The target of hatred

The moving hair became motionless.

They densely covered the walls and the ground as if some kind of shadow.

In the dead silence, under the hood of the dark and heavy pressure, the passage of time seemed to have lost its meaning.

Wen Jianyan stood in his place, sweat was oozing from his forehead and palms, and the comb lying in his palm became wet.

He was at a loss.

But… the guess should be right.

After all, this hidden item was dug out from the secret compartment of the old witch's cabinet from the very beginning.

At that time, he was very puzzled. After all, the things hidden in the cabinet looked ordinary and could even be regarded as garbage, but they were deeply hidden in the most concealed place by the owner.

"If you don't obey the rules, you will be punished."

In the canteen, the anchor was choked by the hair because of this.

That meant, this ghost was punishing the students according to the old witch's rules, in short, it was helping her.

It was almost like… a child with a lack of self-awareness, unconditionally attached and obedient to his mother.

The comb hidden in the cabinet, the hair in the sink, the familiar humming, the corresponding lyrics, and the canteen auntie's hesitation when talking about Teacher Yang.

These broken clues were strung together in his mind, and an incomplete idea gradually took shape.

In the end, Wen Jianyan made up his mind, turned around, and went straight to the first floor.

Whether this was a way to save his life or not could only be a gamble.

After an unknown amount of time, the hair finally started moving again.

The dark, thick layer of hair slowly shrank back, thinning and shortening little by little, gradually revealing the pale limbs hidden in the middle.

The little girl was on all fours, her joints twisted strangely in all directions. She raised her neck, and a small pale face was revealed. Her facial features were blurred as if they were made from molten wax, and she fixed her gaze ahead with her pitch-black eye sockets.

"Mom…mom…?"

She repeated these words blankly, her voice full of doubt and unfamiliarity.

There was only one problem.

Based on the opponent's current behavior, the odds of winning were 50%.

Therefore, he did not hesitate to seize this precious opportunity in front of him.

"Xiao Jie…"

The young man's voice was deliberately suppressed, with a bit of feminine softness in addition to the roughness. The words and pauses were all subtly similar to Teacher Yang, and the choked sob was just right and skillfully concealed the sense of incongruity. Even the audience in the live broadcast room couldn't help but feel a little dazed after listening:

"Don't you remember your mother?"

The little girl repeated in confusion: "Remember…?"

She tilted her head and faced Wen Jianyan with her blurred facial features as if trying to remember.

Wen Jianyan waited without saying a word.

His heart was beating wildly in his ears, his fingers were slightly numb because of the excessive tension, and his back was wet and sticky, bringing a biting chill when the cold wind blew. And under the pressure, his legs trembled a little.

However, from his expression, he looked calm as usual.

"Xiao…Jie…?"

The little girl recalled blankly.

Taking advantage of this gap, Wen Jianyan quickly cast a glance at the upper right corner.

Health was full, but sanity was only half left.

This place was too narrow, if the other party launched an attack now, he would have no way to escape.

However, there were only four minutes left in the chase battle, and even if the opponent didn't recall anything, as long as he delayed for three minutes, he would be able to clear the level.

Hold on tight, just hold on.

At this moment, a "ding" sound came suddenly beside his ear:

[Congratulations to the anchor for accurately locating the key props, the special plotline in the hidden task has been unlocked!]

Wen Jianyan was startled.

…what?

The barrage in the live broadcast room was full of commotion:

[!!! Special plotline!! He actually opened a special plotline!]

[Has anyone seen it before? Tell me, has Decai Middle School opened this plotline before?]

[In the history of this instance, the highest unlocking progress is 72%, and it is unlikely that this special plotline has been opened.]

[I declare that he is the strongest newcomer in my heart!!!]

[Is this really not a vest? How could this not be a vest?! If this anchor is really a newcomer, I will stand upside down!]

The mechanical voice continued beside Wen Jianyan's ears:

[Now the special live broadcast task is being assigned to you: Sing while combing Xiao Jie's hair.

After starting the task, the timing of your chase battle will be suspended. It will end automatically after completing the special mission.]

Then the countdown in the upper right corner stopped immediately, and the four numbers in 03:15 appeared very bright and irksome.

"….."

Wen Jianyan's face stiffened.

He stood on the spot with no expression on his face, then he looked down, and his line of sight slowly landed on the broken-tooth comb in his palm.

I'm really so stupid.

I only knew that this comb was a prop to prove my identity and awaken the other party's memory, but I didn't expect that this would trigger a special mission in the live broadcast room.

