Chapter 24: The Bear Doll’s Gaze

Teresa had always been puzzled.

Lei Ze’s actions toward the holy maiden’s doll in the daytime were far too abnormal. Though Bai Wushang and Mochen had both strangely declined to look into the matter afterward, Teresa could not simply ignore it.

Especially the strange presence she sensed around the holy maiden.

Not to mention that at this very moment, she could even feel something odd staring at her from the doll.

Driven by her growing unease, Teresa reached out toward the bear doll.

The moment her finger was about to touch the tear in the doll’s body, time seemed to freeze.

Of course, it did not really freeze.

Outside the window, insects still chirped; in the distance, wind still whispered; the second hand on the clock still ticked. But Teresa’s perception seemed to be compressed by some invisible force, leaving only the bear in front of her.

Moonlight, furniture, everything else in her field of vision became veiled by an unseeable hand, leaving only the doll lying quietly on the desk.

Its button eyes fixed on her.

Without blinking.

Teresa’s fingertip hung in midair, less than an inch from the bear’s head. At that moment, an extremely peculiar expression crossed her face. She could feel something churning beneath the layer of plush fabric. It was clearly not cotton, nor any other stuffing.

It was something alive, trembling like a heartbeat.

Like some alien thing lurking inside the doll, waiting for prey to come close.

At that instant, Teresa’s instincts screamed a warning, telling her not to touch the doll before her.

But for some reason…

She could not stop her hand…

Her consciousness tried to resist and control her hand, but it felt as if countless shadowy hands of darkness had locked it down, and she could no longer control her body.

She could only watch helplessly as her finger inched closer.

She saw the tear on the doll begin to stretch open, saw something about to crawl out, but Teresa could do nothing but break out in cold sweat.

However,

just as Teresa’s heart was about to leap out of her chest,

“What are you still doing here?”

An old, low voice came from the doorway, sharply splitting the frozen air.

Teresa shuddered, and her finger snapped back.

She could move again.

Everything around her returned to normal in that instant.

Pressing her chest, gasping for breath, Teresa hurriedly stepped back a few paces. Following the voice, she turned her head and saw Mochen standing at the door of the room.

Mochen’s brow was furrowed, and he looked displeased.

“The quarterly report is about to begin. Why aren’t you in the meeting room yet? Teresa, what are you dawdling here for? Don’t disturb the holy maiden’s rest.”

“But, that doll…”

Teresa turned her head to look at the doll.

Then she froze.

The doll was perfectly normal, still torn and half-repaired, and the stuffing inside was ordinary cotton?

“Hmm? Doll? Is there a problem?”

Mochen glanced at the bear doll on the desk and asked with feigned confusion.

“No, nothing.”

“Then hurry to the meeting. Bai Wushang will log in any moment now.”

“Yes, I’ll be right there.”

She took a deep breath, glanced one last time at the bear on the desk. The doll still lay there quietly, button eyes pointed at the ceiling, motionless, no different from an ordinary doll.

Could it have been her imagination?

No,

what was going on…

For a moment, Teresa felt her mind had become terribly muddled.

But under Mochen’s urging gaze, the head maid had no time to dwell on it and hurried to the door.

Mochen moved aside and turned his gaze to the desk in the distance, looking at the bear doll. At that moment, the doll which had been facing the ceiling had somehow turned its head sideways, its button eyes clearly reflecting Mochen’s face.

Mochen said nothing, only lowered his eyelids, and softly closed the door after Teresa had left the room.

“Click.”

The lock clicked shut.

In the corridor, watching Teresa rush off to the meeting, Mochen silently grasped the peace charm on his chest…

That was the keepsake his wife had left him.

Only by holding it could Mochen steady his heart…

…

After Mochen and Teresa left, the room fell quiet again.

The bear doll still stared fixedly at the door, a trace of displeasure flickering faintly within its button eyes.

Why displeased?

That remained unknown.

Just then, the doll’s plush body trembled suddenly…

A white figure had appeared beside the desk, and it was Miss Luoxue, who had just finished bathing.

The white-haired young girl stood barefoot on the carpet, making not a sound.

Though she wore a blindfold, her heterochromatic eyes beneath it seemed to focus on the doll at that very moment.

