Chapter 18 “Little Fish Orphanage”

Chapter 18: "The Xiaoyu Orphanage"

Cheng Jingjia had been waiting after she tossed the paper ball to Xiaoyu.

But as her initial patience gave way to growing anxiety and irritation, still, nothing happened.

Watching half an hour slip by like this, and seeing the other players come and go, eyeing each other warily, she couldn't stand it anymore and once again crept stealthily toward that window.

Unfortunately, it seemed she was a step too late again.

Xiaoyu was no longer there.

In fact, the entire activity room seemed a lot emptier than before.

"…Where is she?" she muttered, a little stunned.

Suddenly, she heard noises not far away.

…What happened?

For some reason, Cheng Jingjia's heart began to pound uneasily. She raised a hand and pressed firmly against her racing heart, then hurried over toward the sound, her steps hurried and anxious.

Her mind was a mess. The moment she saw Zhang Hui leading a few children to search her midday resting spot, her mind went blank, ears ringing.

Zhang Hui noticed her at the same time.

Seeing her standing in the sunlight with a pale face, the man bared his teeth in a hateful grin, then suddenly raised his hand to point directly at Cheng Jingjia and yelled loudly, "She's the thief! I saw with my own eyes that she hid the stuff here!"

After speaking, he turned to the group of children, who seemed to be earnestly playing house, and said to Xiaoyu, who stood among them, "Officer Xiaoyu, don't let the thief get away with it! You have to give her the harshest punishment!"

Even though to an outsider, this game of cops and thieves played by a bunch of kids might seem utterly childish and ridiculous, the players involved didn't dare treat it as just child's play.

Only by being in the thick of it could one truly feel the hidden dangers within this little game and the sinister intentions of Xiaoyu, the dungeon boss.

She not only wanted to watch the players turn on each other, scheming and harming one another, but she also aimed to twist everyone's humanity into something cruel and ugly.

With just a casual act, she could make a group of players, like beasts drawn by the scent of blood, follow the scent wherever she wanted, under her control, to fight and scheme against each other.

Just like the crumpled tip-off letter Zhang Hui had picked up earlier.

It didn't have Cheng Jingjia's name, but in the letter, she'd written down everyone's names except her own and Qi Jing's.

Even Zhang Hui, who wasn't exactly quick-witted, could tell at a glance who'd written the letter.

Because the handwriting was elegant yet messy, and Qi Jing was indeed the only one of the five who hadn't taken anything from the director's room.

So even though Zhang Hui knew full well that the paper ball had been casually tossed out the window by Xiaoyu and landed on the ground, he still hated Cheng Jingjia with all his might and wished he could send her to her death right then and there!

Watching her now, her face ashen, he felt a surge of satisfaction, but at the same time, a chill ran down his spine at the thought of Xiaoyu, a child barely five years old.

From last night until now, every step the players had taken seemed to be under Xiaoyu's guidance and control.

This feeling of utter helplessness, watching yourself become a pawn in the dungeon boss's hands step by step, was truly terrifying and disheartening.

But these scattered thoughts lingered in Zhang Hui's mind for only a few brief seconds. Pulling himself together, he avoided Xiaoyu's gaze—it was so clear it seemed to see through all his little schemes—and once again turned his attention to Cheng Jingjia, who stood not far away.

Xiaoyu and the other children followed the direction of his pointing finger.

Song Ping'an, the child in charge of the search, also stopped at that moment.

"Impossible! I—I didn't steal anything! I was the first one out!" Facing pairs of curious eyes, Cheng Jingjia shook her head frantically, trying to defend herself.

She was probably so frightened that she had lost her head, and because Xiaoyu had rescued her from Song Ping'an's interrogation earlier that afternoon, she pinned all her hopes on Xiaoyu.

Now, with pleading eyes, she looked at Xiaoyu and said in an urgent tone, "You know, don't you, Xiaoyu? I went in at noon and came right back out. I wasn't holding anything then. I—"

She was still speaking, but Tongtong interrupted her, drawing out her words slowly, "Big sister, when the other grown-ups came out, they weren't holding anything in their hands either~"

After all, how could a thief openly carry stolen goods in plain sight for everyone to see?

Cheng Jingjia choked on her words.

In the end, she could only look at Xiaoyu, pleading desperately.

In truth, perhaps even she herself didn't know what she was begging Xiaoyu for.

Was it to clear her of suspicion? To let her off? Or…

To have Xiaoyu save her from danger once more, like she had at noon?

Xiaoyu met her gaze, but only returned it silently. Then, as Cheng Jingjia's expression slowly dimmed into the gray of despair, Xiaoyu looked up at Zhang Hui, who was smirking smugly, and said, "Uncle, could you please help find the stuff she stole?"

Before Zhang Hui could respond, she added, "As the one who reported it, as soon as we confirm that it was this big sister who took the items, I'll reward you with a little red flower tonight."

