CH 30

The old nun was already waiting for them inside and seeing them come in after such a long time, gave them another scolding. She took them to the room on the second floor and warned them not to make trouble at night or they would be kicked out.

When she was about to leave, Xu RenDong suddenly remembered something and asked, “Will there really be monsters at night? Will they eat people?” 

The old nun let out a hoarse laugh which sounded like a saw cutting a piece of moldy old wood. Listening to it made everyone’s ears feel uncomfortable: “Don’t disobedient children deserve to be punished?” She scanned the children one by one with those dead fish eyes, “Bad children are eaten and good children are left. Don’t you think it’s correct?”

Her words made everyone’s hearts tremble. The old nun was pleased to see that some of the newcomers were scared to death. She made that unpleasant chuckle again and walked away, still laughing.

The newcomers were immersed in fear, and the old players already began to think about the possible meaning of the nun’s words. It’s a pity that there were too few clues and it was really impossible to reason anything yet.

Xu RenDong and Lian Qiao went with the girl to the next bedroom. This bedroom was the same as the previous room and had several bunk beds for children. Obviously, these rooms have been unused for a long time and there was a musty smell in the air. It made people feel very uncomfortable. The sheets and quilts were also cold and hard.

Fortunately, the weather was not too cold at this time. Otherwise, if you sleep here for one night, you would most likely get sick.

This monastery was an old building of course there wasn’t any electrical lighting. There was only an old kerosene lamp inside the room. Xu RenDong had only seen this thing on TV and didn’t know how to work it. Lian Qiao was familiar with it, however, and lit a fire in one or two strokes. The small bedroom was finally brightened up.     

Now that they had light, the first thing to do was of course to search the room. This time they were lucky and they found a small school bag under the bed as well as some small toys such as skipping ropes and sandbags. All of the things were dirty and covered with a heavy layer of dust but Lian Qiao treated them like treasures. He put them in the small school bag and happily carried it on his shoulder. He looked like a schoolboy going out for a spring outing.     

Xu RenDong knew that he was suffering from hamster syndrome again {hoarding?} and was too lazy to complain about him. He only helped him pat the ashes off his schoolbag.

The search was now complete. The girl held the baby, chose a slightly cleaner bed and sat down. She sighed: “Goddamn, ​​I’m really exhausted. I was just in the middle of my C-section and suddenly ended up in this ghostly place? I’m so tired! That’s right, I haven’t introduced myself yet. My name is Ye QingLiu.”

Wait, what-?! In the middle of a C-section?! {Caesarean section.}

No wonder she was so obsessed with babies… but how come she was so sturdy right after giving birth? She did not even look afraid of falling into a world of ghosts and even dared to swear at old players. Is this what a newbie should look like?

Xu RenDong and Lian Qiao couldn’t help but glance at each other. This girl was amazing and definitely must be a talent in the world of newcomers.

The two also reported their names. Lian Qiao asked: “By the way, where did this baby come from? Did someone bring it out from the elevator?”

Ye QingLiu said, “I don’t think so. As soon as I came out, I saw this child lying at the gate of the monastery. He looked like an abandoned infant. The others ignored him so I picked him up.”

The words “abandoned infant” once again evoked the memories of Xu RenDong.

He was an orphan himself and grew up in an orphanage. According to the director of the orphanage, he was also abandoned at the entrance of the orphanage. At that time, he was just born, his umbilical cord was not cut off and he was covered in blood. It was still snowing that day and when he was found, he was completely purple. He almost didn’t survive that winter night.

How cruel did a mother have to be to abandon a newborn baby in the snow?

Lian Qiao suddenly said: “So after this cool teammate turned into a baby, how did he get out of the elevator? His swaddle was tightly wrapped so he couldn’t have climbed out himself. Could it be that the elevator can forcibly eject people?”

Xu RenDong came back to his senses and followed his thoughts: “Do you suspect that he is not a teammate but an NPC?”

Lian Qiao: “Not necessarily an NPC, he might be a prop.”

Xu RenDong said: ” ……” Your game anchors are really broad-minded.

When Ye QingLiu heard that the baby might just be a prop, she was immediately upset: “A goddamn prop!? What a waste of my motherly feelings!”

Xu RenDong soothed: “There’s nothing wrong with him being a prop. If he really was a  teammate then before shrinking, he might have been a middle-aged uncle. You’ve been holding him in your arms for so long, isn’t it embarrassing?”

Ye QingLiu: “…what you said makes sense.” Then she threw down the baby on the side of the bed and looked disgusted.

Xu RenDong helplessly: “You change your face too quickly. If it’s a baby, you hold it in your arms but if it’s an uncle, you throw it away? Do uncles have no human rights? How can you…”

Ye QingLiu interrupted him coldly: “Because I am a bitch with double standards.”

Xu RenDong was speechless.

