Congratulations on Your Successful Escape

Chapter 29

Shivers spread from the bottom of his heart, chilling from head to toe.

A liter of blood became nearly ice-cold, and the terrifying silence was oppressive, causing one’s heartbeat to become irregular. All that could be heard was a buzzing white noise in his ears.

Mo Yi’s hair stood up on end, adrenaline rapidly soaring, making his vision somewhat blurred.

He blinked with difficulty.

Little by little, he turned around.

The white beam of the flashlight flickered along the wall as it followed his movements, shining directly behind him —

Under the wan light, an old teddy bear on the ground was visible, laying upright against the wall.

Sparse brown hair, four worn-down limbs, and an oddly crooked head.

It was sitting where the child was standing in the picture, and it was looking directly at Mo Yi with its only one remaining black eye.

Mo Yi couldn’t help but hold his breath, his heart violently beating as if it was being tightly grasped by a pair of invisible hands.

A tremendous pressure was constricting his nerves, and beads of sweat burst from his forehead.

Suddenly, Mo Yi seemed to think of something.

His Adam’s apple moved, his dry throat seeming to burn with a raging fire. He stepped towards the teddy bear.

This time, it did not disappear. Instead, it lay there quietly like a real inanimate object.

Mo Yi stopped two steps away from the teddy bear, his stiff and cold fingers slowly reaching into his pocket.

The ice-cold edges of a round thing pressed painfully against his fingertips.

He took a deep breath and crouched down.

His fingers trembled a little — Mo Yi had to clench his fingers hard to force himself to calm down.

Then, he took the thing out of his pocket.

Mo Yi stared at it. The black smooth surface gleamed dimly under the light of the flashlight.

Then, he reached over and placed it in the teddy bear’s empty eye socket.

— A perfect fit.

Mo Yi paused and let go, only to find that after his hand had left, the teddy bear’s eye stayed securely in place as if it had never fallen out.

He took a deep breath.

Only then did he realize that the fingers holding the flashlight were completely stiff, the ice-cold palm clammy with sweat, nearly impossible to move.

The teddy bear calmly stared at Mo Yi with its completely black eyes.

At this moment, one of its worn-down arms seemed to be unable to bear the weight of gravity and fell down.

Light yellow cotton stuffing pitifully spilled out.

A piece of paper from within the body of the teddy bear was revealed.

Mo Yi paused, stretched out his hand, and very carefully pulled out the piece of paper.

Under the light of the flashlight, Mo Yi gently and cautiously unfolded it. Bits and pieces of the fine cotton stuffing floated about in the wake of his movements, flying scatteredly as it fell little by little.

On the yellowed paper, in childish strokes, was a misshapen drawing of a treasure map.

The above route was somewhat familiar, and it seemed to overlap with the map of the entire orphanage.

Mo Yi was taken aback, lips pursed, and subconsciously looked down at his feet.

There was already nothing there.

The teddy bear had once again disappeared.

Mo Yi put the slip of paper in his pocket, waved the flashlight around the entire room, and then turned around to walk out of the playroom.

The presence of light, which had been absent for a long time, made Mo Yi relax a little. He took a long breath and discovered that the back of his shirt was completely damp, the slight chill in the ice-cold corridor penetrating the material.

Just then, a loud “bang” came from behind.

Mo Yi was startled and turned to look, only to see that the door to the playroom was tightly closed.

He reached out and tried to twist the doorknob but found out that the door had been locked from the inside.

A thread of frost grew in Mo Yi’s heart.

The hand holding the doorknob let go, and he sped up the pace as he walked towards the hall.

Mo Yi had yet to recover from his frightened state.

After aimlessly circling the hall a few times, he came back to his senses and discovered that he had already returned to his room.

Mo Yi looked down at his watch.

It was now exactly ten minutes past two o’clock. It was too early for the next period on the timetable.

Mo Yi stood at the door of his room with some hesitation. After thinking about it, he sat on the bed, and then reached out his hand and took out the note from his pants pocket.

The note was no more than half the size of a palm, on which a few simple lines were messily scrawled. At the end of the lines, a large “X” was drawn using a bright red crayon.

Mo Yi turned the note over and saw a line of writing on it:

“COME AND GET ME”

After mentally combining the map of the entire orphanage and the treasure map, Mo Yi couldn’t help being stunned.

The placement of the red “X” — it happened to be the deepest part of the hallway where the Dean’s room was situated.

The unpleasant memories from the Dean’s room came to mind again.

Mo Yi subconsciously touched his neck.

