Han Fei tried to place Jing Sheng’s Exercise Book in his inventory and he succeeded easily. ‘This kid’s cursed object is quite unique.’ Han Fei spent quite a bit of time reading all the stories written by Jin Sheng so he needed to pick up the slack. Han Fei called after Ol’ Lee and prepared to head towards the office building. Han Fei hurried out from the lab but he soon stopped when he reached the corridor. From the window, Han Fei could see clearly that the hostel’s front door had been opened and a man with a horrifying presence was making his way towards the education block. ‘Ma Manjiang?’
Han Fei knew he did not have much time left. He waved at Ol’ Lee, lowered his body and scurried towards the office building. ‘In real life, Jin Sheng’s body was found inside his hostel bedroom’s cupboard. Is that why Ma Manjiang has been patrolling around the hostel?’
Han Fei would never underestimate his opponent, it was why he managed to survive until now. “Ol’ Lee, keep your head down! Don’t look out the window!”
“What’s wrong? Has someone dangerous infiltrated into the school?” In spite of his age, Ol’ Lee was physically agile. He quickly followed Han Fei’s example and squatted beside the window. However, the woman who trailed behind him still stood at the corridor, she showed no sign of hiding herself.
“Never mind, I need you to stay here! Do not let anyone get into the last room.” Ol’ Lee was too big of a target. Concealment was not his strong suit. Han Fei had no choice but to abandon him and head to the office building alone. Han Fei stayed to the wall and crawled towards the office. ‘Ma Manjiang has been keeping the hostel on lockdown but now he has exited with his kids. This means that he probably has scoured all the corners of the hostel or he has realized Jin Sheng is hiding somewhere else.’ With this thought in his mind, Han Fei got increasingly nervous. ‘I’ve already completed a mission and stayed longer than 3 hours. I can quit the game anytime I want. At least I’ll have that option in case I run into him.’
Ma Manjiang was moving with surprising speed. When Han Fei looked out the window again, the shade had already entered the education block. Yi Ming Private Academy’s education block was connected to the office building. Han Fei made his way to the office building and hid in the corridor to prevent direct confrontation with the thing. The corridor was dim and was a perfect hiding place for other creatures of the dark, but facing such a big threat in Ma Manjiang, Han Fei had no time to hesitate. He focused his attention on the landlord’s ring. When he sensed even the smallest chill, he’d run off and take the other path. Through his masterful hiding and scouting, Han Fei managed to get to the 2nd floor of the office building. It was then that the sound of glass breaking came from the 4th floor of the education block.
‘Is that Ma Manjiang?’ Han Fei was worried about Ol’ Lee but he had something more important at hand. The infirmary was beside the corridor connecting the two buildings, in just a few steps, Han Fei would reach his destination. There were growls from the 4th floor. The ghosts around Ol’ Lee appeared to be caught in a fight. Han Fei used this opportunity to run towards the infirmary. His eyes were locked onto the door, his 10 points in stamina burst with their full potential.
10 metres! 5 metres! Suddenly there was a howling wind and the air dirtied with the smell of blood. 3 metres!
When he was 2 metres away from the door, a bloody face appeared at the corner of the corridor. It carried a giant body behind him. “Ma Manjiang!” Han Fei’s eyes were red. He was running on such high speed that he could not stop within 2 metres. From the size of Ma Manjiang’s body, he was probably the same level as Little Eight in her complete form. That meant that even if Han Fei wanted to escape, it was not possible. At that moment, many thoughts crossed Han Fei’s mind. Instead of slowing down, he accelerated further.
The ghost tattoo glowed as Han Fei raised his arm. Just as he rammed into Ma Manjiang, the hand connected with the latter’s bloody face. Endless malice yawned like a black maw. Despair, greed, luck infiltrated Han Fei’s mind like a mist and in the centre of that mist, Han Fei saw a fluttering deep blue butterfly.
No one had dared to attack Ma Manjiang like this before. His body started to split open and the seams moved to consume Han Fei.
Han Fei had no other choice, he glanced at the infirmary door from the corner of his eyes and chose to quit the game!
Blood froze the world and Han Fei’s consciousness detached. Holding his pounding heart, he had a hard time calming down. ‘There is a blue butterfly deep inside Ma Manjiang’s soul! It looks like some kind of brand!’ Guzzling down several bottles of cold water, Han Fei collapsed onto his bed. ‘What should I do when I log in next? With Ma Manjiang’s cunningness, he’d stay guard around the infirmary. The room is on my left and it was only about 1 metre away. The next time I log in, I’ll have to unleash the paper doll, kick down the door and shuffle into the infirmary. After I find Jing Sheng, we’ll both jump out from the window inside the infirmary.’
Han Fei kept replaying the reconstructed scenario in his mind. Even if there was no accident, Han Fei put his survival opportunity at 30 percent. ‘This Ma Manjiang is going to be a huge threat.’
In spite of the weighing tiredness, Han Fe crawled towards the computer and recorded all of Jin Sheng’s ghost stories. He could not guarantee he would be alive after his next gaming instance. Normally, a person would use this time to write down their will but Han Fei was not a normal person. Instead of a will, he put down all the information he had found on Yi Ming Private Academy as well as Jin Sheng’s ghost stories and sent them to Li Xue. Han Fei never claimed to be a good person but in the face of death, his ‘will’ was meant to help the police. Making sure that he had not left anything behind, after he was done, it was already dawn. The man could not continue anymore, he slumped on the table and slept.
