Chapter 16: Emerald Heart But she always thought of that poor child...

The familiar bell rang again, and the people in the display cabinets looked terrified. They banged on the glass, trying to escape from this enclosed space.

The melodious sound spread in the air, and their figures flickered with it, switching back and forth between objects and human forms, like a broken old TV.

"Please... I want to leave here... Help me..."

The girl's face was pale, and turbid tears flowed from the corners of her eyes, dripping onto the vines, leaving a hopeless trail of water.

Cecia gently stroked the outer wall of the display case. The transparent material was unusually hard. With her current strength, even if she could break it, it would take some time.

"I...I'll wait—"

The ringing stopped abruptly, and those living humans suddenly turned back into cold objects.

The collection room suddenly became quiet, and noisy sounds gradually came from outside. It seemed that the guests were starting to go to the restaurant for dinner.

It turns out that this is why guests are not allowed to go out at night.

Those so-called "collectibles" are actually humans, but they will change into the appearance of objects under the effect of the ringtone...

After making sure that there was no one else outside, she quickly left the collection room, dodged the crowd, and walked into the restaurant with a normal expression.

"Sister, here!"

Chen Ye waved at her excitedly, seemingly unaware of what happened last night.

"Did you get anything from the evening?"

Chen Ye lowered his voice and whispered in her ear, "I wanted to go with my sister, but I don't know why I suddenly fell asleep."

"I think I got a stiff neck from sleeping, and my neck still hurts a little when I get up."

As he spoke, Chen Ye turned his neck back and forth, grimacing in pain.

"We'll talk about this when we get back."

As more and more people came to eat around her, she changed the topic to breakfast.

While Chen Ye was still complaining, he quickly finished the food in front of him.

The meal was over, and the butler, still wearing the black tuxedo, led the guests through the collection room and into the auction hall.

The other party still looked serious and harsh, as if he didn't notice that someone had broken the rules last night.

As soon as the two of them sat down in the box, the servant knocked on the door and came in, and the thin bid card was handed to Cecia again.

Tsk.

The black, white and red interwoven pattern was disgusting, so she tore it into pieces and considerately put them back to where they belonged - the trash can in the corner.

The guests' fanatical emotions did not dissipate with the passage of time, but became more obsessed.

They waved their bid cards around as if they were just a stack of worthless pieces of paper.

Among the many auction items, Cecia caught a glimpse of a familiar figure: the flesh-colored tentacles swayed back and forth, and the roses made of sapphires on them swayed along with them.

As a piece of jewelry, the auctioneer played with it repeatedly in his hands, trying to sell its exquisite workmanship and expensive materials to the guests.

But she always thought of that poor child——

The child imprisoned in a display case, covered in blue roses.

When the auction was over, they were left empty-handed again.

After taking a short nap in the guest room, Cecilia took Chen Ye to survey the terrain.

“This is already the third day.”

Chen Ye followed her dejectedly, playing with the vase out of boredom.

"If this continues, the mission will exceed the time limit."

“There’s still time.”

As she spoke, silently recording the obstacles on her way, she said, "I'll go again tonight."

Seeing that there was no one around, Chen Ye leaned close to her ear and whispered, "Sister, what you saw last night, was it real? Could it be that you haven't slept for several nights in a row and you are hallucinating?"

"Why don't you come with me and confirm with your own eyes whether it was an illusion or not."

"Er..."

Chen Ye was expectant but also a little scared. She hesitated for a long time, but finally refused reluctantly.

"Just kidding, you don't have a choice."

Cecia chuckled and pulled the person over.

"You have to go tonight. Once you get the stuff, you have to prepare to escape. By then, I won't have time to go back to the guest room to look for you."

"I'm not good at running... If I can't do it, sister, please leave me here as bait."

Chen Ye had a sad face, as if he was going to die heroically.

"You don't necessarily have to run."

She comforted.

"If everything goes according to plan, we should be able to leave safely."

Ta-da, ta-da, ta-da.

A short figure came from a distance. He was wearing a servant's clothes, and his slightly high heels hit the ground, making a crisp sound.

Seeing this, the two immediately stopped talking and their eyes were involuntarily focused on each other.

His face is very childish, like a child who has not grown up.

"Excuse me, are there anything the two guests need?"

As if sensing being watched, the thin attendant stopped in front of Cecia, raised his head, and a standardized smile appeared on his face.

That young face looked very familiar to Cecia. If he was not smiling but looked in pain, it might be even more familiar...

"My dear guest, did you hear me?"

After a long time without a response, the servant asked again.

