Chapter 88

Chapter 88

Jiang Li raised an eyebrow slightly upon hearing this response.

She recalled the first drawer of the cabinet beneath the Altar Table.

Inside was a photograph of a pair of faceless twin brothers.

Following that logic, the twins with the scratched-out faces must be Green Infant and Red Infant.

“Where is your brother, Red Infant?” Jiang Li asked Green Infant.

What was Aberration-like was that Green Infant did not give a straight answer.

His eyes suddenly crinkled as he clutched his small belly. He extended a tiny hand, pointing behind Jiang Li, and began to giggle.

“Jiang Li, look behind you… hee hee hee… this is too funny!”

Green Infant’s small frame shook as he doubled over, laughing until he was breathless.

Jiang Li dodged instinctively.

She spun around to look behind her.

Standing beside the Coffin was Granny Liu, dressed in a bright red floral padded jacket.

Granny Liu was hunched over, pushing the lid of the Coffin with all her might.

Dust cascaded down as the lid was shoved open with a heavy thud.

When Jiang Li saw what was inside, her pupils constricted instantly-

The corpse inside… was actually Jiang Li herself?!

To be precise, it was the seven-year-old girl, Lili.

Lili’s body was covered in dirt, her mouth and nose clogged with black mud. She had died two days ago.

She had been buried alive.

“Xiao Li, Grandma let you play for two more days. Have you had enough fun now?”

Granny Liu looked at Jiang Li and smiled kindly. The corners of her eyes were thick with wrinkles, and her face was covered in cadaver spots.

In the Funeral Hall, the white candles were still burning with a faint, ghostly light.

Jiang Li had brought these candles from the dormitory.

Ever since she had entered the Orphanage dormitory, white candles had been lit constantly.

White candles… were used to commemorate the dead.

Granny Liu braced her hand against the Coffin and stood up.

She looked at Jiang Li. “Good child, come inside. Don’t run around; it causes trouble for others.”

Granny Liu walked toward Jiang Li, took her hand, and led her toward the Coffin.

Jiang Li thought for a second and then bit the tip of her tongue hard.

The metallic taste of blood spread, but the wound… did not heal.

Jiang Li’s physical damage had not been transferred. This could only mean one thing-

Dai Chunli was already dead.

When the game started with her being buried alive, Dai Chunli had already died in Jiang Li’s place.

It was only because Dai Chunli had taken the hit that Jiang Li had believed she was still alive.

Jiang Li had continued living here driven by the obsession of “thinking I was still alive.”

“Xiao Li, listen to Grandma. Lie down inside. There won’t be any pain.”

Granny Liu’s whisper was like a dark incantation:

“You died a long time ago. Why work so hard?

Don’t think about anything else. You’re already dead, and the deceased should rest in peace…

Do you remember your Uncle Zhao who died in a car accident? He was your favorite.

You became an orphan the moment Uncle Zhao died.

You worked so hard and traded your voice just to see Uncle Zhao one last time.

Now that you’re dead, you can go down and find him yourself. Isn’t that wonderful?

Good child, be good. Lie down quickly. Hurry…”

As Jiang Li approached the Coffin, everyone held their breath.

Granny Liu was trying her best to persuade her, while Green Infant was stifling his laughter.

The Black-White Mannequins guarding the door also looked over, their mouths curling into Aberration-like grins as they started to laugh.

Jiang Li was led to the side of the Coffin. Listening to the hypnotic voice, her expression gradually became dull and vacant.

Just as Granny Liu thought everything was proceeding as planned and lowered her guard-

Jiang Li’s gaze suddenly turned cold. She shoved Granny Liu right into the Coffin!

Granny Liu was crippled and elderly; she had no strength to resist.

Her old bones tumbled into the Coffin, and she couldn’t even manage to scramble back up.

Standing outside, Jiang Li quickly slammed the lid shut and sat on top of it.

Ignoring the frantic banging and scratching from Granny Liu inside, Jiang Li patted the dust off her hands. Job done.

