Players, Please Board the Train

Chapter 163: Smiling Puppet

The restaurant had hung up a "Closed" sign. He went around to the side, pried the door open, and entered. Originally planning to go directly to the third floor, he unexpectedly saw the Wooden Puppet again on the first floor.

It was the same one from yesterday. However, the parts of its body that had been burned and replaced with scrap components had now been completely renewed with fresh cylindrical wooden blocks, with only the joints showing traces of the damage.

It was mopping the floor.

Xu Huo walked to the doorway and placed the things he was carrying on the ground. The Wooden Puppet immediately twisted its head to "look" at him, its two slash-like mouth lines pulling downward again. Then, keeping its head still, its body rotated 180 degrees, and it charged at him, brandishing the mop!

Xu Huo casually swung out the telescopic pole. The pole tip, carrying an electric current, shoved the Wooden Puppet away. Then, he dumped a bag of ground stickers onto the floor. These ground stickers, enhanced with technological elements, automatically unrolled their top surface upon landing. One of them happened to catch one of the Wooden Puppet's feet.

The Wooden Puppet, more agile than a living person, lost its footing with a skid and crashed to the ground with a thud. As its body parts scattered, several more ground stickers stuck to it!

Lacking the capacity for thought, the Wooden Puppet didn't understand how to avoid the things on the floor. While trying to get up, it simultaneously retracted its scattered wooden blocks. However, the ground sticker stuck to its foot slid sideways as if without friction the moment force was applied, causing it to topple and break apart again just after standing up.

Seizing the moment before its body could fully reassemble, Xu Huo threw the adhesive net over it. The large net automatically contracted upon covering the puppet, trapping most of its body inside.

*Clack clack clack!* A wooden leg and a wooden arm were still struggling to crawl back. The puppet lay tilted on the ground. After realizing it couldn't shake off the ground stickers stuck to it, two rows of metal blades suddenly protruded from the torso section of its body. It rolled on the spot, actually managing to slice two gashes in the net!

Without changing his expression, Xu Huo pressed the remote control. The adhesive mucus on the net knots burst open, splattering over the Wooden Puppet like glue.The Wooden Puppet, having no knowledge of the mucus, rolled on the ground a couple of times. It had cut the net open, but its body was now haphazardly stuck together. The leg and arm that had crawled over later were completely glued to its back. Finally, it curled up face down, resembling a pile of wooden logs.

Even so, it still directed an angry expression towards Xu Huo.

Xu Huo moved closer. Just as he took out the telescopic pole again, the two slash-like lines of the Wooden Puppet's mouth suddenly shifted sideways. From the small hole revealed in the middle, it spat out a tiny black shadow!

Reflexively, he swung the pole to bat it away. Only after the thing bounced off the wall and landed on the floor did he see clearly that it was a black insect, somewhat resembling a wingless dragonfly. But after hitting the ground, its body suddenly liquefied, instantly melting an egg-sized hole in the floor in the blink of an eye!

His brow furrowed deeply. Xu Huo took out a bottle of adhesive mucus and shoved it into the Wooden Puppet's mouth, pouring the entire bottle in. The Wooden Puppet gulped down a couple of mouthfuls with a *gurgle* before its "mouth" became stuck together with the bottle.

Despite this, it still showed no intention of stopping its attacks. However, with its body glued together and now vigorously smashing the bottle against the floor while clamped in its mouth, the scene looked somewhat comical.

Xu Huo reached out and adjusted its two downward-slashing mouth lines, straightening them upwards. The previously "convulsing" Wooden Puppet immediately calmed down. At the same time, he received a game notification:

[Smiling Puppet: A puppet with a troubled fate.]

[Initially created as a cleaning puppet, it naturally came equipped with some basic hospitality and defensive functions. When it smiles, it represents the master welcoming guests into the castle. But when it is angry, it represents the master wanting to see guests off on a long journey. As one of the countless thousands of puppets in the castle, it dedicated itself wholeheartedly to its duty.]

[However, being a low-level puppet, it didn't attract much attention, so it was stolen.]

[The person who stole it imprisoned it in different places, forcing it to do things it did not want to do. Even though its new master is already dead, it still cannot leave this place. The only thing it can do is reminisce about its original creator while cleaning and tidying.]

[If a kind-hearted person can send it back home, the castle's master will offer a generous reward. You only need to turn the corners of its mouth upward.]

After reading the puppet's introduction, Xu Huo's expression darkened slightly.

For an item, the backstory written for this puppet was a bit excessive. However, it conveniently confirmed one of his suspicions – the Bear Claw Restaurant had no owner.

Ignoring the puppet on the floor, he turned and headed upstairs.

The remnants and bloodstains in the second-floor dining room had already been cleaned up. The guests from the third floor and above had also been cleared out. He went straight to the room where the White-Dressed Girl had stayed last night.

This place was completely different from the scene he witnessed last night.

When he opened the door and entered yesterday, it was still a normal hotel room, not much different from the one he stayed in. But now, the spot where the bed was had become a large wooden cabinet. The liquor cabinet and sofa had been replaced by a large desk. The decorations on all four walls had been changed to bookshelves.

This wasn't a bedroom; it was a study.

Moving the wooden cabinet aside revealed a staircase beneath it. Motion-sensor lights illuminated the path leading down to the secret room, and a wave of putrid smell assaulted his senses.

In the center of the secret room lay a highly decomposed corpse.

The face of the corpse was unrecognizable. Furthermore, the head was separated from the body, and the hands and feet had been chopped off, arranged separately as if part of some ritual. Dried blood covered more than half of the floor, indicating a tragic death.

Nearby was an overturned table. Among the scattered books was a list. Picking it up, Xu Huo saw that from top to bottom, only the last two names remained unchecked in red pen.

It was the same list Sun Jirou mentioned, also with only two names left. Furthermore, the back of the list contained contact methods for several shops.

They were indeed killing people according to the same list.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a bit of white fur peeking out from behind a bookshelf. He went over and moved the shelf aside – it was a dead cat. Its state of decomposition seemed similar to the corpse.

The Bear Claw Restaurant did not keep a cat.

Pulling out the collar from the cat's corpse, he saw a very small jade pendant pattern engraved on the back of the bell attached to it.

"The same pattern." It wasn't the pattern from the drawing the White-Dressed Girl gave him, but rather the emblem of that mysterious organization from the internet.

Holding the bell, Xu Huo searched the secret room and soon found a metal plate in a hidden drawer under the table. The pattern on it matched the one on the drawing.

He rubbed his finger over the metal plate, glanced sideways at the hidden drawer, then looked at the decomposed corpse on the floor. After a moment, he put the metal plate away safely, took the cat corpse, and left the secret room.

Downstairs, the Wooden Puppet lay quietly on the floor, showing no reaction to his return.

Xu Huo poured cleaning solution on the floor, dissolved some of the adhesive mucus, pried the puppet loose, and placed it into a cage. He put the cat in as well, covered the cage with a blackout cloth, and then left the Bear Claw Restaurant carrying the cage.

Returning to the carving shop from earlier, less than an hour had passed. The craftsman, again without looking up, directly tossed a metal plate at him. "The thing you wanted."

Holding the plate, Xu Huo suddenly smiled. "How did you know it wasn't made of jade?"