After hearing Bai Yingxue's reply, Lu Yuhua stood up from his seat. He quickly walked past the strange children and came to the table where Bai Yingxue was.
Bai Yingxue was also fast. She had already stuffed the dolls that were originally on the table into the drawer. However, after Bai Yingxue had finished packing her things, Lu Yuhua still insisted and reached into the drawer to grab the dolls.
Perhaps angered by Lu Yuhua's behavior, Bai Yingxue said coldly: "If you do this again, I will call you teacher."
For someone this old, calling someone "teacher" might seem funny in real life, but in the dungeon world it's a simple and crude threat.
"You can try." Lu Yuhua was not afraid at all. As he was about to reach into the drawer, Bai Yingxue suddenly said a name coldly: "Tangning."
As she spoke, Bai Yingxue looked somewhere behind her.
Lu Yuhua paused in his scramble for the position. He followed Bai Yingxue's gaze and looked at Xiaoyu, who was sitting in the back row of the classroom. Xiaoyu had taken Tangning away earlier. So,
Lu Yuhua suddenly noticed a vague human silhouette behind the curtain next to Xiaoyu. If the teacher came in, there was a chance that Tang Ning would be exposed.
While Lu Yuhua was hesitating, Bai Yingxue had quickly taken out the bag from the drawer. She zipped it up and without staying in the classroom for long, she left quickly with an unhappy look on her face.
Lu Yuhua did not chase after him. He stared at Bai Yingxue's back and his expression became extremely gloomy.
Hiding under the curtains, Tangning had no idea what was going on between Lu Yuhua and Bai Yingxue. He could only hear the sporadic arguments between the two. When the noise faded, Tangning heard footsteps. "Tangning, come with me. Aren't we teammates?"
Tang Ning opened the curtains and saw Lu Yuhua standing in front of him. Lu Yuhua looked at him gloomily like an abandoned woman.
Tang Ning felt a little insecure. After all, they had agreed to be teammates to explore the orphanage. It was just that Lu Yuhua concealed some key information from him, making Tang Ning temporarily unable to trust the other party.
"This is Xiaoyu's mother." Xiaoyu stood in front of Tang Ning and announced to Lu Yuhua.
Lu Yuhua frowned, lowered his head and looked at Xiaoyu, "What do you want to do?"
When Xiaoyu arrived at Lu Yuhua's place, she did not answer directly. Instead, she looked up at Tangning and asked, "What does mom want to do?"
This leaves the decision to Tang Ning.
In a sense, Xiaoyu really behaves like a good child.
Tang Ning raised his eyes with mixed emotions. He looked at Lu Yuhua, who looked calm. She was not surprised at his desire to be a mother. She was just waiting for his answer.
"Lu Yuhua, we are teammates, but the way you are doing makes it difficult for me to think of you as a teammate I can fight alongside," Tangning said slowly.
"Why not? I will take you to investigate the monster in the confinement room." Lu Yuhua promised: "I can take you there later."
He made the promise so quickly that Tang Ning was a little reluctant to let go. After all, for a normal player, the most important thing is to stay away from the dangerous confinement room. Even Xiaoyu was so afraid of the monsters in the confinement room. Lu Yuhua, who had some kind of connection with Xiaohua's brother, couldn't possibly not know that the confinement room was dangerous
Then why did Lu Yuhua take him to the confinement room without any hesitation
Tangning still looked at Lu Yuhua with suspicion, "You've kept so much from me that it's hard for me to trust you. If we really want to continue working together, you should also tell me some information, such as what kind of connection you have with Brother Xiaohua?"
"You should have guessed some of the facts. I am an adopted child from this orphanage."
Tang Ning had indeed guessed it, and he continued Lu Yuhua's narration.
Lu Yuhua was silent for a moment. "As for the monsters that each of us has, my monster was left here."
"It's Brother Xiaohua." Lu Yuhua said in a low voice.
Tang Ning held his breath. He thought about a lot of things. If this was the case, then the relationship between Su Anyun and the monster in the confinement room was the same as that between Lu Yuhua and Brother Xiaohua
Su Anyun left the monster in the orphanage’s confinement room
"How much do you know about the monster in the confinement room?" Tangning said.
"I don't know much." Lu Yuhua said calmly: "If you go there, you might understand."
