Chapter 12

【??? A completely unanticipated path has been discovered.】

【Hahahahaha, this isn’t a horror game livestream, this is clearly a comedy stream.】

【Shi Jian saikou, pure physical defense!】

【Mirror Woman: So pitiful, a ghost like me actually lost to newspaper!】

...

The Mirror Woman was plastered over with newspaper. After a brief moment of stunned silence, she began to scream hysterically, “Aaaaah! I’m going to kill you!”

Shi Jian had been waiting for the Mirror Woman’s reaction. Seeing this, she nodded knowingly and said to the others, “Now she’s in a state of impotent rage. It’s working.”

This method was effective. √

Zhang Dong realized that Shi Jian seemed to be the only one immune to the Mirror Woman. Once it was confirmed that covering mirrors with newspaper really worked, he shouted to everyone:

“Crouch where you are, cover your faces, don’t let the mirrors reflect your face.”

“Shi Jian, could you please cover all the mirrors in this room with newspaper?”

Boss Shi, we’re counting on you!

Shi Jian responded with no problem—wasn’t this exactly the kind of spotlight moment she enjoyed?

Covering glass with newspaper? This level of work wasn’t a challenge at all for Shi Jian. The others followed Zhang Dong’s instructions.

Shi Jian went about it cheerfully, aiming to paste those newspapers with flair and style—

Light gleamed off her smooth hair, swaying gracefully as she moved; her delicate chin was more sharply defined than 99% of people’s five-year career plans; while pasting a newspaper over a mirror, a glimpse of her beautiful collarbone peeked out...

Shi Jian was sure she looked amazing right now. Pity that everyone else had their faces covered and couldn’t see her—but that was okay. There was still the livestream audience.

Oh, and the Mirror Woman too.

The Mirror Woman was so jealous she was about to lose her mind, shouting at Shi Jian, “Yue, yue, yue!” (a sound of disgust)

Shi Jian didn’t stoop to the level of some bargain-bin nobody. She’s mad, she’s mad.

Thanks to the Mirror Woman’s reaction, Shi Jian felt much better and even gave her a wink.

Hey—see if that doesn’t make you explode with rage.

Though everyone’s faces were covered, their mouths weren’t idle. Zhang Dong asked Shi Jian, “How did you think of covering the mirrors with newspaper?”

Such quick thinking! Too strong!

Shi Jian hadn’t actually used much brainpower. She explained, “Oh, I saw some newspapers nearby, so I just grabbed one and figured I’d try it.”

The others: ?

Just randomly grabbing something solved such a huge problem?!

The Mirror Woman, overhearing this, felt even more indignant. Could she be any more wronged?!

...

Housekeeper Tang didn’t come early to enjoy their misery. He leisurely sipped a glass of human blood wine before slowly strolling toward the first-floor guest room.Before he even got close to the guest room, Housekeeper Tang already heard the sound of a woman cursing and sobbing. The cries were desolate and miserable—clearly someone had suffered a serious blow.

Housekeeper Tang had expected this, and the corners of his mouth curled up in satisfaction.

He liked the sound of crying. Hopefully it was that woman in the black pajamas crying. Though the voice was a bit grating, it didn’t quite match that face.

Still, he could tolerate it.

The door to the guest room everyone had rushed into was wide open. As soon as Housekeeper Tang entered, he saw the glaringly bright bloodstains on the carpet.

Blood had been spilled.

The curve of Housekeeper Tang’s smile deepened even more. Come, let him see how many little snacks were left?

He lifted his head in eager anticipation—everyone was still there. The whole group looked straight at him. The woman he disliked most stood at the very front, grinning cheekily and waving at him.

“ Xiao Tang, you’re here. Perfect timing—we need you.”

Shi Jian let out a breath of relief and even took a few steps toward Housekeeper Tang. There was not a single sign of crying on her. She said to him, “Say something and deal with her—she’s gone crazy and won’t stop making noise.”

Shi Jian pointed at the glass that was now plastered over with newspaper.

Only then did Housekeeper Tang realize the whole room was covered with newspaper, stuck haphazardly all over the place.

