Bai Liu looked at Lu Yizhan and said, "Tell me what happened last night first."

Lu Yizhan closed his eyes, took a deep breath of smoke, and exhaled: "Around three o'clock in the morning last night, the 37 children sent in all had severe vomiting symptoms..."

"What these children vomited out were complete mushrooms, but when they were admitted to the hospital in an emergency the day before yesterday, all of them had been induced to vomit and had their stomachs washed. They had been fasting and receiving intravenous drips all day yesterday. None of the children had eaten anything, so it was impossible for them to have anything in their stomachs."

Lu Yizhan paused for a moment and shook the cigarette ash onto the trash can in the corridor. "This incident scared the nurses and doctors. They immediately called the police and prepared to draw blood samples from all the children..."

Lu Yizhan slowly exhaled a puff of white smoke. "But except for the living child, the nurses could only draw out a light green translucent liquid from the vomiting children. They couldn't draw any blood. The test results of the liquid showed that it was mushroom juice."

Bai Liu was not scared. These things were like the antique mirror that could hide a huge bomb and avoid security checks. They were part of the horror game loaded into the real-life public beta mode. In a horror game, anything unimaginable could happen. Bai Liu thought extracting mushroom juice was a relatively normal and common direction of the game, which was within his expectations.

Bai Liu thought for a while and asked, "What about the living child? Is her blood normal? Are the results of her blood test out?"

"It's out. There's a little bit of anemia, but it's generally normal," said Lu Yizhan.

Bai Liu pondered for a while and asked, "Did you get any key information to solve the case from this awakened child?"

"No." Lu Yizhan smiled bitterly and sighed, "The little girl is blind. She doesn't recognize our voices and refuses to communicate with us. She only nods and shakes her head occasionally to respond to us. Moreover, she can't see, so she probably doesn't know anything. Because of her eyes, she didn't even know that what she ate that day was mushrooms."

"This little girl is Liu Jiayi, and she has a half brother named Liu Huai. She won't speak until her brother arrives." Lu Yizhan sighed, "It's mainly because the little girl is unwilling to speak, otherwise I would take you in to talk to her. You are quite good at lying to children."

Bai Liu's expression paused slightly, and he slowly raised his head to look at Lu Yizhan: "What did you say her brother's name is?"

Lu Yizhan was stunned. "His name is Liu Huai. He is a student at a prestigious university. He used to work part-time to support the girl. But about half a year ago, he suddenly sent the girl to the orphanage where the accident happened. He comes to see Liu Jiayi about once a week. But he has no obligation to support his half-sister. How come you know her brother?"

"We have met once before." Bai Liu smiled. "I played online games with him before. He should still remember me. Maybe he can let me talk to his sister."

——————

Liu Huai sat stiffly in the ward. On the bed was a thin little girl curled up with her knees hugged. This little girl was Liu Jiayi.

But this was not the main reason why Liu Huai was stiff. What made him stiff was Bai Liu, who was sitting opposite him and smiling at him kindly.

Liu Huai didn't understand why he happened to meet the devil Bai Liu by chance after leaving the game. Right from the start, this guy hooked his shoulder in a very familiar manner, tried to get close to him with a smile, and said he wanted to talk to his sister Liu Jiayi.

Liu Huai lamented in his heart that he was unlucky, but he still brought Bai Liu in.

But since Liu Jiayi couldn't accept an environment with too many people around, she couldn't help screaming. Liu Huai refused to let more people enter the ward. The police stood outside the door and did not come in. They asked Liu Huai to work on Liu Jiayi first, and then Liu Huai brought Bai Liu in in the name of his friend.

So there are only three people in the ward at the moment: Liu Huai, Bai Liu, and Liu Jiayi.

Bai Liu and Liu Huai sat on the left and right sides of Liu Jiayi's ward respectively. Liu Jiayi sat in the middle of the bed with her knees hugged. She buried her face in the space created by her hands and knees. She wore a hospital gown that was a little too big for her and hung unnecessarily on her frail frame.

This little girl is just like what Lu Yizhang said, thin people are a bit deformed, like an underdeveloped little skeleton, and she is quite different from the overnourished contemporary children in fast food restaurants in Bai Liu's impression.

Liu Huaixian couldn't stand this heavy atmosphere. He used a quilt to block Bai Liu's sight from looking at Liu Jiayi and stood in front of Liu Jiayi.

