Chapter 635: To avoid wasting all previous efforts
Wei Cheng supported Orange Candy, his face turning red due to his lack of strength.
Just as his arms began to ache, an emotionless voice finally came from above:
“…Okay, put me down.”
Wei Cheng let go. The little girl jumped down from above, landing lightly and steadily beside him.
“How was it? Did you find anything?” Wei Cheng asked while shaking his hands.
Under the dim light, Orange Candy was expressionless, her eyes glinting coldly. This made Wei Cheng, who knew her temperament well, skip a beat:
“…Captain?”
“This incinerator is used to refine lamp oil,” Orange Candy said.
Lamp oil?
Wei Cheng froze for a moment.
There didn’t seem to be any lamps in this instance, right?
“…Wait,” Wei Cheng was suddenly startled, as if thinking of something. In that instant, memories of that gloomy building rushed in like a tidal wave. He jerked his head around, looking at Orange Candy in astonishment, “Are you saying… the lamp oil in Changsheng Building?”
Orange Candy: “Mn.”
“…” Wei Cheng was dumbfounded. The sheer amount of information caused his brain to crash momentarily, forgetting even to push up the glasses on his nose.
With Orange Candy’s capability, she wouldn’t make such a shocking judgment without concrete evidence.
But… how could this be?
“I don’t know the specific details either.” Orange Candy shook her head, her expression a bit grim.
For the Nightmare top ten, the fact that instances originated from reality was an open secret. Although Orange Candy had long known these instances were slices of alienated reality, she rarely pondered the connections deeply. While every instance represented countless real deaths and blood, for anchors like them who had no control over their fate, they were merely levels waiting to be cleared.
Until now.
Although not good at puzzle-solving, she could still smell the scent of some bizarre conspiracy.
Intricate, long-lasting, hidden, and massive.
Like a densely woven net covering them from the distant past. Even glimpsing a corner of its unknowable whole was enough to render one speechless.
“Let’s ask Pinocchio when we meet.”
Orange Candy took a deep breath. “He might know the answer.”
She circled the room and quickly found the second hidden door.
Behind the door was a narrow staircase leading down. She walked to the end of the stairs—since there was no lock picker present, Orange Candy violently broke this door open.
So far, all the doors Wen Jianyan instructed her to open had been opened. Mission accomplished.
Orange Candy returned to the second floor and met up with Wei Cheng, who was waiting for her.
“Let’s go,” Orange Candy raised her chin and said. “Let’s see what other useful things are here.”
Thus, the two split up and began searching the room.
Although the floor and walls showed signs of being cleaned, such heavy bloodstains couldn’t be easily erased. Scratch marks left on the carts, broken fingernails in the wall cracks, splattered blood spots turned gray-brown…
Behind every trace was a hidden atrocity. The more they looked, the more shocking it became.
Orange Candy squatted down and picked up a scrap of paper from an inconspicuous corner under a cart—it was crumpled, with a few small bloody fingerprints on the edges, as if torn off by a dying child in a desperate struggle.
Orange Candy straightened the edge of the paper with her fingers—a bright red English word was written there.
Woods.
Firewood.
Below it were strings of numbers, like orphan ID numbers.
Behind the numbers were a few scrawled words.
Some were simply “Disease,” too lazy to even specify what kind; others were “Disability,” followed by specific body parts—hand, foot, eye… and so on.
“…” Orange Candy’s face darkened as she crumpled the paper.
No wonder… despite the harsh environment and heavy chores, she had never seen sick or physically disabled children in the orphanage. All children unable to work would become firewood in the incinerator, refined into pans of grayish-white lamp oil.
No wonder No. 251 tried to target Wen Jianyan’s legs.
Children’s minds were sensitive and vicious—even if they didn’t know how the mechanism behind it worked, they could observe that all children who lost the ability to move would inexplicably disappear.
So, the fastest way to get rid of someone was to break their legs.
Suddenly, Wei Cheng standing at the door flickered his eyes. He straightened up and looked behind him.
“Wait, someone seems to be coming outside!”
Almost the instant his voice fell, heavy footsteps came from outside the door.
Instantly, both of them were shaken.
