It was another early morning.
Even though the castle lay buried deep underground with no sunlight in sight, Xie Mingchi's biological clock still woke him on time.
He glanced at the clock on the wall—7 a.m.
"…?" Xie Mingchi blinked.
Did he… miss something?
Still lying on the bed, he stared at the ceiling in deep thought.
It's morning? Seven o'clock?
He had actually slept through the whole night?
It was a miracle—he had, for the first time in the Ghost Realm, slept straight through the night without being selected by the grand rules.
But no, hold on. He shouldn't be touched just yet.
The real question was: why?
Last night, his conversation with Aeg at the seventh floor had made it perfectly clear—he intended to summon Bloody Mary and make a wish. Even though he hadn't followed through with the ritual after returning to his room, that didn't mean Aeg should've just let him off the hook.
He didn't keep his end of the deal. Logically, Aeg should've come after him again during the night—not only to push him to make the wish, but to question why he hadn't done it.
Xie Mingchi had mentally prepared to spend the entire night staring her down. And yet, she didn't show up?
He was completely baffled.
What happened? Why didn't Aeg come?
Normally, not being targeted by the grand rules would be a good thing. But in this case, her absence felt off.
Xie Mingchi turned his head slightly to glance at Wan Wuqiu.
Still here.
Then he sat up to look at Zhen Jia, who was sleeping on the floor.
Also still there.
So… Aeg went after someone else?
Xie Mingchi sat there in a daze. Soon enough, Wan Wuqiu stirred awake and saw the confused look on his face.
"She came for me last night," Wan Wuqiu said casually.
Xie Mingchi froze. He turned his head, voice full of disbelief. "She came for you? Why?"
Wan Wuqiu yawned and sat up. "No clue. Maybe she thinks… you're my puppet?"
"?" Xie Mingchi squinted.
He thought it over. "You didn't mess with anything again, did you?"
Wan Wuqiu raised both hands innocently. "Swear to God, I didn't touch a thing this time."
He hummed thoughtfully. "Maybe it's because you were the one who volunteered to make a wish?"
"What's wrong with that—" Xie Mingchi started, then paused mid-sentence.
Right. That might be it.
To be fair, no one in the group knew what would actually happen if they made a wish to Aeg. They assumed it would be bad, but Aeg's eagerness made things suspicious.
And considering what she had said—sounding almost desperate for them to leave the Ghost Realm—it was possible someone might start to wonder if the wish would actually yield something useful.
Then Xie Mingchi, out of nowhere, proposed making a wish.
It fit perfectly into Aeg's plan.
But maybe then she started to question—would someone capable of acquiring a soul thread in the previous realm really give up on chasing clues just to take a gamble on her wish?
That didn't make sense.
Maybe they were just sending someone out as bait. A test subject, to see if making a wish would go horribly wrong.
As a thinking ghost puppet, Aeg would likely consider this: if making the wish was that risky, surely this group of outsiders wouldn't send their core member, right?
So, by process of elimination, she concluded something—
The red-eyed guy wasn't all that important.
In fact, maybe that story he told about getting the soul thread last time was just a bluff, to confuse her.
And if that was the case, then he couldn't be a puppeteer—otherwise, his death would cost someone else's life.
He was just a puppet.
And the person always closest to him—according to the surveillance Aeg constantly monitored—was Wan Wuqiu.
That sealed it.
Aeg figured Wan Wuqiu was Xie Mingchi's puppeteer, and the whole "make a wish" thing was just a setup to sacrifice him.
The thought made her uncomfortable.
Seeing Xie Mingchi being pushed out like that triggered something in her, some twisted empathy. She got angry. Decided not to approach him again.
Instead, she'd let someone else get a taste of being "chosen."
Who should it be…
Ah. Why not the puppeteer?
That way, she'd be helping the red-eyed guy get revenge. And if all went well, she could take out both of them in one go.
His skin was so nice, after all.
Aeg thought, his blood would probably make for a really good bath.
Unfortunately for her, though she picked Wan Wuqiu, he had clearly prepared himself. Somehow, he fended her off.
Maybe he used the same stay-up-all-night tactic?
Now that he pieced it all together, Xie Mingchi didn't know whether to laugh or just sigh.
Aeg had been too clever for her own good—and totally wrong.
But this wasn't all bad. Wan Wuqiu knew how to survive.
Aeg was bound to get nothing out of last night.
Xie Mingchi breathed a sigh of relief. "Glad you're not dead."
Wan Wuqiu's eyes lit up a little. "You care about my life?"
"I'd care if it were anyone, I guess. Life is life, right?" Xie Mingchi said nonchalantly—until he caught the hint of disappointment in Wan Wuqiu's eyes.
He coughed, then added quickly, "But yours definitely matters more."
Wan Wuqiu brightened again. "Really?"
"…Yeah. Really."
"Why though?"
Xie Mingchi looked at him, confused. "Why does everything need a reason?"
Zhen Jia was just waking up, so Wan Wuqiu let it go. But his expression was clearly lighter, even cheerful.
After washing up, the group headed out.
But the moment they opened the door, Wan Wuqiu froze.
