DA chapter 23

 

Judging only from the envelopes, there was still not enough evidence to conclude that there was a ghost in the Welfare Institute.

However, Yan Xu had only asked the Fishman one question, and there were still two more that could verify the hypothesis.

But if they asked the Fishman to verify the inference, it was very likely they would cause the ghost to materialize.

They still knew too little. If they materialized the ghost on the first day, it would only become harder afterward.

Deputy Director Chen looked at the crowd of people who wanted to speak but stopped themselves. “The Management Office has never practiced one-man rule. If you have something to say, just say it. If you have any ideas, we can discuss them together. This is not Underwater Wold; there is no need to obey the Management Office in everything.”

After Deputy Director Chen spoke, an old hand—probably a team leader—around 40 years old, spoke up. Xiao Yao had introduced this person to Lin Jia before. His nickname was Zhang Tudou, and his team had conflicts with Sharp Knife team.

Zhang Tudou guessed that there might be a ghost in the Yile Welfare Institute. “If there really is a ghost in the Welfare Institute and the Soup Surface says, ‘She is a bad girl; she cannot sleep,’ could this ‘bad girl’ be the ghost in the Yile Welfare Institute?”

He added, “After all, the Soup Surface didn’t say the bad girl is still alive. It only said the bad girl cannot sleep. How can a ghost sleep? If the bad girl is the ghost, wouldn’t asking directly about her cause the big boss to materialize? I think we should wait a bit longer and find some other clues before deciding whether to materialize the bad girl.”

Although Xiao Yao disliked Zhang Tudou, his thoughts happened to match Zhang Tudou’s, and many people present basically thought the same way.

There was only a “bad girl” in the soup. Obviously, “bad girl” was the key to the Soup Base, and the key also implied difficulty. Asking the Fishman if there was a ghost in the Welfare Institute and materializing the big boss early would only increase the difficulty of finding the Soup Base.

After Zhang Tudou finished speaking, he looked at Yan Xu, who remained silent. Taking this as approval, Zhang Tudou continued: “Why don’t we start from another angle and verify it indirectly?”

A newcomer asked hesitantly, “How… how do we verify it indirectly?”

Zhang Tudou glanced at the newcomer but didn’t want to explain. He continued analyzing, “Although the Soup Surface only mentioned the ‘bad girl,’ this is a Welfare Institute. If there is a ghost here, then the Soup Base may be related to what the bad girl experienced here.”

If they asked the Fishman about what the bad girl experienced in the Welfare Institute and received a positive response, it could indirectly verify that the bad girl was the ghost of the Welfare Institute.

Someone in Zhang Tudou’s team lowered his head and thought for a moment. “Experienced… could it be abuse?”

Cases of Welfare Institutes abusing children were not some fresh news.

Zhang Tudou said, “We can ask that.”

After speaking, he looked at the others. “What do you think?”

The other veterans had no objection, but the newcomers were still confused. Yan Xu laughed and explained, “Ask the Fishman if the Welfare Institute engages in abusive behavior. If he answers yes, wouldn’t that indirectly verify that the bad girl had a negative experience? Together with these envelopes, wouldn’t that show that she was abused to death and turned into a ghost who forced the Welfare Institute to seek outside help?”

The newcomer suddenly understood. “Thank you, Captain Yan.”

Compared to others, Yan Xu’s flamboyant unruliness was obvious, yet Yan Xu was unexpectedly the only person present willing to explain things to a newcomer.

Zhang Tudou said: “Since Captain Yan says so, the next Fishman question will be whether the Welfare Institute exhibits abusive behavior.”

He swept his gaze over the crowd, and basically no one objected.

Except… Lin Jia.

Lin Jia did not say anything; he just continued flipping through materials and did not participate in the discussion. This made Zhang Tudou somewhat unhappy. He already had a grudge against Sharp Knife, and since Lin Jia and Xiao Yao were always together, Zhang Tudou naturally regarded Lin Jia as one of them.

He asked, dissatisfied: “Do you have any more questions?”

Lin Jia looked at Zhang Tudou. Under Lin Jia’s stare, Zhang Tudou felt a little flustered and quickly invoked the authority of the two managers: “Captain Yan and Deputy Director Chen both said that if you have questions, you should ask them directly and discuss them together.”

“No,” Lin Jia said.

“Then why are you standing there?” Zhang Tudou said, “Go ask the Fishman.”

The group surged into the archive room like a tide and left like the tide receding.

Xiao Yao walked to Lin Jia’s side and said, “Brother Jia.”

After all, he had gone through one Fish Belly with Lin Jia and seen his performance with his own eyes. So, he asked uneasily, “Do you have other thoughts?”

“No.” Lin Jia truly had no thoughts.

“Then just now…” Xiao Yao paused. “What were you doing?”

Lin Jia said lightly, “Looking for a connection.”

Xiao Yao: “What connection?”

Lin Jia didn’t stop walking as he followed the crowd toward the Fishman. “Even if the Welfare Institute exhibits abusive behavior and has a ghost, why must the abused victim and the main character, who turns into a ghost to seek revenge, necessarily be the ‘bad girl’?”

Lin Jia’s questioning was exactly like that of a superior who holds the answer yet still questions subordinates. Xiao Yao froze for a moment and said, “Because the Soup Surface…”

Halfway through speaking, Xiao Yao fell silent.

What connection was there? Just because the bad girl appeared in the Soup Surface?

The Fishman’s answer could not verify anything. That was just a preconceived idea of everyone’s, and it was very likely to deviate from the correct Soup Base.

Xiao Yao lowered his voice and said, “Brother Jia, you think the ghost has nothing to do with the bad girl.”

