Teacher Xiaoguangtuan's eyes lit up from under the quilt.
Yu Tang moved his fingers, and it felt like a tiny electric current was running along the place where Zhan Chen had kissed him, all the way into his chest, causing a sudden surge of heat.
Yu Tang pursed his lips and grabbed Zhan Chen's wrist with all his strength.
Zhan Chen looked at him, and with his free hand he cupped the back of Yu Tang's head, pulling him into his chest and shoulders, waiting for the blinding light outside the window to fade away.
…
The flashlight beam left the translucent glass above.
The blindfolded hunter failed to find his prey and smashed the informer's mirror.
The footsteps sounded again in the dark corridor, hitting the prey's shaky nerves with each light and heavy blow.
Yu Liuhui fell down exhausted.
She watched helplessly as her own domain shattered in front of her eyes. She tried frantically to fish it out, but only managed to get a handful of mirror fragments.
"No way... they must be hiding in here!"
Yu Liuhui shook her head desperately in disbelief. She struggled to pound the floor with all her strength, but before she could even touch the floor, she was held down firmly by a shadow.
Yu Liuhui's eyes widened.
She looked at the person slowly emerging from the shadows, her expression changed: "So it's you... You've been following me, and all my mirrors are covered with shadows?!"
No wonder no matter which room she looked at, there was a figure sleeping in it!
That wasn't a real image at all! Someone was controlling the shadow and secretly blocking her detection!
Yu Liuhui struggled desperately to come back, trying to call the "dean" back. After shouting in vain several times, her face finally turned completely pale.
She was shocked to find that all the sounds she made were quickly swallowed up, like a pebble thrown into the sea, sinking silently into the shadow that enveloped her.
"This villa is alive. I can't mimic or manipulate anything that belongs to the orphanage."
Sui Zhengfan's voice rang out, slowly transmitted to him through the shadow realm: "The lizard's tattoo reminded me that I can control shadows."
Only light and shadow are free, belonging neither to this orphanage nor to the "director".
Yu Liuhui slumped on the ground. She stared at Sui Zhengfan as if she was looking at an enemy who was about to kill her, and her eyes were filled with hysterical hatred.
The ghost of the "dean" reached the end of his patrol and slowly walked back.
It seemed as if it didn't notice anything unusual about the shadow. It walked to the end of the corridor, flashed the flashlight a few times, and then turned back to the other end of the corridor.
No matter how hard Liu Hui screamed or struggled, her voice was completely swallowed up by the shadow.
"This is a trap." Sui Zhengfan said, "We don't follow the dean's rules. According to his rules, everyone will die."
Yu Liuhui seemed not to have heard his words at all. She shifted her gaze and stared behind Sui Zhengfan.
Where the flashlight passed, the staircase that once sent the lizard to the third floor suddenly appeared again!
This time the stairs must be a reward for her. The rules of the game have been announced long ago. The dean only likes obedient children, and as long as they are obedient, they will be rewarded...
Yu Liuhui clenched her palms tightly. Despite the piercing pain, a chaotic ecstasy was revealed in her eyes.
"But at any time, betraying your companions is not a good option."
Sui Zhengfan was not going to provoke her any further, so he slowed down his tone and said, "Go back, you haven't caused any serious consequences, there's still time—"
Before he could finish his words, he groaned unexpectedly and held down his arm.
Yu Liuhui grasped a piece of sharp broken glass and fiercely cut through his territory.
Her hands were already bleeding from the broken glass, but she still clenched her palms tightly, refusing to let go, as if she was holding on to her last straw.
The "dean"'s ears were not blocked, so when he heard the unusual noise, the flashlight immediately turned back.
Sui Zhengfan's body brushed against the light of the flashlight and narrowly merged into the shadows.
Yu Liuhui didn't have time to care about him. She rushed over, stumbling and climbing up the stairs with all her might.
What made her a little strange was that this time, no matter how loud the noise she made, not only did no force show up to block her way, even the ghost of the dean did not turn towards her.
The flashlight simply searched the place where the sound was made several times, and when nothing unusual was found, it resumed its original patrol frequency.
Maybe I have finally become one of their "own people", so I will no longer be excluded and no longer have to hide in fear...
Yu Liuhui gritted her teeth and tried hard to swallow back the bitterness in her throat.