Liu Huai stared at Bai Liu warily like a wild animal protecting its cub: "Bai Liu, what do you want to talk to me about?"

Bai Liu always gets to the point when chatting: "I'm not here to see you, I'm here to see your sister."

"My sister?!" Liu Huai fiercely wrapped Liu Jiayi in a blanket and held her in his arms, looking at Bai Liu hostilely, "What do you want to do with her?"

"Liu Huai, how old is the youngest player you have ever seen in the game?" Bai Liu suddenly changed the subject.

Although there were surveillance cameras in the ward and the police were watching, Bai Liu's words would most likely be censored due to the system's [mute] mechanism, so he asked this question without any scruples.

"Why are you asking this?" Liu Huai asked in confusion.

Bai Liu raised her eyes and looked directly at Liu Jiayi who was shaking in Liu Huai's arms: "I was wondering if your sister would become the youngest player in the game."

As the only child who survived the disaster of the "Orphanage Mushroom Poisoning Incident", Liu Jiayi is similar to Bai Liu who survived the "Mirror City Explosion" and Mu Ke who survived the haunted dormitory in the Japanese school.

Currently, Bai Liu knows that players need to meet two conditions. The first is that [there are players around the player].

The transmission mode of this game is similar to that of a virus, which is spread by human-to-human transmission, such as Mu Ke influencing Bai Liu, and Li Gou influencing Xiang Chunhua and Liu Fu.

And Liu Jiayi has Liu Huai around her, so she meets the requirements.

The second condition that Bai Liu thinks players should meet is to have experienced at least one copy of the [Official Version of the Horror Game] and survived successfully.

Liu Jiayi obviously meets both of these conditions.

Bai Liu guessed that the little girl who escaped death was likely to become a reserve player selected by the game.

Liu Huai froze completely. He slowly looked towards Bai Liu, and with an incredulous look at Liu Jiayi who was still trembling slightly in his arms. Finally, he couldn't help but tremble. He looked at Bian Liu in astonishment: "...but she is only eight years old, how could she be a player...and I specifically controlled myself to only look for her once a week. This frequency of my influencing her cannot directly affect her entry into the game..."

"Why not?" Bai Liu asked calmly, "Does the system also prohibit minors from playing games like parents do?"

Parent Liu Huai was choked and speechless. He subconsciously hugged Liu Jiayi tightly in his arms, with a panicked expression on his face: "But she can't see at all! She entered the game, and she couldn't survive in such a harsh living environment! There is no reason for the system to choose her!"

"Then how did she survive this nasty poisonous mushroom incident?" Bai Liu asked calmly.

The only child who survived the horror game copy in the real world, even if he couldn't see her, Bai Liu would not think that Liu Jiayi was a simple child.

Liu Huai was speechless after being blocked by Bai Liu, and could only force himself to refute Bai Liu: "Jia Jia was able to survive the poisonous mushroom incident just because of good luck! But she is not Du Sanying, who can gamble on luck every time!"

At this time, Liu Jiayi spoke softly, her voice was very weak: "Brother, it's not true."

Her frail little hand gently tugged at Liu Huai's coat, and a very fuzzy little head poked out from under Liu Huai's coat. Her eyes were grayish white as if covered by haze, but her voice was soft and clear, "Brother, I didn't get poisoned not because I was lucky, but because I secretly poured out the rice that the teacher served me."

Liu Huai was stunned: "Why did you throw away the rice that the teacher gave you?"

Liu Jiayi pursed her pale, dry lips and said in a low voice, "Brother, don't blame me for pouring out the rice. I felt that something was wrong with the teacher that day. She insisted on feeding me. Before, she would just throw the bowl to me and let me eat by myself. Then, when she was serving rice to other children, I would pour it out and pretend to eat it."

Bai Liu spread his hands and smiled: "It seems that your sister is much smarter than you."

"No matter how smart she is, I won't let her enter the game!!" Liu Huai was completely furious. He stared at Bai Liu with red eyes, "Bai Liu, no matter what you want to do, my sister can't do it!"

Liu Huai hugged her tightly and Liu Jiayi wrapped her arms around Liu Huai's neck in confusion: "Brother, what are you talking about? What do I want to enter?"

It was obvious that Liu Jiayi was [blocked] from the chat conversation between Bai Liu and Liu Huai. Liu Jiayi, who had not yet entered the game, could not hear the specific conversation between Bai Liu and Liu Huai about the [game].

