Chapter 19 “Little Fish Orphanage”

Chapter 19 "Xiaoyu Orphanage"

Zhang Hui felt as if this scene had scared the soul out of him, his hand holding the stick trembling, and finally, under the piercing stares of pairs of straight, questioning eyes, he panicked and threw away the table leg that had served as a weapon.

The commotion here had already drawn the attention of the other players.

Seeing this, the other players were equally terrified, their faces pale and sallow as they backed away, afraid that this group of crazy little ghosts would suddenly shift their target to them.

Fortunately, their target remained Zhang Hui.

Tongtong grinned, revealing a gaping mouth, and urged him in an eerie voice: "Uncle, hurry up and hit me! Smash my head open, splash my brains, break my bones, tear my flesh apart! Come on, hit me... Hurry!!"

The shrill laughter of the child made everyone's hair stand on end. Zhang Hui, terrified, curled up in the corner, screaming in despair, begging Xiaoyu to arrest him immediately.

He would rather face punishment than confront a bunch of crazy dead kids!

Hearing this, Xiaoyu sighed regretfully.

Then, in front of Zhang Hui, she walked over and picked up the table leg he had thrown on the ground, turning to look expectantly at Tongtong and the group of hideous little ghosts.

The little girl raised the table leg, which was thicker and longer than her own arm, and asked with bright, shining eyes: "Can I hit them?"

Anyone could hear and see she was itching to try.

Tongtong: "...No!"

As she spoke, she pouted her lips, cowardly and reluctantly glaring at Zhang Hui, who was cowering in the corner like a quail, and then gradually returned to her normal appearance.

The other children followed suit.

But Tongtong was still unhappy, pouting as she snatched the "weapon" from Xiaoyu's hand and, still shaken, threw it out the not-so-high window, sending it flying far, far away.

"Why?" Xiaoyu stood on tiptoe, looking out the window a little regretfully.

Tongtong looked fierce but cowardly, offering no explanation, and instead cleverly changed the subject, telling Xiaoyu to arrest the bad guy Zhang Hui, who had framed a good person.

Xiaoyu turned her gaze back to Zhang Hui, who was huddled in the corner.

The adult who had been willing to risk everything moments ago was now thoroughly frightened, cowering in the corner, his body trembling, and his mouth mumbling incoherently.

Xiaoyu didn't know if he was genuinely scared or just pretending.

But it didn't matter.

Xiaoyu just wanted to play this new little game for real.

As long as the game was fun, both the adults and the children participating would be happy.

A volunteer sister had told her that this was called getting everyone involved.

Xiaoyu was actively getting everyone involved, hoping everyone would love the little games she came up with!

"Let Judge Sister Sangye decide what punishment he deserves." Xiaoyu turned sideways, no longer pressing the trembling man.

So the children also turned sideways, making a narrow little path for Sang Ye, who had appeared behind them at some unknown time.

This room couldn't hold too many people; the children were packed together like sardines in a tin.

Sang Ye walked over to Xiaoyu, first approvingly patted her fluffy head, and then, when her gaze fell on Zhang Hui, her smile completely vanished.

But Sang Ye didn't immediately announce the punishment. Instead, she turned to look behind the children at Cheng Jingjia, who was blocking the light at the doorway, looking confused and at a loss, and asked her: "Teacher Cheng, as the good person he falsely accused, what punishment would you like him to receive?"

The judge seemed very humane.

Xiaoyu's eyes lit up, and she looked at Cheng Jingjia with curiosity.

What decision would she make?

Cheng Jingjia had been stunned when Zhang Hui, despite his confident claims, found nothing, and when Zhang Hui charged at the children with the table leg, she went numb at the sudden, eerie change in the kids.

Now she couldn't fully regain her composure, but reality didn't allow her to ease into it slowly. Under the gaze of pairs of clear, bright eyes, Cheng Jingjia's eardrums throbbed, and she vaguely heard the pounding of her own heart.

From hell to heaven, it truly happened in an instant.

She thought sluggishly, her heart still skipping a beat, so that even now, as the "victim," she remained in a state of panic, as if her life was hanging by a thread.

And now, being asked what punishment she wanted for Zhang Hui...

Cheng Jingjia's eyes moved slowly. After a long pause, her dazed vision finally focused on Zhang Hui.

"..." She opened her mouth, and with almost no need for rational thought or deep consideration, words laced with hatred spilled out: "I want him dead."

Zhang Hui, huddled in the corner, flinched violently.

Xiaoyu puffed her cheeks a little, disappointed, and shook her head: "That's not allowed~"

Hearing her voice, Cheng Jingjia stiffened again.

Sang Ye agreed with Xiaoyu. As the judge, she said: "Big sister, even though he's very bad, he's not a thief, and his crime doesn't deserve death, so his life can't be the price."

Cheng Jingjia secretly clenched her fingers, digging her nails deep into her palms. The pain helped her force herself to stay calm, and she said, her voice trembling: "Then... break his right hand!"

