Capítulo 1626: Chapter 1626: Feint Attack

Reid turned his gaze away and looked at He Ao’s movements.

He only saw He Ao glance at the white dress girl outside the trash bin, who had now turned back around, her eyes fixed on the doorway.

At this moment, his clothes shook slightly, like a gust of wind sweeping through the rain curtain, He Ao suddenly vanished, almost silently crossing the water surface and muddy ground to reach the slide ahead.

Then He Ao squatted down, hiding his body within the gap between the slide and the steel pipe.

He didn’t know what He Ao wanted to do, so he could only lean against the trash bin, watching He Ao, waiting for He Ao’s next move.

At this moment, He Ao too leaned in the gap of the slide, cautiously poking his head out, gazing at the front door, and watching the white dress girl guarding the entrance.

Raindrops from the sky fell gently, the whole square surprisingly quiet, only the sound of the rain, oppressively under the rain, with the light breathing of the two children.

Bam—

Just then, a sudden sound shatters this gloomy silence.

A foot crosses from outside the door, stepping onto the small puddle in front of the door, turning the puddle into blossoming flowers, splashing with flying droplets.

A chubby figure appears at the door.

He steps out the small door, looking into the depths of the orphanage, in the direction of the kitchen and warehouse, where all the teachers are currently gathered.

A faint light shines from that direction, illuminating the rain curtain,

At this moment, hiding on the side of the slide, He Ao instantly moves forward, his entire body rushing out like an arrow leaving the bow.

At this moment, the attention of the chubby guy is completely on that side, not noticing any changes happening around him. His pace quickens, rushing towards the kitchen and warehouse, shouting loudly, “Teacher—”

And at this instant.

His voice was suddenly choked.

A blurry shadow appears before him.

It’s a white dress girl without a face.

The chubby guy’s throat gets caught like a pinched water hose, unable to make any sound for a moment.

A faint spread of embers begins to engulf his body.

At this moment, he widens his eyes, looking behind the white dress girl.

An illusion quickly flashes past the girl, a hand brushing her nape, removing the fragment from her neck, slipping into the gap of her blind spot, and dashing through the opened side door.

Everything happened so fast that after it ended, the white dress girl could only raise her head in bewilderment, looking around.

The chubby guy wanted to say something, but his body was already enveloped by roaring flames, turning in a split second into a pile of ashes with embers, drifting away in the rain.

But the white dress girl’s ‘gaze’ no longer lingered on him; she now turned her eyes to the open side door.

After a brief pause, her body slowly moves forward, approaching the opened side door.

Bam—

At this moment, a crisp sound came from behind the nearby trash bin, quickly turning quiet.

The white dress girl paused for a moment, raised her pace, slowly moving forward, nearing the trash bin.

But she did not go directly to the back of the trash bin; rather, she first approached the gap of the trash bin, peeking from the gap to the back.

After confirming that no one was in the gap, she withdrew her gaze, her body flickering forward, appearing at the back of the trash bin.

But the back of the trash bin was empty.

She raised her head, watching the pouring rain, the closed windows, seeming somewhat ‘dazed’.

After a brief pause, her body flickered, moving along the windows, stopping outside the classroom.

Her ‘gaze’ swept across the interior of the classroom, looking at the unchanged electronic easel, gazing at the scattered papers in the corner.

After a brief pause, she turned her gaze away from the classroom window, continuing forward.

Underneath the window where she just stood, Reid was curling his small body tightly within the window, his body tense, suppressing the sound of his breathing.

Until he didn’t know how much time had passed, a figure gently pushed open the door, looked at Reid below the wall, and nodded lightly at him.

Reid finally breathed a sigh of relief, stood up, and crossed the classroom.

Looking at the thin figure standing at the door, he asked softly, “Where were you hiding just now?”

He Ao glanced at the window facing the corridor, “Just squatting under that window.”

Reid was slightly stunned.

The two exchanged a glance, and burst into laughter.

