Shen Qingqiu decisively rejected the idea of inviting others to watch the scene. Xiao Muyu had no choice but to gather Yang Rui and the others herself, and together they went downstairs.
Since the system had corrected Qu Muxi and the children, Xiao Muyu hadn’t seen them. As they descended the stairs, there was no sign of them or any noise. She wondered what would happen to Qu Muxi and the others after this story ended.
In this story, they were the victims. What would happen to them once this instance was over?
As these thoughts ran through Xiao Muyu’s mind, they reached the first floor. She motioned for Shen Qingqiu and the others to stay put while she went ahead to check.
Lao Sang had already woken up, but it seemed he had only just regained consciousness. Xiao Muyu retreated back to the stairwell, and after some deliberation, she reached out her hand with a look of distaste. A human skin mask appeared in her palm.
The texture of the mask was eerie, causing Yang Rui and the others to pale in fear. Taking a deep breath, Xiao Muyu closed her eyes and put on the mask. When she stepped out, the others widened their eyes in unison. She almost bumped into the wall as she went.
Xiao Muyu looked down at herself, a bit astonished. The disguise of the human skin mask was not only physical but also captured the essence of Qu Muxi. Even disguised as her, Xiao Muyu felt the same strange characteristics.
Xiao Muyu knocked on the door. Lao Sang, rubbing his neck, opened it. Upon seeing Xiao Muyu, he immediately lowered his head, his expression fearful. “Director.”
Xiao Muyu wasn’t sure of the exact nature of the relationship between Qu Muxi and Lao Sang, but she tried to emulate it. “You should be aware of the current situation. Those eight beasts have completely escaped. This place is very dangerous for you. Don’t you want to run away?”
As expected, Lao Sang was terrified of the situation, but his eyes also showed a mix of hatred, deep sorrow, and guilt. “I won’t run. I am deeply guilty and deserve to die. I’ve always said I stayed to atone, hoping that you and Xiaomei and those children could find peace.
“You were so kind, and Xiaomei and the others were so innocent. They shouldn’t have ended up here, becoming vengeful spirits like those scum.”
Xiao Muyu listened, her expression as gentle as Qu Muxi’s, staring straight at Lao Sang. After a while, she asked, “You know how I died, don’t you? You know how Xiaomei and the others died. Do you think you can let it go?”
Lao Sang’s face turned deathly pale as he stepped back, his expression full of pain. He fell to his knees with a thud. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I knew the director was a beast. I knew the disgusting things he did with those people, but I turned a blind eye.
“They were all children, the oldest only thirteen! How could you…” Xiao Muyu’s eyes were full of disgust, and her tone turned fierce.
“How I regret my decisions! He threatened me with my son, and I was too cowardly… I didn’t dare… I never thought he would kill you and then kill Xiao Mei and the others to silence them.” Lao Sang covered his face and began to sob as he recalled the events.
“What good is crying now? We have no way out. The child has absorbed too much resentment and is out of control. Those eight people died but refuse to rest in peace. You’ve been affected yourself, haven’t you noticed?”
Perhaps Xiao Muyu’s words were too rational. Lao Sang looked at her with some confusion before cautiously asking, “Miss Qu, have you regained your senses?”
Xiao Muyu’s heart skipped a beat, and not far behind her, Shen Qingqiu, who was eavesdropping, couldn’t help but frown.
“Why do you say that?” Xiao Muyu probed.
Lao Sang carefully explained, “Those eight people deserved their fate, but the people outside are innocent. Xiao Mei was still a child and could easily go astray, but Miss Qu, you were never that extreme. After taking revenge, you even advised Xiao Mei not to let hatred cloud her mind and turn her into a vengeful spirit.
“But for some reason, you stayed here with the children and refused to leave… and even…”
He seemed nervous, unable to finish his sentence. Xiao Muyu suddenly recalled Lao Sang’s unusual behavior when they first entered, his reluctance to let them in, and the strange look in his eyes, which clearly showed sympathy.
“Did I kill many innocent passersby too?” Xiao Muyu finished for him.
Lao Sang quickly glanced at her, his look of surprise mixed with fear, confirming her suspicion.
Xiao Muyu didn’t know the details, so she couldn’t probe too much, but some information was still useful.
