Capítulo 1625: Chapter 1625: Fragments

“Wait, so what exactly are you guys talking about?” Finn asked, once again confused.

“To put it simply,” He Ao looked at him and explained, “someone is playing hide and seek with us, and we have to catch them.”

“So what do we need to do?” Finn asked, still bewildered.

“Find a pond,” He Ao turned his head, glancing at both sides, “I know where there’s a pond, we should go back first.”

The three of them followed He Ao’s steps and quickly reached the position of the back door, which was the entrance patrolled by the security guard.

He Ao slowly opened the door to create a small gap and looked at the pond outside.

The ground in front of this door was lower, and there was a large area of accumulated water. Loren used to love squatting by this door on rainy days, watching the rain hit the water surface.

Neither the front door nor the side doors had such an area of accumulated water; if someone tried to leave the building from a distance, they’d easily encounter a ‘Ghost’ and wouldn’t have a chance to return.

A Ghost ‘seeing’ you is an instant death attack.

Relatively speaking, the movement patterns of the security guard at the back door were more predictable.

“Look at the reflection.”

He Ao pointed at the area of accumulated water and whispered.

The two people behind him lowered their heads and looked at the pond.

Raindrops fell on the pond, creating ripples of undulating waves.

Within those ripples was the reflection of a somewhat old-looking building.

The sky had already darkened by now, and the reflection of the building wavered in the ripples, making it appear even more blurry.

“That building reflected in the water doesn’t quite look like the real one,” Reid said thoughtfully beside He Ao.

“It seems a bit older,” Finn also looked at the blurry reflection, thinking, “and there’s a layer of hazy gray on it.”

Thump—

At this moment, a soft sound of footsteps came from ahead.

Everyone immediately crouched down, waiting for the security guard to pass by.

He Ao then reached out with his hand, pulling out a black fragment from his pocket.

“If the reflection in the pond is the Inner Space,” Reid said in a lowered voice after the sound of the guard’s footsteps faded, “but we can’t enter it. Even when we stepped into the pond, we didn’t directly fall into the Inner Space; there must be some special rules to follow to enter that space.”

“Yes.” He Ao nodded, then turned sideways and reached out over the water, holding the black fragment in his hand and slowly probing downward.

As he moved, half of the black fragment gradually submerged into the water.

“Can this fragment enter the Inner Space?” Reid’s eyes widened when he saw this.

“Where is it?” Finn leaned his head out, “How can you tell?”

“Look at the submerged part of the fragment,” He Ao gazed at the fragment in his hand and spoke slowly, “Under normal circumstances, when a flat object is submerged in water, it refracts, and you’ll notice a slight bend between the part in the water and the part out of the water.”

He maintained the movement of his hand, “But look, after this fragment is submerged, its reflection in the water doesn’t bend.”

“Oh yeah,” Finn’s eyes widened, “This fragment, when it falls into the water, looks like it’s floating in the air, unchanged, as if it’s passing through an invisible…”

He paused, momentarily unable to recall the word to describe this scene.

“Barrier.”

He Ao finished his sentence, pressing downward with his hand, but only felt the ground beneath the water; even the black fragment showed refraction.

He quickly gripped the fragment, withdrew his hand, and wiped the moisture off on his clothes before closing the door and quickly pulling the other two away.

Soon, footsteps slowly stopped outside the door, looking through the window from the outside.

After noticing the empty porch, the guard withdrew his gaze and continued moving forward.

Meanwhile, the three inside had already run into the corridor.

“The fragment isn’t enough,” He Ao took up the black fragment in his hand and said quietly, “One fragment isn’t enough to open the passage to the Inner Space.”

“So, Loren, where did you get this fragment?” Finn questioned curiously.

“It was dropped by the kid caught by the ‘Ghost,’,” He Ao said softly, “I went out before just to pick it up.”

“From that kid?” Finn seemed puzzled, scratching his head, “Do I have one too?”

He turned around, looked around, and soon found a black fragment under the hem of his garment, “I do have one!”

He handed this fragment to He Ao, “Are two fragments enough?”

“Probably not,” He Ao shook his head slightly, looking at Finn, “We need more fragments, and I need you to do me a favor.”