After laughing, Reid looked at He Ao, sighed, “You really have a big guts, kid.”

He Ao looked at his short stature, his round, adorable little face, “Saying this with that appearance lacks any elderly flavor.”

Reid’s words halted, then he laughed again.

The oppressive atmosphere between them eased considerably.

The recent operation was indeed very risky; the white dress girl killed with almost instant rule damage, unavoidable, if even a bit off, the two would remain here forever.

They quickly left the corridor with windows.

“Did you foresee that the chubby guy would betray us early on?” Reid looked at He Ao and continued to ask.

The chubby guy running out of the door was clearly preparing to directly go and tell the ‘teacher’.

“Not sure.” He Ao shrugged, lightly sighed.

Betraying was one plan, not betraying was another plan.

“You actually gave him a chance.” Reid sighed.

He Ao had clearly told the danger outside, but the chubby guy ‘Karto’ still chose not to believe He Ao and decided to betray.

This time, He Ao did not speak.

At the end of the corridor, Finn raised his head, looking at them.

Reid did not continue on this topic.

“How’s it?” He Ao looked at him, quickly asked.

“Including mine, 21 fragments,” Finn pulled out a stack of black fragments tied with rubber bands from his pocket, looking at He Ao, “They’re all here,”

He paused, continued, “There are five kids in the kitchen, and Karto’s fragment is gone.”

“I got Karto’s fragment.” He Ao said quietly.

Finn was slightly stunned, and Reid told him what just happened.

“He was caught by a ghost, huh,” Finn shook his head, sighed, “Then he won’t be showing up today.”

Hearing this, Reid paused in surprise, looked at Finn, and curiously asked, “After being caught by a ghost, will they disappear for a whole day?”

“Yeah.” Finn nodded, not thinking it was anything abnormal, nor showing any sadness.

Reid lifted his head, looked at He Ao.

He Ao shook his head slightly, indicating he’s not sure either.

Then He Ao turned his gaze to Finn, speaking softly, “Then it’s just the fragments of the five children in the kitchen.”

“But all the teachers are in the kitchen,” Finn said hesitantly, “If we go in, we’ll have to help the teachers work until the welcoming starts before we can leave. If we disobey the teachers’ orders, we’ll be caught by the security guards.”

“Let’s head over there first and think as we go,” He Ao nodded slightly.

The three of them turned around and walked towards the innermost side.

At this moment, Reid leaned over and whispered to He Ao, “Here, perhaps there’s no concept of ‘death’. ”

“Mmm,” He Ao nodded slightly, speaking slowly, “The time here is forever frozen on September 17th.”

Reid was slightly taken aback and realized something, “You mean, every day, it resets here? Goes back to that day?”

At this moment, he looked down and rasped, “Based on my understanding of anomalies, this kind of reset ‘anomaly’, when it resets, those who don’t belong to the orphanage, will likely face some horrific things.”

That’s why no ‘survivors’ have ever escaped from this orphanage.

Even if the ‘intruders’ follow all the rules and aren’t caught by security or burned by ghosts, they might still be completely erased at the moment of reset.

So, how did those Anomaly Sect people manage to avoid it?

While Reid was pondering, they had already arrived at a side door that no one had ever visited.

Judging by the location, this should be the innermost side door.

“Going out from here leads to the kitchen building,” Finn looked at the side door, turned his head to He Ao and asked, “But how can we get into the kitchen, get the fragments from those kids, and leave smoothly?”

“I remember there are two doors in the kitchen,” He Ao stroked his chin, thinking aloud, “One leads directly outside, the other connects to the storeroom.”

He looked at Finn, “Is there anyone guarding the storeroom?”

“There is,” Finn thought for a moment, “it’s the security guard patrolling the back door, he watches over the storeroom. It should be easier to avoid him.”

“So we can enter the storeroom first,” He Ao considered, “and from the storeroom, we can get into the kitchen and contact those kids.”

