Chapter 16 Who Am I 15

Mom forced a smile and said, "How could Mom and Dad not love you? Look, these are all your favorite dishes!"

"You just don't love me! You don't even know I can't eat sugar! I'm going to get cavities. I clearly can't eat sugar, so if you loved me, why would you make so many dishes I can't eat!"

Lin Xiangjun stood up and ran back to her room while wailing.

As she expected, Mom and Dad just sat at the dining table with ashen faces, but they didn't come to grab her.

She guessed right.

The residential area rules were equally binding for humans and the eerie. Lin Xiangjun had previously deduced from the family rules and the note Patrick Star found that she was currently a child in the third or fourth grade.

Children shouldn't eat too much sugar as they easily get cavities. If they truly loved the child, making one or two such dishes would suffice. Making a whole table of them—were they afraid the child's teeth wouldn't rot completely?

Players were bound by rules and couldn't act unloving toward their parents. Similarly, the Eerie Parents couldn't act unloving toward their child. This was the way out the instance left for players.

Just like before, when the parents asked the child to turn on the light, the child could make an excuse about having wet hands and risking electrocution, or having an injured hand, to avoid doing it.

No instance was a dead end. Even without any items, one could still clear it by using their brain and thinking.

Lin Xiangjun ran back to her room and closed the door.

"Master," Wang Min said, pulling Patrick Star to sit on the bed.

Patrick Star had finished evolving. His pointed head no longer pulsed, and he seemed a bit more agile. He would even look toward Lin Xiangjun when Wang Min spoke.

A faint layer of pink also covered its body, making it look even more like Patrick Star.

The room wasn't large to begin with, and now with three people sitting in it—one being extra-large—it was even more cramped. It looked like even turning around would be a struggle.

Lin Xiangjun asked, "I remember paper figures can be retracted?"

Wang Min said, "Retracting a paper figure requires an item called a paper doll collection album. You can buy it on the Forbidden APP. It provides a space for us to live in."

Oh, a Poké Ball.

Lin Xiangjun opened the Forbidden APP and directly purchased the most expensive paper doll collection album.

[Advanced Paper Figure Collection Album: Capable of storing 50 paper figures and providing automatic feeding services to ensure every paper figure remains in top health. Watch over your collection album; losing it means losing all your paper figures at once. Be careful not to fall back into poverty overnight.]

[Price: 5,000 underworld currency.]

Not cheap at all.

Lin Xiangjun clicked purchase without a second thought. The next second, a palm-sized book-like object landed in her hand.

Lin Xiangjun flipped it open curiously. It was a bit like the 3D greeting cards common online. Once opened, a two-story villa with a garden appeared before her.

Wang Min pressed Patrick Star's hand onto the album.

In the next second, Patrick Star's figure vanished from the spot, and a star-shaped, pale pink silhouette appeared in the sky garden on the villa's second floor.

Lin Xiangjun watched in awe.

"Aren't you going in?"

Wang Min shook her head. "I will keep watch for Master. This instance is unsafe, and there might be danger at night."

Lin Xiangjun didn't force her to go in. A hardworking employee was a good thing for a boss.

Just as she tucked the album back into her pocket, a knock sounded at the door.

Outside the door was Mom's ingratiating voice: "Sweet daughter, Mom was too busy and muddled today, which is why I made that mistake. Mom loves you! Please don't be mad at Mom, okay?"

Lin Xiangjun deliberately acted angry. "If you love me, you must remember who my best friend is, right? If you can answer that, I won't be mad at you."

"Of course Mom knows. You're best friends with Xiao Hua from kindergarten, right?"

"No!" Lin Xiangjun grew even angrier. She pitched her voice high, mimicking a child's tantrum. "You don't love me at all! You don't even know who my best friend is!"

The eerie being at the door paced anxiously. She wanted nothing more than to drag Lin Xiangjun out and give her a beating, but since the girl hadn't broken any rules, she could only ask patiently, "Sorry, sweet daughter. Can you give Mom a hint? You have so many friends, Mom can't recall for a moment."

"Fine, I'll give you a hint. They live upstairs."

The voice at the door suddenly stopped. The eerie being fell silent and spoke no more.

Lin Xiangjun knew she had guessed right again. The person living in 604 upstairs was likely the ■■ mentioned on the note and a key figure in this instance.

Thus, even at the risk of violating the rules, the eerie being was unwilling to reveal this clue.

Think you have a choice?

Lin Xiangjun snorted inwardly, and her wailing grew even louder. "You just don't love me! You don't even know who my friend is! You don't love me! Waaah, you don't love me at all!"

"Stop crying!" Fearing she would be punished if Lin Xiangjun continued, Mom gritted her teeth and coaxed, "Of course Mom knows! The child from 604 is your best friend!"

"Then what's his name? Do you know his name?"

"Of course I know. His name is Qin Jianyuan. He's your classmate!"

Qin Jianyuan.

Having obtained the information she wanted, Lin Xiangjun immediately stopped crying. "I knew Mom loved me. I forgive you, Mom."

Mom finally breathed a sigh of relief.

She cast a dark look at the door before turning to leave.

Night.

Wang Min moved a chair and sat by the head of the bed.

As a paper figure, she didn't need rest as long as there was underworld currency, so she simply sat and kept watch.

Lin Xiangjun was initially worried about that never-before-seen "friend" and searched the entire room but couldn't find that eerie being. It was already eleven o'clock, and the residential area rules stated that no noise could be made after eleven. She didn't dare continue searching and could only go to sleep.

2:00 AM.

A sudden knock sounded at the door.

"Sweet daughter, sweet daughter, are you asleep?"

The knocking turned into pounding.

"Sweet daughter! Sweet daughter!"

"Wake up, don't sleep. Didn't you say you wanted a cat before?"

"The mother cat downstairs had a litter of kittens. Let's go adopt one!"

"Sweet daughter, sweet daughter! Qin Jianyuan said he'd take you to feed the stray cats! A kitten downstairs is injured; if we don't hurry, it's going to die!"

From outside the window, the sounds of cats meowing indeed rose and fell.

Shrill, sharp, and hoarse—they didn't sound like kittens, but like a dying old cat letting out desperate wails.

Lin Xiangjun had long been awake. She stared at the ceiling with open eyes, saying nothing, only gesturing for Wang Min to look outside.

The rules stated that no noise could be made. Lin Xiangjun wasn't sure of the definition of "noise," so to be safe, it was best not to make any sound at all.

Wang Min nodded and walked to the window.

The sound of a paper figure walking was practically non-existent; it couldn't be heard even in an extremely quiet environment, let alone now with the Eerie Parents pounding so loudly on the door.

She lifted the curtain for a peek, then quickly pulled it shut, turned around, and shook her head frantically at Lin Xiangjun.

It was as if she had seen a ghost.

...Wait, she was already a ghost.

What could make a ghost this terrified?