Tangning saw that Lu Yuhua didn't reveal any more information than about him and the solitary confinement room, so he changed the topic, "I want to know one more thing. Why did Bai Yingxue make those dolls? What are those dolls like?"
Lu Yuhua must know what Bai Yingxue was going to do, otherwise he wouldn't have tried to stop her. Tang Ning guessed that maybe making a doll was the key.
When Tangning asked this question, Lu Yuhua first looked at Xiaoyu who was standing in front of Tangning, then looked at the other kids in the classroom who were staring at her eagerly, "This is not the place to talk."
Tang Ning was a little hesitant.
Is Lu Yuhua willing to tell him Bai Yingxue's purpose only if he stays away from these NPCs? But Xiaoyu is still doing things for him according to the rules. It is more reassuring to get along with Xiaoyu than with Lu Yuhua.
It would be better to let Xiaoyu take him to explore Lu Yuhua and Bai Yingxue first to see who is the trustworthy person. Otherwise, if Xiaoyu leaves rashly, he may be in danger facing Lu Yuhua.
"It's really not convenient to talk about this during class time. You continue to supervise the discipline. Xiaoyu, let's go," Tangning said to Xiaoyu.
Xiaoyu, who was named, held Tangning's finger and said yes happily.
Lu Yuhua stretched out his hand, as if trying to stop Tang Ning, but the next second, Xiaoyu turned his head and stared at him sinisterly, his mouth suddenly opening wide like a monster eating.
Lu Yuhua took it back and watched Xiaoyu take Tang Ning away.
Tangning walked out of the classroom with her back to everything and said, "Xiaoyu, continue to take me on this exploration."
Xiaoyu took Tang Ning to a tree not far from the classroom. There was a swing hanging from the tree, and Xiaoyu pulled Tang Ning to sit on it.
This time, Xiaoyu didn't need to ask Tangning to lift her legs. Tangning put her legs against his back. The child's voice was filled with joy: "Let's swing~"
Tang Ning sat on the swing, his whole body pushed high into the sky by the force coming from his back. The classroom not far away seemed low at this moment. The group of unrecognizable ghost children were lying on the glass window, looking up at him through the small window. This made Tang Ning think of the dolls in the claw machine that seemed to be waiting to be taken away.
The swing was really too high, and Tang Ning clenched the iron chain with a strong sense of loss. When the swing reached the highest point, the surrounding scenery changed instantly. Tang Ning found that in the blink of an eye, he appeared in front of another building.
The tree the swing was hanging on was changed, and Xiaoyu came up from behind him, "Let's go, Mom."
"Where is this place?" Tang Ning asked curiously.
"This is where Sister Yingxue lives." Tang Ning walked towards the corridor under Xiaoyu's guidance. The corridor was very deserted, and an indescribable chill seemed to seep out from the walls. One had to walk lightly in this corridor, otherwise any movement would echo throughout the entire corridor.
Without Xiaoyu's reminder, Tang Ning climbed the stairs as quietly as possible. After a while, they came to a closed door. Xiaoyu took out a key from her pocket and opened the door.
This was a four-person dormitory. The decoration was very simple. There were no children living in it. Xiaoyu led Tangning to a bed near the door and pointed at it. She said to Tangning, "This is where Sister Yingxue usually sleeps."
This bed is suitable for children. If an adult sleeps here, he or she will probably have to curl up to barely fall asleep.
Tangning glanced at the plain quilt. It was folded very well and there didn't seem to be anything strange on it. Tangning checked the pillow and found nothing hidden under it. "In your eyes, what kind of person do you think Bai Yingxue is?"
"Two people."
Tangning was stunned for a moment when he heard this. He turned his head and looked at Xiaoyu, who was squatting on the ground and looking up at him. Xiaoyu's hands were holding his feet, like a frog squatting on the ground. A smile appeared on his face that was too ugly to look at directly. "Sister Yingxue always carried someone on her back. She said this was her sister who would always protect her."
"Yes, she lost her sister." There was a hint of hidden gloating in this smile.
"Are you talking about the doll that Bai Yingxue always carries on her back?" Tangning said.
Xiaoyu nodded, "Mom, mom, do you know why Sister Yingxue's sister is missing?"
