"Knock, knock, knock, knock."
At this moment, a series of untimely knocks interrupted the trio's conversation.
"Who is it?"
Bai Yuze turned around, holding a cleaver and staring in the direction of the door.
Meanwhile, Yukinoshita also walked over to the male corpse, pulled out the scalpel from his neck, and held it in her hand.
"It's me, Yamauchi Haruki, I'm done."
Creak.
The wooden door was pushed open by Yamauchi Haruki. He stood awkwardly at the doorway, staring blankly at the gleaming cleaver in Bai Yuze's hand and the bloody scalpel in Yukinoshita's hand.
Then, he noticed a corpse in the room, which appeared to be completely cold.
"You... you! You killed someone?!"
Yamauchi Haruki was so scared that his voice trembled, and his legs shook uncontrollably.
"He... help!"
Yamauchi shrieked, then sprinted away from the scene. At this moment, his feet felt like they were stepping on cotton, but his survival instinct forcefully propelled his escape ability.
Yamauchi Haruki's running posture was incredibly wild; even professional zombie actors would exclaim "expert" upon seeing it, and even a real zombie would shout "Zombie!"
"Uh, should we go after him?"
"It's a bit late now, I don't recommend taking the risk."
"But what if he runs around and attracts something strange?"
The three fell silent.
Incompetence, causing more harm than good, was now personified.
"You two wait here, I'll go find him."
Bai Yuze sighed helplessly. He pushed the door open, intending to go out, but his hand was grabbed by someone.
"I'll go with you."
Yukinoshita's resolute gaze made Bai Yuze swallow his words of persuasion.
"Mm-hmm! I want to go too! We're a team, after all!"
Yui Yuigahama also spoke up with full energy, and Tuanzi's words made Yukinoshita snap back to reality. She quickly released Bai Yuze's hand, clutched her right hand with her left, and turned her head to the side, stubbornly saying,
"You... you mustn't misunderstand... I... I suggested going with you because I was afraid something would happen to you! You'd best not have any improper thoughts!"
With that, Yukinoshita turned her head away, no longer paying attention to Bai Yuze.
"Eh? Yukinoshita, why is your face so red? Do you have a fever?"
"I... I'm fine, Yui Yuigahama doesn't need to worry about me."
"But it's really red, it's even red up to your ears! Xiao Ze, come quickly and see if Yukinoshita is sick!"
Yui Yuigahama quickly called out to Bai Yuze, but the more she made a fuss, the redder Yukinoshita's face became.
"No need, she's fine. Perhaps it's just too hot."
The young man understood the young woman's heart; sometimes, there was no need to point things out, maintaining a state of balance was enough.
Bai Yuze walked out of 102. He gripped the cleaver tightly, not daring to be careless.
"Eh? Is it that hot?"
After Bai Yuze walked out of the room, Yukinoshita followed closely behind, leaving only Yui Yuigahama in the room, feeling the temperature.
"Let's go, Yui Yuigahama."
"Huh? Oh, oh!"
Hearing Yukinoshita's reminder, Tuanzi quickly followed, but whether she was mistaken or not, she seemed to have seen the male corpse move slightly...
"Where do you think Yamauchi-kun ran off to? Do we need to search room by room?"
Tuanzi looked around, making a gesture of gazing into the distance to show how diligently she was searching.
"No need. After Yamauchi ran just now, I heard a thumping sound, so he must have run to the stairs."
Bai Yuze tapped Tuanzi's head, which earned him a disgruntled look from her. He couldn't quite explain why he liked tapping Tuanzi's head so much, but he just wanted to.
"Yes, exactly. Plus, the stairs to the second floor are a bit sticky, so he'll calm down after a few steps. Then he won't know whether to go forward or back, and he'll just stay there, curled up and crying."
Yukinoshita also gave her answer, so the three decided to go to the stairwell to check.
"By the way, Tuanzi, don't you have anything to say?"
Suddenly, Bai Yuze casually said.
"Huh? Tuanzi? Me? I don't have anything to say."
Yui Yuigahama was a bit confused. Wasn't it enough for Yukinoshita and Bai Yuze to do the thinking? She would just honestly be a mascot.
"Don't you have any suggestions?"
"I don't, I'll listen to you two. You guys can handle the thinking."
Tuanzi directly spoke her mind. In her eyes, it was a blessing that she wasn't causing trouble, so how could she dare to offer any suggestions?
"Are you addicted to being a mascot?"
Bai Yuze stopped, turned around, and looked seriously at Yui Yuigahama.
"Huh? A mascot?"
Tuanzi didn't know how to answer. Tuanzi only knew that pretending to be dumb would get her through it.
"How long are you going to keep up this act? Do you really like to cater to others so much? Is your life just spent under the 'orders' of others?"
Bai Yuze was a bit annoyed and couldn't help but raise his voice a few notches. He knew he had no right to judge another person's way of life.
But even Yukinoshita Yukino was growing, and Yui Yuigahama clearly could grow, could transform, but she just wasn't willing to take that step, always wanting to close herself off.
She looked like a sunny and cheerful girl, but her heart was always closed off, keeping her thoughts bottled up, doing things to cater to others' preferences every day.
"But... but I'm afraid of dragging everyone down..."
Tuanzi's mood was a bit low, her eyes were already starting to redden, and even a slight ripple appeared.
"Compared to dragging us down, I'm more afraid that my teammate is an empty shell without a soul."
After Bai Yuze said this, he turned and left. There were more important things to do now, and he even felt a bit regretful. Why had he started lecturing for no reason?
Just because he had once peeked at someone else's life from a god's perspective, did he now have the ability to criticize others? How was this any different from a newborn casually judging others?
Bai Yuze was a bit remorseful and also a bit confused. When had he become like this?
How was he any different from a good-for-nothing who beat his wife and children after getting drunk?
But words spoken were like water spilled. Whether Tuanzi hated him or was annoyed by him.
He only hoped that Tuanzi could take the first step, transforming from Tuanzi into the true Yui Yuigahama.
Watching Bai Yuze's gradually receding figure, Tuanzi, however, didn't have the courage to follow him.
At this moment, a sigh sounded beside Tuanzi; it was Yukinoshita.
"Although his words were indeed a bit harsh, forcing an ape to speak gentle words is like a fantasy. However, Yui Yuigahama really should make some changes."
"I used to fantasize that people could change the world, but under his influence, I slowly realized that I changed myself. It's truly... incredible."
Yukinoshita rubbed Tuanzi's head as a gesture of comfort. She didn't realize that not only had her personality changed under Bai Yuze's influence, but even her preferences had subtly changed.
This time, one person grew, but the ones who wanted to grow... were all three.