Nightmare Light

Chapter 220 The Headmaster and Miaomiao

“That little girl named Miaomiao died a long time ago… but you can think of me as Miaomiao.”

The little girl stood up from the crowd, patted the heads of the children around her one by one, her expression was cold but her tone was gentle, and said to the children around her: "Okay, you can sing by yourselves, I'm going to say a few words to your teacher... Next is 'The Pigeon's Birthday', 1, 2, 3, let's go!"

The ghostly children behind them began to sing, and the little girl walked up to Lin Wang and A Zhe, raised her head, and said, "Let me introduce myself... How come you're so tall?"

With a wave of her hand, two chairs flew over from the corner of the room and landed in front of Lin Wang and A Zhe, gesturing for them to sit down. She then pulled over the podium and huffed and puffed as she climbed onto it.

After watching for more than ten seconds, Lin Wang couldn't resist and grabbed the little girl by the back of her collar, placing her on the podium.

"...Thank you, although it's very ungentlemanly," the little girl muttered, settling into her seat on the platform.

She nodded to the two of them: "Let me introduce myself. I am the caretaker of this Shadow Orphanage... and also a 'rebel' of the temple..."

She deliberately emphasized "rebels": "The Shadow Master of the Shadow Rebels... the name doesn't matter, just call me Miaomiao."

The Shadow Rebels! It really was them!
A living, breathing leader of the Shadow Rebels was right in front of him?

Lin Wang felt a surge of turmoil in his heart, but he tried his best to control his expression and did not show any emotion.

Miaomiao asked the two, "I know you have a lot of questions... Where should we begin?"

“Tell me about Miaomiao first!” A-Zhe exclaimed.

“Let’s talk about the children first,” Lin Wang said at the same time.

"Don't worry, I have no intention of detaining those children. You can take them away anytime," the little girl said with a cold expression. "So... let's talk about Miaomiao first."

Lin Wang and A Zhe quieted down.

The little girl began to tell the story of what happened back then.

"It was probably forty... or fifty years ago? Anyway, it was many years ago. At that time, I had just become the Shadow Master of the Order, and the Shadow Rebels had not yet gone to war with the Temple."

“But at that time, the Shadow Reversers had already begun… that research, and my Shadow Order was a very important branch of it.”

"Therefore, my subordinates and I built a huge research facility in the shadow layer of Tangsheng City, and in order to better adapt to the shadow environment, we all underwent shadow transformation."

"But the shadow technology at that time was immature, and my colleagues all turned into pure shadow monsters."

The little girl paused for a few seconds after saying this.

Lin Wang and A Zhe exchanged a glance, recalling the shadowy monsters they had seen before.

"And I, I have become a half-shadow monster, and I could go insane at any moment."

"Just then... a little girl fell into the shadows."

"Yes, it's Miaomiao."

"At the time, she was just a very curious and mischievous child who unwittingly wandered into the passageway beneath the orphanage and unwittingly fell into the shadows."

"I was on the verge of completely going insane..." A long-lost smile appeared on the little girl's face. "It was that brat who pulled me back to my senses."

"She's really bold. I was practically covered in black mud, and she still dared to talk to me."

"At that time, I was in a very dangerous state, and this little girl... a mere mortal, couldn't possibly live for long in the Shadow Realm."

"I used the last of my strength to try to create a shield of holy light for her, but the omnipresent shadows quickly invaded her body—the child soon weakened."

“I am a priest, and I can clearly see that this little girl’s life force is gradually leaving her body.”

“At that time, I was already a shadowy monster, neither human nor ghost, and could go insane at any moment... so naturally I had no reason to speak of.” “So, when I saw this child about to leave this world, my only thought was: I don’t want her to die.”

"Therefore, I poured all the holy light within me into this child's body."

"When I regained my senses, I discovered that I had created a living body that could survive in the shadows—but her soul had still dissipated."

“You all know what happened next,” she said calmly. “At that time, there was a soulless shell in front of me, and my body was on the verge of turning into black mud.”

After saying that, she shook her head at Lin Wang and A Zhe, then pointed at the little ghosts: "Alright, you can take these children with you."

"These children...were they captured by you and Vice-Bishop Zhao?" Lin Wang asked.

"Arrest? Why would I arrest these children?" Miaomiao smiled and shook her head. "Why do you think I would arrest these children?"

“But Vice-Bishop Zhao…”

“That old lady just did it on her own. I have no reason to hurt these children.” The little girl shook her head. “The Shadow Rebels are just enemies of the temple, but we are still priests in essence.”

"Aren't you creating an army of shadows?"

“That’s right, but guess what? Why does it take the Rebels decades to build up an army?” Miao Miao said. “If we were to act recklessly and capture people like crazy, we could capture hundreds of thousands of souls in three or four years at most.”

“God loves the world, and so do priests.” She spoke each word slowly and deliberately, her expression serious. “Only a fanatic like Vice-Bishop Zhao would think of such ridiculous reasons as ‘collecting debts’.”

"What about Vice-Bishop Zhao?" Lin Wang asked.

"She's just... a mentally unstable old woman, who just happens to be part of our plan," Miaomiao said.

"What does she want to do?" Lin Wang asked.

“Why don’t you ask her yourself?” Miaomiao said. “She’s the one who’s going crazy. I’m just going along with it… collecting some experimental data.”

"Where is she?" Lin Wang asked.

"Anyway, it must be in this orphanage... After I turned into a child, my perception was much worse, so you'll have to find the exact room yourselves."

"Okay, thank you." Lin Wang nodded and stood up.

He collected the children's ghosts and took them to the tree fern tree—May was already waiting there; with that little girl's abilities, she would surely be able to take good care of these children.

As for whether it's 1000 mental arithmetic problems or 300 nursery rhymes... that's not something he should be considering.

After putting away the little ghosts, Lin Wang walked towards the door: "Thank you, until we meet again."

"Wait a minute," the little girl beside her suddenly spoke up.

"Ok?"

"Have you forgotten something?" The little girl still looked coldly at Lin Wang and A Zhe.

“…Uh, what is it? Do you need me to lift you off the table?” A-Zhe said.

"...That's one thing, but it's not the important thing! The important thing is something else!"

Her gaze slowly swept over the two of them: "Have you forgotten a very important question?"

"I'm the villain."

(End of this chapter)