Orange Candy moved nimbly and silently to the door, carefully pushing it open a crack with her finger to peek outside.
In the empty corridor stood a tall, sturdy figure. The faceless visage looked particularly terrifying under the dim light. She wore a blood-red long dress, like viscous blood that hadn’t yet dried.
“Faceless Momma.” Her gaze grew heavy. “The red-clothed one.”
In the past few loops, they had come into direct conflict with these Mommas multiple times—and according to past experience, the Red-Robed Momma was far harder to deal with than other types. Their only two losses of personnel were related to direct confrontations with Red-Robed Mommas.
“Should we retreat?” Wei Cheng asked.
In this instance, although their use of items was heavily restricted, after eleven loops, they had saved some life-saving resources—previously in the activity area, during the first confrontation with Little Wen Jianyan, this was how they escaped the pursuit of that faceless Momma.
“No.” Orange Candy replied concisely. “Pinocchio hasn’t called yet.”
Although she and Pinocchio were in the same building, they were in different worlds. The time flow of the two worlds was different, with no known pattern—and without Bai Xue, she couldn’t actively contact the other side to inform them of her progress.
In the last call, Pinocchio said he would call her as soon as he passed through the gate, and then they could evacuate.
So, before that, she had to keep this door open.
Once they left prematurely, all their efforts would be wasted.
“Prepare for combat.”
Orange Candy whispered.
A pair of cold, sharp eyes hid at the doorway, locking onto the enemy’s figure.
Buzz… buzz…
The light bulbs in the corridor buzzed intermittently. Heavy footsteps echoed as the Red-Robed Momma got closer and closer.
Orange Candy’s spine gradually tensed, like a leopard ready to pounce.
One step, two steps, three steps.
Almost there.
In the blink of an eye, the Red-Robed Momma stopped at the bronze-green doorway. Her tall figure blocked the light behind her, bringing infinite terrifying pressure. Then, she slowly raised her hand, preparing to push the door—
Just then, a crisp voice rang out from not far away.
“Momma!”
Behind the door, both Orange Candy and Wei Cheng were stunned.
The Red-Robed Momma paused, slowly turning her head to look in the direction of the voice.
“Momma, it’s bad,” a short little tyke stood not far away, leaning on a broom almost as tall as himself. “The water pipe in the bathroom over there burst!”
“What?”
The Red-Robed Momma’s voice rose.
She turned around and walked over quickly, her voice dark. “Who is responsible for that area?”
“Seems to be 251 and his group? But I didn’t see where they were just now…”
The brat scratched his head, putting on an ignorant look.
“A bunch of lazy little bastards,” the Red-Robed Momma’s aura was cold as she walked quickly in the direction the boy pointed, cursing non-stop. “See if I don’t teach them a lesson!”
Soon, the Red-Robed Momma’s figure disappeared around the corner of the corridor, and the heavy footsteps gradually faded away.
After confirming she had left, Little Wen Jianyan ran over in a flash.
“This excuse won’t fool Momma for long…”
He pulled open the door, his light-colored eyes flickering lively:
“You two, go quickly!”
As time passed, the temperature in the air seemed to drop further, and the smell of rotting corpses grew stronger.
Wen Jianyan and his group were forced to stay put, waiting for Orange Candy’s action.
Every minute, they checked the state of the iron door behind them—unfortunately, every attempt ended in disappointment.
The iron door was firmly embedded in the frame, as if fused with the wall. No matter how they pushed, there was no sign of movement.
In the darkness, the lamp wick jumped. A thin layer of grayish-white corpse oil was burning slowly, releasing a fishy, sweet, rotting smell.
The “passengers” had come and gone three times.
Each time they passed, the lamp oil consumption was more intense than the last.
Chen Cheng’s face looked worse and worse. His body swayed, forcing him to lean against the wall. Although Bai Xue provided painkillers from his backpack, they couldn’t substantially change his condition.
Not just him, the others’ conditions weren’t optimistic either.
Bodies pushed to the limit, a lingering aura of death hovered between their brows.
By now, the lamp oil was running low, enough to last one or two more times at most before running out.
And once the lamp oil ran out, they wouldn’t even survive the first wave of attacks.