“Just say it.” Finn looked at He Ao, seemingly having guessed He Ao’s intention and responded cheerfully.

“I need you to ask the other kids for fragments,” He Ao gazed at him, hesitated for a moment, and then spoke quietly, “You know, my relationship with them isn’t good…”

“No problem,” Finn replied with a laugh, “Leave it to me.”

Then he paused and thought, “Most of the kids are decorating the welcome classroom. There are no teachers there, so it should be easy to get their fragments, but a few are in the kitchen helping the teachers prepare meals.”

He looked at He Ao, “Once you enter the kitchen, you can’t run around or talk randomly, or else you’ll be punished by the teachers.”

“The kitchen should be a warning area,” Reid thought aloud, “Any abnormal behavior might be ‘punished.’

“Then let’s not worry about the kitchen,” He Ao shook his head, looking at Finn seriously, “It’s up to you for those in the classroom.”

“Of course,” Finn patted his chest, “This is your first time asking for my help. I guarantee the task will be completed.”

With that, he walked straight into the depths of the corridor.

Reid watched Finn happily walk into the corridor, then turned his gaze back to He Ao, “Does he think of you as a character in a role-playing game? Successfully receiving a task is that thrilling for him?”

He Ao: ¿

He glanced at Reid, “What kind of games did you play when you were young?”

“Who didn’t have their youthful days?” Reid shook his head, smirking.

His cute, chubby little face made his words sound slightly incongruous.

“To be honest,” Reid looked at the departing Finn, “Do you really think he can be trusted? He is, after all, part of the Abnormal.”

“I don’t know,” He Ao shook his head, “but people within the Abnormal might have their own emotions.”

Reid looked up at He Ao.

He suddenly remembered the time He Ao came, directly bringing that doll girl named ‘Sui.’

Sui was also part of the ‘Abnormal.’

“Perhaps, you have an entirely different perspective from ours,” he sighed softly, “After all, you’ve gotten used to interacting with those in the Abnormal,”

Saying that, his gaze swept down the corridor, “Moreover, you’re already familiar with this place.”

If viewed purely from a stranger’s perspective, this anomaly is just this seemingly ‘peaceful’ surface, all very dangerous.

The ‘ghosts’ wandering in the square committing indiscriminate murders, the ‘security guards’ capable of forcibly enforcing penalties with keen intuition, and even children like Finn who look ‘cute’, all might carry some dangerous rules on them.

But ‘Loren’, depending purely on his ‘familiarity’ with this place and his own identity, mixed here as if it was home.

In a certain sense, this place did serve as Loren’s ‘temporary home’ for a period of time.

“Actually, identity is important,” He Ao watched Finn walk into a classroom in the corner and spoke casually, “This orphanage still ‘remembers’ me, and the children here still regard me as their ‘companion’. That is the reason I can move freely here.”

His tone was calm, “This ‘orphanage’ still has a ‘vacant spot’ for me.”

Reid was slightly stunned upon hearing this, realizing something.

But He Ao had already turned his gaze, looking to the other side of the corridor, “Let’s go, there is a fragment that might require us to cooperate to get it.”

“In the kitchen?” Reid pondered.

“No, outside.” He Ao shook his head.

He walked briskly, quickly arriving at a spot towards the middle of the corridor, “But first, we need to find another ‘teammate’.”

He looked up at the large-bodied fat man hanging on the wall.

“Mmm mmm mmm—”

The fat man gazed at He Ao, displaying anger, with his mouth taped shut, his body shaking violently, as if he had many ‘words’ he wanted to ‘say’ to He Ao.

“Please stay quiet for a moment, can you?” He Ao looked at him, speaking softly.

“Mmm mmm mmm—” The fat man continued to struggle intensely.

“Stay quiet first, then we can discuss the matter of getting you down.” He Ao continued.

The fat man gazed at He Ao, hesitated for a moment, then his struggle slowed down, and he stopped talking.

“We are about to do something later, we need your cooperation, and also, I need the fragment at your waist,” He Ao looked at him, said directly, “If you are willing to cooperate, I’ll get you down, but you must promise not to report to the teachers, and not to betray us.”

