Startled

Chapter 30: Alarm

Seeing Shen Xing hadn't come downstairs for a long time, the male volunteer had to go up again to urge him. As he looked up, he saw Shen Xing staring at him with an unnatural expression.

"Mr. Shen," he said with a smile, pointing to his watch. "I was just about to come up and get you. Visiting hours are over. If you have anything else, you can come back tomorrow."

"Okay," Shen Xing nodded, but didn't move. He added, with concern, "Can I go upstairs and say one more thing to Feifei? I forgot to tell her something just now."

"Oh?"

The male volunteer walked up to the second floor and saw Shen Xing turning to look at the end of the corridor behind him. Suspicious, he poked his head out in that direction.

Just then, the door to the cloakroom slammed shut with a bang.

"Who's over there?" the male volunteer asked, walking over.

"Don't go over there!" Shen Xing quickly warned.

But the more he said that, the more suspicious the male volunteer became. He quickened his pace, rushing to the closed cloakroom door, pushed it open, and quickly disappeared inside.

"What the hell..."

Shen Xing couldn't help but curse under his breath.

Less than ten seconds later, the cloakroom door opened again, and the strong, burly male volunteer nicknamed "Big Monster" walked out.

He spread his hands, a look of confusion on his face. "There's no one in there! Why did you tell me not to go in just now?"

Shen Xing was stunned. He immediately recalled that after he came out and met "Big Monster," there was a period when his line of sight wasn't behind him. Could it be...

He immediately looked up at the third floor and said, "This is bad! Come with me quickly!"

The male volunteer was even more bewildered. He watched Shen Xing run quickly to the third floor. Without a word, he quickly followed.

Shen Xing ran all the way to room 307, pressed the doorknob, pushed the door open, and froze.

The male volunteer also trotted up behind Shen Xing and looked into the room, his eyes widening.

Inside room 307, by Lin Feifei's bed, the tall and thin Song Xiaoyu was bent over, her long hair falling on both sides, covering her cheeks. She was staring intently at the person on the bed.

And Feifei at this moment was curled up in her blanket, her body under the blanket visibly trembling.

"Song Xiaoyu!" Shen Xing pushed the door open completely and stepped inside.

Now they had two people, and the male volunteer behind him was broad-shouldered and strong. If it came to a fight, they might not lose.

As soon as the thought arose, there was a thud behind him. He turned to see that the male volunteer had fainted and was lying motionless on the ground.

Shen Xing then noticed that the Mental Antibody progress bar under his eye was rapidly decreasing.

This wasn't because the male volunteer was timid, but because he had likely been mentally influenced by Song Xiaoyu.

The Mental Antibody progress bar quickly dropped from the fifth level to the fourth, and it didn't stop, continuing to decrease.

Shen Xing was out of options. He boldly walked into the room, clenching one fist and grabbing a decorative vase from the table with the other hand. He shouted, "Song Xiaoyu, come here!"

Song Xiaoyu, who had been bent over, slowly straightened up and turned around.

What met Shen Xing's eyes was a smiling face. But upon closer inspection, the smile on this face was very fake, as if it were solidified with glue, showing no trace of naturalness.

Song Xiaoyu stared at Shen Xing without blinking, no longer looking at Feifei hiding in the covers. She took a step forward.

Shen Xing warily gripped the mouth of the vase, ready to throw it at any moment. Seeing Song Xiaoyu approach, he immediately moved a few steps to the side.

Song Xiaoyu, without even looking at him, walked to the room door, stepped over the male volunteer lying on the ground, and went down the corridor.

As she passed by Shen Xing, he noticed that under the hair spread over her shoulders, a large amount of her skin had formed wrinkles, like a wet rag being wrung out tightly.

The sound of footsteps gradually faded.

He came back to his senses. If the skin on her neck was in this state, did it mean that Song Xiaoyu's head had been twisted 180 degrees?

But if you only looked at her face, she seemed no different from a normal person.

Putting the thought aside for now, Shen Xing came to the bed and gently lifted the covers. "Feifei, don't be afraid. It's Uncle Shen."

Feifei, under the covers, was curled up, her face pale, tears streaming down her cheeks.

She was startled at first, then sat up and hugged Shen Xing tightly.

"Uncle Shen, she... she came, she's here again!"

"I know. I just chased her away. It's okay, it's okay, don't be afraid!"

As Shen Xing comforted her, he glanced at the door. The male volunteer lying on the ground seemed to be slowly waking up.

Just then, Shen Xing felt an itch on the back of his scalp. He instinctively reached up and scratched it a few times.

After waking up, the fainted male volunteer immediately remembered what had happened. He looked up and saw that Shen Xing and Feifei were fine, and Song Xiaoyu was nowhere to be seen.

Shen Xing said, "She's already gone downstairs, but don't chase after her. Song Xiaoyu is not herself right now."

The male volunteer was filled with lingering fear and stammered, "She... what was she... doing?"

"I'll call the police," Shen Xing said, not answering him. Instead, he took out his phone and called Li Naijing, telling her what had happened at the orphanage.

Li Naijing happened to be with Zheng Ruijun, the head of the investigation team, and they weren't handling any other cases. After confirming the details of the incident with Shen Xing multiple times, she agreed to arrange for it to be handled immediately and told Shen Xing to wait for further notice.

The male volunteer nicknamed "Big Monster" walked up to Feifei and said with some regret, "Feifei, are you okay?"

Feifei shook her head.

"I don't know what happened just now, I suddenly blacked out. This has never happened before. Thank goodness Uncle Shen was here, otherwise, who knows what that woman Song Xiaoyu would have done to you!" the male volunteer muttered.

Shen Xing could tell he was feeling somewhat self-reproachful.

After offering some comfort, the male volunteer ran off to report the situation to the orphanage's upper management. However, he was unaware that Song Xiaoyu had become something neither ghost nor human, merely stating that the woman's mental state seemed unstable and that she appeared to pose a threat to the children in the orphanage.

The orphanage leadership was also shocked and immediately organized staff to search the grounds, though they found no trace of Song Xiaoyu for the time being.

Before long, three police officers arrived. Shen Xing glanced out from the upstairs window; all three were wearing police uniforms, suggesting they were ordinary officers, whereas the actual officers from the Special Case Investigation Unit would not wear uniforms.

By this time, the other orphans had finished their lessons, and the sounds of footsteps and chatter gradually began to fill the building.

Soon after, the door to room 307 was pushed open, and the children who shared this room began to return one by one.

Upon seeing Shen Xing, these children cast surprised glances his way, but they seemed rather timid and none of them approached him to initiate a conversation.

The three police officers entered room 307 to look around for a moment and spoke with Shen Xing for a few minutes, primarily asking about what Song Xiaoyu had been wearing. Afterward, they joined the staff's search party, combing through the orphanage from top to bottom.

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