518 Mr. Wolf, What's the Time?
The boy hugged the smelly doll and the pair of innocent eyes looked at Han Fei seriously.
“She’s your mother?” Han Fei had seen the orphans call the workers at the orphanage their parents but he had not seen a child who took a doll as his mother, he must have been seriously traumatized.
“Of course.” The boy placed the index finger on his lips. “Don’t tell anyone else or they will steal mother away from me. The other kids here can’t find their own mother and father.”
“When you said your mother was in danger, you mean this doll?”
“Mother has been protecting me, without mother, I would have been…” The boy closed his mouth. “Mother said I can’t tell others.”
“Your mother is afraid of you being bullied so she didn’t want you to tell the secret to others, but I just helped you block the rocks earlier. I am not your bully, I’m your friend.” Han Fei held the boy’s hand and hid in the wall’s shadow. “Right?”
In the kids’ eyes, Han Fei had a unique presence. He was like a playful big brother from the neighborhood and everyone wanted to play with him. After some hesitation, the boy agreed. “There are 7 rooms at the orphanage and each room has different functions. One of the rooms is for bad children. If you are naughty or no one likes you, they will be locked inside that room.”
“What will happen to the child locked inside that room?”
“Don’t know.” The boy shook his head. “The children sent into that room never came out. You should never enter that room, bad things will happen.”
“Your mother told you all that?” Han Fei glanced at the doll.
“Yes, mother knows many things about the orphanage. She also told me the most dangerous person at the orphanage is not the child-care care, social worker, chef uncle, or director. But it is a child who will never grow old.” The boy hugged the doll by her neck. “You’re a friend so I tell you this. Not even the director knows this secret.”
“A child that will never grow old? Do you know how he looks like?”
“Mother only told me to be careful of him. She is not sure who he is but you need to be careful of the other children.” The boy hugged the doll and poked his head out. “Where should I hide mother? Last time, I hid her under the bed but she was found by the nurse auntie. I need to find a safer place.” The boy just poked his head out when a few arms reached out from the corner. They grabbed the boy by his hair and dragged him to the ground.
“Found you!” A few kids were hiding on the other side of the wall. They stole the boy’s doll. “Auntie told us we can’t keep toys in secret, I’m going to tell auntie!”
“That’s not a toy, she’s my mother!” The boy crawled up from the ground and charged at the leading bully. Unfortunately, he was too thin and frail. Before he got close, he was stopped by the 2 other kids and knocked back to the ground.
“Bastard, you want to hit me?” The leading boy grabbed the doll by its neck, he wanted to tear it apart. Han Fei couldn’t stand this anymore, he took out Rest in Peace. But just as he tried to get close, the system rang. “Notification for Player 0000! You’ve triggered Grade E Normal Mission—White Orphanage.
“White Orphanage: Deep inside this black building lives a pure white soul.
“Mission Requirement 1: Find the child who will never grow old.
“Mission Requirement 2: Play at least 3 games with the kids at the orphanage.
“Mission Hint: Playing games with the orphans will increase your friendliness level with them. The higher the friendliness level, the greater the chance of that kid appearing.
“Warning, Pure Hatred might appear in Grade E Mission! Please consider this carefully.
“Warning! With the completion of each game, the player will get certain rewards! The more games you play, the greater the final reward!”
Han Fei put the blade down immediately. His eyes that looked at the kids turned from chilly to warm. ‘I should try to educate them, who are not naughty when they were young? I didn’t expect to trigger a Grade E Mission, looks like this place is related to the 3 Pure Hatreds.’ Han Fei used Soul-depth touch to grab the arm of the leading boy to stop him from destroying the doll.
“You’re all friends from the same orphanage, why are you doing this?” Han Fei had 30 stamina point so it was easy for him to deal with a child.
“Who are you?” The leading boy was the oldest there. He didn’t fear Han Fei. He was used to being a bully so when he was held by Han Fei, he was still shouting fearlessly.
“I’m the orphanage’s new nurse.” Before Han Fei could finish, the boy tossed the doll to another child. The latter took the doll and ran away.
“I don’t care who you are. If you want that trash, go and get it!” The boy looked at Han Fei and laughed. He was very arrogant.
Han Fei looked at the boy’s head. With the grace of an adult, Han Fei closed the boy’s mouth and then smacked the boy’s head. “You need a lesson.” Han Fei covered his mouth because he was afraid that the boy would scream. The boy’s smile froze and his eyes were filled with venom not suitable for someone his age. The boy struggled. He opened his mouth to bite Han Fei’s fingers. The boy struggled harder. Han Fei noticed with surprise that he couldn’t detain the boy. To prevent himself from being beaten, he pushed the boy away.
“How dare you hit me!” The boy probably lived on the street before. He was very cruel. He gnashed his teeth like a dog on the street.
“I just want you to see the mistakes of your ways, it is for your own good.” Han Fei didn’t want to make an issue out of this, after all, Han Fei didn’t want to deal with the adults at the orphanage yet. “Give the doll back to the boy. If you are really that bored, I can play some games with you.”
