Lord of Mysteries: Return of the Stars!

When the bell rang last night, he had quietly checked his pocket watch.

"Then let's wait here until around two," Xio said, leaning against the wall and closing her eyes to rest.

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Hastur felt tired, yet not sleepy. He quietly pondered how to deal with the situation tonight.

If he blocked his ears, could he resist that eerie bell sound?

If he encountered danger, how could he save himself?

How could he formulate a rule that would ensure the safety of all three of them as they left the orphanage...

Lecturer Fron, sitting on the other side of the bed, was also wide awake. But unlike Xio's strong nerves or Hastur's calmness, he was restless, standing up from time to time, glancing toward the door, or checking his pocket watch.

Time ticked by, and soon it was exactly 2:00 a.m.

Lecturer Fron hurried over to Hastur, reached out to shake him awake, and said in a low voice, "It's two o'clock!"

Hastur opened his eyes and glanced at Xio, who was sitting at the table, she was already awake.

"Grab whatever weapons you're most comfortable with!"

As she spoke, Xio pulled a black tri-edged dagger from behind her waist and gave it a few test swings, producing sharp whooshing sounds as it cut through the air.

Hastur asked curiously, "How did you hide a tri-edged dagger like that behind your waist?"

"That's a secret," Xio replied with a playful smile and raised eyebrow.

Surely it was because she was too short and didn't have long enough arms, she'd be at a disadvantage in a fight with someone tall. That's why she always carried a tri-edged dagger to make up for her natural shortcomings, right?

Hastur had his suspicions, but he wasn't foolish enough to say them out loud.

Lecturer Fron glanced at the tri-edged dagger in Xio's hand, then at the hefty cane Hastur was wielding, and then scanned every corner of the room.

There was no suitable weapon available for self-defense.

He whispered, "I'll be in charge of the lantern later."

"Alright," Xio nodded.

In just over ten minutes, as the three of them stood on alert, the same bell sound from last night finally rang outside the door.

Ding-a-ling-ling!

"It's time. Let's go!"

At the very first chime, Xio opened the door and dashed out. Hastur and Lecturer Fron quickly followed.

Ding-a-ling-ling!

As the second bell sounded, Xio had already pinpointed the general direction of the source.

It was indeed in the residential area where the children stayed!

When the three of them arrived near the iron gate along the corridor, the third bell had already rung.

The iron gate separating the orphanage staff from the children's area was solid, Xio kicked it with full force but couldn't break it open.

Seeing this, Hastur raised his cane and banged it against the gate, producing a dull thud in the still night.

Realizing Hastur's intention, Xio also struck the gate with her tri-edged dagger.

Metal clanged against metal, echoing loudly across the night sky.

Soon, people awakened and drawn by the noise gathered near the three of them.

"What's going on?" a calm police officer in his thirties asked.

"We just heard an eerie bell sound coming from that direction. When we came out to check, we saw a suspicious figure shaking a bell over there."

"We don't have a key and couldn't get through the gate, we could only watch as that figure disappeared."

"To alert you as quickly as possible, we had to resort to this direct method," Xio explained, mixing truth with fiction. Her tone was sincere and urgent, clearly, she was used to handling such situations.

The officer's face turned serious and he immediately ordered someone to fetch the gate keys.

Deputy Director Bard, also roused by the late-night commotion, arrived wearing a black overcoat and carrying a kerosene lamp.

"I have the key here."

Deputy Director Bard searched himself, then pulled out a ring of keys. Under the dim lamplight, he selected an oily key and opened the iron gate.

Xio motioned for the two arriving officers to take the lead while she followed behind. Hastur, Lecturer Fron, and Deputy Director Bard brought up the rear. The others stayed where they were.

After passing through the iron gate, to prevent unrelated people from sneaking into the children's quarters, Deputy Director Bard locked it again and confirmed it was secure before following the group.

The group arrived at the spot Xio had identified as the bell sound's source, but found no sign of anyone, only a pair of blurry footprints on the ground.

Xio crouched down, measured the footprints, and frowned slightly. "They're from a child."

"This... We manage things very strictly here. The children must be in bed at a certain time. They're absolutely not allowed to wander or play outside. We also have designated staff to lock their doors from the outside, they shouldn't be able to get out," Deputy Director Bard said, looking shocked and troubled.

"These footprints are fresh. That child just left not long ago," Xio offered her professional judgment.

Lecturer Fron crouched with his kerosene lamp to inspect the footprints too.

'Why couldn't he tell how fresh they were?'

"Let's search around. He might be hiding nearby." Despite her petite frame, Xio was gradually taking command of the situation, issuing orders to the two police officers.

Was this the passive talent of an Arbiter?

Hastur noticed how naturally the officers followed Xio's lead and felt a bit surprised.