Lian Qiao couldn’t help but admire her. No wonder this woman was admired by the big boss! She did everything cleanly and even dared to scold the big boss! Awesome!

Ye QingLiu stared at the two people for a while and didn’t show her thoughts. Then all of a sudden she took out her phone and took a selfie with them. Then she fell into contemplation while staring at the screen.

Xu RenDong and Lian Qiao were once again in shock. What both of them were thinking was: Sister QingLiu, you’re not drafting up a social media post right now are you? So you can go back and show off the world of ghosts and monsters to your friends and invite them to visit right?

While the two were admiring Ye QingLiu, she raised his head and glanced at them, and said in a depressed manner: “Everyone else just shrunk normally, how come you two got to use the beauty filter?”

Lian Qiao: “Huh?”

Xu RenDong was also confused.

Ye QingLiu pointed the phone at them, clicked and took a group photo of two of them. She said very stuffily, “Look for yourself.”

Xu RenDong and Lian Qiao leaned over. They saw two pink sculpture-like objects on the screen, one large and one small. The two boys looked like a pair of soft and cute little angels. Lian Qiao scratched his head, suddenly a little embarrassed and didn’t know what to say.

Xu RenDong stared at the photo for a while and was puzzled: “What’s the issue? This is what I looked like when I was a kid.”

Lian Qiao: “Uh, me too.”

Ye QingLiu: “…”

Xu RenDong glanced at her and asked kindly, “Did you not become what you looked like as a kid? You became uglier?”

Ye QingLiu felt like knives were getting stuck into her heart. She said angrily: “Okay, okay, it’s really irritating to know that you two are beautiful! Let’s not talk anymore! I want to sleep!”

Then she pulled the quilt, went to bed and fell asleep soundly.

Although Ye QingLiu disliked the baby, she still fulfilled her duties as a temporary mother and lay on the same bed with the baby in her arms. Xu RenDong and Lian Qiao each slept on their own small bed.

After turning off the lights, Xu RenDong tossed and turned on the bed. He was too hungry to sleep. It didn’t take long for him to hear the sound of gu-lu-gu-lu coming from near him as Lian Qiao’s stomach began to make noises. Xu RenDong couldn’t help but find it funny.

“Not asleep yet?” He said softly.

Although he and Lian Qiao were sleeping on two separate beds, their heads were facing the same direction. Therefore, as long as you speak in a low voice, the other party can hear you and will not wake up Ye QingLiu who was sleeping in the opposite direction.

Lian Qiao wailed and rubbed his stomach in distress: “I’m so hungry, I want to eat meat.”

Xu RenDong: “We should bring some food in next time.” If he brings his own food, he can adjust his diet and the tragedy for the first world with milk and bread that made him want to vomit won’t happen again.

Lian Qiao said: “Actually, I thought of this too. I prepared a big backpack full of snacks. But I didn’t expect this instance to be opened so soon and I didn’t bring my crowbar… It’s over, I’m so scared.”

Xu RenDong said comfortingly: “Look at our current body shape, even if you did bring a crowbar, it’s probably of little use.

Lian Qiao: “Well, that makes sense. I think this instance reduces our size to prevent us from taking on the monsters head on. In fact, there are also horror games of this type. You don’t use weapons or attacks, you can clear the game by solving puzzles and exploring. When you encounter monsters you can’t fight but can only run. The focus of this game is decryption and it wants to create a powerless atmosphere of horror. After all, if you can open WuShuang, it’s not scary to kill monsters at all. {See author’s notes at the end, reference to game Dynasty Warriors.}

Xu RenDong: “Isn’t this kind of game very difficult?”

Lian Qiao: “No. Because this kind of game usually has settings. For example, you run the fastest in the whole game. As long as you don’t get lost or fall into a trap, the monster will never catch up to you.”

Xu RenDong was silent for a moment: “Now I am three years old and you are five years old. Do you think we would run fast? “

Lian Qiao woke up from a dream: “…Fuck! That’s true!”

Xu RenDong was amused by his reaction of just realizing it now: “Don’t be afraid, let’s take it one step at a time. Go to bed early.”

Lian Qiao took a few deep breaths. Afterwards he still shuddered and confessed: “I’m sorry, I’m still afraid, I can’t sleep. I always feel like someone is outside…”

Xu RenDong helplessly: “Don’t think about it.”

Lian Qiao asked carefully: “Can I come over and sleep with you…?”

Xu RenDong reflected for a moment. Lian Qiao was so scared and frightened by himself. He had to take the responsibility so he shuffled around in his bed and said, “All right. “

Lian Qiao’s reaction was fast. He quickly rolled up the quilt and jumped onto his bed excitedly. The bed was not very strong and when he jumped up so forcefully, the bed board immediately made a creaking sound as if it wasn’t able to bear the weight and would collapse the next second.

