The Empty Mansion

In the early morning, the inside of the mansion was, for some reason, completely empty. As Lin Ke walked towards the bathroom to tort- teach Lily, he couldn't help but feel kind of apprehensive. His footsteps echoed through the empty halls of the mansion. The empty mansion gave off a very eerie feel, and was super creepy. However, Lin Ke didn't think too much into it, as he was still holding onto Lily tightly.

Lily was busy meowing at the top of her lungs. She continued trying to struggle to get free, but was unable to."Let me go! Let me go! I'm sorry! It was just a joke!"

Lin Ke continued to walk towards the bath without listening to Lily's comments. When Lin Ke arrived at the bath, he dunked Lily into the water, and with a wicked expression began to rub her with shampoo and brush her fur. All this time, Lily was screeching her head off, trying to escape.

"I'm sorry! Lin Ke pleaseeeee. It was a joke! It was just a joke."

However, Lin Ke ignores her pleas, and continues to wash her, practically drowning her in the water. Lily continues to struggle, with only her head above the waters.

"Will you do it again? Huh?" Lin Ke says between sprays of water. "Will you do it again?"

Lily puts on a pitiable expression, looking at Lin Ke as if she was being bullied, "N-no. I won't please. Glegh. Please stop!"

Lin Ke, seeing her expression, felt his heart soften a little. In the end, he decided to stop punishing Lily and let her out.

After drying himself off with a towel and putting on the clothes again he walked out of the bathroom with Lily in tow. He was slightly confused at this point about something. Where was Mildred? Was today her day off? Maybe she slept late?

Lin Ke, with nothing to do, decided to retrace his path towards the balcony where he'd seen Lia last night. As he walked the way he went yesterday, he still encountered no one. In this huge mansion, he still encountered no one.

When he arrived at the balcony, and saw quite a few servants tending to the grass and stuff outside the mansion. This was quite odd to see, and Lin Ke couldn't understand why there would be so many outside, but none inside. Lin Ke walks up to the balcony and reaches to lean over the railing in order to talk to the people below him.

Or he tried to.

Only to get blocked.

Lin Ke walked right into a wall. Well, it was a wall, but there was nothing there. Lin Ke had smashed his head right into this invisible wall.

"Ow!" he yelled, and stumbled back a few steps. After regaining his footing, he rubs his eyes a little. "What the? What did I just run into?" He walks back towards the balcony, but this time, with his hands outstretched. Sure enough, when he got to the part where the balcony extended out of the building, he felt a solid wall in place. The wall was smooth but invisible, and felt quite unmovable.

Then he tries to call out at the top of his lungs, "Hello? Good sir down there? Can you hear me?" He tries to talk to them and call out to them, but none of them hear him, or maybe they're ignoring him.

This perplexes Lin Ke, and of course, he turns to Lily. "What is this? Why is there an invisible wall? Not to mention, why is there no one in this building right now? Why can't those ones down there hear me?"

Lily thinks for a moment, and after a few moments of silence, Lily replies. "Permission for higher tier intelligence granted, introducing new information to Host due to unforeseen circumstances."

Lily continues, "This is what is called a World Prison Artwork, a masterpiece that replicates a certain element in order to create an effective prison without the target realizing. This process manipulates the world energy to do their bidding."

Lin Ke frowns, not really understanding what Lily had just said. "Wait, what? Could you explain it in more common terms?"

Lily sighs, "Alright, so essentially, someone used an insanely high level technique for this world to draw out a separate dimension in order to trap you here. My guess is that you can survive here, there is probably food and other things you need to live in here, but their purpose is for you to never leave in your life."

Lin Ke nods, "Okay, I get that then, but who would do such a thing to me? I don't remember angering anyone."

Lily replies, "Most likely, and the only person I can think of right now that could pull off such a thing, and a person you've interacted with, is this Sal Quinn guy."

Lin Ke is shocked at that statement. "Wh-what? Why? Why would Master Sal do such a thing? He seems like such a nice guy, why would he trap me in here."

Then it dawns to him. "Wait. Is it because of what I saw last night? The thing where Lia was holding a white flower made with light from the moon?"

Lily nods, "Yes, that's probably it. Now listen to me, this is quite a serious issue, as if you can't get out, there is no way to continue your mission, so I've been authorized to use force to get you out if necessary."

Lin Ke looks at Lily in surprise. It was rare that she was being so helpful. Usually, Lily would probably just say 'What's this? You're stuck in a painting? Good luck! I'm going to sleep!'

"You know Lily, when you're actually serious, you're really helpful you know that?" Lin Ke smiles and says.

This makes Lily widen her eyes in surprise, as if not expecting a compliment, and smiles. Then she quickly snaps out of it and replies, "What do you mean? I'm always super helpful."

Lily lands on the floor from her position on Lin Ke's shoulders, and walks up to the location of the wall on her four cat paws. "Step back a little, this might get a little violent." She says.

Lin Ke nods, and moves away from Lily. When she verifies that Lin Ke was a safe distance away, she turns back towards the invisible barrier. "Now then, let's begin."