“But the teachers are in the kitchen,” Reid, who was contemplating, chimed in, “Entering from the storeroom, the teachers will still notice.”

“We need to come up with a plan to divert the teachers’ attention,” Finn scratched his head and added.

“I remember the teachers love cute kids, right? If a cute kid gets lost and cries at the door, wouldn’t they pay attention?” He Ao suddenly suggested.

“Absolutely,” Finn nodded, “they adore cute kids.”

As he said this, he paused slightly, as if realizing something, turned his head to look at Reid, who was also thinking alongside him.

And He Ao had already turned his gaze towards Reid.

Reid lifted his cute doll-like face, looking a bit puzzled at the two of them, “Why are you looking at me?”

——

The patter of rain drizzled upon the ground. Reid adjusted his loose clothes, lifted his head, and looked at the small open door of the kitchen ahead.

He rubbed his cheeks, letting the rainwater mix on his face.

Then, he wrinkled his nose and slowly walked towards the kitchen.

“Wah——”

A piercing cry echoed in the rain.

——

Inside the storeroom

He Ao watched the security guard walk away, closed the door, and together with Finn, quickly passed through the storeroom and arrived at the back door labeled ‘kitchen’.

He Ao gently opened a crack in the door, peering into the scene in the kitchen.

The orphanage’s kitchen was large; a big square area with a long table in the middle. Six Ash Man figures in gray uniforms were surrounding the table, each taking out frozen synthetic chicken leg bags.

On the other side of the table, five children quickly took these chicken legs and arranged them evenly on baking trays.

On the other side, beyond the kitchen’s open door, alongside the muffled sound of crying, a small figure slowly approached from the rain.

The teachers and children inside clearly heard the cry.

A teacher near the outside quickly approached, looking at the little boy crying at the entrance, “What’s wrong? How did you get here? Tell me, will you?”

But the boy didn’t respond, continuing to cry, louder and louder.

So more and more teachers gathered around.

Soon, all six teachers were gathered at the door, watching the boy crying there.

The few children distributing chicken legs saw this and exchanged glances, seemingly wanting to go over and see, too.

Seeing this, He Ao immediately pushed open the small door, motioning to Finn.

Finn nodded slightly and walked out through the small door.

He Ao stood at the entrance, leaning against the small door, watching everyone.

The kids who saw them walking over looked slightly surprised, and some noticed He Ao in the corner, looking even more surprised.

But clearly, Finn was well-liked. During the quick conversation, four children already handed over their fragments to him.

Then Finn approached the last of the five children, the one closest to the teachers.

He was a short-haired little boy.

He watched Finn come over and, listening to Finn talk to him, was soon handing his fragment to Finn.

But just as Finn was reaching out to take it, the boy suddenly looked up towards the teachers and shouted, “Teacher! Finn is trying to steal my—oof—”

But before he could finish speaking, He Ao, who had arrived from behind, covered his mouth.

But by then, the sound had already drawn the teachers’ attention at the door.

He Ao used one hand to cover the short-haired boy and grabbed Finn with the other, quickly pulling back.

When the teachers who heard the shout turned back, they only saw the empty kitchen, glancing at each other and not responding, leaving four remaining kids.

“Where’s the other kid?”

A teacher asked blankly, looking at the remaining children.

Just then, the teachers suddenly realized something and turned back towards the door.

The cute crying child at the entrance was now nowhere to be seen.

Outside the entire kitchen, only the sound of rustling rain remained.

——

On the back wall of the storeroom.

Bang——

He Ao pressed the short-haired boy against the wall, and Finn took the fragment from the boy’s hand.

The short-haired boy looked at He Ao, his lips moving as if wanting to say something.

He Ao loosened his grip slightly, looking at him.

“Loren,” The short-haired boy glanced at He Ao, then at Finn, “Don’t let this guy fool you, he’s just a fake smiling tiger, a lapdog for the teachers, you think he wants to be good to you, he just wants to use you, don’t be deceived by him!”