Chapter 59: Orphan Resentment (Part 19)

Warning: Graphic depictions of supernatural monsters.

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The first half of the sentence seemed like the naive and innocent dream of an unworldly child. However, paired with the deeply etched words “kill them” in the latter half, it evoked an indescribable sense of shock and astonishment.

This single line displayed both the innocence of a child’s words and the intent to kill.

All seven of them plainly saw the words written on the page. Their expressions shifted several times, especially Yang Rui, who suddenly thought of the task they were about to complete.

On one side, Hou Liang couldn’t restrain himself from picking up another notebook. The crooked writing on it was messy and uneven, seemingly unremarkable. However, the last line read: [I want to be like Big Sister Xiao Mei and the others, beautiful, with a nice mouth.]

“Is this Xiao Qin’s notebook?” Zhang Yangfeng glanced at the content and asked.

“Yeah.” Hou Liang nodded.

The group flipped through all eight children’s notebooks. On the last page of each was a wish written by the respective child.

Shen Qingqiu picked up Xiao Jiao’s notebook, then handed it to Xiao Muyu.

In Xiao Jiao’s notebook, the writing on the last page differed from Xiao Jiao’s messy scrawl. It was neat and carried a distinctive personal style that felt somewhat familiar.

“Big Xiao Mei wrote this,” Xiao Muyu said, her voice calm. Written on the page: [I wish you could be smarter and protect yourself.]

Shen Qingqiu studied the writing, pondering for a moment. “Now I understand why Xiao Jiao corresponds to you, Muyu.” If being smart was the criteria, no one here was smarter than Xiao Muyu.

“Are you saying the connection isn’t just about similar traits but also what they aspire to become?” Liu Pei’s typically calm face showed a faint trace of nervousness.

“It’s very possible.”

Not all of the children’s wishes were intense. However, each one did give a glimpse into their preferences.

“By the way, do you remember the children who pointed at each of you earlier?” Xiao Muyu reminded them of the previous incident.

“Yes, we remember.” The others quickly flipped through the notebooks, comparing themselves with the children who had pointed at them.

“At the moment, what we know is that Big Xiao Mei corresponds to Shen Qingqiu, Xiao Jiao to me, Little Xiao Mei to Yang Rui, Xiao Qin to Liu Pei, Xiao Yan to Zhang Yangfeng, Xiao Yue to Huang Junfeng, and Xiao Han to Hou Liang. Check again. Do you match what’s written in their notebooks?”

Everyone’s expressions varied after reading. After a while, Huang Junfeng hesitated and said, “I guess I match, more or less.” He glanced at what Xiao Yue had written: [I hope to become someone good at talking.] Did that mean he was a chatterbox?

Little Xiao Mei loved beauty the most and was fond of ribbons. Yang Rui used to be like that, too.

The overly obese Xiao Yan wished to become tall and strong, which matched Zhang Yangfeng.

Xiao Qin was born with a cleft lip. The group glanced at Liu Pei. Huang Junfeng couldn’t help but laugh. “Liu Pei does have nice, full lips.”

Liu Pei shot him a sharp glare, his expression dark.

Only Hou Liang remained silent, staring at Xiao Han’s notebook in his hand. Xiao Han had written: [I wish I could have a family.]

Everyone didn’t find the line particularly strange at first. But if these wishes corresponded to them, Hou Liang’s case seemed off.

Hou Liang understood their doubts. He lowered his head before saying, “This isn’t just his wish—it’s mine, too.” Seeing the surprise on everyone’s faces, he added bitterly, “I grew up in an orphanage, too. No one ever wanted to adopt me. I stayed there until I graduated from high school and started working.”

He recalled that he had once written a similar wish when he saw his peers getting adopted. He never imagined that this world could pry into his real-life experiences and choose him based on that.

“Alright, now we’ve resolved a major question. We’ve figured out which kid corresponds to each of us, which makes the clues you observed much more relevant.

“There’s one more thing I need to tell you. I noticed an ink stain on Xiao Qiu’s left hand. You all remember Jia Wenlong using the black chalk line last night. It left marks on the hand of the doll Little Six. Do you understand what that means?”

Hou Liang froze for a moment. “Are you saying we can leave marks on the…”

Shen Qingqiu immediately raised a finger to her lips. “Shh.”

Hou Liang quickly shut up. The others’ faces showed a mix of surprise and nervousness as they all turned to him. Hou Liang nodded slightly at those hopeful eyes, signaling them to stay calm.

“Have you girls made any progress on your quiz?” Zhang Yangfeng asked anxiously.

Xiao Muyu replied hesitantly, “We’ve found some clues but still need more concrete evidence.”

Her gaze fell on the keys in her hand. “There are still a few places we need to check out.”

Just as they were about to leave, they suddenly noticed Qu Muxi. She had appeared behind them at some point. The group turned abruptly to face her, nearly jumping out of their skin.

