute now.

The Big Bad Wolf's massive body swayed, no longer watching the players below; it turned slowly and headed toward the now‑calm forest deep in the stage.

Halfway there, its huge form became transparent, then ethereal, like melting wax, finally vanishing completely into the stage scenery's shadows.

The stage lights changed once more.

The dim forest shadows faded, replaced by soft warm orange‑yellow lights that illuminated the slightly disheveled stage.

Scattered wood chips, stuffing, and the lone rusted axe lying on the floor.

Act Two… is over.

She glanced at the Gray Puppet that resumed setting the scene, and Qing Qing's kiss shifted her attention back to the single‑sided glass before her.

She was absolutely certain that Wu Ya Zuo Fei Ji was definitely inside, but the other party seemed unwilling to acknowledge her.

Qing Qing's kiss stepped back a few paces, sat on the seat closest to the glass, and a pair of eyes stared fixedly at the glass, as if through the single‑sided glass one could see Cheng Shuili sitting behind.

Cheng Shuili remained unmoving as a mountain, leisurely finished the jerky she had taken out, and then took out another piece.

This was the most relaxing Instance Cheng Shuili had ever participated in.

The entire Juchang performance had little to do with her; she only needed to treat it as an immersive bloody horror film.

And what about Qing Qing's kiss?

She stared at the single‑sided glass reflecting her vague silhouette, her brows furrowing tighter.

She wasn't a fool; that shout earlier didn't summon anyone—either Wu Ya wasn't inside, or… Wu Ya was deliberately ignoring her.

Recalling the brief encounter during the meeting, Qing Qing's kiss leaned more toward the latter.

"Tsk." She clicked her tongue in annoyance, stopped trying to shout for the door, and redirected her gaze back to the stage.

The Gray Puppets busily worked in silence, taking down the disordered forest set and bringing in new props.

This time it seemed to be… the interior of a castle?

One could see rough yet towering stone walls, a lavish big bed draped with heavy curtains, and a floor mirror whose edges were inlaid with twisted patterns.

A new story was about to begin.

Qing Qing's kiss withdrew her gaze, leaned back against the chair, closed her eyes, as if conserving her energy.

But her ears twitched slightly, catching an extremely faint… chewing sound from the booth?

It was light and restrained, but to players with heightened senses, especially in this relatively quiet theater between acts, how could she not hear it?

Qing Qing's kiss curled the corner of her mouth into a knowing arc.

She finally confirmed that Wu Ya was indeed inside.

Not only was she quite leisurely, she also had something to eat.

Qing Qing's kiss did nothing else, just waited quietly.

As the set neared completion, the Juchang lights dimmed again, and the few spectators on the audience platform fell silent.

This time, without a cue, they consciously found whole chairs to sit in, their expressions tense as they waited.

Act Three, opening.

The stage lights focused on the lavish big bed.

Cheng Shuili immediately noticed that the biggest difference this time was that all the furniture, or rather the set, was real.

The bed was a genuine wooden structure, the curtains heavy velvet, and the edges even showed frayed threads.

The floor mirror likewise, its brass‑rimmed intricate ancient pattern, now clearly reflected the stiff silhouette of the golden‑haired puppet on the bed.

Even the stone tile patterns on the wall exuded a cold, hard aura.

This subtle difference made Cheng Shuili's chewing pause briefly, her gaze sharpening a few degrees.

On stage, a golden‑haired figure in an elaborate classical nightgown slowly sat up from the bed.

Cheng Shuili furrowed her brows, stared intently at the person's face for a while, then confirmed she hadn't misread.

It was an extremely beautiful woman.

Her golden hair flowed like moving sunlight, shimmering with a soft luster even under the dim stage lights.

Her skin was so pale it was almost translucent, features exquisitely refined beyond mortal, long lashes drooping, she wore a silk classical nightgown embroidered with intricate silver patterns at the collar and cuffs, enveloped in a dreamlike aura.

What Cheng Shuili cared about was that this time the figure on stage was not a puppet at all, but a real person.

No… this thing might not even be human.

In an Instance, aside from players, there are no normal humans.

The lavish woman on stage, just having sat up, instantly captured all the players' attention.

They stared at her every move, even their breathing unconsciously softened, as if fearing to disturb something.

The woman sat on the bed, posture lazy yet perfect, like a meticulously carved artwork.

She rose from the bed, lifted a hand, brushed her loose hair; each motion was supremely graceful, yet resembled a child newly learning to walk mimicking adult posture, with a subtle stiffness.

It was like a top‑tier film that kept stuttering; no one would claim the plot had any issues, yet when asked about the viewing experience, absolutely no one would say it was good.

Placed on this woman, the players sensed a bizarre inhuman quality.

She slowly turned her head toward the audience.

The lights fell on her face, and everyone saw her beautiful glass‑colored eyes.

She slowly rose, barefoot on the stage.

But that stiff, unpracticed feeling remained, as if she hadn't moved in ages; she suddenly fell onto the stage.

The players below the stage broke into a nervous sweat over the sudden turn.

The woman on stage showed no sign of embarrassment or pain; she merely lifted her hand lightly and continued lying still.

While the bewildered players watched, two Gray Puppets emerged from somewhere, hopping onto the stage, each bracing the woman's arm from left and right, then together lifting her up.

These two Gray Puppets were quite respectful toward the woman, even a bit cautious.

Perhaps the woman could not stand on her own, so the puppets simply maintained the pose, heads bowed, demeanor humble.