“A more in-depth open world?” Han Fei had no idea what that meant but he had a bad feeling about it. “The paths to many areas will be opened. Does that mean there might be dangerous spirits and ghosts traveling from other areas to this district?” Han Fei already found survival incredibly difficult. He had just survived an impossible mission and the system decided to throw another challenge at him. Studying his character profile, Han Fei couldn’t help but feel that he had been specifically targeted by the system, but this was the kind of attention that Han Fei did not want.
“After I completed the manager mission at Happiness Neighbourhood, my plan was to stay a bit longer inside the neighborhood to up my level but the tenants from Building 2 cleared away all the hostile enemies around the neighbourhood, and thus I had to venture out to accept the available missions. And now after clawing my way through the hidden map of Yi Ming Private Academy, the system threw me this new open world system. Threats might come over from other areas. Does the game really think that highly of me?!”
Licking his dry lips, Han Fei believed that the system was doing this because it was related to the path he had chosen. When the time came, the previous building manager chose destruction between destruction and salvation, while Han Fei chose both. Essentially he had opened the black box from both sides. “When there’s a will there’s a way, worrying won’t solve anything. I will have to power on.”
Pushing open the cubicle door, a chill wind caressed Han Fei’s face. The old windows creaked noisily. Unknown objects crawled over the cracked glass. They looked like strands of hair or wiggling worms. The axle of the door squeaked. Han Fei exited the bathroom and something flashed within the darkness. The unknown presence appeared to be hiding from Han Fei. ‘Is it the effect of the title, Patrolling Teacher?’
Strangely enough, Han Fei did not feel any discomfiture walking through the haunted school. It felt like he was a real member of staff there. ‘After dying so many times in the manager mission, I feel weirdly connected to this place now.’ If there was a new teacher, Han Fei could tell them proudly that he had died in more than 10 different ways at this school.
“Teacher Han!” Ol’ Lee spotted Han Fei from afar. He dragged along the mountain of ghosts as he ran towards Han Fei, causing a draft of horrible stench in his wake. Ma Manjiang was already dead but the ghosts appeared to have gotten used to staying with Ol’ Lee, they did not show any intention of leaving. They continued to shield Ol’ Lee’s eyes so that the senior guard could continue his life in a simple world, sparing him from the pain and despair.
“Where is your friend?” Ol’ Lee was the night security, he had memory loss problems. He had lost memories of his despair but he remembered Han Fei and Huang Yin clearly.
“He’s a doctor, he needs to work.” Han Fei gave a random excuse and then changed the subject, “Sir, after I left yesterday night, did anything interesting happen at the school?”
“No, everything seems normal.” Ol’ Lee chuckled happily as he walked down the corridor with Han Fei. As they strode past the corridor, Han Fei noticed that the back of the education block had been dyed red by blood. The lingering spirits of the non-locals were strung up by rope and were left dangling high in the air. Their memory and tattoos related to the Butterfly had been brutally removed. This scene startled Han Fei quite a bit but it did not seem to register in Ol’ Lee’s eyes. The guard continued to walk ahead like nothing was wrong.
“You sure that everything was fine?”
“Yes, there was no one at school yesterday night.” In a way, that was the truth. Han Fei knew that he would not get any information from Ol’ Lee so he walked to examine the strung non-locals himself. The spirits of these non-locals had not fully dissipated, they still possessed some semblance of sentience. Hasty handwriting could be seen on their bodies. Each of them appeared to have their individual story carved onto their bodies. The stories described the deepest sin within their corresponding souls.
‘They are barely alive but they can’t die either, the natives at Yi Ming Private Academy are quite cruel.’ Han Fei realized then he had grossly underestimated the ghosts at the school. Ma Manjiang had to collaborate with the blue butterfly to deal with them. If a normal ghost dared to venture into this school, the chance of them leaving was close to zero.
“Teacher Han? Teacher Han!” While Han Fei was reading the stories on the souls, Zhang Guanxing’s voice came from the education block. He was excited when he saw Han Fei. The kid respected Han Fei greatly and truly was appreciative of Han Fei’s help.
“Sir, I’ve been looking for you since yesterday!” Dragging his damaged body, Zhang Guanxing and Xu Yin’s pet rushed out from the education block. To be missed so dearly by a ghost, Han Fei felt like he must have done something right as a ‘teacher’.
“You’re right on time, who strung these non-locals up there?”
“It was Jin Sheng’s class teacher, she was a very tall woman. She was at the verge of a mental breakdown after Ma Manjiang died and she vented her frustration on these non-locals.”
“So it was her who took away the butterfly tattoos?”
