Chapter 25: 25

Mo Yi patted the breadcrumbs from his hands and got up from the low bench.

He moved around the dining hall, slowly walking at ease as his gaze roamed back and forth in the room, not letting a single clue slip by. 

A clock behind the dining table caught his eye.

It was very old and shabby and half of its outer case was already falling off, exposing its jet-black metal surface underneath. It hung askew on the wall behind the dining table. However, unlike the other things in the room, the clock didn’t have a trace of dust on its surface, as if a person had meticulously wiped it clean. Moreover, it was even rarer that the clock was not broken, still stubbornly running.

 

 

The clock hand was pointed towards 5:20.

Mo Yi knitted his brows, his mind somewhat puzzled. 

Right away, the game itself had already provided a countdown, then for what reason was there a conspicuous clock set up inside the copy?

 

He subconsciously took a glimpse outside the narrow window, and in the pitch-black sky was the indistinct fluorescent blue numbers slowly counting down.

Five hours and twenty minutes had passed by in the game.

Then that implied … at the same time as when the game had just begun, the clock had also begun to move.

 

The doubts and suspicions in his heart grew more and more, similar to a slow-moving dark cloud gathering, gradually occupying every corner of Mo Yi’s heart, stifling his throat, forcefully stopping his breath.

The orphanage was different from the last copy. It occupied a larger space, and the clues were also not as closely packed together as in the school. Many times, he could only watch as the doubts increased more and more, twisting into a tangled knot, but the thread to untie it couldn’t be found.

Mo Yi took a deep breath and tried hard to calm down.

 

The copy’s remaining survival time was still quite long. They could only take it slowly. 

Finally, he took a deep look at the clock, turned around and then walked towards the wall with the drawing of the little hanging man.

The little man was drawn with very simply and crude strokes, shapeless and crooked. It must have been drawn by a child.

The irregular shape of the round head and the lined four limbs propped up by a thin torso on the dirty wall looked exceptionally strange.

Mo Yi took out the note that was already filled in and completed and compared it with the little man on the wall, examining it. 

Except for a few places, all the details almost fit together perfectly, and the contents and drawing style appeared to have come from the same child.

Mo Yi’s mind seemed to have flashed with a vague guess, but he could not longer make out what it was.

There was nothing more to investigate in the dining room.

So, he put away the note, and circled around to search for Song Qi’s figure, wanting to ask him to leave together. 

But the moment he turned around, standing right behind him was Song Qi, and he jumped in fright.

Does this person walk without a sound?!

 

Mo Yi covered his frightened heart, slowly relaxed, and said, “Let’s leave, ba. I basically circled around and saw everything here. Let’s go somewhere else.”

The people in the dining room also began to get up one after another and walked towards the door. 

Mo Yi and Song Qi left the dining room and followed the corridor to return to the hall.

The corpse that was hanging in the middle of the room had already disappeared, and only the chair Mo Yi had fetched to step on stood quietly in the dust.

Mo Yi did not at all feel surprised. He attentively stared at the empty space for a few seconds, and then moved away his line of sight as if nothing had happened.

He circled the hall several times, and suddenly seemed to think of something, turning to the doorway on the side and ran into the reception hall. 

Just now, Zhao Yicheng and several other people had arrived at the hall, and in a flash, he drew their attention as he ran past.

But they only saw Mo Yi bending down, rummaging and searching the reception hall. Very quickly, from the rummaging emerged a bunch of large antique keys and an incomplete and torn map.

Every key had a label pasted on it, and on the surface were some English words. It was just that parts of it were blurred and indistinct due to the passage of time.

However, this was a major discovery! 

Zhao Yicheng and the other’s eyes brightened and instantly encircled him.

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

Mo Yi bowed his head, examining the dirty map for several minutes, and then selected a key and held it in the center of his palm.

Next, he generously spread out the large bunch of keys on the counter, stating in front of everyone, “Everyone, take these keys and search for clues in the places on the map, ba. But you must remember to come back and hang them up after searching, or the clues might get lost.”

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Just then, a senior woman who was silently standing on the side said, “Wait a minute.”

Mo Yi was taken aback and turned to look at her.

The senior woman narrowed her eyes, strode towards him and opened her mouth, asking, “You’re very familiar with this place. Whether it is the dining bells that you immediately recognized, or the degree of understanding of the location of these keys, we’re no match at all…” 

Zhao Yicheng, who was on the side, was obviously acquainted with her, and gave a low reprimand, “Sun Xiaoyan!”

The senior called Sun Xiaoyan didn’t take heed, and instead advanced another step, forcefully interrogating, “Would you mind explaining?”

 

After hearing her words, everyone involuntarily trembled, one by one casting frightened and suspicious expressions towards Mo Yi — this person had dictated all their actions up to now! Could it be that …?

Mo Yi’s eyes lowered, and his pale and handsome face was calm without a ripple. 

