DA chapter 22

 

They were all veterans with experience at Fish Belly, so even if the soup they received was strange and grotesque, no one discussed it in front of Fishman.

The four newcomers had already been warned, so they did not dare say too much about the grotesque scene before them.

Judging only from the soup’s surface, there were too many questions needing answers, making it impossible to know where to start. According to the usual process, they first had to search the Welfare Institute to see if they could find any clues and avoid wasting Fishman’s question count.

However, the two people from the Management Office were still present, as if monitoring their every move. The veterans looked toward Deputy Director Chen and Yan Xu, waiting for the two from the Management Office to allow them to begin searching.

Yan Xu curled his lips into a smile. “Why are you all holding back? This isn’t kindergarten; you don’t need the teacher to arrange everything. As long as you don’t harm your teammates, anything else is fine. Oh, and remember to gather afterward and share what you found.”

After Yan Xu spoke, the veterans began searching the area.

The newcomers followed trembling behind them.

Everyone scattered. Seeing Yan Xu and Deputy Director Chen walking elsewhere, Xiao Yao caught up to Lin Jia and asked through clenched teeth, “What now? The boss can’t really be in trouble, can he? If something has happened to him, I’ll drag him down with me, even if I die.”

Lin Jia did not even raise his head: “He’s only bluffing us.”

Xiao Yao relaxed a little. “How do you know?”

Forget the others—Xiao Yao was now Lin Jia’s teammate, and an impatient teammate was not ideal. Lin Jia withdrew his gaze and fixed it on Xiao Yao’s face. He said, “A revolver has a total of six bullets. He has five left. The one fired was really aimed at Old Zhou.”

Xiao Yao’s heart instantly turned cold. Then, he heard Lin Jia continue. “Before entering Fish Belly, I spoke with Old Zhou on the phone. After the gunshot, Old Zhou was fine.”

Like a roller coaster, Xiao Yao’s heart slammed back into his chest. After calming down a bit, he asked, “You mean Yan Xu was bluffing us?”

Someone was already searching the front of the building. Lin Jia walked toward the left side of the building. The leaves rustled, making his voice sound cold. “If Yan Xu were sure that he entered Fish Belly because of us, he would have shot each of us with one bullet from his gun, and he would still have three left.”

Xiao Yao: “… ”

The cat had been on his shoulder the whole time, making it numb. Lin Jia took the cat down, threw it to the ground, looked at it, and corrected himself. “Two left.”

Xiao Yao looked at the cat. “Did he even shoot the cat?”

The cat’s chin trembled.

“Don’t discuss this again.” Lin Jia gave Xiao Yao a final warning. “I don’t like people who cause trouble.”

Xiao Yao followed Lin Jia’s gaze. In the distance, Yan Xu was looking toward them.

Xiao Yao nodded. “Fine.”

Xiao Yao had already looked around inside the building once. He told Lin Jia what he saw. “I didn’t have time to check every room; I only sampled a few. They were all normal rooms. I didn’t find anything unusual. Of course, maybe I overlooked something. On the right side of the building are the staff offices, including the director’s office and the archive room. The first floor on the left side is the cafeteria and the second floor is the public restroom. Most of the first and second floors at the front are living rooms. There were also a few classrooms, a dance room, and a library.”

Lin Jia asked: “Third floor?”

Xiao Yao said: “There are four stairways in the whole building: one on each left and right side and two in the front. But they’re all the same. Iron gates are installed at the entrance to the third floor. They’re locked. There’s no way to get in.”

Lin Jia stopped walking and looked up. He saw that others were working hard to explore the Yile Welfare Institute. But it was probably useless. A three-star cloud layer wouldn’t leave useful clues in obvious places.

Now, it seemed that the third floor might hold some clues.

Lin Jia walked into the shade to cool off. Inside Fish Belly, it was midsummer, and his outfit was not very suitable for the season. He took off his coat and neatly draped it over his arm.

He found the tree trunk that Yan Xu had leaned against earlier, made sure it was dust-free, and leaned against it.

The cat was by his feet, hot enough to stick out its tongue.

Cats don’t stick out their tongues because they’re hot, so Lin Jia kicked the cat.

Xiao Yao could not understand what Lin Jia meant. He followed him into the shade and asked, “Brother Jia, aren’t you going to check the third floor?”

