A bizarre and terrifying experience; I messed up the dungeon world.

Zhou Lang nodded: "I understand."

The butler stood there for a while before leaving, glancing at Zhou Lang one last time before he did.

This glance confirmed one thing for Zhou Lang—the butler knew he had gone to the basement last night.

It's monitoring him.

During the lunch break, Zhou Lang intercepted Zhao Qiang at the kitchen door.

"The seventh tree in the garden, in the southeast corner," Zhou Lang said in a low voice. "There's something buried under the tree. I touched it, but I didn't have time to dig it up. Butler Sha is keeping a close eye on things."

"What should we do then?"

"We can't go out at night anymore; they've increased their patrols. During the day, there are at least two ghosts watching the garden, plus the butler could appear at any time—digging it out by force is impractical."

"Should we lure the butler away?"

"Not just the butler." Zhou Lang thought for a moment. "I need some undisturbed time, at least five minutes. Dig it out and destroy it within five minutes."

"Five minutes..." Zhao Qiang scratched his head. "How about I go cause some trouble?"

Zhou Lang glanced at him.

"Don't look at me like that." Zhao Qiang awkwardly touched his nose. "I may not be the bravest person, but I can still step up when it counts. Have you forgotten what happened at the manor last time?"

Zhou Lang certainly remembered what happened last time. Zhao Qiang helped him take control of the entire manor, and although he almost fainted from fright during the process, he was indeed reliable.

"Okay. But don't go too far with the trouble, or you'll be finished if you get 'fired'."

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

The two discussed the details again and decided to take action tomorrow—the afternoon of the fifth day.

For the rest of the day, Zhou Lang continued working in the garden, appearing diligent and attentive, while also observing the ghosts' patrol routes.

Two ghosts were present. One was an old man with a broken leg, walking back and forth on the north side of the garden with a cane. The other was a woman without a lower body, floating in the air above the garden, circling around every three minutes.

The one that's floating is more troublesome. It only takes three minutes to complete one lap, leaving it with insufficient window of opportunity.

Unless... you lure the one above away too.

As Zhou Lang was thinking of a solution, a quarrel broke out at the garden gate.

Xiong Batian rushed over from the direction of the kitchen, covered in grease and looking furious.

"I quit! I've been washing dishes all morning, my hands are raw and bleeding! Why should that guy be relaxing in the garden while I have to wash dishes in the kitchen?"

The butler followed behind, his tone indifferent: "Work assignments are decided by the butler; those who disobey will have their wages deducted."

"Deduct it if you want! I don't care about a few hundred bucks!" Xiong Batian shoved aside the chair blocking his way and walked straight towards Zhou Lang. "Do you have some kind of deal with the butler? His evaluations are always the highest. Are you up to something?"

Zhou Lang put down the gardening shears in his hand and stood up.

"What are you trying to say?"

"I want to say—" Xiong Batian stepped forward, almost touching Zhou Lang's face, "In this stupid game, don't think you're smarter than anyone else. Let me tell you, I've been around the block before, you little brat—"

"You've been involved in the underworld before, what does that have to do with this place?" Zhou Lang interrupted him. "The rules here are set by the manor, not by you. If you don't want to work here, you can go to Butler Sha and apply for resignation, but don't come to me to take your anger out on me, it's a waste of both of our time."

Xiong Batian choked for a moment.

"Besides," Zhou Lang took half a step forward, their noses almost touching, "if you feel this isn't fair, we can switch tomorrow. You come to the garden, I'll go to the kitchen. But let me warn you, there are ghosts patrolling the garden. Are you sure you can handle them?"

Xiong Batian's imposing aura diminished somewhat. Although he was fierce in words, if he were truly facing a ghost, he might not be much stronger than Zhao Qiang. Yesterday, when they were handing out cigarettes, his hand was trembling.

"Hmph." Xiong Batian snorted coldly, flicked his sleeves, and left.

The butler watched the whole thing without interfering. Only after Xiong Batian had walked away did it speak.

"Waves and waves."

"Um?"

"The weeds in the garden haven't been completely cleared yet."

"...I'll go right away."

The afternoon's work ended peacefully.

When salaries were distributed in the evening, Zhou Lang's evaluation was still "perfect," and he received 500. Zhao Qiang and Han Yingying were both rated "excellent," each receiving 300. Xiong Batian, due to causing trouble, had his evaluation reduced to "passable," and his salary was only 100.

When he took the money, his face was extremely ugly, but he didn't retaliate.

After returning to her room that evening, Han Yingying knocked on Zhou Lang's door.

"Come in."

Han Yingying pushed the door open and came in, holding a piece of paper in her hand.

"I found this while tidying up the study." She handed the paper to Zhou Lang.

It was a floor plan of the estate, drawn very hastily, but it marked several key locations—the main building, the garden, the basement, and a place that had not appeared before.

"Here," Han Yingying pointed to a mark in the lower right corner of the floor plan, "the attic. The top floor of the main building, marked 'Master's Bedroom' on the map."

Zhou Lang stared at the mark.

"The master's bedroom... We've only been to the basement, we haven't been up there yet."

"Do you think it's necessary to go?" Han Yingying asked.

"Not necessarily." Zhou Lang thought for a moment. "It's clearly written in the booklet that the heart is under the seventh tree in the garden. There might be other information in the attic, but there's not enough time. The dungeon will be finished in two more days—or rather, I'll become the butler. We have to make our move tomorrow."

Han Yingying remained silent for a few seconds.

"Aren't you scared?" she suddenly asked.

Zhou Lang paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "I have to do it, even if I'm afraid."

Han Yingying didn't say anything more, left the floor plan, and turned to leave.

She paused at the door but didn't turn around.

"Don't die."

The door closed.

Zhou Lang put away the floor plan and placed it together with the servants' register.

Then he began to check his equipment—an oil lamp with enough fuel for the whole night; scissors, still sharp enough; and a chainsaw with plenty of power.

Tomorrow afternoon, in the garden, at the seventh rose bush.

Drain its heart and destroy it.

Whether you can clear the game or not depends on this one attempt.

Day .

At six o'clock in the morning, Butler Sha assigned tasks. Zhou Lang was assigned to the garden as usual, Zhao Qiang to the second-floor corridor, Han Yingying to the study, and Xiong Batian to the kitchen.

Zhou Lang arrived at the garden with his tools and, as usual, began pruning the first tree. As he worked, he went over his plan in his mind.

We'll start at 2 PM.

This time was chosen after two days of observation—2 PM, when the old man with the broken leg would walk to the northernmost part of the garden, furthest from the seventh tree. The half-body female ghost floating above would take one and a half minutes to reach the northwest corner, and another one and a half minutes to return, totaling three minutes.

Three minutes is the upper limit of the window period.

Zhao Qiang's task was to create a commotion in the main building to lure Butler Sha away. Han Yingying was responsible for keeping watch at the study window and immediately signaling if she spotted Butler Sha heading towards the garden.

What's the signal? — Han Yingying will draw the curtains in the study. Zhou Lang can see the study window from the garden; once the curtains are drawn, it means the butler is coming.

The morning's work was completed as usual; the evaluation couldn't collapse at the last minute.