And that horrible sobbing sound was coming from over there—the source being someone he could technically call a coworker—

The Mirror Woman.

Housekeeper Tang’s smile vanished: How did it come to this?

...

This had happened ten minutes earlier.

After Shi Jian had dealt with all the mirrors in the room and confirmed the Mirror Woman could no longer threaten anyone, she called everyone back.

Shi Jian still remembered the painter’s injuries. That kind of large wound would be a big problem if not treated promptly. The others remembered too and were all very worried about the painter, but the gushing blood from his arm had actually stopped, and the wound was visibly healing.

This was clearly not normal—it had to be due to the pill Zhang Dong had given the painter earlier.

Zhang Dong confirmed, “I used a lot of points to exchange for a flesh-regeneration pill from the mall. Super expensive—but lives matter more…”

At this point, pain flashed across Zhang Dong’s face—it clearly hurt to say it.

“This stuff really works. As long as the bones are still connected, there’s no need to worry about losing limbs. Just let it heal slowly. I heard higher-grade regeneration pills are even more effective.”

Shi Jian gained new information: regeneration pills, and a mall where you can exchange points for items.

With the immediate crisis passed, and having escaped death, everyone started chatting in relief for a while. Then, apparently upset by being ignored, the Mirror Woman acted out again.

After Shi Jian had repeatedly blocked her moves, the Mirror Woman lost all shame and composure—she snapped and resorted to noise pollution.

The Mirror Woman’s voice was already sharp and grating; her crying was even worse. It didn’t cause physical harm, but it was still awful.

Shi Jian’s brain started buzzing in pain after just a short while.

Now that Housekeeper Tang had arrived—and since she’d had no success ordering the Mirror Woman to shut up—Shi Jian saw a savior and immediately kicked the problem over to him.

Shi Jian: Isn’t it the castle butler’s job to maintain a quiet environment?Relying on the fact that the Mirror Woman couldn't hurt her, Shi Jian even helpfully peeled off a small piece of newspaper to make a tiny prison window for her, allowing the Mirror Woman to have a face-to-face exchange with Housekeeper Tang.

A face-to-face scolding from Housekeeper Tang!

Shi Jian egged him on, "Xiao Tang, it's up to you now!"

The Mirror Woman met Housekeeper Tang head-on. Even without facial features, her face somehow managed to express emotion.

"You… betrayed the revolution?"

The Mirror Woman thought: if this isn’t betrayal, then why is Shi Jian so friendly and even asking Housekeeper Tang to deal with her?

Housekeeper Tang: “……”

He knew nothing. He didn’t do anything. That wasn’t him. Don’t spout nonsense.

Housekeeper Tang’s eyes drifted to Shi Jian, who was signaling at him to speak. He suddenly felt he didn’t understand how to play this game anymore. Did she even remember who he was?

...

The viewers in the livestream couldn’t help but slam the table in excitement.

The monsters of Rose Castle were being pitted against each other by the streamer, and she even told Housekeeper Tang to discipline the Mirror Woman.

Pfft——

This was beyond entertaining.

【Housekeeper Tang = Xiao Tang?】

【Shi Jian is the future lady of the castle, Tang is just a working stiff. Calling him Xiao Tang is totally normal. (Funny emoji)】

【Old fans ecstatic—this is the joy of watching character development! Not long ago the streamer was still trembling in fear, and now she’s teasing both the Mirror Woman and Housekeeper Tang.】

The other people in the castle just wanted to give Shi Jian a big thumbs-up.

It wasn’t that Shi Jian was especially brave; she simply realized that neither Housekeeper Tang nor the Mirror Woman could harm her.

Housekeeper Tang, who had come to watch the chaos, ended up becoming part of the chaos himself. He instantly aged ten years. Of course he couldn’t discipline a colleague. Housekeeper Tang fervently wished the Mirror Woman could scream Shi Jian to death!

But with others still watching him closely, he had to at least put on a bit of a show.

So Housekeeper Tang took two steps back and let out a gruff, “How terrifying.”

“I’m sorry, Miss Shi, I’m powerless as well.”

Shi Jian: “……” Bro, you’re not even trying.

