The blood was so thick that Han Fei found it hard to even open his eyes. He had no idea what the woman before him had endured at Cattle Alley, he had many questions for her but he found himself with his mouth hanging open and a lack of words. Instead he reached his hands into his pocket and took out a table knife with human skin sheath. “Someone stole your knife so I’m here to return it to you.” Holding the cursed knife by its blade, Han Fei extended the hilt towards the woman. “I heard from the thief that your curse will be incomplete if you do not have a full set of knives.”
At that moment, with a little push from the other end, the woman could have easily sent the blade piercing through Han Fei’s body. In the cryptic world, other than Han Fei, probably no one else would be so brave as to expose his weakness so openly to others. Different faces flashed in the eyes beneath the pig’s mask. The woman raised her slender hand. Inside the alley scattered with bits of meat, engulfed by expanding blood mist, the woman reached for the hilt.
“Do not point the blade at yourself like this anymore in the future.” The familiar voice came from under the mask. There appeared to be multiple meanings in that simple reminder.
“I wouldn’t have done this with others of course.” Han Fei let go of the blade. Light blood oozed out from his palm but the man did not seem to feel the pain. The moment Han Fei let go, the woman stabbed the table knife right into the pig’s mask that had fallen to the ground. Amazingly enough, the mask started to bleed. After the mask fully shattered, the woman retrieved her knife. Her red pupils stared at Han Fei for a long time. Then she walked into a dilapidated home nearby and took out a dried branch from inside. The sharpened branch had several hearts impaled through it, some of them were still beating weakly.
“What are these?”
“Pig hearts.” Handing the branch to Han Fei, the woman glanced at the space beside Han Fei. The black anaconda slithered forward endearingly but the woman turned back into the house again as if she had forgotten something. The black anaconda stopped in its tracks. Its black maw yawned open as if screaming silently. It felt like the woman couldn’t recognize it anymore. Holding the pig hearts, Han Fei carefully approached the dying monster on the ground. The monster’s body was practically dismembered but it still had a breath in it. When it saw Han Fei walk over, its ugly face stopped struggling. Instead its face took on flashes of humanity. Its pupil dilated and the blood faded away from the eye. It whimpered weakly as if pleading for mercy.
“If I let you go, more innocent people will get hurt.” Knowing that it would get no mercy from Han Fei, the malice returned to the monster’s eye. It cursed Han Fei with its last breath. It would wait for Han Fei in hell for that was where all of them were headed. “I want to be the Midnight Butcher not because I like murder and not because fresh blood brings me joy or excitement, I merely wish to gain the right to wield a knife so that I can have a better chance at survival. If killing is the only way to bring my friends and neighbours hope and security, then I would kill even if I am not a butcher.” With that, Han Fei chopped off the monster’s head. Blood splattered on his clothes. When the last bit of life drained from the pig-faced monster, Han Fei got the system notification. “Profession Assessment: Murder is a job for a butcher. No matter what is on the chopping block, death is the final gift the butcher bequeaths upon his prey.”
Humans murder cattle to eat their meat, the monsters at Cattle Alley though murdered the whole Wang family and left their carcasses stranded along the alley for sport. The first murder was for the sake of survival, the second murder was for entertainment. They were both murders but they served completely different purposes. That appeared to be the system’s understanding of the profession as well. There were different kinds of butchers.
“Notification for Player 0000! You’ve completed the profession mission! Concluding all the profession assessments, you have currently 75 percent affinity to the profession of Midnight Butcher!
“Warning! The higher the profession affinity, the greater the player can realize the potential of the profession! You have gained the primary qualification to become the Midnight Butcher, you have gained the ability to observe the souls inside most butcher knives!
“A butcher knife is the most important tool for a Midnight Butcher. A good knife can increase the profession affinity further, a bad knife will turn against its user at the most importune moment. If you are certain that you wish to take on this profession, please bring along your butcher knife of choice and head towards the House of the Butcher!
“The House of the Butcher (Hidden building inside Hidden Map): At the most northern side of Cattle Alley, there is a red building which only those with bloody hands will be able to see. Warning! Make sure that you are wearing a mask before you enter said building!”
After completing the profession mission, Han Fei already possessed the qualification to become a Midnight Butcher but he had to head towards the House of the Butcher to complete that journey.
‘The House of the Butcher? Isn’t there where Spider murdered his other 8 personas? And I have to wear a mask? Strange... Based on my understanding, Spider despised anyone who wears these pig’s masks.’ Han Fei looked through the mission description again. The system only warned him to wear a mask but it did not specify that he would fail if he did not wear a mask. ‘The missions at Cattle Alley are unlike any of the normal ones, I should proceed carefully.’
Xu Qin had sliced through one of the masks, but there was another sitting on the one-eyed monster’s face. Han Fei removed the mask, wiped away the blood and placed it in his inventory.
He was one step closer to becoming a Midnight Butcher; He had also found Xu Qin; By completing the profession mission, it meant that he could quit the game anytime he wanted after the time limit was up. The good news came one after another. Han Fei sighed in relief and wasn’t that nervous anymore.
‘For a butcher, his knife is very important. There are so many knives available at Cattle Alley, looks like I’ll have a very difficult choice to make soon.’ Han Fei turned towards the bone-paring knife. To his surprise, the item description that he saw was different from before.
“Familicide (Broken Grade G Butcher’s Knife): A blade that entraps the souls of a family of six, their hatred enhances the sharpness of the blade! Because the spirits inside the blade have once turned against its user, it has caused the blade itself to shatter. It carries an extremely strong curse of misfortune.
“Warning! You’ve accidentally saved their family, so temporarily you are given the right to use this knife but if you plan to make this your butcher knife, be prepared for its defiance.
“Overall review: This is a blade which has revolted against its user, it is more powerful and more dangerous than you dare to imagine! If you choose to use this knife, profession affinity will lower to 65 percent and there is a very high chance you will be cursed.”
After seeing the system review, Han Fei frowned. Then he tried to pick up the pig-faced monster’s cleaver. Once he touched it, a new wound appeared on his finger. The cleaver which was drenched in the pig-faced monster’s blood was very hostile against Han Fei. He resisted the pain and checked with the system. He was told that if he chose this cleaver as his butcher knife, the profession affinity would be lowered to under 50 and he might fail to unlock the profession. ‘It sure is hard to find a suitable and handy knife.’
It was only after Han Fei interacted with the cleaver that he realized the pig-faced monster’s malice still lingered on it. He remembered the monster had used this very cleaver to chop up his kin’s blade. He wanted to try the same thing now. With the bone-paring knife, Han Fei aimed it along the edge of the cleaver’s blade. The 6 souls inside Familicide bit madly at the energy inside the cleaver. The cleaver which had lost its owner couldn’t hold on for long. The blood on its body started to fade.
After the blood stains on the cleaver disappeared, the pale white bone-paring knife took on a darker shade in red and the splinters on the blade started to heal.
