Chapter 13

What bad intentions could Shi Jian possibly have? She simply wanted to recreate the classic image of the spear versus the shield.

In the past, there was the merchant contradicting himself. Today, Shi Jian was live on the scene for a 3.15-style fraud busting.

Let’s see which is truly indestructible—Rose Castle’s mirror or this treasure box!

Shi Jian completely ignored the Mirror Woman’s terror. Raising the box and bringing it down, she muttered under her breath, “Singing, singing again… if you sang well, maybe I’d let it slide. But it’s that awful and you still have the nerve…”

Even though the Mirror Woman’s singing didn’t cause physical harm, it was spiritually contaminating.

Shi Jian struck the mirror hard twice with the box. The mirror, which had remained unscathed even when struck with a chair, actually shattered on impact. The Mirror Woman let out a cry of pain.

Shi Jian raised her eyebrows, sizing up the box in her hand. “So it really works!”

Not bad.

Without hesitation, Shi Jian continued wielding the box in search of the next mirror. The sound of smashing echoed throughout Rose Castle—Shi Jian alone had become a full demolition crew.

The Mirror Woman’s panic turned to dread—she completely backed down.

She might not be human, but Shi Jian was a real menace.

The Mirror Woman stifled the urge to curse and finally lowered her head. She humbled herself, “Shi Jian—no, Sis, Gorgeous Lady Shi, I was wrong…”

Shi Jian paused slightly and asked, “What did you do wrong?”

The Mirror Woman’s eyes lit up: this method works.

Internally, she cursed madly—I didn’t do anything wrong. Just wait till I get through this, I’ll make you pay.

Although truth be told, she didn’t actually know how she could deal with Shi Jian. This woman was immune to her powers.

"……"

The Mirror Woman suppressed all her messy thoughts. She chose her words carefully, trying to seize this opportunity.

“I shouldn’t have sung, causing noise and disturbing your rest.” She even used the honorific “you.”

Shi Jian motioned for her to go on, “And?”

The Mirror Woman endured the humiliation, “...Also, trying to take over your face and body earlier—that was wrong too. A D-list ghost trying to leech off a top star, I’m just trash.”

Shi Jian nodded. She agreed with that.

She was about to remind the Mirror Woman of something else when her face darkened. “Who are you calling sis?”

“How old are you, and how old am I?”

Shi Jian: What a shameless ghost—clearly looks older than me and still calling me sis.

The Mirror Woman: “……” Wasn’t I just trying to flatter you?

Fine, fine, yes, yes, it’s all my fault.

The Mirror Woman thought her humiliation would earn her some leniency—but to her shock, Shi Jian immediately resumed smashing mirrors with a bang.

The Mirror Woman was dumbfounded. She flailed and screeched, “Why are you still after me?!”

“You’re going back on your word?!”

Shi Jian didn’t stop, face calm as ever. “When did I say anything?”She never said she would stop smashing, after all.

The Mirror Woman thought about it—true, Shi Jian never said that just because she begged for mercy and admitted fault, Shi Jian would forgive her.

“But you clearly paused just now…”

It was precisely because of that pause that the Mirror Woman thought she had a chance.

Shi Jian recalled, “Oh, I was just tired. Took a break at halftime.”

After discovering this method worked on the Mirror Woman, Shi Jian didn’t go easy. Keeping her around was a major threat. Even if the Mirror Woman couldn’t harm her, Shi Jian hadn’t forgotten how she nearly possessed Li Anle, and how ruthless she was when strangling the painter.

Realizing she’d been played, the Mirror Woman howled and cursed nonstop. The commotion was so loud that the other streamers were drawn over, gathering around Shi Jian.

…

After understanding what had happened, everyone couldn’t help but feel a newfound respect for Shi Jian.

Doing big boss things with the gentlest appearance.

Shi Jian—what a powerful woman.

Shi Jian thoroughly enjoyed being in the spotlight. She told the others, “Stay back, don’t give her a chance to slip through and cause casualties.”

Wait till she was done, then they could come closer.

Zhang Dong and the rest knew this was the best course of action, so they stood in a line—

—acting as Shi Jian’s cheer squad.

