PTYS Chapter 62

“Alright, everyone, take your places.” Xiao Wu chuckled, signaling that the game was about to begin.

Eight children formed a circle in the bathroom. The atmosphere was suffocating, and Hou Liang couldn’t stop swallowing nervously, his hands and feet trembling.

He tried to comfort himself, thinking that now everyone knew which child they were dealing with, so it might not be him who was targeted first.

As everyone’s hearts raced, Xiao Liu stepped forward and pointed at Xiao Muyu, who remained calm.

“It’s your turn.” He smiled at Xiao Muyu.

The others showed a mix of surprise, fear, and relief when he pointed at Xiao Muyu. Fortunately, it was Xiao Muyu, who was considered the least worrying in this game.

Shen Qingqiu frowned, her gray eyes fixed on Xiao Muyu, unable to hide her concern.

Xiao Muyu glanced at Shen Qingqiu, blinking reassuringly. Shen Qingqiu understood her intention but couldn’t help feeling anxious.

“Kagome, kagome,” the eerie children’s song began again. As Xiao Muyu listened, darkness enveloped her.

The darkness was unsettling, even for someone as composed as Xiao Muyu, but she held onto a sliver of clarity.

The ethereal, haunting melody surrounded her. She could feel the dolls circling her, laughing and screaming like malicious children, exuding an aura of death rather than innocence.

They moved stiffly like puppets, their legs almost all floating except for Xiao San, who walked firmly on the ground.

When the last line of the song ended, everything fell silent, and Xiao Muyu’s heartbeat gradually calmed. She already had the answer.

In her hand, she held a strand of hair taken from the door frame, belonging to the doll now standing behind her.

“Guess quickly!” The final line of the song demanded to know who was behind her, and the voices around her urged Xiao Muyu, growing more frantic.

Seeing the doll behind Xiao Muyu, the other five were shocked.

Zhang Yangfeng looked stunned, and Hou Liang’s group turned pale. Yang Rui widened her eyes in disbelief. It was wrong! The doll wasn’t Xiao Wu!

Everyone’s hearts raced, all eyes on Xiao Muyu and the doll behind her, exuding innocent charm.

Despite their anxiety, they couldn’t reveal anything, only silently lamenting and glancing sympathetically at Shen Qingqiu.

Especially Shen Qingqiu, despite Xiao Muyu’s signal and her known intelligence, couldn’t help but feel tense, gripping her clothes tightly.

Xiao Muyu, listening to the urgent voices, turned her head slightly, then fully faced the doll behind her.

She raised her hand, revealing a short, straight strand of hair resting quietly in her palm.

“The doll behind me is Xiao Qi!” Her decisive answer left Yang Rui and the others stunned, then overjoyed.

“Correct!” Huang Junfeng couldn’t hide his happiness. Shen Qingqiu also breathed a sigh of relief, showing a hint of joy.

The dolls remained silent, especially Xiao Qi, who looked particularly gloomy, his innocent expression turning venomous, dampening everyone’s joy.

With the first round over, Xiao Muyu opened her eyes and met Xiao Qi’s hostile gaze, noticing something amiss.

“Is there a problem?” Xiao Muyu asked.

The other seven dolls stayed quiet, but Xiao Qi became hysterical. “How did you guess? It should have been Xiao Wu! You cheated, didn’t you? Who told you?”

His voice grew sharp and out of control, filled with rage, as he approached Xiao Muyu.

But Xiao Muyu wasn’t foolish; she had anticipated this and quickly dodged while kicking at Xiao Qi.

Xiao Qi missed her but, being non-human, reacted swiftly, avoiding her kick.

As he prepared to taunt her, a shadow struck—Shen Qingqiu’s left hand slapped him hard, catching him off guard and sending him flying, his head tilted awkwardly.

Yang Rui covered her mouth, almost screaming. Too fierce!

Shen Qingqiu’s right hand remained at her side, her expression cold. Her gray eyes swept over the dolls like daggers. “If you have the nerve to play this game, accept losing. Whether you’re vengeful spirits or possessed ghosts, if you lose, behave yourself. If you dare act up, unless you kill me right now, it won’t end with just a twisted head. I can rip it off with one hand.”

Her words made the dolls flinch, except one who stared intensely at Shen Qingqiu.

Xiao Muyu saw this, stepped back, and grabbed Shen Qingqiu’s hand, writing a number in her palm.

Shen Qingqiu subtly scanned the remaining dolls, noticing Xiao Er’s restlessness and the well-kept braids, indicating careful grooming. She had a plan.

Xiao Muyu took a deep breath, looking at her arm where a black handprint had vanished.