Huang Junfeng, standing at the back, discreetly closed the cabinet. Xiao Muyu handed the keys she was holding behind her to Shen Qingqiu, who quickly stuffed them into her pocket. In just a few moments, they all managed to appear nonchalant.

Qu Muxi stared at them wordlessly. Her gaze eventually settled on Xiao Muyu. Her unabashed scrutiny suggested that she regarded Xiao Muyu as a decorative vase to admire.

The look felt oddly out of place coming from someone as stunning as Qu Muxi. Xiao Muyu remained unperturbed as she questioned, “Weren’t you taking the children for a nap, Director Qu? Why are you—”

She asked this because the eight children had appeared alongside Qu Muxi.

Qu Muxi smiled as if entirely unbothered by their presence. “The children have been having so much fun with you that they refused to nap. I thought, given how enthusiastic you all are, you might be willing to keep them company. Since they don’t want to rest, how about we all play a game together?”

The moment the word game was mentioned, everyone’s faces went pale. What did she mean by that?

“Ka~ gome, kagome…” Qu Muxi began to hum, her lips curving into a closed-lip smile as she sang the nursery rhyme. Her deep, melancholic tone had replaced the innocent child’s voice. The horror of last night surged back into their minds. Yang Rui instinctively grabbed Zhang Yangfeng’s sleeve. He immediately stepped forward, shielding her.

After singing a few lines, Qu Muxi seemed pleased with the expressions spreading across their faces. She said softly, “Have you ever heard the nursery rhyme ‘Kagome Kagome? It accompanies a very old game. Xiao Jiao and the others used to love playing it. Why don’t you join them? I’m sure it would make them very happy.”

The children moved like lifeless puppets. Right before the group’s eyes, they shifted from behind Qu Muxi to standing directly in front of her, staring at them.

Hou Liang and the others stumbled back, their breaths growing shallow and rapid.

Qu Muxi appeared utterly delighted, her eyes fixed on them. However, when Xiao Muyu glanced at her, she realized Qu Muxi wasn’t looking at them but at the children. There was smugness and mockery in those eyes gleeful eyes.

She stepped back, clapped her hands, and walked around the children to stand before Xiao Muyu. She stared at her and said, “This game needs someone to play the ghost. You’re so beautiful—it’ll be such a pleasure to watch you play.”

Her tone was unhurried, as if the words she uttered weren’t as good as a death sentence. Yang Rui’s brows were scrunched together while Hou Liang and the others stared at Xiao Muyu with wide eyes. Yet, deep down, the relief that it wasn’t them outweighed their worry and sympathy for her.

Qu Muxi’s eyes glinted as she examined Xiao Muyu. Her lips parted to hum “Kagome, Kagome” once more.

But before she could utter a single note, a sharp gust of wind whipped past her. It was no longer Xiao Muyu in front of her, but Shen Qingqiu.

Shen Qingqiu lifted her long leg without a word and delivered a Spartan kick to Qu Muxi’s chest.

The force sent the 1.65-meter-tall Qu Muxi flying backward. She crashed against the classroom’s display board before crumpling to the floor. The impact had left spiderweb cracks across the glass cover.

Qu Muxi stiffly lifted her head off the floor, face stuck in an incredulous expression. Yang Rui and the others also stood there, their jaws almost hitting the floor.

Shen Qingqiu, now free of her bandages, held her dagger firmly in her right hand. Her gaze was icy as it locked onto Qu Muxi.

Qu Muxi rigidly bounced back to her feet. She still stared in shock at Shen Qingqiu.

Shen Qingqiu’s expression was unyielding. With a tone like sharp ice, she said, “Did I agree to let her be the ghost?”

Before anyone could react, her figure blurred into motion. She stepped onto a chair and leaped forward, dagger aimed directly at Qu Muxi’s throat.

Qu Muxi’s eyes widened. In an instant, her form vanished to reappear in the far corner of the room.

Shen Qingqiu was equally swift. The dagger pierced through the shattered glass, embedding itself into the display board and straight through a photograph pinned there.

Shen Qingqiu turned toward Qu Muxi. The shock on Qu Muxi’s face was replaced with a snarl.

The eight children simultaneously turned to face Shen Qingqiu. Their eyes were now pure black, their faces pale with a sickly bluish tint, lips vivid as though stained with fresh blood. They no longer resembled anything human.

The children revealed rows of jagged, saw-like teeth as they grinned at Shen Qingqiu.

The others in the classroom had already retreated to a corner in the chaos, watching with bated breath. Only Xiao Muyu remained in place, her eyes fixed intently on Qu Muxi and the eight children. Her posture betrayed her readiness to intervene at any moment.

Shen Qingqiu scoffed. “I’ve been patient long enough. What even are you? Couldn’t handle living, so you’re still causing trouble after death? And as for you eight grinning little brats—shut your mouths. You look ugly. You’ve got eight eyes between you and can’t see what kind of thing that is?”

