Chapter 5 “Little Fish Orphanage”

Chapter 5: The Little Fish Orphanage

Tongtong could tell something was off with Little Fish.

No, not Little Fish—it was everything around her that felt wrong.

She could feel Little Fish’s warmth and knew for sure this kid was alive.

But why would a living child live in an orphanage full of ghosts?

Tongtong looked at Little Fish, and her originally timid gaze unconsciously shifted back into the same warmth and fondness as before.

This little fish seemed to have fought to survive in the murky, dirty water.

Tongtong found her other eyeball, put it back into its socket, smiled, her eyes crinkling at the kid who was still sitting on the stone steps, chin in hands, zoning out, and then, in her old, faded princess dress, disappeared into the thick darkness like a small butterfly taking flight.

She was going to find Sister Sangye and tell her that the child she'd found wasn't a kid who got lost from the orphanage.

But a poor little fish stuck in the mud.

Little Fish had no idea Tongtong thought she was pitiful.

She sat on the cold stone steps and spaced out for a while. When another person walked by and ran off scared, she pursed her lips and got up.

She was a bit bored, so she decided to take the initiative.

-

One minute later.

Cheng Jingjia was hiding in a broken water tank, eyes squeezed shut, frantically muttering, "Can't see me, can't see me, can't see me…"

Suddenly, a fair, clean little face appeared through the small hole in the tank, successfully blocking the last bit of light inside.

"Sister, I found you~"

Cheng Jingjia: "!!"

The shock was so intense she couldn't scream. Her pupils contracted sharply, and her scream and all her fear got stuck in her throat—couldn't go up or down. Her mind went completely blank, and all she could see were those innocent, smiling eyes.

Little Fish looked at the big sister curled up in the tank, terrified and trembling all over, and smiled at her with curved eyes. In a soft voice, she said, "Sister, this tank is broken, it can't hide you. Want to switch places? I can close my eyes and wait for you to hide~"

She thought the current scare game was far too boring. So she decided to make the game more fun by adding her own rules.

"Sister, listen carefully."

The little girl's pale, soft fingers gently held onto the edge of the broken tank as she whispered to the trembling Cheng Jingjia, "The rules of hide-and-seek are very simple. Sister, make sure you hide well, and never, ever let me find you~"

After saying that, Little Fish thought for a moment and added, "But if Sister can tell me where your friend is hiding when I find you, then you get another chance to hide."

"Sister, I'm done. Did you remember?" The child tilted her head innocently, looking at the cowering adult in the tank.

Even though Cheng Jingjia was scared to death, humans always find a way to cope when their lives are on the line. So even though her body was shaking like a leaf, she clearly heard and remembered every rule of the game the child had stated.

She wanted to live. She didn't want to die.

Little Fish saw her crying and nodding, satisfied, she clapped her little hands. "Sister, I'll turn my back and not look at you. I'll count to twenty, and then I'll come find you, okay?"

With that, Little Fish obediently turned around, covered her eyes with her hands, and like a good kid, she didn't peek. Her soft, childish voice carried far into the pitch-black night.

"One, two, three, four…"

Cheng Jingjia scrambled out of the broken water tank awkwardly and staggered desperately away.

Behind her, the little girl's innocent, soft voice followed like a shadow that wouldn't let go.

"…Eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen…"

Panicked, rapid breaths mixed with stumbling, hurried footsteps as she fled in panic through the weed-overgrown, empty orphanage. Accompanied by the little girl's slow, steady counting, the combination gave everyone who heard it—people and ghosts alike—an unexplained, hair-raising chill.

In the small dining hall, Tongtong and Sang Ye also heard Little Fish's voice.

Sang Ye looked up at the thick darkness outside the window, her eyes widening in surprise.

"Fear… it suddenly became very intense." She could see the emotions radiating from the living. At this moment, fear was spreading throughout the orphanage, and a huge amount was gathering around the little fish Tongtong had brought, growing thicker and thicker.

Tongtong recalled something, her expression turned strange before she said in a weird voice, "Earlier, Little Fish said our scare game was no fun, that it was boring, and that she'd been sitting on the stone steps spacing out for a long time."

Sang Ye was taken aback, then heard Tongtong continue in that strange voice, "Little Fish also said… she knows a more fun game."

There seemed to be a hint of longing and envy in her voice. If she hadn't come to find Sang Ye, Tongtong would probably be having a blast playing with Little Fish right now.

"…Eighteen, nineteen, twenty."

"Are you all hidden? I'm starting to look now~"

Little Fish's soft voice drifted through the rooms. After she finished counting to twenty, Sang Ye could clearly see the fear over the orphanage grow even thicker.