"Liu Huai, I just want to cooperate with you." Bai Liu said calmly, "If Liu Jiayi is really selected by the game, then you can't stop Liu Jiayi from entering the game."

"And I have a way to help you, Liu Jiayi." Bai Liu raised his eyes and looked at Liu Huai, and said softly.

Liu Huai sneered: "You mean to control us by helping us, right? Bai Liu, you are the same as Zhang Kui. I am grateful that you helped me, but I will not let my sister fall into your hands!"

"I don't know what use she is to you now that you come to me, but get out of here!" Liu Huai stared at Bai Liu and roared like a ferocious beast protecting his cub, his back arched as if he was going to rush over and strangle Bai Liu to death in the next second.

Bai Liu was silent for two seconds, then stood up. He did not make much excuses. He really wanted to save Liu Jiayi, but this was only because Bai Liu saw that Lu Yizhang was thinking of adopting this little girl.

And if Lu Yizhang wanted to choose this little girl as his adopted daughter, Bai Liu would try to save her life.

Lu Yizhang really wanted to help Liu Jiayi, and Bai Liu saw that Lu Yizhang always liked to meddle in other people's business.

Just like when Lu Yizhan was at the welfare home, he would secretly share food with Bai Liu who he thought was not full, even though Bai Liu never felt hungry.

Bai Liu could never understand the logic behind Lu Yizhan's insistence on helping others, but as a former beneficiary of Lu Yizhan's logic, Bai Liu would most of the time choose to tolerate this guy's self-righteous choices. After all, Lu Yizhan would reward him, Bai Liu would not work for nothing, and Lu Yizhan understood his logic very well.

This is also the reason why Bai Liuhui and Lu Yizhang have always been friends.

Bai Liu tore off a piece of paper, wrote down his phone number, and placed it on the bedside of Liu Jiayi: "I can help Liu Jiayi get through her first game, but the prerequisite is that her soul must be sold to me, so that I can help her get through the first game."

Only by getting Liu Jiayi's soul can Bai Liu help Liu Jiayi manipulate the panel.

Liu Huai roared and tore off the paper, ready to throw it at Bai Liu's face: "I don't allow it!!!"

"I think you gave up your custody rights when you placed her in the orphanage. You are not her guardian in the legal sense." Bai Liu looked down at Liu Huai calmly, "So I don't think you have the right to make decisions for Liu Jiayi."

Bai Liu's casual words completely angered Liu Huai. Liu Huai's eyes turned red due to extreme rage, but he smiled instead: "Bai Liu, do you know why I entered the game?"

"I want her to see the light." Liu Huai took a deep breath and turned away from Bai Liu. "Go away. I won't leave her in the hands of someone like you. Her future will be dark."

Liu Huai turned his head away with red eyes, "I have suffered enough from being controlled by others, so her life must not be controlled by you."

"When Zhang Kui controlled me to betray my fourth brother..., it wasn't just my fourth brother and Mu Sicheng who lost their best friend and most tacit teammate at that moment." Liu Huai lowered his head, unable to see the expression on his face. His voice was hoarse, "You wouldn't feel good if you were forced to hold a blade and become the one who hurts... So I don't want her to end up like me."

Bai Liu was silent for a moment: "Controlling a little girl of a few years old does not bring me any value. My best friend wants to save your sister, which is the only value of what I do."

Liu Huai turned to look at Bai Liu in surprise.

Liu Jiayi turned her head a little confusedly. Her misty eyes showed a strange sense of fragility on her pointed and thin face. She was held by Liu Huai, like a light gray, obedient butterfly with its tentacles restrained. She rubbed Liu Huai's chin with the top of her head, as if to comfort Liu Huai, who was in emotional turmoil.

Under Liu's suspicious gaze, Bai Liu said no more, turned around calmly, opened the door of the ward and left.

Lu Yizhang was standing at the corner of the stairs waiting for Bai Liu. The man was still smoking. There was a pile of cigarette butts on the trash can next to him. It was unknown how many cigarettes he had smoked.

Seeing Bai Liu coming over, Lu Yizhan's eyes lit up: "How about it, do you have any ideas?"

But when Lu Yizhang saw Bai Liu's expression clearly, he was stunned.

Bai Liu always wears a smile when he is in a normal or happy mood, and is very calm. When his emotions fluctuate greatly, there will be no excited expression on his face. Instead, there is a very heavy and depressed look in his eyes and face. This is usually the expression he has when he encounters something that he cannot understand and falls into deep thought.

