Chapter 91
Chapter 91
The Candy House didn’t have many rules.
After Jiang Li committed them to memory, she set down the note and walked to the entrance of the Candy House.
The interior was swirling with black mist.
Jiang Li mentally prepared herself, lifted her foot, and stepped into the small building.
The moment she entered, she froze in place, stunned by the sight before her.
For a split second, she was dazed, wondering if she had finished the Weird Tale and returned home.
The layout and the decor were exactly like Jiang Li’s dilapidated old apartment building.
However, the house felt more like it had over a decade ago.
“Xiao Li, why are you just standing there? Hurry up, put your backpack down and sit for dinner.”
Jiang Li’s mother emerged from the kitchen, carrying two plates of hot food.
The aroma of the dishes wafted through the air, smelling exactly like the scents in her memories.
Jiang Li stared blankly at her mother’s smiling face, and her nose suddenly began to sting with emotion.
While she was lost in thought, her father also came out of the kitchen, holding a large bowl of hot soup.
“Tomato and egg soup! Our daughter’s favorite. Hiss… it’s hot, out of the way, out of the way!”
Her father’s face was beaming with joy.
At this time, her father had not yet been contaminated; his body was still healthy and robust.
“Lili, do you know what day it is today?” her father asked happily.
Jiang Li glanced at the old almanac on the wall, then spotted the wedding photos on the coffee table that hadn’t been put away yet.
A thought flashed through her mind.
“If I’m not mistaken, today is Mom and Dad’s wedding anniversary.” Jiang Li’s eyes curved into a smile.
Her father and mother exchanged a glance, then looked back at Jiang Li. “As expected of our daughter, she’s been smart since she was a toddler! Hahaha…”
“Lili, your dad and I have decided that once your summer break starts in a couple of days, the three of us are going to go out and have some fun together,” her mother explained.
Her mother placed a piece of shredded pork into Jiang Li’s bowl. “Eat more. Our Lili is still growing.”
“Hurry and taste it. It’s a new dish I just learned today,” her mother said, looking at Jiang Li expectantly.
Jiang Li picked up the pork and put it in her mouth, her brow furrowing slightly.
“What’s wrong, Lili? Is it too salty?” her mother asked, looking troubled.
Jiang Li shook her head. “It’s not salty. But it’s very sweet.”
“Did you put too much sugar in, Mom?” Jiang Li quickly took a mouthful of rice.
She looked up, intending to say something else.
In the blink of an eye, the scene before her vanished.
In front of Jiang Li, there were only countless candies.
In her hand, she was clutching a peeled candy wrapper, and at some point, a hard fruit candy had been stuffed into her mouth.
“Of course candy is sweet, Mommy.” Inside the Candy House, Red Infant looked at Jiang Li with a smile.
Jiang Li was shocked. “Red Infant?”
Red Infant walked calmly over to Jiang Li, a playful grin on his face.
He took the candy wrapper from Jiang Li’s hand. “This is Mommy’s Dream Fragment. We have to collect it.”
Jiang Li watched as Red Infant took the so-called “Dream Fragment” and hung it on a new Little Red Rope.
Only then did Jiang Li notice that a vast number of Little Red Ropes were hanging from the ceiling.
Every single rope was unique, belonging to its own master.
From this, she could infer that anyone who had ever visited the Candy House would obtain their own Dream Fragment.
Jiang Li’s gaze swept over to Yingying’s thin rope.
When she saw what was on that rope, Jiang Li’s eyes flickered.
“Does a Dream Fragment get produced every time someone enters the Candy House?” Jiang Li asked Red Infant.
Red Infant thought for a moment. “Not exactly. A person only has one chance per year to produce a Dream Fragment.
At any other time, eating all the candy in the world won’t help.”
Jiang Li looked at Yingying’s rope again, her gaze deepening.
The pollution in the Candy House was too heavy.
Every piece of candy in this room could be sweet enough to make a person forget their pain.
However, the side effect of eating sweets was contamination.
The more one ate, the heavier the pollution became.
After Jiang Li ate that hard candy, stiff hair had already begun to grow on her face and hands.
Small bumps were also constantly popping up on her skin.
Without hesitation, Jiang Li quickly approached a pile of candy, rummaged through it to find a few pieces of Honey Soft Candy, and ate them.
The pollution was alleviated.