In the next second, he raised his eyes and looked at Sun Xiaoyan. His eyes were very dark. When there was no emotion in them, it was like a night scenery without stars, almost forcing the people being attentively watched to move their gazes away.

Mo Yi said, “The United Kingdom’s public orphanages have a standard configuration, such as the bell and place for the keys. In the United Kingdom, there are set regulations, and most of them have been used since World War I up to now. Are you satisfied with this explanation?”

Sun Xiaoyan obviously didn’t expect this answer. After hearing Mo Yi’s words, she was stunned for a long time, but still put up a fight, “Then, then can anyone prove that what you said is true? Also, what makes you think it’s the United Kingdom? Could it be that you were in an orphanage in the United Kingdom…?”

Hearing her words become more and more excessive, Zhao Yicheng raised his voice again and interrupted her angrily, “Sun Xiaoyan! You’ve done enough!” 

Sun Xiaoyan was seething and stopped talking. Zhao Yicheng gave her a quick glance, turned to Mo Yi, and said, “That … I’m very sorry. Xiaoyan, she …”

Before Zhao Yicheng could finish speaking, Mo Yi quickly interrupted him, “It doesn’t matter. I didn’t pay attention to it. Now the most important thing is to find clues.”

After that, he turned and walked into the corridor on the other side.

Song Qi took a deep look at Sun Xiaoyan, then turned around to follow Mo Yi and walked inside. 

In that split second, Sun Xiaoyan’s complexion instantly whitened, and was stiffly nailed in place. Psychological cold sweat flowed down her back like a waterfall.

— Those pair of light-coloured eyes, inorganic and cruel like the God of Death, caring not at all for the lives of people. It belonged exclusively to ice-cold and contemptuous predators, causing the depths of her soul to instinctively feel fear and tremble.

“Xiaoyan, Xiaoyan!” Zhao Yicheng’s voice woke her up from her crazed state, “What’s the matter with you?”

Sun Xiaoyan, who was frightened out of her mind, shook her head, still panicked and in doubt, and attentively watched the backs of the two people in the distance. 

Why did that man …why did he have such terrifying eyes?

The two men, one following after the other, walked forward, and the silent atmosphere was somewhat heavy. And in that silence, only the wooden floorboards under their feet could be heard, creaking as if unable to bear the heavy load.

The wall lamp ahead was getting more and more dim, and it was nearly impossible for it to penetrate the dense entity like darkness. It could only emit a slightly faint yellow halo of light to illuminate a small area of the wall.

The eerie cold air was as ice-cold as a tarsal bone marrow, climbing up along a person’s tailbone. 

Mo Yi footsteps abruptly stopped.

In front of the corridor was a teddy bear placed upright.

 

Its brown fur was sparse and parted, and the four limbs were barely hanging onto the body. One eye was missing, and the only remaining black eye was cloudy, stitched crookedly on its face.

It was at a slanted angle, and half of its body was badly damaged. The only remaining eye, full of dust and cracks, was quietly watching Mo Yi. 

— It was the teddy bear that had appeared in his room.

Mo Yi’s back broke out in a thin layer of cold sweat.

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Song Qi’s lowered voice came from behind, “What’s the matter?”

His voice couldn’t help but instantly send Mo Yi to God. 

In the next second, when he once more went to stare at it, the front of the corridor was already empty, without a single object.

The teddy bear had disappeared just like that.

Mo Yi’s state of mind was chaotic. He opened his mouth to say something, and his mind was full of innumerable twists and turns. His voice was somewhat hoarse as he asked, “You … did you see that … ?”

“— What?” A child’s clear and melodious tone started to ring by his ear, carrying the characteristics of a child’s purity and innocence. It took over his thread of conversation and asked softly. 

Those two words were extremely close, as if whispering in his ear!

Mo Yi’s scalp exploded and turned his head around as quickly as possible!

— There was nothing behind him.

No Song Qi, no lights, even the corridor didn’t exist, and there was no way out. 

Literally nothing.

Only boundless darkness devouring all the light, silently extending its arms towards him to swallow him next.

Mo Yi’s was coldly stiff from head to toe and fine beads of sweat slowly trickled from his forehead.

His dry and rough Adam’s apple moved, and he turned around to attentively watch the remainder of the corridor before his eyes. 

The corridor was long and dark, and up ahead was a faintly visible door, tightly closed — that was his destination.

Mo Yi subconsciously clenched his hands, and the edges of the antique key was hard and ice- cold, pressing against the palms of his hands until it dully ached.

 

There was no escape route now.

He settled his mind, turned towards the door, and walked over. 

The dust covered wooden door quietly stood at the end of the corridor. The sign on the door had already deteriorated, becoming blurred, but the English characters, “Dean’s Room”, were still vaguely recognizable.

A somewhat rusty slender key was inserted into the keyhole, letting out a tiny sharp and clear sound of metal colliding. Mo Yi applied force with his fingers, only to hear a soft “kada”, and the door opened.

The smell of dust assaulted his senses.