The group split into two teams, three people each. Xio and the two officers were responsible for searching the area, while Hastur, Lecturer Fron, and Deputy Director Bard checked whether the locks on each dormitory door were secure.

"Sigh, why are they always so disobedient? Luckily Dean Darn isn't here now, otherwise they would be punished." Vice Dean Bard sighed as he led the way.

Hastur asked, "Dean Bard, the punishment you're referring to, is it being locked in the basement?"

"Being locked in the basement is the harshest punishment. Usually, only those who are extremely troublesome and badly behaved receive such treatment."

Seeing Hastur interested in these matters, Vice Dean Bard took the opportunity to explain.

In this orphanage, punishments for children are generally divided into three levels.

For relatively minor offenses, they only need to stand outside as a punishment, or get their palms smacked, and so on.

For more serious cases, they aren't allowed to eat and can only watch others eat at the dining table while they go hungry.

Only those who repeatedly refuse to change are given the harshest punishment.

"What if they still refuse to admit their mistakes or repent while locked in the basement?" Lecturer Follen raised his concern.

Vice Dean Bard fell silent and didn't answer.

"Isn't that too cruel?"

Lecturer Follen had already realized from his silence, that corpse in the basement must have come from such a punishment, right?

Even if that child eventually admitted their mistake and repented, in that dark and empty place, their cries for help went unheard, they could only wait silently for death!

To starve to death alive, that's far too cruel!

That child was definitely not the first to die in the basement!

The other corpses were just cleared out earlier!

No wonder Dean Darn didn't try to explain anything and just fled, he knew that as soon as he faced a trial, his crimes could no longer be hidden.

Vice Dean Bard sighed, "Sigh, Dean Darn really did poorly in some areas, but he was very good at fundraising. Most of the obedient children actually had a decent life here."

The three of them chatted casually while checking the locks on each room.

From beginning to end, the checks on the second and third floors were easier, they only needed to see if the iron gates at both ends of the hallways were tightly shut.

There was no lawn as a buffer here, if any naughty kid dared to jump straight down from the second floor, they'd likely be crippled.

Before they finished their inspection, they heard Xio's voice coming from nearby.

They had found the child who had rung the bell!

"No rush, let's finish checking everything first before heading over," Hastur said with a smile.

He felt they wouldn't be at ease unless they checked everything thoroughly. After all, maybe more than one child snuck out tonight.

Vice Dean Bard agreed this was better, and patiently led Hastur and Lecturer Follen through the full inspection.

Indeed, they didn't find any signs of tampered locks, and the iron gates on both ends were securely locked.

Once everything was confirmed, the three of them went to where Xio and the others had found the child.

It was in a washroom located at the far right end of the first floor, where the child had been hiding.

"Little Amy, so it was you who sneaked out?"

Seeing the child's face clearly, Vice Dean Bard exclaimed in surprise, clearly he recognized this boy who had disobeyed the orphanage rules.

Hastur also looked over the boy named Amy. He was about eight years old, 1.2 meters tall, with short chestnut hair, wearing a thin white robe, barefoot, and currently standing by the sink with his head lowered, nervously gripping the hem of his robe.

"D-Dean Bard, I-I didn't mean to not return to the dorm to rest. I just got back too late and got locked out… and I didn't dare disturb Aunt Lisa…"

Amy slightly raised his head, his eyes reddened, tears hanging at the corners but not falling yet. His voice was sobbing and choked. Paired with that still-undeveloped, tender face, he looked very pitiful.

Xio lowered his voice and gently asked, "We're not here to catch you, we just want to ask, where did you get this bell?"

Amy timidly replied, "I picked it up on the road. I liked the sound it made, so I kept it."

"Then why were you ringing it so late at night? Weren't you afraid it would wake others?"

"I-I was scared being alone…" Amy lowered his head again.

"Then why were you ringing it last night too?"

"It wasn't me. Last night, my bell was taken by Simon. He said he was going to scare Aunt Lisa."

"Simon?"

Xio raised an eyebrow, and Vice Dean Bard explained, "Simon shares the same dormitory with little Amy. He has a dominant personality and often takes other kids' toys."

"Can we meet this Simon?"

"Of course, it's a necessary inquiry."

As he spoke, Vice Dean Bard went with a police officer to get the dormitory key from Aunt Lisa.

Hastur, who had been silent, subtly rubbed his middle finger against his thumb three times and activated spirit vision.

Using a snap would be too conspicuous, not discreet enough.

Hastur's gaze turned toward the bell in Xio's hand. It was about a third the size of a palm, dull yellow in color.

The bell showed no unusual fluctuations, it was just an ordinary bell, with no Beyonder properties.

If you had listened closely, even the sound it made differed slightly from the bell sound they'd heard last night.

It was probably not the same bell.