Chapter 185
Chapter 185
The Pen Spirit stepped forward and finished Luo Yunmeng’s unspoken question for her. “How did you end up jumping down from the wall?”
-He broke through walls, crawled through a drain, dug a tunnel, and flew through the air. This streamer’s route is hardcore.
-This was supposed to be a maze? He’s obviously the one from the demolition office!
-All I can say about the streamer’s journey is: absolute legend!
-Damn, he got out in only half an hour. The shortest distance between two points really is a straight line.
-Practice reveals the truth!
Ignoring all the ears pricked up around him, Qiao Yu complained instead, “Those are high heels, not parkour shoes. Can you follow the socialist road instead of always jumping around in trees, okay?”
The Pen Spirit scoffed and could not be bothered asking again. It would have been stranger if Qiao Yu had navigated the maze properly. They were lucky he had not torn the entire thing down.
Wait.
The Pen Spirit narrowed her eyes at the grime-covered group and muttered to herself, “He didn’t actually tear down the maze, did he…?”
Her eyes darted around. Afraid she might be dragged into paying damages with him, she seized Luo Yunmeng by the back of the collar, hauled her away, and put distance between them and Qiao Yu.
“Massage my shoulders.”
Luo Yunmeng fell silent. “…”
Why was she always the one who suffered?!
An hour was not long. Soon after Qiao Yu’s group emerged, the wall standing at the backyard entrance vanished.
Furthermore, aside from Qiao Yu’s group, not one of the streamers who had participated in the game reappeared.
That alone showed how vicious the maze had been…
In only three days, at least a third of the streamers inside the Haunted Orphanage Instance had died. Everyone felt deeply uneasy and eventually returned to the children’s lounge with heavy hearts.
After everyone fell asleep, Qiao Yu quietly rose and went to the reading room.
He had a clear objective this time. He pulled out the little booklet he had examined before.
Looking at the familiar drawings, he realized that every monster depicted had now appeared except the one with a horse’s head.
Most absurdly of all, things he had casually doodled as a child could become monsters inside the Instance…
Had he dug this pit for himself?
Qiao Yu sighed, returned the booklet to his Spatial Grid, and headed back. The sky was misty, as though dawn would soon break.
He yawned, pulled his clothes tighter around himself, and closed his eyes as well.
He slept straight through to the afternoon. Shang Yan and the others did not disturb him, nor did anyone suggest going to the cafeteria. Instead, they took snacks from their Spatial Grids and shared them.
Everyone sat in silence. On the other side of the room, the little ghosts’ demands grew increasingly excessive.
The “slave” selected today was a quiet, reserved streamer.
He was tied to a wooden cross, and everyone threw stones at him.
The streamers gradually lost themselves in the rush of venting their emotions. Little by little… the selected streamer was stoned to death.
Azim had lost one eye and did not have enough credit left to buy a Muscle Regeneration Pill. Utterly frustrated, he selected another streamer. “He’s dead. You’re next.”
The person he picked was the same streamer who had thrown stones with particular enthusiasm just moments ago. Life was a cycle, and although karma might arrive late, it always came…
At dusk, a car drove into the orphanage.
Director Qiao Shihui, who had not appeared for some time, came out to welcome the visitor and led him inside.
No one knew what was said, but Aunt Deng soon received an order and headed toward the little mud-brick house where Qiao Yu’s group was temporarily staying.
When Qiao Yu heard the familiar footsteps, he shot over the wall to the other side. The others copied him and climbed over after him.
But the next second, Aunt Deng’s slightly aged face rose above the top of the wall. Her dry wrinkles resembled old tree bark and did not budge even when she smiled.
“Qiao Yu, come with me.”
What did she mean?
Shang Yan instinctively grasped Qiao Yu’s trembling hand, a dangerous aura gathering in his amber eyes.
“Hurry up. I turned a blind eye to you before because you’d already been ‘reserved.’ Now the important person from above has come to collect you. It’s time for you to leave.”
As she spoke, a thick arm reached over, accurately seized Qiao Yu by the collar, and lifted him off the ground.
Those words contained a disturbing amount of information. Shang Yan seemed to realize something terrible and froze for a split second. His slender arm tensed, but it accomplished nothing.
Aunt Deng was immensely strong. She dragged both of them back over the wall.
Seeing Qiao Yu seemingly sink into deathly silence, Luo Yunmeng’s expression instantly turned ugly. She pulled out a fiery red whip and lashed the old hag across the face. “Let him go!”
Kong Xianya’s eyes widened. She could not believe Luo Yunmeng had become so fierce.
Wasn’t she only good at running away?!
Luo Yunmeng regretted the strike almost immediately. She had to admit that anger had gotten the better of her, and now this ancient, vicious ghost held a grudge against her.
“Do you have a death wish?!”
Livor mortis surfaced across Aunt Deng’s face in blotches. The stench of decay rolled toward Luo Yunmeng, nearly making her vomit.
She could not help taking a step back. When the huge hand reached for her, she raised her arm and struck with the whip again.
Perhaps her cultivation was insufficient, because Aunt Deng merely grunted without pain and abruptly seized her by the collar. “You ugly girl, do you want to work on the back mountain? I’ll grant your wish!”
Luo Yunmeng really had been dark-skinned as a child. Aunt Deng did not care whether she disfigured her. Releasing Luo Yunmeng’s collar, she swung a slap at her face.
The heavy palm stirred a gust that made Luo Yunmeng’s cheeks sting. She instinctively closed her eyes.
At that moment, Qiao Yu finally came back to himself and called coldly, “Ren Yan!”
The next second, a white feather fan gently deflected the palm. The Pen Spirit glanced at Luo Yunmeng’s dazed expression and curled her lips. “She’s a little dark, but she looks pretty this way. What kind of taste do you have, old woman? Are you blind?!”
Aunt Deng looked at the Pen Spirit warily. “I’m younger than you.”
The Pen Spirit fell silent. “…I’m going to devour you!”
Aunt Deng turned and fled.
Only after the yard became quiet again did the Pen Spirit look thoughtfully at Qiao Yu, her tone unfriendly. “What were you thinking about just now?”
Qiao Yu replied, “You.”
The moment the word left his mouth, a cold snort came from beside him. “How many people have you fed that line to?”
Qiao Yu’s back stiffened. “Only you.”
“Another lie without so much as blinking?”
Righteous confidence covered Qiao Yu’s face as he pointed at the Pen Spirit. “She’s not human, so she doesn’t count.”
The Pen Spirit: ??
Was he insulting her?
She was not sure. She would keep watching.
Aunt Deng had left, but this time the director arrived.
Wearing her hypocritical, emotionless face, Director Qiao Shihui stood at the yard entrance and smiled at Qiao Yu. “It’s time for you to go.”
“Go where?” Shang Yan frowned at her and asked coldly.
Director Qiao Shihui blinked gently. “Where he belongs.” Her gaze returned to Qiao Yu, and the false smile vanished from her face. “You escaped me last time. Don’t even think of running away again.”
Her face enlarged dramatically in an instant. Her neck stretched like a strand of noodles and snaked toward Qiao Yu.
A chain suddenly shot out to meet it. But Shang Yan’s combat strength had been weakened by far more than a little inside this Instance. He lacked both speed and power; his attack could not even scratch that enormous face.
The crushing frustration of helplessness swept over him again. He even began to resent his childhood self for not eating two extra bowls at every meal!