life copy game

Chapter 1617 Clues (Seeking monthly votes at the beginning of the month)

"Ghost!"

The moment she saw the shadow appear on the wall, Siwei suddenly leaned back and fell off He's shoulder.

He Ao, who was prepared, caught Siwei with his backhand, then lifted her up and placed her on his shoulder.

The shadows on the wall seemed startled by her, slowing their convergence slightly, but eventually they still managed to form the shadow of a child missing his left arm.

"This—this—this—"

Siwei pointed at the shadow on the wall, her body still trembling slightly.

“Don’t be afraid,” He Ao smiled. “Didn’t you just sense their presence?”

“Yes, right,” Siwei vaguely realized, staring at the shadow on the wall, holding He Ao’s head, and nodded hesitantly, “So they’ve been here the whole time? Were they hiding from us just now?”

At this moment, He Ao had already turned his gaze back to the void in front of him and handed out the leaf in his hand.

But the child's shadow on the wall did not accept it; instead, it looked at Heo, seemingly waiting for his question.

"Do you know how to get into the orphanage?" He Ao said quickly. "Not much information is needed, just a simple hint will do."

Upon hearing this, the child's reflection on the wall flickered, then he took a few steps back, and his entire body disappeared from the wall.

“He…he’s gone,” Sisi leaned on Heo’s head, gazing at the shadow on the wall. “Were our demands too unreasonable?”

"Perhaps?" He Ao's words also carried a hint of doubt.

He glanced at the wall, but didn't stand up. Instead, he remained squatting there, waiting quietly.

After a moment, the shadow on the wall reappeared, still that of the child missing his left arm.

But behind this child, one can vaguely see blurry shadows.

"They've all come out!" Siwei said excitedly, looking at the shadows on the wall.

The child, missing his left arm, simply raised his head, glanced at Siwei, and after a brief pause, reached out and took the green leaf from He Ao's hand.

This time, he glanced cautiously at He Ao, then quickly retreated, increasing the distance between them.

Then he glanced at He Ao again, and his entire shadow disappeared into the wall.

Along with it, the illusory shadows around them also disappeared from the wall.

"He doesn't seem to have answered your question," Siwei said, somewhat puzzled.

As she spoke, the already dim light dimmed even further.

"Huh?!" At this moment, Siwei seemed to sense something and looked up at her surroundings. "It seems to have gotten cooler here, and it doesn't seem so hot anymore."

Tick-tick-tick-

Water droplets seeped from the cracks in the wall.

Then, the water droplets gathered into a trickle, gradually covering the wall.

The narrow corridor seemed unusually humid at this moment, with a sticky smell permeating the air.

The water on the wall grew larger and larger until it covered the entire floor and spread upwards from He's feet.

"It's leaking here, big guy!" Sisi grabbed He Ao's hair nervously, looking around the corridor. "This house is so poorly built, are we going to drown?"

"Probably not." He Ao shook his head.

He glanced down at the 'water flow' that had spread to his feet, and in the next instant, the entire flow of water disappeared completely, leaving only an empty building.

"Huh? That's it?!" Siwei's eyes widened.

"Then can you let go of my hair now?" He Ao asked with a smile.

"Okay, okay." Siwei glanced at the strand of hair she was tightly clutching in her small hand and let go.

He Ao raised his head and looked around.

It seems that the 'water' just now was the answer those shadows gave him.

He Ao turned his gaze to Siwei, "I'm done. We want to get out now. Can you find the exit?"

“Me?” Siwei pointed to herself, slightly taken aback.

"Why don't you try to sense it?" He Ao said slowly.

"Hmm—" Siwei closed her eyes, thought for a moment, and then pointed directly to a door next to her, "Here!"

The door was ajar, and behind it was a dim darkness, seemingly no different from the other doors around it.

After pointing, Siwei was also a little puzzled. She raised her eyes and looked at He Ao, "It doesn't seem so?"

But as she spoke, He Ao had already walked to the door and pushed it open.

A brightly lit elevator came into view. "That's right."

He nodded slightly and walked directly into the elevator.

Soon, he left the strange area and arrived at the first floor of the building.

He raised his wristband and made a call to Reed.

The call connected, and Reed's voice came through, "Hey, Loren, have you found anything?"

“We’ve got a lead,” He Ao said directly. “How’s the case file you have?”

“There have indeed been quite a few missing persons cases in that area in recent years,” Reed said slowly, with a hint of helplessness in his voice. “We are looking for any lucky survivors who returned alive from the anomaly, but we have no leads.”

"So, all the missing people who went in are stuck inside forever?" He Ao whispered.

“It’s not certain at the moment,” Reed said slowly, “but it’s highly likely that’s the case. Do you want to come over? We’re in the same conference room you came to this morning.”

"Okay." He Ao nodded slightly.

-

click -

With a crisp unlocking sound, the conference room door was pushed open.

Riley walked into the conference room, looked at Reed inside, and shook her head. "We still haven't found any information about the orphanage online, not even any 'abnormal' discussions on Loringer Street."

“That’s normal,” Reed glanced at Charn and the mustachioed man in the conference room, then looked back at Riley. “We’ve all been there. There’s a strong, unusual power there that makes people forget the orphanage exists.”

He looked at Riley. "Do you want to go back to your office and rest for a while?"

“No need, Captain,” Riley shook her head. “I’ll come after I’ve had a good night’s sleep at home.”

“Then let the Information Department conduct another in-depth web search to see if there’s anything we’ve missed,” Reed said slowly.

“Okay.” Riley nodded, opened the door again, and left the office.

“Your staff member is even more of a workaholic than you, Reed.” Chan, watching Riley leave, picked up his coffee, took a sip, and broke the slightly oppressive atmosphere.

“It’s probably no use doing any more online searches,” the man with the mustache sighed, placing his tablet on the table. “The orphanage isn’t just a pure anomaly; it’s also run by people from those anomalous cults. They’re probably monitoring the internet all the time, and any news that comes out will likely be extinguished by them immediately.”

click -

Just then, the door opened.

"The search is complete? So fast?" Reed subconsciously looked up at the door.

Then he saw Heo sitting on his shoulder with a red-dressed doll.