Chapter 112 Kitten

In this light, the orphanage staff's accusation that N, then a teenager, turned around and killed Coco is untenable.

The murder was committed by someone else, but why?

Tu Lanxun decided to manipulate Wang Aila to find N first.

N now lives in an old street in the old city, in a small public welfare studio apartment. The gray city does not restrict young people from working, so N uses the money he earns from odd jobs to pay the low rent.

[Wang Ella] When she found N, he had just brought frozen fish home from the market. He smelled fishy, ​​wore an old gray-brown sweater, and had stains on his second-hand jeans.

Now Tu Lanxun can infer that N actually did not kill the kittens and puppies back then. If someone else murdered Coco, then does the death of the kittens and puppies have to be blamed on N?

That's just one violent employee's personal speculation, closer to a stereotype.

Wang Ella was lurking on a street corner, but she still caught N's attention. This child had an animal-like intuition. However, she retreated, and N looked around but couldn't find her, so he quietly went home.

She rented a small shop nearby and settled down there. At night, she suddenly saw a familiar shadow passing by the door and going straight to the second floor where N lived.

Tu Lanxun controlled [Wang Aila] to chase after her, and the other party turned out to be an acquaintance, Aunt Lu.

Aunt Lu still runs a breakfast shop in the world of "Gray City Cave". She is a gentle and simple old lady. At this moment, she is carrying a bag of food that may be leftovers and gently knocking on N's door.

In contrast to his rebellious behavior towards Wang Ella and the orphanage staff, N smiled when he saw Aunt Lu.

"Are you hungry? I see you've been moving things at the market all day and haven't had a meal." Aunt Lu smiled.

N shyly took the bag of food and cradled it in his arms. Aunt Lu patted his head, as if he were her own child. "If you ever have trouble getting food, come to me. It's not easy for a little kid to make a living out there. When you go to work, make sure you manage your time and don't let it interfere with your studies."

Tu Lanxun couldn't help but smile. Aunt Lu was also a very kind person in the game.

She observed quietly for a few days and found N's interactions with others very interesting.

When facing strangers, he usually looks indifferent and alert; when facing the irritable boss in the vegetable market, he is gentle and calm when facing people, but when turning his back, he reveals an extremely cold look.

But when someone like Aunt Lu who is willing to lend a helping hand approaches, N can't help but show an attachment that suits his age.

And a deep, deep gratitude.

Tu Lanxun controlled Wang Aila and followed N to school. His performance in school was still excellent, and the old security guard in the school turned out to be Liu Maosheng's face.

Liu Maosheng protected N to another extent. When N was blocked around the school, Liu Maosheng would always appear in time and drive away those bad kids like an old hen.

So, coupled with the fact that school teachers value high-performing students, although N's life is hard, it is generally full of love.

This made Tu Lanxun deny her previous guess and made her even more confused: How could a person who had felt warmth grow up to be the notorious Doctor Nightingale?

After a few more days, Tu Lanxun finally discovered the clue.

That day was after the festival. When Wang Aila went to the breakfast shop for dinner, she heard Aunt Lu muttering that there were a lot of customers today but they had made too many noodles, so she would pack them up and send them to N in the evening to prevent him from going hungry.

This was also said to N, and he promised not to go out to work today and to do his homework at home until the evening.

Tu Lanxun didn't think anything of it at first, but that night, Aunt Lu didn't show up.

She hurried to the breakfast shop, thinking that something had happened to Aunt Lu, but she saw her wiping the glass of the shop door with a calm face. The bag of food that was originally promised to N was also marked with a discounted price tag and placed at the door of the shop.

N also ran over. He didn't even notice Wang Aila's strange behavior, nor did he look at the bag of food. He just called out softly, "Kliqi?"

Cliqi was Aunt Lu's name in the Gray City Cave. Aunt Lu turned around, looked at him strangely, and asked tentatively, "Child, are you okay?"

N shook his head. "Nothing. I just came to see you after finishing my homework."

"What does doing homework have to do with me, kid?" Aunt Lu said curiously, "Well, I still have work to do. If you don't want to buy anything, go home."

Tu Lanxun was shocked standing beside him.

Aunt Lu forgot about N completely.

This wasn't a deliberate prank or a change of attitude or opinion; it was as if Aunt Lu's memory of N had been completely wiped clean. No matter how much N agonizingly questioned her, Aunt Lu firmly shook her head, saying, "I'm sorry, I've never met you, much less sent you anything."

N repeated it several times. His focus was not on the gift, but on the fact that Aunt Lu herself was very important to him.

But the more she described it, the worse it got. Now, in Aunt Lu's eyes, N's image has irreversibly developed towards that of a "bad boy who comes to cheat and deceive people."

So Aunt Lu looked at him with more and more rejection.