She had had enough of this deadly game. She just wanted to live and return to her own world, no longer living in fear in this hellhole, counting the minutes to live.
She used up her last bit of strength and struggled to climb the long stairs that seemed to have no end.
At the end of the stairs is an empty meeting room.
There was also a portrait of the dean hanging in the conference room. Like the one in the hall, it had two dark circles under the eyes and two red crosses that had almost faded.
Next to the portrait is a bulletin board, covered tightly with glass.
…
Yu Liuhui hesitated for a while, then mustered up her courage and walked over tremblingly.
There was a conspicuous happy announcement printed on the bulletin board, with two photos already posted inside, and the space for the third photo was left empty.
The first photo was worn and yellowed. The child in it was wearing glasses and sitting upright, like a little robot. Yu Liuhui didn't recognize him, so she glanced at him casually and fell on the second photo. Suddenly, her eyes widened in surprise.
The photo shows the lizard that had just reported the incident and was rushing up the stairs!
Like the dean, the lizard was also trapped in the photo. It bumped around desperately but couldn't escape the edge of the photo.
He was slowly yellowing and fading, just like the first photo, and the edges were beginning to become worn and curled.
He had indeed become the dean's "own man".
Yu Liuhui suddenly had a terrible premonition that she couldn't help but have. She turned around in panic, trying to escape from this scary area, but an irresistible strange suction force surged out from behind her like a tide.
"Help!" Yu Liuhui screamed, "Help, help me—"
This time, no one could hear her voice anymore.
She struggled in vain, but the suction force seemed to not allow anyone to resist at all. Her body slowly melted into paint, and was then filled into the last photo bit by bit. The air fluctuated twice, and a steel stamp was heavily knocked down out of thin air.
A piece of broken lens fell from the air and landed on the ground.
Silence returned to the orphanage.
The flashlight beam went to the end of the corridor, then changed direction and went back slowly.
The sun rose as usual the next day.
As the first ray of sunlight slipped in, the ghost of the dean quietly disappeared into the corridor.
The players barely managed to hold on for half the night, but finally couldn't stand the double erosion of fear and fatigue. They arranged the people who would take the night shift, and took turns sleeping in the second half of the night.
After a peaceful night, Dai Lei woke up from a nightmare and sat up with a thump, looking a little uncomfortable: "We weren't arrested? Nothing happened?"
"It seems that choosing not to move will lead to nothing happening."
Chai Ning looked at the new bandage on Sui Zhengfan's arm and said, "Mr. Sui, were you attacked by Yu Liuhui?"
Sui Zhengfan's injuries were not serious, but their team had a specialist in healing, so this minor injury should have been healed immediately.
Only when an alien uses all his strength to make a dying attack can an alien of Sui Zhengfan's level be left with this kind of wound that takes time to heal.
Sui Zhengfan sat against the wall. He didn't think much about it and shook his head: "It was my own carelessness."
Chai Ning obviously did not agree with his style of blindly defending everyone. She shrugged her shoulders, said nothing more, and reached out to pull the door handle of the bedroom.
"Hey!" Dai Lei was startled and quickly stopped her, "Are you going to die? Who knows what will happen if you go out..."
"You can't stay here forever."
Chai Ning said: "I was too anxious last night and didn't have time to figure it out. I have to go and see what's going on."
Dai Lei was stunned for a moment, and then looked at Meng Nanke who walked up to her, and said angrily: "Forget it, let's go together... Anyway, our mission is completed."
He and his partner were ordered to undergo transformation and enter this game to arrest Duan You, One-Eyed Dragon, and Lizard.
Now all three of them were taken to the orphanage, and the mission was completed by accident.
"We only have a few of us left. If we keep going on like this, we won't even have enough people if there's a group activity that requires ten people."
Dai Lei couldn't help but sigh. He pulled Song Sihang, who had just woken up, and rubbed his sore neck with a smile: "If we push the cart, someone will tell us that the game is over and we all have to get out..."
Chai Ning didn't have the time to dream like him. She pulled the belt, carefully looked at the noise outside, and walked out of the bedroom quietly.
She and Meng Nanke had originally been hiding on the second floor. At that time, everything here was bright and warm, and anyone who saw it could see that it was a fully qualified and high-quality orphanage.