Jiang Li did not intend to stay in the Candy House for long.
The Pollution Source had been identified.
Now, the priority was to leave this place as quickly as possible!
Jiang Li utilized her Space to store several more boxes of Honey Soft Candy before leading Red Infant out of the Candy House.
By the time Jiang Li emerged, the little Calico Cat under the awning had already woken up.
The Calico Cat was petite, yet it exuded a strange sense of old age.
It was greedily licking the candy in front of it, as if trying to use the sugar to numb itself.
However, as it consumed more and more candy, the cat’s eyes grew increasingly dim and lifeless.
Jiang Li recalled the first rule of the Candy House:
[Rule 1: The cat does not like eating candy. If you find the cat starting to eat candy, please leave this place as quickly as possible.]
Jiang Li quickened her pace.
Once outside the Candy House, Jiang Li’s expression turned exceptionally grave.
The pollution inside the Candy House was too heavy.
Everyone there had their own obsessions, and the Candy House was the place that absorbed them. Destroying so many Pollution Sources would not be an easy task.
In particular, the Orphanage was constantly plagued by eerie, torrential rain.
Incinerating it with fire might not even work.
One of the SSS Rank clear conditions was to eliminate the Pollution Sources.
The difficulty was even greater than Jiang Li had imagined.
Walking out from the small fork in the road, Jiang Li looked up and saw a familiar pink figure from behind.
Looking at the little pink dress and the twin ponytails, Jiang Li recognized her at a glance-it was Xixi, whom she hadn’t seen in a long time.
Xixi was an Aberration, and also the daughter of Doctor Lin, whom Jiang Li had brought over from the Madhouse.
Xixi had been adopted.
The woman who adopted her was less of a human and more of an Aberration herself.
At that moment, an idea formed in Jiang Li’s mind.
…Right! Aberrations.
Aberrations could also adopt children!
But the prerequisite was that the Aberration would not harm Jiang Li.
After some thought, Jiang Li suddenly remembered someone.
She hurried back to the dormitory and found the Caregiver Uncle, who was currently cleaning.
“Uncle Zhao,” Jiang Li called out to him.
The Caregiver Uncle turned around and responded, “What is it, Xiao Li?”
Jiang Li got straight to the point. “Uncle Zhao, can you adopt me? I don’t want to stay here.”
Hearing Jiang Li’s request, Uncle Zhao’s eyes initially lit up.
But suddenly, as if remembering something, the light in his eyes gradually faded.
He shook his head somewhat dejectedly. “Uncle can’t go out.
Uncle died a long time ago. The reason you can always see me is that I accepted the Orphanage’s Aberration contract.
Once the contract is set, I must stay here forever.”
Jiang Li pondered for two seconds.
She glanced at the phone in Uncle Zhao’s pocket and continued, “Then can Uncle contact people outside?
Does Uncle have any friends suitable for adopting a child? I want to go out.”
The S-Class Clear Condition stated:
[Secure a suitable adoptive family and escape the Orphanage.]
Currently, the most suitable way to clear the Instance was to be adopted.
Initially, Jiang Li’s first choice was the Aberration Uncle Zhao, but his role was fixed, and he could not leave the Orphanage.
However, if Uncle Zhao could contact someone outside-a friend who knew him well-then that person certainly wouldn’t harm Uncle Zhao’s niece, Lili.
This was currently the safest and fastest way to clear the Instance.
Upon hearing Jiang Li’s words, a look of disappointment flashed across Uncle Zhao’s face.
“Do you really have to leave?” he asked Jiang Li.
Jiang Li knew that Uncle Zhao had stayed behind to be an NPC for the sake of the little girl she was inhabiting, “Lili.”
Now, Jiang Li was about to leave.
For Uncle Zhao, who had signed a contract of indentured servitude, this was indeed quite cruel.
However, Jiang Li was well aware that she was Jiang Li, not the character “Lili” in the Instance.
So, even if it was cruel, Jiang Li had to do it!
Jiang Li raised her eyes and looked at the Caregiver Uncle with a resolute gaze. “Uncle Zhao, I really want to go out.”
Uncle Zhao lowered his eyelashes, concealing the loneliness in his eyes.
After a long silence, he finally gave a heavy nod.
“Alright. Whatever our Lili wants to do, Uncle Zhao will support you with everything I have.”