Ming Po retraced his steps to the main hall. As he walked, he pushed against the doors of every room he passed, but each one remained stubbornly locked.
In the main hall, the Daruma-thed Russian nesting doll sat perfectly intact on the table. The surface beneath it was completely free of dust.
This was impossible.
Just a mont ago, Ming Po had opened the Russian nesting doll and placed the other half on the table. There should have been clear marks in the dust where it had been disturbed.
'So it really is a ti loop?'
Ming Po reached into his pocket, confirming that the ruby ring was still there. He opened the Russian nesting doll layer by layer once again.
This ti, the ring was not inside. Instead, there was only a small slip of white paper about the width of a finger. Written on it in childish handwriting was the word "sorry."
It was written entirely in kana, but thanks to the built-in translator of the Ga of Deception, the corresponding English word floated above the text.
'It translates in this format?'
Ming Po raised an eyebrow. The system did not implant a direct understanding of the content, nor did it provide the pronunciation.
This ant that if a puzzle involved puns, word chains, or a Caesar cipher, a Deceiver without knowledge of the original language would have a genuinely hard ti solving it. However, according to the fairness principle of the Ga of Deception, a player lacking the requisite knowledge likely wouldn't be assigned to such a ga in the first place.
Ming Po walked back toward the incredibly expensive Steinway piano that its owner had failed to cherish.
"A Steinway B-211."
Ming Po reached out and gently stroked the piano's body. "The most classic model..."
Even Ming Po couldn't help but feel a twinge of heartache. What a waste of a beautiful instrunt.
He didn't know exactly how much this would cost in Japan, but it had to be at least ten or twenty million yen.
"What's the matter?" Ming Po mocked aloud. "You beca a Deceiver, made so money, bought a good piano, and now you just leave it sitting here?"
There was no response. Even the piano music gradually returned to its lodious calm.
Ming Po knew the other party could definitely hear him.
Solving the puzzle wouldn't be difficult for Ming Po, especially since the Title Silence of the Lambs inherently boosted his Wisdom. The real issue was the other party.
If this Paradox just kept playing the piano on the second floor, hiding until Ming Po was forced to leave with only the minimum reward, that would be unacceptable.
Ming Po needed to drag him down here.
Unfortunately, Ming Po's mocking skills were lacking. As ridiculous as that sounded, it was the truth.
He only knew how to reason and speak the facts, at most pairing it with an arrogant expression. Aside from those who couldn't handle the truth, very few people were ever enraged by Ming Po.
This was also one of the reasons he disliked online gas: he couldn't out-fla anyone.
Ming Po exuded a rather intense madness, yet he was likely the most rational of the three in their squad. When he did insult people, he only delivered stinging truths, perhaps throwing in a few sarcastic remarks in his native Shanghai dialect.
The reason Gao Song had broken down after just two sentences was that he truly had a guilty conscience. Ming Po had rely repeated a few facts, and Gao Song couldn't take it.
But in an internet argunt, that level of verbal damage could only anger people or drive them crazy; it couldn't make them afraid or force them to concede.
Face-to-face was a different story. Against soone this stubborn, Ming Po would just deliver a swift kick, and they would instantly and sincerely repent—even faster than the Phantom Thieves changing a heart.
Unfortunately, you couldn't kick soone through a network cable.
The current situation carried the distinct aesthetic of an online argunt.
If the guy upstairs was determined to act like a turtle hiding in its shell, Ming Po really had no way to break it open.
'Is this why he banned the Domain of Force? How despicable.'
Gao Fan would be even more useless here. He was more polite than Ming Po and didn't even know how to swear.
'If only Ai Shiping were here.'
Truth be told, Ai Shiping was the most vicious curser Ming Po had ever t. Although he looked gentle, once he switched into combat mode, he would spout such vitriol that Ming Po would physically recoil in shock, wearing the bewildered expression of an old man on the subway, too intimidated to join the fray and offer verbal support.
"Tch."
Ming Po clicked his tongue and ignored the cowardly turtle.
