# Chapter 6: The Puppet and the Crystal Heart
Faint light flickered on the teleportation array. Compared to the teleportation in Reincarnation Paradise, this array was noticeably cruder, with black stains covering the formation diagram and some positions showing signs of damage.
Boom!
A dull sound came from beneath Su Xiao's feet, and Bubu Wang behind him stiffened his dog face.
Crack, crack, crack…
The surrounding world tore apart like old film footage, rapidly twisting into a chaotic mass. Su Xiao grabbed Bubu Wang's dog head with one hand and Baham's neck with the other.
A jolting sensation came from all around, and Su Xiao staggered forward a few steps, unable to maintain his footing.
The scene before him returned to normal, the shattered strip-like world re-stitching itself together, slowly healing.
'Soto…'
A vague voice appeared in Su Xiao's mind. He pressed a hand to his temple, and the discomfort from the teleportation quickly faded.
A faint musty smell drifted into his nostrils. Su Xiao's gaze swept the surroundings. This was an old-fashioned room, built mainly from black stone. The wooden furniture showed signs of age and wear, candle wax had piled up on the candlestick, and the candlelight burned stubbornly.
[The Hunter has arrived at the Witch City: Heru.]
['Heru' is a neutral danger zone. Due to the influence of the Old Gods, over 68% of plot characters in this area ignore the negotiation effects derived from Charm attributes.]
[Main Quest First Ring has been completed.]
[You have received 2 True Attribute Points.]
[The Hunter must activate Main Quest Second Ring within 2 hours. To activate Main Quest Second Ring, the Hunter must negotiate with the Maiden of Sorrow (Puppet).]
[Tip: The Hunter's current location is a relatively safe area. The Hunter may rest here, recover from injuries, etc.]
……
Su Xiao glanced at his feet. The faint light left by the teleportation array was gradually fading, revealing a dark gray carpet. This carpet no longer had a soft texture; its hardness was comparable to leather.
His current location was a bedroom. The room's furnishings were simple: a double bed, a wardrobe with a dressing table attached, and an oval mirror on the dressing table that was very dirty, with scattered dried bloodstains.
Compared to that mirror, Su Xiao was more concerned about the double bed behind him. The heavily stained quilt on the bed was slightly raised, and a skeletal arm was exposed from the edge of the quilt.
Su Xiao lifted the quilt, revealing a corpse lying on the bed. The corpse's death was horrifying: the left half of its body had turned to bone, while the right half remained intact, indistinguishable from a living person except for the loss of skin elasticity.
Crack~
Bones ground together. The corpse on the bed suddenly sat up. Seeing this, Bubu Wang's soul nearly flew out in fright.
"Woof awhoo! (Don't touch me!)"
Not to mention Bubu Wang, even Baham shuddered. After all, the Witch City: Heru itself exuded an eerie atmosphere, and this corpse was downright terrifying.
"Soto…"
The corpse made strange sounds from its mouth. Su Xiao stepped forward, a crystal layer wrapping around his right hand as he reached for the corpse's jaw.
Crack.
The corpse's head was pushed back, and Su Xiao's two fingers probed into the corpse's lower jaw, clamping onto a long, thin strip.
"Thanks."
As he spoke, Su Xiao tossed the corpse into the gap between the double bed and the wall, then studied the thin strip in his hand before pressing it with his thumb.
Hiss, hiss, hiss~
Sounds came from within the thin strip. Soon, a weak male voice emerged.
"Brother who came after me, I didn't get much intelligence… time… is running out too. Being able to activate 'Memory Fluid Metal' means you're also from Reincarnation Paradise."
The voice paused, followed by continuous dry coughing, as if trying to cough out a lung.
"The puppet is important. Oh, she's called the Maiden of Sorrow, a 'tool' favored by the Old Gods. Don't ask me what the Old Gods are; I haven't figured that out either, cough, cough, cough…"
Another bout of hoarse coughing.