As Xiao Muyu left, Lao Sang followed her, hoarsely saying, “Director, I’ll still call you Director. You are a good person, very important to Xiao Mei and the others. If not for the deep resentment and the influence of the dolls you gave them, they wouldn’t have dragged you into this situation.
“So if you have regained your senses, help them rest in peace. I will stay here for the rest of my life to guard your graves.”
Lao Sang’s words surprised Xiao Muyu. The mask’s time limit was almost up, and Xiao Muyu suddenly thought of something, saying, “Those eight people escaped. If we don’t deal with them, how can Xiao Mei and the others rest in peace?”
Lao Sang was stunned, then lowered his head. In the dim light, his face was more obscure. After a long silence, he murmured, “We’ll see if that group can handle them. We will know by tonight.”
Xiao Muyu’s heart skipped a beat, confirming another sleepless night ahead.
When Xiao Muyu returned, Shen Qingqiu and the others looked somber, but as soon as they saw her, they all turned their heads to stare at her with an unusually unified expression, making Xiao Muyu feel indifferent.
Ignoring their looks, she said seriously, “Tonight, be prepared. The bodies of those eight people are in the cafeteria. Based on what Lao Sang said, there might be some activity tonight.”
“What… what kind of activity? Those body parts won’t come out on their own, will they?” Huang Junfeng’s overactive imagination made him shiver, and Yang Rui also felt a chill.
Zhang Yangfeng quickly stopped him, “Don’t scare yourself.”
“Let’s go back. It’s late, and there’s no sign of Qu Muxi and the others. We’re not getting dinner tonight,” Xiao Muyu said. The other three shook their heads; who could think of dinner in such circumstances?
After they went back and shut their doors tightly, Xiao Muyu sighed slightly. Before she could say anything, she saw Shen Qingqiu approaching her with a strange expression.
Feeling perplexed, Xiao Muyu glanced at her, “What do you want?”
Shen Qingqiu seriously said, “Take off your mask quickly. I can’t see my dear Muyu’s face, and it makes me feel insecure.”
Shen Qingqiu spoke with such seriousness that Xiao Muyu almost wanted to punch her.
“First, I’m not yours. Second, I didn’t ask you to look at me. Third, go to sleep.”
Shen Qingqiu blinked, then frowned and looked at herself disdainfully, “I’ve sweated a lot and want to take a bath. Smell me, I’m almost stinking.”
She extended her left sleeve for Xiao Muyu to smell, but Xiao Muyu closed her eyes and turned away, firmly blocking her hand, “No need, I already smelled it, and yes, it’s stinky.”
Shen Qingqiu originally just wanted to tease her, but Xiao Muyu’s genuine disgust made her doubt herself. Did she really smell bad?
She stiffened, carefully sniffed herself, and while there wasn’t a strong odor, there was indeed some sweat.
Considering Xiao Muyu’s sensitive nose, she quickly distanced herself.
“Do I really smell bad? Did you smell it? I’ll go take a bath.” Shen Qingqiu said awkwardly, sniffing again.
Honestly, she was a meticulous woman and had only acted casually to annoy Xiao Muyu. Now, she definitely didn’t want Xiao Muyu to think she smelled bad.
Xiao Muyu had said it in annoyance, but seeing Shen Qingqiu retreating quickly reminded her of the second scenario where Shen Qingqiu, covered in injuries, sat far away to avoid the smell of blood reaching her. Her heart softened.
However, despite the softened heart, Xiao Muyu’s words were still harsh, “Aren’t you afraid of those eyes watching you while you bathe?”
With that, she left the room. Before Shen Qingqiu could respond, Xiao Muyu quickly went up to the third floor.
Shen Qingqiu felt worried about the eerie place and followed her out.
Xiao Muyu returned quickly with a basin of warm water. Ignoring Shen Qingqiu watching her, she turned back and pointed, indicating what to do next.
“Wash up, or you really will stink.”
After saying that, she found a clean cloth and placed it nearby, then went about her own business.
Shen Qingqiu glanced at the water in front of her, then at Xiao Muyu making the bed, her eyes full of amusement. This person, why is she so stoic and yet so tsundere?
Covered in sweat, Shen Qingqiu indeed felt uncomfortable. After wiping herself down, she was a bit tired and went to bed early.