“You will play with us?” The boy glared viciously at Han Fei. His black pupils turned with bad ideas. “Okay, you only need to play 1 game with us. If you win, we’ll return him the doll; but if you lose, you’ll have to listen to our order. You’ll do what we tell you to do.”
“One game is too boring, how about we play 3 games and the winner wins 2 out of 3?” Han Fei looked helpless like he didn’t really want to play with kids.
“Okay!” The kids were excited. They looked at Han Fei like he was an animal trapped in the zoo.
“So, what is the first game we’ll play?”
“It’s a simple game, the teacher always plays it with us. It’s called—Do as we do.” The boy pointed to his face. “You only need to do the same actions that I do. If you can’t, then you lose.”
Han Fei paid absolute attention. After all, this was a Grade E Mission. Even though it was just a normal mission, it might attract the attention of the Pure Hatred.
The kids and Han Fei stood under the grey wall. The leading boy taunted, “Watch carefully.” His tongue reached out of his mouth and it touched the tip of his nose.
“That’s all?” Han Fei was holding Rest in Peace. But the boy didn’t do anything dangerous.
“Can you do that? If you can’t, you lose.” The boy was already thinking of ways to torture Han Fei.
“It doesn’t seem that hard.” Master acting meant that Han Fei could control every muscle on his face. His tongue was not as long as the boy but he had other ideas. After a few attempts, Han Fei used his finger to pull on his tongue, and finally, the tongue touched the tip of his nose. Han Fei’s tongue pained but it soon healed. “So did I win?”
“There are 5 of us, so you need to copy all 5 of our actions!” The leading boy had already considered this. He would use number’s advantage to deal with Han Fei. Then he pushed a fatty out. The fatty looked at Han Fei and crossed his eyes. Then one of his eyes returned to normal while the other eye remained crossed.
‘It feels like I’m just playing normal games with normal kids.’ Han Fei’s eyes moved even more actively than the fatty. After Han Fei succeeded, the oldest boy was nervous. He pushed a very thin girl out. The girl tried for a split but due to pressure, she was stuck halfway. The boy cursed. Then he and the fatty went to press on the girl’s shoulders.
“Stop pushing her.” Han Fei easily did a split. As a professional actor, these simple exercises were nothing for him. “You still have 2 chances.”
The boy kicked the girl who hadn’t gotten up to the floor. He was no longer as calm as before. He glared at Han Fei. “Don’t be happy so soon. Come with us.” He gritted his teeth at Han Fei. Honestly, there was not much enmity between him and Han Fei. Han Fei merely stopped him from destroying a doll. But because of that, the boy burned with fury. His face didn’t have the innocence of a child but pure hatred and resentment. ‘Could he be the representation of Pure Hatred?’
Han Fei held the little boy’s hand as they followed the leading boy through the orphanage. They walked around the orphanage’s main building and came to the side. The boy silently eased the wooden door open. A rotten smell drifted out and the leading boy rushed in. “You will lose.”
The windowless room was filled with baskets of vegetables. Most vegetables were yellow and had worms crawling on them. Next to the baskets was a fridge and the rotten smell came from the fridge.
‘This appears to be the orphanage’s kitchen.’ The kids ran deep into the kitchen. The oldest boy picked up the cleaver from the chopping block. He grabbed the doll from another boy and handed him the cleaver. The boy rapidly shook his head.
“If you don’t want to play, we’ll make you the next target!” The oldest boy threatened. He shoved the cleaver into the boy’s hands. The boy cried and he kept shaking his hands. The cleaver fell to the ground and the sound frightened everyone in the room. No one moved. After a few seconds, hearing no strange movements from outside, the kid who was forced to hold the knife turned and ran away.
“What a coward!” The oldest boy scolded and then handed the cleaver to their youngest child. The child had a deformed face and he seemed to be mentally-challenged. He grabbed the cleaver with both hands. The oldest boy made a gesture telling the youngest child to cut himself. He stood behind the child and his face was like a demon. Children without the right education could be easily led astray. They would lose the needed respect for life. Some might find glee from hunting their kin.
“Just do it like that! I’ll see how he mimics you!” The boy’s eyes were bloodshot. He grabbed the kid’s arm and stared at the kid’s neck. His cheeks trembled and his mouth kept saying these strange things.
“Wait a minute.” Han Fei took out Rest in Peace. “You want him to hurt himself and then want me to mimic it. That has missed the point of this game.”
“Why, are you afraid? If you don’t want to copy that, then surrender.” The oldest boy glared at Han Fei.
“You really need an education.” Han Fei slowly closed the kitchen’s door. After ensuring there was no other ghost outside, he raised his butcher’s knife. The blade with warm glow shone inside the kitchen. Han Fei aimed the blade at his arm and swung it without any hesitation. The blade formed by humanity rippled like water when it touched Han Fei. Han Fei was unharmed. “Where else do you want me to cut?” Han Fei had no idea what this boy had been through to become so cruel. He wanted to talk to the boy. The sharp blade couldn’t harm Han Fei. The old boy gritted his teeth and raised his own cleaver. “The problem is the knife! Your knife can’t kill anything, you need to use this cleaver!”
