The dim light of the setting sun stretched the shadows of the three people crookedly, extending them long and narrow into the distance of the gravel path.
Crunch, crunch...
The soles of their shoes trod upon fallen leaves, emitting one natural mournful cry after another.
The Uncle walked at the head of the gravel path, while Mila and Alain followed behind.
The young girl looked ahead wordlessly, while also using her peripheral vision to look concernedly at the side of Alain's face.
The young man was looking at his mobile phone screen. The yellow light of the sunset and the electronic glow of the screen struck his face, making it appear dazzling and indistinct.
Beep~
Alain sent a message of thanks to Monika, simply writing: [Thank you, currently successfully heading to the residence. I also... understood a lot of things.]
Monika's reply: [It's nothing. I also have many things I want to tell you through that residence.]
Beep~
[However, I'm actually quite curious. You shouldn't have entered the residence yet, right? What exactly did you understand?]
Alain's reply: [The matters in the illusion were all things that truly happened.]
The corners of his mouth were veiled in a bitter smile. [Originally, I didn't really intend to believe it. Now... I have no choice but to believe.]
Beep~
[Look on the bright side. If you feel at a loss just because of this one thing, then regarding the matters that follow... I'm afraid you absolutely won't be able to accept them.]
Alain frowned: [What?]
[You will know in the future. And the residence is a part of that information; it requires you... to think for yourself.]
After seeing this paragraph, Alain did not intend to continue sending messages.
He was just planning to put away his phone when he heard a beep sound. It was a new message:
[By the way, if you are idle and have nothing to do after entering the residence...
[Remember to open a window for me.
[Air it out.]
"?" Did such a trivial chore as opening a window to air the room really warrant his attention?
But it was fine; Monika had helped him a lot, after all.
The corners of Alain's mouth rose slightly as he sent to the girl, [Okay, Lady Monika.]
Her message arrived more than ten seconds late: [Mn]
Alain put away his phone. Noticing Mila's concerned gaze from the side, he took the young girl's small hand.
"Are you okay?" Mila squeezed his hand, tilting her head to ask.
"Yes." He had already speculated about these matters earlier. It was just that he hadn't reacted immediately before they were confirmed to be true.
He told Mila everything based on the information he obtained from the property management Uncle.
She sucked in a breath of cold air. "This is truly..."
Mila organized her thoughts. "That ex-girlfriend of yours is way too terrifying, isn't she? Trying to control you, and even mixing the real world with the game..."
Thinking about it, she shook her head with lingering fear. "To think she went to such lengths. I can't guess what she wants to do at all."
"Correct, but we have no choice but to face it." Alain did not deny it.
A yandere—in a certain sense, is also a madman, an anti-social personality.
Facing this kind of enemy, the most critical difficulty is—
One absolutely cannot imagine what she might do next.
Even Alain, who thought he understood Wanhua quite deeply, could not have imagined it.
Perhaps he thought Wanhua would stay safely in the rear, devising strategies. In reality, she got right in Alain's face, utilizing a brief meeting to recount her gentle yet lethal "Notification Letter."
Her occupation of Alain might seem like just a lovers' quarrel to outsiders. In reality, it was a selfishness so morbid it verged on madness, which even a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship could not satisfy.
The air the world breathed was filthy; the meals the world cooked were filthy; even the blood of his parents flowing within his body was filthy.
She did not wish for the pure Alain to be stained by the world's clamor. Yang Wanhua believed: Alain should be her possession.
This was even more outrageous than the Crazy Mita he first met.
"Don't be afraid, Alain." Mila smiled and lifted her scabbard. "The you in reality shouldn't be as powerful as in the game, right? Don't worry, I will protect you."
"Actually, I'm also quite powerful in reality. In all aspects." He cracked a small joke to alleviate the atmosphere.
"...Really annoying. You want to subconsciously capture/seduce me again? I see you should just give up on that idea!"
The young girl held Alain's hand, squeezing the pads of his fingers.
Alain also scratched her palm. Warm, and smooth.
Whoosh—
A burst of clamorous wind blew past, making the tree leaves rustle, like invisible beasts traversing the forest beside the gravel path.
Alain gazed at the twilight in the distant sky. He was certain that this was absolutely not his twilight. Even if it was... he would hand this twilight over to Yang Wanhua with both hands.
And the first step here—was to investigate that residence.
At this moment, following the Uncle's lead ahead, he could already faintly see a small patch of eaves hidden in the distant woods.
Furthermore, the surrounding vegetation coincided with what Alain had seen in the illusion, possessing a certain sense of familiarity.
He didn't know if these were illusions; he only understood... he was getting closer and closer to the truth.
"By the way, let me remind you of something beforehand." The Uncle walked ahead, harboring no thoughts of disturbing the two youngsters' affectionate moment.
"If you want to catch the adulterers, you'd best be a little careful of the residence's bodyguards."
"...There are bodyguards?" Alain was confused, but thinking about it carefully, he found there was really no need to be surprised.
After all, this was a "wealthy district" in a certain sense. And Yalin Villa didn't look like it had security guards.