Wen Jianyan took a deep breath and bit his back molars fiercely.

Forgot it.

Anyway, if you ride a tiger, it's hard to get off[1]; so let's just give medicine to a dead horse[2].

He took a step forward, pulled the chair in front of the table away slowly and cautiously, then reached out to Xiao Jie not far away, and said in a very gentle tone, "Come."

Xiao Jie tilted her head, and the confusion on her blurred face deepened.

"Look, your hair is all messed up, I'll brush it for you again."

The other party still didn't move.

"Be obedient." Wen Jianyan lowered his voice a little, imitating the imposing style of the old witch.

Xiao Jie hesitated for two seconds, and finally crawled in Wen Jianyan's direction.

The pale thin arms climbed onto the wooden chair, and the twisted body sat on it little by little. She faced the dusty mirror, her thick and long jet-black hair fell and spread out on the ground.

Wen Jianyan raised his hand and brushed it down the other party's hair.

The moment it touched the top of the girl's head, a sharp pain suddenly came from the fingertips, and the strands of hair squirmed as if alive.

Wen Jianyan's heart trembled, and he began to feel dizzy.

A horrific feeling suddenly struck, as if the surrounding gaps were filled with peeping eyes, casting malicious gazes from all directions.

The instinct to run away in danger was screaming, and at that moment, every cell in his body was shouting:

Throw away the comb! Get out and run!

Hurry up! Hurry up! Otherwise, it will be too late!

…Calm down!

Wen Jianyan bit the tip of his tongue fiercely, forcing his body that wanted to escape to stay in place.

He glanced at the upper right corner.

Both health and sanity had been gnawed down together, and the color of the blood bar had also changed from green to yellow; the sanity was even more dangerous and had already turned orange.

He slowly took a deep breath and sang:

"Little little red comb, comb your hair before the mirror."

Xiao Jie seemed to have no idea what was going on behind her.

She sat on the chair with her back to Wen Jianyan, gently swaying her deathly pale calves, and hummed the tune somewhat sluggishly.

Wen Jianyan didn't know if it was his illusion, but the facial features on her small face reflected in the mirror seemed to be much clearer than before.

The comb brushed to the bottom.

"I… remember."

Xiao Jie spoke suddenly, and said slowly with some difficulty:

"Mom, although she is very strict and sometimes gets angry, which is scary, she is very gentle to me and will sing while combing my hair, and will make a nice braid for me."

"With one brush, may you be blessed with intelligence and beauty."

The brush slid down the hair.

The little girl's speech was incoherent, with a bit of dullness and clumsiness that didn't match her age.

"I'm stupid and can't go out. If I go out, I'll meet bad people and Mom can't always protect me."

The hot red blood seeped out, dyeing the comb with broken teeth red, turning it into a shiny, brand-new rosy color.

"With the second, may happiness never be far from you."

After the second brush, the mirror reflected the little girl's gradually clear facial features, and the hair that had grown to the ground was now shortened to the waist.

"Mom, I'm sorry."

"I should have listened to you about not eavesdropping on other people's conversations, and I, I shouldn't have sneaked out of the room at night."

Xiao Jie sobbed, raised her pale little hands, and wiped them randomly: " Mom, I'm sorry. I, I just wanted to… I was afraid they really made a wish to take you away…"

"With the third, may you be pleased and satisfied."

One last stroke.

The comb was slowly combed down, and the speed at which the blood bars fell finally slowed down. At the end of the sanity bar, there was only a little amount left, and it was about to be used up before stopping.

The girl's hair no longer wriggled, it became docile and smooth, as black as ink, almost no different from normal people's long hair.

Xiao Jie raised her eyes while sobbing, and looked at Wen Jianyan in the mirror. She whimpered with tears in her eyes:

"I make a wish to help my mother."

"Those adults say that I am your burden. Because of me, you have to… you have to work so hard, and you're so fierce to others."

"I don't want to be a burden, I want to protect my mother."

"With my help, will my mother be a little relaxed? Not as tired as before, right?"

"….."

Wen Jianyan was silent.

He turned around and picked up the faded and dull hair tie from the hidden grid behind him. His blood-stained fingers seemed to have not been affected by the wound at all. He smoothly gathered the long hair behind Xiaojie's head and skillfully braided her braids with a bow at the end.

Exactly as in the photo.

After doing all this, he gave a soft "um".

As if hearing a satisfactory answer, Xiao Jie burst into tears.

She clapped her hands happily: "That's great, I was helpful…"

In the mirror, the little girl's figure became a little bit lighter, and he could only vaguely see that happy and cheerful smile.

