Chapter 155
The old man clenched the knife tightly with a ferocious look on his face. He was prepared to run into them and be caught, and was ready for a last fight.
But he rushed upwards for several steps and had a clear path ahead.
The old man was a little confused. He ran upstairs and looked behind him.
In the thick smoke, the light of several searchlights shone on his face, making it difficult for him to open his eyes. The ghosts in work clothes seemed to be looking at him as well.
But maybe it was because of the smoke that made it impossible to distinguish friend from foe, they just looked at him for a while and did not continue chasing him, but instead walked downstairs.
But no matter what the reason is, anyone who doesn’t run now is a fool.
The old man picked up a few heavy books for self-defense and rushed to the top floor.
Above the library is only a thin spire, with an ancient clock hanging under it.
The old man looked around and didn't see anything that looked like a living thing, only a few scattered clothes on the ground.
I didn't expect that there were ghost things like that on the top floor, but the density was much lower than below, and there was no time to wake up.
**
Lu Jiamu saw that it was the group of ghosts in work clothes who had just thrown down some things that looked like smoke bombs.
Then the fifth floor was covered by thick smoke. Not only did the people lose their vision, but even the ghosts were affected, and the loss of their goals and sense of direction made them even more manic.
They were already in a state of madly trampling on each other, and now the situation has become even more serious, turning into a mess.
He can be said to be a little genius who stirs up a hornet's nest.
Lu Jiamu covered his mouth and nose with clothes and tried to retreat to a place with less smoke, but he still started coughing due to choking.
There seemed to be some conflict in the corridor. The ears could hear constant shouting and cursing, occasionally mixed with some collisions and bangs.
But his vision was blocked, and Lu Jiamu could only see layers of ghost things waving their arms wildly and crawling around in a mess. Occasionally, he could see red lines flying all over the sky, but he could not see the specific situation deep in the smoke.
Lu Jiamu decided to hide from the public for the time being. Taking advantage of the poor vision of the ghosts, he quietly hid in an empty room, prepared to sit on the bed to rest for a while, and then continue to look for hidden objects after the smoke cleared.
But a moment later, a ghost wearing combat uniform, fully armed and holding a rifle squeezed out from the crowd of ghosts. It knocked on the door, and without waiting for a response, it pushed the door open and came in, staggering in front of Lu Jiamu and stopped.
The light from the searchlight shone down on Lu Jiamu's face.
It seemed to be looking at him, but its night vision goggles and mask blocked its face so tightly that it was impossible to tell where its gaze was or what its expression was.
Perhaps because of the assistance of equipment, it can see people's movements even in the smoke.
Lu Jiamu didn't know what it was going to do, so he sat on the bunk bed and let it watch, alert for sudden attacks from the ghost thing.
The ghost in work clothes stared at Lu Jiamu motionlessly for a while, and then an almost inaudible "sizzling" sound of electricity came from the helmet.
The work clothes ghost moved, then it made a gesture, turned around, left the room, and squeezed back into the group of ghosts.
Although they are silent, they may have other ways of communicating with each other.
Lu Jiamu followed it and when he went out, he saw the thirteen ghosts in work clothes searching the room.
It seemed as if they suddenly forgot that they were actually in the ghost catching group. Instead of coming to catch him, they stood in a row against the wall. They knocked on the door politely first, and when there was no sound from inside, they opened the door in a well-trained manner. Several people filed in and searched everywhere inside.
When they came out, they saw Lu Jiamu. They came over and surrounded him with their backs to each other, surrounding him in the middle, trying to separate him from the other ghosts and pushing the group of ghosts that were trying to rush over here.
It seemed like she was trying to protect him.
Lu Jiamu didn’t know what was going on with these ghosts or what they were thinking, but it was clear that they had no intention of harming him.
He didn't dare ask more questions, fearing that once they remembered their position and came to their senses, they would suddenly change their minds and attack him again, which would cause more trouble.
The light from the searchlight flickered in the room, and after a while, a slight crackling sound of electricity was heard.
The ghosts in work clothes who were left surrounding Lu Jiamu also started moving, leading him to one of the rooms.