“How much longer do we have to wait?” An Xin couldn’t help asking. “Should we call and ask?”
Wen Jianyan pinched the bridge of his nose: “No, that would take even longer.”
Time flowed faster on Orange Candy’s side. According to Bai Xue, sometimes a whole complete loop passed there while only a few hours passed here—however, they could make phone calls.
This meant that during their communication, the timelines were synchronized.
If they called Orange Candy now, it would pull their faster time flow down to the slow speed here, which was not what Wen Jianyan wanted to see.
Just then, cold, stiff footsteps came from the corridor not far away again.
Darkness pressed down, and the wick began to jump.
Everyone’s heart shook.
…The fourth time was coming.
So, they all quieted down, tensing their minds and muscles, waiting silently in the dark.
Suddenly, Chen Mo, who was checking the door, jerked his head up and said:
“The door is open!”
Finally!
Everyone’s spirits lifted, and they all walked into the secret passage behind the door together.
Behind the secret passage was a narrow staircase. It seemed to have been unopened for a long time; the air was murky, visibility extremely low, echoing with a stale, rotten smell.
The group walked quickly along the passage and soon arrived in a long-abandoned room on the second floor.
Black paint peeled off the walls, and dust covered the floor. The room was empty, but it seemed a very large object had once been placed in the center, leaving a blank spot on the floor.
They scanned the area casually, found no special clues, and quickly looked away.
“Let’s go. The door ahead should be open too. Let’s leave here.”
Wen Jianyan followed at the back of the team. He lowered his eyes, his face seeming even paler.
He rubbed his brow forcefully, hard enough to almost leave red marks on his skin.
“You look terrible.”
Bai Xue suddenly spoke.
His presence was very low when he spoke; precisely because of this, his sudden words always gave people a start.
“Really?”
Wen Jianyan lowered his hand, shook his head, and said softly.
“…Nothing, just a bit of a headache. Let’s go.”
The group passed through the hidden door and arrived in the corridor.
Like the first floor, it was dim and old, with dust floating in the air. Everything looked abandoned for a long time, with no trace of living people.
Bai Xue dialed Orange Candy’s number, as reticent as ever.
“We’re out.”
Hurried footsteps and panting sounds came from the other end of the phone, sounding very chaotic.
Soon, Bai Xue hung up and looked at Wen Jianyan: “Orange Candy said they found a lot of clues, but the situation is urgent now, so she’ll explain in detail next time.” He paused and added, “Oh, and… she asked me to thank you.”
“Thank me?” Wen Jianyan was stunned. “Why?”
Bai Xue shook his head: “She didn’t say.”
Wen Jianyan lowered his eyes. Suddenly thinking of something, he turned to Bai Xue and said: “Send them another message.”
“What content?” Bai Xue asked.
Wen Jianyan thought for a moment, seemingly organizing his words, and said slowly: “If they made significant progress this time, it’s best not to have too much conflict with the NPCs in the instance, to avoid wasting all their efforts.”
Orange Candy and Wei Cheng ran wildly behind Little Wen Jianyan.
Just as Little Wen Jianyan said, the Red-Robed Momma wasn’t delayed for long. Right now, she was chasing closely behind them like a shark scenting blood.
“Over here!”
In front of a door ahead, an orphan poked his head out and waved to them.
The group rushed over and squeezed in.
It looked like a utility room for brooms.
Outside the door, heavy footsteps got closer and closer.
“…Here.”
No. 198 pushed open a small door below, hunched over, and whispered, “Crawl inside.”
They crawled forward along the passage. Unknown how much time passed, a soft click came from ahead, as if a ventilation duct cover was lifted from the outside. No. 157 peered in: “Come quick!”
Several children crawled out one after another.
They panted with lingering fear, everyone covered in dirt, their shoulders and faces dusted with grime and spiderwebs.
Little Wen Jianyan was the last to crawl out. He was panting hard from exhaustion, sprawled on the floor, coughing and laughing happily:
“Hahahaha, did you see the look on that guy’s face?”
“Tricked so many times and still doesn’t learn, getting played around in circles next time too!”
