Doll Survival Game - Chapter 31 - The Vanished Mermaid (Part 24)

Longing to see Luo Yiran.

From the small window of the prison, a glimpse of green branches stretches into the sunlight.

It reminds Xia Lang of the only window in his childhood’s dark room where light could be seen. He stares up woodenly-

Back then, Luo Yiran would appear outside that small window, but now Luo Yiran wouldn’t appear outside this prison window.

As dawn approaches, the black cloaked men who escaped return. A newly arrived patrol glances at Xia Lang through the door, seemingly puzzled whether this person was in the prison before.

In Water City, one cannot go out at night, so the patrol locks themselves in their houses every night, while some in the prison don black cloaks and leave openly.

Xia Lang now understands that if one goes out at night in Water City, they are not human.

So he keeps his distance from those in the prison who resemble puppets.

The person who saved him promised to take him to see Luo Yiran, but after enduring the entire day without seeing him, Xia Lang decides to follow those donning black cloaks to leave and find Luo Yiran himself on the second night.

However, as soon as he steps out, the black cloaked men halt and turn to look at him.

It’s terrifying.

In the eerie prison, dozens of black cloaked men stare at him with lifeless eyes. Xia Lang trembles, clutching the scar on his throat, and shouts as if to bluff, “I want to go out!”

The black cloaked men step aside, and the one at the front appears before Xia Lang. Unlike the others, this one has vivid blue eyes, smiling as he approaches to grab Xia Lang’s hair, “Not yet.”

Xia Lang is scared, but his gaze remains stubborn as he meets the black cloaked man’s eyes, “Let me out.”

The mermaid looks at Xia Lang, “I said, not yet.”

Xia Lang feels strange, as if he’s still teetering on the edge of death, filled with fear, terror… uncertainty.

He blinks, and tears fall. Xia Lang is overwhelmed, “Please, let me out.”

The mermaid doesn’t say no this time, because seeing Xia Lang’s eyes, he suddenly feels that if he refuses, this person might not only break down but also attack him.

To avoid unnecessary trouble, the mermaid uses his best ability on Xia Lang, staring deeply-temporarily turning him into his puppet…

Xia Lang doesn’t dodge or react, just sobbing uncontrollably, his eyes fragile.

The mermaid is taken aback.

Xia Lang claws at the ground, his nails breaking, leaving specks of blood on the floor. Speaking with difficulty due to his throat injury, “I… I want to go out… to see Ranran…”

The mermaid understands, feeling a twinge of pity as he knocks Xia Lang unconscious with a swift chop-how pitiful, not being the most important person in one’s own heart.

When Xia Lang wakes again, there’s no one in sight. He clings to the iron door, staring at the entrance, unmoving until dawn breaks.

Then the mermaid returns.

He doesn’t stay in his original form but appears as an eye on the back of another black cloaked man’s hand. He opens Xia Lang’s cell door, meeting Xia Lang’s cold gaze, and tosses a sword, “Take it, go to the lower class area.”

Xia Lang doesn’t take the sword.

“That doll suggested you need to vent… Hmm, you do seem on the verge of collapse,” the mermaid blinks.

The mention of the doll makes Xia Lang pause, then he straightens up, taking the sword and donning the large black cloak handed by the mermaid.

Gripping the sword tightly, his eyes glint under the cloak-surely the lower class area is where Ranran is leading, Ranran needs him.

The mermaid misunderstands, watching Xia Lang tremble slightly, “Excited? You can do anything in the lower class area without consequences, vent to your heart’s content.”

Xia Lang pulls down the hood, revealing a small smile on his tear-streaked face, “…Thank you.”

Followed by two black cloaked men, Xia Lang leaves the prison. As he steps out, the prison guards emerge too, heading to the shelter.

Xia Lang pauses, glancing back at the black cloaked men behind him, then swiftly sheds the cloak, shouting for help.

The guards are momentarily stunned, then rush forward.

Xia Lang watches coldly as the black cloaked men are taken away-indeed, during the day, the prison’s inhabitants can’t resist the guards; if they escape, they’ll be caught.

So the prisoners return before the guards leave their quarters.

Xia Lang turns and leaves-the blue-eyed one might not have such restrictions, he needs to hurry.

Crossing the nearly deserted streets, he dons the cloak again upon reaching the lower class area. Having heard about the situation there from the guards, he straightens his back, letting the blood-red sword show, exuding an intimidating presence.

The lower class area bullies the weak, so he must appear unyielding.

Wandering aimlessly, Xia Lang passes by gatherings where people are competing for something, not sparing them a glance, focused solely on finding Luo Yiran.

Spotting a slightly elevated garbage heap, he climbs up to use the vantage point to search-the magician is conspicuous, if Ranran is here, he’ll find him…

There he is.

In front of a dilapidated small hut, Xia Lang meets Luo Yiran’s gaze from under the wide hood, and the doll smiles at him.

It’s a familiar smile, even though it’s from a doll’s body, Xia Lang understands.

He glances at Artel behind the magician, then sheaths his sword and turns away.

Xia Lang patiently waits for Luo Yiran to leave the small hut, then follows, dragging the heavy sword, picking up the scorched cards with writing on them.

His hands tremble as he looks at the cards, not feeling that Luo Yiran’s request for him to seize the leader position in the lower class area is excessive. He grips the long sword-Luo Yiran trusts him.

Creak.

A door opens behind him, and Xia Lang turns to see an ugly old man, his lower body entwined with strange wood, supporting himself with it, emerging from the small hut.

