Chapter 167
Chapter 167
After receiving notifications that points had been deducted, no one dared disobey the little ghosts.
Chinnawat was different. He had never bought a Spatial Grid. Instead, he had purchased more than three hundred Clue Cards and sat there muttering to himself as he flipped through them.
The streamers sat in the courtyard watching the little ghosts stuff themselves, furious but afraid to speak.
Only Lucia held an apple and crunched away, staring at Chinnawat in confusion.
What was he doing? This Instance did not seem to require a review.
Mm, delicious!
Suddenly, she sensed a sinister gaze. She instinctively looked toward the orphanage children.
Qiao Xiaowen was brushing the doll’s hair with her head lowered, while Qiao Beibei devoured a small cake. No one was looking at her.
How strange.
“Lucia, why didn’t they take your food?”
She opened her mouth in confusion and looked at the speaker. Azim swallowed. “Can you share some with us?”
The moment he spoke, the hungry streamers all looked over, longing filling their eyes.
Qiao Xiaowen stopped brushing the doll’s hair. Qiao Beibei stopped eating… One gleefully expectant gaze after another turned toward Lucia.
Lucia felt as though she had provoked everyone again.
“Say something. Your Spatial Grid should be full of food, shouldn’t it?”
Lucia barely suppressed her anger and explained to Azim, “I’ve been dieting lately. I only have a little fruit in my grid. Can’t you see I’m eating an apple myself?”
“Liar! If you don’t want to share, just say so. Why make excuses?”
Going without one meal was hardly a serious matter. But human nature could not tolerate seeing someone else live better.
The female streamer who spoke rolled her eyes. Why had the children spared Lucia? Had she discovered some hidden rule?
Lucia nearly died of anger. “Who is making excuses?”
The female streamer snorted. “Then tell us why those children didn’t take your food. Did you discover the rules here?”
“Because I refused them.”
“You expect us to believe that? Refusing costs points, and anyone below 50 will be hunted as food…”
Her implication was obvious: Lucia was lying.
But Lucia had told the truth. When she realized explanations were useless, she simply stopped trying.
Westerners generally responded to moral coercion by refusing to play along. “Right, right. I’m deliberately not telling you. What are you going to do about it?”
Everyone was momentarily speechless. One meal was not enough reason to openly turn against each other, and the scene fell into a stalemate.
Just then, Qiao Xiaowen produced a vivid red flower from nowhere and tucked it into her black braid. She yawned. “How boring.”
Lucia frowned at her, unsure what she was trying now.
Then Qiao Xiaowen smiled, her voice seemingly hypnotic. “Rules? There’s only one rule in the orphanage: survival of the fittest. Pride and kindness can’t fill your stomach!”
With those words, Qiao Xiaowen hugged her doll and left.
What did she mean? No one understood.
Qiao Beibei brushed cake crumbs from his hands and sneered. “You’re all so slow… You can rob other people the same way we robbed you! Friendly reminder: five other streamers still have food.”
He ran after Qiao Xiaowen.
The little ghosts of the orphanage watched everyone with giggles. As though possessed, the streamers turned toward Lucia, malice slowly revealing itself in their eyes.
Lucia involuntarily stepped back, fear appearing in her eyes.
“Hand it over! Give us the food in your Spatial Grid!”
“The rules! Tell us the rules you know.”
“Right, I remember you still have a Review Card…”
Watching the streamers gradually advance, Lucia was utterly bewildered. She did not understand how things had turned out this way.
Even if she had angered everyone, the hostility should not have erupted this quickly. What had gone wrong?!
Amid the chaos, Chinnawat sprang from nowhere, grabbed Lucia’s arm, and nimbly dragged her through the crowd…
Elsewhere, Qiao Yu took out the steamed bun Grandma Zhai had secretly given him. He broke it in half and handed one piece to Shang Yan.
Shang Yan did not understand why they had to eat this dry bun when he had food in his Spatial Grid. But Qiao Yu offered it, so he accepted.
In the darkness, Qiao Yu leaned against the cold concrete wall and bit into the bun, which had almost hardened enough to crumble. He chewed slowly and swallowed with difficulty.
Shang Yan pressed his lips together and took a bite too.
It was hard and stuck in his throat. An overnight steamed bun truly tasted awful.
Partway through, Qiao Yu suddenly stopped eating. He slowly closed his eyes and, for the first time, told Shang Yan about his life at the orphanage.
“Whenever I was locked in here, I mostly survived on the extra steamed bun Grandma Zhai slipped me.”
Shang Yan’s breath stopped for an instant. Feigning calm, he asked, “Were you locked up often?”
“Yes.” Qiao Yu shrugged. “And not only was I locked up, I nearly died in here.”
At those words, Shang Yan could no longer maintain his composure. His voice began trembling beyond his control. “Why?”
Feeling through the darkness, Qiao Yu caught Shang Yan’s hand. His cold fingertip unconsciously traced circles over the warm back of it. “Because I discovered this place’s secret…”
What secret?
Remembering what Qiao Yu had said when he led Shang Yan away earlier, coldness gathered in the corners of Shang Yan’s eyes.
That was right. Beauty without thorns to protect it had to be hidden.
And… no wonder he had found no information about Qiao Yu’s earlier life. This place had become an Instance.
But everyone here had died. How had Qiao Yu escaped alive?
Shang Yan turned his wrist and gently closed his hand around the cold fingertip circling his skin. “One more question.”
“I loved you.”
The gloomy atmosphere shattered beneath those three words. Shang Yan stared at him in utter exasperation. “That isn’t what I was going to ask.”
“I’d save you first.”
Shang Yan nearly went mad. “Not that either!”
“I understand. I’d save the mother.”
Shang Yan was speechless.
-Hahahaha! What kind of bizarre conversation is this?
-Sadako: If your mom and I both fell into a river, who would you save first?
-Li Xiaoqin: If I have a difficult delivery and the doctor asks whether to save me or the baby, which do you choose?
-Painted Skin: I’m having a difficult delivery, and the doctor asks whether to save me or the baby. Then your mom falls into a river and demands that you save the baby. What do you do?
-Director Zhou: I’m dying! You failed to save either one, and the river washed your mother away too.
-Pen Spirit: Beautiful!
-Hahahaha, fuck! What kind of human tragedy is that…?
Qiao Yu smacked his lips as realization dawned. “Wait, that’s not right. You can’t give birth.”
“Can you let me finish my question?”
“No.”
Fuck!
Forget it. This brat was rebellious to his bones…
If he did not want to talk, forcing him would accomplish nothing.