Chapter 49: Orphan Resentment (Part 9)

Shen Qingqiu’s face was devoid of expression. She didn’t even spare a glance at Jia Wenlong. Instead, her gaze inched over the doll behind him.

It had the same golden hair, thick and curly, with large eyes dark as black jade. The light from the streetlamp fell onto its eyes. However, it only illuminated the right one, giving it a slightly menacing look.

Time was up, and the doll’s cute, childlike voice grew urgent: “Hurry, hurry! If you don’t guess, you’re done for!”

Jia Wenlong felt exceptionally unlucky to be the first one singled out. Fear and the unknown had rattled him from the start, causing him to waste precious time.

Realizing he couldn’t rely on anyone else as he faced imminent doom, he desperately tried to recall the appearances and names of the eight dolls. When the doll issued its final warning, he stammered out a name.

“Little Eight!” With no real clue to go on, Jia Wenlong could only call out the name of the doll that had picked him first.

There were eight dolls in total. Since this so-called game required the “it” to find a substitute, perhaps he could think of it the other way around. If the one chosen to be “it” was actually the intended substitute, then the doll that picked him—Little Eight—wanted him as its replacement. Maybe he could escape his fate by calling out Little Eight’s name.

After he shouted the name, absolute silence fell over the space. Zhang Yangfeng and Hou Liang had already turned their heads away, unable to bear watching further.

The doll behind Jia Wenlong was not Little Eight.

“Hee-hee, what a shame, you guessed wrong.”

Jia Wenlong’s whole body tensed to the point of suffocation. The voice behind him—different from Little Eight’s in every way—shattered his last thread of hope. He dropped to his knees heavily, his face drained of all color.

The other five looked on as he kneeled alone in the center, each one feeling a complex mix of emotions. Every death trigger they witnessed was a glimpse of their own possible fate, a reality none could ignore.

The doll standing behind Jia Wenlong floated up the next moment. It hovered above him, reaching out its hand with a giggle. Just as it was about to press down, something suddenly changed!

Jia Wenlong, who had looked resigned to his fate, sprang up. He quickly pulled and flicked with his right hand, causing a black line to appear midair. With precise control, Jia Wenlong directed the black line to land squarely on the back of the doll’s hand.

The sharp-eyed Shen Qingqiu recognized Jia Wenlong was using a ink line marker. It must be his item. The mark made by the flicked ink line seemed to pack a punch. As black ink splattered onto the doll’s hand, white smoke immediately rose, accompanied by a sizzling sound. The doll howled, rolling on the ground in agony.

Jia Wenlong wasn’t done with the ink line. He flicked it out again, scattering the eight dolls in fright.

Unfortunately, despite the ink line’s might, it had limited uses. Jia Wenlong found himself out of tricks after forcing the dolls back. He turned to run but collided with an invisible wall. He crashed heavily to the ground.

The eight dolls surrounded Jia Wenlong. They chanted repeatedly, “A bad guy, a bad guy, should turn into a doll, turn into a doll.”

Jia Wenlong couldn’t get up. He desperately kicked his legs against the ground, moving backward. Shaking his head, he muttered, “No, this isn’t fair, it’s not fair! I didn’t do anything wrong. I didn’t!”

The doll Jia Wenlong had injured sneered and slapped him on the shoulder. He had assumed the worst, but the doll unexpectedly vanished right after striking him. The seven other dolls disappeared with it.

A bell began to toll far up the rooftop of the orphanage. Twelve continuous chimes brought new hope to everyone present. The arrival of midnight ended the game, much to everyone’s surprise. Tonight’s victim was Jia Wenlong, yet from the looks of it, he had gotten off unscathed.

As the twelfth chime faded, Shen Qingqiu immediately caught sight of Xiao Muyu outside the circle. Just moments before, that very spot had appeared empty to her.

Shen Qingqiu’s heart tightened. She felt a small relief earlier when she noticed two people missing. They were the two who hadn’t partaken in the meat: Xiao Muyu and Yang Rui. But now, Shen Qingqiu grew inexplicably anxious after seeing her. Had Xiao Muyu watched the entire process from the sidelines? But why would those ghost dolls have allowed an outsider to observe?