“Mmm mmm mmm—” The fat man looked at He Ao, immediately becoming excited, starting to mmm mmm mmm again.

“Nod if you agree, shake your head if you don’t.” He Ao looked at him, spoke directly.

The fat man was silent for a moment, then nodded lightly.

Then, He Ao signaled Reid to retreat, and he also moved further back, raising the folding knife in his hand.

Bang—

The clear sound accompanied the folding knife cutting through the air, striking the button.

Click—

The lock holding the fat man disengaged, and he fell to the ground.

He Ao walked over, reached out a hand to help the fat man up.

The fat man gazed at He Ao, instinctively trying to break free, only to find his hand was firmly clamped as if by hydraulic pliers, unable to move, and because of this bout of struggle, He Ao’s grip tightened a bit, making his wrist turn red.

He gazed at the ‘frail’ He Ao, shrinking his head.

“Now you should fulfill your promise.” He Ao cast a glance at the fragment at his waist, spoke directly.

The fat man hesitated for a moment, took out the fragment from his waist, and handed it to He Ao.

He Ao took the fragment, looked at Reid who had moved behind the fat man, then shifted his gaze back to the fat man, “Come with us.”

The fat man hesitated, glanced back at Reid blocking behind him, then followed He Ao’s steps.

The group moved forward together, soon reaching the porch area where He Ao initially came in from.

He Ao glanced at the small open door.

Outside the door was quiet and empty, the white-dress little girl ‘ghost’ was now nowhere to be seen.

He Ao turned back, looked at the fat man, and said softly, “Wait here for us to get back; we’re going to make some preparations first.”

After speaking, he tore off the tape on the fat man’s mouth, stuffed it into his pocket, signaled Reid, then turned and walked back into the corridor.

Reid also joined He Ao, quickly entering the corridor.

It was then that he slowly spoke up, “Why did you save him? This kid doesn’t seem to be very honest.”

“It depends on him.” He Ao replied casually.

Reid looked back, the narrow corridor was empty and quiet.

The fat man did not immediately run away after their departure.

Quickly, they arrived at the door of a classroom.

He Ao reached out and pushed open the teacher’s door.

A dozen old electronic drawing boards and several sheets of scattered papers on the floor, along with stacks of paint trays, appeared in Reid’s field of view.

“What is this place, an art room?” Reid asked curiously, “Does this orphanage have such advanced equipment?”

“Yes,” He Ao glanced over the drawing boards, nodding slightly, “During the time I just arrived, supposedly a painting education institution donated obsolete equipment, along with some old papers, many functions are actually unusable, but the director still made an art room out of it.”

His steps continued forward slowly, his thin figure walking through each of the electronic drawing boards, “Initially, the teachers organized everyone to make plenty of paintings within the first month, afterward, it seemed like people from the City Government came to inspect something, took photos, and since then, this art room was never used again.”

“Sounds like part of the orphanage’s process to apply for government subsidies,” Reid sighed softly, speaking slowly.

“Yes.” He Ao nodded lightly, his steps halted outside a closed window.

He stood by the window, took a glance at the quiet square outside amidst the rain.

Then he reached out, unlocked the latch, and pushed the window open.

He directly leaned out, flipping out from the window edge.

Reid watched this scene, following He Ao, flipping out as well, his smaller stature made crossing the windowsill a bit of a struggle.

As soon as he landed, preparing to speak, he saw He Ao gesture a shushing motion to him.

Then he saw, not far away, a little girl in a white dress standing by the side of the small door, gazing at the front of the door.

Seeing this, he felt a chill down his spine; if they had just exited through that small door, they would have been ‘caught’ by the little girl in the white dress.

And at this moment, the little girl in the white dress seemed to sense something.

Reid felt his hand being pulled, and in a swift roll, found himself hidden behind a trash bin not far away, tucked into the blind spot of the girl’s field of view.

At this moment, the little girl in the white dress turned her gaze over here.

She ‘looked’ at the barren area before averting her gaze again.

At this moment, Reid noticed that He Ao, at some point, had already closed the window they had opened.

It was then He Ao gently patted his shoulder, gestured him to stay there, then slowly moved towards the edge of the trash bin.