INHA Chapter 44

At this point, the viewership had reached four thousand, with the chat filled with expressions of amazement and surprise.

After hearing Xu Dongyou and Lin Jingyun’s conversation, Tian Ze couldn’t help but feel puzzled.

After all, while all the teddy bears looked the same on the outside, only the ones wearing red dresses and with eyes had smart chips installed.

“Why is it only this model that has the chip?” Tian Ze asked.

Lin Jingyun replied, “Because when I first designed this model, the original sketch was of a red dress.”

So, she focused on promoting this version. The other teddy bears, though similar in appearance, did not have the smart dialogue feature.

They were just regular toys, priced at only a little over two hundred yuan, making them affordable for students and children with limited budgets.

Tian Ze understood and shared his speculation: “If this is a paranormal incident, maybe the ghost needs the embedded chip to make the laughing sound.”

Xu Dongyou agreed. He poked at the other teddy bears, all of which responded with the same “Hello” sound.

Tian Ze stood ready with his weapon, aiming at each bear that Xu Dongyou touched.

Listening to the constant mechanical greetings, Lin Jingyun felt like she might develop “teddy bear PTSD.”

There were only a dozen or so red-dressed teddy bears on display. Xu Dongyou quickly finished poking all of them, without sensing anything unusual, including the eerie gaze he had felt earlier, which seemed to have vanished.

Strange.

Where was the mysterious teddy bear hiding?

After carefully scanning the room, Xu Dongyou had an idea. He poked one of the teddy bears again.

The bear activated and once again said, “Hello.” Its blood-red eyes stared blankly, wearing the same standard smile as the others.

Xu Dongyou quietly asked the bear, “Can I ask you a question?”

The bear remained silent.

Suppressing his urge to ridicule, Tian Ze gently told Xu Dongyou, “These things probably don’t know.”

But Xu Dongyou persisted, poking the bear again. “Have you seen a teddy bear that moves, looking just like you?”

Lin Jingyun swallowed nervously, feeling that the scene was eerily creepy.

Even though the teddy bears had smart chips that allowed for simple Q&A, their intelligence might not even match that of a smartphone assistant.

In the live stream chat:

【With my years of horror movie experience, we’re about to hit the scary part!!! High alert!!! Everyone brace yourselves!】

【This live stream is something else; the creepy atmosphere is on point. Even in broad daylight, I’m hiding under my blanket, QAQ. I’m scared.】

【I’m too scared to keep watching.】

【It’s just a script. Even if a ghost jumps out, remember, it’s all fake. The ending will probably reveal it was all just a hoax.】

Inside the toy store, it remained silent.

Xu Dongyou retracted his hand, suddenly feeling a bit embarrassed by his earlier actions.

However, in the next moment, the teddy bear spoke in its usual mechanical voice, “Of course I have!!!”

Lin Jingyun almost screamed but quickly covered her mouth.

Not only Lin Jingyun, but Tian Ze also almost had a heart attack as he swiftly aimed his weapon at the teddy bear, ready to attack at any moment. However, unexpectedly, the bear remained motionless, indistinguishable from the other toys.

The chat also erupted with screams.

【Scared the heck out of me.】

【Is this a pre-recorded audio that gets triggered by direct conversation?】

【Haha, luckily, I was prepared and muted it. Fearless.】

Among everyone, Lin Jingyun was the most terrified. She knew better than anyone that the teddy bear’s chip wasn’t sophisticated enough to understand the external environment, so it couldn’t have responded with such a specific sentence.

Lin Jingyun instinctively wanted to tell Tian Ze that something was wrong with this bear, but she found herself unable to speak under the eerie gaze of its red eyes.

Xu Dongyou, startled by the bear’s response, turned to poke other teddy bears, asking the same question.

However, another bear simply responded, “The little bear doesn’t know what you’re talking about. Want to ask something else?”

Xu Dongyou tried the same question with three more teddy bears, but they all gave similar responses, indicating they didn’t understand.

This only made the first bear seem even more suspicious.

Xu Dongyou’s gaze returned to the first bear, belatedly feeling a jolt of fear, and he asked, “Are you the moving teddy bear?”

Gathering sudden courage, Lin Jingyun pointed at the bear and urgently said, “It must be this one!”

Without a word, Tian Ze flicked his wrist, triggering the mechanism in his weapon, and fired at the bear.

Xu Dongyou didn’t even have time to stop him.

The teddy bear leaped away with astonishing speed. Although Tian Ze’s weapon didn’t produce the sound of a typical gunshot, it was effective against resentful spirits and ghosts. A green bullet hit the bear’s arm.

