Chapter 77: Xia Ta's Atonement

Under the rules of the Fierce Ghost Prohibition, the ghost in 413 couldn't manipulate her mind.

But it could force her to remember the memories she had sealed away.

"Legally speaking, all of our family's remaining assets were auctioned off to compensate the victims. Both of my parents died in that fire, so the entire incident should have ended there.

"But the grief of the victims' families—the agony of those who were burned alive because they couldn't be rescued in time—is like a curse that will never end."

Xia Ta spoke as if recounting her own past from a third-person perspective.

"After that incident, I dropped out of school and moved into a small house in the countryside.

"It didn't end with my parents' deaths. On the contrary, it had only just begun.

"Every time I closed my eyes, I heard the children who died in that fire crying in my ears, over and over again. They were in so much pain—an agony that not even death could stop.

"The victims' families found me. No amount of compensation could quell the pain of losing their children. They pointed in my face and asked me, again and again, why the daughter of the murderers who caused all this was still alive and well, while their children had gone to another world. Was heaven fair?

"The immense mental pressure, combined with the supernatural events that kept happening around me—as if the victims' spirits were coming to claim my life—eventually broke my mind. Unable to bear the weight of that past, my brain actively sealed away the memories. It was a form of self-protection, but it also caused me to forget my past and everything related to my parents.

"For other people, entering the Living Apartment is hell. But for me, it was a peaceful sanctuary. Ever since I hid in the Living Apartment, the souls of those children never haunted me again, and I finally got to live a quiet life.

"The sins committed by parents must naturally be paid for by their children. I used this almost despicable method to escape the heavy burden I was supposed to bear. I always thought I could keep hiding like this, hiding for a lifetime."

Gao Tian already had a dreadful inkling of the answer:

"When did this fire happen?"

Xia Ta said, "About ten years ago.

"Twelve years ago, or thirteen? I can't remember."

Gao Tian felt his heart violently twitch.

The timeline matched.

The Children's Home Lin Nan'an mentioned had appeared seven years ago.

It only recruited children because they used to be children too.

Only children could convince other children to go upstairs.

Gao Tian said with difficulty, "Do you think the Children's Home is the twisted creation born from that fire?"

Xia Ta said, "In the Inner World, the birth of every Supernatural Zone corresponds to a specific event in reality.

"I don't know if the Living Apartment is the same, but looking at it now, the Living Apartment has a subtle connection to the Inner World."

The Children's Home was born because of the fire thirteen years ago. As a result, it became a curse upon the Living Apartment. Generation after generation of residents had to use their lives to pay for the sins Xia Ta's parents had committed back then.

Gao Tian continued to ask, "So, you think the two mummified corpses on the sofa are your parents' remains?

"And the host on the television calling you their good daughter is the call of your deceased parents?"

Xia Ta said, "Exactly.

"At first, I truly didn't remember that these two dried corpses were my parents' remains from the fire."

Before Lan Zhu fled, he used a Dog Leash to drag away one of the corpses. Didn't that mean he had dragged away Xia Ta's mother?

Truly insane.

And the supernatural descent that occurred every seven years was the awakening of the Children's Home on the fifth floor.

Marbles rolling down to the lower floors, women's hair appearing in the faucets—all these signs were the collective outbreak of the psychological trauma countless people had suffered that year.

Xia Ta said, "The apartment's suppression is still present.

"The true bodies of the ghosts upstairs can't come downstairs at all, let alone launch attacks on the residents of the second and third floors.

"These supernatural signs themselves cannot harm the living residents inside the apartment.

"However, once most of the living people in a building are killed or driven away, those empty floors and rooms will be slowly eroded by the ghosts upstairs, becoming new forbidden zones.

"The previous generation of residents failed to defend their floor. They were entirely wiped out, which resulted in the fourth floor being occupied by ghosts.

"This is a game between humans and ghosts. If our generation loses too, then the Third Floor will also become a forbidden zone."

But why couldn't the other rooms affect the living areas on the second and third floors? Only the Children's Home could. Compared to the other rooms, what exactly made it so special?

Furthermore, if ghosts couldn't go downstairs, then what was the child that appeared in his room that day?

Suddenly, Gao Tian understood Xia Ta's underlying meaning.

Gao Tian said, "You're saying the ghosts still can't go down to the Third Floor right now?"

Xia Ta said, "That's right."

Gao Tian said, "So, anyone who can come down from the fourth floor must be a living person, right?

"Their goal is to drive out our entire generation just like they drove out the previous one, turning the Third Floor into a home for ghosts too."