After the fan appeared, all the disguised illusions began to peel off, revealing the vague true face that had been hidden.
…
The iron-gray walls were cold and depressing. An electric fence was installed on the iron railings between the two opposing corridors. The windows were all welded shut with railings. Large pieces of rust would sway and fall down when the wind blew.
Outside the window, there were overgrown weeds and the garden landscape had not been carefully maintained. Several pieces of sports equipment were stuck in the half-human-sized grass, tilted and almost toppled, with large stains on them.
Through the window of the corridor, you can see the wall outside. There are countless broken glass and sharp iron spikes shining with cold light on the wall.
“… How could this be?!”
Dai Lei couldn't help but frowned: "This doesn't look like an orphanage at all! If it's not an orphanage, it might as well be—"
"prison."
Dai Lei was startled by the sudden voice behind him. He turned around abruptly and breathed a sigh of relief only after seeing Sui Zhengfan's figure clearly.
He opened his mouth, about to remind the players to try not to scare others when communicating, but when he saw Sui Zhengfan's expression, he swallowed his words back unconsciously.
… For the first time, this middle-aged man, who was too good-tempered, showed uncontrollable anger on his face.
Sui Zhengfan walked to the window, the anger of being deceived for a long time was suppressed in his eyes, and the arms hanging by his sides were almost stiff.
—Over the years, the Sui family has continuously poured money into this orphanage.
They had been to this orphanage many times, but they never realized that every time they entered, it was a disguised area created by the director of the Secret Service.
These children were tortured, abused, and intimidated. They were forced to answer questions they could not understand in the hall where the cold wind was blowing. They were then picked out by the director of the orphanage and unscrupulously used as bargaining chips.
"Go search the other kids' bedrooms."
Sui Zhengfan said: "According to the NPC, this orphanage is an alien world that imitates the player, and it is a realm formed by the fusion of books and Feng Qing's memories. Then these levels must have their origins."
Piano keys that eat people, picture frames that devour people, and windows that lead to another world.
These parts that do not belong to Feng Qing’s memories, if they are not from fairy tales or picture books, then they should be in other forms...
"It's a diary."
Yu Tang came over: "We searched the remaining bedrooms."
Among the children in the orphanage, there is a diary that is recorded in turn.
He and Zhan Chen suddenly appeared in the corridor. Dai Lei was startled and almost jumped out: "You two, don't you make any noise when you walk?"
Although he didn't agree to hand over these two weird NPCs, he also had a problem with their sudden disappearance yesterday: "Since you've formed a team, at least don't run around privately, right? This isn't your home..."
"It's definitely not my home." Yu Tang looked at Chai Ning, "Is it your home?"
Dai Lei was puzzled and was about to speak, but Chai Ning and Meng Nanke on the side looked at each other and fell silent at the same time.
…
Dai Lei widened his eyes in surprise.
"We don't know either." Chai Ning said, "Before we were adopted, our memories were wiped."
Both she and Meng Nanke were adopted. The forces in the edge asteroid belt were chaotic, and the central star was out of reach, making it difficult to maintain the proper order.
It has long been an unwritten consensus that children in orphanages and slaves on the black market can be traded as pets and goods.
Before being traded, their original memories will be erased.
They are blank line drawings that can be bought and sold at will, painted and colored again and again, changing their identities and destinies.
"I originally felt that this place was unfamiliar. I had never lived in such a nice place before."
Chai Ning said: "But now it looks familiar. I recognize this place."
"There are always players rotating into the orphanage. We feel that it is not just looking for the dean, but also for us."
"I have something to do now."
Chai Ning walked to the window and knocked on the bulletproof glass: "I broke a leg on that wall before."
"I was trying to escape, and someone brought the dean here."
"It's not her fault," Chai Ning said. "She was cleaning that day and accidentally broke the bathroom mirror. She was punished to sleep in the weeds. She was scared and it was very cold."
"She was almost frozen, and she tried her best to get into the house."
Chai Ning: "The dean allowed her to go back and rewarded her with a small mirror."
Hearing this, the expressions of Dai Lei and others changed slightly.
…Yu Liuhui’s strange thing is the mirror.
That's why Yu Liuhui showed a stronger fear than others in the orphanage. During the exam, when the cold air invaded the hall, she was more unable to resist the cold than others.
