Chapter 67

Chapter 67

The third round of the game began.

The order of questioning followed the sequence established in the first round once again.

Ruth’s emotions seemed much more stable now.

“Is everyone trapped in the cycle?” She asked after a long period of contemplation.

“No.” Lilith shook her head.

Tu Nan gave Ruth an encouraging look.

This was actually a very crucial question.

Perhaps the Players were not part of the cycle. To each iteration of the cycle, the Players were an unknown, uncertain factor.

That was likely why Lilith wanted to cooperate with them.

It was Jenny’s turn to ask a question.

She thought for a long time before posing her own query.

“Does consuming a Heart really make your illness disappear?”

A bitter smile appeared on Lilith’s face. Such an expression looked somewhat eerie on her still-childish features.

“No.” Her voice was low, and a shadow of gloom passed over her brow.

It actually couldn’t.

Tu Nan found that she wasn’t particularly surprised by this revelation.

The idea of ‘eating what you want to heal’ was nothing more than a beautiful wish.

She couldn’t help but reconsider the meaning of the first sentence Lilith had given them.

“The daughter’s heart beats because of the mother.”

If she had initially assumed the Madam had given Lilith hearts to consume to keep her alive, that speculation was clearly incorrect now.

Lilith’s heart beat not because of consuming hearts, but perhaps because the repeated cycles allowed her to restart every time before she had the chance to truly die?

It was Tu Nan’s turn to ask.

“What do you want to ask?” Lilith clearly held expectations for Tu Nan.

“…You want us to help you end the cycle, don’t you?” she asked hesitantly.

In truth, she already had the answer to this question, yet she hadn’t dared to be certain.

“Yes,” Lilith admitted with a candid smile.

She wanted to end the cycle, even if the price was death.

There was no longer any need to delay the final question. Fu Zhixing barely hesitated.

“Was the fire at the Manor related to your illness?”

“Yes.” Lilith nodded calmly.

“The game is over.” She looked at them with a smile. “Have you pieced together the truth of the whole story yet?”

Lilith pointed at Tu Nan. “I like you, so you should be the one to tell it.”

Tu Nan nodded.

“A long time ago, a mother brought her daughter here. They were very wealthy, built a Manor, and settled down. At first, they lived very happily. Although the daughter suffered from heart disease and the Madam was often worried, the Madam sought many ways to treat her daughter… I suspect it was from that time that people with ulterior motives entered the Manor.”

A look of remembrance appeared on Lilith’s face as she quietly closed her eyes.

“The Maze surrounding the Manor was intended to ward off those who wanted to steal their treasures. So, I suspect those people coveted the Madam’s wealth. They used some evil folk remedy from goodness-knows-where to deceive the Madam.”

“Such a method of treatment was far too horrific. The Madam must have been very hesitant at the time, which gave those people an opportunity to strike.”

As she spoke, she kept a close eye on Lilith’s expression.

Lilith snapped her eyes open, her gaze filled with hatred.

“Mother let them go, but they repaid her kindness with enmity!” she hissed through gritted teeth.
“Those people set fire to the Manor?” Tu Nan continued. “The blaze blotted out the sun, nearly reducing the Mansion to ashes. You survived by a stroke of luck, but your mother was burned alive in that fire.”

Lilith’s tears rolled down uncontrollably. She lowered her head and covered her face, tears seeping through the gaps in her fingers.

“Mother threw me down from the upper floor.” Her shoulders shook, her voice sounding fragile enough to shatter. “That was when my leg broke. I wanted Mother to jump too, but a falling crossbeam blocked her path.”

“I cried and screamed while I tried to crawl away… Mother wanted me to live, so I had to work hard to survive.”

“And then?” Ruth asked with tears in her eyes. “Even so, with a fire that big, it must have been nearly impossible for you to survive.”

“Uncle George saved me,” Lilith said in a daze. “He happened to have not returned to the Mansion that night. When he rushed over, he saw me crawling on the ground.”

“Many people were jolted awake by the fire. The lucky ones escaped, but even more died in the flames.”

“After the fire, I wanted to go find Mother, but Uncle George held me back with all his strength. He said Mother was already dead.”

“I knew he wasn’t lying to me, but…”

“But the Madam, who should have died in the fire, came back,” Tu Nan said.

“She looked terrifying,” Lilith sobbed. “Her body was covered in burn scars, she reeked of smoke and fire, and her face… it was even more frightening. But I wasn’t afraid of her. I knew Mother would never hurt me.”

“But I imagine that from then on, the Madam’s personality underwent a massive change,” Tu Nan said. “She developed an overbearing protective instinct toward you and became willing to use any means necessary to cure your heart disease.”

“It took me a long time to realize that all of this would loop, like a nightmare that would never end.”

Lilith looked up, her voice sounding somewhat ethereal.

“I don’t know when it started, but a thick fog began to surround the Manor. No one could enter or leave anymore. Then, starting from a certain day, many people suddenly began appearing in the fog. They entered the Manor, trying to pry into everything about it.”

Tu Nan and Fu Zhixing exchanged a glance.

Those people were likely Players, just like them.

“At first, I hated them,” Lilith said expressionlessly. “No one could leave this place. I didn’t trust anyone.”

“But… after they died, everything changed.”

“The Sheep raised in the Manor suddenly went mad. The servants said they were always using their hooves to write words on the ground. It sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it?” Lilith laughed, though the smile was full of bitterness. “I didn’t believe it at first, not until a manservant was bitten to death by a sheep. Only then did that flock of Sheep quiet down.”

“Grass-eating Sheep actually feeding on human flesh.”

The story that was supposed to be told by the guests was now being narrated by Lilith herself.

“There were six mad Sheep in total, exactly the same number as the group of people who had suddenly appeared in the Manor. I think… that was no coincidence.”

“Just as I was feeling terrified and uneasy, another group of people appeared in the Manor. It was also at that time that Mother forced me to eat the first Heart.”

“From that moment on, there was no turning back.”