Seeing Xia Lang, the old man’s eyes widen in terror at the sight of the sword, hastily shutting the door.

Xia Lang lowers his head-the old man fears this sword… and its owner, the blue-eyed monster.

But it has nothing to do with him. Xia Lang isn’t even curious about what Luo Yiran discussed with the old man; he just wants to become the leader quickly.

Luo Yiran knows the current situation in the lower class area well, thanks mainly to the two people he initially captured from there.

With the option revealed and knowing Xia Lang is with the mermaid, Luo Yiran plans to form a new faction.

As the mermaid initially mentioned distrust, Luo Yiran can’t trust others either, and joining someone else’s faction would come with unknown restrictions. Instead, forming a new faction allows Xia Lang to focus elsewhere.

Luo Yiran understands Xia Lang, just as Xia Lang can discern Luo Yiran’s instructions from a smile. After all, they grew up together…

Luo Yiran knows his importance to Xia Lang and how easily Xia Lang could break down, how poor his current state might be.

Fortunately, Xia Lang listens, and as long as he has something to do, he can temporarily recover.

Reaching the lower class area is simple, suggesting free movement and deliberately letting the mermaid misunderstand the word “vent.” The mermaid would think venting means Xia Lang wants to kill or harm someone.

Thus, the likelihood of Xia Lang ending up in the lower class area is high.

But even if it’s not the lower class area, it’s fine; the main thing is to let Xia Lang “vent.”

He’s merely providing Xia Lang with an escape opportunity.

The fish tail happily slaps inside the magician’s hat, and the doll selects option four on the holo-panel. Soon, Xia Lang agrees to join him.

With the faction chosen, the holo-panel disappears.

The doll’s gaze falls on Artel, who has fainted again after Idia’s departure.

Staring for a while, the magician can’t help but speak with a hint of grievance, “Young master, you were all over me in the hut, and now you’re looking at someone else?”

The doll: “…” What nonsense, he was just writing on the magician’s hand.

The doll looks up to retort, but freezes as he senses a strong gaze meeting his.

The doll is momentarily numb, then sneers, “Take your disgusting eyes off me.”

“Young master…” the magician drawls, “Shall we change outfits to match your rare mermaid form?”

The doll: “…”

In truth, the doll doesn’t look good now. If only his legs had turned into a tail, it would be fine, but there’s a scar on his neck, and strange black scales cover his once fair face, making him look like… a corrupted doll from a horror story.

“Do-ll-”

Before he can seal the magician’s mouth, Via’s loud voice rings out, “Let’s cooperate!!!”

The doll: “?”

Li Qi Feng and Via run down a slope, Via not caring about the messy ground, collapsing in front of the doll with bright eyes, seemingly sincere, repeating, “Let’s cooperate!”

Only after speaking does he notice the doll’s current appearance, hesitating before waving, “Hey? Brother, are you still alive?”

Has he turned into a mermaid monster?

The doll wiggles his tail, “Alive.”

Via is curious, but there’s more pressing matters. He looks at Li Qi Feng.

Li Qi Feng nods and directly asks, “Is option four related to you?”

Luo Yiran smiles at them, “Yes. This faction belongs to us players.”

“Do you want to join?”

The two are stunned.

Luo Yiran spreads his arms, though his current appearance and gesture give off a creepy vibe, like a little demon at hell’s gate saying welcome, “Option four is the lower class area, and the leader is the adorable Xia Lang.”

Via’s eyes widen, “Xia Lang?!”

Luo Yiran doesn’t explain, smiling as he asks, “Are you in?”

Via wants to question if they’re being deceived, but Li Qi Feng pulls him back, “We’re in.”

Li Qi Feng looks at the smiling doll, “You want to use us, right? We accept, but we need you to tell us about the mermaid.”

The doll has no reason to lie about the faction; the lower class area is right there, and whether Xia Lang is the leader can be confirmed with a short walk.

“It’s not using.” The doll clasps his hands, “It’s helping, purely helping.”

“I don’t want you to do anything, just complete your task and kill the mermaid.”

Via is still dazed, but Li Qi Feng understands, “You’ve offended the mermaid.”

“Nonsense,” Luo Yiran doesn’t admit, “I just turned against him after cooperating.” He shouldn’t have tried to coerce me.

Besides, he said to hold on at Idia’s place, promising to come in time… Ha, he’s still not here.

“In any case,” the doll claps his hands, “I find Idia kinder and more adorable, so I cooperated with him.”

“And the mermaid is none of my concern…” The doll tilts his head at them, “What, are you unwilling to kill?”

“…”

How could they be unwilling when their task is to kill the mermaid?

Li Qi Feng silently selects option four on the holo-panel, and Via, frowning, does the same.

Li Qi Feng watches as option four quickly confirms their joining, then suddenly looks up, “Did you know we would come to you again?”

The doll smiles without answering, only beaming as he extends his hand to them, “Pleasure to cooperate.”

With things settled, Via doesn’t care about the twists and turns. He jumps up, eagerly extending his finger to the doll.

Luo Yiran grabs Via’s finger, and Via grins, telling the peculiar doll, “You’re so cute, I wish you were an item.” Then I could find a way to snatch you for fun.

But the next second, killing intent surges, and Via’s expression changes as he swiftly retreats a few steps from the doll.

He looks up, warily eyeing the magician.

The magician smiles, “Sorry, I don’t like anyone else having strange thoughts about the young master except me.”