"That doll was indeed to protect her..." Tang Ning did not elaborate on what happened to Bai Yingxue at the Lu family. He touched the quilt unconsciously. Suddenly, Tang Ning felt something special. He hesitated for a moment, then unwrapped the quilt. He was surprised to find a bunch of dolls hidden inside the quilt!
Each doll is lifelike, and they all look like children, both boys and girls. They are neatly hidden in the quilt, and each doll has a different expression on its face. Looking at them for a long time makes people feel a little creepy, as if the deepest evil is contained in them.
"Wow, Sister Yingxue actually hid everyone here!" Xiaoyu, who was squatting on the ground, quickly climbed the stairs. Her feet were extremely fast and flexible. Her small figure was like a black shadow as she moved. In the blink of an eye, she jumped from the floor of the dormitory to the bed. Even Tang Ning was so shocked by her speed that she missed a beat.
Under his gaze, the two bloody pairs of eyes held the doll hidden by Bai Yingxue. The dark eyeballs kept turning from the small doll face. The eyeballs turned too much, revealing a large area of whites. Compared with the delicate doll held in Xiaoyu's hands, Xiaoyu at this moment looked like a scary big doll.
"Do you know them?" Tang Ning's rationality had improved a lot. He tried hard to ignore Xiaoyu's weird expression.
"Of course I know them. This is Xiao Mantou, this is Azhou, and this is..." Xiaoyu knows all of these dolls by heart and seems to have a good relationship with them in imitating them.
"Are they all your good friends?" Tangning asked.
Xiaoyu happily hugged these dolls, "Yes, they are all Xiaoyu's good friends~"
"I don't think I've seen them before." Tangning recalled that he had indeed never seen the faces of these children.
"Of course Mom won't see them."
Xiaoyu's smile disappeared. She looked up and met Tangning's eyes. She whispered softly, "Because they are all dead~"
Dead
"Dead people are the most obedient." Those dark and scary eyes stared at the still-living Tangning. Tangning's chest tightened for a moment, but his expression remained unchanged. "Why did they die?"
"They are so naughty." Xiaoyu said while pulling the doll.
Not good? Die
"Who killed them?" Tang Ning asked.
Xiaoyu grinned, as if she was saying something quietly: "Of course it's an adult."
Adults? The teachers at the orphanage
As Tangning was thinking this, Xiaoyu smiled and said, "Sister Yingxue is an adult now."
Tang Ning's breathing stagnated. He looked at Xiaoyu who was playing with the doll. Xiaoyu didn't show any care for the toy at all. She pulled the doll's leg with one hand and the doll's foot with the other, pulling the doll violently and making giggles from time to time.
"You mean, Bai Yingxue hurt these children?" Tang Ning asked uncertainly.
Xiaoyu threw the doll out, and it hit the wall with a bang. After doing this violent act, she covered her mouth like a frightened little girl, "Xiaoyu didn't say that."
Seeing that Xiaoyu had no idea what was going on, Tang Ning gave up asking.
"Mom, come play with the dolls too." Xiaoyu handed the other dolls to Tang Ning. Tang Ning fiddled with them, but he didn't put the dolls back directly. Instead, he took the dolls away.
These dolls must be of some use to Bai Yingxue, and the same goes for Lu Yuhua. He is not sure whether Bai Yingxue's continued keeping of the dolls will have any negative impact, so it is better to take the dolls temporarily. Only with the dolls can he have bargaining chips in negotiations with them.
Xiaoyu looked at Tang Ning as he took the doll away, like a poor child who had lost his favorite toy.
"Take me to explore Lu Yuhua." Tang Ning said.
Xiaoyu tilted her head and thought for a while: "Brother Xiaohua?"
Tangning nodded.
"I'm so envious of Brother Xiaohua. He was taken away by his parents." Xiaoyu said with envy, but there was not much envy in her eyes.
"He's grown up. Teacher Lulu likes him very much." Xiaoyu held Tangning's finger and walked out on tiptoe.
As Tangning followed Xiaoyu down the building, Xiaoyu sighed softly, "Oh, oh, oh."
If you only look at Xiaoyu's back and then her voice, she seems like a little adult pretending to be mature.
Tang Ning felt that his aesthetic sense might have been damaged by the card world. When the little monster with its bones exposed pulled him away, he found it a little creepy and cute.
"What are you sighing about?" Tangning whispered.