There was no way to force Housekeeper Tang to take action, and for now the Mirror Woman couldn’t actually harm anyone—just noisy.

Without hesitation, Shi Jian closed the “prison” window on the Mirror Woman, and then went on to paste over every mirror in the entire castle.

After Rose Castle had become a vegetable garden, it now also gained countless crooked, mismatched pieces of newspaper plastered everywhere.

Housekeeper Tang: “……”

It wasn’t that he hadn’t torn down posters before, but the speed of removing ads was never as fast as the speed at which they were stuck up. When he saw that Shi Jian had run out of newspaper and was reaching her evil hand toward the expensive books in the study, Housekeeper Tang had no choice but to grudgingly accept defeat.

This battle ended with Ad-Paster Shi Jian achieving a complete victory.Shi Jian actually quite enjoyed the task of pasting up newspapers—it counted as a workout. Even while doing that, she didn’t forget to radiate charm, leaving plenty of wallpaper-worthy shots for the viewers.

Shi Jian asked the Mirror Woman, “…Are you really not planning to quiet down for a bit?”

The Mirror Woman wailed day and night. She’d even started singing now—of course, it was the tone-deaf kind.

Li Anle covered her ears and muttered, “I had nightmares all night listening to that singing.”

The Mirror Woman was clearly delighted with the result. “I won’t shut up! I’ll scream you to death! I’m gonna sing louder!”

Shi Jian couldn’t be bothered to respond. The more attention she gave her, the more excited the Mirror Woman became. “...Whatever makes you happy.”

...

Aside from the Mirror Woman’s non-stop wailing and noise pollution directed at Shi Jian, everything else was going pretty smoothly. No one was idle. In addition to the gardening project, everyone kept looking for clues.

Shi Jian had been staring into the big eyeball in the center of a rose on the window for over a minute.

Zhang Dong noticed and thought she’d discovered something. “What’s up?”

Was there something wrong with the eyeball?

Shi Jian brushed her hair back and sighed, “It’s pretty good as a mirror.”

The giant eyeball in the center of the rose looked creepy but had no offensive capabilities. Since all the mirrors had been sealed off because of the Mirror Woman, Shi Jian had to find a substitute.

She discovered the rose’s eyeball reflected people decently.

The others quickly followed her lead—and it actually worked!

While the others searched for clues downstairs, Shi Jian wandered up to the second floor. Neither the first nor second floors of the castle had door locks, clearly open for the streamers to explore.

In the study on the second floor, Shi Jian unexpectedly found a palm-sized little box.

The box was made of copper, its design ornate and luxurious. Even with her not-so-sharp mind, Shi Jian could tell it probably contained some kind of clue.

But after fiddling with it for a bit, she couldn’t get it open. The box was strange—it had no lock, nor any buttons for inputting a code. Just as Shi Jian was preparing to bring it downstairs and hand it over to someone smarter, Housekeeper Tang appeared outside the door.

Shi Jian thought he was going to scold her for snooping around or try to take the box away, and she began to quickly consider how to handle it.

But Housekeeper Tang simply smiled, a bit mockingly.

“No one can open the master’s box. It’s indestructible. Its outer shell is made from the hardest material in existence.”

With that, Housekeeper Tang went about his own business, not taking the matter seriously at all—fully convinced Shi Jian was wasting her time.

Shi Jian looked down at the box in her palm. “Eh?”

...

A minute later.

Viewers in the livestream saw Shi Jian standing in front of a mirror, holding the box up high with both hands, aiming it at the mirror.

The Mirror Woman stopped singing. Her voice turned confused: “You… what are you doing?”

Shi Jian wore a curious, eager smile and tilted her head.

“You said the mirrors in Rose Castle are indestructible—the hardest mirrors. And Housekeeper Tang said this box can’t be opened, made from the hardest material.”"Have you ever heard the story of the spear and the shield?"

"I don’t mean anything else by it—just purely curious to see which one’s tougher."

The mirror reflected Shi Jian’s face. Her smile was incredibly sweet, but to the Mirror Woman, it was as terrifying as a demon from hell.

Don’t. You. Dare. Come. Over!