chapter 9

Here it comes!

Cheng Miao bit her lip, her hands moving nonstop, as she glanced back to take in the scene behind her.

A dress as red as blood fluttered wildly, two jet-black pigtails bounced with the Little Girl’s movements, and a slightly yellowed Jump Rope flicked over her head again and again, tracing a smooth arc. White socks tucked into black little leather shoes kicked up clouds of dust with every hop.

Liu Xue was skipping with the Jump Rope at the entrance to the Corridor, her back to Cheng Miao and the others. The faint sounds that had lingered in the Courtyard suddenly vanished, and the whole world fell into a deathly silence.

No wind, no rustling leaves, not even the sound of Liu Xue’s Jump Rope…

Cheng Miao suppressed her rapid breathing, her heartbeat pounding in her ears like a drum. She was seized by the illusion that she was the only living person left in this world.

The only living person…?

Cheng Miao’s heart lurched. She whipped around-just moments ago, three children had been helping her dig the pit with all their might, but now, she didn’t know when they’d stopped moving.

All three hung their heads in unison, motionless, deep shadows masking their once innocent faces.

At some point, they had become as stiff and silent as corpses long dead, kneeling quietly behind Cheng Miao…

Liu Xue still had her back to Cheng Miao, skipping with the Jump Rope with extra focus, swinging the rope with deliberate care.

The leaves, which had been trembling on the verge of falling, miraculously froze on their branches. It was as if someone had pressed pause on everything, leaving only Liu Xue and Cheng Miao.

In the dim Courtyard, a silent horror film was unfolding. Cheng Miao felt nothing but the urge to cry: Damn it, is this a mime?

Sensing the presence of outsiders, Liu Xue slowly turned around as she skipped with the Jump Rope. Her pale face was hidden beneath her jet-black bangs, her expression unreadable. Her small red lips puffed gently, like a Little Girl singing a nursery rhyme while skipping with the Jump Rope.

Slowly, without warning, as if a punctured bag had suddenly begun to leak, thick, black blood oozed from the top of Liu Xue’s head.

The surging blood enveloped her whole body, staining the ground red. The blood, flung by her swinging Jump Rope, splattered into the air, tinting even the sky with crimson. She looked as if she were crawling out of a sea of blood.

Liu Xue grinned silently, her lips moving. Cheng Miao managed to read the nursery rhyme from her mouth:

Flowers are red, birds are singing;
Under the willow tree, we skip with the Jump Rope;
Hop on one foot, then two;
The more you skip, the nimbler you become…

Then Cheng Miao noticed: though Liu Xue was skipping with the Jump Rope in place, she moved closer with each frame, like a character in an old, stuttering film-each time the scene shifted, the ghost crept a little nearer to Cheng Miao…

Damn! What kind of kid is this creepy?

Now, at the final critical moment, Cheng Miao knew that the photo which had once driven Liu Xue from the Corridor would be useless against this menacing ghost. All she could do was desperately dig the pit.

She didn’t dare touch the three obviously unnatural companions beside her, nor did she dare turn her back on Liu Xue, who was like a witch. She could only twist sideways and frantically dig.

Liu Xue’s Skeleton was small, and the shallow pit was quickly dug. Without daring to look at the approaching Liu Xue or the three plastic companions whose heads were rising higher and higher, Cheng Miao picked up Liu Xue’s Skeleton and placed it in the pit, tossing in the pills she held as well, then hurriedly shoveled dirt over it.

The pit was shallow, so filling it was faster than digging. By the time the dirt was packed, Liu Xue was only an arm’s length away from Cheng Miao.

Cheng Miao finally saw Liu Xue’s eyes-her pitch-black pupils wide open, with no trace of white, her face streaked with blood, a sight that was especially jarring to the senses.
Liu Xue’s hand was already about to rise, just like in the photo, but it stopped right in front of Cheng Miao, frozen in place.

The three children beside her knelt stiffly and upright around Cheng Miao, like three cold tombstones, their faces wearing the exact same smile as Liu Xue.

Seeing that smile on the faces of the three children who had accompanied Cheng Miao through the entire Instance was unsettlingly bizarre, almost as if it split reality. It was hard to say whether they or Liu Xue were more frightening.

Looking at the nightmare unfolding before her eyes, Cheng Miao’s mind was still distracted, thinking she really had to thank Doctor Xu for that Illusion. Without the previous ordeal, she might have fainted right here.

The Liu Xue in the Illusion was much scarier than this… Of course, Doctor Xu was pretty terrifying too, sob sob.

Seeing Liu Xue’s face-one that would keep anyone awake at night-frozen in front of her, Cheng Miao swallowed nervously and spoke carefully, “Liu Xue, I already know about your injustice. You’ve suffered a lot. I hope you’ll be reborn into a good family in your next life.”

After rambling a few words, Cheng Miao keenly noticed Liu Xue’s half-raised hand tremble, her whole figure flickering as if there was a bad connection, and then she vanished from where she stood.

Cheng Miao saw the iron gate in the distance creak open, slowly and stiffly revealing a gap.

Before she could breathe a sigh of relief, Er Gou’s startled voice rang out behind her, “Sister Miaomiao, what are you looking at!”

Cheng Miao turned around. The three children had returned to normal, with no memory of being possessed like zombies just moments ago.

“Sister Miaomiao, why are you looking at us like that?” Hu Zi asked curiously, shifting a little further away from her.

Cheng Miao was at a loss for words. Great, now she was even more afraid of children…

There was no helping it. Considering she still needed to use child labor, Cheng Miao could only take the three kids, all now carrying psychological shadows, back to the Clinic and retrieve Aunt Li’s remains.

The Boss of this Instance was Liu Xue, so in theory, all she needed to do was bury Liu Xue’s remains properly. But whether this was just a small story in a Game or a real world, Cheng Miao felt sad for Aunt Li’s fate.

This kind woman lost her life for Liu Xue, who had nothing to do with her, and even after death, because of people’s prejudice, she still carried the reputation of a child trafficker in the Instance, more than ten years later.

Cheng Miao couldn’t turn back time, but leaving Aunt Li’s remains lying in that Clinic felt deeply unfair to her.

She placed wooden boards as markers in front of two small graves, then called over Hu Zi, the oldest and most reliable of the children.

“When you get home, remember to tell your parents to report to the police right away. Tell them we found the remains, and there’s a Dark Room in the Clinic. The beloved Doctor Xu from over ten years ago is actually the culprit behind the child trafficking.”

Seeing curiosity flash in Er Gou’s eyes again, Cheng Miao’s face darkened, “Don’t even think about going in yourself. That’s a crime scene-there might be bodies and ghosts!”

Er Gou was the type of mischievous kid who acted brave but was actually timid. After a few stern words from Cheng Miao, he finally behaved.

Hu Zi, as if entrusted with a very important mission, nodded seriously. “If you come to identify the scene later, remember to bring the police to see where we buried the remains, and also the Diary in the Clinic-it’s an important clue.”

After giving a bunch of instructions, estimating that the police would be able to uncover the truth, Cheng Miao sighed. If this Instance world was real, she hoped the still missing children could be saved.

Finally, she glanced at the two small graves one last time, then, without looking back, led the children toward the main gate.