There wasn’t any movement for a long time until the woman added, “Come out, I’ve already seen you.”

After a while, someone slowly emerged from behind a big tree. Xiao Tangqiu stared intently and saw that it was the little boy. God knows when he had escaped from his room and left the castle, secretly following them all this time.

“Go back,” said the aloof woman. We don’t welcome children who don’t have the ability to protect themselves.”

The little boy obstinately looked at her with a straight face, without any intention of leaving.

Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian exchanged a look. Although they sympathized with the little boy, they were unable to protect themselves, so it was even more impossible to protect a child. Moreover, they were headed to an unknown place now, filled with uncertainties and hidden danger.

“Go back, the castle is safer. We’re going to a potentially dangerous place now,” Xiao Tangqiu advised. “You’re a child. It’s too dangerous for you to follow us. Go back.”

The little boy still didn’t have any intention to leave. He looked at Xiao Tangqiu stubbornly and said nothing.

At this moment, Shen Yuan suddenly said faintly, “If he wants to follow us, let him.”

Duan Hongzhen smiled as he added, “He will follow us anyway, even if we don’t allow him follow us. So we might as well let him do as he pleases… But let me tell you little one, we won’t go out of our way to protect you in danger.”

The little boy kept a straight face, refusing to say anything. It was hard to tell if he had agreed or if he didn’t understand what he had said.

Soon, Shen Yuan and his team were back on their way with Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian, Lu Si ‘er and the little boy following behind.

Although the little boy behaved like a spoiled brat before, he didn’t cry at all on their journey. Perhaps he had also realized his current situation.

They trekked through the boundless forest for an unknown period of time until the aloof woman suddenly said, “We’re here.”

Here? We’ve reached Daemon Town?

Xiao Tangqiu looked around in a daze. Sure enough, a path appeared not far away.

He and Tang Mianmianmian immediately geared up, following Shen Yuan as they walked together on the path. After a short distance, they came across a small town.

This small town was located in the wilderness, which made it seem isolated, but Xiao Tangqiu’s first glance revealed that the streets of the small town was full of life.

Xiao Tangqiu was very surprised. He couldn’t help turn to Tang Mianmian. No matter he looked at it, this town didn’t appear to be a terrible place.

While the two were still contemplating their doubts, Shen Yuan had already taken the lead in entering the small town. His neat, modern clothing seemed to be out of place with this quaint, little town. However, those townspeople, who were dressed in ancient garb, didn’t show any surprise to this stranger who suddenly broke into their town. They kept the same expression as they passed by him, behaving as usual, as if they didn’t see him.

Xiao Tangqiu hesitantly walked into the small town. It was actually rather cheerful and lively, not at all like the dangerous place he had imagined. Although it didn’t have many residents, the townspeople seemed to be busy with their own matters. There were many shops on the street with a wide variety of goods. A bakery, candystore, grocery shop, antique shop… The whole town resembled a graceful painting that was slowly unfolding before their eyes.

“It doesn’t look that bad here…”

“That makes sense!” Tang Mianmian immediately became alert. “This must be sugar-coated cannonball! They most likely want to take advantage of our carelessness and hit us with a quick blow!”

They walked along the streets looking at the houses in the small town which weren’t built very tall. They were rather low and antiquated, heavily influenced by the local architectural style. The pedestrians on the street moved about energetically… They seemed to have become tourist who had accidentally intruded this town.

Because the town wasn’t very large, they soon finished exploring the streets. Just then, the deafening toll of a bell sounded from not too far away.

Tang Mianmian jumped in fright. “What’s that noise?”

Xiao Tangqiu rubbed his chin. “It sounds like a bell.”

Tang Mianmian was slow to respond, “The toll of a bell?”

Xiao Tangqiu couldn’t help but get lost in his thoughts once more. “Just like Quasimodo in the ‘Notre Dame de Paris’ where he would ring the bell at every hour.”

……There were the chimes of a bell, so did that mean there was a church in front?

At the same time, Shen Yuan said, “There’s a church in front of us.”

“Church? Let’s go and have a look!”

Tang Mianmian instantly perked up. The church was a classic element in many horror games!

Needless to say, Shen Yuan and his team were obviously eager to take a look as well. A while later, they came to the front of the church.

Compared with the other buildings in the small town, the church was very tall, towering above everything else. However, if it was compared in terms of grandeur, the church gives off a more mysterious and gloomy feeling. Its dark stone walls had the aged feeling of years gone by, and the sharp outlines seemed to be bursting with aggression.

“Should we go in? I feel a little uneasy just from looking at this church…” Lu Si’er bit her lip, obviously showing some hesitation.

“We’re already here, of course we have to go in,” Xiao Tangqiu gave Lu Si’er and the little boy a look. “But if you don’t want to go in, you can wait at the door with him.”

Lu Si’er immediately changed her tune, “Then, let’s go in together!” Leaving her, a woman with low combat skills together with a powerless child would definitely end in disaster if they met with danger!

Soon, they all entered the church.