Zhang Hui couldn't help but feel overjoyed. Even Xiaoyu no longer seemed as terrifying as he had imagined. He immediately thought of the tip-off letter he'd found and quickly pressed Xiaoyu for an answer, "Do I get a little red flower for reporting just one person? What if I report more?"

Xiaoyu blinked and gave him a sweet, obedient smile.

"Then of course you'll get more little red flowers~" The little girl's voice drew out the final syllable, as if hiding a tiny hook to lure people.

Zhang Hui immediately let most of his guard down against Xiaoyu. He grew annoyed that Song Ping'an, being small, was too slow and wasting time, and shoved him aside to do the job himself.

After all, he was the one who had hidden the item in the first place. He knew exactly where it was put, far better than anyone else present. He could find it in no time.

However, just as he was about to start, and Cheng Jingjia was steeling herself to charge over at all costs, Xiaoyu spoke again.

"Uncle."

Her fair little face beamed with an innocent, soft smile. As Zhang Hui looked over, she reminded him not to forget the game rules:

"If the report is false, you'll be punished, you know. Are you really sure she's the thief?"

For some reason, even though Zhang Hui had personally placed the item there, under Xiaoyu's smiling gaze, he felt a twinge of self-doubt.

But this faint doubt was quickly suppressed.

He was certain he had hidden the item securely, and no other player had come in since.

So he hesitated for only a brief second before nodding firmly, his voice low and laced with malice: "Of course I'm sure!!"

With that, he strode straight over to the corner where he had hidden the item, shoving aside the clutter piled on top of it with a clatter.

Behind her, Bai Ye quietly curled his lips into a smile.

Xiaoyu whipped her head around to look at him. Bai Ye's smile froze for a moment, but he didn't look away or break eye contact.

Beside him, Yang Yang silently wiggled her fingers, also timidly lowering her head, trying to avoid Xiaoyu's sudden look.

Xiaoyu wasn't surprised at all by the reactions of these two children.

Seeing this, Cheng Jingjia silently withdrew her gaze, her eyes crinkling as she turned her gaze back to Zhang Hui's back, who was rummaging through the pile of clutter.

All the children watched his anxious back. Their eerie silence, tinged with mockery and barely concealed excitement, made the already flustered Cheng Jingjia unconsciously stop in her tracks and stand there, confused and terrified.

Like a death row inmate waiting for the executioner's blade to fall.

More like waiting for a belated "Stay the execution!"

The good news was that it seemed she had indeed gotten her reprieve.

The bad news was... the executioner's blade had fallen on his own neck.

Staring at the empty corner, Zhang Hui froze in disbelief.

Impossible... How could this be?!

Clearly the item he had personally placed here—how could it suddenly disappear?

His mind, clouded by greed, finally cleared a little. He abruptly turned his head to look at Xiaoyu behind him.

Only at this moment did he see those young eyes, each with a mocking smile.

"Uncle, did you find it?" Tongtong tilted her head adorably, looking especially expectant and curious.

Zhang Hui's eyes gradually became bloodshot. He glared hatefully at Tongtong, who had spoken, and demanded hoarsely, "It's you! You secretly took it away, didn't you?!"

He had only noticed that no one had come in, but he hadn't expected that in this so-called game, ghosts were hiding in the shadows, causing mischief!

He could only guard against humans—how could he guard against ghosts?!

The players had been made fools of by these little ghosts from start to finish!!

Realizing this, the anger and resentment in his heart surged like a volcanic eruption. Blinded by his emotions and fear of the unknown punishment, he immediately stood up, grabbed a discarded table leg from the pile of clutter and without a second thought charged toward the group of children.

"Ahh..." Tongtong parted her lips slightly, her eyes turning red, her voice growing shrill with excitement: "He wants to hit us!"

Not just her, but the group of children behind her became restless, even letting out shrill giggles, gleefully repeating Tongtong's words one after another: "He wants to hit us!"

"He wants to hit someone!"

Hee hee~ We're going to get hit~

"He's a bad guy, the bad guy is going to hit kids, hee hee~"

Perhaps because the children's behavior was so bizarre, even though the stick was about to hit Tongtong, Zhang Hui was so frightened that his hair stood on end, barely managing to stop himself.

Xiaoyu tilted her head to look at the stick about to land on Tongtong's head. Instead of being afraid, she reached out and tentatively pushed Tongtong a little closer to Zhang Hui.

Tongtong herself was even more eager, bouncing forward to bump her head against the stick.

The weird and absurd scene made Zhang Hui instinctively step back and raise his hand, somehow managing to distance himself from Tongtong just as she was about to hit him and the stick.

Tongtong stopped.

Blood-red streaks slowly streamed from her eyes. With a cold, pale face, she asked in a sinister tone, "Uncle, why haven't you hit me yet?"

Author's Note:

Out of curiosity, Xiaoyu secretly pushed Tongtong toward the bad guy.

Tongtong: "..."

Speechless for a bit, but unable to fight back, she held back her anger and shifted focus to scaring the bad guy.

.