And this is precisely the second reason for the grumbling.
"Hmm... wooden, so rudimentary. It looks like the government didn't allocate much funding when it was built," he thought. Then he leaned in, sniffed, and even licked it. Satisfied, he smacked his lips.
A shiver ran through everyone...
At that moment, Chen Xiao turned around and saw the three people still standing in place, looking like zoo visitors watching a gorilla. He flashed what he believed to be a friendly smile.
"Hey, come on over, we're going in!" he said with enthusiasm.
The three were startled, then couldn't help but furrow their brows. That smile was indeed a bit hard to accept.
...
Pushing open the grand doors, the four of them stepped inside. As everyone had imagined, the interior was very dim. The lingering sunlight from the door barely allowed them to see a hall in front, with a small sign in the center that read "Sunshine Orphanage." Flanking the sign were two staircases leading upwards, and two corridors ran along either side of the hall.
"Let's use mine first!" said the burly man, turning on the flashlight in his hand.
It seemed he did not want to use this opportunity to test which of the other three would waste battery by turning on multiple flashlights at the same time.
"A smart, strong, and confident man," Chen Xiao thought.
Then, Mr. Zou's voice came through the earpiece, "Please, everyone, head directly to the second floor."
"Hmm? There's a problem!" a thought flashed.
Soon, the four reached the second floor, a platform from which they could see the hall on the first floor. The rest of the layout was the same as downstairs.
"Explore every room on the second floor, back facing the stairs, start with the left side, then the right. Remember, don't block the cameras!" Mr. Zou's voice instructed.
"Okay, just like a real haunted house exploration!" Four Eyes muttered. Then he glanced over at Chen Xiao, and their eyes met.
"Hey, I'm Liu Yi!" Four Eyes greeted him proactively.
Chen Xiao chuckled.
"My name is Chen Xiao, as you know," he said, scrutinizing Four Eyes up and down.
"Hmm... just an otaku, huh? Is this kid also a death row inmate?" he wondered.
By then, the four had reached the left corridor on the second floor. One side was a wall, most of the plaster had fallen off, and on the other side were four rooms, likely classrooms. At the end of the corridor was a window, through which the sun's fading light was very dim, barely penetrating the interior. The muscle man, walking at the front, was about to push open the first door when he seemed to suddenly think of something.
"Do you want to take a look first?" he asked Chen Xiao.
Chen Xiao hesitated, "Uh, no need, I've already seen it."
The muscle man frowned slightly and said indifferently, "You can call me Bai Xiong." Then he pushed open the room's door.
"Bai Xiong? Sounds like a nickname of some sort, a soldier? A private mercenary group?" Chen Xiao thought as he crouched and entered the room.
This was indeed a classroom, not big, with tables and chairs haphazardly arranged, as if after school one day, the students never came back. Liu Yi casually pressed a switch on the wall, but the light did not turn on.
Mr. Zou's voice came through: "Everyone, turn on your flashlights, one person per direction. Describe what you see, starting with Chen Xiao, keep it brief."
"Alright, alright." Chen Xiao said lazily, turning on his flashlight as he stood at the teacher's podium.
"A classroom, from the desks and chairs the students appear to be around six or seven years old. The chalk marks on the blackboard are faint, I guess it's not often used. The walls are clean without any scribbles, not even a handprint."
As he spoke, he pointed the flashlight at the podium: "The dust isn't very thick, it's been left here for just over half a year or so. Hm? There are traces of it being touched, someone has been here, approximately three or four days ago."
Then he crouched down, the flashlight aimed at the floor: "Four people, three men and one woman. One man extremely overweight, at least 180 pounds."
With that statement, the other three gathered around.
"Someone has been here?" Liu Yi asked!
But before Chen Xiao could reply, Mr. Zou's voice in the earphone spoke: "Please do not discuss this, return to your positions, describe what you see. Immediately!"
The four weren't fools, they of course knew they weren't the first group to enter Sunshine Orphanage. So what happened to the others who came before them, were they released after completing their contracts? The thought was nice, but reality was probably not so kind.
Soon, the other three had also described what they saw, merely mentioning tables, chairs, and dust. The only thing worth noting was that aside from the dust, the walls and educational facilities were well maintained. Such a scenario in an orphanage where most are of preschool age was indeed rare.
"Alright, now please proceed to the next classroom." the voice in the earpiece said. And the four obediently walked out during which Bai Xiong passed by Chen Xiao and seemed to accidentally bump into him, slipping a very thin stick-like object into his hand.
"Hmm... a pencil! Just found it? That's pretty good." Chen Xiao thought, and very naturally slipped the pencil into his pocket.
...
They pushed open the second door, this classroom was similar to the first, the footprints on the floor were still there, clearly the previous group had been here a few days ago.
Similarly, the four were asked to describe what they saw. Chen Xiao only said a few words, the other three didn't discover anything special, and Mr. Zou didn't say anything either, directing them to the third classroom.
It seemed, the previous group had the same job of observing and describing, so they already knew about this place quite well. So the question was, why were they doing this? If it was just about "knowing the environment here," why not use a remote control drone or something with a camera attached, it would achieve the same result.
That meant, the job had to be done by people, and had to be done by those who wouldn't matter if they died, so staying here definitely posed a life-threatening risk! Monsters? Ghosts? Then why not just blow up the place. Those people outside clearly seemed like they could "casually blow up a building" any time.
Chen Xiao kept thinking like this in his mind, while observing everything he saw and linking them together, meanwhile speaking intentionally evasive descriptions into the earpiece to try to get some information from Mr. Zou's words, and at the same time, watching the other three's every move. At the same time, he still found time to casually stroke his own face, pretending he was really ugly...
Before they knew it, the four had reached the fourth classroom. During the process, Chen Xiao learned that the previous group had come during the day since the curtains in the third classroom had been drawn. That Uncle Jia Renliang kept glancing at him from time to time, still not over something apparently. Bai Xiong secretly slipped a paper into his pocket, the kid always managed to find something. Liu Yi saw a lot but was deliberately hiding it, not speaking out. Mr. Zou seemed like he hadn't slept for three or four days.
Most importantly, he seemed very anxious.
"What's he so anxious about?" Chen Xiao wondered, looking at the dwindling sunlight outside the window "Could it be something happens after dark?"
Just then, Bai Xiong nonchalantly walked past Chen Xiao, slipping him a note...