When Zhang Guanxing regained his death memory, he also combined with his past hatred but most importantly he did not lose his sanity. By then, Han Fei had reached his limits. His arms weakened and his body toppled backwards. His fall was cushioned by the snake that slipped out from Han Fei’s back. His limbs couldn’t stop shaking and his heartbeat was still too slow. Imbibing too much Yin energy caused serious damage on Han Fei. His blood almost froze and his temperature was dangerously low. ‘My stamina is still too weak.’
Lying on the hostel bed, Han Fei found it difficult to even move a finger. This was his first time fighting head on with a Lingering Spirit. If not for the red paper doll, he would not have won. ‘I can survive for about 100 seconds in Yin-energy enhanced state. During that time, I’ll be able to resist some degree of damage and my physique will improve, it is actually more suitable for making an escape than in a fight.’ The ghost tattoo faded in and out. The wounded Han Fei laid in bed. His state was bad but his mind was calculating how to apply this skill to make his future endeavor more effective.
The half an hour finally passed and Han Fei received the system notification.
“Notification for Player 0000! You’ve completed Grade G Hidden Mission—Face Facing Away from You. Obtained 1 free skill point, friendliness level with Zhang Guanxing increases by 20.
“Mission completion rate is 100 percent so you’ve obtained double EXP and hidden mission reward—A Sturdy Back.
“A Sturdy Back (Personal passive skill, cannot be upgraded): Increases posterior defense. Damage received from the back, from both curses and spirits will decrease to a certain degree.
“You’ve successfully challenged 3 tales of horror. Grade F Hidden Mission, Jin Sheng’s Tales of Horror Completion rate: 3/7.”
After all that, he had finally completed a mission. Han Fei’s heart slowly eased back to normal. Now he only needed to hang around for 3 hours and he could quit the game. Zhang Guanxing stayed guarded beside Han Fei’s bed. He didn’t know what to do. Other than appreciation, he also felt guilt towards Han Fei. The culprit who harmed him was still on the loose but he had instead accidentally injured someone who wanted to help him instead.
“Sir, maybe I should get to the school infirmary to look for things like bandage or medicine.”
“No, just stay right here. Now is not the time to go blundering around.” Han Fei forced a smile. “I’m not able to defend myself. This building is extremely dangerous. We better not split up.”
“But sir, your wounds…”
“I’ll be fine. You better go and check on the Can of Wishes.” Han Fei leveled an apologetic gaze at the can.
“There’s quite a few new cracks on it but it shouldn’t break any time soon. After all, this is one of the oldest curses at this school.” After Zhang Guanxing gained his memory, he became a lot more reliable. “Grade G Cursed Objects possess many different individuals’ malice and negative emotions. In other words, they are formed from human malice. So even if they are broken, they can be fixed through absorption of malice.” Zhang Guanxing closed the lid and placed the can beside Han Fei’s bed. “But, I have to be honest, that was the first time I saw someone use a cursed object that way.” Zhang Guanxing was referring to how Han Fei used the can to bash against the monster’s skull. Han Fei was truly someone very unique.
“I didn’t have any other weapon at hand. The plan was to break the can and then use its broken pieces as a makeshift knife but the can is sturdier than I thought.” Han Fei tried his best to raise his arm to touch the black can. He still could not move the can into his inventory. ‘Looks like it still hasn’t accepted me as its owner. Well, can’t blame me for rough-handling it then.’ Zhang Guanxing had no idea why Han Fei was treating the black can so badly, he assumed it was because the black can had once tried to consume Han Fei.
“Guanxing, go and close the door and window. I have questions that I need to ask you.” Han Fei thought about it before saying, “Have you ever encountered an old man at the school? He has the same teacher id like I do and he was once a staff here.”
“An old man?”
“He’s very kind and always has a smile on his face.”
“You mean Teacher Fu Sheng?” Zhang Guanxing sat down beside the bed. There was a new emotion on his face, it was fear. “Among the school teachers, he is the oldest. He looks about 60 plus. He is kind and fair to every student but unfortunately he has gone missing.”
‘Fu Sheng? That’s homophonous to Revive in Chinese.’ Han Fei narrowed his eyes. He finally had a name for the previous manager although he knew this might be a fake name. “Teacher Fu and I are neighbours. The main reason I’ve applied for a post here is to come look for him.”
“You’re here to look for Teacher Fu?” Zhang Guanxing shook his head. “I’m sorry but I don’t know where he went.”
“Can you give me your impression of him? Have you interacted with him?”
Zhang Guanxing’s expression shifted and the fear in his eyes deepened. “In a way, Sir, you are very similar to Teacher Sir. When I almost lost my control the first time, he ‘kindly’ reached out to help me control it.”
“Control it? How?”
“He beat me until I almost died, and when I was at my weakest, he stripped all the resentment and despair out of me. The process was immensely painful and the scariest thing is…” Zhang Guanxing continued, “When I woke up, I had forgotten about my death memory. Honestly, it was not until a few moments ago that I remembered he had made a punching bag out of me. I remember meeting him again after the fact, without that part of my memory, I thought he was affectionate and amiable.”
The previous manager chose to destroy the cryptic world so Han Fei could understand his rough teaching method. Fu Sheng’s ideology was simple. After destroying all the despair, only the positive humanity would remain. The way he treated the spirits were similar to how a medieval medical practitioner would treat a problem, by dissecting the infected part and calling it a day; while Han Fei was more like a mix of both surgical and curative treatment, he provided healing both externally and internally.
“Is that all you can remember about that teacher? Has he done anything strange at school?” Han Fei’s work id was left behind by the previous manager. After he stepped into the hidden map, he was directly transported inside the hostel building. The previous manager would not have set that up for no reason. There might be something important for Han Fei here. It was at this place that Han Fei ran into Zhang Guanxing. Yi Ming Private Academy was a large school with a sizable student body but so far, it appeared like the previous manager had only reached out to Zhang Guanxing and done something to him so Han Fei felt like Zhang Guanxing was the key.
Everything was connected. It was a test and an opportunity.
“Teacher Fu’s a peacemaker. He never gets into petty arguments. All the students like and respect him… O wait, there is a student who is deathly afraid of Teacher Fu.”
“Who?”
“A boy from primary 1 class 1. His name is Jing Sheng.”
“Do you know where the boy is now?” The main mission at Yi Ming Private Academy was surfacing.
“After Teacher Fu was done ‘helping’ me, he locked up my death memory inside a cupboard under a lectern on the 4th floor of the education block. I remembered this now after fetching it from the other me’s memory. After some time, Jing Sheng opened the cupboard, he let the other me out and he went inside the cupboard to hide instead.” Zhang Guanxing provided Han Fei with a valuable clue.
Now that Han Fei knew Jing Sheng’s hiding spot location, he reminded Zhang Guanxing not to reveal that information to anyone else. There were still many ‘people’ looking for Jing Sheng at this school.