Mo Yi paused, reached out to push the door open wider, and walked inside without hesitation. 

Unexpectedly, the light beyond the door was still bright, illuminating the spacious room through the dusty lampshade. The dated dark green wallpaper was somewhat wrinkled, but it was still clean and presentable.

The low ceiling was slightly uneven, covered with quite a few dirty water stains.

The room was completely packed with several desks, chairs, and cabinets, looking like a complete mess.

Mo Yi stepped forward and hastily flipped over the stacks of junk on the table. 

There was an awful lot of stuff, but they were of no value.

He crouched down and pulled open the drawer underneath the desk.

There were numerous crumpled documents laying in the drawer, randomly stacked on top of each other. Mo Yi skimmed through them at high speed. And among them was a rough tan scrap of paper, attracting his sight: Iris Municipal Orphanage, founded in 1913.

The completed picture of the entire orphanage was drawn with exaggerated strokes. At the brand-new gate of the orphanage were a row of orphans and nursing workers, simultaneously revealing brilliant smiles. 

The following lines were blurred with age.

Mo Yi pursed his lips and put the pile of documents back into the drawer.

This building was actually quite shoddily made. Even a layman had the ability to see that in many places, low quality materials had been used, resulting in poor construction. It was already a miracle that it had lasted for 20 to 30 years.

And now its current appearance, although wretched, was at least still intact. 

It seemed that contrary to his expectations, there was not too much of an age deviation as was initially estimated.

However, apart from this, there was no valuable clue.

 

Mo Yi mood was inevitably somewhat urgent. He pushed the drawer back in and turned around to open the cabinet on the wall, and then quickly rummaged through it, searching.

Nothing … nothing … nothing … 

His brows were tightly creased, and there was a deep groove of contemplation printed between the eyebrows.

A few drops of scalding beads of sweat slowly slid down his temple, following the contours of his face, and dripped into his collar.

Mo Yi’s unrelenting movements were under control, but they were obviously a little anxious.

— No specific files or documents on the orphans could be found anywhere. 

All of a sudden, Mo Yi’s movements stiffly stopped.

A cold chill in the air suddenly appeared, and the temperature around his body dropped several degrees. The chill penetrated his skin through the thin clothing, making him tremble.

Such a strange change of temperature caused Mo Yi’s heart to tighten.

An inexplicable horror instantly seized his heart, making his blood ice-cold and congeal. 

Mo Yi’s brain was blank, but his body had already subconsciously rushed into action!

His body suddenly ducked!

A noose rubbed along the top of his head, bringing a burst of strong wind!

Mo Yi’s back was cold for a short period of time. He did not dare act blindly without thinking, and merely turned his head slowly to look behind him. 

His spine let out a “click” “click” sound.

He could hear his blood pounding against his eardrums, impatient and agitated, desperately clamouring that danger was coming!

Just then, Mo Yi’s peripheral vision swept across and caught an image of a shadow.

— He was not the only one in this room. 

The goose bumps all over his body instantly burst out, and layers upon layers of cold sweat appeared on the nape of his neck.

From the corner of his eyes, he saw the shadow gradually approaching.

 

Mo Yi took a deep breath, tremblingly exhaled, and then suddenly crouched down!

He dodged and rolled towards the side of the cabinet, extended his legs, and smashed the cabinet’s decayed anchor point! 

The tall cabinet toppled over with a loud bang!

It was just in time, falling towards the approaching shadow.

Dark yellow and pure white documents and scraps of paper came out, swirling around in the air. In the wake of gravity, they lost energy and toppled over, pouring down in torrents within the entire room, like a spectacular waterfall.

At this moment, Mo Yi, who was lying on his stomach on the ground grunted and sat up, wanting to lift his head, and instantly couldn’t help but stare blankly for half a second. 

He saw that behind the cabinet, hung an extremely long dark yellow paper, carefully framed in a beautiful wooden frame on which many words were written in English.

Mo Yi paused, and a stunned expression flashed across his face.

Pieces of paper were falling one after another in the room, and the heavy silence returned.

— Just then, the temperature dropped sharply! 

Mo Yi’s mind was anything but reassured. At lightning speed, he only had time to raise his palm to his neck, and felt an ice-cold breath coming from the back of his neck.

In the next second, the noose, which appeared and disappeared mysteriously, once again returned to attack!

The rough rope wrapped around his neck, cruel and heartless as it tightened. Fortunately, Mo Yi had lifted his hands to his throat, otherwise he would have been instantly hanged.

Mo Yi gritted his teeth in pain, using his palm to resist the gradually tightening rope, and the “click” “click” of his knuckles breaking sounded. The sharp pain ran down the palm of the hand and into the brain, and he almost couldn’t breathe. 

At this moment, his feet abruptly rose high into the air.

In that split second, Mo Yi suddenly recalled something:

That man who was hanged, the cause of death wasn’t asphyxiation, but rather … a broken neck.

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