When the others noticed Xiao Muyu, Yang Rui finally dared to emerge from the shadows.

“Xiao Rui, you…?” Zhang Yangfeng snapped out of his shock. He looked at the two who had escaped tonight’s horrors, at a loss for words.

Shen Qingqiu quickly stepped up to Xiao Muyu. Lowering her voice, she asked, “How did you get out here? Nothing happened to you?”

Xiao Muyu shook her head before looking at the other five. “Is everyone okay?”

Fear had weakened Jia Wenlong’s legs, while the others were drenched in cold sweat, looking scared out of their wits. They could only shake their heads. Aside from the three words Zhang Yangfeng had just muttered, no one else could find their voice.

“Let’s head back first,” Xiao Muyu suggested, glancing at Jia Wenlong. Liu Pei and Zhang Yangfeng supported him. His face was pale as a sheet, and his blue-tinged lips trembled as he muttered, “Did I escape? Nothing’s going to bite me in the ass later, right?”

Hou Liang, Jia Wenlong’s roommate, glanced fearfully at his back before quickly looking down. The others did the same, only to recoil as if scalded, but they didn’t say anything.

Xiao Muyu pursed her lips and finally broke the silence. “You’re safe for now, at least. But stay alert. You should be safe for another day if you can survive til daylight.”

Jia Wenlong shivered, his gaze dull and defeated. He looked like a puppet as Liu Pei and Zhang Yangfeng helped him back inside. It was clear he’d been scared sh*tless.

In his fragile state, he failed to notice the dark, blood-red handprint stamped on his upper back near his shoulder, like a mark of death.

The group climbed the stairs in silence. In the courtyard, the lone streetlight flickered on and off like a watchful eye in the darkness, observing all that had unfolded.

Jia Wenlong was helped into his room. Hou Liang didn’t join him. He stood at the door, silently looking at Jia Wenlong, who looked back at him the same way.

Hou Liang had been the first person Jia Wenlong saw once he opened his eyes to this place. That was why they had chosen to share a room. They hadn’t known each other before this, and their interactions had spanned only a few hours. Yet, coming into this unfamiliar environment at the same time had forged a tentative bond between them.

Everyone watching understood why Hou Liang wouldn’t enter the room. Although they felt conflicted, they couldn’t blame him. Right now, Jia Wenlong seemed like someone marked by a ghost. Being near him meant being near danger and dread.

Jia Wenlong himself was painfully aware of this. He felt like a tender sapling struggling to survive in the harsh winter, ruined and lifeless. His face looked frostbitten, desolation showing through the pale surface.

Jia Wenlong’s lips trembled slightly. After a long pause, he murmured, “I understand how you feel. Go and stay with Liu Pei and Huang Junfeng. I’ll be fine on my own.”

Hou Liang looked at him, his Adam’s apple bobbing. Finally, he lowered his head and said hoarsely, “I’m sorry.”

Jia Wenlong gave a bitter laugh. “There’s nothing to be sorry for. Just close the door on your way out.”

Hou Liang closed the door as asked. He stood outside for a long time before finally limping off to Liu Pei’s room. Xiao Muyu watched him go and closed the door as well.

Shen Qingqiu had been watching her closely from behind. Xiao Muyu, holding the carousel lantern, met her gaze briefly before looking away, saying softly, “You must be tired. Get some rest.”

Shen Qingqiu sat on the bed. She waited until Xiao Muyu had climbed into her own before slowly asking, “Aren’t you going to tell me what happened?”

Xiao Muyu glanced at her. “What do you think happened?”

“I doubt the game would let two unrelated people just watch as the rest of us played.” Shen Qingqiu stared at the lantern Xiao Muyu had set down nearby. Its range seemed larger than before, which meant Xiao Muyu had used it to immobilize a target.

Xiao Muyu was surprised Shen Qingqiu would ask this question. She paused, then decided not to hide anything. She recounted how she had followed Shen Qingqiu and given Xiao Jiao a beating.

Even in the limited glow of the lantern, she could see Shen Qingqiu’s face had turned cold. The atmosphere in the room also grew heavier.

Xiao Muyu couldn’t quite understand. Or maybe it would be more fitting to say she did understand Shen Qingqiu’s emotions but not why she felt this way.

