Chapter 151
Lu Jiamu turned around and glanced at the old man.
Although it is unclear why he asked this question, he does not look like the kind of person who would sacrifice everything for his friends, so there is no need to worry about him being emotional at a critical moment.
"I don't know." Lu Jiamu said truthfully, "I don't know if they will turn back into humans after catching us. Most likely not. But it is certain that we will turn into ghosts after being caught. As for whether there will be subsequent rounds after being caught once, do you want to try it?"
“Nonsense, isn’t it?” The old man rolled his eyes, his expression becoming determined. “They don’t look like they can survive. They even killed people I know. I was so worried about them.”
"Today, I have broken off all ties with them! I have completely severed ties with them!" the old man shouted, "I really shouldn't have come this time. They are not worth the risk."
Xiao Wang was already holding onto the handrail of the stairs, stumbling and trying to stand up tenaciously.
The old man reached into his bulging pocket and fumbled: "We can't let it up."
As he spoke, he took out a roll of cloth and quickly unfolded it.
Lu Jiamu saw that it was densely packed with flying knives, each of which was shining with cold light.
A fierce light flashed in the old man's eyes. He took out a handful of weapons, weighed them, and threw them out with his arm.
The flying knife pierced Xiao Wang's forehead accurately, leaving only a small part of the handle outside. Xiao Wang, who was already unstable, fell back to the ground again.
It raised its face, fluttered around madly with resentment and anger, and seemed to be almost mad: "Lao Liu! Lao Liu, what's wrong with you helping me?! We were friends before!"
The old man was surprised that this ghost thing could be attacked by a physical entity. He also saw that it could still jump and hop. He cursed and pretended to take out a second throwing knife to attack it: "Damn it, you can still survive after being poked in the brain? I'm going to poke your dog eyes out and see how you can look at me."
Lu Jiamu deeply admired his behavior of turning his back on his former friend without hesitation and even trying to stab him a second time when the first blow was not enough, but he still stopped him: "It's hard to get it back once it flies out, don't waste it."
"You're right." The old man rolled up the others in a huff, leaving only one throwing knife in his pocket for emergency use. "It's such a bargain."
There were constant banging and scratching noises coming from the door on the second floor, and it sounded like there were many people inside who were banging and scratching the door with their hands, but it was not opened.
But the only room that was noisy from beginning to end was the one they had just checked. Except for Xiao Wang who had already run into the corridor, the rest of the place was still quiet.
Both of them have already gained some understanding of how to play hide-and-seek.
"Damn, are we the ones catching them, or are they the ghosts catching us?" The old man cursed: "You saw that little ghost, too, right? Why did it run away after we saw it? Is this the double... double what?"
“Double standard.” Lu Jiamu helped him to pronounce the word. “Maybe this is what it means that adults have to play with children.”
It is obvious that there are more ghosts in this orphanage than just those dozen children. There are also many adults who accidentally entered here at some point and never left.
These adults are hiding, or trapped in the room. When someone pushes open the door, regardless of whether they have come into contact with them or not, they are considered to have been discovered, and after a short countdown they will become ghosts that catch people.
But the children here may be following another rule, at least they will not be caught if they see them.
After a while of continuous knocking and scratching on the door, it finally quieted down.
But this does not mean the crisis is over.
With a "click", the door handle was successfully turned.
The group of "people" inside tried their best and finally stood up by clinging to the door.
But as soon as the door was opened, the "people" inside pushed and shoved, trying to stop others so that they could get out first. For a moment, they were stuck in the door frame and no one could get out.
They were stuck in the room, and after a while they lost their balance and fell down again. However, this also allowed them to successfully get out of the room, and their eyes were either greedy or scorching as they stared at the people on the third floor.
Lu Jiamu carefully observed the situation inside.
Seeing their rusty and clumsy appearance, Lu Jiamu didn't want to be associated with them anymore.
Realizing that other "people" had also come out, Xiao Wang's movements became more intense, and he was still shouting, "Mine, mine!"
The little boy, who had been held upside down by Lu Jiamu and constantly patted and shaken, finally woke up again at this time.
As soon as he opened his eyes, he was standing upside down and saw a group of hideous-looking people crawling on the ground, some near and some far away. He was severely stimulated again and started to choke and sob.
Lu Jiamu quickly turned him over.