Even though it had been nearly a full day, the ghastly mark on his neck still had not disappeared much and had even become more red and swollen. The long purple strip of skin was accompanied by a painful heat, aching dully. Even though it was covered by a shirt collar, it was still unable to fully conceal the mark.

Mo Yi lowered his palm. ?The bottom of his pitch-black eyes was serene and deep. And in the depths of those eyes was a small, bright, burning dot of light.

.

He carefully refolded the note, put it back in his pocket, then stood up and walked to the door.

Mo Yi suddenly stopped in front of the door and frowned, somewhat tangled.

What was troubling him at the moment wasn’t whether or not he should find the truth …

Rather, it was if he should go with Song Qi.

It was reasonable to say that he was a senior that Jiang Yuanrou had found. He should be trustworthy. Moreover, teaming up with him could increase the rate of survival.

Mo Yi pursed his lips and kneaded his slender and weak arm, feeling slightly dispirited for a while.

However, there were too many doubts surrounding Song Qi.

From the beginning, the partnership between the two had cast a shadow, and this shadow had become more and more difficult for him to ignore.

Mo Yi didn’t know whether to trust this person.

Maybe… he could try again?

Mo Yi made up his mind and walked out, but in the next second, there was a flash of shock in his eyes.

He didn’t know which room was Song Qi’s.

Consequently, Mo Yi walked from the start of the corridor to the end, yet he was unable to find Song Qi’s figure.

Further searching may arouse the unnecessary attention of others.

Therefore, Mo Yi had to give up the idea of continuing to search for Song Qi and walked alone, following the directions on the treasure map to the corridor where the Dean’s room was located.

The pitch-black corridor was dimly lit. Finally, after checking the flashlight’s battery, Mo Yi took a deep breath, moved his legs, and walked into the depths of the corridor.

From under the feet, the “eeek” sounds from the wooden floorboards were particularly noticeable in the silent and dark corridor.

The more one went in, the more remote and dark.

The silence practically made one’s heart palpitate.

When passing by the Dean’s room, Mo Yi’s steps involuntarily stopped.

He turned his head and looked at the thick dust covered doorplate on the wooden door. What had happened beyond that door was still vivid in his mind.

Mo Yi calmed his breathing, turned his head to look straight ahead whilst switching on the flashlight, and continued to walk inward.

His shadow was once again projected onto the dark green wallpaper by the dim wall lamps installed on both side of the wall. The unsettling shadowy figure appeared rather monstrous for a short while.

The uneven ceiling and crooked walls of the corridor formed a shape which made one feel ill at ease, stifling like a throat.

Mo Yi noiselessly walked forward. Immediately, he was stunned, and his steps slowly came to a stop.

The beam coming from the flashlight was cast on a wall — there was no path ahead.

Mo Yi turned his head to look behind him in disbelief. The Dean’s room he had just passed by was still standing there silently at a close distance. At the end of the corridor, the hall was shining with a faint flickering light.

He swung his head. The light from the flashlight lit up the solid wall, clearly illuminating the wrinkled surface of the dark green wallpaper. The water stains and dirt were unable to hide under the wan light.

Mo Yi stepped forward, stretched out his hand to push at the wall, then curled his fingers and knocked.

It was solid.

Did that mean … In this corridor, there was only the Dean’s room?

Mo Yi brows knit closely together.

This was extremely odd. It wasn’t just the fact that one room occupied an entire hallway. Rather … the orphanage was not intact.

He was previously under the impression that the other rooms that haven’t been discovered yet would be in this corridor. However, there was nothing here. It was incredibly strange.

Where did the caregivers live? Where was the utility room?

Mo Yi was not discouraged and walked around the open space, groping about the walls.

There was nothing.

He frowned and stood in place, deeply pondering what had gone wrong.

But the directions on the treasure map did indeed say that this was the place.

Mo Yi took a step forward and suddenly stopped: He seemed to have found something wrong.

Starting from a short while ago, he had not heard the creaking sounds of the wooden floor from his footsteps.

Mo Yi knelt down and gently touched the floor with his fingers.

It was smooth and even without wooden splinters, and no gaps could be felt between the wood where only shadows were visible.

Mo Yi’s heart jumped. He touched the crack between the floor and wall, and a tiny hard thing pressed painfully against his fingertips.

He gently stroked it, and little by little tore open a small gap.

Then pulled hard!

Dust flew upward as far as the eye could see. A carpet that had been fitted to the floor was lifted, revealing the appearance underneath it.

A jet black, solid iron trap door lay on the ground. It was smooth as new, appearing as if it hadn’t been abandoned for many years, quietly waiting for the next person to arrive.