Even though death was a veritable threat at night, Han Fei managed to sleep like a baby. His mental constitution was impossibly strong, it was the result of his training with the Iyashikei game. He slept until 3 pm. The first thing Han Fei did was to answer all the questions Li Xue had about his email. Then Han Fei turned to the other unread messages. Director Jiang was used to having his calls to Han Fei unanswered so instead he fired several video messages to Han Fei. After he clicked on them, Director Jiang’s excited voice echoed inside Han Fei’s room. “Han Fei! I have with me a rare opportunity! Earlier you rejected Director Zhang because you aren’t able to leave Xin Lu so the senior director has decided to come to Xin Lu for his movie! He plans to shoot the side character’s parts while he is here!
“This morning, Director Zhang called me to ask about you, please do not say no to the man again! This is the first time Director Zhang is attempting a thriller, he is very careful with his production and casting! He is serious about using you, please return this call when you have the time. I’ve helped you read through the script, it is about a thriller surrounding a character with 9 different personas! You’ll be playing the most complicated persona, it’s perfect for you! I’ve already given Director Zhang a yes on your behalf! You’ll be reading for the role at Xin Lu’s Ya Zhi Theatre tonight at 8 pm!
“Brother, why haven’t you answered your calls yet? You’re not going to stand Director Zhang up, are you? I’ve put my reputation on the line for you here!”
Director Jiang looked so anxious in the videos, he would reach out through it to grab at Han Fei if he could.
“9 kinds of personas? A thriller movie?” It was indeed a waste to not take up such an opportunity which would be a dream for most actors. After having his late lunch, Han Fei took up the books to read since there was still time to the meeting. “What is education? A low-level teacher will show the students the truth, while a good teacher will help guide their students to find their own truth…”
At 7.50 pm, Han Fei arrived at Ya Zhi Theatre, this was his first time visiting a place like this. Once he got down from the car, he was identified by the worker and was led to the backstage.
“Mr. Han, please wait here for a moment. I’ll give you part of the script at 8pm.”
“Part of the script?”
“Director Zhang wants to see which actors will assume the character best so we will provide random parts of the character’s script and have you all play different segments of the movies.” The worker explained patiently.
“There’s other actors coming for this reading?” Han Fei’s brows raised, “I’m sorry but I have other engagements at night so I won’t be able to stay here for long.”
“Many companies sent over their actors when they heard Director Zhang has come to Xin Lu to cast a character for his film, it is rude for us to reject them, but personally I think you suit the character the best.” The worker was a smooth talker. He opened the door to the waiting room and had Han Fei go in to prepare. Since he was already there, Han Fei couldn’t really complain about it. After he entered the room, the previously rowdy room instantly became silent. Han Fei was the last to arrive, there were already several young actors waiting inside the room and Han Fei knew 3 of them. Ah Cheng who quit Flower of Sin, Wu Li who was nominated for the best new actor and the main character for Urban Secret Romance, Lee Tianlan. The three of them were friends so they formed a group and were happily chatting until Han Fei walked in.
After they saw Han Fei, their expression dropped. Silence blanketed the room. Han Fei was used to this, he walked silently to the corner and sat down.
“Why is he here?”
“A new actor with only one movie and he wants to try out for Director Zhang’s script? Who does he think he is?”
“Ah Cheng voluntarily gave up the main character role for Twin Flower or else he wouldn’t even have the right to be here.”
“I heard that Director Zhang personally came to Xin Lu for casting because Director Zhang was impressed with Ah Cheng’s acting. Ah Cheng agreed to the invitation and it was why he surrendered the character in Twin Flower.”
“Now everything makes sense. No wonder he gave up on that project, he has a better one waiting for him.”
“This is how the industry works. Certain people are lucky enough to earn the scraps and survive.”
The actors whispered among themselves but Han Fei ignored them. At 8 pm, the worker returned to the room with different scripts. “Guys, thank you for your patience! This is the script Director Zhang has prepared for you. Please familiarize yourself with it and we’ll start the reading soon.”
After he got the script, Han Fei poured his soul into it. He flipped through it quickly and the words were stamped into his mind. After 2 readings, Han Fei put the script down, closed his eyes and slowly got into the character. The other actors were just halfway through the script, when they saw this, they couldn’t help commenting.
“Such a show off.”
“Nah, I believe he has already given up. He’s not even studying the script anymore.”
A few minutes later, Han Fei opened his eyes and there was a suppressed madness and an inexplicable loneliness in them. Standing up, Han Fei walked out the door without taking the script.
“You’re going already? Do you really feel that superior compared to the rest of us?” Ah Cheng hated Han Fei a lot, his eyes dripped with disgust.
“We haven’t even decided on our performance order yet, and you’re already cutting into the queue, isn’t that a bit rude?” The main character from Secret Urban Romance chided. “We’re all in the same profession, at least have some professional respect.”
“I believe there is some misunderstanding here.” Han Fei scanned the rest of the room and shook his head. “I respect each and every one of you. I merely am short on time.”