In the room, several ghosts surrounded a children's schoolbag with guns in a serious manner.
Seeing that Lu Jiamu had come in, they quickly withdrew and continued to explore other rooms mechanically.
Lu Jiamu picked up the small schoolbag, put it on his back, and followed them.
Although the ghosts in work clothes didn't seem to have any communication, they were very tacitly divided into several groups and acted separately. They searched the entire floor quickly and well-trainedly.
After searching out the few remaining hidden items in the room, he stood there waiting for Lu Jiamu to come and get them.
The hidden items have been collected, and you just need to take them to find the little devil to end the game.
Lu Jiamu no longer had any scruples and took the initiative to talk to them and asked: "What are you doing? Who are you?"
After the work-suit ghosts escorted him to the staircase leading to the sixth floor, the formation loosened and it seemed that they had no intention of following him up.
Hearing his words, several searchlights shone on his face.
They didn't answer the question. The leader of the workwear ghosts reached out and fumbled with the side of the helmet, as if to salute him, but there was no explanation, only saying: "Goodbye... forever."
Then he turned around and dived into the fog, and his figure soon disappeared.
The lights and red lines were moving towards the stairs on the fourth floor, and it seemed that they were planning to continue groping their way downstairs to search.
Goodbye forever.
Lu Jiamu didn't expect to hear such a sentence suddenly. But from their appearance, this sentence seemed to be the highest blessing.
This means: I hope you leave alive, don't be left behind, don't see them again, and don't become like them.
Lu Jiamu looked for a while, stuffed a bunch of miscellaneous children's items into the small schoolbag, and rushed upstairs carrying the small schoolbag.
At this time, there were already several ghosts in the open environment on the top floor. However, because they had just awakened, their movements were still very slow and their intelligence was not very high. The old man was taking advantage of the fact that there were a lot of piled objects in the open area on the top floor and the terrain was not very flat to trick them.
Seeing Lu Jiamu coming up, the old man immediately called out to him: “Have you finally found everything?”
Lu Jiamu poured out all the miscellaneous items in his small schoolbag.
"If you don't come soon, these ghosts will shit on my neck!" The old man was very excited and pointed to the spire of the building. "This kid said that the little ghost was hiding in the soil under the pine tree next to the clock on the top floor. I dug for a long time and found a bone. That's all. I was afraid that he would get in the way and affect my performance, so I put him there first."
The little boy was thrown onto the edge of the building's spire and was trying hard to grab the building materials to keep from sliding off.
There were earth pits at the four corners of the bell tower, each with a small pine tree planted in it. Now they have all been dug up, and a corner of a snow-white skull was exposed in one of the pits.
The old man hadn't had time to dig it all up, so most of it was still buried in the soil, and there were no signs of it suddenly moving.
Lu Jiamu carried the little boy down from the roof, quickly put the other ten hidden items on him, and pushed him: "Let it come out to see you."
The little boy seemed to recall some unbearable memories and began to tremble and shake all over, almost collapsing to the ground immediately.
But with Lu Jiamu's encouragement, he still plucked up the courage to walk towards the small tree pit.
He was wearing a thick magic cloak, a gorgeous pointed magic hat, holding a small magic wand in his hand, and carrying a brand new little schoolbag. With the most beautiful and dreamy visions of all the children in the orphanage, he walked to the edge of the tree pit and looked at the tiny skeleton buried in the soil.
"I...we have found all the items you hid, and we were not caught by ghosts along the way. According to...according to the rules, we have won the game of hide-and-seek."
The earth in the pit moved for a moment.
The skeleton inside was struggling to climb out, but it was buried too deep vertically and it was unable to get out.
Lu Jiamu went over to help dig, and dug out a small skeleton and held it in his hands.
"Ah, it's over so soon? How boring." The little skeleton moved and looked the little boy up and down. "Ayi's favorite game is hide-and-seek. He always knows where others are hiding. I really should change to a more difficult game."
Although it said it was boring, it didn't seem sad and its excitement level did not decrease at all.
