Such coincidences wouldn’t mean much under normal circumstances, but in a game scenario, they certainly carried implications.
The other six players were also eyeing them, especially Shen Qingqiu. The other four hadn’t seen her before. Seeing her come down with Xiao Muyu, their minds were in turmoil. The probability of encountering acquaintances in a game was much lower than their chances of survival.
“How’s your hand? I thought we got separated, but I’m glad you found your way here.”
The speaker was Zhang Yangfeng. His tone was familiar as he looked at Xiao Muyu and Shen Qingqiu, then glanced at the other players and Qu Muxi.
Both Xiao Muyu and Shen Qingqiu were sharp. They didn’t know Zhang Yangfeng, and Shen Qingqiu had never seen him before. He must have had a reason for speaking in such a tone. Xiao Muyu picked up the conversation, “My right hand is broken and can’t move, but it’s good that everyone’s here.” Her words perfectly smoothed over Zhang Yangfeng’s speech.
“Thank you, Director Qu, for taking us in. The weather outside is terrible, and we lost all our belongings. Without your help, we’d be in dire straits.”
Zhang Yangfeng nodded to Xiao Muyu and then expressed his gratitude to Qu Muxi, which made everyone else understand his intentions.
Whether or not it was a supernatural game, interacting with NPCs required treating them as real people. This meant maintaining basic logic. They couldn’t just blurt out that they were players here to pass a level. A coherent story had to be fabricated.
Since entering the game, they hadn’t had time to discuss their situation properly. With Zhang Yangfeng taking the lead, the others followed his cue.
Qu Muxi shook her head. “You’re too kind. I’m just letting you stay temporarily. The food here isn’t the best, and conditions are quite basic. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Not at all, you’re too polite.” After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Qu Muxi glanced out the window before saying, “The weather has been bad lately. Our Ren’ai Orphanage is located in a remote area. Getting to a populated place without a vehicle takes more than half a day. So, stay here until the weather clears up.”
Her words caused the eight players to subtly react, their expressions becoming strained.
To the players, Qu Muxi’s words meant they might not be able to leave the orphanage until they completed the game.
“Let’s eat,” Qu Muxi said, picking up her chopsticks first.
In front of each person was a tray with rice, a chicken leg, and three sides. Despite being an orphanage, the food was quite good—visually appealing and aromatic. After a day without food, the players were starving.
Seeing Qu Muxi eat, they also picked up their chopsticks. Having been through two game levels, they remained cautious, watching Qu Muxi’s actions closely before starting to eat themselves.
Xiao Muyu slightly lowered her head, her nostrils flaring lightly. Shen Qingqiu glanced at her and also hesitated to eat.
Then Shen Qingqiu saw Xiao Muyu pick a green vegetable from her plate and slowly start eating. Compared to the others’ eagerness, she appeared particularly elegant.
Using her left hand, Shen Qingqiu clumsily picked up a green vegetable and cautiously put it in her mouth.
The group adhered to the “no talking while eating” rule well, except for Xiao Muyu, who whispered to Shen Qingqiu, “Take your time. I’ll feed you later.”
Qu Muxi looked up at them with a peculiar expression before apologizing, “I forgot you hurt your right hand and might need a spoon. I’ll get one.”
Without waiting for Shen Qingqiu’s response, she stood up and went to the kitchen.
As soon as Qu Muxi left, several of the children who had been quietly eating raised their heads to scrutinize the eight players.
The eight children, five girls and three boys, ranged in age from about five or six to thirteen or fourteen.
Xiao Muyu scanned them, noticing Xiaojiao sitting in the fourth seat from the left, her mouth full of food, staring at Xiao Muyu with a silly grin.
Xiao Muyu’s eyes narrowed. She focused on Xiaojiao’s mouth but saw nothing unusual. Recalling the scent she had picked up earlier, Xiao Muyu slowly wrote some words on Shen Qingqiu’s leg with her finger.
Shen Qingqiu, who had been teasing the children, felt Xiao Muyu’s actions on her thigh. Her toes curled slightly, and her smile softened as she addressed the children, “Aren’t you eating properly because the director isn’t here? Why are you watching us?”
She tapped her left hand on the table to signal she understood.
Shen Qingqiu broke the eerie atmosphere in the dining hall. The two older children glanced at her before lowering their heads and eating silently again, while Xiaojiao’s smile grew even brighter.
She put down her chopsticks, her greasy hands clapping together, and in her innocent, childish voice said, “I wasn’t looking at you, sister, I was looking at the pretty doll. I like it.”
Her laughter grew more joyous, and her clear, pretty eyes stared at Shen Qingqiu with an unsettling sharpness.
Shen Qingqiu’s smile changed, revealing a hint of coldness as she stared back unblinkingly.
Huang Junfeng, feeling creeped out by Xiaojiao’s laugh, involuntarily shrank back.
Shen Qingqiu’s icy smile didn’t soften even though she was facing a child. Squinting slightly, she asked, “But only good children deserve to like pretty things. Are you a good child?”
Her tone was gentle, but her cold smile and deliberate speech clearly weren’t meant to comfort a child.
Xiaojiao’s smile froze, and her lips quivered as if she was about to cry. The girl in the red dress, about thirteen or fourteen, glanced at Xiaojiao and whispered, “No talking during meals. Eat quietly.”
Xiaojiao immediately shut her mouth, looking at the older girl with a mix of fear and affection before burying her head back into her meal.
Xiao Muyu’s eyes shifted to the girl who had spoken. After reprimanding Xiaojiao, the girl resumed eating with a serious, adult-like expression. Xiao Muyu noticed something odd—the girl in the red dress was eating with her left hand, doing so naturally and proficiently, which had escaped her notice earlier.