Hide-and-seek… Can it really scare people that badly?

But wasn't their scare game also hide-and-seek? Why was it so different when it was the same game?

Eight-year-old Sang Ye was totally confused. She couldn't figure it out, but she thought Little Fish was amazing.

Little Fish could wake up Mother Principal sooner.

"Let her play on her own." Sang Ye said gently, "Tongtong, tell everyone not to mess with Little Fish, and not to take her toys."

The living were their rare toys.

Cheng Jingjia was already Little Fish's toy, so during the game, the other kids shouldn't bother her or try to take her toy.

Tongtong: "…"

After a moment of silence, Tongtong decided not to tell the terrifying story out of spite about Little Fish pulling off her own head. How could she be the only one to get her head pulled off?

So she acted like she was listening to Sister Sangye, but once she left the small dining hall, she didn't tell the other kids at all. Instead, she ran as fast as her little legs could go toward Little Fish, who was still playing hide-and-seek.

"Little Fish, I want to play hide-and-seek too!!" Tongtong, like a tasty little cookie, she eagerly threw herself at Little Fish.

Her pale gray eyes had stopped bleeding. Clean and pretty, they looked at Little Fish, filled with stars of longing and excitement.

Little Fish stopped walking, blocking her path to find someone. Her eyes, even clearer and more transparent than Tongtong's, reflected the little ghost's cute, innocent face. She asked softly, "Then will you play by my rules?"

"Mm-hmm! I definitely will!"

Tongtong had no idea; she nodded eagerly.

Little Fish's originally soft smile suddenly turned bright and radiant. She reached out her little hand and, before Tongtong could even flinch, *thump*—hugged her tight.

Tongtong: "..."

I just had Sister Sangye put my bones back in!!!

But for the sake of playing hide-and-seek, she forcibly held her tongue!

Xiaoyu’s joyful shouts rang out by Tongtong’s ear: "Tongtong, Tongtong~ Thank you for playing hide-and-seek with me, I’m so lucky! All of you are willing to play hide-and-seek with me, none of you have turned me down, I must be the luckiest Xiaoyu in the whole world!!"

Tongtong: "..."

Such familiar words!

Such familiar broken bones!!

And, that familiar darn luck!!!

She forced a smile. Filled with longing for the new game of hide-and-seek, she endured the pain and, trembling, asked, "Xiaoyu, what are the rules of the game?"

Xiaoyu stood on tiptoe, leaned close to her ear, and whispered, "The rule is: give a little gift to everyone I catch. If you don’t have a little gift yourself, you can go find another kid to get one."

After finishing, Xiaoyu reached out a small hand and poked the stunned Tongtong, "Alright, Little Fish Cat is going to go find the big sis who’s hiding now. Tongtong, you need to hurry and prepare a little gift. If you’re late, the big sis won’t feel the surprise anymore."

The little girl skirted around Tongtong, who was in her way, and hopped cheerfully along the dark path. She didn’t look like a kitten chasing a mouse, but more like a joyful little bunny, shaking her head and humming a strange, childish, and tuneless song.

Soon, Cheng Jingjia, hiding under the torn blanket on the bed, heard the familiar childish voice slowly approaching her.

"Big sis, come out quick, I’ve already seen you~"

Cheng Jingjia held her breath, listening to the little girl’s light footsteps moving around in the next room, mumbling to herself, trying to trick her into coming out.

Even though she knew the child wasn’t in that room, hearing those familiar words, Cheng Jingjia under the blanket couldn’t help but tremble, the hair on the back of her neck stood on end, as if she were back in that moment: opening her eyes in the cracked water vat and meeting the little girl’s gaze.

The footsteps grew farther and farther away.

Cheng Jingjia silently let out a breath of relief.

Her hands, clutching the blanket, also involuntarily relaxed a bit.

Just as she thought she had escaped for now, the familiar, soft, childish voice drifted slowly through the gap in the blankets:

"Big sis, seems like you’ve been caught by me again~"

Cheng Jingjia shuddered violently, her whole body stiffening as she uncontrollably looked toward the gap where the voice came from.

A pair of innocent, clear eyes were looking at her through the gap, their eyes curving into a smile.

What’s more, there was also a blood-streaked light gray eyeball staring straight at her.

As their eyes met, the eyeball, streaked with blood, blinked at her.

As if it was smiling.

"Author's Note"

Xiaoyu: The luckiest little fish has the best game buddies!!

Tongtong: My!!! Bones!!!

Cheng Jingjia: Can someone else get this part?

Sorry I’m late, sorry I’m late! In this world, Xiaoyu is gonna have a blast playing!

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