Simply put, Bai Liu was not in a very good mood at that time.

"What happened?" Lu Yizhan couldn't help but lower his voice. "Were you scolded? I heard Liu Huai yelling at you in the ward. What did you say to offend him? But the surveillance camera heard you didn't say anything. However, some victims' families do get very emotional, so you don't have to take it to heart."

"Sometimes, I still cannot understand the logic of human emotions." Bai Liu's eyes were a little scattered, which was a sign that he was still thinking.

"It's really strange." Bai Liu muttered to himself, "I can't understand some of Liu Huai's logic. He should be a very selfish person by nature, but the law does not require him to provide support for his sister, but Liu Huai can do this for her."

Bai Liu did not suspect that Liu Huai lied to him. People's subconscious reactions could not deceive others. Liu Huai was obviously afraid of him, but he kept holding Liu Jiayi in his arms and standing in front of Liu Jiayi.

But he quickly recovered from this state.

Bai Liu glanced at the Lu Station and said, "But this is not the first time I have encountered such self-sacrifice that confuses me. Let's hurry up and go to the welfare home."

——————

Bai Liu entered the orphanage together with Mu Ke.

Mu Ke came to Bai Liu's house very early to wait, but Bai Liu was called away earlier by Lu Yizhang. He was called to the hospital by Lu Yizhang in the early morning. Fortunately, Bai Liu went back home once to get something, and then he saw Mu Ke, the young master, squatting in front of his house with his legs hugged and his eyes wide open.

The young master knocked on the door but no one opened it. He probably thought Bai Liu was asleep and didn't even dare to call him. He just stood stupidly at Bai Liu's door waiting for her to wake up.

Moreover, Mu Ke was sent here by his wealthy father, whom Bai Liu often saw on TV. Mu Ke's father waited with Mu Ke in front of Bai Liu's door. In fact, Mu's father respected Bai Liu very much. Knowing that Bai Liu was probably still asleep and that was why he didn't open the door, he chose to wait at the door with his son.

When Bai Liu returned home, he saw Mu Ke and his father waiting at the door of his house. He didn't even dare to speak loudly, but lowered his voice to whisper, for fear of disturbing Bai Liu's sleep.

No one knew what Mu Ke had said to his family, but the big boss regarded Bai Liu as Mu Ke's savior without a doubt. He seemed to think that Bai Liu took Mu Ke away for two months for medical treatment. In short, Bai Liu did not ask Mu Ke how this young master had fooled his father. Anyway, the big boss firmly believed that Bai Liu was Mu Ke's savior, and he thanked Bai Liu profusely, saying thank you Bai Liu for saving his little son.

And after learning that Bai Liu was going to the children's welfare home to care for the children, this wealthy boss was immediately moved and expressed that he also wanted to do good deeds for his son's upcoming medical treatment journey. He wanted to donate money to the welfare home and personally drove a Maybach worth more than 10 million to send him and Mu Ke there in a high-profile manner.

After arriving at the welfare home, Mu Ke did not follow his biological father, but followed Bai Liu obediently, glancing at Bai Liu secretly all the time and yawning, like a cat that wanted to stick to its owner but had not yet been allowed.

Bai Liu could sense Mu Ke's strong uneasiness, which was not good for entering the game. He had an obligation to comfort this overly nervous young master, so he acquiesced to Mu Ke's sticking to him.

Bai Liu greeted Lu Yizhang and said that he and his friend, Mu Ke, were going to the welfare home to see the situation inside.

Lu Yizhan went in to investigate with his colleagues.

Because Mu Ke's father slapped his forehead and said in a very arrogant manner that he wanted to donate money, Bai Liu and Mu Ke were led in respectfully by the director of the children's welfare home.

The director of the children's welfare home was an old lady who looked extremely aged. There were many age spots on the tip of her nose and on both sides of her cheeks that were almost connected, reminding Bai Liu of corpse spots. The old director had cloudy eyes, a hunched body, and a faint smell of rotten mushrooms. When she looked at people, it was as if she was looking at a piece of cargo, which made Bai Liu feel slightly uncomfortable.

Mu Ke's father went with the director to discuss the donation. The old director asked a teacher to lead them around the welfare home.