It seed he needed to uncover more information to force the guy out.
Ming Po stroked the piano and said casually, "Although we've only looped once, I've pretty much figured it out.
"Your wife is dead, right? And your daughter... maybe she had an accident too? That's why you shut yourself up in this house.
"You bought this piano to fulfill a dream after making money with your abilities as a Deceiver, didn't you? Even though I'm not a musician, I can understand it. Anyone who studies piano dreams of owning a Steinway...
"...I see. I was wondering why the layout of this manor was so strange."
A realization struck Ming Po. "This manor is also sothing you dread of owning."
Ever since entering the manor, he had basically been walking forward. But the path wasn't entirely straight; it curved slightly. Even the stairs to the second floor had two twists and turns, making them look as bizarre as the staircases in Hogwarts.
If viewed from a bird's-eye perspective, the manor resembled a snail. The sections hidden within the mountain were like the snail's shell.
It was a specialized acoustic structure. Just as concert halls use architectural designs to focus sound and allow music to reverberate from all directions, the piano music he heard right now was crystal clear. It wasn't because the Ga of Deception was playing background music for him, but because the building's structure naturally amplified the sound from the second floor down to the first.
"So, how did you beco a Paradox?"
Ming Po continued casually, his fingers carefully examining every detail of the piano. "Did you go back in ti to resurrect your wife and child?
"But that doesn't seem quite right. There are a lot of old clothes and toys in that pile of clutter, which ans they were probably still alive when you beca a Deceiver. If you just wanted to resurrect them, you wouldn't need to go back to before you beca a Deceiver.
"Let guess... you feel guilty, don't you?"
Silence of the Lambs weakened the Detective Title's ability to directly unearth new clues, forcing Ming Po to search for suspicious details little by little.
Although he hadn't found any new clues yet, solving a puzzle didn't always require starting from the puzzle itself. Directly deducing the puzzle maker's psychological journey was another valid thod.
"Why did you tear up the photos? Did your wife cheat on you? That doesn't seem likely either. But she must have abandoned you, or at least you two had a major fight.
"Was it because of that ring? The ring in the Russian nesting doll... did your daughter hide it? Ah, so that's why she apologized.
"Did she suspect you of cheating? Or did you lose the ring for so other reason? Is that why you fought?
"But sothing like that shouldn't matter to a Deceiver. A misunderstanding of that level could be fixed anyti, anywhere, just by going back in ti to nd the relationship. After all, Deceivers have countless chances."
Ming Po spoke absently as he brushed his fingers over each piano key.
His finger paused at the middle C key.
He saw it.
In the gap beside the key, there was a trace of dark brown blood.
Earlier, he had been sent back to the starting point because he had pressed this exact key while playing.
This ti, Ming Po did not sit on the bench.
He just stood there, reaching out and slowly pressing the key down again.
This ti, he was incredibly careful and incredibly slow.
Everything around him rapidly lost its color, becoming steeped in sepia tones like an old photograph.
Maintaining his posture of pressing the key, Ming Po found himself back at the entrance once more.
He raised an eyebrow and stated with absolute certainty, "There's sothing under the key. What are you hiding?"
Previously, Ming Po had only noticed that the tone was off, but this ti he clearly felt the tactile feedback was wrong. There was a distinct, stiff resistance to the keystroke.
But it seed his words had struck a nerve.
The music in this loop suddenly changed!
A tinkling sound like chis rang out.
It was an ethereal lody, like an ice pick striking a crystal goblet.
It was Arvo Pärt's Für Alina.
Just listening to that sound sent a terrifying, age-old chill piercing straight through his spine.
It was undisguised hostility, yet it made Ming Po laugh.
"That's it, that's it. Stop hiding. Co out and play."
An unsettling grin spread across Ming Po's face. His slow, rhythmic footsteps were almost completely swallowed by the soft carpet.
He walked forward, his hand slowly tightening around the dagger in his pocket.
Lowering his voice as if whispering sweet nothings into soone's ear, Ming Po murmured, "Let ... take a look at you."
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