With fierce tiger-like moves, Shi Jian smashed every mirror in Rose Castle. As the last one shattered, the world finally went quiet.

Zhang Dong let out a long sigh. “The Mirror Woman should be gone now.”

But Shi Jian, holding the box, let out a surprised “Eh?”

Everyone crowded around. “What is it?”

“It cracked.”

Shi Jian rarely looked guilty, but now she did—she realized she might have smashed too hard. After the final strike, the box now had a small crack on it too.

But Shi Jian quickly consoled herself—she’d been planning to see what was inside the box anyway. Now that it was cracked, perfect timing.

The crack was small but enough to let them see what was inside. Given how securely the box had been sealed, everyone had high expectations.

What could it be?

A key to escape the castle?

Or a way to contact the castle’s owner?

It was neither. Inside lay a single photo.

The photo seemed quite old, slightly yellowed with age. A child in a dress stood in front of the rose-covered castle, facing the camera. The delicate, pretty little face was tense, expression serious.

He had red lips and white teeth, but it was indeed a boy—dressed in girls’ clothing, a beautiful boy who could be mistaken for a girl at first glance.

Everyone’s mood took a sharp dive.

“I thought it’d be something useful.”Shi Jian examined it briefly. “What is this?”

“I got the box from the second-floor study. Is the photo of the Rose Castle’s owner when he was a child?”

Shi Jian: Hmm, not bad-looking, but still a few levels below how she looked as a kid.

Li Anle also studied it for a while and confirmed there was nothing else inside. She offered a guess, “Maybe it’s a black history from childhood. Wearing girls’ clothes really is kinda shameful. After growing up, he probably wanted to burn it but couldn’t bear to, so he just locked it away.”

Everyone fell silent. It kind of made sense.

Even inside a box hard enough to smash the Mirror Woman’s mirrors, there was no clue to help clear the level.

…

Shi Jian quietly called over Zhang Dong—she had an idea. “Can we take things from inside the instance out with us?”

Yes, Shi Jian had gotten a new idea. She wanted to take the box with her.

It was just too handy. If she ever ran into a similar situation in the future, she could use it again. Even though a piece was cracked, the rest was intact—it still worked.

And it was studded with quite a few gemstones—not fake.

They didn’t even know what kind of scenario awaited after leaving the instance. Shi Jian figured it was best to be prepared. Worst case, she could sell it for money.

But Zhang Dong shot down her idea. “Unless it’s a special case, things from inside the instance can’t be taken out.”

Shi Jian felt it was a pity. “Alright then.”

With the Mirror Woman gone, and no more of her noise pollution, everyone went back to their routine—eating, drinking, growing vegetables. It really started to feel like they had turned a horror game into a cozy infrastructure sim.

In the afternoon, however, Butler Tang showed up with a gloomy face and notified the streamers:

“We’ve contacted the master. He’ll be returning shortly. Guests will be able to leave soon. Please begin packing your luggage…”

He said a lot, but the core message was just one word—

Get out!

The group, completely unprepared for such good news, perked up. They looked at each other in disbelief.

Did this mean… they could leave Rose Castle and had successfully cleared the level?!

They’d been trapped so long that the success didn’t quite register.

Li Anle whispered to Shi Jian, “Human adaptability is crazy strong. With food and drink here, I was starting to feel like staying a few more days wouldn’t be so bad.”

Shi Jian replied, “If we can leave, we should. Who knows what other monsters might show up next.”

Li Anle agreed. What Shi Jian said made perfect sense.

Zhang Dong grinned and looked at Shi Jian, muttering under his breath:

“I really am kind of a lucky koi—once again carried to an easy win by a big boss.”

Shi Jian: ? Who’s the big boss? Was he talking about her?

…

Butler Tang was truly at his limit. Just look at Rose Castle—did it still resemble what it once was?

Originally, it had glittering, lavish decor. Now all the mirrors had been smashed by Shi Jian; the elegant, refined rooms were full of sprouting beans and garlic shoots; the guest room furniture had been burned up by the little snacks, and now they were raiding furniture from the rest of the house.Butler Tang: If the master doesn’t come back soon, this castle’s going to be completely ruined.

