Players, Please Board the Train

Bai Kou sat by the window of the small lounge on the second floor, reading a book while pushing the hot tea in front of her away. She tapped the table with her fingertip and instructed Mr. Dong, ”Get me something cold.”

Mr. Dong, who rarely showed any expression, said with a stiff face, ”We already switched to a cold drink earlier.”

”That one was too cold.” Bai Kou showed no awareness of being difficult. ”Don’t you know how to use a thermometer? If you can’t even manage something this simple, I don’t think you deserve to be the butler.”

Mr. Dong expressionlessly carried the tea away.

Bai Kou coldly watched his retreating figure, then turned her gaze to the little girl squatting in the flower bed outside, digging in the dirt with a spiky topknot sticking up from her head.

”You there, wash your hands and cut two flowers for me.” she said.

Xiao Yuan glanced at her, immediately dropped her tools and ran off to wash up. Only after getting herself thoroughly clean did she go to the garden to pick several large roses, wrap them in paper, and deliver them upstairs. She then fetched a vase and carried up a pitcher of water.

While trimming the flower stems, Bai Kou said, ”What are you staring at me for?”

Xiao Yuan blushed. ”Big sister is really pretty.”

Bai Kou gave her a sidelong glance. ”I don’t like people staring at me.”Xiao Yuan immediately lowered her head, only to hear her say, ”I also don’t like people who talk too much.”

The little girl promptly clamped her mouth shut, standing in place with some fear. After a moment, seeing that Bai Kou wasn’t paying her any attention, she was about to sneak away when she heard the woman speak again, ”Where’s the other one? Call her over.”

Xiao Yuan hurried off, and the Painting Woman, who had been hiding in her room with a miserable face, came to the lounge. Like Xiao Yuan, she hung her head and stood in line.

”Do you see the fallen leaves in the garden?” Bai Kou didn’t spare her so much as a glance. ”The castle butler is useless. Hopefully you’ll be of some use. Go clean the castle inside and out, and don’t leave a single cobweb behind.”

Housework was the Painting Woman’s specialty. She left with an easy expression, carrying cleaning tools, while Xiao Yuan returned to the garden to keep digging.

Both of them worked with great enthusiasm, and were even more meticulous than Mr. Dong, the castle’s actual overseer. They seemed determined to wipe down even the cracks in the floor.

When Xu Huo arrived, he saw the two of them working up a sweat in the garden.

”Teacher!” Xiao Yuan spotted him and immediately dropped everything to run over, stopping in front of him with a mix of joy and restraint.

The Painting Woman was different. She sprinted over and lunged straight at him. Xu Huo reached out and pressed his palm against her forehead to stop her, then looked up at the building. A black-haired woman sat by the window, idly toying with the flowers in her hands.

Though she’d changed her look, one glance at her mannerisms told him exactly who it was.

The Painting Woman and Yan Jiayu knew each other, and both were naturally outgoing types, so they got along warmly right away. Xu Huo introduced her to Xiao Yuan.

”I already heard Xu Huo mention you on the bus,” Yan Jiayu said, poking at the topknot on Xiao Yuan’s head. ”Why do you have so many little braids?”

Xiao Yuan’s hair was a ragged mess as well. On the day she first arrived, Mr. Dong had planned to call a hairdresser to fix it, but the Painting Woman, who’d recently become obsessed with handicrafts, volunteered for the job. Two snips of the scissors later, the hair was completely unsalvageable. To cover up her ”crime,” she’d designed this hairstyle that had nothing to do with beauty or ugliness. From a distance, it looked like Xiao Yuan had a head full of mushrooms.

Xiao Yuan didn’t mind at all. On the contrary, she touched it happily. ”Sister Xiao Chun did it for me.”

Yan Jiayu gave the Painting Woman a thumbs up.

Xu Huo called them inside, but the Painting Woman glanced up at the upper floor with evident wariness.

”It’s fine. We can hire a maid at home.” Xu Huo said.

Mr. Dong stood at the entrance as always, having prepared a towel and hot tea for him.

Yan Jiayu stepped inside, looked around, and said, ”You’re amazing! You’ve got a house this big!”

”There are rooms upstairs, pick whichever you like.” Xu Huo had Mr. Dong arrange for a maid to show her around.

The Painting Woman went along as well, while Xiao Yuan stayed put, reluctant to leave. Xu Huo smiled. ”Go play.”

Only Mr. Dong remained in the living room with Xu Huo. After taking a sip of tea, he said, ”Why is she here again?”

Mr. Dong, who could be considered ”amiable,” instantly turned sour. ”I already told her the master wasn’t home and couldn’t receive guests, but she forced her way in and stayed.”

That’s just how humiliating it is when you can’t win a fight.

Unfortunately, Xu Huo couldn’t beat Bai Kou either.

And judging by the look of things, the Painting Woman had also been disciplined.

”It’s only been a short while since we last met, but I didn’t expect you to improve so much.” Bai Kou walked downstairs, her attitude still fairly friendly. ”He Pu didn’t have bad taste in picking you.”

That wasn’t the case for Mr. Dong. ”Where’s my tea?”

Mr. Dong bowed his head slightly to Xu Huo, then turned and headed to the kitchen.

”You’re this irritable, so I take it the other Phantom Sound Knights haven’t been caught?” Xu Huo invited her to sit and poured her a cup of cold tea. ”Drink something cold to cool down.”

”The game world is huge. It’s not hard for people to hide.” Bai Kou did have some emotions running high, but it wasn’t entirely about the Phantom Sound Knights. She sized up Xu Huo. ”Open up your Mental World and let me take a look.”

Xu Huo’s expression remained calm. ”Let’s talk in a couple of days. I want to rest for a bit.”

It was clear she was looking for a punching bag, so he added, ”If you’re really feeling frustrated, you could go bother the Black Epaulets. It’s not like they’re busy anyway.”

Bai Kou narrowed her eyes slightly. After a long pause, she said, ”I plan to stay here for a while.”

”Suit yourself.” Xu Huo checked the time and prepared to head upstairs to wash up. But just as he turned, the staircase ahead of him stretched infinitely into the distance.

He looked back at the woman sitting beside him. ”No one at the Platinum Eye to play with you?”

Bai Kou’s anger visibly swelled. She slapped her right hand against the air, and instantly, a massive mouth emerged from the castle floor. More precisely, it was a giant set of interlocking metal teeth, opening down the middle like a zipper. She and Xu Huo, who had been in the living room, were immediately peeled away into a space of pure darkness.

Bai Kou remained seated on the sofa, the only object from the castle to come along. She stared coldly at Xu Huo, as if considering how to kill him.

Xu Huo sat down as well. As he lowered himself, a chair materialized behind him, but this one was his own item.

The two faced each other, and he said to Bai Kou, ”Is this castle really what you want?”

Bai Kou said nothing. He continued, ”You’ve been to District 001. Did you not find what Fan Xiao left behind?”

”You really are clever.” Bai Kou rested her hand against the side of her forehead. ”I did go to District 001. That old man didn’t leave a single crack of opportunity. I followed him around since I was little, roaming everywhere, and I never thought he’d pull something like this on me.”

Xu Huo’s expression shifted slightly. ”You thought that given your relationship with him, you’d easily find what he’d hidden. You didn’t even bother asking me for the key. And when you realized you were wrong, how did that feel?”

Bai Kou raised an eyebrow. ”Turning the tables on me won’t work here.”

Xu Huo smiled. ”With the bond you two share, it would’ve been simple for him to avoid you. You know him, but he knows you just as well.”

That was exactly why Bai Kou was furious.