Not A Small-Town Girl

----

Patrick furrowed his brows. Could i it

be that Danielle’ s master was some

kind ofdimortal? After a long pause

and néresponse, he began toGet

anxigus. Could this not be Danielle’s

master after all?

“Patrick, this is crazy. The voice sounds just like a

mystical immortal from a TV show. Could it be... no,

wait, no immortal would play such childish games with

these stupid traps."

“Patrick, why has this person stopped speaking?"

Patrick shook his head. "Let’s keep moving."

They walked deeper into the bamboo forest, and after

what seemed like an eternity, they finally found

something.

----

In front of them stood a house made entirely of

bamboo, surrounded by a small yard overrun with

weeds. It looked abandoned, as though no one had

lived there for years.

“Patrick, there’s a house up ahead. It must be the one

we’re looking for. I’ll call the others.”

“Wait, let me go take a look first. It might not be the

right one."

Patrick push pen a small gate,

and a little den sign immediately

fell to theground. The sight of theg>

sign mate the group freeze—thete

was tat cursed feeling again, like

another trap was waiting forcthem.

----

"You fools have arrived. Let me give you the answer

now: don’t enter my little courtyard. Your IQ is too low

to deal with me. | can’t be bothered to play games with

you."

Mercenary A asked, "Patrick, it’s telling us not to go in.

Should we listen?"

Mercenary B scoffed. "Are you serious? Of course,

we’re going in. It told us not to, so that’s exactly why

we should go. Let’s make it even more annoying."

Mercenary C added, "I think we should go in. We

came here to find someone, and this courtyard doesn’t

look like it’s been lived in for a while."

Fuming, Patrick yanked the little wooden sign down

and stomped on it. If they wanted to mess with him,

fine. He was going in.

“Let’s go in."

----

They stormeddinto the courtyard,

their footstess heavy with irritation.

The courtyard, overrun with weeds~

gave nq ign of a trap. Patrick’s fase

lit up ith a smug grin. Ha, that’s”

whatyou get for being so childish.

Trey weren’t falling for thisone.

----

“Patrick, this place is full of weeds. No one lives here.

Let’s check inside the house."

Patrick nodded, but still wasn’t convinced that this was

Danielle’s master’s place. They had to look inside to

be sure.

As they pushed open the door, several thin bamboo

poles shot out like hidden weapons, heading straight

for them.

“Watch out! It’s an ambush!"

Luckily, the mercenaries were quick on their feet,

wielding knives to cut through the bamboo before it

could pierce them.

But then, the bamboo splintered, releasing a cloud of

pink powder that caught them off guard.

"It’s a sleeping drug!"

----

The mercenaries collapsed, one by one.

Thankfully, they had brought some antidote. But just

as Patrick was about to take it, he too passed out,

never even getting a chance to drink it.

From the door, a new wooden sign dropped down.

“| warned you not to meddle. Now you’re all asleep.

Serves you right. Let me teach you a lesson, you little

thieves."

Meanwhile, the other team members had searched

the entire mountain, finding no trace of anyone. Now,

they couldn’t reach Patrick’s group.

When they finally regrouped and followed the path

Patrick’s team had taken, they found the familiar

wooden sign outside the courtyard.

One by one, they fell to the ground in confusion.

“Patrick, wake up! What kind of trap is this?

Everyone’s knocked out cold!"