“Yes, she tore off the tattoos to patch up a skin coat. She appears to intend to wear the coat to leave the school.” Hearing what Zhang Guanxing had to say, Han Fei had a feeling that Jin Sheng’s class teacher wanted to leave to head towards the Ziggurat. She wanted to find the Butterfly to seek revenge. “Do you know where she is now?”
“She should be patrolling the school. Yesterday, before Ma Manjiang’s death, a blue butterfly channeled all of Ma Manjiang’s malice to ram against the school’s front gate, it caused a crack on the locked gates. Also after the blue butterfly escaped, a new batch of outsiders sneaked into the school. But they’re different from the previous non-locals we’ve encountered.”
“A new batch of outsiders?” While Han Fei contemplated these new people’s possible identity, a shrill weep came from the hostel. “Wait a minute… This voice!” Han Fei, Zhang Guanxing and Ol’ Lee hurried to the hostel building. There was an intense battle happening inside the hostel. The layers of windows were shattered and a thick coat of blood lingered in the air. The sound of crying mingled with curses. The hostel corridor was covered in water stains and blood stains. The temperature was low. The ring on Han Fei’s finger chilled intensely. But strangely enough, the chill did not cause him any fear, if anything, he felt quite comforted by it. Han Fei had the black python curled around him so he could run faster. He finally reached the end of the corridor and saw the fighting parties. “Please stop! We’re all friends here!”
Combats among ghosts were often extremely vicious. Normally a sane person would not run into their midst to stop a ghostly fight but Han Fei was not exactly a sane person.
And so a living person stood in the middle of the gory fight to negotiate the conflict and stranger still, both parties did stop their aggression!
“Mr. Building Manager!”
“Teacher Han!” Lee Zai and Zhang Guanxing warned at the same time, worried about Han Fei’s safety. After hearing the other, they turned to share a confused look.
“We’re all friends here working towards the same goal! Let’s not fight due to some petty misunderstandings!” Han Fei stood among the groups of ghosts and his body shivered involuntarily. Staring at Han Fei, the two batches of ghosts who were fighting earlier could not have been more confused.
“Friends?”
On the left side of the corridor, Jin Sheng’s class teacher and Su Mengting stared at Han Fei coolly. They were not friends with Han Fei but because he had helped them kill Ma Manjiang, they did not wish to kill him either.
On the right side of the corridor, Weep was hugging a rice-cooker which had his urn inside it. Tear stains were fresh on his face. Drake stood beside Lee Zai. Their faces were plain with befuddlement, their brains could not process this development. Their boss and building manager infiltrated the school to gather information, how did he end up becoming a teacher here?
The 3 of them found an opening yesterday night when the blue butterfly forced its way out of Yi Ming Private Academy. They were prepared to die to find Han Fei but things did not appear to be as dire as they thought. Han Fei was heavily protected by the monsters and ghosts who called Yi Ming Private Academy home. It made the 3 outsiders look like they were there to hurt Han Fei. Lee Zai and Drake shared a look. Their brains were already slow from suffering too long in despair, this situation was fully beyond their comprehension. They envisioned several scenarios before they entered the school but they definitely did not expect this.
“Mr. Manager, if you’re held against your will, blink.” Lee Zai whispered at Han Fei. He was not joking. If Han Fei blinked, he’d make his move to save Han Fei.
“What nonsense!” Han Fei took out his teacher Id and started to explain the situation. The gory, cruel and impossible path of survival somehow became an inspiring period of internship at the school. He had inherited the previous building manager’s work Id so he came to the school to take over the previous manager’s responsibility as well. He planned to use his own power and ability to nurture the students at this school, to correct and heal their pained souls.
“As long as I am here, there will not be any conflict between Happiness Neighbourhood and Yi Ming Private Academy. There are other ways to coexist in this cryptic world rather than resorting to violence.”
Zhang Guanxing nodded to Han Fei’s suggestion. No matter what Han Fei said, the young man would side with him. Seeing how the student at the school trusted Han Fei so implicitly, Lee Zai could not believe his eyes.
‘We haven’t seen him for just a few days, and he already became a teacher so well-loved by his students and tended by his colleagues, if we had come later, would he directly be promoted to the headmaster of this school?’ Rationality told Lee Zai that it was impossible but at the same time, he believed that nothing was impossible when it came to Han Fei. When he saw Han Fei carry the coffin from the convenience store into the neighbourhood, Lee Zai knew that Han Fei was unique and had huge potential. Standing there, his belief was further confirmed. Following Han Fei would only bring him benefits.
After explaining everything, Han Fei was about to put the teacher’s id away, when the system announced in his mind, “Notification for Player 0000! Friendliness level with Lee Zai increases by 10, you’ve gained Lee Zai’s basic trust!”
Turning back to look, Han Fei noticed Lee Zai was looking at him. Without thinking much of it, Han Fei raised his hand and smiled brightly at the man.
