Chapter 75
Chapter 75
[Sunshine Orphanage – Cabin Rules (1)]
[1. Sunny days do not exist in the Orphanage. A sunny day is abnormal.]
[2. No one can see Granny Liu unless you are a person about to die, or are already dead.]
[3. Never go out alone, especially after 6:00 PM.]
[4. The Orphanage does not have a “Candy House.” If someone wants to take you to the Candy House, please refuse them.]
[5. The last room on the Third Floor is a Funeral Hall. Please ensure you do not treat it as a dormitory.]
[6. Within the dormitory, there is one and only one who is not human. Please be careful to distinguish them.]
[7. Do not trust any voice in the darkness.]
[8. The Caregiver will always put the children first, unless she is already dead.]
The rules were written in chalk on a small blackboard.
And that blackboard only appeared in the mirror.
Therefore, Jiang Li was the only one who could see the rules written on it.
Although the handwriting was horizontally flipped, fortunately for Jiang Li, it didn’t pose much of a reading obstacle.
“Xiao Li, tell Aunt Xiaoyu, how many people can you see?”
Aunt Xiaoyu turned slightly, aiming the mirror toward Jiang Li and the doorway.
She asked Jiang Li again, her voice tense.
Jiang Li glanced up.
In the mirror, three faces were still visible.
The little girl Lili, Granny Liu, and the Little Boy.
Red Infant was not there, and Jiang Li had no idea where he had gone.
After thinking for two seconds.
Jiang Li held up one finger, signaling “one.”
If she wasn’t mistaken, Aunt Xiaoyu’s question was definitely a trap!
According to the sixth rule, there was one member in this dormitory who… was not human!
Everyone needed to identify this “outlier.”
And according to the Rule 2 of the Cabin Rules:
[No one can see Granny Liu unless you are a person about to die, or are already dead.]
Jiang Li could see Granny Liu.
This meant she was either “about to die” or “already dead.”
If the vast majority of people could not see Granny Liu, and Jiang Li admitted to seeing her, then Jiang Li would be regarded as the “outlier” among the group.
In a group game, becoming the outlier was a major taboo!
So for this question, no matter how many figures Jiang Li saw, the answer to this riddle could only be “one.”
Sure enough, seeing Jiang Li’s response, Aunt Xiaoyu’s expression relaxed with a sigh of relief.
“Oh, you scared me to death, Xiao Li!”
Aunt Xiaoyu put down the mirror, walked over to Jiang Li, and crouched down.
“Didn’t we agree? Don’t go out alone, and definitely don’t run around by yourself! It’s raining so hard outside; we were worried sick.”
Aunt Xiaoyu took Jiang Li’s cold little hand, lit another candle, and covered it with a windproof shield.
She led Jiang Li into the Toilet.
“The rain has been heavy lately, and there’s been a power outage. Take a bath first, Xiao Li, so you don’t catch a cold. Don’t let the water put out the candle while you’re washing.”
Aunt Xiaoyu gave her instructions while placing the candle on a wall bracket.
“I’ll go get your clothes; you start washing first,” Aunt Xiaoyu said before closing the door.
Jiang Li stood alone in the Toilet.
Her hair and clothes were soaked through; she truly did need a good wash.
The candlelight flickered slightly inside the Toilet, illuminating the dark and damp corners.
Jiang Li turned on the shower. She was halfway through washing her hair when a muffled clap of thunder boomed outside the window.
Immediately after, a cold gale came howling in.
The old wooden window was blown open.
On the bracket, the windproof shield over the candle was also knocked over by the wind.
A wave of chill instantly flooded the room.
Without the shield, the lit wick flickered once and went out.
Jiang Li quickly grabbed the Little Shroud Cotton Jacket and draped it over herself.
At the same time.
The room outside the Toilet also plunged into darkness, accompanied by the terrified screams of children.
The startled voices of the children rose and fell in the dark.
“Ah! The lights are out! Watch out for ghosts!!”
“Look quickly, something just floated past the window!”
“Waaaah, Aunt Xiaoyu, I’m scared…”
“…”
Aunt Xiaoyu did her best to keep the situation under control.