Lin Jia said: “Someone will go.”

That person wouldn’t hide clues because of the Fish Spirits.

The locked third floor definitely hid clues—this was obvious just by looking.

However, the three-star Fish Belly made people feel like danger lurked everywhere. Seeing the conclusion was one thing, but daring to explore rashly was another matter entirely.

Yan Xu was most likely the only one who would go. He only needed to wait for the results of the exploration. After all, they weren’t in direct conflict with the people from the Management Office.

In summer, even morning was hot and restless.

While waiting for the results of the others’ search, Lin Jia went to the cafeteria.

The entire Yile Welfare Institute was empty, so the cafeteria was quiet. There was no cook, nor any prepared food. Fortunately, there was an automatic water dispenser with disposable paper cups beside it.

Lin Jia drank two cups of water and fed some to the cat.

Just as he was about to take a third cup, Yan Xu and Deputy Director Chen finally appeared.

Yan Xu leaned against the outer wall of the building and shouted, “Search time’s over—”

Yan Xu had said before that they would gather and exchange clues.

So, everyone gradually stopped searching and went toward Yan Xu and Deputy Director Chen.

“We… going too?” Xiao Yao asked Lin Jia.

Lin Jia: “Go listen.”

Seeing Lin Jia head to the gathering, the cat and Xiao Yao hurried after him.

Seeing that Lin Jia was gathering people, the cat and Xiao Yao quickly followed.

The crowd formed a circle around Yan Xu and Deputy Director Chen. Lin Jia was tall, so he stood on the outskirts of the circle. The cat tried to climb onto Lin Jia’s shoulder to get a better view, but Lin Jia pulled it down in one swift motion.

Lin Jia threw a kind look at this stupid thing, and the cat trembled, not daring to act recklessly. It could only crouch by Lin Jia’s feet, easily hidden by the crowd of legs.

“Say it. What did you find?” Yan Xu’s voice sounded from inside the circle.

“Didn’t see anything.”

“Everything looked normal.”

Everyone understood clearly that this was a three-star cloud layer rated by the Management Office, so important clues could not be easily found in obvious places.

The third floor was the only place that looked like it had clues, but the veterans did not go there, sharing the same thoughts as Lin Jia.

They shook their heads and said there was nothing unusual. Only the naive newcomers spoke up. One newcomer with a buzzcut shrank back and said, “Besides us, there’s no one else here, but… but many rooms show signs people lived there. Then… where did those people go? They didn’t die, did they?”

For newcomers, death was an extremely terrifying thing.

Almost every Fish Belly had newcomers asking this kind of question. Veterans were too lazy to explain it to them because the death rate of newcomers was high.

Only Deputy Director Chen spoke up. “It’s not ‘Where did those people go?’ It’s that they have not yet materialized.”

The newcomers froze for a moment, then asked all at once.

“Then are they dead?”

“Does that mean we need to ask questions to summon them so we can get clues to find Soup Base?”

“Does that mean we have to summon… the bad girl?”

Everyone fell silent.

They didn’t want to admit it, but if there were no other clues, then summoning the bad girl was the only option.

“What’s there to fear?” Yan Xu’s voice sounded again. “NPCs that materialize later are not as troublesome as those that exist from the start.”

He said this lightly, as if materializing dead people did not matter at all.

Lin Jia raised his eyes and looked at Yan Xu.

He did not know that Fish Belly could also have NPCs that existed from the beginning. The veterans also looked slightly confused.

Xiao Yao lowered his voice beside Lin Jia. “I heard the high-star cloud layers have NPCs from the beginning.”

Someone caught the meaning in Yan Xu’s words and asked, “Captain Yan, are you planning to… directly materialize the bad girl from the Soup Surface?”

Yan Xu smiled: “I didn’t say that.”

Lin Jia silently nudged Xiao Yao beside him with his elbow. Xiao Yao turned his head and looked at Lin Jia.

Lin Jia gave him a look.

A moment later, Xiao Yao loudly asked, “How does Captain Yan plan to ask?”

Lin Jia lowered his eyes.

Xiao Yao was useful enough.

Everyone cared about this, so all eyes fixed on Yan Xu. Yan Xu said, “This is a Welfare Institute, so first, get some information about it and see.”

