Doll House(4)

[Five little ragdolls jumping on the bed

One fell off and crushed his head

Mama called the doctor and the doctor said,

"Sew it back up, he won't jump again!"

Four little ragdolls jumping on the bed

One fell off and broke his legs

Mama called the doctor and the doctor said

"Cut it all off, he won't jump again!"

Three little ragdolls jumping on the bed

One fell off and bled from his neck

Mama called the doctor and the doctor said

"Glue it back up, he won't jump again!"

Two little ragdolls jumping on the bed

One fell off and suffocated to death

Mama called the doctor and the doctor said

"Put a balloon in it, he won't jump again!"

One little ragdoll jumping on the bed

He fell off and mama burned him to death

Mama called the doctor and the doctor said

"Put them in a coffin, the ragdolls are dead"]

The young masters room was different. Elaborate curtains shrouded a large queen sized bed, precious antiques, luxurious furniture, padded walls- the entire place reeked of money.

Standing expectantly at the door was the little young master, still wearing that long, pure white robe.

He resembled a mental patient. 

A canary trapped in a golden cage.

Chu Yi returned the boys eager gaze, stepping into the umcanny room with ease.

"Do you reallyyy wanna play?"

"Mmh."

A brilliant smile broke out on his pale face and in one swift move, he vaulted into the arms of Chu Yi and under his suprised gaze forced him to sit on the bed behind him.

Arms and feet wrapped around him like a little octopus, leaving no time for Chu Yi to react.

Giggling the boy enjoyed the look of suprise on the beautiful face.

"You're my bestest doll you know and I want to play with you forever and ever and ever."

There was a slight lilt at the end of his voice as he expressed his love childishly.

The system's reminder on the first day seemed to be playing out in plain sight, because if Chu Yi claimed to be number 2, no one would dare claim to be number 1.

And under the suprising strength of the young masters, Chu Yi was helpless in breaking free and neither was he intrested in doing so.

Holding steadily onto his waist, he looked thoughtfully at the little boy.

Was this Ruan Quixi or not?

Intuition was telling him no but all clues seemed to point to him , the most unique existence in the instance.

For the first time he was doubting his own instincts and this was entirely due to Ruan Quixi and the strange state he had been in on the train.

Neither of them spoke , the little boy was contented to cuddle in Chu Yi's arms and he, himself was trying to find any trace of Ruan Quixi in the little face.

This strange silence was only broken by a knock on the door. None of the players would be able to find this place so therefore there was only the possibility of an NPC left.

"Young master, its time to take your medicine."

The happy smile on the little boys face instantly cooled down. The look in his eyes dropping below the freezing point,the pale arms around his neck tightening imperceptibly.

"Young master..Young master..Young master its time to take your medicine."

The person on the other side repeated the same words mechanically, the knocking on the door never stopping for a minute.

Finally, when it seemed that the young master had no intention to respond to her request, the maid outside, fished open a rusty key and unlocked the door herself.

It was a very plainly dressed, middle aged woman and in her hands she held a large metal bowl.

"Young master, its time to take your medicine."

The woman had a kindly yet disturbing smile on her face as she advanced onto the young master, hands reaching out to drag him away from Chu Yi.

Tch-

With a quick twist of his slender hands, Chu Yi instantly broke the womans wrist.

CrACK

The sound of bones grinding and shattering horribly.

A sickening snap sounded and the kindly look on the womans face distorted ugily. The sharp glare gave way to bitter resentment, her wrist bending unnaturally as it hung limply from her joint.

"Heheheheehe"

The Young master applauded loudly, happy to see the woman in pain.

Unfortunately the bowl of medicine was still held steadily in her other hand and she once again admonished

"Young master it's time to take your medicine, otherwise the madam will be unhappy ."

At this, the little master finally released his hold on Chu Yi and turned to the unassuming maid.

Disgusted he grabbed the bowl and instead of drinking it under the expectant gaze of the maid, he flung it callously onto the floor.

The medicine spilled out like coagulated blood, black and putrid, with a nauseating metallic smell.

The maid screeched angrily with anger and made to slap him but the sharp pain in her wrist immediately reminded her of the other occupant in the room who was currently staring at her with an amused grin.

Her other injured hand twinged in phantom pain,

Scowling she turned away angrily

"The madam will hear of this."