“Can’t kill anything? Are you sure?” Han Fei’s eyes chilled. He walked forward and looked down at the boy. “If that’s the case, would you let me cut you with it?” The glowing blade appeared to be able to cut through anything. The boy took a step back and he ultimately didn’t dare to take Han Fei’s offer.
“Fine, you win the first game.” The hatred in the boy’s eyes was pouring out. He slowly placed the cleaver back on the chopping block. When the boy surrendered, Han Fei received the system notification. “Notification for Player 0000! You’ve completed your first game with the kids! You’ve obtained the reward—Clue 1.
“Clue 1: The child you’re looking for has problems with their brain.” Han Fei was quite happy when he heard the clue but as he looked around, every kid here appeared to have a mental problem. The boy beside him took a doll as his mother; the oldest kid’s heart was twisted; the youngest kid had a congenital brain deficiency. After all, they were kids abandoned at the orphanage.
“So what if you win the first game? We have 3 games, right?” The oldest boy suddenly remembered something and he smiled. “I know what we can play for the second game. Hopefully, you can last until the end this time.”
The boy didn’t leave the kitchen but led his 3 lackeys deeper into the kitchen. The place had no windows so the smell was very strong. The boy reached the end of the kitchen and opened the door. It led to the orphanage’s canteen. Inside the large canteen, the only lightsource was the 2 nightlights on the wall.
“Why did you bring me here?”
“We’ll play the second game here.” The boy looked scary. “The game is called What's the time, Mr Wolf? The rules are like this we’ll pick one person to stand at the end of the canteen, that person will be Mr. Wolf. The rest of us will ask, What’s the time, Mr. Wolf. If the child gave us a normal time, we can move forward. When the child turns around, we can’t move and have to be pretend to be dummies. If the wolf said it’s midnight or lunchtime, we’ll have to run. The person caught by the wolf will die.”
“Then how do you win?” Han Fei believed the game was not that easy. There had to be a reason why they played this game at the canteen.
“The first person to touch the wolf and come back to the starting point without being caught will win.” The boy made it sound very easy. He pushed two chairs to the side of the canteen. “Which one of you will be the wolf?”
He looked around and his eyes settled on the boy beside Han Fei. “You’ll be the wolf.”
“We have not that many players, the wolf should be among the 4 of you.” Han Fei pulled the boy behind him. Inside the orphanage, none of the game was normal.
“Okay then… you!” The boy shoved the fatty out. “Get over there!” The fatty was unwilling but he was afraid of being punched by the boy so he hobbled to the other end of the canteen. The canteen was small but the fatty took forever to cross it.
“Won’t the adult come here if we shout too loud?”
“No.” The boy’s eyes filled with cruelty. “They will not come at this time.”
The fatty was ready, he stood facing everyone else. The second game started. Han Fei stood with the other kids at the end closer to the kitchen. They all shouted in unison, “Mr. Wolf, what’s the time?” Once he said that, a shrill laughter echoed in Han Fei’s ears. His memory was boiling like the laughter inside the blood-red orphanage was coming out! ‘Have I played similar games before? This has triggered something in my brain.’ Han Fei was stunned. When he came to his senses, the other kids had taken 2 steps already.
“Mr. Wolf, what’s the time?”
“3 o’clock.” The fatty said while facing away from the others. To not lose the game, Han Fei started to move too. When everyone was at the middle of the canteen, the nightlight suddenly flickered and one of them went out. The dim light shone on the kids, half of their faces were shrouded in darkness.
“Mr. Wolf, what’s the time?” Han Fei and the other orphans screamed. The thinnest kid started to run since he noticed the fatty didn’t turn around
“4 o’clock.” When fatty said that, the thin kid was only a few steps away from touching fatty.
“Mr. Wolf, what’s the time?” The thin kid drew the question out purposely as he ran. When he was 2 meters away from the fatty, he stopped. Something was not right with the fatty. His body appeared to be taller than before.
“Why aren’t you saying anything? It’s your turn, you should tell us the time.” The thin kid was anxious but he didn’t dare to move anymore. However at the moment, the oldest kid shouted, “Mr. Wolf, what’s the time?”
Hearing that, the fatty’s body trembled and the thin kid was shocked. He saw the fatty lift off the ground! With the one light remaining in the room, the thin kid saw something grab the fatty by his head!
“It’s lunchtime…” A stranger’s voice appeared in everyone’s heart. Then the thin kid saw the fatty’s head disappear into the darkness. He was so scared he dropped to the ground. Han Fei picked up the boy beside him and turned back to run. The only nightlight in the canteen flickered. Han Fei only dared to turn back when he reached the starting point.
The headless fatty stood where he was. He stood facing away from the rest like he was still playing the game. The thin kid collapsed on the ground 2 meters away from the fatty. He was shaking so hard. He saw the thing in the dark.
“The game will not end until someone wins or loses.” The oldest boy glared at Han Fei. His expression was unlike a normal kid. It was a sick face.
With a twisted hatred, the oldest boy shouted again, “Mr. Wolf, what’s the time?”
