Chapter 24 - The Vanished Mermaid (Part 17)

“I won’t die,” said the magician.

The doll didn’t respond, his gaze drifting off as he entered a daze, waiting for the magician’s punishment to end.

-If he weren’t a doll, he might have been overwhelmed by the heavy scent of blood.

Time passed, and the statue-like doll was drawn back to reality by a noise behind him. Luo Yiran turned his head.

The staff emerged from the undersea tunnel, alone.

The doll stood up, turning to face the staff.

The staff saw the magician covered in blood but didn’t comment, merely informing the doll, “They’ve all left.”

“Hmm…” Luo Yiran made a low nasal sound, smiling. “Seems they’ve reached a consensus.”

The staff’s eyes blinked rapidly above his mask. “What do you mean?”

“Weighed the pros and cons and decided it was safer to leave the underwater world. So, they treated this as a session of information sharing,” Luo Yiran said without hesitation, his long eyelashes fluttering slightly. “They reached a consensus to leave together.”

“Yeah, you’ve been abandoned,” the staff remarked, still gloating despite being impressed by Luo Yiran’s quick response.

“Nonsense,” the magician, wrapped in blood-soaked bandages, suddenly spoke. “I’m still here with him.”

The doll glanced down-the magician wasn’t dead… and from the sound of it, he seemed quite spirited.

Yet, the blood-stained bandages made the already eerie magician even more terrifying.

He raised his left hand to remove the hat from his head, revealing gray hair roots stained with blood, gradually turning red.

The magician extended his right hand, intending to touch the doll, but his fingers stopped just several centimeters away.

His body no longer his own, the magician seemed resigned. “I won’t harm you,” he said earnestly.

“Heh,” the doll scoffed, maneuvering the magician to place the hat back on his blood-stained head. “You just said you wanted to kill me.”

“Because I’m afraid of you leaving,” the magician’s voice floated, as if joking yet feeling very real. “And don’t you want to kill me too?”

“Wanting to kill each other is the most romantic thing about our relationship.”

The doll tilted his head slightly, unceremoniously retorting, “You can shut up now.”

He was born without a romantic bone in his body.

The staff waited quietly for them to finish arguing before asking the doll, “I’m going to pick up some supplies. Want to come along?”

“Sure,” the doll replied, as if he were truly a colleague of the underwater world staff, his tone casual. “Are you driving? Can you stop by the lower class area?”

The staff wasn’t used to the doll’s casual demeanor, but since it wasn’t nighttime and Luo Yiran didn’t have any tasks to perform, he simply said, “Alright.”

Then he asked, “But what are you going to the lower class area for?”

The doll replied, “To meet two newly acquainted friends.”

That evening, on the way back, the staff picked up the doll. From the rearview mirror, he watched the magician settle in. “I’m surprised you didn’t try to leave.”

The doll nestled in the magician’s arms, looking at the staff through the front mirror. “What would happen if I left?”

“That’s a secret,” the staff said mysteriously.

The doll was amiable. “I won’t leave.”

The staff focused on the road ahead. “You’re quite strange.” The last players who needed to stay in the underwater world were all terrified. Why wasn’t he afraid?

The doll gazed out the window. The magician’s wrinkled clothes bore some dust, and the bandages wrapped around him were stained with blood, yet he held a pristine, beautiful doll.

The sunset’s light streamed through the window, giving the magician’s gray hair a hint of warmth.

It was an incredibly poignant and touching scene, like a knight with nothing left silently guarding his only cherished treasure.

The doll let the light fall into his eyes. “I’m not strange. It’s just what you think.”

…You?

The staff asked no more, silently driving back to the underwater world. He cast a worried glance at the underwater world before finally telling the doll, “You can’t leave the underwater world during your shift.”

“Is that the only rule?” Luo Yiran confirmed.

The staff nodded. “That’s the only one, but if you can, catch whoever’s causing trouble in the underwater world at night.”

“I’ll reward you.”

“Okay,” Luo Yiran agreed.

The staff walked to the door, looking back repeatedly.

“See you tomorrow,” Luo Yiran waved.