"I really hate adults." Xiaoyu said seriously: "Brother Xiaohua has been as annoying as the adults I hate since he was a child, but adults like him very much."
Tang Ning, who was also an adult, did not dare to say a word.
Xiaoyu pulled Tang Ning out of the building. She brought Tang Ning to the tree where the swing was hung. When Tang Ning was about to sit on the swing, Xiaoyu suddenly pulled Tang Ning and hid in the bushes.
Tang Ning, who was lying on the grass, looked up and saw the figure of Balloon Teacher flying in the sky. Balloon Teacher landed in a place. Xiao Yu came up to Tang Ning and said, "They are going to make lunch."
Is that fat teacher responsible for cooking
Tang Ning didn't think too much. Xiaoyu pulled him to sit on the swing. The swing swung high and Tang Ning's perspective changed. He soon came to an unfamiliar place. Xiaoyu led him down from the swing and took Tang Ning to hide in a corner.
At first, Tang Ning didn't realize what he was squatting here. After a while, he heard waves of "Brother Xiaohua" coming from all the kids. Amid the kids' calls, Lu Yuhua came out.
He held a bottle in his hand, from which curative pills of mary soda kept pouring out. Lu Yuhua distributed these precious props to the various monster children surrounding him as if they were free of charge.
At first, Tang Ning thought that Lu Yuhua was being chased by this group of evil kids, and had no choice but to use props to temporarily lure these little monsters away. But after a while, Tang Ning realized something was wrong, because when these kids were scrambling for the candies, Lu Yuhua did not seize this precious time to slip away. Instead, he just squatted there, quietly watching the group of ferocious kids fighting for the candies.
No, not candy.
Tang Ning saw that after the children ate the items given by Lu Yuhua, the burn marks on their bodies became lighter, and it seemed that their injuries were getting better.
What's going on? Did Lu Yuhua help these monsters in the orphanage with her own props
Tangning was a little confused. He whispered to Xiaoyu beside him, "What is he doing?"
Xiaoyu whispered back, "You are pretending to be an adult."
The group of children who had finished eating the candies continued to surround Lu Yuhua like hungry chicks. Lu Yuhua took out another small bottle from his pocket and poured out the precious healing medicine from it.
Tang Ning had seen how deep the blood of a veteran player was from Lu Yuhua.
Lu Yuhua fed so many precious healing medicines to these monsters without hesitation.
"Why would he help them?" Tangning and Xiaoyu whispered.
"Give me a slap and then a sweet date." The little fish said like a little adult.
A slap
Has Lu Yuhua ever fought these monsters
Tangning said to Xiaoyu, "Brother Xiaohua is the best at deceiving people this way. This way, many idiots will follow his lead and he won't be bullied."
After hearing Xiaoyu's words, Tang Ning felt that he understood what Lu Yuhua was doing. If giving healing medicines could make monsters die at the hands of players, then it wouldn't be a losing deal.
"Okay, I've finished exploring with Mom," Xiaoyu said to Tangning, "Now it's time for Mom to go swing with me!"
Tang Ning, who was squatting in the corner analyzing the situation, froze. The premise for him and Xiaoyu to get along so well was based on the agreement between them.
It must be said that under Xiaoyu's guidance this time, Tang Ning obtained a lot of information. Tang Ning would never have been able to explore so much on his own.
Do I have to accompany Xiaoyu to swing on the swing
Tang Ning was a little hesitant. He couldn't help but back out because he didn't know what the impact of swinging on the swing would be.
Since Xiaoyu had done so much for him, it was impossible for him to just want a simple swing. Maybe he would be injured or killed while swinging on the swing.
Xiaoyu seemed to sense Tangning's resistance from her silence, and her face darkened. "Mom, you're not going to default on your debt, are you?"
Tangning quickly denied, "No, I just have feelings that I still need to fulfill."
Xiaoyu's face was still gloomy, and her cold eyes seemed to be able to turn into an iron spoon to scrape shreds of flesh from Tang Ning's body.
"Ding-ling-ling~ Ding-ling-ling~" Just at this moment, the crisp bell for the end of get out of class rang.
Tang Ning's eyes widened, because as the ringtone rang, Tang Ning saw that Xiaoyu's burns were healing at a speed visible to the naked eye. Not only the burns, but also the tattered plaid skirt Xiaoyu was wearing was healing at an extremely fast speed.