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone let out a breath of relief.

They were truly afraid that Yan Xu would materialize the bad girl. Directly summoning the big boss while knowing nothing sounded terrifying.

Xiao Yao quietly asked Lin Jia: “Brother Jia, what do you think?”

Lin Jia gave a faint response.

It was fine to ask that way. When you can’t find clues, create them. But it seemed that Yan Xu had not found anything useful on the third floor either.

The third floor was empty yet locked—the sense of strangeness grew stronger.

Yan Xu took the lead toward Fishman. Seeing that he was going to ask Fishman, everyone hurriedly followed.

Lin Jia and Xiao Yao walked last. This was a new group, and Lin Jia remained behind the crowd, observing calmly. Xiao Yao had wanted to move closer to take a look, but when he saw Lin Jia stop, he did the same. The cat squatted obediently by Lin Jia’s feet.

The crowd surrounded Fishman, so his expression could not be seen, but at least his voice could be heard.

Yan Xu’s voice.

“Does the Welfare Institute have any records?”

Xiao Yao let out a breath and said, “I was worried that Mad Dog would cause trouble by entering Fish Belly. After all, he likes stirring things up the most.”

Lin Jia: “Don’t talk.”

He wanted to hear the Fishman’s answer.

Inside the encirclement, the Fishman answered, “Yes.”

This answer caused another wave of relieved breaths around them. It was as if a thread of light had pierced through layers of fog, allowing people to find a path forward.

Since Yan Xu had asked in that manner, the next step was naturally to look for the concrete records and see if they contained any clues about Soup Base.

However, with Yan Xu and Deputy Chen, the two people from the Management Office, it felt like prison guards supervising prisoners. Everyone else always felt restrained around them.

“Captain Yan.” Someone called to Yan Xu, who was just about to ask what to do next.

Yan Xu interrupted as if he had expected it: “Look for records.”

He warned in a low voice, “Don’t ask questions in front of the Fishman.”

Instantly, cold sweat broke out on that person’s forehead, and he quickly covered his mouth tightly with both hands. His companion belatedly realized the danger and scolded him.

Yan Xu probably felt that this person deserved the scolding because he stood to one side, listening to the fun.

Deputy Chen called Yan Xu.

Yan Xu responded lazily, “Coming.”

Lin Jia had no interest in the commotion. He turned and headed toward the right side of the building, Xiao Yao and the cat following quickly behind.

“Which floor is the archive room on?” Lin Jia asked.

Xiao Yao said, “Second floor.”

Yan Xu had asked about “records,” and the archive room was the place most likely to contain them.

Although the groups inside Fish Belly were divided this time, storing the records in the archive room made sense, so almost everyone headed in the same direction.

The archive room door was locked. Before Lin Jia could get close, he saw Yan Xu fiddling with the lock.

With a soft click, Yan Xu pushed the door open and went in first.

Lin Jia did not like squeezing through the door with others, so he waited for everyone else to enter before slowly walking in.

By the time he entered, those who had went in first had already started looking for records.

The archive room was quiet; everyone was flipping through materials.

Lin Jia walked among them. There wasn’t much in the archive room, and the room itself was small. He felt there was no need to search personally, so he only swept his gaze around.

“There are construction records for the orphanage here.”

Someone found a document and read it aloud. It was the construction history of Yile Orphanage, simply recording the year, month, and day without any additional information.

Useless records.

Others continued searching. Someone found staff information for the orphanage. Yile Orphanage had one director and several teachers.

“What about student records?” Deputy Chen asked.

The person who found the staff information shook his head. “Only this…”

“Here, here.” Someone called out, holding up the student records they had found.

“Check if there’s anything abnormal.” Deputy Chen took them over immediately and handed them to Yan Xu.

Yan Xu flipped through the records.

The others stopped and stared at him, waiting for the results of his review.

Lin Jia looked at the records in Yan Xu’s hand. Typically, personnel records meant one page represented one person. Judging by the thickness of the records, there were quite a lot of children at Yile Orphanage—in fact, a lot.

With the increase in the number of people, finding the “bad girl” would not be so easy.

Lin Jia was the first to look away. While the others waited for results, he slowly searched for other materials.

