In Donghai City, inside a certain mansion.
Because of a muffled thunderclap in the night sky, a little girl who had already fallen asleep was startled awake, and she rubbed her eyes as she walked out of the Bedroom.
She first went to the nanny’s room and knocked on the door. “Aunt Li, I want to use the bathroom.”
Most of the lights in the mansion were off, and the deep darkness inevitably awakened the little girl’s inner fear.
She knocked several times in a row but received no response.
She really could not hold it in anymore, so she had no choice but to steel herself and go to the bathroom.
In the silent Corridor, only her footsteps echoed, and every now and then a flash of lightning streaked past outside the window.
She thought to herself, ‘As long as I reach the Living Room and turn on the light, everything will be fine.’
When she finally reached the Living Room and was just about to reach out to press the light switch, the flash of lightning let her see a scene inside the Living Room.
What met her eyes were her parents lying on the ground, all of them wearing expressions of shock, staring fixedly toward the little girl.
On their bodies, one Puppet after another was lying prone, the blades in their hands stabbed into her parents’ bodies.
How could a young child possibly accept such a scene? She was so frightened that she fell to the ground and burst into loud crying.
And her crying seemed to stir those Puppets. They slowly rose and then, brandishing Knives, pounced toward her.
“Aaaaaaah!”
“What’s wrong?!”
The moment the little girl sat up in bed, her father rushed in and turned on the light.
“Lili, did you have another nightmare?”
The man hugged the daughter who had thrown herself into his arms and kept comforting her.
“Dad, Puppets, I dreamed about the Puppets again. They want to kill me.”
“Fake, it’s all fake.”
The man stroked the back of his daughter’s head, and while comforting her, his gaze swept around.
It was precisely this action that made the movement of his hand stop.
On his daughter’s desk, at some point an unfamiliar Puppet had appeared.
It sat there quietly watching the father and daughter, with an Envelope pressed under its bottom.
The man picked up the letter and the Puppet, his expression growing more ferocious, and finally his trembling hand crumpled the letter into a ball.
“The above is roughly the key points you needed to understand before this mission began.”
Inside the Police Station, Dong Youer pushed up her glasses while tapping the whiteboard, looking exactly like a teacher giving a class.
And her students were Lu Yunze and the others sitting before her, each with a stranger expression than the last.
“What is all this about?”
“There’s even an advance notice of the crime. Is this person living in a virtual world?”
“When did we become bodyguards for people again?”
Hearing their complaints, Dong Youer also expressed helplessness:
“There’s no helping it. I’m just following orders, and you’re not protecting some unknown person, are you?”
The one in trouble was an important government official of Donghai City.
He had pushed for the establishment of Memorial Park over the past few years.
Although not yet 40 years old, he was already thriving in officialdom, and was known as “Official Liu.”
Recently, his home had been receiving strange letters.
Each letter contained only a single large number, and with each letter the countdown continued.
“Last night Official Liu received a letter. It was number one, which means the countdown is about to end.”
Dong Youer placed the crumpled Envelope on the table.
“I estimate that tonight is when the letter sender will make their move.”
And Lu Yunze and the others’ mission was to protect Official Liu and his daughter’s safety.
“All right, let’s head out!”
“Oh~”
Actually, regarding this mission, Lu Yunze and the others were somewhat lacking in interest, because bodyguard work was not something that should fall to them.
Official Liu had asked the Police Station and the Execution Division to send reliable people to help, so they had come to Lu Yunze and the others.
And if you really had to say, this mission was not completely unrelated to them.
Every letter came with a beautiful handmade Puppet.
At the mention of the word “Puppet,” they would recall the bad things that happened at the Grand Theater.
Considering they might be able to find clues about the Secret Arts Practitioner who controlled the Puppets, they set out by car and arrived at Official Liu’s home.
“Welcome, everyone. You’re the ones here to protect me and Lili, right?”
Official Liu came out personally to welcome them, but after seeing that they were all young people, he could not help frowning.
“Unfamiliar faces. Are you all new members of the Execution Division?”
“No, we are not people from the Execution Division at all.” Luo Yao answered decisively.
“What? You’re not even from the Execution Division?”
“What she means is, although we are not from the Execution Division, we are still capable enough for this job.”
Dong Youer hurriedly smoothed things over.
“After all, young people have unlimited potential, don’t they, Mr. Liu?”
Official Liu frowned and looked at them for a long while before speaking:
“All right, I’ll trust you this once.”
After saying that, he led them into the house.
Although he also lived in a villa, his mansion was far inferior to Luo Qiaoying’s Ancient Mansion, and he did not have a large number of Servants either.
“Since I divorced my wife, only my daughter and I live here, along with Aunt Li, the nanny.”
Official Liu said as he walked.
“I know my work easily offends people, but this is the first time I’ve encountered something like this. I never thought I would become an assassination target. If it were only aimed at me, that would be fine, but it easily involves my daughter.”
