Chapter 1 He

He seemed to notice something out of the corner of his eye, turning his head to see a character written on the iron door that he had pushed open.

Zero.

Was this the room number?

Jiang Cheng frowned slightly. He seemed to vaguely remember some things, and some scattered images flashed through his mind.

But before he could think about it carefully, he heard a strange rubbing sound.

The sound wasn't loud, as if the person making the sound was being very careful.

He looked up and saw a door in the corridor open, and then a small head peeked out.

"Zero?" A voice came, though very low, it couldn't hide its surprise.

It was a child, a boy.

He couldn't see his face clearly, but he was probably only 5 or 6 years old.

"Zero?" Jiang Cheng thought. "This child seems to think I'm the owner of the room behind me."

He walked over nonchalantly, and could see numbers written on the boy's door as well. It was 4.

The boy from door number 4 first looked around, making sure nothing was amiss. Then, he walked out from behind the door, tiptoeing towards Jiang Cheng, and quickly said, "Zero, why did you sneak out? If the Master finds out, you'll be punished again."

Although he said that, he sounded very happy.

It seemed that the relationship between the two of them... was very good.

"I..." Jiang Cheng wanted to say something to brush it off, but the other party didn't seem to doubt his identity at all. He simply took his hand and walked in another direction.

Along the way, doors on both sides of the corridor kept opening, and behind each door stood a child, tall, short, fat, and thin, boys and girls.

"Zero's out?"

The news spread like wildfire through this dull and cold place, and the children carefully walked out of their rooms.

He noticed that each door had a corresponding number, starting from zero: 1, 2, 3... all the way to 12, and even 13.

There were a total of 14 doors, of which the one he came out of was at the end, while the other 13 doors were distributed on both sides of the cold corridor.

Like guards, they protected the door he had walked out of.

Jiang Cheng stopped in front of a door. Unlike the other doors, this door was already open. He looked inside, and it... was empty.

There was no one there.

"Number 10..." Jiang Cheng remembered the number.

Realizing that Jiang Cheng was looking into the room, the boy who had led him out from door number 4 also stopped, saying enviously, "The Master said number 10 performed the best and had the highest controllability, so he arranged for him to go out and play again."

Hearing this, a girl beside him said angrily, "Hmph! This grandma performs well too, it's just that the Master is biased!" She raised her small fist, looking like she was very powerful.

"Number 8, don't talk nonsense. The Master's orders are never wrong." It sounded awkward to hear such mature words spoken in a childish voice.

Jiang Cheng turned his head and saw a slightly taller boy. He could feel that the boy was also looking at him.

The tall boy seemed to be older than most of the children, and his temperament was also different when he spoke.

Being reprimanded, the girl from door number 8 instantly became unhappy. "Number 3," she said, putting her hands on her hips and glaring at the tall boy. "Don't talk to me in that tone. I don't need anyone to control me!"

"Okay, okay, if you keep arguing, you'll attract the Master," the boy from door number 4 said, trying to scare them. "Then our plan will be ruined."

Hearing what number 4 said, the girl from number 8, who was about to start a big fight, instantly shut up. The other children who were egging her on also seemed to have been doused with cold water, and the situation was immediately brought under control.

It was clear that this person called the Master was the absolute authority here.

Moreover... Jiang Cheng looked at the children around him. These children were not ordinary, otherwise they wouldn't be locked up in this kind of place.

Based on his experience, Jiang Cheng judged that this should be a place like an orphanage.

Because the children were all dressed in similar clothes, uniform blue and white striped checkered outfits. Some had slippers, while others were barefoot.

The ground was a cold cement floor. Normal families wouldn't let their children walk on the ground like this. Only orphans who were unwanted and uncared for would be treated this way.

Obviously, these were all abandoned children.

"Hurry up, don't daydream," the boy from number 4 urged. "Let's go to the old place."

After saying that, the group seemed to receive an order and immediately lined up, heading in one direction. They walked very carefully, their footsteps very light. After turning a few corners, they continued to walk up the stairs.

Finally, they turned into a small and secluded room, at the end of a corridor corner.

The room was empty, but it had a rare small window, without glass, only a few severely rusted iron bars running across it.

The outside wind blew in, bringing a hint of warmth.

As soon as they entered the room, the group of children turned around and closed the door as if they were guilty of something. Then they crowded around the narrow window, looking outside.

The taller, older children could barely restrain themselves, but the smaller children desperately squeezed to the front, clinging to the window, staring intently outside without blinking.

Jiang Cheng had only seen similar scenes at the zoo, with the small animals waiting to be fed, but... it felt different.

Time passed by, and just as Jiang Cheng was getting impatient, the children suddenly burst into cheers, then turned and ran out the door.

Jiang Cheng was jostled and staggered, standing there in a daze. After a moment, he walked to the empty window and looked outside, and a figure entered his field of vision.

It was also a child, wearing the same clothes as the other children, slightly chubby, with a gray bag on his back.

Jiang Cheng immediately confirmed the identity of the person: it should be the child from the empty door number 10.

It seemed that the children were waiting for him.

Curious, Jiang Cheng turned and walked out the door.

Seeing number 10 for the first time, Jiang Cheng was shocked by the scene. He could feel that number 10 was relatively popular among the children, but he didn't expect it to be like this.

The fierce girl from number 8 directly pounced on number 10, hanging on him like a koala. "Wow! Number 10, you're finally back!"

"Hehe, number 8 is the best. Guess what gift I brought you!" Number 10 put down the bag on his back, squatted down and supported the girl with his hand, afraid of crushing her.

Then, in the expectant eyes of the girl from number 8, he smiled and took out a small thing from the bag. "Look!"

It was a small hammer, no bigger than a key chain. In some small commodity supermarkets, it probably wouldn't even cost 10 yuan.

"It's... a hammer!" The girl from number 8 grabbed it and said excitedly.

Although he couldn't see their faces clearly, and everything in this world seemed to be covered in a layer of fog, Jiang Cheng could feel the excited light in the girl's eyes.

Then, number 10, like Santa Claus, took out one cheap little thing after another from the broken bag, smiling and giving them to each child.

With each gift, there was a burst of cheers from the crowd. Everyone huddled together, and the scene was even more lively than New Year's.

Number 4's gift was a mask. After he put on the mask, number 10 picked him up from behind and put him on his shoulders.

Number 4, like a knight, directed number 10 to chase the other children.

Number 3 received a book, number 6 received a short sword...

Looking at the children, Jiang Cheng suddenly realized something. After number 10 returned, the originally cold orphanage suddenly felt like a home.