The bear’s button eyes slowly turned to look at Luoxue’s face.

And at that point, Luoxue reached out.

Her fingertip tapped lightly on the doll’s forehead.

The movement was very gentle, like tapping a disobedient child.

“Don’t eat what you shouldn’t.”

Her voice was soft, with its usual lack of emotion.

But whatever it was that had been churning and stirring inside the bear doll quickly shrank back, as if doused with ice water. The plush surface smoothed out, and the stuffing stopped squirming. At that moment, the doll became an ordinary, harmless doll again.

The button eyes dimmed for a moment.

A trace of reluctance, or perhaps grievance, vanished in an instant.

Luoxue did not look at it again. She turned and walked toward the bed.

“I need to adjust my physical condition.”

The white-haired girl lay down on the bed and closed her eyes.

“Do not let anyone disturb me.”

On the other side, Ningshuang, who had just come out of the bathroom, stood before the bed and bowed respectfully.

“Understood, Saint Maiden.”

Luoxue’s breathing gradually became barely perceptible.

The room fell silent, leaving only the faint sound of the night wind occasionally brushing against the window glass outside.

…

After some unknown time,

once Luoxue’s breathing had completely faded, Ningshuang raised her head and took a look at Luoxue’s sleeping face.

At that moment, Luoxue was like a beautiful sculpture carved by the Creator’s own hand.

Beautiful and moving, yet utterly still.

A faint smile curved at the corners of Ningshuang’s lips, and her eyes overflowed with deep adoration.

Then,

Ningshuang moved.

Of course,

she was not going to desecrate the holy maiden while she was maintaining her body. Instead, she walked straight over to the desk.

On the desk,

the bear doll still lay there, button eyes pointing at the ceiling, motionless.

The next moment,

Ningshuang reached out and gently stroked the bear doll’s head.

Without a doubt, the things inside the doll had only been suppressed by Luoxue, not completely gone. So Ningshuang could clearly feel it. When her fingers touched the bear’s head, a strange, oppressive force came from her fingertips, as if something was gently squirming beneath the plush skin, ready to spill out at any moment.

This,

was an extremely eerie sensation.

However, Ningshuang showed no intention of pulling back her hand.

Instead, she merely smiled and continued to stroke the doll’s head. For this doll, which had once saved her, Ningshuang held no hostility. In fact… she even felt an inexplicable closeness to it, as if by some quirk of fate.

“You can’t eat random things when you’re hungry, you know.”

Ningshuang’s voice was soft, as if coaxing a naughty child.

“Otherwise, it will make the Saint Maiden unhappy.”

The bear did not move,

but as Ningshuang spoke, that oppressive force seemed to weaken a little. Like a scolded puppy, it drooped its ears and quieted down.

Seeing this, Ningshuang curled her lips into a smile.

“If you’re hungry…”

Picking up the bear doll, Ningshuang walked slowly to the window.

Her crimson pupils calmly locked onto two sneaky figures near the bushes in the distance, quietly approaching the Saint Maiden’s residence.

“I’ll find you a midnight snack.”

…

****

Over the sky of Yuhai City,

a military plane rose silently.

Lei Ze sat in the back seat with his eyes closed. His brow remained furrowed, clearly in a bad mood.

“Marshal.”

The adjutant’s voice came from beside him, laced with unease.

“The two surveillance personnel you had stationed on the outskirts of the Qionglan base… are out of contact.”

At the sound, Lei Ze’s eyes snapped open.

“…When did this happen?”

“Just now. The signal suddenly cut off, and the vital sign monitor… shows no response.”

Lei Ze was silent for a few seconds.

The Tianyuan around his body began to ripple outward in a terrifying spread, making the adjutant lower his head nervously.

“Was it discovered by Bai Wushang’s people… or… was it because of her?”

He muttered to himself.

A faint dark-blue light flickered in his dark-gold vertical pupils, rage and unwillingness churning within, along with a trace of wariness he himself had not noticed.

“Marshal, what should we do next?”

“Since it’s not easy to get close in secret, let’s do it openly.”

“Your meaning?”

“Contact those two brats of the Blue family. During the blessing ceremony… have them test that girl Luoxue.”

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