Bai Mu swiftly dashed out of the dungeon and arrived in the living room.
The horde of zombies had merged into a massive, grotesque ball of flesh, its top nearly brushing the ceiling. Countless twisted, agonized human faces surfaced across its fleshy exterior.
It was an incredibly horrifying and macabre sight. The zombies' bodies were contorted beyond limits, their knees bent forward at one hundred and eighty degrees. Spines and fractured bones pierced through sallow, waxy skin, and even their desiccated internal organs were clearly visible.
They simultaneously let out piercing, ear-splitting wails and pleas for mercy. As their cries blended together, their words finally became distinct. "Go home."
"Please, let me go home."
These voices were no longer simple wails; they had become a lethal force. The antique vases in the living room, previously cleaved by the suits of armor, cracked and shattered once more under the sonic pressure.
Bai Mu felt as though his eardrums were about to burst. Even his internal organs absorbed the shock, making it feel like he was enduring the blast wave of a grenade at close range.
His Health was dropping at a slow crawl. The sonic damage was low, but its disruptive effect was immense. Anyone lacking sufficient mental fortitude would lose their will to fight just by looking at that massive ball of flesh.
"I told you we should have killed the zombies!" Great Northern Wilderness complained, a hint of resentment in his tone. "We should have followed the bloody writing's hint! The first two times were right; the third time definitely wouldn't have lied!"
"Let's figure out how to deal with it first!" Yanyu shouted at the top of her lungs. If she did not yell, her voice would never reach her teammates' ears over the cacophony. "Did you guys see any monsters like this in the Village of Mist?"
"Never seen one either," Great Northern Wilderness replied. "Brother Bai, how about bringing out that secret weapon of yours? If not now, when?!" Bai Mu knew the item Great Northern Wilderness was referring to was the Cherry Bomb. The fleshy sphere before them had fully taken shape. As all five of them gathered in the living room, dozens of faces suddenly opened their eyes wide, glaring furiously in their direction.
"Let me go home."
"Let me go home!"
"Go home!"
The ball of flesh screamed in unison, then began rolling toward the empty space like a massive bowling ball.
It surged forward with unstoppable momentum, crushing the already splintered furniture into even finer dust. Even the floor trembled beneath its rolling weight.
"Get in the room first!" Bai Mu waved them over, ducking into the parlor. "That thing's size won't let it fit through this door."
Seeing that Bai Mu had no intention of attacking, Great Northern Wilderness had no choice but to follow him into the parlor.
Through the crack in the door, they watched the colossal ball of flesh slam violently into the wall, completely sealing off the parlor door.
The entire house shuddered under the impact, shaking three times over as dust rained down from the ceiling. Fortunately, this magical house was sturdy enough that the creature failed to collapse the wall.
Had it been an ordinary building, the monster likely would have steamrolled right through it.
However, just as Bai Mu prepared to discuss a countermeasure with his teammates, the house itself began to change.
"You've got to be kidding me, bro!" Cold sweat beaded on Great Northern Wilderness's forehead. "Are you serious right now?!"
The wall connecting the parlor and the living room suddenly parted. Opening like an automatic sliding door, it made way for the sphere of flesh. The stone bricks retracted to the sides, swiftly clearing enough space for the monstrosity to pass through.
As the stone bricks shrank back, the ball of flesh forcefully squeezed itself forward. It inched its way inside, moving with the desperation of a wild beast starved for over ten days. "Let me go home!"
"Let me go home!!!"
What had once been a mournful wail morphed into a roar of pure, unadulterated fury. It looked ready to swallow the five people before it alive.
"Big guy, we're not the ones who locked you up here!" Great Northern Wilderness yelled. "Every wrong has its source, and every debt has its debtor! Go to the second floor and take it out on the witch!" But the creature clearly lacked the capacity for thought. The hollow shells possessed no souls; they were merely corpses clinging to lingering obsessions. Reasoning with them a myriad of times would still be utterly useless.
Left with no alternative, the group could only scramble through the door, retreating deeper into the prison section to hide.
When the ball of flesh saw that door, it abruptly halted. A faint, ghostly weeping emanated from it. It seemed terrified of the prison, instinctively reluctant to enter.
Yet this hesitation lasted only a few brief seconds. Immediately after came the thunderous sound of violent impacts. To make matters worse, even the walls inside the prison began to contract.
Like a deadly trap, the walls on both sides pressed inward, threatening to crush them into a meaty paste.
Scattered Fireflies' worst fear had finally become reality. Her hands trembled so much that she could barely hold her staff steady.
"Could the witch have discovered us?!" Nancheng Port was sweating from anxiety. "We need to go straight to the second floor and kill the witch! As long as we take her out, it will be just like back in the Village of Mist—everything will return to normal!"
"But the problem is, how do we get to the second floor?" Yanyu shone her flashlight around erratically. "Our path is completely blocked!"
"Let's fight that thing outside!" Great Northern Wilderness gritted his teeth. "It's better than getting crushed to death by these walls!"
Meanwhile, Bai Mu remained entirely unfazed. He was still pondering the chef's words.
"The current master is in the second-floor bedroom."
The chef saying "the current master" implied that this house had more than one owner.
Bai Mu recalled Great Northern Wilderness's account of how he found the key to the Ancient Manor. He had mentioned discovering it inside a thatched cottage where the final boss was hiding.
Why would the key to the witch's house be in the home of a village girl?
If the mutation that occurred in that village was caused by the witch, and the little girl dressed as a villager whom Great Northern Wilderness and his team killed while clearing the Script was indeed the witch, then the chef's answer should not have been "the current master is in the bedroom." Instead, he should have said, "the master of the house is currently not here."
There was a very obvious contradiction here. Furthermore, in the second diary, the witch had also written a particular sentence:
"I still cannot leave this house to see the sun and the flowers."
The price she paid to sign a contract with a demon and become a witch was likely more than just collecting human souls for it. There must have been severe restrictions placed upon her as well.
Becoming a witch did not cure her illness. So, what exactly did she gain from trading with the demon?
Bai Mu quickly realized the answer: lifespan and magic.
She gained an extended lifespan and incredible magic, which gave her a chance to heal her afflictions. However, the catch was that leaving this house would likely nullify these gifts. Even if they did not vanish immediately, they certainly would not last for long.
The key holders being drawn to the Ancient Manor, the village girl suspected to be the witch, the current master in the second-floor bedroom, the stitched-up teddy bear, and the monster outside that suddenly went berserk alongside the abruptly altering house...
Watching the walls pressing in toward them, Bai Mu felt as though he had grasped a crucial thread leading to the truth.