Not that it was necessary. The staff didn’t expect to see a lively Luo Yiran tomorrow; he was more prepared to collect a corpse.

As the staff opened the door, he said, “The door needs to stay open for ventilation.”

Luo Yiran: “Ventilation? More like letting monsters in.”

The staff expertly pretended not to hear that, opening the door and quietly leaving.

“Young master, it’s just us now,” the magician noted, looking at the door.

The doll ignored him, maneuvering the magician to place him on a high cabinet, then set the magician to work on the underwater world. As the magician progressed, the doll’s mood gradually improved-though it wasn’t stage magic, it was enough to bring joy.

“Young master,” the magician spoke while busy, “do you like stage magic?”

The doll swung his legs. “Not particularly.”

The magician seemed to glance at the doll. “Young master didn’t like it? I thought you did.”

The doll pulled out a deck of cards, shuffling them before drawing one at random. He didn’t look at the card, instead having the magician glance at it for confirmation-it was the three of hearts.

After the magician looked, the doll flicked his wrist, and somehow the three of hearts vanished, leaving three small roses in his hand.

“I don’t like it, nor am I good at it. It’s just my first hobby.”

The magician eyed the roses. “Young master, can I have them?”

“After you finish your work,” the doll placed the flowers beside him.

“Alright. It’s just a shame you’re not good at stage magic. There’s a trick I can’t master, and I hoped to ask you.”

The doll played with the cards, letting them slip through his ball-jointed fingers. “Stage magic isn’t fun. It always relies on items.”

“The trick I want to learn doesn’t rely on any items.”

The doll finally looked up, interested. He was about to ask what the trick was when different footsteps echoed from the door.

“They’re here.”

The doll quickly had the magician wrap up preparations, ready to face the incoming mermaid monster.

But it was Artel who walked in.

Artel peeked in, his eyes lighting up upon seeing the doll on the cabinet. “Luo Yiran!”

He dashed over.

The doll didn’t move. “Weren’t you resting on the second floor?”

During the day, Artel had fainted after the mermaid possessed him, and the staff had placed him on the second floor.

And locked the door.

Artel blinked. “I came to find you.”

The doll squinted. “How did you open the door?”

Artel shyly scratched his golden hair. “The door was broken. I just pushed it open.”

The doll had personally seen the staff lock the door when they brought Artel.

Artel looked puzzled. “What’s wrong?”

“Someone opened the door for you,” the doll stated.

Artel’s eyes widened. “A thief?!”

The doll glanced at the door. “No, maybe it’s them.”

Artel froze, slowly turning to look at the entrance.

It wasn’t a mermaid monster at the door, but a group of black cloaked figures of varying heights.

Artel clutched the cabinet edge, trembling. “Luo Yiran… can I come up?”

Luo Yiran raised his hand, and the magician stepped forward, shielding the doll.

Without looking at Artel, Luo Yiran said, “Don’t come up, and don’t move.”

Artel knew the words were meant for him, so he clung to the cabinet, shivering.

“Puppet,” the doll’s fingers pointed casually in the air, and the magician shook two small knives from his sleeve, spinning them in circles. “Hope you don’t break halfway.”

“Don’t worry, young master,” the magician’s voice was excited. “I won’t break.”

It had been a long time since Luo Yiran had fought. He awkwardly moved the magician’s body.

The black cloaked figures stepped into the underwater world, and as they entered, Luo Yiran noticed some held a half-human length of fish tail, blood trailing from where it had been dragged.

They had killed the mermaid monster.

“Young master, if you’re not good at fighting, you can let go at certain times,” the magician suggested. “I’m quite good at it…”

“Kill Idia!”

The leading black cloaked figure suddenly raised a hand and shouted.

“Kill Idia! Kill Idia! Kill Idia!”

The other cloaked figures echoed the cry with fervor.

Luo Yiran was fine with most of it, but when he saw the chaotic black markings on the leader’s raised arm, he confirmed they were from the prison.

“Capture one alive,” Luo Yiran grinned.

This was another reason he stayed in the underwater world. “I need to figure out how many factions are in Water City.”

And the prison, who exactly do they belong to?