Butler Tang just wanted to send off that living Buddha, Shi Jian. Not long after, Shi Jian and her group finally saw the so-called master of Rose Castle that Butler Tang had mentioned.

This man, who had been repeatedly slandered by Shi Jian as a hopeless simp and suitor, had a proper, handsome appearance and carried himself with elegance. Still, Shi Jian felt he had grown up looking worse than in his childhood cross-dressing photo.

But that was normal—becoming a beauty wasn’t easy. Someone like Shi Jian, who had been beautiful from childhood and only grew more so, was rare after all.

Shi Jian looked around and didn’t see Butler Tang, so she asked, “Where’s Butler Tang?”

Both humans and monsters were present, but Butler Tang was nowhere to be seen.

The castle master replied politely, “Butler Tang isn’t feeling well and has gone to rest.”

More accurately, Butler Tang didn’t want to see Shi Jian again. The castle master had already heard all about Shi Jian’s deeds from Butler Tang’s tearful retelling.

He didn’t believe Shi Jian was missing Butler Tang. If Tang knew, he’d probably faint with rage.

The castle master apologized to everyone. “I’m sorry for the delay due to certain matters. I ask for your understanding…”

Zhang Dong laughed it off. “It’s fine.” As long as they could clear the level, he didn’t care!

So… could they leave now?

Shi Jian remembered Zhang Dong had explained before: once the level was cleared, music would play and everyone would disappear from the scene.

But right now, there was no music, and no one had vanished.

The castle master changed the subject and looked at Shi Jian. “It was my failing as a host. Perhaps I could invite Miss Shi and her staff to stay and attend a ball?”

The group, who had just relaxed, tensed up again. Screams flooded the livestream chat.

【What the hell, it’s not over yet?!】

【Aaaa nooo! I thought we cleared it! Why is there a new invitation now?!】

【Fully immersed and dying inside—this feeling of thinking it’s over but you still can’t leave is pure hell. Help!】

They had finally managed to summon the master of Rose Castle. Why were they being blocked at the finish line again?

Shi Jian rejected him cleanly and decisively. “No.”

Zhang Dong followed up quickly. “Sorry, our artist has a tight schedule. Her work is very busy—appointments need to be made in advance.”

The painter jumped in as well. “We came in a rush. The artist didn’t bring any formalwear. For a ball, gowns are required, and our artist only wears the latest custom couture. If she dances in just anything and gets caught by paparazzi, it’ll be a huge problem.”

The other “staff” all jumped into their roles.

“Exactly.”

They hadn’t spent these past few days with Shi Jian for nothing. They had picked up some of her quick-talking skills.

The castle master: …

You’re telling me there are paparazzi in a horror game instance? What kind of nonsense is this?

The castle master said nothing, simply observing everyone in silence, as if deciding how to deal with them.

That kind of silence, in this kind of moment, was especially nerve-wracking. Even the sound of breathing felt out of place.Shi Jian recalled the photo and boldly asked, “For your ball, will you be wearing a suit or a dress?”

She added, “You actually looked pretty good in a dress back then. Quite suited you.” Though it might not work now.

“?”

The castle master’s face immediately turned a mix of colors. He frowned. “You all saw it?”

“Damn it!”

His refined demeanor completely collapsed. He cursed and no longer paid attention to Shi Jian and the others, dashing off toward the second floor.

“Beep beep beep beep~”

Shi Jian felt everything around her suddenly blur. The castle seemed to shatter into fragments. Her eyelids grew unbearably heavy, like a thousand-pound weight pressing down, impossible to lift. In the last moment before losing consciousness, she barely heard Zhang Dong shouting—

“Boss, remember to meet by the whale statue once you're outside!”

A cheerful, crisp melody played—like the sound effect for completing a level in a game.

When Shi Jian regained a bit of consciousness, a sweet but mechanical voice rang out in her mind—

“Congratulations, streamer, for successfully clearing the level. Points are being tallied…”

Soon, another message followed quickly:

“Congratulations, streamer, for earning the highest score in the [Rose Castle] game instance and obtaining the achievement [Dogs and Shi Jian Not Allowed in the Castle].”