The moment she said it, Cheng Jingjia was startled herself, because earlier in the director's room, Zhang Hui's act of pushing a player into the wall without hesitation had cast a deep shadow over her heart. She trusted no one and feared everyone.

She looked at the two children—one tall, one short, and asked unsteadily: "Is that... okay?"

"Of course."

Sang Ye smiled slowly, "As the victim, you can certainly make the perpetrator pay the deserved price as punishment."

As Sang Ye's voice fell, without any warning, a crisp bone-cracking sound mixed with a delayed, agonized howl erupted from the corner.

Zhang Hui curled up like a shrimp, clutching his right arm, struggling and writhing violently. Under the watchful eyes of everyone, soon his forehead was covered in cold sweat, the veins on his neck and left arm bulging from the pain, and finally he collapsed there as if all the life had been drained out of him.

He had fainted from the pain.

"It's almost dark."

Xiaoyu looked up at the sky outside the window, which was no longer bright and blue.

"But the thief hasn't been found yet."

She turned around, leaving the unconscious Zhang Hui behind, and walked toward the group of adults gathered at the door.

The worn hem of her princess dress cast a long shadow on the floor in the setting sun.

Xiaoyu looked at these wary, fearful adults, her eyes curving slightly, and reminded them: "If the thief isn't found after dark, none of you will sleep a wink tonight~"

Qi Jing fought the urge to step back and avoid, forced a smile, and ventured to ask: "Xiaoyu... if the thief is caught, what kind of punishment will they specifically face?"

He remembered that at noon, Xiaoyu had said that anyone caught making false accusations would face the same punishment as the bad guys.

But now, looking at Zhang Hui, who had passed out from pain inside and lay there like a puddle of mud, a chill ran down Qi Jing’s spine, but through Zhang Hui he glimpsed a chance for others to survive.

So he chose to steel himself and ask for clarification.

If the cost really matched Zhang Hui’s, that meant the player who took something from the director’s room would face lighter consequences than they had imagined.

At least within what they could handle.

Besides, as the saying goes, "While there’s life, there’s hope."

It was only the first day, and no matter how you looked at it, Qi Jing absolutely didn’t want all seven players, himself included, to get wiped out so soon.

In response to his cautious question, Xiaoyu met his gaze for two seconds and didn’t beat around the bush, instead answering clearly: "Of course, the thief doesn’t deserve to die either. But the victim is Little Fish Orphanage and the director mother who was stolen from. So your punishment will be decided by Sister Sangye and the kids."

A little girl who’d just turned five, yet she spoke with perfect logic.

A chill ran down Qi Jing’s spine, and his earlier glimmer of hope quickly fizzled out.

"I understand," he said with a forced smile. "Thank you, Xiaoyu. I hope we can find all the thieves soon."

With that, he didn’t stick around.

After all, the BOSS had already warned them that if they didn’t catch every thief before dark, another sleepless night awaited them.

They were human, after all, and humans need to sleep, eat, and rest. They had already been through a whole night of torment, and now, some of the players were about to crack.

Just like Zhang Hui, who had passed out in the room. If he hadn’t been up for two days and a night, and if his mind were still clear, he would never have acted so recklessly and impulsively, nor would he have ended up like this so fast.

So they had to score themselves a night’s rest.

Inside the shabby but relatively clean room, Qi Jing looked at the four players, including Cheng Jingjia, and when he spoke about the need to fight for rest, his expression became extremely complex.

"...What do you mean?" Zhao Yu asked nervously. "Are you saying we should voluntarily confess to being the thieves?!"

She picked up on the implication in Qi Jing’s words.

Once Zhao Yu spelled it out, the others changed expressions too.

Qi Jing looked at the restless group and let out a silent sigh. He patiently explained to them, "This is the best idea I can think of right now. The BOSS asked us to report the thieves and offered little red flowers as rewards, to pit us against each other and stir up conflict."

"If you voluntarily confess, maybe we can bargain for a lighter punishment. But if you don’t confess, what awaits us is either a night worse than last night or irreconcilable hatred among us. After all, every player, including me, can’t say no to the reward for ratting someone out, right?"

So, by proposing this suggestion, Qi Jing was actually giving up the rewards he and Cheng Jingjia should have gotten.

But Cheng Jingjia, watching Qi Jing’s righteous and self-sacrificing demeanor, felt a chill in her heart.

She knew that Qi Jing wasn’t doing this for the team.

Or rather, only a small part of it was for the team.

For the most part, Qi Jing, like her, was afraid that the remaining three players might, like Zhang Hui, have already hidden the stolen items and were waiting to frame him.

Qi Jing dared not bet that the luck of evidence disappearing out of thin air would happen again.

None of them dared to bet.

So they used their own concession to force the other three players to voluntarily step up and confess to being thieves.

That way, although Qi Jing and Cheng Jingjia wouldn’t get the rewards, they also wouldn’t need to live in fear and make sacrifices.

"Author’s Note"

Sorry I’m late! I’m planning to go VIP on Thursday. Tomorrow (Monday) I’ll check with the editor.

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