This is a very run-down children's welfare home, built in the style of ten years ago, with three low buildings forming a triangular circle. The outer and inner walls of the low buildings are rotten and peeling, revealing the moss-covered walls inside. The middle area surrounded by the three buildings is a small children's kindergarten-like place, with colorful iron horses with faded paint and rusty surfaces, swings and seesaws.

But these equipments were very old, swaying lonely in the mud and weeds. With the sound of the wind, the seesaw moved, and the empty right seat went down and stood up again. The swing swung back and forth rhythmically, with the amplitude becoming larger and larger, making a squeaking sound, as if something was sitting on it and playing with it.

The teacher who led the way looked a little pale. She didn't dare to look towards the park. She shivered and lowered her head as she led the way quickly to the outermost building among the three buildings. Bai Liu followed behind and took a look outside the building. She found two faded gold-painted medals hanging outside the building, which read [Top Ten Children's Welfare Homes in the Country] and [National Cash Unit for the Protection of Minors].

Bai Liu glanced at the award date below the plaque. It was more than ten years ago, which meant that this welfare home was established not long ago.

The teacher in front of them began to introduce the orphanage in a low voice: "Our orphanage is an old orphanage. It originally covered an area of ​​25 mu, with a building area of ​​nearly 10,000 square meters. It has professional classrooms for disabled children, classrooms for musical instrument teaching, an internal school clinic, etc. It has more than 300 beds and can accommodate 300 children. There are more than 200 caregivers..."

After a week of inspection, Bai Liu raised his eyebrows and asked, "250,000 square meters of building area? 200 caregivers?"

Bai Liu hadn't seen any so-called nurses since he came in. It was very likely that there were simply no nurses in this welfare home.

The teacher paused and continued, "That was when it was first built. Later, part of it was given away. Later, our welfare home was reduced in size due to funding issues, and most of the caregivers resigned."

"Originally, there were 46 children left in our orphanage. We even rehearsed a performance for the orphanage's investors on Children's Day this year. But they have sponsored the orphanage for ten years and said that they have spent too much money, so... this year they have decided not to sponsor it anymore, and we can't find new sponsors for the time being..."

Bai Liu asked in a leisurely tone: "You originally have 46 children here, 37 in the hospital, and 9 more. Why can't I see any of them? Can the remaining 9 children come out to see us?"

The teacher's face turned pale again. She twisted her fingers and said nothing, as if she didn't want the child to come out.

There is a problem. Bai Liu narrowed his eyes.

Mu Ke and Bai Liu looked at each other and immediately understood. The young master coughed twice in a pretentious manner, took two steps forward with a rather arrogant attitude, and said with his chin raised: "We have initially planned to donate 10 million to your children's welfare home. We want to meet the children who are still in this children's welfare home. Is this request not too much?"

The high number of 10 million obviously touched the teacher who led the way. Her eyes and lips were trembling strangely. After a long time, she seemed to have made up her mind. She turned to look at Bai Liu and Mu Ke: "You really want to donate? 10 million?"

Mu Ke seemed to really think that 10 million was a small amount of money, and this idiot kid nodded without hesitation.

The teacher took a deep breath and said very quickly and quietly, "There are not nine children who can come to see you. There are only five."

"What about the other four?" Bai Liu frowned.

The teacher's eyes showed an undisguised fear. He lowered his head and whispered, "Four more children disappeared last night. They sneaked out at night to play on the swings and seesaws, but they disappeared while playing. However, the swings and seesaws were still there all night..."

The wind suddenly blew over violently, and all the equipment in the children's playground behind Bai Liu was blown by the wind. The temperature in the yard dropped sharply, and the cold wind made the seesaw rise and fall faster and faster, and the swing swung higher and higher.

Suddenly, the swing and the seesaw stopped at the same time. The swing was motionless at the original point, spinning in the wind, and the seesaw was suspended strangely, as if it was a balance.

It was as if the thing that had been playing on it suddenly jumped down, stood by holding the toy equipment with its hands, and stared at the adults.

After a while, the seesaw that was suspended like a balance suddenly fell to the left at an abnormally slow speed. Something on it rolled down along the seesaw that was tilted to one side. Bai Liu looked along the falling seesaw and found that it was a doll with its head squeezed off.

The thing that rolled down was the doll's head.

The doll that rolled down with the head was wearing a white shirt and black pants. Its limbs and head were all broken off. There was a weird smile on the doll's face, and a cheap necklace that looked like a coin hung on its chest.

This is a doll that looks exactly like Bai Liu's current outfit.