The girl with pigtails sniffed her nose, raised her hand carefully and grabbed Wen Jianyan's sleeve, and said with incomparable nostalgia,

"Mom, I miss you too."

With that, her figure became transparent little by little until it finally disappeared.

Only the girl's last sentence was left fluttering and dissipating in the air.

Wen Jianyan looked at the empty duty room, his eyelashes drooping slightly, but there was no expression on his face.

He turned around and picked up the picture from the hidden compartment of the drawer.

In the photo, a mother and daughter, one big and one small were standing in the amusement park, smiling happily at the camera.

At this moment, a prompt sounded in his ear:

[Ding! Your chase battle has been automatically cleared, and the hidden task is completed!]

The moment the words fell, Wen Jianyan felt dizzy for a while, and the next second, when he opened his eyes again, he found that he had returned to the door of the canteen.

The riots in the canteen continued, and the sound of the system rang in the ears.

[Ding! For completing the special task of the live broadcast and unlocking the special plotline: Reward points: 5000]

[The reward of the live broadcast task is being calculated for you:

Instance Exploration Degree: 50%, Reward points: 5000

At this stage, the Degree of Modification: 62%, Reward points: 20000]

[Remaining points in the account: 30900]

[Wow, congratulations on becoming the richest anchor in the entire instance!

Unlock achievement: With all due respect, everyone here is a poor ghost.]

Wen Jianyan was still poor just now, but now he had suddenly become the richest anchor with the most points in the entire instance. He was feeling a little dizzy by this news.

In addition to the surprise, Wen Jianyan was a little uneasy.

There won't be any traps here, right…?

[It's detected that the points in the host's account are greater than 1000, and the system store is being unlocked for you…]

[Do you want to open the system store?]

Wen Jianyan calmed down: "Open."

The store interface of the E-level anchor unfolded in front of him. The store interfaces of the other levels were all grey and weren't unlocked yet. Wen Jianyan tried to click on them, and although other interfaces could be opened, all the products and points in it were in the "???" status.

However, at the top of the interface of the most advanced S-class anchor store, a dazzling golden coupon was displayed.

"Soul Contract termination letter".

The exchange method below was still locked.

Wen Jianyan's eyes stayed on the golden coupon for a few seconds and then he switched back to the store interface of his E-level anchor store.

Although only a limited area had been opened, the variety of goods here was still very wide.

"Concealment Robe: Won't be found by any monsters or ghosts for a minute", "Substitute Puppet: Create a puppet with your smell for one minute", "Hand of Guidance: Show you the location of a hidden object (level limit: Ordinary)", "Book of contracts", "Amulet"… and so on.

The efficacy of the notes below each prop was eye-catching.

Wen Jianyan's eyes swept across the price list, and his eyes suddenly darkened:

"..."

Oh God! You need at least 5,000 points for any life-saving prop!

Isn't that a rip-off!

He could finally see through the face of the profiteer in this live broadcast room!

Wen Jianyan closed the system store with a blank face.

He redeemed three and a half hours of survival time and then deposited the remaining 9,900 points into his account.

There must be a reason to give so many life-saving props in the system store.

Wen Jianyan was keenly aware of the danger signs. Therefore, he didn't use up all the points this time.

Just as the interface was about to close, his line of sight inadvertently swept across the upper right corner again.

Wen Jianyan was startled.

This time it was definitely not his illusion. There was a little green in the center of the flowerpot icon, which was particularly conspicuous under the grey background.

…it sprouted?

He reached out and poked the icon.

A line of text popped up.

[Product Name: Apple Seedling]

Wen Jianyan: "..."

I already know this, thank you.

He wasn't sure what he had done to cause the apple seedling to germinate. After all, he rarely turned on the live broadcast interface, let alone used the extra points to irrigate and fertilize it.

However, based on the nature of this live broadcast room, Wen Jianyan dared to conclude that the growth of this apple seedling absolutely had nothing to do with the passage of time.

As for its function, it was even more unknown.

So for the time being, he could only continue to wait and see.

Soon, the turmoil in the canteen finally subsided.

The anchors sat back in their seats with trepidation. This time, no one dared to dislike the swill-like food. All the anchors looked disheveled as they ate everything in the bowl with difficulty.

After washing the rice bowl and putting it back in place, the anchors returned to the door of the dormitory building before 9:30.

"Clang―"

The frantic rummaging sound sounded from the duty room.