Passing through the Corridor, everyone saw the Hall that had already been carefully decorated, and it looked like a party was going to be held.
On the table was also a large birthday Cake, and the tools for cutting the Cake were all placed to one side.
“Tonight is my daughter’s birthday. I hope my daughter can have a safe night.” Official Liu explained.
Lu Yunze nodded slightly. “Can you let us see those Puppets?”
“Okay.”
Official Liu led them out of the Living Room and to one of the empty rooms.
Most of the Puppets that had mysteriously appeared in their home had been thrown here.
“At first I didn’t pay attention either, so I threw away the letters and Puppets, and only a portion remain here.”
As soon as he entered the room, Lu Yunze saw those Puppets.
Although their designs were all different, the exquisite craftsmanship and the familiar way the details were handled really made it clear they came from the same person’s hands.
After watching them study the Puppets for a while from the side, Official Liu could not help asking:
“How is it? Do you have any clues?”
“Not for now. We’ll have to take it one step at a time.” Lu Yunze tossed the Puppet back onto the bed. “Mr. Liu, have you offended anyone recently?”
“I have quite a few enemies… but if we’re talking recently, I reported a colleague.” Official Liu said. “He had ties with that organization called the Revival Society, so I cut off his old connections.”
“The Revival Society? There’s actually something involving the Revival Society?”
Lu Yunze was stunned, and thought, ‘Could that Secret Arts Practitioner be from the Revival Society?’
But ever since their leader was captured, this organization had fallen apart.
They were hunted and beaten by the Execution Division throughout Donghai City.
They still had strength left to strike back at a government official?
Since they could not find more clues for the time being, they stayed in the mansion for now.
As part of the guests at Lili’s Birthday Banquet, they celebrated this special night for Official Liu’s daughter.
“Happy birthday, Lili. I said I would definitely be with you, didn’t I?”
“Wow, Dad, you’re so good to me!”
Not many guests came to the banquet.
They were either Official Liu’s relatives and friends or Lili’s classmates.
Lu Yunze, who pretended to attend the banquet while secretly observing, did not notice anything off about these people.
“Although it’s not as crowded as my Birthday Banquet, it’s still quite lively.” Luo Yao, who was already eating Cake at the side, could not help but sigh in admiration.
Because she was the daughter of a wealthy family, Luo Yao and the others held grand birthdays every year and invited many people.
Lu Yunze was long used to big occasions, but seeing this smaller-scale Birthday Banquet today made him think of a question he had never considered before.
“I’m going to the bathroom.”
“Ah, okay.”
Although he said that, Lu Yunze quietly took a piece of Cake and went to the Courtyard outside the mansion.
Here, a girl was waiting for him.
“Here, have some.”
Regarding the Cake that appeared before her, Jiang Sui did not immediately take it, but smiled slightly.
“Young Master still remembers me at a time like this. It’s truly moving.”
“Don’t make it sound like I would forget you.”
Because this mission was to protect an important target, it was a type of mission extremely incompatible with Luo Yao.
Her Explosion Art was difficult to use in this kind of place, so someone needed to assist.
It just so happened that Jiang Sui had prior experience doing odd jobs on missions, so naturally she was chosen when she volunteered.
But if Lu Yunze had his way, Dong Youer was enough for support; there was no need for Jiang Sui to take the risk.
“So lively. Is it a birthday?”
“Yeah.”
“I heard the birthday song. How nice, such a lively birthday.”
“Have you never had a birthday party before?”
“No. Having birthday Cake once a year is not something every family can afford.”
Jiang Sui looked at the bright Moon hanging above the starry sky, her light purple eyes glistening.
The question in Lu Yunze’s heart was Jiang Sui’s birthday. He had known her for so long and still had never known when her birthday was.
Taking this opportunity, he asked.
“My birthday is actually two days from now.”
“So soon?!”
Lu Yunze’s eyes widened. It was now December 30th, which meant Jiang Sui’s birthday was on January 1st?
“What a special date.” Lu Yunze could not help but sigh.
“Yeah, it is indeed very special. But sometimes even I forget. From what I remember, aside from my mom saying happy birthday to me that day, no one else remembers.”
Lu Yunze opened his mouth several times, but did not say anything.
Will no one remember?
His heart suddenly clenched for no reason, especially when he saw Jiang Sui’s calm, rippleless expression as she said this.
After the Birthday Banquet ended, the guests all went home one after another, and the mansion that had been lively for so long returned to calm again.
Official Liu and Lili fell asleep one after another, and slept in the same room.
Lu Yunze and the others kept watch, staying awake to deal with any accidents.
As time reached deep into the night, Lu Yunze, who had some free time, unintentionally came to Lili’s room.
When he turned on the light, Lu Yunze froze.
On the table, at some point a brand-new Puppet had appeared, and it was pressing down on a letter.
He opened the Envelope. Inside was only a single large blood-red number: zero!