Looking at the bowl with a few chipped edges, which contained half a bowl of braised radish and potatoes, Lin Dong smiled and shook his head, refusing.
No. 3 then started eating again.
Lin Dong sized up the children. No. 3 looked to be about 10 years old, surprisingly the oldest among them.
There were a total of 4 boys and 3 girls.
The other children were quite young; the smallest one looked only 3 or 4 years old, a very cute little girl with messy pigtails and round, wide eyes that stared timidly at Lin Dong, holding her bowl tightly as if afraid it would be snatched away.
Chen Tianxin walked over with a chuckle, “Thank you, Mr. Lin, for your wonderful item last night. Since the snow started, last night was the most comfortable night the children have had.”
“Children, hurry up and thank Uncle Lin!”
No. 3 led the way, saying, “Thank you, Uncle Lin!”
The other children followed suit, expressing their gratitude.
Lin Dong acted without pretense, slowly getting to know them, and quickly memorized their numbers.
After breakfast, the children busied themselves; some swept the floor, some folded quilts, and No. 3 was responsible for teaching the youngest, No. 49, how to read and write. They were all frighteningly well-behaved.
Chen Tianxin sat beside Lin Dong and smiled, “Please forgive me, Mr. Lin. With the rain and snow outside, the children must do something to pass the time.”
“Fortunately, before the snow, kind-hearted people donated a large amount of rice, flour, cooking oil, and vegetables, allowing us to hold on for so long.”
“The only problem now is that our water supply is running low!”
Lin Dong did not intend to reveal that he possessed infinite supplies, so he changed the subject, “By the way, Director Chen, did any of the children who died here previously come into contact with Poison Snow? Where are their bodies?”
Chen Tianxin asked, puzzled, “Yes, some were poisoned by Poison Snow. Why do you ask, Mr. Lin?”
“Oh, it’s just a reminder. If they were contaminated by Poison Snow, it’s best to destroy the bodies. Otherwise, if the temperature rises someday, there will be trouble!”
“Really? What kind of trouble?” Chen Tianxin shot up, his old eyes filled with disbelief.
Lin Dong rubbed his nose, “Zombies!”
“Zom…bies?” Chen Tianxin’s old face instantly turned pale.
“To be honest, Mr. Lin, the bodies of those who froze to death and were poisoned these past few days have all been placed by me in the basement. I’ll go deal with them now. They… sigh….”
“Poor children!”
Lin Dong narrowed his eyes, “Do you need help?”
Chen Tianxin shook his head, “No, thank you. I am their director, and their grandfather. I’d rather send them off myself.”
With that, he left, tears streaming down his face. The door leading to the basement was tightly locked, with a “No Entry” sign posted on it.
Lin Dong, having nothing to do, chatted idly with the children.
“Little sister No. 49, who is your favorite person?”
No. 49 tilted her head, thought for a moment, and her eyes reddened, “My favorite is Number 9, but… but she froze to death~”
No. 3 sighed from the side, “Before, in the orphanage, besides me, Number 9 was the oldest. She was very good to her younger siblings and always hugged No. 49 when she slept at night.”
No. 49 cried, “The morning before yesterday, I woke up and didn’t see Number 9 anymore. The director said she froze to death. It must have been because I snatched her blanket at night, so… so, boo hoo hoo hoo~”
“She froze to death?” Lin Dong narrowed his eyes, “So, you didn’t see her body?”
No. 3 tilted his head, “I didn’t see him.”
The other children all indicated that they had not seen Number 9’s body.
“Is that so?” Lin Dong stroked his chin, then handed each of them a lollipop.
The children cheered, eagerly unwrapped and tasted them, revealing bright smiles.
Only No. 3 didn’t eat his, carefully tucking the lollipop into his pocket.
As Chen Tianxin entered the hallway, his kind and benevolent expression instantly turned to panic, and his hunched back straightened as he rushed towards the basement.
Here, more than a dozen icy cold bodies were stacked, some children, some adults.
Without exception, all these bodies had been harmed by Poison Snow.
Ignoring the bodies, Chen Tianxin went straight to a wall, looked back to make sure no one was there, and then carefully pushed open a secret door.
Beneath the secret door was a passage leading deep underground.
Carrying a kerosene lamp, Chen Tianxin walked for a long time before reaching the bottom.
Unlike the surface, it was still cold here, but only around 0 degrees Celsius, making the temperature seem quite pleasant by comparison.
At the bottom of the secret passage, there was an iron cage, and inside the cage was a mysterious dark figure.
The sudden appearance of light startled the dark figure, who abruptly opened his glowing eyes and looked at Chen Tianxin.
“Roar!!!!”
The sound was loud, but it was muffled by the thick layer of earth.
Chen Tianxin was so startled that he fell to the ground, letting out a long breath, “Fortunately… fortunately, I thought you had escaped.”
Under the illumination of the kerosene lamp, the full extent of the iron cage slowly became visible.
It was a person, but his eyes glowed with a faint green light, his face was ferocious and contorted in a snarl, and not a single patch of his skin was intact, revealing rotting flesh.
Huge iron chains bound him, clanking loudly with every movement.
White bones were scattered around the cage, and blood had long since pooled into a crimson pond, reaching up to the ankles. From the bones visible in the blood pool, it was clear that the owners of these bones were not old.
Outside the iron cage, five bronze censers were arranged in a five-pointed star shape, with incense burning inside, now almost completely consumed.
On the walls, a circle of blood-red inscriptions was painted, their meaning unknown.
Taking out new sandalwood incense from his embrace, Chen Tianxin carefully refilled all the censers, then looked at the cage with soft eyes, “Son, just hold on a little longer. In one more day, you’ll be able to come back to life.”
“Roar!!!!”
Chen Tianxin wiped away his tears and showed a doting smile, “Be good, son. Are you hungry?”
“Sigh, I could have brought No. 3 for you to eat today, but a young man suddenly arrived last night. If he finds out, he might hinder your resurrection ritual.”
“Don’t be afraid, Dad still has some pork here. Have some to tide you over!”
With that, he took out two taels of frozen pork from his embrace and threw it in.
The monstrous dark figure immediately grabbed the pork and stuffed it into his mouth, but after two bites, he spat it out and roared angrily at Chen Tianxin again.
Clearly, he only wanted to eat living people.
Chen Tianxin looked troubled, “Sigh~ Then I’ll think of another way. Don’t rush, son, don’t rush!”
“Dad will never let you go hungry!”
With that, he left, wiping his tears.
The underground passage plunged back into darkness, with only the tiny sparks of the sandalwood incense remaining.
At the same time, outside the orphanage, a man and a woman unexpectedly appeared.
The man was very handsome, and the girl was very beautiful. They should have been an enviable pair, but at this moment, their state was somewhat unusual.
The girl was dripping with sweat, supporting a wooden board with one hand, while the man lay on her back with empty eyes, as if he had lost his soul.
“Huff~ huff~ Xia Beichen, there’s a house ahead. Let’s go in and rest.”
The man did not answer, and the girl seemed to know he wouldn’t respond. She struggled to carry him and walked inside.