The tray seemed too heavy for the child. He tried to lean it against his body, inadvertently revealing the circular scar on his wrist.

The location of this scar...

She understood why it looked familiar.

This servant looked exactly like the poor child! Even the roses and scars were exactly where they were!

Restraining the urge to stop him, Cecia sent him away, turned around and took out the special item she had obtained earlier - [Match of Hope] from her pocket.

Squeak——

The match rubbed against the outer wall of the box and a hot flame instantly ignited.

In the light of the fire, a bright red balloon rose from it and floated obediently in front of Cecilia.

"You have the ability to detect objects without regard for obstacles (D)."

Thanks to Match's ability, she was able to get the high-level balloon she wanted.

It's a pity that it can only last for five minutes at most.

Without wasting a moment, Cecia grabbed the balloon and quickly followed the servant.

Under the effect of the balloon, the heavy clothes were peeled off from her sight, revealing the other person's body full of holes - the locations of those holes were exactly the same as where the roses were placed last night.

Take one more step forward and even the human skin can be seen through.

All kinds of internal organs appeared before her eyes, but the most important heart was missing.

After being bought by the guest, he lost his heart and became a servant of this mansion. What about the other collections?

Time is running out and there is no time to think too much.

She went straight to the restaurant on the second floor and saw that the guests had all their internal organs intact, but all the servants were missing their hearts.

The match only had ten seconds left to burn, but she still wanted to confirm something—

Nine seconds left.

She ran out of the restaurant, desperately looking for someone. The sweat on her back soaked the fabric, and she could only increase her speed to check more places within the limited time.

Countdown eight seconds.

It seemed that someone noticed her abnormality. The maid's question did not get a response from her. She turned and left, as if to look for someone.

Five seconds left.

Footsteps could be heard behind her, and occasionally one or two crisp bells could be heard.

Countdown three seconds.

She turned around suddenly and saw the housekeeper walking towards her, his words seemed to be full of concern.

"My dear guest, are you feeling unwell?"

The last second——

She concentrated her attention so much that she could see the beating heart in the other person's left chest at a glance.

…

"So, the butler and the guest are on the same level?"

In the guest room, Chen Ye listened to Cecia's story and tried hard to analyze the current situation.

"No, I think she has more authority," Cecia said. "The hand bell she holds can control the form of the collection."

"Tonight, we are going to rescue a certain collection. When the morning bell rings, the other party will transform from a human form into an object and hide it on his body. We will then take it out of the mansion while the guests are having dinner."

"I have observed during the day. This mansion does not restrict guests from coming in and out. We can leave at any time."

As she spoke, she tore off several long strips of cloth from the bed sheet and wrapped them around her legs and forearms to make it easier to find a point of force when escaping or clearing obstacles.

"The biggest problem now is the housekeeper. She gives me a dangerous feeling. If she finds me, I will have to break through by force..."

He threw a few punches in the air to improve his condition to the best of his ability.

She turned her head and asked, "Chen Ye, are you ready?"

Thinking of what was going to happen next, Chen Ye swallowed nervously, his heart beating violently, and he couldn't utter a word for a long time.

"don’t worry."

She patted Chen Ye's head.

"You don't have to go by yourself."

After saying that, she slowly pushed open the door, and after confirming that there was no one around, she picked up Chen Ye, closed the door behind her, and headed towards the collection room as quickly as possible.

The terrain she observed during the day came in handy. Although she was running fast, her movements were extremely light. She did not bump into anything along the way and entered the collection room as gently as the wind.

"Save me! I'll do anything for you!"

"Please... give me a knife... I don't want to live like this..."

“…”

The moment they stepped into the collection room, they were surrounded by pleading voices. Even though he had heard the description, Chen Ye still couldn't help but feel sick after seeing this scene with his own eyes.

She couldn't imagine how long these people had been here and what kind of torture they had gone through.

And they were imprisoned here just to satisfy some perverted desires.

He put Chen Ye down from his shoulders and let him rest in a corner where there was no display cabinet.

Cecia walked past the tiny cages and headed straight for a display case filled with green.

"You're here... I've finally waited for you."

The girl in the display case pushed aside the tangled vines and stared at Cecia quietly, as if she had known she would come back.

"I can't take you away."

She spoke in a calm tone, giving a rationally thought-out answer.

"Even if we turn back into plants, these complicated vines are too conspicuous."

"No, don't worry about these annoying things."

The girl seemed even weaker than yesterday, and even her lips were pale.

"You just have to take it with you."

As she spoke, the girl pointed to her chest, where her emerald green heart was beating slowly.