On the other side, Huang Junfeng whispered to Hu Shun, “She’s got guts, standing up to an NPC. That kid is creepy. Isn’t she afraid of dying?”
Not only Huang Junfeng, but the other players were also surprised, looking at Shen Qingqiu. Xiao Muyu frowned and shook her head at Shen Qingqiu.
Shen Qingqiu glanced at her, smiled faintly, then focused on her plate of vegetables. She was quite hungry but wary of the food’s safety, pushing the meat to the side without drawing attention.
Qu Muxi soon returned, carrying a bowl with several spoons. She handed one to each player and encouraged them to continue eating, a considerate gesture.
After attending to the guests, she went over to the children, reminding them to eat properly, and then returned to her seat.
For a while, the only sounds in the dining hall were the clinking of dishes and chopsticks. Soon, the faster eaters were finishing up, though they left a lot of meat on their plates.
Experienced enough to be cautious, the players noticed that both Shen Qingqiu and Xiao Muyu avoided the meat, prompting them to do the same.
Qu Muxi, however, ate at a steady pace, starting with the meat. She bit into the chicken leg delicately, revealing a piece of meat with blood streaks that made everyone else feel queasy.
Xiao Muyu watched her intently. Qu Muxi, unfazed, finished her meal methodically.
After eating, Qu Muxi wiped her mouth, glanced at the players’ plates, and smiled, “Today’s chicken legs were a bit undercooked, but our cook did a good job overall. Please try to eat everything. We value food highly and hope you won’t waste it.”
Her tone was friendly, but her eyes swept over each of them, subtly conveying a warning.
At that moment, a chubby boy at the other table said, “Good children don’t waste food. Director Aunty always teaches us that. If we don’t finish, we get punished.”
“Xiaohan is right. Check your plates, everyone. Have you finished your meals?” Qu Muxi stood and addressed the children.
“Yes,” they responded in unison.
“Then go wash up. It’s six-thirty now. You can play a bit, but by nine, no more noise. You must be in bed. Understand?”
“Yes,” the children echoed, looking at her with sparkling eyes, truly appearing innocent and pure.
Qu Muxi turned to the players, glanced at the clock, and said, “The kitchen staff will clean up at six-forty. You can follow Old Sang to the dorms afterward. He’ll arrange your rooms.”
“I’ll take the children to wash up first. The bathrooms are on either side of the stairs—boys on the left, girls on the right. They should be done in about half an hour. You can wash up after them. Water will be available until nine-thirty, but lights out at nine. Don’t be late.”
The players nodded, Xiao Muyu and Shen Qingqiu noting the critical times: nine and nine-thirty.
As Qu Muxi led the children away, Xiao Muyu’s peripheral vision caught something at the door, making her pause.
Shen Qingqiu, always alert to Xiao Muyu’s reactions, also looked over. The third-last child was limping slightly, indicating a leg disability.
Xiao Muyu looked at Shen Qingqiu, who wore a serious expression, clearly noting something suspicious as well.
“What should we do with the leftover meat? Did you find something wrong with it?” Huang Junfeng asked, his face showing concern as he glanced at Xiao Muyu and Shen Qingqiu.
“Nothing specific, just a bad feeling. The meat looks off,” Zhang Yangfeng admitted. He hadn’t noticed anything concrete, just a gut feeling. After all, it seemed extravagant for a remote orphanage with only eight children to serve each person a chicken leg and so much meat.
“I felt nauseous watching her eat that chicken leg,” Yang Rui, one of the girls, remarked, her reason more emotional.
“What about you, Ms. Xiao? Did you and your friend notice anything?” Huang Junfeng persisted.
Xiao Muyu lifted her gaze slightly. “Same considerations here. Besides, I’m on a diet and don’t want to eat meat.”
This excuse left the men momentarily speechless. It sounded frivolous, but they couldn’t argue with it.
“Regardless of the reasons, the fact remains that we have to eat it, according to what that woman said,” Liu Pei added in a detached tone, his expression showing his displeasure.
“In my experience, disobeying NPCs tends to end very badly,” Zhang Yangfeng commented.
Yang Rui nodded in agreement, and both Xiao Muyu and Shen Qingqiu mentally agreed as well, though they knew blindly following orders wasn’t always wise.
“Following instructions isn’t always beneficial either, based on my last experience,” Xiao Muyu stated, sharing her personal experience.
Everyone had their own thoughts on the matter. Huang Junfeng scratched his head, ruffling his blond hair. “Seems like it’s down to individual luck, then.”
With that, he took a bite of the chicken leg. It tasted fine, slightly undercooked with some blood streaks, but not unpleasant. He quickly finished it along with the rest of the meat on his plate.
Seeing his resolve, the others gradually started eating as well.
Xiao Muyu was about to take a bite when Shen Qingqiu swiftly took her plate, dumping all the meat into her own and shoving the chicken leg into her mouth. When she pulled it out, only the bone remained.
Xiao Muyu was taken aback. “Shen Qingqiu, what are you doing?”
Shen Qingqiu ate quickly but not rudely. Her left hand, now seemingly more adept, skillfully maneuvered the spoon. She chewed and winked at Xiao Muyu. “She said not to waste food, not that we each had to eat our own. If I eat yours, it doesn’t count as wasting.”
The others, mid-bite, were stunned.
Why hadn’t they thought of that?
The author notes: The crowd was amazed: Why didn’t we think of that?
Xiao Muyu: Even if you thought of it, do you have someone to eat it for you?
The crowd: sob sob sob
