CHAPTER 1620: CHAPTER 1620: ORPHANAGE IN THE RAIN

He Ao stopped at this number plate and looked at its position.

The wall shared by the shops on both sides now revealed a narrow, deep alley leading to an unknown destination.

The trigger was successful.

It seems the entry rule isn’t ’limited’ to torrential rain, as any rain will do, but torrential rain greatly increases the probability of triggering, and Vestara’s Spear compensates for this.

He Ao turned his gaze to the other side of the alley entrance.

There, a simple sketch was pasted.

The content of the painting depicted ’a child opening a door, seeing the parents standing in front of it’.

This painting wasn’t well-crafted, the characters simplistic, showing the artist didn’t have much talent in art.

The main colors of the painting were gray and black, making it somewhat oppressive.

He Ao lowered his head and looked at the lower right corner of the painting, where the edges were already scorched, with embers faintly visible.

The rain in the sky was getting heavier.

He Ao withdrew his gaze, carried an umbrella, and walked into the narrow alley.

The rain curtain ahead gradually merged into a mist, completely swallowing his silhouette.

Dense raindrops splattered on the umbrella, flowing down along its edges, forming a blurry water curtain.

The rain curtain and dense fog ahead gradually thinned, and He Ao’s boots stepped over the uneven old ground, accompanied by the faint splash of water from the shoe edges, as an old double door standing in the mist slowly emerged in the rain.

The door opened slightly, revealing dim and silent darkness behind it, with the faint outline of a small building visible.

An old iron chain hung on this iron door, creaking in the fluctuating wind.

He Ao glanced back, everything behind him was already obscured by the torrential rain and fog, with only the faint, vague city lights visible, flickering like the dying glow of fireflies in the mist.

He retracted his gaze, slowly moved forward, toward the door in front of him.

The misty building gradually became clear as he approached, the windows among the buildings also faintly lit up, gradually brightening.

As he passed through the gap of the door, the surrounding rain curtain faded at this moment.

An old, flickering-with-lights low building appeared in his field of view.

In front of the low building was an open space with a slide, swings, and a series of children’s outdoor facilities.

Torrential raindrops poured over these things, streaming down the slides, steel pipes, slopes, and nets.

He Ao quietly gazed at it all, everything was the same as Loren’s memory.

It was as if he had returned to six years ago, when Loren left at that time.

Click—

A slight sound came from behind him.

He turned around and looked at the iron door behind him.

The door, once open, was now tightly closed, with the chain hanging on it, wrapped around the door, and a large iron lock fastened on it, locking the whole iron door.

He Ao turned back, raised his hand, and picked up the iron lock hanging on the door.

This lock had no keyhole, seemingly cast as one piece.

Then He Ao’s gaze slowly shifted downward to his hand gripping the lock.

The hand was slender, with prominent knuckles, much smaller than his original broad hand.

The door lock also seemed to have grown higher.

He Ao lowered his head and looked at the water gathered on the ground.

A faint glow shone on the ground, reflecting his silhouette.

It was a slim and frail figure holding an umbrella, with slightly thin cheeks, wearing a loose-fitting jacket, carrying a long gun on the back, his gaze deep and dim.

That was Loren’s appearance, six years ago, when Loren left this orphanage.

He lifted his head and glanced at the umbrella above him.

His height had shrunk by nearly fifty centimeters.

The umbrella, clothes, and Vestara’s Spear on his back had all proportionally shrunk.

Of course, the greatest reduction was in his waistline and physique, the muscles Loren had built over six years had all vanished.

He had reverted to the skinny, reclusive boy from six years ago.

Physical fitness: 256

He Ao glanced at his personal attribute panel, finding his physical fitness unchanged, but his strength release was restricted by some inexplicable negative state, limiting him to just sixty to seventy percent of his original strength.

"Hey kid, what are you doing standing there?"

Just then, a shout sounded from He Ao’s left.

He Ao turned his head and looked toward the source of the sound.

There was a simple security booth, with the door now open, and a ’silhouette’ in a blue security uniform stood at the door.

The security uniform was a normal, if slightly old, uniform, but the figure inside wasn’t a person, but a gray-black ’ash’ supported by an invisible force.

The ash filled the uniform, revealing only a vague outline of a hand and head, constructed of the ash.

Two points of light, like sparks, floated above the ash head, like eerie glowing eyes in the night, gazing at the figure in the rain.

Seeing He Ao not responding, the figure directed a flashlight at He Ao, the ash-constructed head quivering slightly, emitting a voice that seemed to come from a middle-aged man, slightly angry, "I’m talking to you, kid, what are you doing standing there?"

As he spoke, he was already holding the flashlight, quickly approaching He Ao.

The keys at his waist clinked as he moved.

"It’s okay, uncle, he’s just out playing." At that moment, a hand grabbed He Ao’s hand, pulling him towards the inside of the orphanage.

Thud—

The long gun, which wasn’t properly secured due to the size change, fell to the ground, dragging across it with a dull sound.

He Ao immediately grasped the long gun in reverse and quickly followed the person pulling him.

The security in the mist shone the flashlight on their backs, watching them run away, then put away the flashlight and returned to the security booth.

——

The pattering raindrops continued to fall, the surrounding weather shrouded in a mist.

Reid walked down the chilly street with an umbrella.

He looked at the road ahead, where He Ao across from him had disappeared at some point.

The rain in the surrounding sky was getting heavier, surpassing the limits of what rain could fall in this season.

Even if all the snowflakes drifting in the sky melted, they couldn’t create such violent raindrops.

In the torrential downpour, the surrounding staff seemed to have vanished.

Reid looked up, glanced around, and strode forward through the misty rain.

Soon, the rain-and-fog-filled alley appeared in his field of view.

At the entrance to the alley, a simple child’s drawing of a sunflower was pasted, its edges charred as if containing smoldering embers.

Reid withdrew his gaze and stepped into the fog-filled alley.