Orange Candy spat out the dust in her mouth with a “Pah pah,” looking down at Wen Jianyan still lying on the floor: “Didn’t you run away? Why did you come back?”
Little Wen Jianyan tilted his head to look at her, with an expression of “why are you making such a fuss”:
“Because I brought you guys up.”
Orange Candy was stunned.
She understood the implied meaning.
—Since I brought you there, I have to bring you back.
“And… my stuff is still in your hands,” the brat blinked, showing a nervous expression. “Wait, you wouldn’t have forgotten, right?”
Orange Candy: “…”
“Anyway, I see you two are pretty sharp. How about following me from now on,” Little Wen Jianyan climbed up from the ground, sitting cross-legged, his eyes twinkling cunningly. “Acknowledge me as boss, and I definitely won’t treat you badly. How about it?”
“You?” Orange Candy rolled her eyes and knocked him hard on the head with the back of her hand. “Dream on.”
“Ouch.” Little Wen Jianyan covered his forehead, teary-eyed. “No need to hit people!”
“Seriously,” Orange Candy looked at him gravely. “Do you know what’s behind that door?”
“What?” The other shook his head, unsure if he was playing dumb. “I don’t know!”
“But… why do you ask me this question?” Little Wen Jianyan turned to look at her, his eyes crafty. “Did you find something interesting behind that door?”
Orange Candy: “…”
How is this guy exactly the same as a child and as an adult!
Never mind being a habitual liar, he’s always thinking about how to extract information from others’ mouths.
Full of bad water!
The day’s cleaning ended quickly.
Although young, Little Wen Jianyan’s mouth was much tighter than Orange Candy imagined. No matter what angle she asked from, she was always blocked by him flawlessly.
Trying to get information out of him without revealing her identity was as hard as climbing to heaven.
However, after spending just a short afternoon together, Orange Candy felt more tired than clearing a whole loop herself.
Lights were out.
Before sneaking in, Little Wen Jianyan held out his hand: “Where’s my stuff?”
After a whole day of scheming, Orange Candy was too lazy to play riddles with him: “Not on me right now. I’ll give it back to you tomorrow.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
After putting the brooms and mops back in place, the group quietly slipped into the room and returned to their bunks.
Orange Candy stared at the ceiling in the dark, unable to feel sleepy at all.
Each loop had five days. Today was already the fourth day, meaning if there was no progress tomorrow, they would start the next loop again.
Buzz buzz.
Just then, her phone rang.
She took out her phone and saw the message from Bai Xue.
Orange Candy rolled her eyes.
Talking nonsense.
During her previous violent clear attempt, it was like this. After killing all hostile NPCs, the loop automatically reset, everything went to zero, and on top of that, used items couldn’t be replenished.
If there really could be different progress this time, she wouldn’t be stupid enough to ruin everything.
Suddenly, heavy footsteps came from outside.
“…?” Orange Candy froze, carefully propping herself up slightly from the bed to look in the direction of the sound.
Several faceless Mommas swept in from the door like a gust of wind. The leader wore a red dress, the gloomy pressure approaching with her footsteps.
Orange Candy’s heart skipped a beat.
What was going on?
This hadn’t happened in the previous eleven loops!
Heavy footsteps pounded on the floor. The leading Momma walked straight to one of the small beds, bent down, and yanked the child lying on it up.
She swung her arm, landing a heavy slap on the child’s face, sending his frail body flying.
“You restless little slut!”
As if not satisfied, the faceless Momma walked up and kicked him hard in the stomach: “Who did you let into the second-floor room this afternoon? Speak!”
The child curled up trembling, letting out intermittent screams and pleas for mercy:
“Momma… sorry, sorry! …Stop hitting, stop hitting!”
“…!”
Hearing that familiar voice, Orange Candy’s pupils constricted violently, almost forgetting how to breathe.
In that instant, she seemed to suddenly understand the true purpose of Wen Jianyan’s text message.
How many beatings like this did one have to go through to immediately guess the arrival of this moment?
“Won’t confess? Fine.” The Momma’s blank face twitched, as if smiling. She grabbed Little Wen Jianyan by the collar and threw him out.
“Throw him in the dog cage. Let him out when he learns his lesson.”