When she first encountered Xiao Jiao, the handprint had appeared on her clothes, but now, having changed clothes, it reappeared. It reminded her of the ominous handprint on Jia Wenlong, a bad sign. Fearing she might be chosen, Shen Qingqiu hid behind her, comparing hair strands from Xiao Wu and Xiao Wu’s doll, finding a difference in thickness, confirming it wasn’t Xiao Wu spying on them.

“This is a crucial clue. Without it, given Xiao Muyu’s initial assumption, she would have definitely thought the doll behind her was Xiao Wu held by Xiao Jiao.

Xiao Muyu guessed Xiao Qi because the hair was very straight. Among the brown-haired dolls, there were only three in total. Excluding Xiao Wu, that left only Xiao Qi and Xiao Er.

Xiao Er’s braids, if torn off and hung up, would not be so straight. Additionally, Xiao Qi’s innocent and lively appearance matched Xiao Jiao’s doll better, solidifying Xiao Muyu’s belief.

‘Ha ha, you lost the game, let’s start again!’ Xiao Qi’s head rotated counterclockwise back into place, still intact on its neck. Its eerie words, in a child’s voice devoid of any cuteness, sent chills down everyone’s spine.

Xiao Muyu sensed something was wrong. If the game continued, it would lose its significance for the remaining participants. With more players, the number of dolls would increase, reducing the odds from one in seven to one in six after her turn, making the game unfair.

As expected, the eight dolls all opened their mouths wide and inhaled sharply, causing the lights in the room to flicker and buzz.

The seven participants instinctively retreated and huddled together, their legs shaky.

The dolls, originally only 30 to 40 centimeters tall, rapidly swelled like inflating balloons, growing from knee-height to waist-height, then to their own height, and finally towering over them.

The previously spacious bathroom became crowded, with the eight dolls blocking the seven people in the center like iron towers.

Xiao Qi grabbed Xiao Muyu by the arm and tossed her into a corner. Shen Qingqiu wanted to move but found herself unable to.

Shen Qingqiu’s expression twisted with anger, but seeing that Xiao Qi only threw Xiao Muyu without harming her, she held back.

Simultaneously, a system prompt sounded: ‘The Caged Bird Game is about to enter the third round. To ensure fairness, the system will implement a new rule! The remaining six players will play simultaneously. Please choose your corresponding doll.

To ensure fairness, the system has enlarged all targets. You have fifteen seconds to observe the options. Answer time: the duration of one song.’

The six participants looked up at the enlarged, grotesque dolls, their faces turning pale.

‘Remember what each one desires…’ Xiao Muyu began to say, seeing their panic, but was cut off by a slap from Xiao Qi, crashing heavily into the wall.

The force of the slap was comparable to Shen Qingqiu’s, leaving Xiao Muyu feeling as if her organs had been displaced. She curled up, enduring the pain.

Shen Qingqiu glanced at her, remaining silent and motionless, exuding a terrifyingly low pressure that everyone knew indicated her immense anger.

For fifteen seconds, Shen Qingqiu only looked at Xiao Muyu.

Shen Qingqiu usually appeared lazy, showing a playful laziness towards Xiao Muyu and a cold laziness towards others. Unless she unleashed her fierce ghost-slaying spirit, people saw her as a decorative vase, beautiful but untouchable.

Few saw her true, ruthless side, but even those busy searching for clues, like Zhang Yangfeng, couldn’t ignore the cold and murderous aura emanating from her, surpassing that of any ghost.

Fifteen seconds passed quickly, and the dreaded children’s song began again. Observation time ended, and everyone could see only one question before them.

‘Please answer, who is the doll behind you?’

Listening to the familiar, terrifying song, Shen Qingqiu felt she never wanted to hear music again.

She quickly filled in a name, not wanting to waste any time, her anger fueling her speed.

The moment she finished, the timer stopped, a green circle appearing around the name, indicating submission, followed by a blinding red checkmark.

Xiao Muyu, enduring the pain, watched the scene like a live-action computer game. As the song reached its second verse, she saw a green circle appear above Shen Qingqiu’s head, followed by Yang Rui.

One by one, green circles appeared above each person’s head. Confused, Xiao Muyu saw a large red checkmark appear above Shen Qingqiu’s head when the song ended, with everyone marked.

Six people, four with red checkmarks, two with dark red crosses.

Xiao Muyu realized two had guessed wrong: Hou Liang and Liu Pei!

Beep, beep!

The eight dolls turned in unison to Hou Liang and Liu Pei, their eyes gleaming as if they’d found perfect toys.”