Xu RenDong glanced at him speechlessly and Lian Qiao hissed inwardly. The two did not dare to move for a while and straightened their bodies for fear that the bed would collapse when they moved slightly.     

The bed creaked and groaned for a while, and Ye QingLiu’s sleepy voice came from the opposite side: “What’s that noise…”

Xu RenDong apologized to her: “I’m sorry, this bed is not very strong.”

Ye QingLiu mumbled in dissatisfaction: “You two, can’t you just bear it for one night? You’re such beasts….”

Xu RenDong: “…” Sister, what are you talking about? Why can’t I understand you?

Lian Qiao looked at the ceiling innocently, indicating that he didn’t understand as well.

Unexpectedly, this sound not only awakened Ye QingLiu but also awakened the baby beside her. He breathed in a few times then started to cry.

Ye QingLiu jumped up immediately: “What’s the matter, where’s the alarm?” The she noticed that the loud and harsh sound originated from the baby beside her. Her expression immediately calmed down, “Oh, it’s you, scared me to death. Come now.” She picked up the baby and coaxed it softly.

Although Ye QingLiu was a true tomboy, she had just become a mother after all. She treated the baby with patience and gentleness. However, no matter how she coaxed, the baby kept crying.

Xu RenDong and Lian Qiao carefully stepped down from the rickety wooden bed. Lian Qiao asked: “What’s the matter with him?”

Ye QingLiu: “I don’t know, I am also a mother for the first time. I have no experience. I think he’s probably hungry.”

Xu RenDong and Lian Qiao looked at Ye QingLiu very straightforwardly. Ye QingLiu immediately became angry: “What are you looking at! Do you expect a three-year-old Lolita to feed the baby? Do I look like I have milk?!”

Lian Qiao couldn’t help but glance at her very flat chest. Ye QingLiu noticed his gaze and became even more angry. She picked up a pillow and hit him in the face: “Hurry up and find milk powder!”     

Lian Qiao, who was only five years old at the moment, was hit face to face by such a big pillow. He fell stunned onto his butt on the ground. Xu RenDong didn’t know whether he should laugh or cry and helped him up. “Okay, we’re going to find the milk powder. Be careful by yourself.”     

Ye QingLiu shooed them away like flies.

The two people carried a kerosene lamp and walked into the corridor. The entire orphanage had antique lighting like candles and oil lamps. The range of light was extremely limited. At this time, the corridor was dark and the wooden floor boards made a creaking noise when they were stepped on which sounded quite piercing. Xu RenDong held the kerosene lamp high, illuminating the distance as much as possible.

Lian Qiao did not know when it was that he began to hug Xu RenDong’s arm as he warily gazed at their surroundings. This posture was very awkward. After all, the five-year-old Lian Qiao was half a head taller than the three-year-old so that Xu RenDong was almost carried away by him.

After bearing it for a while, Xu RenDong asked vaguely: “Would you like to hold the kerosene lamp?”

Lian Qiao: “Oh.” He took the oil lamp and held it high, holding Xu RenDong’s arm tightly with his other hand.

The kerosene lamp can only illuminate a small circle around them. Darkness was like two giant beasts with fangs, silently lurking before and behind them. It seemed that as long as they lowered their guard the slightest, the beast would pounce out at them and scare them.

Lian Qiao was so nervous that he was sweating all over and his back was chilly as if something terrible was stuck on it. He couldn’t help grasping Xu RenDong’s arm tightly. He only felt that the little boy’s arm was soft and tender and it was more comfortable to pinch it than usual. He immediately felt better.

Xu RenDong: “…” It hurts to be pinched.

Forget it, it’s not the first time that Lian Qiao has been cowardly. Just let him pinch.

Two children, one large and one small, were shrouded in a faint halo of light. Xu RenDong actually smelled a warm smell from the swaying shadow of the lamp.

Obviously the feeling of “warmth” should have no smell. He knew what he was smelling was just kerosene but he just couldn’t help feeling warm. Just like in the world of matryoshka dolls when Lian Qiao was squatting in front of the fireplace. He had lit a fire and said to him with his eyebrows curving: We are like a couple on vacation. At that time, the fire dancing on Lian Qiao’s face and the pine scent of wood in the air were all full of warmth.

It made people feel so attached.

***

The author has something to say:

Note 1: WuShuang: Refers to the “Dynasty Warriors” series, opening Wushuang is equivalent to zooming in. Due to the large difference in strength between generals and ordinary soldiers, even in non-hell difficulty, they can turn enemies into a pile of bones with a small hand movement, hence being called moving.

Note 2: I put a note here just to emphasize that Lian Qiao said at the time that “we seem to be on vacation” and did not mention “couple”. The word “couple” was actually used by RenDong but the boss hasn’t realized it yet. *Spreads hands*.