Chapter 28

"Wujiu, stop causing trouble." A voice came out of an umbrella.

"Tsk. Bi'an, you're such a mood wrecker. I rarely take over you." Wujiu rolled his eyes before taking a slice of cake from the table.

"If you didn't cause trouble whenever I let you out, this wouldn't happen in the first place." Bi'an let out an exasperated sigh.

"It's alright! I'll get Jack to give you a compass after this." Wujiu grinned as he tapped the umbrella.

"Really?"

"Of course, when did I ever lie to you?" The tall man laughed.

"You..."

"Hmm?" Wujiu said playfully before laughing.

"Ugh. Forget it." Bi'an rolled his eyes internally.

"Hehe."

"Please, stop grinning like an idiot."

"What? You're the idiot." Wujiu grumbled unhappily before stabbing the slice of cake he took.

As he stabbed the cake, they heard a loud creak from the direction of the door.

"Ah, seems like they've arrived."

"About time they did, if they were any later I would've left." Hastur scoffed as he stretched his tentacles.

"Ew. Can you not stretch near me? You're all slimy." Wujiu cast a look of disgust at Hastur.

"Youngsters these days."

"Okay, old foggy."

"What did you say?"

Seeing the two quarrel like kids, Bi'an's head hurt. "Wujiu shut up."

"But-"

"If you don't stop, I'm taking over."

Upon hearing his brother, Wujiu immediately shut his mouth.

"Senior, you should also stop bickering with Wujiu."

"What? Bi'an, why are you calling that old foggy senio-"

"Wujiu, no one will think you're mute if you don't talk."

"Tsk. Whatever." The tall man rolled his eyes

"Since everyone is here, let's go." Jack said from afar.

"I can finally hit that damned host." Wujiu grinned.

"Ugh. Just be careful. I can't lose you again..." Bi'an mumbled. His last sentence being barely audible.

"Hm?"

"Nothing."

- As the four walked together, they suddenly heard something from the other end of the hallway.

*Click, clack.*

"Uhm, Bi'an, was that you?"

"Does it sound like it's me?"

"Then was it you, Joshort?"

"I am not short!" Joseph let out a huff of air as he glared at Wujiu.

"Yes, you are. Anyway, was it you Jack?"

"..."

"Well, it wasn't me either."

As Wujiu continued to contemplate, a silhouette slowly appeared from their line of sight.

The small frame continued to move towards them unhurriedly as they also took a few steps backward.

"Ugh! Can you idiots stop going backwards?!" An annoyed voice came from the other side.

"Oh. It's the little girl." Jack mumbled before stopping and walking forward.

"Oh! It's that annoying, smelly kid!" Wujiu exclaimed as he pointed the other end of the umbrella to the front.

Joseph frowned when he heard that familiar voice. He knew that Aesop and Vera often fought, so why is she here now?

"Excuse me? Who's smelly?!" Vera screamed upon hearing Wujiu's remark against her. As a

perfumer, she took pride in what she smelled like. But, hearing what Wujiu said infuriated her.

"What? It's true." He shrugged.

"Wujiu, you're being rude."

Wujiu stayed quiet.

"Might I ask why you've troubled yourself to come here?" Jack asked.

"Ugh. Take these." Vera shoved a few bottles of perfume to Joseph's hand.

"Huh?"

"Spray it on yourself before something bad happens. Like how I do in matches. Oh, and make sure you throw it after 1 usage. It won't work more than that." Vera further explained more usages of the perfume she also carefully explained some details we didn't know.

"Why are you doing this? I thought you hated us- no. Aesop."

"I- Seeing Aesop lie in bed..." Vera mumbled. "You know what? It's nothing. I just remembered I had something going on! I'll go now!" With that, she ran off in a fluster. The 4 people looked at each other as they seemed to ask with their eyes.

"Not a clue."

"Neither do I."

"Enough with the chit-chat. Let's get this over with." Hastur continued moving forward like nothing happened.

Joseph was still confused, nevertheless, he followed after Hastur and went to the designated place.

---

The pitter-patter of raindrops could be heard from within the eerily silent manor. The subtle, moonlight glow shined through the window as it illuminated the room.

The man who was sitting inside the dust-covered room smiled. He stood up from his seat and made his way to the window. He then proceeded to take a pipe and smoke it.

"Hmm, how long has it been since I took charge?" The man pondered as he took another puff.

He looked outside the window, but all there is to see were withered plants and bare trees. He has long been accustomed to the view. Yet somehow, it looked so barren and desolate.

"I didn't think that they would make a move so soon, I guess that little man couldn't take it anymore." The man laughed, before walking back to his seat.

On the table, there was an array of sweets and a freshly brewed pot of tea. He poured himself a cup and smiled as he saw the tea ripple just from a slight movement.

"Ah, whatever. I'm quite sick of doing these things anyway." He sighed before drinking the tea.

He frowned as he swallowed the liquid, but could only sigh again in resignation. "Poisoned tea really taste different." He said that, although it barely tastes different.

Despite knowing what was in it, he continued drinking like nothing was wrong with it.

"I wonder what they'll do next." He grinned.

"They better make it exciting if they're gonna kill me like this." He was already bored from all the killing, and using an underhanded method as he did with Aesop was really quite dull.

The excitement he used to get from punishing and killing survivors long died down. He no longer had the same passion as before.

He thought that fighting for his life will give him at least a tiny amount of excitement. At this point, he no longer cared whether he died or not. Only seeking excitement as his main goal.

"Living in this God-forsaken manor is really making me lose it." The host smiled.

He then looked towards the door, staring at it while sipping his tea. "Well then, Yidhra. How long do you plan on standing there?"

"Tsk. How'd you know?" An annoyed voice came from the other side of the door before opening.

The antique door creaked as it was pushed open. Despite it being a few hundred years old, it still looked new.

"Did you really think leaving your follower that far from my office wouldn't make me sense it?" The man chuckled as he put down his teacup.

"So you already knew everything?"

"Oh, no. Of course not. I just know who's involved."

"Well, don't make my job harder. I still need to imprison you." Yidhra said before everything in the room suddenly started getting blurry.

The walls twisted as it turned to nothing and everything else in the vicinity disappeared.

"Go easy on me then." The host said as he looked around.

Upon hearing him, Yidhra scoffed as she rolled her eyes. "Why should I go easy on a monster like you?"

The host grinned. "Now now, calling someone a monster is no good." His eyes then turned crimson red as his body suddenly changed.

"Well then, let the games begin."

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