The doll!
This is the doll that was thrown on the floor in the activity room earlier!
How did it end up here?
Xin Meng’s heart raced wildly as she pulled You Yi back into the principal’s office, staring incredulously at the object.
“Was it there when we came in just now?” Although the possibility was slim, Xin Meng still wanted to confirm whether she had missed it.
“No,” You Yi bluntly stated the fact, “Absolutely not.”
A chilling sensation crawled up Xin Meng’s spine, and she felt a bit anxious. “Then how did it get here? Could it be that someone was following us and threw it at the door?”
You Yi remained silent, taking a few steps forward. He gently kicked the doll with his toe, causing it to flip over, revealing an even dirtier back.
It looked like there was nothing strange about it; it had simply been placed there by someone.
But who?
If it was one of those ten or so kids dressed as “ghosts,” they would have come in directly to catch them, with no need for such unnecessary actions. It couldn’t be one of their teammates, so who could it be?
“We can’t stay here any longer; we need to leave,” You Yi said, pulling Xin Meng as they headed toward the staircase. “We can’t get trapped here!”
However, it was already too late.
Just as they were about to reach the stairs leading down, they found a person standing there.
A little girl, about four or five years old, wearing a red dress, with long black hair cascading down her back and cute bangs. At first glance, she resembled a smaller version of Qi Xiaokui.
However, when she opened her mouth and smiled at them, the row of sharp, sinister black teeth against her crimson gums looked like a demon from hell!
It was the little girl in the red dress that Xin Meng had seen at the beginning!
“Nana… found you!”
The little girl let out a cheerful and melodious laugh that was completely at odds with her terrifying appearance. Suddenly, she floated up like a light, fluffy doll and swiftly flew toward Xin Meng and You Yi!
Xin Meng was startled and immediately dodged to the side, while You Yi, in perfect sync, raised a foot and kicked the little girl hard. The girl was sent crashing to the ground by the immense force!
“Ahhh—” A sharp, piercing scream rang out. At first, Xin Meng thought the little girl was hurt from the kick, but when the girl quickly got back up and shrieked as she lunged at them again, he realized it was nothing but the roar of a demon!
You Yi kicked the little girl away again, even taking the initiative to step forward and stab her in the legs with a dagger. However, no blood flowed as he had expected, and the little girl’s movements were unaffected. You Yi almost got bitten!
Fortunately, he reacted quickly, thinking of something, and immediately twisted his arm, aiming the blade at her throat and slashing down with force. Indeed, no blood flowed, and the wound healed almost instantly.
“Not human, can’t be killed, run!” You Yi decisively shouted, flipping over and jumping up to kick the little girl away again, grabbing Xin Meng and running downstairs!
They quickly reached the next level, intending to continue downward, but unexpectedly, there was a little boy standing at the entrance to the next staircase!
The two children lunged at them with red eyes like wolves smelling meat!
Caught in a pincer attack, they had no choice but to turn and run down the left corridor of this level!
The corridor had no windows, only wooden doors, all of which were closed, making the hallway very dim. As they ran forward, they fought against the ghost children chasing them from behind. No matter what they tried, they couldn’t kill their pursuers; they could only find opportunities to kick them away. But the ghost children showed no signs of fatigue, flying back up from the ground in less than a second, completely defying logic, like real ghosts.
They could only try to create distance to avoid the attacks.
You Yi and Xin Meng had not been injured yet, but the situation was clearly dire. This corridor had an end, like a dead end; if they got trapped inside, it would only be a matter of time before they were caught!
Fortunately, Xin Meng had improved significantly in stamina due to the system’s enhancement. If it had been at the beginning of the game, he would have been bitten to death or become a burden to You Yi. Now, he could barely cope, but he had no energy to worry about anything else.
You Yi had even more to do. He had to continuously draw the relatively stronger little girl toward himself while keeping an eye on Xin Meng’s situation and observing their surroundings.
When they reached a security door, You Yi kicked it with great force, sending the little girl flying five or six meters away!
Then he kicked the little boy who was entangled with Xin Meng away, grabbed Xin Meng, and rushed into the security room, quickly shutting the door behind them!
“Bang!”
“Thud!”
Two muffled sounds almost rang out simultaneously, followed by violent vibrations. They were just a hair’s breadth away from being caught by the two ghost children!
“Ahhh—” Through the door, they could still hear the little girl’s piercing wail.
