Nightmare Light

Chapter 219 The Song in the Activity Room

In the Shadow Orphanage, Lin Wang and A Zhe searched each classroom one by one.

In the silence, only the sound of their footsteps and conversation could be heard.

"Lin Wang, I feel that you have changed a lot in the past few years."

Teacher Liu suddenly sighed.

Lin Wang turned his head and glanced at the female teacher, somewhat curious: "How have I changed in your eyes?"

"Well..." Liu Azhe frowned, struggling to find the right words.

"You, both before and now, are quiet and don't like to talk. You're nothing like the people of the North as rumored."

"But back then, you were more... 'worldly'."

Liu Azhe used the very worldly word "worldly".

“Back then, I often saw you sitting quietly in a corner, watching other children play. But at that time, you were more 'cautious' and 'longing'... You longed to interact with them.”

"But this time, I noticed that you still quietly observe the people around you, but that look in your eyes..."

She gestured a few times and said, "It's a bit like the way the old director looks at the children."

Her eyes are quite sharp when she looks at people...

Lin Wang's heart stirred slightly.

He was well aware that his gaze towards people did indeed have a somewhat "overlooking" quality. This was partly due to his identity as a psychological counselor, which led him to habitually look at people with a sense of "consideration" and "observation."

On the other hand...

Most of these secrets stem from the many strange and wonderful things within one's own body.

World Tree, Underworld Fire.

Having acquired these items, Lin Wang could no longer observe the world with a normal perspective.

Fortunately, I've always been very curious...

Lin Wang thought to himself.

At this moment, he heard A-Zhe speak again: "And you also have so many strange and wonderful things."

She pushed aside the vine wreath on her forehead, clearing the leaves that were obstructing her eyes: "For example, this vine wreath... it's not just something to play with, is it?"

In the dim, shadowy space, the vines on A-Zhe's forehead were emitting a faint, holy light, dispelling the darkness while also protecting her.

“You have that strange fire, those fruits, and these vines…”

“Among the children who left our orphanage, some became lay teachers… I know that normal lay teachers wouldn’t have these things.”

Lin Wang didn't speak, but listened quietly as he walked to the next classroom.

Ah Zhe muttered to himself, then suddenly pulled out a string of candied hawthorns from somewhere, took a bite, and held it out to Lin Wang: "Want some?"

"Why are you still carrying this thing?" Lin Wang was taken aback.

“I love eating this,” Ah Zhe said, holding up a skewer. “I remember you loved eating it when you were little too!”

"I do like eating it... but this stuff is so sticky, how did you manage to carry it around on your person?"

Ah Zhe said proudly, "I specially made this pocket on my clothes just to hold the candied hawthorns... Look!"

She opened her pocket, and Lin Wang was about to look when he suddenly felt a strong pang of heart palpitation.

His expression changed, and he turned his head solemnly to look at the end of the corridor—that direction led to the orphanage's "large activity room," where teachers often organized group activities for large numbers of children.

At the same time, the servo function notification sounds went off incessantly.

[Abnormal recyclable material detected. Recycling recommended! Recycling recommended! Recycling recommended!]

Non-standard recyclables? What are those...?

Why would the server function issue such a strong warning?

He mentally asked the server function a question, which replied: "[Abnormal recycling refers to items that do not belong to the tree fern itself, but which, when recycled, will benefit the tree fern.]"

I see... In any case, we have to check out what's causing the server to give us such crazy prompts.

Lin Wang narrowed his eyes, his expression serious, and assumed a defensive posture.

He turned around, ready to wave to A-Zhe, but saw that A-Zhe's expression was also very unpleasant.

"Sister A-Zhe, you felt it too?"

"Huh? What do you feel?" Liu Azhe was taken aback, then shook her head. "Nothing, I... maybe this place is too oppressive, so I feel a little uncomfortable."

Lin Wang didn't dwell on that and focused his attention on the classroom at the end of the corridor.

He and Liu Azhe walked one after the other towards the end of the passage.

In the strange and oppressive passage, even the rules of sound were different.

They walked close enough before they could hear children making noise and singing coming from the classroom.

singing?

These kids sound like they're having a lot of fun...

Lin Wang pondered for a moment, then exchanged a glance with A Zhe.

The two nodded to each other and walked towards the entrance of the activity room.

As they reached the door, A-Zhe whispered to Lin Wang, "Be careful from now on, don't scare or hurt the children."

Lin Wang nodded with a serious expression and gave the female teacher a reassuring gesture.

Then, he straightened up, opened the door, and went straight in.

A-Zhe: "..."

Is there any way you have to be this "cautious"?
Despite her complaints, she still hurried a few steps and followed Lin Wang into the activity room.

Upon entering the activity room, she saw Lin Wang looking puzzled, staring at the center of the room.

She followed Lin Wang's gaze and looked into the activity room.

Then, she also looked confused.

"What...what's going on?"

In the center of the activity room, on the floor, sat a circle of children—all pale white little ghosts, a sight that was quite frightening at first glance.

But at this moment, each ghost child had a happy smile on their face, circling around, clapping along, and singing nursery rhymes in perfect unison.

Lin Wang recognized them at a glance as the "sick" children from the orphanage.

But in the very center of these children, there was a little girl with a cold expression, who looked completely unfamiliar to him.

In the middle is a little girl who is about ten years old. She has delicate and beautiful features, like a porcelain doll.

Her expression was cold, but she was very patient, singing along with the ghost children around her.

But none of these were the reasons Lin Wang was nervous—he was nervous because the child had the skin color of a living person and was breathing.

A living child?
Lin Wang was about to speak when he heard A Zhe's trembling voice beside him: "Ah... Miao Miao?"

"Who is Miaomiao?" Lin Wang asked.

“Miaomiao was a missing child from our orphanage,” A-Zhe said. “But that was more than forty years ago… when the old director was still very young.”

"I only saw the information about this after I became a teacher... I never expected Miaomiao to be here?"

As she spoke, she took a step forward.

Lin Wang couldn't stop her in time; she had already spoken to the little girl: "Miaomiao, is that you?"

The next second, the little girl with the cold expression raised her head towards the two of them.

“You’ve mistaken me for someone else… but I can also be Miaomiao.”

(End of this chapter)