She didn’t know how much time had passed, but the room had become completely dark. The swelling and pain from her broken right hand kept her restless, unable to find peace.
Xiao Muyu, on the other hand, remained quiet. When Shen Qingqiu turned over for the fourth time, Xiao Muyu asked, “Does your hand hurt?”
Shen Qingqiu denied, “No, I just can’t sleep. How’s your back? Does it still hurt?”
She hadn’t had a chance to ask Xiao Muyu earlier, but now she remembered how Little Seven had thrown her out, which still made Shen Qingqiu unhappy.
“It’s fine.”
“Our progress is almost complete. Lao Sang’s information is significant, but there’s still 15% unknown. I’m not sure what it is.”
Shen Qingqiu glanced at their progress. The page was almost filled. After Xiao Muyu’s conversation with Lao Sang, his character introduction was fully updated. He was a key figure, and they not only gained 20 points for answering but also an additional 15 points. This meant they both had passed the 70-point threshold.
Moreover, Lao Sang’s information about Qu Muxi helped fill in parts of the storyline. Qu Muxi wasn’t an employee of Ren’ai Orphanage but a volunteer visiting the children.
She likely discovered the director’s abuse of the children and was killed for it.
The eight children, having witnessed the director’s crimes, were also killed to silence them. Ultimately, Qu Muxi and the children turned into vengeful spirits and killed the director and his accomplices.
“We’re probably missing some details; we have too many assumptions.”
After Xiao Muyu’s statement, Shen Qingqiu lay in bed pondering, and the room fell silent again.
As they stopped talking, faint noises from outside reached them. Initially, they were elusive, but gradually they became clearer.
Xiao Muyu listened intently. The room’s poor sound insulation made it possible for her to discern that the sounds came from the corridor, specifically from the stairwell.
At times, there was a “creak” sound, reminiscent of fingernails scraping the floor, very unpleasant.
Other times, there was a dull thud as if someone had accidentally hit the wall.
Xiao Muyu’s heart tightened with tension, her heightened senses making every sound more acute.
Thud, thud, amidst the scraping came rhythmic dull thuds, now very clear, as if something heavy was hitting the ground rhythmically, stopping just outside their door.
Xiao Muyu’s heart pounded painfully. She glanced back at Shen Qingqiu, who was already sitting up, staring at the door, holding a knife in her left hand.
Footsteps began. Yes, footsteps! They moved away from Xiao Muyu’s door towards the neighboring room, accompanied by the scraping sound.
Xiao Muyu immediately recalled Huang Junfeng’s words.
“Those body parts won’t come out on their own, will they?”
A layer of cold sweat appeared on her face. She gripped the lantern tightly.
She smelled it… the stench of corpses, the smell Shen Qingqiu had tried hard to keep from her. They had really come!
“Bam!”
Suddenly, in the deathly quiet night, a loud knock broke the silence, more like a kick than a knock.
“Bam, bam, bam!” The sound grew stronger, like a harbinger of doom, coming from Yang Rui and Zhang Yangfeng’s room, heightening the tension.
Xiao Muyu and Shen Qingqiu got out of bed. Shen Qingqiu kept Xiao Muyu behind her, eyes shining in the dark.
Suddenly, a flash of lightning lit up the outside like daylight, illuminating every window.
In the windowpane, a pair of eyes—or rather, a face—appeared in Xiao Muyu’s view.
He stared at them, his eyeballs almost popping out, his rotting face exposing his cheekbones, a grotesque sight that was almost suffocating.
Xiao Muyu gasped, forcing down her fear, clutching Shen Qingqiu’s clothes tightly.
With a crash, all five room doors were simultaneously smashed open, and the head at the door grinned.
In a blink, it rolled into Xiao Muyu’s room like a ball, bringing a foul stench with it.
“Smiling, are you? Dirtying my eyes!” Before the head could stop, Shen Qingqiu kicked it hard, sending it rolling down the stairs like a ball, screaming as it went.
Author’s note:
Head: Come on.
Xiao Shen: Off you go!
I’m so scared, damn it, I’m so useless.
Passing by, confused and amazed: Big Onion, Spicy Hot Pot, Boiled Name in Sauce, Centimeter, dracule, wang the superhero, 30329685, hua 1.
