Chapter 76: The Witch’s Glass Slippers

The scene fell into a prolonged silence.

Jing Qizhen remained standing on the bare staircase leading to the second floor and hesitantly said, “That—”

That enormous rabbit must be the March Hare!

When the villa was burning earlier, the rising temperatures made it uninhabitable for any living creature. Now, it was unclear whether the March Hare had fled down the rabbit hole when the fire broke out or if it had simply emerged once the flames died and the temperature cooled.

Thankfully, Manman was quick to react. Despite having one hand wrapped in bandages, she managed to capture the thrilling moment with her phone single-handedly.

The rabbit was pure white, enormous, and had a monocle perched on its face; quite an elegant appearance. It wore a bright red waistcoat decorated with playing cards and hearts, along with a pure white ruffled cravat in the style of French court fashion.

A single glance was enough to confirm that the rabbit had come straight out of ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’.

When the oversized rabbit poked its head out of the rabbit hole, its gaze was sharp and alert, until the moment it accidentally nudged a collapsed section of the villa’s wall. As the wall came crashing down and smacked the rabbit back into the hole, its previously alert expression turned dazed and bewildered, as though it had been knocked senseless.

Manman handed her phone to Si Jiayang and pointed at the screen. “Look, the rabbit had a gold chain hanging from its cravat. That’s probably where its pocket watch is.”

Angelina, however, appeared perplexed.

She gestured to the cravat and reflected aloud, “I’ve never seen the March Hare from the front but when I saw its back before, it was just as big as this one. Yet, I’m sure it didn’t have that court-style collar around its neck.”

Still standing on the staircase, Jing Qizhen blinked. “When you saw the rabbit last time, it was in the middle of the night. Everyone was sleeping. Now this March Hare is clearly wearing formal court attire. At night, isn’t it reasonable that it might take off the cravat and change into pajamas?”

Angelina hesitated, then admitted, “If you put it that way, I think the last time I saw the March Hare from the back, it wasn’t wearing anything!”

Gu Leshan, ever straightforward, chimed in, “Maybe it likes to sleep in the nude!”

Angelina: “…”

The others: “…”

Manman coughed to break the awkward silence. “Ahem. Maybe the March Hare wears lightweight clothes at night that aren’t noticeable in dim lighting. What it had on just now was clearly formal court attire.”

From Jing Qizhen’s perspective on the staircase, he could only catch a brief glimpse of the rabbit’s long, fluffy, snow-white ears poking out from below. A moment later, the collapsing wall crushed the ears, making them droop before the rabbit disappeared straight back into the rabbit hole.

Jing Qizhen remarked, “I was thinking of flooding the rabbit hole…”

Hearing this, Joyce’s face was immediately filled with horror. He glanced nervously at Jing Qizhen, only to find him unfazed. Worse still, the other companions appeared eager to try it, making Joyce feel even more despair.

He tugged on his cousin Wilcox’s arm and gave him a pleading look. Surely they wouldn’t be so reckless, right?

Wilcox casually patted his younger cousin’s head but then hesitantly raised a practical concern, “But if the rabbit hole connects to ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’, wouldn’t it be impossible to flood it?”

Joyce: “!!!” So you’re considering flooding it too?!

Jing Qizhen, ever composed, replied, “As long as we can force the March Hare out, that’s enough.”

Yan Hong, always quiet but dependable, turned around and said, “I’ll grab the fire hose from the neighboring villa.”

Lu Lingxi glanced around and gestured thoughtfully. “Do we also need a big net to catch the rabbit?”

Gu Leshan raised his elbow and placed it on Lu Lingxi’s shoulder, hesitating as he said, “Such a big rabbit, compared to the usual small ones, the extra weight would mean its strength has increased proportionally. A regular net probably won’t be enough to catch it, right?”

Lu Lingxi thought for a moment and agreed, before pulling out a rope from his backpack. Hanging from the rope was a pair of handcuffs. “Let’s just tie it up with the rope!”

Joyce, on the verge of a breakdown, muttered in despair, “Aren’t you catching a rabbit? Why do you even have handcuffs?”

Lu Lingxi blinked his innocent, Bambi-like eyes and replied with a face full of naivety, “Of course, because handcuffs are convenient for dealing with all humanoid and semi-humanoid creatures! For a bipedal March Hare, handcuffs should work just fine, right?”

Joyce: “…”

Professor Jones, Caroline, and the others, who had intended to say something, collectively decided to remain silent upon seeing Lu Lingxi pull out an assortment of ‘tools’ and even some light firearms with an air of innocence.

Not long after, Yan Hong’s voice came from the back, “I found the fire hose. It’s long enough and the water valve for watering the lawn in the yard has already been turned on.”

As he spoke, Yan Hong came over, carrying the spraying hose.

Lu Lingxi, Gu Leshan, and the others quickly went to help and, without hesitation, shoved the fire hose into the recently collapsed rabbit hole.

Jing Qizhen raised a hand and pointed upstairs. “I’ll go check up there.”

Si Jiayang waved a hand. “Manman and I will search on the first floor.”

Given that the villa had recently been through a fire and part of its wall had collapsed, its structural integrity was questionable. Thus, apart from Jing Qizhen and Yun Shuanghua, no one else ventured upstairs.

Although they hadn’t entered the villa before, Angelina and the housemaid had described the layout of the rooms in great detail. Lu Lingxi had even helped sketch a rough map.

Jing Qizhen murmured softly, “The room on the far left of the third floor is Sophia’s.”