You Yi turned and locked the security door from the inside, letting the two children crash against it. The door was of decent quality, temporarily keeping them out.
“Ha, ha…” After the tension, Xin Meng felt his legs weaken. He didn’t dare lean against the door, so he simply leaned against You Yi, glancing around the room.
This should be the kindergarten’s finance office. In the corner opposite them was a half-height safe, and the door of the safe was open, revealing it to be empty inside. On the left side of the room were an office desk and chair, cluttered with many reports and documents. The other half of the room had a row of about five or six filing cabinets against the wall, identical to those in the principal’s office.
“What do we do now? They can’t be killed!” Xin Meng panted, “If all these kids look like this, there’s no way to complete the exit conditions. We’re doomed!”
“That’s why it’s impossible,” You Yi replied, “There must be a way. Think harder.”
Xin Meng’s brain raced. “In this round, we are the ‘humans’ who need to hide, while the others are the ‘ghosts’ who catch us… Could it be that in this round, humans can’t kill ghosts, only escape?”
“That’s possible.” You Yi nodded.
“What if we were the ‘ghosts’? Could the others kill us?” Xin Meng’s thoughts began to wander further.
“According to the game’s rules, they probably can’t either.” You Yi, who understood the game well, often spoke with great accuracy.
“Then as long as we can hold out until nightfall, and eliminate more enemies while being ‘ghosts,’ our chances of surviving tomorrow during the day will be much greater!” Xin Meng thought of this and immediately became excited. “This must be the ‘way out’ the game has left for us!”
“Bang!” “Bang!”
However, the loud, continuous banging from outside reminded them that the danger was not over, and their joy was premature.
Moreover, it seemed that the noise had attracted even more children!
The banging grew louder and more frequent, and the clear, childish voices outside became a chaotic chorus. Xin Meng could roughly identify three or four different children’s voices.
“More and more of them!” Xin Meng became anxious, staring intently at the security door, but was horrified to see white dust starting to fall from the door frame, and the door itself showed signs of loosening!
“What do we do? If they all rush in, we’re finished!” Xin Meng said anxiously.
In fact, more than fearing for his own life, Xin Meng was more afraid of dragging You Yi down. He had witnessed everything that happened between Luo Yingying and Li Wenjun, and although he had comforted Luo Yingying, he couldn’t help but secretly apply that situation to himself and You Yi. Just imagining it caused him unbearable pain.
If they found themselves in the same situation, he would definitely feel like Luo Yingying, wishing he could die quickly to avoid dragging the other down.
You Yi glanced around the environment, his gaze lingering for a second on the safe that could only fit one person and the window. Soon, he asked Xin Meng, “The rope from the last game, give it to me.”
Xin Meng was taken aback, then realized what he meant. After clearing the last game, the exit was at the trunk of the tree where the little black man was hanging. When he carried Qi Xiaokui inside, he had passed by the hanging little black man and accidentally glanced at the rope. Due to a sudden thought, he had taken the rope into his inventory without thinking, while the little black man fell to the ground.
—Afterward, he had even felt fortunate that he had taken the rope on a whim, and thankfully, the little black man hadn’t been taken along.
Now that You Yi wanted it, Xin Meng took it out and handed it to him.
Unexpectedly, You Yi’s next move was to push him toward the safe. “You hide in there and don’t make a sound.”
“What?” Xin Meng was unwilling and immediately twisted his body, breaking free from his grip. “You want me to hide in there by myself?! What about you?”
“I’ll break the glass and use the rope to go down from the outside, drawing them away,” You Yi said. “I’ll drop down to the open space outside, and if they go down to look for me, it will take them some time. You hide in the safe, and when they leave to find me, you can come out, and we can shake them off.”
What he said was reasonable; this was indeed the best plan. By doing this, both of them could escape from the ghost children. Although they would be temporarily separated, as long as night fell, they could still find each other. This was nothing compared to being trapped in such a deadly encirclement.
However, Xin Meng felt an unusual sense of foreboding in his heart, making it impossible for him to accept this decision!
“No, I want to act with you!” he immediately said.
In fact, he knew that his request was quite unreasonable and could bring unpredictable danger to both of them. This was completely unlike his usual style, but while he rationally told himself this, emotionally, he was unwilling to accept it.
It felt as if he had a premonition that once the other person left, they would never return.