She clapped her hands twice to quiet everyone down.
“Alright, alright, everyone stay quiet! Stop making such a racket!
All the candles have been used up.
We have to wait for Sister Lili to finish her shower and come out before we have any candles to use. Everyone, don’t be impatient.”
The children’s chatter came to a halt.
Aunt Xiaoyu wrapped her clothes tighter around herself, staring at the wooden window on the balcony that had been blown open by the wind. She continued, “Aunt Xiaoyu is going to the balcony to close the window. Are there any children willing to come with me?”
A few seconds passed.
The dark room was deathly silent.
Not a single child responded.
The balcony of this dormitory was essentially semi-outdoors.
While the Toilet where Jiang Li was currently located was still considered within the indoor area, the balcony was even further out than the Toilet.
Aunt Xiaoyu muttered to herself, “Just closing a window shouldn’t count as going out alone…”
Rule 3 of the Cabin Rules:
[Never go out alone, especially after 6:00 PM.]
Jiang Li remembered that while she was climbing the three flights of stairs, she had heard the grandfather clock in the hall strike six times.
So, it was already well past six o’clock.
Right now, the room was cold and pitch black.
Aunt Xiaoyu hesitated for a few seconds before fumbling through the darkness toward the balcony.
Jiang Li sensed Aunt Xiaoyu’s footsteps stop at the Toilet door.
*Knock, knock-*
A knock sounded on the Toilet door.
Aunt Xiaoyu called out to her, “Xiao Li, are you finished with your shower yet? If you’re done, knock once; if not, knock twice.”
Jiang Li pulled her clothes tight. She didn’t knock; she just stood there silently.
Rule 7 of the Cabin Rules:
[Do not trust any voice in the darkness.]
“Xiao Li, Aunt Xiaoyu wants to go close the window, but I’m a little scared. Can you come out and go with me?”
Jiang Li remained silent.
“Xiao Li? …Xiao Li??”
After two seconds without a response from Jiang Li, a pounding sound erupted from outside the Toilet door.
*Bang-Bang!*
Jiang Li pressed herself firmly against the door lock, not daring to let go.
But the force of the pounding grew stronger and stronger.
The already flimsy wooden door bolt soon showed signs of the screws loosening.
Jiang Li took a deep breath, using her small body to desperately brace against the door frame.
*CRACK!* A bolt of lightning struck.
Out of the corner of her eye, Jiang Li glimpsed a Long-Haired Creature crawling in through the broken Toilet window.
This wouldn’t work… If this continued, she wouldn’t be able to hold either side!
Just then, Jiang Li suddenly remembered the leftover “Little Match” she had from the previous Instance.
Seeing the situation grow increasingly dire, Jiang Li steeled her resolve.
With her back against the wooden door, she freed a hand and struck a match.
In the damp air, the match finally caught fire on the third strike.
The candle was over a meter away from her.
Jiang Li gritted her teeth, let go of the Toilet door, and moved to light the candle.
*CLATTER!*
The Toilet door was smashed open from the outside.
In the darkness, a dark shadow drifted in with a ghoulish grin.
Caught between the two monsters, Jiang Li finally lit the candle.
The flame flickered.
The dark Toilet brightened once more.
The Long-Haired Creature crawling through the window and the Fake Aunt who had burst through the door vanished simultaneously.
Jiang Li looked back twice.
The wooden Toilet door was perfectly intact, and the window had merely been blown open by the wind.
Was it… an illusion?
A dark environment could cause people to hallucinate.
Outside the Toilet, on the dark balcony, the *creak* of a window closing could be heard.
Immediately after, a short, horrific scream rang out.
The sound vanished before even half a syllable could be uttered.
“Aunt Xiaoyu, what’s wrong?”
Little Fatty Girl’s concerned voice drifted out from the room.
Aunt Xiaoyu did not respond.
Doubts filled Jiang Li’s heart. She walked to the window, stepped onto a footstool, and peered outside.
Rumble!-
The pitch-black sky flashed white twice, accompanied by a clap of thunder.
Jiang Li saw that on the dark balcony, a Dark Tiny Figure was devouring Aunt Xiaoyu’s limbs.