"If no thief enters here, the puppet girl's heart is placed on the cabinet beside her. Don't install her heart for her. If you do, she'll learn to lie… even want to become a living person again. Or, you can take her heart apart, give her only half, and use the other half to tempt her. Don't try to harm or offend her. She's a neutral unit. Paradise should have warned you. Oh, right, I'm a Hunter, Sixth Rank."
The unknown Hunter's voice stopped. He seemed very tired and near death. After resting for a long time, he continued.
"I haven't figured out which side the Witch Council is on yet, but some witches are trustworthy, and some are best killed. Don't listen to their nonsense. Interestingly, the crazier-looking witches are more trustworthy. They were scared insane, all pitiful people. As for those who look normal, you'd better be careful. In this damned place of Heru, the more you know, the faster you go mad."
After another ten seconds of heavy breathing.
"Unfortunately, this is as far as I can go. Damn it, I never even got to try a female witch, motherfuc…"
After a 'courteous' final message, the recording ended.
Su Xiao's brow furrowed. Clearly, a Sixth Rank Hunter had arrived at the Witch City: Heru not long ago and had already died here.
Even if the other's purpose differed from Su Xiao's, it showed how dangerous Heru was. Moreover, Su Xiao felt that the tasks he would receive later would be far more dangerous than the other's.
Witch City: Heru, Witch Council, Old Gods, Puppet: Maiden of Sorrow, Mad Witches. The intelligence was piling up, but these clues were too scattered to connect.
Su Xiao stood up and came to the bedroom door. Pushing it open, the area outside was somewhat dim. Moonlight illuminated a corridor, with several windows on the other side.
Entering the corridor, after a few steps, Su Xiao found the stairs leading downstairs. Beside the stairs, there was another room.
Su Xiao didn't rush downstairs. Instead, he pushed open the room on the other side of the stairs. The layout was the same as the previous bedroom, except there was no corpse on the bed.
Two bedrooms flanked the stairs—that was the entire layout of this floor. Su Xiao walked down the stairs. The zigzag staircase soon ended, reaching the first floor.
The first floor was spacious, with various furniture arranged around the edges. A chandelier hung from the center of the ceiling, capable of being raised and lowered.
Using the moonlight, Su Xiao spotted a figure standing by a bookshelf. The figure was somewhat slender, standing completely still.
Su Xiao lowered the chandelier, added some lamp oil to the ring groove inside the lampshade, lit it, and pulled it up by the rope. The first floor of the small building brightened.
The firelight dispelled the shadows beside the bookshelf. A woman in a brown dress with light golden hair stood there, her hands clasped before her abdomen. Her light golden hair was braided into a plait, hanging down to her waist. She wore a silver headpiece that looked like lightweight armor but actually had no defensive capability.
"So this is the puppet?"
Su Xiao stopped in front of the puppet: Maiden of Sorrow, and tapped her cheek with his finger. Unexpectedly, she was soft, just lacking body temperature.
"Why isn't she moving? Didn't wake up?"
Baham started talking nonsense again, but the Maiden of Sorrow was indeed motionless.
Su Xiao examined the bookshelf beside the Maiden of Sorrow and found a crystal heart resembling a craft item, along with a key.
This key was about ten centimeters long, with a round metal piece at the end for easy grip.
After some thought, Su Xiao began inspecting the Maiden of Sorrow. Soon, he found a keyhole in the center of her palm.
Inserting the key, Su Xiao tried to turn it.
Click, click, click…
The sound of precision mechanisms working came. The Maiden of Sorrow, like an old-fashioned clock, needed winding~
After a few turns, the key got stuck. A gleam of life appeared in the Maiden of Sorrow's dull eyes.
"Is it you who awakened me, sir?"
The Maiden of Sorrow's voice was very soft, without obvious emotional fluctuation.
"Do you desire this heart?"
Su Xiao tossed the crystal heart in his hand. Though she was a puppet, she had a fragile heart. This was very interesting.