Shen Qingqiu bit her lip. Sternly, she spoke, “That was reckless of you. It was far too risky. What if it hadn’t just been Xiao Jiao there? What if those eight dolls had turned on you? Forget about clearing the game; you might not have survived the night. And you thought, what, based on recognizing her voice and the two brief encounters you had with her, you could just beat Xiao Jiao up? That was… too rash.”

There was a scolding tone in her words. Xiao Muyu’s face hardened, and she responded coldly, “You dare to draw your dagger on ghosts; why shouldn’t I dare to hit her? Shen Qingqiu, I may have teamed up with you, but that doesn’t mean you make my decisions. And you do not get to restrain or lecture me.”

Shen Qingqiu’s expression froze. It looked like she wanted to say something. A hint of frustration flashed across her face, but she held her tongue.

Xiao Muyu also realized she had let her emotions get the best of her. She roughly understood Shen Qingqiu had reacted this way out of concern for her. Yet, Xiao Muyu wasn’t comfortable with this awareness. It reminded her of her increasing reluctance to team up after Shen Qingqiu had saved her.

However, Xiao Muyu kept her calm. She quickly reminded herself they were teammates now. She couldn’t afford to lose her temper under these circumstances.

She took a deep breath and spoke calmly, “It was your decision to eat the meat for me. Your reason was that I’d help you if you got into trouble for it. I dislike owing favors, and tonight, I managed to avoid that game of tag entirely because of you. So, as your teammate, there’s no way I’d sit back and wait in the room while that nursery rhyme lured you all away. As for why I hit her, I had no choice—she spotted me. Things would have turned out much worse if I hadn’t acted.”

It was the first time Xiao Muyu had spoken at length to Shen Qingqiu about something other than critical deductions. Shen Qingqiu sat on the bed, listening closely to every word.

Xiao Muyu tried to keep her reasons strictly factual and objective. However, Shen Qingqiu caught on to something else. With Xiao Muyu’s sharp thinking, she usually would have figured out that a lucid person trying to blend in among a group of spellbound people couldn’t have escaped the little ghost’s notice.

Yet she’d gone down with them even more assertively than Yang Rui. So, Shen Qingqiu thought it over and came to one conclusion—Xiao Muyu must have been genuinely worried.

The irritation and anger Shen Qingqiu had felt earlier dissolved. Almost involuntarily, she found herself smiling at Xiao Muyu.

“Oh, I see. You’re always so smart and composed, but you hate owing favors, so you took a risk to save me. Well, message received. Thank you, Muyu. You’re an excellent teammate. I feel so lucky to be bound to you.” She batted her eyes, emphasizing her words, like a vixen trying to charm her prey. Xiao Muyu felt uncomfortable listening to her. The sarcastic tone only added to her irritation.

“Talk properly. And stop with that fake voice.”

Shen Qingqiu arched her brows. Lying on her side, she continued to gaze at Xiao Muyu with an expression that practically begged for a reaction. Previously, Xiao Muyu had found her insufferable. But oddly enough, she preferred this Shen Qingqiu to the cold-faced one earlier.

“By the way, Muyu. Don’t you think there’s a problem with this instance? There have been no announcements since the game started. And I remember this instance was called ‘The Orphanage’, right? I first thought it would be about some story happening at Charity Orphanage, so that’s why it had that name. But those dolls are just brimming with resentment. I feel ‘Orphan Resentment’ fits more.”

Shen Qingqiu’s strange line of reasoning stunned Xiao Muyu. They had all assumed the instance was named “The Orphanage” for the reasons she mentioned. However, in light of everything happening, “Orphan Resentment” seemed more fitting. She was about to dismiss it as a harmless misunderstanding when a soft *ding* sounded, followed by the system’s voice.

“Players have identified the instance’s true name. The main quest of Instance No. 003, Orphan Resentment, is activated!”

Xiao Muyu: ……

Everyone else: ……

Yep, it was still the same rotten system.

---

Author had something to say:

It’s been a while since the system did anything vile. Any of you noticed the name our players heard in the system’s announcement? I wrote “The Orphanage”. Hahaha, I’m a genius!

Readers: *Looking at phone*. Who can tell it was a pun, you typo king.