I Have Yet to Become a Doll Today

After the four of them entered the room, they sat on the chairs on both sides. There were four chairs on each side, but they all chose the two near the door.

They didn’t want to be too close to the two paper figures.

Next to their seats, there was a plate of nuts, a plate of snacks, and a cup of tea.

The old scholar warmly welcomed them: “Please have some tea, make yourselves at home.”

Bai Youwei picked up the teacup and took a small sip…

— The tea was cold, with a musty taste. It didn’t taste like tea at all, but rather like the rainwater from outside.

She quietly put down the cup. She didn’t want to touch the nuts or snacks either.

The old scholar asked: “It is a remote and desolate place here, what brings distinguished guests like you from so far away?”

Shen Mo was very straightforward, he said: “We want to know how to stop the female corpse from walking.”

Du Lai, sitting opposite, stared at him in astonishment. He hadn’t expected Shen Mo to put it so bluntly.

The old scholar pondered for a moment, then replied: “I have been a government official for numerous decades, and since retiring and returning to the countryside, I’ve roamed around. I moved here not long ago, and indeed heard rumors about the ‘walking female corpse,’ but am not entirely clear on the matter. As it is already late, why don’t you rest here for the night and inquire the local villagers tomorrow, perhaps you can find more information.”

Shen Mo gave a glance at Bai Youwei, then Du Lai and Fu Miaoxue, seeing that everyone had no objections, he said to the old scholar: “Then we will impose on you.”

The old scholar stood up, bowed again towards the two paper figures, and said respectfully:

“Father, mother, I’m going to take our guests to their rooms.”

The paper figures didn’t speak, their faces were coated with bright red rouge, smiling joyously, but their silence was eerie and hair-raising.

Everyone avoided looking, shied away their gaze, and followed the old scholar out of the hall.

…

Behind the hall was the master’s living room, and further behind it was a small garden.

The garden was full of winding paths and dense floral shadows, it was charmingly landscaped like an ancient garden. However, the vegetation was too dense, the massive tree crowns covering the sky, far from being pleasant, it gave people a sense of suffocation.

The old scholar led the group along the winding corridors until they reached a row of side rooms. He stopped and with a friendly smile said:

“This place is simple, please make yourselves comfortable.”

Shen Mo uttered a brief “thank you”.

The old gentleman nodded in acknowledgement, turned, and left.

Waiting until the figure of the elderly man disappeared, Du Lai pushed open the door in front of him—

The side room was less than twenty square meters. There was a bunk bed, an old wooden table, a round stool, a screen, and a washstand. It was already fully furnished.

They opened the rest of the rooms one by one, all of them were furnished and arranged in the same way, there were four in total, coincidentally one for each of them.

“Are we supposed to sleep separately?” Fu Miaoxue clung to Du Lai’s arm and said, “No, it’s too scary. I can’t sleep alone at night!”

“Let’s pair up.” Shen Mo suggested in a calm tone, “We can live in adjacent rooms. If anything happens at night, we can help each other.”

Du Lai agreed.

They chose the two rooms in the middle and each entered a room.

The rooms were dark and damp, the bedding smelled of mildew, not knowing how long it hadn’t been washed.

Bai Youwei opened her dollhouse, letting Chang Weicai help bring out a new set of bedding.

Considering that clues might appear at night, both of them didn’t change into their pajamas, they laid on the bed with their clothes neatly on, in case there was an emergency in the middle of the night…