"What's wrong?" Xie Mingchi asked, and then immediately knew.
The overwhelming stench of blood.
A sinking feeling hit him.
This wasn't just a minor injury—there was too much blood in the air. According to the smaller rules they'd uncovered, even bleeding could get you killed by Aeg. And this—this was far worse.
Someone died last night.
Zhen Jia was already shivering. She shrank back, voice trembling: "W-who was it?"
Xie Mingchi shook his head. "Let's find out."
They went to check on Shen Feinian and Feng Yu first—both alive. Xie Mingchi felt a wave of relief.
Then Xiao Xiao and Chu You came out. Not them either.
Then it was Jana, Lu Meng, and Xiao He left unaccounted for.
Xie Mingchi frowned. Only now did he realize he'd been careless letting Zhen Jia bunk with them.
After Xia Zhi died yesterday morning, Jana had been left alone. Ideally, two girls should've shared a room.
But Zhen Jia's gossip bomb had hit him too hard yesterday, and his brain just shut down.
Maybe Jana hadn't spoken up because Zhen Jia already called dibs on the shared room.
Feeling a stab of guilt, Xie Mingchi quickened his pace toward Jana's door.
"Jana, you awake?"
He already knew the answer though—the thick iron scent coming from the crack in the door said it all.
She was almost certainly gone.
Xie Mingchi clenched his jaw, then kicked the door open—
The moment it gave way, he took a sharp breath, barely holding back the urge to vomit.
The room was drenched in blood—not just blood, but intestines, brain matter… organs torn apart and scattered everywhere.
"Urgh—" Feng Yu couldn't hold it in and started dry heaving. Shen Feinian quickly pulled him back.
Wan Wuqiu, trying not to gag, looked around the room and said, "The skin's gone."
Most likely, Aeg had taken Jana's skin and stashed it in the bathroom wardrobe, like the others.
Judging by the sheer amount of blood, Aeg had probably used most of it for her infamous blood baths.
Xie Mingchi turned to leave, feeling sorry—only to see Zhen Jia standing at the door, face twisted in disgust, staring into the room.
"If it's too much, don't look," Xie Mingchi offered. "You can go puke in the bathroom if you want."
Zhen Jia snapped out of it, shook her head, and muttered, "It's fine… It's just, the way Aeg collects blood is so crude."
Wan Wuqiu tilted his head thoughtfully. "You think… maybe Jana summoned her last night? Or made a wish?"
"Could be," Xie Mingchi nodded. "No one's died like this before."
It didn't look like a small-rule violation. More likely, it was something from the grand rules.
"But isn't Aeg a fake Bloody Mary?" Wan Wuqiu asked. "Would the ritual even work?"
Xie Mingchi didn't know.
Zhen Jia offered, "Maybe… maybe Jana figured out Aeg was a fake? And Aeg silenced her?"
Both men immediately turned to stare at her.
Zhen Jia panicked, waving her hands. "I was just guessing! Don't mind me…"
Xie Mingchi studied her for a moment, then said, "That's not impossible."
"Let's head to the dining hall," he said after a pause.
Zhen Jia nodded and took the lead. Behind her, Wan Wuqiu shot Xie Mingchi a look.
Xie Mingchi shook his head slightly—don't act yet.
Something about Zhen Jia's words had been very wrong.
They had never explicitly told her that Aeg was a fake Bloody Mary—only hinted at it through behavior.
Given how timid Zhen Jia was, if she'd figured that out on her own, she should've asked them to confirm it—not stayed silent.
Just now, when Wan Wuqiu mentioned Aeg being a fake, she hadn't looked shocked or scared—she had simply played along.
She already knew.
When she found out, they didn't know.
Could it be that Zhen Jia had been playing weak this whole time—hiding her abilities to lower suspicion, biding her time to claim the soul thread at the end?
Not impossible.
Breakfast went on as usual. Lu Meng and Xiao He still didn't show, but Shen Feinian and Feng Yu had checked on them—they were alive.
Aeg didn't look as gleeful as the day before. Even after killing Jana, she seemed unsatisfied.
Especially when her eyes landed on Xie Mingchi—there was a clear hesitation.
After a rushed breakfast, the group shared a quick update about last night's findings.
Wan Wuqiu simply said Aeg had come to him, but he just sat through the night until she left.
After that, the group split up to search for clues.
Xie Mingchi called out, "Feng Yu, don't go yet. I need you—and Shen Feinian too."
Feng Yu paused immediately. "What's up, senior?"
Instead of answering, Xie Mingchi turned to Zhen Jia. "Mind finding a safe spot to stay for a bit?"
Zhen Jia froze. "Didn't we say we'd stick together?"
She looked genuinely scared of being left alone.
Xie Mingchi just replied, "We've got something to handle. You know how it is—us guys, we bond over our weird rituals."
Wan Wuqiu couldn't help but snort.
Zhen Jia's expression cracked. Her eyes darted across them. "You… the four of you??!"
Xie Mingchi's face remained calm. "Yep. We're all close. And it's kinda a guy thing… You wouldn't get it."