Therefore, private bodyguards for the residents made sense.
"I'm just responsible for providing you with the key. As for the rest, I'm not taking any responsibility." The Uncle turned his head back, looking at the joined hands of the two...
doesn't this relationship look quite good? Is it necessary for the man to look for a mistress?
Although that Miss Wanhua was indeed very charming.
"No problem." Alain said with a smile, "We are already very grateful that you were willing to point this out for us."
The Uncle waved his hand. "No, no, no... This is also a duty I should fulfill."
At the same time, it was his compensation to the two youngsters...
Just now, poking holes in young brother Alain's "good deed" made him truly feel a bit brooding.
Might as well... be a good person to the end and send the Buddha all the way to the west.
Crunch—
After the sound of the final step on fallen leaves, it did not ring out again for a long time.
The three stopped outside a section of fence, looking at that small European-style villa inside the enclosure.
"This is the place." The Uncle pointed to the house number, and Alain followed his fingertip to look.
[Yalin Villa No. 6]... These few characters were clearly visible. It was precisely the location he had spent a large amount of time searching for over the past two days.
It was just that...
"Didn't you say there were bodyguards?" Alain looked around the residence. Let alone bodyguards, not even a single human silhouette could be seen.
"Eh? I don't understand either. Reasonably speaking, bodyguards are configured..." The Uncle also couldn't make heads or tails of it. "Perhaps it was Miss Wanhua's personal decision. After all, she is a girl, and the bodyguard demographic is mostly male. Therefore, none were equipped?"
He took a final drag of his cigarette, threw away the butt, and returned along the original path.
Alain and Mila watched his retreating figure, noticing that when the Uncle had his back to them, he raised his hand and waved dashingly.
"Well then, I wish you victory right from the start, young man. Uh... that young lady as well."
"Mn." Mila nodded imperceptibly. Watching the retreating back of the Uncle who looked like he had quite a story, she cupped her hands into a trumpet shape near her mouth.
"Alain and I will bring gifts to visit you next time!"
Slip—
The Uncle's receding footsteps stepped on something unknown, and he stumbled, falling flat on his face.
Afterward, he didn't even have time to arrange his clothes or pants, nor did he care about the cigarette pack dropped on the ground; he walked away quickly.
Before long, he vanished from the gaze of the two.
"This Uncle, why is he so clumsy? Every time we say goodbye to him, it's like this," Mila complained.
Alain also didn't understand why the Uncle, who looked quite reliable, would fall down every time... but let it be.
He turned his head, gazing at that residence.
The sunset was like a sheet of tangerine gauze mist, winding around the residence. Every inch of the eaves, those sheets of window glass, were dyed with a halo of yellow light, making them appear indistinct and blurry in a trance.
Yet after Alain blinked, they became clearly visible again.
He dug into his trouser pocket and took out a shiny silver key.
Click—
It embedded into the iron gate's lock hole on the fence.
Creaaak— With a long, sharp sound, the iron gate opened completely before the eyes of the two.
The two did not speak much; holding hands, they walked toward the residence in the center of the fence.
Alain looked all around. Those iron bars deeply embedded into the ground were like a cage for trapping birds...
This was also Yang Wanhua's intention in renting this place, right?
Very quickly, they arrived in front of the residence's door.
They did not see the bodyguard figures mentioned by the Uncle. Perhaps... Yang Wanhua really didn't configure bodyguards.
However...
"Hiss..." Mila's gaze fell upon the door, and she sucked in a breath of cold air.
One lock after another was spread across the door in a disorderly fashion. From mechanical locks to electronic locks... everything one could expect was there.
Alain, looking at the single key in his hand, fell into deep thought.
One key, against at least ten lock holes... of which half were electronic locks.
Alain imagined a white woman sitting on a sofa, and behind the sofa... were several black muscular men smiling thoughtfully.
"No matter how you think about it, this isn't enough to be of use, right?" Mila's words turned out to be prophetic.
"Let's circle around once first." The two discussed a result and simply walked a lap around the residence. Very quickly, they discovered a back door.
Alain naturally knew what kind of place was behind this back door.
It was precisely the room where he had been imprisoned.
He looked around... woods, leaves, and he did not see any traces of iron bars.
It was the scene he saw in the illusion. At this moment, it was also like it had been carved by a knife, deeply etched into his brain.
"No go, Alain." Mila spread her hands, looking at the large variety and quantity of locks on the back door. "One key is absolutely not enough."
"...True." The locks on the back door were even more numerous than at the front door. Moreover... they looked even more expensive and sturdy.
They followed the original path and returned to the front of the residence's main gate.
He used the key, wanting to attempt opening it.
But after attempting a round, apart from one lock hole that was likely the property management's standard configuration, the other locks stood unwaveringly before his eyes.
Things having come to this... they could only attempt other methods to break the situation.
"Mila." He said.
"Mn." The girl nodded, and afterwards...
She drew her katana.
Whoosh—
The blade edge rose gradually, and all at once, it slashed onto the dense cluster of locks.
___
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