All the drawers were hurriedly pulled open one by one, and the wardrobe door was slammed open; mattresses, sheets, and pillows were all scattered on the ground, and there was a mess everywhere.

The anchors looked at each other in panic, standing at the door of the dormitory building and daring not to move forward.

Until the door of the duty room was slammed open with a "bang", the tall figure of the old witch appeared inside the door.

Everyone was terrified.

The old witch's hair was disheveled, her eyes were bloodshot, and her expression was crazy and furious. Her twisted face was bulging with blue veins, and she looked like a ghost. She gritted her teeth and stared at the anchors standing at the door:

"…Have any of you entered my room?"

The woman's terrifying eyes swept over the anchors' bodies, and the madness exuded from her body was frightening:

"There was a small red cloth bag, who took it away?"

"No, No."

"No!"

The anchors shook their heads in panic, afraid of being targeted by the other party.

"A thief…"

The old witch's teeth clenched tightly: "There is a thief among you…"

A neurotic chuckle came out of her throat: "If I catch him, I will make him pay the price for his actions—"

Suddenly, the old witch seemed to remember something.

The woman stared and looked around the room with frantic eyes: "Where's Xiao Wen? Where's the trainee teacher? Who among you saw him?"

The anchors huddled together in a panic, shaking their heads together.

Kong Shixing said boldly, "I saw him when I was in the canteen. Later, he followed the canteen aunt who served us the food to the back kitchen, and then I never saw him again."

The old witch's eyes fell on Kong Shixing's body. Those turbid and protruding eyes did not blink, as if thinking about the authenticity of the other party's words.

Finally, the skin on her face twitched:

"I'm going out, you are not allowed to go out of the dormitory building. Turn off the lights at 10 p.m. I will come back to check after the lights are turned off. If I see any of you outside your room, you'll have good fruits to eat."

After speaking, the old witch turned around and walked out without looking back.

The anchors stood there in shock.

"What's the matter…? That NPC's stuff was stolen?"

"It seems like this…"

"Who stole it? A player or an NPC?"

The whispering voices sounded in front of the door of the dormitory.

Kong Shixing and his two teammates stood aside, and the three discussed in a low voice.

"That NPC named Xiao Wen is very suspicious."

"Indeed." Kong Shixing showed a thoughtful expression: "And what he took away might be a very important prop. In short, we will also have to look for the NPC within the scope of our ability to see if we can get the props from him. And if it doesn't help, we can tell that crazy woman about his whereabouts, maybe it will give us a chance."

"Anyway, let's go back to the dormitory for now. The identity card has not been fully unlocked yet."

All the players walked towards the dormitory building and soon disappeared.

The air fell into a dead silence.

In the shadowy corner outside the dormitory building, the young man bent down, quietly stuck out half of his head, and looked around cautiously.

Great, no one.

Wen Jianyan walked out of the corner lightly and breathed a long sigh of relief.

Fortunately, he turned his mind quickly just now. When he came back, he saw the abnormality in the duty room, so he quickly hid.

If he had got caught on the spot, who knew what would've happened!

At this moment, the familiar mechanical sound came again:

[Ding, it is detected that the plot modification has reached the threshold, and the instance is undergoing uncontrollable changes!]

[The new plot is opening…]

[NPC teacher Yang's alienation countdown: 00:30:00]

[The target of hatred: Xiao Wen]

Wen Jianyan: "..."

The barrage in the 789326qwk live broadcast room was flooding with "hahaha".

[Hahahahahahaha hatred, lmao.]

[Hahahahahaha, the car is overturned.]

[I don't understand, there was an anchor who took this prop in the "Decai Middle School" before, but I haven't seen such a big reaction from the old witch at that time!]

[Because the plot modification is too high.]

[Speaking of which, I have seen this instance quite a few times, but I really have never heard of this plot… ]

[!!! D@mn! New plotline! Shocking!]

[If the anchor can really pass this new plotline, he will probably make a profit.]

[Hehe, can you say that once more? I think the anchor is going to be finished. Wanted by NPC and other anchors together, he's 100% finished!]

At the same time, the sign outside the live broadcast hall changed again.

[Decai Middle School]

Instance Difficulty Level: D

The Highest Unlocking Progress in History: 72%

Viewing value: D+

The difficulty level was raised to D+.

The viewing value flickered, slowly changing from D+ to C.

In the live broadcast square, under the watchful eyes of everyone, the quick entrance to the instance "Decai Middle School" jumped up again and entered the first page of the recommended list.

Outside audience: ? ? ?

What was going on?

What the hell happened in this low-difficulty simple instance!