Chapter 485: Doll
"Who wants to go next?"
Lin Ye didn't plan to complete his own ritual first while everyone was gathered. Instead, he intended to first obtain two decent ritual items.
"I'll go first."
Mu Kai stood up and approached the handcart, lifting the black cloth covering it.
On the cart lay a very beautiful doll. Its white skin was smooth and delicate, its golden hair soft and lustrous, just like real hair.
Seeing the doll, Mu Kai's expression turned ugly as he took a small step back.
"Is this your ritual item?"
Lin Ye stepped forward and picked up the doll. Its outer layer was also very similar to human skin.
"You're quite the girly one, aren't you?"
Damon glanced at the kitchen knife gripped in Lin Ye's hand and couldn't resist a sarcastic remark. "This has nothing to do with me! It was all those damned cultists!"
Mu Kai glared angrily at Damon. Fear sometimes transforms into anger, especially when one lacks confidence.
"Enough talk. Follow behind me, and don't run off."
Lin Ye, holding the kitchen knife, pushed open the door. Outside was a room of at least a hundred square meters, filled with various stuffed toys.
These toys differed in material, style, and type. There were humanoid dolls like the one he held, as well as various animal-shaped toys of different kinds.
But these toys shared one common trait: they were all staring at the four D-Class personnel who had opened the door.
Including the doll clutched in Lin Ye's hand. It turned its head to stare at Mu Kai, the corners of its mouth lifting into a strange, eerie smile.
"They seem to be looking at us."
Mu Kai forcefully suppressed the urge to run back to the lounge, because he knew staying close to Lin Ye was the wisest choice.
"These toys give me the creeps. What kind of despicable thing did you actually do?"
Damon hid behind Lin Ye. If Lin Ye hadn't said that dead bodies would increase the difficulty of the upcoming ritual, he would have suggested sacrificing Mu Kai as the offering.
That should also complete the ritual, after all, this place had nothing to do with them, and his own ritual was already finished.
"I just did a few human trafficking deals with those cultists. How was I supposed to know what they did with those people? You can't blame me for that, right? I didn't trick them; I was just a middleman..."
Mu Kai's voice grew softer and softer. It wasn't that he recognized his wrongdoing, but his body was shrinking significantly, and his voice was becoming increasingly strange.
A black old man doll appeared at Lin Ye's feet.
"What's happening to me?!"
Doll Mu Kai emitted a low voice. It looked up at Lin Ye and the others, still not understanding what was happening.
The surrounding toys, which had merely been watching them, suddenly swarmed forward, all pouncing on Doll Mu Kai. Lin Ye wanted to stop them but discovered that the parts of his body that contacted the toys began showing signs of turning into a doll.
Realizing this, Lin Ye hurriedly pulled the other two D-Class personnel away to prevent them from also turning into dolls and being mobbed by the other toys.
Fortunately, those toys didn't attack Lin Ye and the others. They just swarmed over, tearing Doll Mu Kai into pieces, then retreated to their original positions, continuing to stare at them.
"Old Mu just died like that?"
Damon asked, his voice filled with disbelief.
His voice trembled slightly. The previous ritual had been completed by Lin Ye alone. Only now did he truly feel the terrifying nature of these rituals.
"Don't overthink it. Mu Kai turning into a doll was likely related to his own emotions and the gaze of these toys. If you don't want to be torn apart after turning into dolls, control your emotions."
Lin Ye entered the toy-filled room. The gazes of numerous toys fell upon him, causing subtle changes in his body.
He was transforming into a doll, but the transformation speed was moderate.
Lin Ye began inspecting this room packed with toys. Because the room was crammed with various types of toys, he hadn't yet figured out the key to this ritual.
On the wall of the toy room was a locked door. Lin Ye tried it briefly; this door seemed only openable with a key.
"Can't we just use Old Mu as the offering and leave this place directly? He's already dead anyway..."
Damon was also starting to shrink. He desperately wanted to leave this room as soon as possible.
Lin Ye didn't answer. He placed the doll he was holding onto the floor.
The doll turned its head to glance at Lin Ye, then began moving around the room, seemingly searching for something.
Lin Ye watched the doll's movement trajectory. After releasing the doll, the speed of his body's dollification increased. The doll seemed to have a function that suppressed dollification.
"I can't take this anymore!"
Watching one's own body continuously turn into a doll was a terrifying experience. Damon couldn't withstand this immense pressure. He suddenly threw his body against the door, seemingly wanting to leave this room.
The gazes of the toys in the room shifted toward Damon. The speed of Damon's dollification abruptly intensified. In just a few seconds, he transformed into a half-human-tall, fat doll.
The surrounding toys swarmed forward again, wanting to dismember Damon just like they had dismembered Doll Mu Kai. But Lin Ye stepped in front of Damon. He swung the kitchen knife, effortlessly slicing apart all the toys that approached him.
But Lin Ye paid a severe price for this: his body also completely dollified.
The surrounding toys stared at Lin Ye with sinister gazes. Seeing Lin Ye completely dollified, they all revealed ferocious smiles.
"Huh, you don't think turning me into a doll means you can defeat me, do you? That might be a bit naive of you."
Doll Lin Ye moved his doll body. Even though his body had dollified, the kitchen knife's enhancement effect hadn't disappeared. He could still easily slaughter these humanoid and animal-shaped toys at will.
All the surrounding toys charged toward Doll Lin Ye. But Doll Lin Ye didn't move his feet at all. He stood right where he was, slicing open the bodies of the toys in front of him with a single knife stroke.
The toys approaching from behind tried to tear Doll Lin Ye's body apart, but they suddenly discovered that Doll Lin Ye's body was a whole level stronger than theirs. They were simply not on the same level.
Doll Lin Ye spun his body, quickly cutting all the surrounding toys into pieces. After dealing with these toys, he didn't continue attacking the others. Instead, he grabbed a small pig doll trembling on the floor and placed the kitchen knife against its neck.
"Return the fragments you took after dismembering him earlier, or I'll cut every single one of you into pieces."
Doll Lin Ye made a cut on the little pig's thigh. Seeing Lin Ye's ferocity, the other toys hurriedly returned the fragments of Doll Mu Kai.
Lin Ye pieced those fragments together, then used needle and thread found on the surrounding corpses to sew Doll Mu Kai's body back together.
He wasn't sure if this would work, but this time, this was all he could do.
After resolving the issue with these toys, Doll Lin Ye walked over to the doll. The doll took out a door key and handed it to Doll Lin Ye.