“I didn’t say that.”

By the time they finished speaking, they had already arrived at the Fishman. Lin Jia did not continue talking with Xiao Yao. In fact, he had no objection to Zhang Tudou’s analysis. When there were no other ideas, Zhang Tudou’s approach was not wrong. He just disliked making mistakes, and disliked even more going down the wrong path because of mistakes.

The Fishman stood under the shade of the tree; its shadow cut a clear dividing line of light and shadow across its body.

It grinned at the crowd, waiting for them to ask questions.

This was the second question of the day, a safe one. Zhang Tudou boldly asked: “Does the Welfare Institute allow abusive behavior?”

This question avoided materialization by not adding a subject.

This made the Fishman very displeased, its expression gloomy: “No.”

“No…”

Zhang Tudou froze, and the others almost all froze as well.

They had all gone to ask with an answer in mind, needing only the Fishman’s confirmation. But they unexpectedly received a negative answer, which was completely beyond their expectations.

Their train of thought was suddenly interrupted. Everyone stood there blankly for a moment, not knowing what to do. If there was no abuse in the Welfare Institute, then what about the ghost?

Was there really a ghost?

But they couldn’t ask that question casually. If there wasn’t a ghost and they accidentally created one, the loss would outweigh the gain.

Xiao Yao’s face darkened. “As expected of a three-star Cloud, it really isn’t that simple.”

Lin Jia turned to leave. Xiao Yao guessed that Lin Jia was going to look for new clues when Yan Xu’s voice sounded.

He asked the last safe question of the day: “Were these help letters written by the director?”

Lin Jia stopped, and Xiao Yao stopped as well.

Everyone gasped at the unexpected question. The Welfare Institute was suspected of having a ghost, and the director of the institute had materialized—just thinking about it, it was also an NPC that was difficult to deal with.

Xiao Yao clicked his tongue.

If it were anyone else asking, Xiao Yao would definitely teach them a lesson for asking a question without authorization. But this person was Yan Xu.

He also had a revolver.

Xiao Yao, who bullies the weak and fears the strong, remained silent.

Almost every veteran’s face was full of disapproval, while the newcomers were terrified. Only Deputy Director Chen and Lin Jia remained calm, waiting for the Fishman’s answer.

The Fishman said: “Yes.”

Lin Jia watched from afar. Yan Xu seemed to still want to ask something, but he only shrugged after being scolded by Deputy Director Chen.

Since the three questions were over, everyone moved away from the Fishman so their conversation wouldn’t accidentally become questions answered by the Fishman.

Because the sun was strong outside, everyone went to the first-floor hall at the front of the building to wait for the director.

Lin Jia always fell behind the crowd, so Xiao Yao stayed behind as well, muttering, “What else did Yan Xu want to ask?”

Xiao Yao had obviously also seen the moment when Yan Xu had wanted to ask another question.

Lin Jia said lightly, “Is the director’s mind normal?”

Xiao Yao slapped his forehead. “Right.”

All of their guesses had to be based on the assumption that the director was mentally normal. However, today’s safe question count had already been used up; no one would risk their life to ask one more question.

So, would the director who was about to materialize appear mentally normal?

Xiao Yao felt uneasy, always feeling that the director about to arrive would not make things easy for them.

The sun was scorching and the ground was hot and dry. The cat could not bear it and ran into the hall. Everyone in the hall was waiting for the director. When the cat entered, everyone looked toward it.

Guilty, the cat did not dare go any deeper. It stared eagerly, waiting for Lin Jia to come.

After waiting for a long time, Lin Jia finally came. Suddenly, “Thump, thump, thump” sounded from the ceiling.

The cat was so frightened that it immediately ran to Lin Jia’s feet. Everyone’s expressions became grave. Xiao Yao looked at Lin Jia, then raised his head to look at the ceiling.

He had one thought: whether or not the director was mentally ill, it was fatal for everyone.

If the director was mentally ill, then the danger everyone would face was obvious.

If the director was not mentally ill, then the letters truly showed that there was a ghost in the Welfare Institute.

Xiao Yao cursed under his breath, blaming Yan Xu for materializing the director.

But completely forgot that materializing the director was an inevitable result.

Thump, thump, thump.

The sound from upstairs grew fainter and fainter and finally stopped.

Just when everyone became suspicious of why the sound had disappeared, thump, thump, thump…

The sound rang out in front of everyone.

Along with it came a stern scolding: “What are you all doing here!”

Everyone followed the sound and looked around. A middle-aged woman, about fifty years old, appeared before them. One of her legs was disabled, and she leaned on a cane. The “thump, thump” sound was made by the cane striking the ground.

Although she had a stern face, her features were proper; she didn’t try to show force through appearance alone.

No one immediately answered the director. NPCs in Fish Belly were dangerous, and rashly replying might trigger the conditions that would cause an NPC to attack.

They weighed the director’s words repeatedly, trying to eliminate all dangerous factors before answering.

However, the director gave them no time. She waved her cane forcefully, and when it struck the ground, there was another loud noise.

She looked angry and glared at everyone. “It will soon be Adoption Day. Have you prepared your songs? Quickly go back to your room. I’ll inspect in a while. Sing for me to hear.”

Everyone was obviously stunned. Lin Jia frowned slightly. Just as he was about to speak, Yan Xu asked first, “What song should we sing?”

The director looked at Yan Xu. “Sing a song. If you sing badly, you’ll just have to wait for your punishment.”

 

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Acargoreng:

Hello everyone! 💖

I’ve changed the update schedule for this novel. From now on, chapters will be updated three times a week: Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday ✨

Thanks for reading! 💕

You can read the full completed story here with instant full access. ✨