Not forgetting to slam the door behind her.

The young master watched her out still giggling before turning to Chu Yi

"Let me tell you a secret brother, Only one little ragdoll survived in the end."

Chu Yi's eyes flashed with some thought but didn't say out his guess, only a sadistic grin appearing on his face.

Suddenly with a coquettish hum, the young master called out sweetly

"Brother, where's my doll "

Doll?

The only other doll in his possession was the widows doll that he picked up.

Under the expectant gaze of the young master, Chu Yi pulled out the widow's doll.

Quickly the young master grabbed the doll from his hands while simultaneously shoving another doll into his chest.

It was the red doll from the first players room.

As if running away cheekily, the little young master immediately made a beeline for the door, happily shouting

"Good luck." before Chu Yi could react.

He stared at the beautiful doll. It was warm to the touch and felt like human skin, staring back at him with glassy eyes.

It was as if....it was alive.

****

After spending the day searching fruitlessly once again, they gathered back in the hall. When Chu Yi appeared in the hall, unharmed, more than one people gave him suprised and incredulous looks but in the end no one asked.

Zhao Pengyu, himself released the breath he had been holding in relief.

Not long after, appeared the butler and dragging behind him was an unconcious man covered in blood.

The butler unceremoniously dropped him on the floor and turned to them.

"Tomorrow, the Maids will clean the dolls"

Paling, they watched as the butler walked away, a pep in his old step.

Shortly afterwards, the unconscious man woke up and with a trembling voice described what happened.

They planned to cut down trees in the mountain forest located on the outskirts of the castle.There was only a single trail leading to that area. Due to the weeds, the path became narrower and steep, allowing only one person to walk at a time.

It was fairly easy going uphill, but they had reckoned that it would be increasingly challenging going down the mountains while lugging some cumbersome wood behind.

Amongst the three of them, there was one person who had done some woodworking. It was a middle-aged man around his thirties named Zhang Wuin. He claimed to be carpenter and said that he was able to chop trees to create simple furniture. However, building a coffin wasn't something he was knowledgeable about. He had walked ahead, selected a few trees, and began teaching everyone how to cut a tree down.

It took several hours for the three of them to finish chopping the logs and once they had started descending the mountains, the hot humid weather had immediately turned to freezing cold.

The mans name was Xiong Qi and considered himself the leader of the three people.

The snow made the roads slippery, so everyone took extra precautions when walking.

Up ahead, Xiong Qi had been carrying an oil lamp and opening up the path for the others carrying the log, constantly advising everyone to take it easy, but heard no reply.

Originally, the snowflakes were but miniscule specks dotting the skies every once in a while, but on their way back, the snowflakes suddenly became larger, even fiercer, similarly to goose feathers fluttering around, shrouding the entire sky.

The sound of the wind became louder, more deafening, to the point that its shrill howls pierced his ears. The falling snow obstructed most of Xion Qi vision; it was getting rather difficult to see the people behind of him.

Then there was a scream.

He had immediately took off, dashing to look behind. But by the time he had arrived at the scene, he came across a gruesome sight.

Two of the three people who stepped forth to carry the log were dying. The newcomer,Zhu Peixing and Zhang Wuin. The bulky log had fallen on top them, slicing their bodies directly in half. And the most frightening part was that, despite their bodies being severed in half, they were still fully conscious. Thick blood bubbled from their mouths, yet they couldn't let out a wretched scream of pain nor could they cry for help.

Upon seeing this, Xiong Qi, the remaining one had limply fallen onto on the ground. A big wet stain around the crotch of his trousers, and incoherent blubbers flew out of his mouth. "Help! Help!"

They were walking on the path, then, out of nowhere, they released their hold. The log slipped and fell directly onto the waists of the two people up front.

Hearing a crunch from behind him and losing himself to fear, he had started running wildly, disappearing into the curtain of snow. The other two remained on the ground, dying. Soon, the light from their eyes vanished.

Afterwards he had lost consciousness and appeared here after being dragged by the butler.

"What should we do, ah ... " A woman on the team collapsed and started weeping, her miserable wails never ceased. "We're all going to die in this awful place."

It was then that there was the sound of a quiet laugh.

Behind them appeared the Madam.