He walked to a neglected corner where there was a discarded desk and chair. They weren’t the kind of desks and chairs used by students in class; they were more like office furniture.

Lin Jia walked over. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that visible dust had accumulated on the desk and chair.

Lin Jia turned around. Xiao Yao noticed Lin Jia’s gaze and hurried over. “What is it, Brother Jia?”

Lin Jia: “Open it and see.”

The office desk had two drawers.

Xiao Yao’s heart tightened and he hesitated. “Is there something…”

He was the type to let others check for mistakes, so he naturally assumed that Lin Jia had found something unusual and wanted him to check it.

Lin Jia: “Dirty.”

Xiao Yao: “…”

Cat: “…”

Fine. Xiao Yao obediently pulled open the drawer. It had not been opened in a long time, so it was not smooth and produced clanking noises that drew others’ attention toward them.

Xiao Yao used brute force to pull out the left drawer. It was empty, except for thick accumulated dust.

The others turned back and continued waiting for Yan Xu’s result.

Lin Jia signaled to Xiao Yao to open the second drawer. Xiao Yao moved his wrist and used his uninjured hand to pull out the second drawer.

Thinking that the second drawer would also require force, Xiao Yao pulled hard from the start.

However, the drawer came out easily with one pull.

This drawer was frequently used.

Lin Jia lowered his gaze and looked inside. There were many envelopes inside.

Since there was no dust, Lin Jia reached in and took out the envelopes himself.

“Addressed to, Ghost Research Society.”

“Addressed to, Paranormal Research Society.”

“Addressed to, Paranormal Club.”

“Addressed to, Strange Events Investigation Bureau.”

“Addressed to…”

Almost every envelope was like this, the destinations all linked to words related to paranormal or similar meanings.

Xiao Yao froze. “This…”

Lin Jia opened an envelope. There was no letter inside. It seemed this desk was specifically designed for storing letters and envelopes.

Yan Xu’s attention was attracted to their side, and since he was under many people’s gaze, when he looked over, everyone else naturally looked over too.

Seeing Lin Jia, Yan Xu raised his brow and asked, “What did you find?”

Lin Jia held up the envelope in answer to Yan Xu’s question.

There were many envelopes. On average, each of the 13 people who entered Fish Belly could get several envelopes. They also quickly noticed something was wrong with the destinations: “Were these letters really mailed out, or were they just written for fun?”

If they were just for fun, that would be fine. But if they had really been mailed, then…

Xiao Yao said, “Blind? Can’t you see the postmark?”

The person’s face turned pale.

The postmark proved that the letters had truly been mailed to these addresses and were not written for fun.

But, clearly, either because the addresses were written too vaguely, or because the addresses themselves were questionable, the letters failed to be delivered and were returned.

Whether or not these destinations existed, mailing letters to them alone was enough to make people imagine things.

Why send letters to places representing the paranormal for no reason at all?

Were they ordinary greetings or invitations to events?

But this was a Welfare Institute—what kind of event would require inviting paranormal places?

“Could these places have donated money to the Welfare Institute? So the letters sent out were thank-you letters?” someone guessed.

Xiao Yao said, “If these places had donated, the Welfare Institute would know their exact addresses, and the letters would never have been returned.”

Everyone fell silent at once. They had guessed something, and their expressions turned ugly. Some timid people turned pale immediately.

The atmosphere in the archive room suddenly became tense. The veterans held the letters in their hands and looked at each other. Several newcomers still did not understand. One girl could not bear the tension and nervously asked, “Wh… what’s wrong with these letters?”

Xiao Yao repeated the girl’s question. “What’s wrong with these letters?”

He sneered. “The Welfare Institute sent letters to these paranormal places, not because they donated money and not to invite them to participate in the adoption activities. Then why did the Welfare Institute send letters to these places?”

The girl followed Xiao Yao’s line of thinking. He had explained everything very clearly. She only needed to think about it for a moment, and the answer suddenly became clear.

“The Welfare Institute…” The girl widened her eyes in terror. Looking at the others, she finally understood why the veterans were tense and why the archive room had fallen silent.

Normally, it was impossible for a Welfare Institute to have connections with these paranormal places, unless…

There was a ghost in the Welfare Institute.

These were distress letters that the Welfare Institute had been forced to send to these places.

 

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