Tu Lanxun seemed to understand a little bit. She silently packed up the food from another store and placed it at N's closed door. No crying came from inside, only a lonely lamp that was dimly lit all night.

The next day, this disastrous fact was confirmed again. Tu Lanxun followed N to school again, but the attitude of the security guard Liu Maosheng had also changed.

In the past, when he saw N entering or leaving the school, he would greet N and say a few words to show his concern for N's ​​life, but today, Liu Maosheng acted as if he didn't see N.

"Hey, kid, don't stand here and block other people's way!" Liu Maosheng seemed very annoyed because of his work and waved his electric baton at N. "Which class are you from? Why are you so ignorant?"

N went forward to talk with the last glimmer of hope, but was driven away by Liu Maosheng, who even pulled his arm and wanted to write down the name of this lying student who spoke strangely and report him to the teacher for criticism.

Tu Lanxun watched N rush out of the school, run into the shadows of the trees, and disappear into the alley.

Everything was ruined. These NPCs who had once shown N kindness and built a good relationship with him, like family, would soon forget N because of the game's refresh mechanism. Only N's memory was preserved due to some bug.

This is as dangerous as pulling out a ladder from a person in mid-air.

Tu Lanxun quietly bought food and daily necessities for N twice from different stores and placed them at the door of his residence. Then he continued to watch.

Watching N put on his smiling mask again and get to know Aunt Lu, Liu Maosheng and many other good citizens, he learned to write scripts and manipulate people's hearts, but not for material things, but just to gain a little emotional warmth, which is even less than what a stray cat wants.

Yet strange things are still happening.

When N reacquainted himself with Aunt Lu Liu Maosheng in the seventh round and the latter forgot him in the eighth round, the smile on N's face completely disappeared.

He began to be content to play the role of a passerby in their world, not so important, forgotten as soon as he saw it, but he would glance at it with nostalgia before leaving, as if to remind himself not to forget the care he had received.

In this world, that should be the only fulcrum that N can grasp.

Tu Lanxun realized the intention of the game maker. Everyone is a character running according to a predetermined trajectory, and Doctor Nightingale is not allowed to grow up in an environment full of love and warmth.

But Aunt Lu and Liu Maosheng, as NPCs, were once human beings, very good and kind people with their own souls, rather than just simple game data.

On the one hand, this makes them more realistic as supporting characters and the gaming experience better; on the other hand, it also allows them to wake up from time to time and treat a poor child kindly according to their original intentions.

But all of this was repeatedly stopped by the game's operating mechanism.

Tu Lanxun suddenly realized that the previous incidents of dead cats and dogs, as well as Coco's murder, were all foreshadowing the game's plot for the "Doctor Nightingale" boss. N had to be portrayed as a cold-blooded killer, and all those good intentions had to be cut off.

Only those who grow up in an extremely cold environment can learn to treat others coldly.

But there is another problem here. N's memory is not completely refreshed. Even when others have forgotten, he still remembers.

Is a person who has drowned in a cold sea and remembers the feeling of a hot bath more likely to become a boss than someone who has been immersed in cold water from the beginning? Is the former more damaging to the soul than the latter?

Tu Lanxun couldn't imagine it, but when she put herself in their shoes, she felt that most people might not turn bad directly, but might go crazy.

So she bought another bag of things for N, and then walked back to the store under the evening star. It was time to switch to the next round.

She can't help N in the game by staying here, but by seeing through the game, she can solve N's problems in reality.

Just as Tu Lanxun controlled Wang Aila to finish counting the items and was about to leave, a young man appeared outside the store. It was N. He was still carrying the bag of food and clothes, staring at her expressionlessly.

The night was blurry, but the outline of N had already begun to take shape, cutting the light into pieces.

“…” Tu Lanxun didn’t know what to say to him, he just wanted to move on to the next round as soon as possible.

N walked in. He was now a little taller than Wang Ella, not tall enough to look down at her with an imposing presence, but his gaze was still sharp.

He pulled a roll of banknotes from the bottom of his pocket, placed it on the table, and asked, "Did you send these?"

What kind of person is he? He has this attitude even when I give him something.

Tu Lanxun silently repeated a few words about "protecting minors" in his heart, forced a gentle attitude, and smiled: "It's me, what's wrong?"

N looked Tu Lanxun up and down, then looked around the empty shop and said, "You've been renting here for two months, and there's no business at all. What are you planning?"

So sharp.

Tu Lanxun found that no matter whether it was Big N or Little N, their beast-like observation and intuition were quite frightening.

"It's none of your business, kid." Tu Lanxun retorted, "I have money and I love living here. What's it to me?"

Seeing that there was obviously something wrong with Tu Lanxun, N was so angry that his face turned pale, but he immediately looked at Tu Lanxun with an even weirder look, his voice slightly hoarse and his tone was hoarse due to voice change.

"You can always remember me?"