Chapter 85

Chapter 85

She took the Red Candle.

The White Mannequin gripped the wick and rolled it between its fingers twice.

The candle flickered to life.

The White Mannequin handed the Red Candle to Jiang Li, then retreated to stand guard behind the door.

Meanwhile, the true Black Mannequin, having failed to lure Jiang Li, drooped its eyes and slunk back to the other side of the door to keep watch.

Right about then, Jiang Li’s flashlight finally ran out of power, and its beam died.

Fortunately, the candlelight had come just in time.

Jiang Li felt a wave of relief.

She took the Red Candle, placed it in the sacrificial Incense Burner, and continued cleaning.

Though she was ostensibly cleaning, Jiang Li was mostly looking for a key.

She wiped down every inch of the room, inside and out.

Aside from that Coffin, she searched every possible hiding spot.

She even rummaged through the red and green figurines receiving offerings on the Altar Table.

In the end, she didn’t see so much as a shadow of a key.

Jiang Li bent down, scrubbing her cloth in the water bucket.

For some reason, after doing only a little work, her body felt inexplicably weak.

Not only was she tired, but she was also ravenous.

Her stomach kept growling, even though she had eaten quite a bit at lunch.

Jiang Li looked at the offerings on the Altar Table.

The pig’s head that had been offered there, unchanged for a long time, had now turned into a human head.

The head’s eyes were tightly shut, emitting a rich, sweet fragrance.

At the same time, a powerful wave of drowsiness swept over her.

On the open floor of the Funeral Hall, a single bed had appeared out of nowhere.

The bed was covered with yellow sheets, a yellow pillow, and a thick black quilt.

At this moment, the bed held an immense attraction for Jiang Li.

The White Dummy picked up the human head and held it out to her. “Eat quickly. You won’t be hungry once you’ve eaten.”

The Black Dummy took Jiang Li by the hand, leading her toward the single bed. “Sleep if you’re tired. Just sleep. Sleep peacefully for a while.”

Jiang Li shook her head.

At that moment, the black and white figures flanking her looked exactly like the Black and White Impermanence.

Funeral Hall Rule Four:

[The food and bed in the room are specially prepared for you. If you feel hungry or tired while inside, please use them to your heart’s content.]

Fake!

This was a false rule.

Jiang Li pushed the two entities away, took a cup of Honey Water from her Space, and drank it down quickly.

That feeling of losing control quickly receded.

The sacrificial human head reverted to a pig’s head.

And the so-called single bed turned back into the black Coffin.

A Pollution Source.

There was absolutely a Pollution Source in this room!

Jiang Li’s gaze swept toward the Coffin.

The Pollution Source in the room was most likely hidden inside it.

Just as she thought this, the Black and White Mannequins in the room suddenly took two red lampshades and placed them over the two Red Candles.

The light and shadows in the room instantly turned a blood-red hue.

And right then, a knocking sound echoed through the silent room.

Knock, knock, knock-

One after another.

Jiang Li looked up toward the Red Door.

No.

The sound wasn’t coming from there!

It was…

Jiang Li looked at the Coffin.

Something inside the Coffin seemed to be incessantly pounding on the wood.

At first, the commotion was relatively small.

But as it went on, the banging inside became increasingly frantic.

One could even say it was smashing against the Coffin.

With every strike, it felt as if the lid was about to be overturned.

On the Altar Table, the Green Figurine’s clothes were slowly turning red.

A rustling sound began to fill the room.

It was the same sound Jiang Li had heard during those ten seconds she waited outside the door before entering.

Those things… were coming out!

Jiang Li dashed to the door, pulled open the Red Door, and ran out.
Outside the Red Door, Granny Liu in her floral cotton jacket and the Little Boy in his raincoat both stood staring at Jiang Li.

At that moment, the grandfather clock in the wooden house’s main hall chimed five times.

*Dong- Dong- Dong-*

It was exactly five o’clock in the afternoon.

She hadn’t violated the rule: “Do not go out alone after 6:00 PM.”

Therefore, neither Granny Liu nor the Little Boy could harm her!

Jiang Li simply pushed past the two of them and walked away.

From this excursion, Jiang Li had summarized three things.

First, there was a Pollution Source inside the Funeral Hall.

Second, the truth behind the Orphanage Aberration Incident might be related to that locked cabinet.

Third, regarding the fifth rule of the Funeral Hall:

[If you are a living person, be sure to leave the room before 18:00. If you are dead, please do as you wish.]

In this incorrect rule, the time should be corrected to 17:00.

Because just as Jiang Li stepped out, the hall clock had struck five!

The Funeral Hall was currently occupied by Aberrations, so she would have to wait for another chance to investigate further.

Jiang Li left the Funeral Hall.

Looking up, she saw the Black Kid had been waiting for her in the corridor for some time.

By the time he had finished cleaning their dormitory and mopping the Third Floor corridor, Jiang Li had just happened to emerge.

“Lili, why didn’t you bring your bucket?” the Black Kid asked.

Jiang Li wrote on a slip of paper: *Forgot.*

The Black Kid gave an “oh” in response.

The two of them went to report back to Aunt Xiaoyu.

As it turned out, Aunt Xiaoyu was still slumped on the sofa, snoring loudly.

Jiang Li didn’t wake her. Instead, she and the Black Kid simply put down their buckets and headed straight for the cafeteria.

It was dinner time.

Jiang Li stood at the cafeteria entrance for a moment.

Before long, Caregivers and children came swarming in.

One Caregiver entered the cafeteria leading her child by the hand.

Jiang Li calmly took hold of that child’s other hand and slipped inside with them.

After finishing dinner, Jiang Li and the Black Kid returned to the wooden house.

Inside the main hall.

Aunt Xiaoyu was hanging her head while being lectured.

“A grown adult like you, and you still managed to lose a bucket!

“And the Third Floor corridor-go look for yourself! The floor is covered in water!

“Are you going to take responsibility if a child slips and falls?!”

The Vice Dean was poking Aunt Xiaoyu’s forehead, shouting quite loudly.

As they passed through the hall, Jiang Li and the Black Kid exchanged a glance and quickly tried to sneak away.

Aunt Xiaoyu bowed her head resentfully under the scolding.

Inadvertently, her peripheral vision caught sight of the two children.

“Hey! You two, don’t move!” Aunt Xiaoyu called out, stopping them.

She turned to the Vice Dean to tattle:

“Vice Dean, I want to report them! They’re the ones who lost the bucket! And they were the ones who mopped the Third Floor.”

Jiang Li’s eyes widened in shock when she heard this.

This woman… was she actually exposing herself?

[A Caregiver will always put the children first, unless she is already dead.]

The internal logic of this rule was that every Caregiver had to follow the employee code of “putting children first.”

In the Strange Tale World, no matter what role one played, they had to follow the rules of that role.

At the very least, one couldn’t flagrantly violate the rules in front of a superior!

By saying those words just to shift blame, wasn’t Aunt Xiaoyu essentially telling the Vice Dean that she was enslaving the children and violating the rules?

Jiang Li turned to look.

Sure enough, the moment the words left Aunt Xiaoyu’s mouth, the Vice Dean’s expression turned bizarre.

“Are you sure what you said is true?” the Vice Dean asked.

Aunt Xiaoyu nodded frantically. “Absolutely true! It’s a hundred percent certain! They’re the ones who caused the trouble!”

In the next second.

Aunt Xiaoyu’s world went black.

The Vice Dean’s neck elongated, her mouth unhinging wide, and she swallowed Aunt Xiaoyu’s head in a single bite.