The person meant to be in that Coffin couldn’t possibly be Jiang Li!

Jiang Li had two lives. Even if Dai Chunli was dead, Jiang Li still had one life left for herself.
Since Jiang Li wasn’t dead, there was no way a corpse of Lili could have appeared out of thin air.

Furthermore, there was another detail-the dust!

When Granny Liu opened the coffin just now, the lid had been covered in rustling, falling dust.

This indicated that the coffin hadn’t been cleaned and had been sitting here for a very long time.

How could a fresh corpse appear inside a coffin that had been sitting for years?

Given that Granny Liu was covered in cadaveric spots and kept trying to lure Jiang Li into the Funeral Hall and toward the coffin, only one possibility remained-

Granny Liu was looking for a scapegoat!

As long as Jiang Li entered the coffin, she would fail the challenge.

She would be trapped here forever, becoming the dead body inside the coffin.

Granny Liu was incredibly insidious.

Last time, she had disguised the coffin as a bed, trying to trick an exhausted Jiang Li into lying down of her own accord.

This time, she had tried to brainwash Jiang Li, attempting to make her believe she was already dead to trick her into climbing inside.

The Pollution Source inside the coffin was likely the resentful souls of one scapegoat after another.

The more people who went in, the stronger the Pollution Source within the coffin became!

Watching Jiang Li’s actions from the side, Green Infant couldn’t help but let out a disappointed sigh.

“Sigh… How boring. I thought there was going to be a good show!” Green Infant sat back down in his chair, crossing his arms and swinging his legs.

At that moment, Jiang Li noticed a key hanging around Green Infant’s neck.

Could that be the key to the third drawer?

Just as Jiang Li was about to speak, she felt something emerge from her throat.

“Jiang Li, I’ll remember you.” Green Infant used his Aberration Power to retrieve the object and carefully placed it into his burlap sack.

Once again, Jiang Li was unable to make a sound.

Green Infant spoke to Jiang Li while bending over to pick up the strange items he had thrown out of the sack earlier.

Those strange items were essentially body parts belonging to children.

“Even though you didn’t die this time, you’ll still die eventually. My Brother says that waiting for death is scarier than facing it head-on!”

Green Infant warned Jiang Li, his tone carrying a hint of smugness.

Jiang Li thought for a moment, then retrieved a heart from her Space. She tossed it gently into the air, caught it, and then waved it in front of Green Infant.

Green Infant glanced at the object, his movements freezing as his eyes instantly went wide!

“Holy crap, how do you have something that good!” Green Infant tossed the burlap sack aside and walked up to Jiang Li, staring at her obediently.

Jiang Li pointed at her throat, signaling a trade.

Upon seeing this, Green Infant’s expression became conflicted and distressed.

“But if I give it to you and you get your voice back, you’ll be adopted and taken away! People outside are really mean.”

Green Infant’s words sounded sincere.

It seemed that Green Infant was the one behind all the various children with disabilities in the Orphanage.

For some reason, Green Infant didn’t want the children to be adopted and taken away.

The best way to prevent them from being taken was to turn them into “defective children.”

Because they had defects, adults generally wouldn’t choose them.

Was this psychological drive of Green Infant’s related to their background?

Jiang Li thought for a moment and took out two more hearts from her Space.

She held a total of three hearts in her hand.

Jiang Li intentionally waved them right under Green Infant’s nose.

Since one heart couldn’t solve the problem, she would try three.

As expected, Green Infant was tempted.

He swallowed hard, his eyes gleaming with greed.

“Then… then I’ll give it back to you for a little while longer.” Green Infant used his Aberration Power again, returning the vocal cords to Jiang Li’s body.

Jiang Li’s voice was restored once more.

Green Infant snatched the hearts and ate them one by one, devouring them with relish.

“Why do you like eating hearts?” Jiang Li asked him.

Green Infant’s mouth was dripping with juice as he mumbled, “My Brother said you are what you eat!

My Brother and I were born with bad hearts, which is why our mom and dad dumped us at the Orphanage gates.

I remember that night…”