As soon as Xiao Tangqiu stepped inside, he immediately felt an unearthly atmosphere, just like the moment he entered the corridor last night and subconsciously was on alert for any hidden dangers.

“It feels a little cold in here,” Tang Mianmian shivered uncontrollably. “How can the temperature inside and outside be so different?”

Xiao Tangqiu looked back out the door. It was broad daylight outside and the sun was shining brightly. However, there wasn’t a single ray of sunlight in the church. There seemed to be an invisible wall at the church door, blocking out  the sunlight.

But this wasn’t even the strangest thing about the church. Xiao Tangqiu soon noticed something even more unusual. The church was so quiet that he couldn’t hear a single sound. Of course, he immediately understood the reason why that was the case – there was no one in the church.

In addition to these strangers, who had somehow found their way into the church, there was no one else, which was in stark contrast to the busy scene in the streets of the small town outside. No one came for baptism, or to get married or prayed… In the empty small-town church, there were only rows of dusty benches, gloomy stained glass windows, several murals and a statue.

“A portrait of Lily Marlene!”

Tang Mianmian approached one of the murals and cried out in surprise.

Very quickly, they found that the remaining murals were all portraits of Lily Marlene.

“Fuck, is this some sort of new religion? The church of Lily? The church of Marlene?” Tang Mianmian pursed his lips. “No wonder there’s no one here!”

Xiao Tangqiu walked towards the statue in the center of the church. It was a very large statue, and when he approached it, he saw that it was also a statue of Lily Marlene.

This statue was similar to the one at the gates of the castle. The only difference was that this statue depicted Lily Marlene with a child in her arms. Her compassionate eyes were no longer focused on the world. Instead, she looked at the child in her arms tenderly and lovingly, just like all mothers immersed in maternal love would.

“Who is this child?” Xiao Tangqiu stroked his chin. “Is it… Lippinobert?”

Because of the angle, he couldn’t see the child’s face and could only make a reasonable guess.

“Doesn’t that make him a pervert? Never mind if it were a statue of someone else, but to make one of himself….” Tang Mianmian tsked in disapproval, “But he clearly is such a pervert!”

After looking at the statue, they searched the church for a long time, but found nothing useful.

“There’s nothing at all,” Duan Hongzhen played with a scalpel, obviously unhappy. “Should we smash the statue?”

Xiao Tangqiu was startled. Before he could stop him, Shen Yuan spoke first. He faintly replied, “Let’s go back.”

“That’s it? We haven’t found any valuable clues though,” the aloof woman frowned slightly. “I keep thinking that this church and this town aren’t as simple as they look…”

“There isn’t enough time. We must get back before midnight.” Shen Yuan reminded them calmly. “It will take several hours just to get back. We’ll come back tomorrow and continue looking.”

They looked out, only to find that it was getting dark. Because the light in the church was very dim to begin with, they hadn’t noticed the change in the sky at all.

The aloof woman nodded. “That’s all we can do. We’ll come back tomorrow.”

Although they had gained nothing, they could only leave reluctantly.

After leaving the church, they returned to the streets of the small town. It was getting dark, but there were still people walking about merrily. Xiao Tangqiu frowned slightly and felt more and more that there was something wrong with the situation. Although life in the small town was very lively, he couldn’t fight off the feeling that something was wrong.

But then again, there was nothing right about this place either.

Just then, Lu Si’er suddenly stepped forward and pointed to the window of one of the street stores in surprise. “Look at that doll!”

Xiao Tangqiu turned around and saw that Lu Si’er was referring to an antique shop. It wasn’t the kind of antique shop that only sold antiques, but the kind that bought and sold all sorts of old items. Therefore, there were all kinds of goods in the shop, including old dresses and gowns, sets of tableware, kids’ tricycles, some old dolls, puppets and musical boxes.

Lu Si’er was pointing at a wooden puppet in the window.

It was a very delicate puppet, with lifelike facial features and eyes that sparkled like large sapphires. It was wearing a small, white wedding dress, its head covered with a veil while its hands held a small bouquet of flowers, just like a girl about to get married.

It was precisely because it looked so lifelike that it gave off a creepy vibe.

But soon, Xiao Tangqiu found something wrong – the puppet’s eyes were moving!

Its sapphire-like eyeballs slowly turned back and forth, as if it was looking at the people outside the window.

And after seeing them, two drops of tears trickled down its face.

“Fuck! It’s alive!”

Tang Mianmian jumped three feet in fright and climbed onto Xiao Tangqiu like a koala.

Xiao Tangqiu kindly reminded him, “It’s just a living puppet. Haven’t you seen quite a few lately?”

Tang Mianmian thought about what he said and realized that he was right. He calmed down immediately.

These past few days, they had indeed seen quite a few living puppets, but none of them were like the puppet in this window.

A living puppet with tears and emotions…

Xiao Tangqiu looked at Shen Yuan and asked, “Should we go in and have a look?”

Shen Yuan’s eyes darkened, “Yes.”

~~~

P.S. I would like to thank Mello for giving me my first ko-fi for GAME. I will do an extra update tonight or tomorrow for the support