Her scolding left the ghost children momentarily bewildered. Big Xiao Mei, the sharpest among them, glanced uncertainly at Qu Muxi.

Shen Qingqiu yanked the dagger out, pulling the photograph it had pierced. She held it up to Qu Muxi.

“No matter how well you act, how convincingly you mimic, you can’t mask the stench of scum that clings to you. That cigarette smoke stench is revolting. Stop pretending to be some cross-dressing diva. This is who you really are, isn’t it? Get out here now, or I’ll beat you until you crawl out.”

She flung the photo like a blade, her body charging with it.

Qu Muxi’s expression twisted between anger and apprehension under Shen Qingqiu’s verbal onslaught. She could no longer maintain her mask. Flesh peeled away from her face. Her jaw unhinged unnaturally wide, exposing rows of razor-sharp fangs.

Then, the creature lunged at Shen Qingqiu.

Xiao Muyu felt her heart leap into her throat. Worried the children might attack Shen Qingqiu all at once, she spoke urgently.

“Big Xiao Mei, think carefully! Why would your ‘Sister Qu’ let the three of us into the kitchen to cook? She wanted us to discover the bodies! When we were searching for ingredients, we found the freezers stuffed with corpses. We even accidentally opened them. This so-called Qu Muxi isn’t her at all. It’s the corpse of your old director, the one you killed!”

Zhang Yangfeng and the others, who had been hiding to the side since the start, immediately joined in, their voices overlapping in a rush.

“That’s right! Your ‘Sister Qu’ has been acting all kinds of wrong. Don’t just let the system control you. Use your brains for once!”

“She doesn’t even walk as gracefully as your real Sister Qu! And her tone is so pretentious and passive-aggressive!”

“Think about it! Didn’t you find her behavior strange, especially since noon? You kids are close to her, so why are you not questioning any of this!?”

Their words gradually cleared the fog from Big Xiao Mei’s mind.

Her pitch-black eyes, void of any whites, began to swirl with black energy. Tendrils of dense ghostly energy poured out of her eye sockets. When she turned her gaze to the imposter Qu Muxi, her expression brimmed with unrestrained fury.

Big Xiao Mei abruptly appeared between Shen Qingqiu and Qu Muxi. Her mouth opened impossibly wide, unleashing a shrill scream that stabbed their eardrums and shattered all the glass in the classroom.

Yang Rui and the others couldn’t withstand the overwhelming sonic assault. They kneeled on the floor, covering their ears while crying in agony.

Shen Qingqiu, closest to the source, bore the brunt of the attack. The shockwave sent her sprawling. It felt like two knives were scraping the inside of her ears. She rolled on the floor uncontrollably, groaning, hitting her head against the hard surface to make the pain stop.

Xiao Muyu had experienced this pain before. She understood all too well what Shen Qingqiu was enduring. Seeing her in that state, Xiao Muyu dashed over in a panic, not bothering to cover her ears. She fought through the pain and hugged Shen Qingqiu’s head tightly to her chest, keeping her from hurting herself.

Her right hand covered Shen Qingqiu’s left ear while her left hand clamped down on her own left ear. She pressed her head firmly against Shen Qingqiu’s, blocking both of their ears as best she could.

Big Xiao Mei’s resentment had reached its peak after finding Qu Muxi was possessed. She gave up all pretenses, venting all her anger and hatred in this roar. The attack lasted 20 seconds, its power immeasurable.

Qu Muxi’s face distorted under this roar. A mass of black mist escaped her body before rushing out of a broken glass window.

Big Xiao Mei’s bloody mouth, which had split her face from ear to ear, closed. She finally stopped screaming. Qu Muxi regained her original appearance. Her figure had become transparent and ethereal. It looked like she might collapse at any moment.

Big Xiao Mei’s scary ghost face revealed a worried look. She went to support Qu Muxi.

“Sister Qu.” This time, Xiao Jiao and the other children also floated around the two.

The sharp pain in Shen Qingqiu’s ears and head had stopped, but her whole head was still ringing. She didn’t know how long it took for her to realize someone was holding her firmly in their arms.

The constant ringing in her ears kept her from hearing anything else. She registered a faint fragrance at the tip of her nose and the sensation against her face. Her scrambled brain managed to analyze the data amidst the chaos. Xiao Muyu, who had been a few meters away, was now hugging her. Her hand was still firmly covering Shen Qingqiu’s ear.

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Author had something to say:

This is a two-way street.
Xiao Shen: I can’t touch her when she’s facing me like this.
Xiao Xiao: ……
Xiao Shen: You came to save me in such a rush. It’s out of love, right?
Xiao Xiao: No, I was worried you’d be deaf.
Xiao Shen: That’s love, too.
Xiao Xiao: I was worried you’d be deaf and can’t hear me criticizing you anymore.
Xiao Shen: Is our love gonna disappear?