The bear immediately froze and fell to the ground, saying, “Oh no, I can’t move.”

Though still in a mechanical voice, the tone and choice of words seemed…

Tian Ze frowned, ceasing further attacks.

The bear lay on the ground, its blood-red eyes staring at Xu Dongyou. “What did you do to me? Why can’t I move? You’re bad people!”

The live stream chat was filled with comments praising the scene.

【That was awesome, especially the part where the bear jumped and ran for a few steps.】

【Is the voice actor a kid? This twist is mind-boggling.】

【So, the story ends with a ghost possessing the teddy bear to scare the shop owner?】

Xu Dongyou crouched down, gently lifting the teddy bear, and asked in a soft, soothing tone, “How old are you?”

The bear’s red eyes fixed on Xu Dongyou. It responded in its mechanical voice, “My dad told me not to talk to strangers. You’re all bad people!”

Xu Dongyou was taken aback, unsure of how to handle the situation. He wasn’t very experienced with children.

Tian Ze walked over, grabbed the teddy bear’s arm, and spoke harshly, “We’re bad people, and you’re a naughty little ghost. Look at all the trouble you’ve caused.”

The teddy bear seemed frightened, its voice trembling, “I’m not a bad kid! You’re the bad ones, and that big sister is even worse!”

Big sister?

Lin Jingyun, although still afraid, wasn’t as scared as before. She didn’t dare get closer though, because the teddy bear’s red eyes terrified her.

Tian Ze focused on the teddy bear and shook the weapon in his hand. “Do you see this? If I press this, you’ll blow up like the other toys. But if you cooperate and answer my questions, maybe I’ll let you go.”

The teddy bear shivered and innocently asked, “Really?”

Tian Ze lied with a straight face, “Of course. I swear on my name.”

Xu Dongyou, standing nearby, softly added, “It’s good to turn back from a wrong path.”

Though he felt a bit uneasy watching Tian Ze scare the child, they needed to find out why the child was haunting Lin Jingyun.

Tian Ze glanced at Xu Dongyou without saying a word.

The teddy bear stared at Xu Dongyou’s face for a while before cooperating, “Daddy said the bad sister took away our business. We had no money for food, so he told me to chase her away.”

What?

Both Xu Dongyou and Tian Ze were stunned, not expecting the situation to develop in this direction.

Lin Jingyun suddenly remembered something, “Is your father’s name Chen—”

She stopped abruptly, realizing that they were live streaming and it wasn’t appropriate to reveal the name directly.

Xu Dongyou reassured her, “Miss Lin, the cameras used by the Anomaly Handling Bureau automatically censor names, so the audience won’t hear it.”

Trusting them, Lin Jingyun asked the teddy bear, “Is your father’s name Chen Dachao?”

The name was ordinary but easy to remember, so Lin Jingyun spoke it without hesitation.

The teddy bear looked puzzled, “How do you know?”

The viewers were all confused, as they couldn’t hear the name due to the censoring.

Among the viewers, one quickly deciphered the situation and posted a message.

【Chen Dachao or zhao? The first surname should be Chen, given its commonality. The possible full names are more likely to be Chen Dachao or Chen Dazhao.】

【Impressive deduction!】

【Wow, that’s some high-level thinking. Respect!】

Given the circumstances, it seemed the real responsibility lay not with the manipulated child but with the person named Chen Dachao.

Lin Jingyun told Tian Ze, “The person who spoke to me at the door earlier was Chen Dachao.”

Xu Dongyou blinked in realization.

No wonder that person came over immediately. It seems he was puzzled as to why Lin Jingyun returned to the shop.

Lin Jingyun mentioned that Chen Dachao owns a toy store across the street and that they were competitors. His family also runs a toy factory. However, the toys they sold were old-fashioned, often underfilled with stuffing, and sometimes even contained black cotton. As a result, people gradually stopped buying from him.

When Lin Jingyun’s toys became wildly popular, Chen Dachao grew dissatisfied and jealous. He might have had his child possess the best-selling teddy bear to scare Lin Jingyun, preventing her from continuing her business.

If successful, he could dominate the market.

As Lin Jingyun spoke, she became increasingly angry. However, catching sight of the teddy bear, she calmed down, realizing she had no means to deal with such a strange phenomenon. Who knew what other bizarre abilities this teddy bear might have?

Now, she could only hope that these two individuals, who claimed to be from the Anomaly Handling Bureau, could handle the situation.

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