Leaving the palace walls wouldn't get him directly to the town. It was surrounded by thick woods. One would need decent lighting to pass through it.

Bai Xing wore a black cloak just in case he needed to hide from someone. He also didn't take off his mask.

Walking through the woods, he didn't need any lantern since he could just use his phone's flashlight. There was a flattened road for carriages to pass, so he just needed to follow that to go to the town. But for assurance, he used the app's navigation.

He noticed that his battery didn't get depleted at all even though he used it almost all day long. So he didn't need to worry about battery issues.

He encountered an intersection. One going straight and the other going left. The app navigated him to left, so he followed it.

Right…in some adaptations, Cinderella's house was never in the middle of town. It always stood by itself without any neighbors in sight.

He walked and walked, but after an hour, the house was still nowhere to be seen.

He stopped to take a breather and looked back. There was nothing around him except for trees and wild bushes.

Rustle.

He hurriedly lighted the source of the noise. There was nothing on the screen indicating someone was there, but he couldn't help but be alert in this kind of environment.

He swore if there was a wild animal here he would immediately jump into the bushes and play dead. There was no way he could outrun a wolf or a bear.

He flinched when something jumped out from the bushes. Seeing it was only a rabbit he sighed in relief and relaxed his tense shoulder.

He regretted not bringing any drinks with him. The app also couldn't provide food and drinks. Only wardrobe, directory, M's chatroom, weapon, and money. He could also take notes and photos there.

He hadn't checked what weapons M provided, but he hoped there won't come a time when he need to use it.

Finally, after walking for another 20 minutes, he could see a house behind a metal gate. In modern times, it wouldn't be big enough to be called a mansion, but it certainly showed the status of Cinderella's family as a successful merchant.

Bai Xing didn't try going in through the front gate. He turned off his flashlight and went to the backyard.

When he saw the backyard he was stunned but quickly regained himself. With this, he was sure now that Cinderella really was corrupted.

It was told in the story that the grave of Cinderella's mother was in the backyard of her house. In this version, there should be a tree growing in it, watered by Cinderella's tears of grief. It was the wish-granting item in place of the fairy godmother from the cartoon one.

From the nature itself, it should be a beautiful tree that someone could weep, pray, and rest on. A tree that gave people a sense of safe haven.

But the tree in front of him was eerily black. It was dry, full of sharp branches, and was letting out black slime from its trunks. The grave beneath it was already buried with a mound of black squirming goo.

The rotten stench could be smelled from outside the backyard.

What in the world did the virus do to it?

And if the tree was like this, how did it get the gown it was currently using for the ball?

The tree trembled and a pair of glowing red eyes suddenly opened. It swiftly turned to look towards where Bai Xing was standing.

Without thinking, Bai Xing instantly dropped himself to the ground and covered his mouth. He took cover behind the metal gate's foundation block. His heart pounded in panic and his back sweated cold.

It's alive!?

Did it see him?

No, he needed to retreat for tonight. He didn't know what the tree was capable of, and he didn't want to test it.

He looked around and picked up a small rock. He prayed that it would work and threw it to a nearby tree, making sure his hand didn't go past the foundation block.

It made a dull sound, loud enough to attract the tree's attention.

Bai Xing jolted in shock when a thorny branch suddenly shot out towards the tree he just hit. It then got stuck to its trunk. Without waiting any longer, he hastily crawled away to where he came from and into the cover of the woods just to be safe.

He leaned back to a tree and sighed in relief. His legs were still weak from the scare and the amount of walking he just did, so he decided to take a rest for a few minutes there.

Remembering the weapon section in the app, he checked it in the meanwhile. There was a note from M at the top.

It said that at the start of the corrupting process the virus needed to make a power vessel in the story world. It was because once it entered the protagonist its power would be blocked, and it wouldn't be able to directly use it.

So instead, it needed to draw power from an external source. He couldn't kill the corrupted protagonist because the virus was inside them, but if he destroyed its power vessel he has a chance to kill the virus. This was equal to killing the protagonist.

Killing the protagonist wasn't a problem. When M gained back his full power and recovered his world, those protagonists would be reborn.

But Bai Xing didn't know how he should feel about that. Murdering someone was a bit…too much for him to handle. Even if these people are characters, he didn't want to experience the taste of blood on his hand.

There was a moral line he didn't want to cross as a human. Moreover, what if he couldn't differentiate fiction and reality after this was over? If this was over.

But destroying those power vessels was definitely a good idea.

Feeling that he has rested enough, Bai Xing got up and head back to the palace.

Knowing how far it was, Bai Xing didn't pace too fast. He arrived back at the palace just nearing midnight.

He wasn't sure where the virus got the gown. If it created it itself, would it still need to leave before midnight? As far as Cinderella's story went, there were 2 reasons why she needed to leave before midnight.

One was because of the magic's time limit. The other one, in this version, he suspected that Cinderella needed to be home before her stepmother and stepsisters do to avoid suspicions. It could also be because she didn't want the prince to know her real persona.

Either way, the virus didn't have any reason to run away. It could stay until the end of the ball, tell the prince her identity, and let the prince smoothly propose to her.

There could only be 1 possible scenario that would force the virus to run away before midnight.

Bai Xing waited under the palace's entrance stairways to confirm it.

Once the clock chimed its first bell, Bai Xing nervously waited. Second chime, third chime, fourth chime, but there was still no sign of her.

It wasn't until the tenth chime that he finally heard the clattering footsteps of the maiden's heels.

He watched from the shadow as Cinderella rushed down the stairs and went into the night. Not long after, the prince chased behind her and followed her out of the palace gate.

Bai Xing saw that even after the bell struck 12 times, Cinderella's dress didn't vanish. Then, his theory could be correct.

The virus must follow the main plot of the story and reach its happy ending to successfully corrupt it.

Bai Xing was satisfied with his findings for tonight, but he wanted to do one more thing before going back to his room. It was a good time while the prince was out chasing Cinderella.

Entering the prince's chamber, he placed a letter on the bedside table and left right after. With all the detours he took and the distance from the palace's entrance to the prince's chamber and then to his own bedroom, he finally reunited with his bed a little past 1 AM.

Once Bai Xing entered his bedroom, a figure lurking in the shadow stepped out to the moonlight. He stood there, staring at Bai Xing's door, in silence.

"…"

Remembering what Bai Xing did earlier, he headed to the prince's chamber. Because he was waiting outside at that time, he didn't really know what Bai Xing did inside, but his attention soon got caught by the neat envelope on the bedside.

He slowly picked it up and turned it. Bai Xing didn't leave any writings on it. Not who it was from nor whom it was addressed to. It also wasn't secured by any seal.

He unhesitatingly opened it.