Among them, some were pulled in to replace the roles of the children in the orphanage, while others had their memories erased and returned to their original identities.
Not everyone can successfully overcome their fear, and not everyone has enough courage to resist the abuser who seems to be impossible to resist.
"Not long after that, the two of us were sold."
Chai Ning looked at Meng Nanke and said, "A wealthy businessman bought us and trained us to dance a duet and let us participate in competitions."
It is common for children in orphanages to get injured, and doctors will give them timely treatment to avoid affecting their "quality" and preventing them from getting a good price from buyers.
Chai Ning didn't take the leg injury seriously until she was practicing aerial lifts with Meng Nanke, when she realized that the leg was no longer suitable for dancing.
The person who bought her discovered that the orphanage was selling inferior dance pieces as good ones, so he returned the goods in anger and wanted to buy Meng Nanke a better dancing partner.
The night before her product was returned, she found an opportunity and escaped to the station, only to find that Meng Nanke had also followed her out.
"I blasted him, but he didn't go back." Chai Ning said, "He insisted on accepting the alien transformation with me. Now look what we both have, we are both flirting with each other, don't even hold hands with me."
Meng Nanke was already accustomed to being scolded, so he kept his head down and said nothing, unconsciously avoiding the sight of others.
Chai Ning pulled him behind her by his clothes and looked at Yu Tang: "Did you find our original diary?"
Yu Tang nodded and flipped through the diary: "It mentions a lot of things."
Chai Ning flipped through a few pages of the diary and racked his brains for a long time: "What the hell are we writing about?"
“…” Yu Tang coughed lightly and looked up to meet the faint smile in Zhan Chen’s eyes.
The children didn't know many words, so they could only guess and write a few words, and then they wrote terrible simple drawings instead.
When Yu Tang was making the small light ball, the peak of his communication ability was about this level, so it was not that difficult to identify it.
"From the first page."
Yu Tang lowered his head, deciding to ignore Senior Zhan who took the opportunity to make fun of Electronic Storm for three seconds, and flipped through his diary.
The children's handwriting was clumsy and crooked, recording the important events that happened in the orphanage.
“The uncle and aunt who sponsored the orphanage came to the orphanage.”
"The new orphanage is very beautiful, with many flowers. We were hidden in a small cubicle and were not allowed to come out."
"Uncle and aunt have no children, so they took away my most sensible brother."
"Someone wants to buy a child who is good at playing the piano."
"Someone wants to buy a dancing child."
"If you don't practice well, you will have to sleep on the stairs. If you fall while dancing, you will be thrown out."
"My brother who can make clay figures secretly sent a letter to others."
"The most sensible brother came back to the orphanage to volunteer, gave us milk candies, wanted to support our studies, and forbade the director to beat us."
"After the test, the new wooden man took first place, and the other two took second and third place."
"They are no longer in the orphanage. They have become pictures on the wall."
…
"I found where the ghost staircase leads to."
Yu Tang said: "It's not on the third floor, it's between the second and third floors. There is a conference room there."
He closed the diary and held Zhan Chen's hand on his back.
He held Zhan Chen's hand in his palm and raised his head to look at Zhan Chen's thoughtful brow.
Zhan Chen came back to his senses and met his gaze: "What's wrong?"
"It's time to take them to see it, Senior Zhan." Yu Tang reminded, "The empty conference room."
Zhan Chen nodded, he took Yu Tang's hand in his hand, naturally led Yu Tang to his side, and nodded slightly to Sui Zhengfan: "Please follow me."
Yu Tang followed Zhan Chen's strength, walked into the empty corridor, and slowly held the notebook again.
He actually had a question that he never asked.
—He failed the assessment as Feng Qing and was tricked by those people into separating his most obedient and capable particles and handing them over to the Book Transmigration Bureau, thus becoming the seventeen-year-old Yu Tang.
That was his first time as a human being, and his particles interacted with Feng Qing's a lot, so Yu Tang had the same experiences and memories as Feng Qing.
But he was looking for Zhan Chen after all.
If the protagonist in that book was just a man named Sui Si, why would the electron storm at that time willingly hand over its particles
Why did Nie Chi happen to choose that book and become a professional manager for the Sui family