The little boy shrank back and almost cried: "I...I don't want to play this game anymore...We've already won...You have to abide by the agreement..."
The little skeleton stretched out his arms excitedly: "Have you forgotten? Ayi and I are best friends! Of course I will keep my promise!"
The little boy was frightened by it and took several steps back.
The prayer bell on the top floor began to shake by itself, colliding with each other and making loud sounds.
The game has been temporarily suspended, and the ghosts that were chasing the old man in circles have stopped.
Lu Jiamu could vaguely smell something burning in the air. He stood up and saw that a huge black fire had been burning around the welfare house. The flames spread very quickly, and wherever they passed, the welfare house began to disappear, revealing another scene behind it.
The blurry black and gray sky was also burned through, and a ray of light shone through the hole, shining on the small skeleton that Lu Jiamu was holding, as if the sky was about to suddenly brighten.
The little skeleton asked: "Brother, what else do you want to talk to me about before dawn?"
"First question." Lu Jiamu glanced at the little boy and asked quickly, "How much do you know about him? Where is his home? Does he still have parents?"
"He is my best friend!" The little skeleton seemed to want to laugh, his jaw trembling, making a tooth-grinding sound of bones rubbing against each other, "His home is right here, uncles and aunts are all our parents!"
"I mean the biological parents."
The little skeleton happily repeated, "Uncles and aunts are all going to play our biological parents!"
I don’t know if it was saying that the children in the orphanage have no parents at all, or if it simply didn’t understand what it was saying.
In order to save time, Lu Jiamu changed the question: "I want to know something about you, such as how you became what you are now."
"I can't remember the early things, it seems like I was always being beaten. As for the things that happened later, I only remember that I lived here for a long time, and it was very difficult in the beginning." The little skeleton chuckled happily, "But thanks to my best friend, he felt sorry for me. Every time I spoke to him nicely, he would find a way to meet my needs and bring me what I needed!"
"So after I became strong enough, in order to repay his kindness, I kept him to play games with me forever."
These words completely broke down the little boy's psychological defenses, and he started crying again.
All the memories he had made up for himself were shattered, and he thought of all the unbearable past events.
In fact, he has always lived in Orphanage No. 32 and has never left.
At first, there was just a little friend who suddenly disappeared for a long time. However, he happened to see him hiding shivering beside the prayer bell on the top floor, wondering why the uncles and aunts didn't care about this child.
But he enjoyed chatting with the lonely person.
The other party said that she was hiding there secretly and was afraid of being blamed by the uncles and aunts in the welfare home. She hoped that he would not tell her story to anyone. So he did not tell anyone about this secret friendship and only came to play with the other party late at night every day.
After a while, the child began to complain to him about not having enough food in the orphanage, hoping that he could bring some food to it. But the things it asked for were always strange.
Insects, dead bodies of wild small animals, live small animals, other people's pets...
Until later, it started to say that it would help him teach a lesson to the kids who had bullied him, and all he had to do was bring the kids to the top floor.
After being taught a lesson, those kids would disappear for a while, and when they came back they would become well-behaved, but there would always be something strange going on.
It wasn't until much later, after the "friend" said he was completely full and wanted to play a game with him, that he realized what he had done.
He was bewitched by ghosts and began to raise ghosts, feed ghosts, and associate with ghosts, eventually getting himself trapped.
He was drawn into one single-player horror game after another, day after day, endlessly. At first, it was just a simple multiplayer game, but as time went on, more and more people joined until it almost filled up the entire orphanage.
He knew that everything was his fault, and he lived in a bottomless fear and guilt. He wanted to end his sinful life with death, but it never really hurt him. He was the only living person here.
There will never be liberation.
It deliberately let him live, but no longer treated him as a friend as before, but only as a plaything.
It was not until later that some very powerful uncles and aunts came here, saying they were here for an investigation, and took him away from here and to the base.
For the purpose of self-protection, he didn't want to recall everything here, so he forgot what happened before and replaced it with new memories.
What about being abandoned by his parents and ending up in an orphanage? Those vague memories were all made up by himself to deceive himself. He didn't have any parents at all. He was just a murderer from beginning to end.
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