The magic mirror in Sophia’s room had fallen out of the window earlier, so Jing Qizhen didn’t find much during his search.

Next was Sean’s room. After the fire, only a charred corpse remained on the floor.

Jing Qizhen couldn’t help but sigh.

Sean’s body had been kept in his room since his death and no one had the time to bury it.

Considering the indoor heating, the temperature was quite high, so Sean’s room had its windows open, perhaps to better preserve the corpse?

Jing Qizhen found this practice bizarre, but he had no energy to dwell on it at the moment.

Most of the room’s decorations had been burned but in the ashes near the bedside table, a pair of glass slippers stood out conspicuously despite being covered in soot.

Carefully avoiding Sean’s charred corpse, Jing Qizhen walked over.

No matter how exquisite glass slippers might be, they couldn’t possibly be carved from a single block of solid glass. Jing Qizhen wasn’t sure about the material of the glass slippers from ‘Cinderella’ but the fact that the slippers had survived the fire unscathed spoke volumes.

He approached, exhaled lightly, bent down, and reached out to touch the slippers.

As expected, the full details of the special item from the erosion area appeared in his mind.

[Name: The Witch’s Glass Slippers]

[Type: Daily Item]

[Quality: Blue]

[Effect: Wear these glass slippers and you’ll be the brightest star at the ball! Additionally, you will never get lost.]

[Restriction: Huh? Who stopped the clock hands at midnight?]

[Remarks: The Witch told the Little Mermaid that dancing in high heels is as painful as walking on knives. The glass slippers will bring you luck, whether you want to be the brightest star at the ball or simply find clues and a way out. The Witch holding the golden spindle lifted her hood and repeatedly reminded the Little Mermaid that if the problem was not resolved before midnight, the magic of the glass slippers would vanish. Life itself is the greatest magic, isn’t it? After all, these beautiful glass slippers come from a witch, not a nameless and selfless fairy godmother…]

Seeing the description, Jing Qizhen’s heart stirred.

Although the item’s restriction mentioned ‘midnight,’ the notes hinted that wearing the glass slippers to search for clues could come with life-threatening risks.

Moreover, the stories of ‘The Little Mermaid’ and ‘Sleeping Beauty’ seemed to intertwine.

The Witch holding the golden spindle, if he wasn’t mistaken, referred to the plot of ‘Sleeping Beauty’, where the witch cursed the princess to prick her finger on a spindle and die.

Most likely, Sean’s death was related to the glass slippers.

Jing Qizhen withdrew his hand, pulled a bag from his pocket, and carefully placed the glass slippers inside.

It seemed the erosion area was full of hidden information. Both special items they had found so far were connected to unraveling mysteries or discovering the truth.

However, even though both items were blue-grade, Snow White’s Magic Mirror, while capable of revealing the most dangerous existence, often provided incorrect information. In contrast, the Witch’s Glass Slippers seemed to offer accurate clues but came with a time limit and significant danger to the user’s life.

As he pondered, a sudden realization struck Jing Qizhen.

He distinctly remembered Snow White’s Magic Mirror’s description.

[Use: Smile at the mirror and it will show you the most dangerous existence.]

The term used was ‘existence’ rather than ‘person.’

It meant that, in theory, the magic mirror could also show the most dangerous object or location, not just people.

However, since they had only seen Jing Qizhen’s or Yun Shuanghua’s faces reflected in the mirror and associated it with the ‘Snow White’ fairy tale, they subconsciously assumed it always displayed people.

It was likely that the mirror and the glass slippers were designed to work together in this erosion area.

Jing Qizhen even began to suspect there might be a third special item to balance things out, forming a connection with the other two.

Using the walkie-talkie, he shared his findings with his teammates.

Manman: “Be careful, Little Jing. Jiayang, Guijuan, and I are still searching the first floor but we haven’t found anything significant yet. Yan Hong and Little Lu are busy flooding the rabbit hole to catch the rabbit.”

Jing Qizhen: “Be cautious while catching the rabbit!”

After all, March Hares were enormous and it was precisely the time of year when they went berserk.

Yan Hong responded in a steady voice, “Understood.”

Time ticked by.

After inspecting Sophia and Sean’s rooms, Jing Qizhen meticulously searched Williams’ room.

The fire had turned the villa into a dark, ash-filled mess. However, it also made it easier to sift through the remains and find items that hadn’t been destroyed, significantly reducing the difficulty of searching.

Of course, there was a downside. If Sophia, Sean, or Williams had left any written clues, they were likely reduced to ash in the flames.

In Williams’ bedroom, Jing Qizhen found little of interest. It wasn’t until he entered the bathroom and saw the charred corpse in the broken bathtub that he noticed something unexpected. In a corner of the bathroom, there was an unburnt bottle that looked like it might contain perfume.

As he bent down to pick up the perfume bottle, a sudden commotion erupted from downstairs.

Jing Qizhen paused slightly and Yun Shuanghua, who had been silently following him, stopped as well. For once, Yun Shuanghua spoke up, saying, “The rabbit hole downstairs.”

Jing Qizhen was momentarily confused. “Huh?”

Before he could use the walkie-talkie to ask about the situation, the Earth’s voice suddenly popped into his mind.

The Earth seemed utterly shocked as it repeated in a rapid mutter, “The rabbit talked! The rabbit talked! The rabbit talked!”

Annoyed by the incessant chatter, Jing Qizhen snapped back, “Don’t you speak human language too? What’s so surprising about that?”

Realizing this, the Earth immediately calmed down. “Oh, right. 0.0”