Chapter 54: Secrets

Family Reunion Day…

It seems the people here are utterly lost in the beautiful dreams crafted by Dollmaker, unable to free themselves.

However, the reason people dream is so they can wake up and face the reality of tomorrow.

After today, everything will be over…

Yinlin was very familiar with this place. She explained, "Granny Guan is in charge of patrolling here. In her youth, she was a scout for the Midnight Rangers."

Granny Guan: "Little Guan is such a sensible child. No matter what this old woman says, he always listens patiently."

Lucian: "Who is Little Guan?"

Yinlin: "He's her grandson."

Granny Guan: "He's a good boy… His parents died early, so he's been relying on me all this time. No matter what I say, he listens to me."

"But even such a good child… Heaven still didn't spare him…"

Lucian fell into thought. It seemed this grandson named Little Guan was also a puppet.

Granny Guan continued: "Master Dollmaker allowed me to see him again. He's truly a great man."

"So no matter what he asks of this old bones, it doesn't matter."

"But he actually plans to sell the Returned Souls puppets to the Fractsidus…"

Lucian: "…"

It seemed there were still informed members within the Séance Society, yet they chose to go along with it anyway.

Yinlin: "Master Dollmaker naturally has his reasons."

Granny Guan: "No matter what, as long as I can be with my grandson, I ask for nothing more."

After entering the Séance Society's headquarters, Yinlin showed great concern for the members, asking each of them about their recent well-being.

Seeing these people, Lucian felt a pang of emotion. Dollmaker's ability to create puppets could have helped so many more.

But for the sake of his own selfish desires, for his own goals, he disregarded others' feelings, treating human lives as worthless.

Lucian followed Yinlin to a campsite.

A man called out to him: "Hey… stop right there… You're not a member of the Séance Society. How did you sneak in here?!"

Before Lucian could answer, Yinlin spoke first: "Qu Xiu, you're injured?"

The man named Qu Xiu brightened upon hearing her voice: "Miss Yinlin? You're back!"

Yinlin gave a slight nod: "Don't push yourself. You should rest…"

"This is Master Dollmaker's 'guest.' No need to be so tense."

Qu Xiu scratched his head: "Protecting this place is my duty… These minor injuries are nothing."

Lucian noticed that Qu Xiu's arms and legs were covered in ointment and bandages.

Yinlin shook her head: "If you die, that would be even more irresponsible… Besides, this place no longer needs guards."

Qu Xiu's voice grew slightly agitated: "But Master Dollmaker once ordered me… to protect this place well."

Yinlin said meaningfully: "It's fine now… He probably won't return here anymore. I'll be cleaning up these things soon."

"Master Dollmaker is about to fulfill his lifelong wish… Neither he nor I need any of this anymore."

Qu Xiu still hesitated: "But…"

Yinlin cut him off: "Enough. Wait here. I'll go find Dr. Wu Sheng to get some medicine for your wounds."

Yinlin hurried off. Lucian glanced at a nearby supply crate—there seemed to be something there.

Lucian walked over and picked up a simple drawing from the crate.

It depicted four people, crudely drawn.

Still, it was clear that the leftmost and rightmost figures were a woman and a man. The man in the middle had no mouth or eyebrows drawn—just a large eye, as if wearing a mask.

Beside him was a little girl. Wait…

That headscarf…

Could this be Yinlin's drawing?

After all, Yinlin also wore a black headscarf.

Flipping the drawing over, there were a few lines of childish handwriting:

[Today, Master Dollmaker told me many stories about Dad and Mom. He said they were both great Partrollers, but they were framed by bad people, which is why they lost their lives.]

[Master Dollmaker only seems a little happier when talking about Dad and Mom. He told me he would definitely bring them back to me. When that happens, they'll take revenge on the bad people who harmed them and wipe them all out.]

[I don't remember much about Dad and Mom anymore, but… do they really want to become puppets? Do they really want revenge?]

[I don't really understand these things, but if Dad and Mom can come back to life, and the four of us can be together, we'd surely be happy every day, right?]

There was no doubt—this was Yinlin's childhood drawing. Lucian carefully put it away and looked at another record.

It contained Dollmaker's notes. By this point, Dollmaker had descended into near-madness. Because Yinlin's childhood memories of her parents were too vague, he couldn't extract them to create puppets.

No matter how he tried, he couldn't use his own memories to make the puppets either.

Further down, there was a bloodstained mission log documenting the operations of 'Sparrow' and 'Golden Songbird.' However, it seemed they had encountered some issues during the mission.

The final entry read: The little bird has been entrusted to a completely trustworthy junior to take care of. This time, I can finally act without worries—I must bring all those villains to justice.

Lucian pondered. The 'little bird' was likely Yinlin, while 'Sparrow' and 'Golden Songbird' were her parents, who had been Partrollers.

The 'completely trustworthy junior' was probably Dollmaker. Unfortunately, he had betrayed their trust.

Finally, there was a conspicuous note. Lucian skimmed through it quickly.

It was a message from Yinlin to Dollmaker.

She wrote about becoming an Partroller and choosing the same path as her parents—undercover investigation.

This didn't align with the Dollmaker's wish for her to become a high-ranking officer in the Security Bureau. But Yinlin wrote that this was the work she truly wanted to do.

She also mentioned discovering Dollmaker's dealings with dangerous elements. She left this note behind, asking Dollmaker to destroy it if he saw it, and hoping to discuss her true feelings about her parents with him.

Since the note hadn't been destroyed, it meant Dollmaker hadn't seen it.

Presumably, Yinlin wanted to persuade him to turn back from his path. After all, justice still resided in her heart.

Lucian collected all the items. After all, from the sound of it, Yinlin intended to destroy this area.

Before long, Yinlin returned with the medicine and persuaded Qu Xiu to leave. Then she turned to Lucian.

Yinlin sneered: "You've already looked through the things inside, haven't you?"

Lucian shrugged.

Yinlin: "How nosy…"