Although it didn't become a brand new skirt, at least the burnt holes were repaired.
Within a few breaths, the little fish was getting closer and closer to the beautiful and cute little fish that I first saw.
The ringing continued. Tangning subconsciously looked towards where Lu Yuhua had been. He thought that the children surrounding Lu Yuhua would also recover from their injuries like Xiaoyu, but something strange happened -
The children around Lu Yuhua disappeared little by little as if they were wiped from this world by an eraser.
The moment the bell for the end of get out of class stopped ringing, there was no one around Lu Yuhua anymore.
What's going on?!
Tang Ning was a little confused.
"Okay, of course I believe that mommy is busy." Xiaoyu's sweet voice drew Tangning's attention back to her. Tangning looked at the cute little fish and saw a beautiful smile on her face like an angel. "Xiaoyu, you can wait for mommy for a while, but not too long. Mommy must swing with you before dinner."
Xiaoyu was considerate. She stretched out her pinky finger and hooked it with Tangning's finger. She seemed to be helping Tangning remember something and said, "Hook, one hundred, no changes allowed—"
The treetops behind the little fish were shaking slightly.
Tangning quickly thought of what Xiaoyu had said before, "I'll hang you on the tree if you change." Under Tangning's nervous gaze, Xiaoyu happily stood up, holding up her plaid skirt, "Let's play hide and seek~"
As she said this, she jumped towards the swing on the treetop. In the blink of an eye, she disappeared into the tree as if she were invisible.
By the way, hide and seek. We have to play hide and seek after class!
Tang Ning tensed up, perhaps because of Xiaoyu's shout of "hide and seek". Lu Yuhua looked over at them. Tang Ning did not hide, he stretched out one towards Lu Yuhua.
Lu Yuhua came over quickly after seeing this. He took Tang Ning and found another place to hide. "Do you still want to team up with me?" Lu Yuhua whispered.
"First, tell me why Bai Yingxue made those dolls." Tang Ning said in a voice that was almost whisper-like.
"Do you know what those dolls are?" Lu Yuhua.
Tangning shook her head. How could he possibly know this
"This is similar to what Bai Yingxue did. I can only guess one thing. I guess the dolls she made contain evil souls." When Lu Yuhua said this, he frowned, his expression full of pain and sorrow, "But putting a person's soul into a doll, even if it is an evil soul, is cruel."
Tang Ning didn't quite understand the principles behind this, but that didn't stop him from getting goosebumps all over his body, because those dolls were hidden on his body!
If what Lu Yuhua said was true, the evil souls of those dolls would stay in his body!
Is it because those dolls are filled with evil spirits that Bai Yingxue doesn't carry those dolls with her
Tang Ning was a little nervous. He was about to take out the dolls, but when he touched the place where the dolls were stored, Tang Ning suddenly remembered that he had put those dolls together with the porcelain doll that looked like Su Anyun.
He also placed the talisman given by the old man in it.
Suddenly I felt a lot more secure.
"Do you still remember the first day you came to my house as a guest?" Lu Yuhua continued, "Bai Yingxue lost the game at that time, and her doll stayed at my house in her place."
Of course Tang Ning remembered this incident. Bai Yingxue's doll had left a deep impression on him, but he didn't understand why Lu Yuhua suddenly brought it up.
"I didn't go shopping for women's clothes with you guys that day. I came home early and happened to run into her talking to my parents. She said she wanted to get her doll back."
Change doll
Tangning suddenly seemed to realize something. Could it be that Bai Yingxue kept making dolls just to get her doll back?!
Lu Yuhua and Tangning looked at each other and he nodded, "Yes, just as you thought. She brought a few dolls she had made, but my parents asked for a lot of money, saying that it was not enough. How many more do they want in exchange for her dolls?"
Lu Yuhua's eye sockets were deeply sunken, and her bloodshot eyes revealed an indescribable madness. "Guess how much it will cost?"
Those eyes were too crazy, and Tangning felt uneasy for no reason. Tangning didn't want to guess, so he just shook his head.
"Dolls from the entire orphanage."
"My parents said they would need all the dolls in the orphanage to get her doll back."
Tangning's eyes suddenly widened because he heard Lu Yuhua say, "She's with you."