“Brother…brother…” The little boy grabbed Lu Jiamu’s collar tightly, as if he had finally been rescued from drowning. He burped and tried to breathe deeply, “I’m so scared, so scared…”
He cried and said in a strange tone that was almost suffocating, "Ayi's former friends would play hide-and-seek with Ayi every day, every day... Ayi was so scared..."
The little boy was left alone to face the crazy Xiao Wang, and the moment of life and death gave him a huge shock. In this stressful state, his past experiences of similar events gradually came to his mind.
Some fragments of memory that he had tried hard to bury in his mind finally broke through the fog and gradually became clear.
He was actually very familiar with the welfare home, both in appearance and interior, because he had lived here before, and for more than one or two years.
That period of time was so long that it seemed endless, and those repetitive games were everything in his life, which had no common sense to begin with.
Lu Jiamu patted him on the back and asked, "What did you think of?"
In this scenario, once the bad memory pops up, the rest will emerge like a messy ball of yarn.
"Ayi's best friend used to be always hungry, and he begged me to bring him some food every day." The little boy trembled, his eyes gradually lost focus, and his words were a little confused. "But one day, he suddenly told Ayi that he was full and wanted to invite Ayi to play games... and then he played games every day..."
"What about hide and seek?"
"Hide and seek is..." the little boy said dully, "He doesn't like the other kids in the orphanage, so he will deliberately hide something he hates the most from them and let everyone find it. The last kid who finds it will be punished. Everyone was scared at the beginning, but then slowly, no one was scared anymore, except Ayi.
If uncles and aunts come to the welfare home, Ayi will no longer be isolated and will not have to catch people alone. If the uncles and aunts lose, they will stay and join our game. "
Lu Jiamu hugged him and coaxed him, and asked softly, "Will the children hidden by their friends also switch sides after the countdown?"
"Only... as long as they keep catching them, they won't be able to move freely. They can only move freely during the hiding phase." The little boy said, "Before, only when I brought all the hidden items would he be willing to see me and acknowledge my victory... Later, when there were more people, I couldn't win... They all came to catch me..."
"Have you seen that kid before?"
"I have seen him." The little boy nodded. "He had a small suit vest that other kids didn't have. My friend didn't like it, so he stole his bow tie."
Lu Jiamu fumbled in his pocket and took out a small black bow tie: "Is this it?"
The little boy searched through his disordered memories for a moment and his eyes gradually widened.
Lu Jiamu unbuttoned the small bow tie and put it around the little boy’s neck: “If it’s this, take it.”
The little bow tie seemed to vibrate a little on his neck, but it didn't cause any trouble. It seemed that the little boy's impression of the incident was accurate.
"Finding this means we've caught it?" The old man seemed very happy. "Hey, I failed to provoke others and got myself involved."
"But when did you take it? Why didn't I see it?" the old man asked curiously, "How come you are better at stealing things than I am?"
Lu Jiamu had also seen the curious little ghost from afar before. Although he did not find it when he was rummaging around the room, he saw this bow tie which was obviously for children.
In his memory, the kid who was peeking at them was wearing a formal shirt, vest, and bow tie. This kind of attire, which obviously cost money, should not be owned by everyone in the welfare home. Although he didn't know if there was any connection, he still took it out.
"They looked familiar to me, so I picked them up when I came out." Lu Jiamu asked the little boy, "Do you remember what those hidden items are?"
"Those kids are not very smart." The little boy said hesitantly, "Even if they are caught once, they will always hide in the same place next time. The hidden items are the kids' cloaks, the magic wands given by their aunt, the teddy bear dolls..."
He paused for a moment after each sentence he said, as if he was recalling the past with difficulty. Finally he named twelve items and several places where the items might be hidden.
This list undoubtedly narrowed their search significantly.
However, this orphanage with a pointed roof is very high. Although it is not clear what the upstairs is used for, it is conceivable that its area is very large.
Twelve small items were randomly hidden in some corner, and none of them were as easy to find as a bow tie.
The old man thought the same thing and quickly reminded Lu Jiamu: "Don't be reckless. I know you may have a killer weapon that can save your life, but I don't, and we can't search the entire welfare home in a hundred seconds.
There aren't many of these ghosts right now, and they seem to move slowly, so they pose no threat. But once we open more rooms, their numbers will increase, and we won't be able to survive! If I die, it won't do you any good, right?"
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