Xia Ta said, "You are absolutely right."

The truth had already surfaced.

That was why they made a large number of children go upstairs. Those new children, like Xiao Dingbao and Old Wang's child, were all living people.

Living people could naturally traverse the third and second floors freely without being restricted by the apartment's rules.

Xia Ta said, "In the Children's Home, there is a group of special 'companions' who accompany them, playing, fighting, and living together.

"After living in the Children's Home for a long time, those children have their brains, memories, and cognition altered. Their perception of their own identity is no longer human.

"Therefore, when they go downstairs and attack living people who are not of their kind, they no longer have any psychological burden.

"Even the residents on the fifth floor treat them as their own kind. Under the protection of the Children's Home, ghosts won't attack them either, because they need to rely on their status as living beings to go downstairs.

"Just like those wild kids our team encountered when we first came up to the fourth floor.

"They are a group of living people."

This also explained why a group of children had inexplicably run out into the corridor.

The Rule-Based Horror written by Yusheng stated that the original residents of the apartment would not actively leave their rooms.

These children were not the original residents of the apartment at all; they were originally outsiders.

Gao Tian said, "I still have one more question."

Xia Ta said, "Speak."

Gao Tian said, "How did the batch of children from seven years ago survive upstairs for so long?

"Once they went upstairs, what did they rely on to live? In seven years, if they became adults in the Children's Home, what would happen? Would they still be 'acknowledged and accepted' by their companions?"

Xia Ta said, "The Children's Home only accepts children; it will not accept adults. Even adult ghosts won't be accepted.

"As for the questions you asked, those things naturally won't happen either.

"Because children who go to the fifth floor will never grow up."

To this, she further explained, "The apartment opens roughly once every seven years. After the previous generation of residents was wiped out, it was sealed for a long time, waiting for the next generation to move in.

"The time the Children's Home awakens is consistent with the apartment's opening time. It comes out to be active once every seven years.

"Other than that, for the vast majority of the time, those living children staying in the Children's Home are sleeping. Once they fall asleep, they sleep for seven years. During these seven years, it's just like hibernation; their bodily growth rate is practically zero, and the sustenance they require is very little.

"At least after they wake up, you wouldn't want to know what they eat or how they survive."

Gao Tian generally understood.

What was the most abundant thing upstairs?

Ghosts.

Corpses and blood wouldn't be lacking.

Just as the two were talking, behind them on the television that had returned to normal, the black sludge flowing from the eyes and mouths of the male and female hosts was growing thicker. It actually began to spread along the screen and out into Room 413.

"Our good daughter... We haven't seen you for so many years... We didn't expect you to have grown so big... We... almost couldn't recognize you.

"But no matter how big you grow... in our eyes... you will always be a child, a little girl... who needs taking care of.

"The outside world is too dangerous... Hurry into your parents' embrace... We will take you to a beautiful place... a carefree kindergarten... Here... all you need to do every day is eat, drink... and play with everyone.

"Mom and Dad... won't let any ghost outside threaten you."

Xia Ta cast one last look at Gao Tian:

"Just now, when the curse of the television in Room 413 activated, I should have been teleported to the Children's Home.

"The four of you should have also been teleported to separate rooms, to be killed off one by one by different Killing Rules.

"However, before Lan Zhu left, he dragged away my mother's corpse, causing a severe malfunction in the activation of the Supernatural Item. I stayed here, and you weren't teleported to the designated rooms in the correct numbers either.

"Regardless, the birth of the Children's Home is a sin committed by my parents when they were alive, and I can no longer escape it. I must go up there myself, resolve everything, and put an end to this matter."

She slowly turned around and actually began walking toward the two hosts in the television.

"You're crazy! Xia Ta!"

Gao Tian roared at Xia Ta's back, "That's your parents' business; it has nothing to do with you!

"Come back with me. We're all waiting for you in the corridor to discuss a countermeasure together, instead of you going off alone to die."

Xia Ta stopped in her tracks.

Gao Tian thought she had heard his voice and changed her mind.

The next moment, she only turned her head and glanced in Gao Tian's direction:

"The sins committed by parents must naturally be paid for by their descendants. To say things like 'what does this have to do with me,' how is that any different from certain people from Dongying?

"Don't worry. The person they truly want is me.

"No matter the result today, this matter will definitely end. No more people will die in the twisted home created by that fire.

"The mission for the Upstairs Team this time has completely ended. I'm very grateful for all of your efforts. Now, what you need to do is return to the Third Floor and stand by."