Han Fei silently placed Zhuang Ren’s picture into his inventory, he only wanted to give it a try but succeeded easily. “Notification for Player 0000! You’ve obtained the Fragment of a Grade E Cursed Object—Living Sacrifice.
“Living Sacrifice (Fragment of a Grade E Cursed Object): This cursed object is made up of many fragments and the fragments are spread across Ziggurat, they are related to the mission, Death Curse. At your current level, it is suggested that you leave them be for now or you might end up one of the living sacrifices.” The system warned him due to Han Fei’s low level. When he challenged the manager mission at level 10, the system said the same thing as well.
Regardless, Han Fei had already kept the picture in his inventory, he was not going to place it back. He’d rather destroy it than leave it with the Butterfly.
‘Fragment of a Grade E Cursed Object…’ The scariest cursed object Han Fei had encountered was the paper doll from the convenience store, but even at its strongest, the boss of the convenience store was merely a Grade F Cursed Object. ‘Living Sacrifice doesn’t sound like a good thing, I better keep it for now, perhaps after I find out more about it, I’ll be able to tell what it is really for. Then I’ll decide whether to keep or lose it.’
Han Fei eased open the bedroom door and looked around. The living room looked neat and clean. Han Fei walked out. There was a black and white flyer on the dining table, it described a donation drive among the tenants to repair something broken. Every week the tenants would also have some kind of gathering and it was compulsory for all the adults to attend.
“Someone has written something here.” Next to the flyer was paper and pen as well as an open calendar. Someone had marked out the date—April 4th. ‘It’s that damn date again, what is its significance to the Butterfly?’
The woman and middle-aged man searched around the room while Han Fei snuck to the front door. He opened the old anti-theft door. He wanted to check the room number but happened to encounter the sound of footsteps and conversation coming from the corridor.
“Mom, will the dead really come back?”
“Don’t question it. Haven’t the family in Room 4244 been reunited? Your father will be back.” It sounded like a pair of mother and daughter were talking.
“Big sister, whenever I fell asleep recently, I would hear the sound of footsteps around the house. The ritual is working. That has to be dad.” Another female voice said. She sounded like a teen.
“Even so, how can you be sure that was dad? We couldn’t see it after all…”
“You should be able to tell that it is your father!” The mother said with some anger. Then she started to grumble, “Your dad is coming back to us soon. Don’t say things like that to make him mad, you know he loved you the most.”
“That is the reason why I have to be sure. He is special to me and I miss him dearly. But he is already dead, even if he comes back, is he still dad?” The eldest daughter sighed. This didn’t sound like it was their first argument about this. The family of three came closer and closer to the door. Han Fei waved at the woman and middle-aged man. They ran back into the bedroom where the dresser was. The door was fiddled with. As the anti-theft door opened, the bedroom door closed. The middle-aged man was the last to retreat into the bedroom.
“Why are you standing there for? Get in!” The mother urged. The youngest daughter stood there for a few seconds and then uttered.
“Mom, I believe I saw a red shadow earlier, it ran into the room that you normally forbad us from going into.”
“A red shadow?”
“Yes, it looks like someone in a bloody shirt. When dad was in the car accident, he was covered in blood as he was dragged away by a truck, wasn’t he? Maybe it was him?!” The youngest daughter stared at the bedroom door and didn’t dare to enter the house. For some reason, even though she was sure it was her father, she still felt fear and anxiety.
“Should we enter the bedroom to check then?” The eldest daughter suggested.
“No, it’s not yet time. If we do, it’ll waste everything we’ve done.” The mother shook her head. She closed the anti-theft door. “We’ll just keep on living like normal. Don’t act so surprised that your dad is back, we’ve been expecting this after all.” That was easier said than done because it was hard to pretend that everything was normal when you knew there was a ghost in the house. The 2 daughters agreed but their eyes kept wandering to the bedroom door.
“Go back to your rooms and rest. According to the ritual, your dad will return to us only when we’re sound asleep. After he has gotten familiarized with us, he’ll show himself. Then you’ll be able to see him again.” The mother held a wooden holy figurine in her hands. It looked old but she treated it like a treasure.
“I’m actually quite tired from working the whole night. Then I’ll go to bed first.” The eldest daughter entered her bedroom. The youngest daughter went to take a shower. The mother snuck into the youngest daughter’s bedroom and when she came out, she no longer had the figurine with her. When the youngest daughter came out from the shower, the mother had already retired to bed. The living room lights were switched off and silence prevailed.
“We should hurry and escape. This family doesn’t sound that normal.” The middle-aged man grumbled.
“We should wait and see.” Han Fei didn’t expect to walk into Zhuang Ren’s family. He wanted to find out exactly what they were doing here. It was Zhuang Ren’s family who died but they believed that it was Zhuang Ren who died and was trying to summon his spirit back in the cryptic world. But the thing that aroused Han Fei’s suspicion the most was the system’s identification of Zhuang Ren’s portrait. Why was it called Living Sacrifice?
About half an hour later, one of the bedroom doors was open and light footsteps approached the bedroom where Han Fei’s group was hiding. When everyone’s heart was squeezed, the lights in the living room came on.
“Zhuang Qing, I knew it was you. What are you trying to do in your father’s room?” The mother’s voice came from the living. She had been guarding there. “It was you who taped the dresser and stole the key of the Soul Lock, aren’t you?” The mother’s voice was laced with anger. “I don’t get it, your father loved you so much when he was alive, why are you so against him coming back?!”
“I…” The eldest daughter bit on her lips. She held a cleaver in her hand, looking like she was prepared to destroy the dresser.
“Tell me why!” The mother shouted.
“Mom, don’t believe those people in this building. I feel like there is something wrong with this… ritual!” The eldest daughter finally spoke her mind.
“Something wrong?”
“I’ve been dreaming that this is not the first time we’ve done this. We’ve conducted this ritual many times, we are living through the same day again and again, the spirit summoning ritual never worked.” Zhuang Qing looked at her mother and explained.
“All these because of a dream? That’s why you don’t want your father to come back to us?” The mother said with disappointment. “Do you know what the meaning of family is? Even if there is only a 1 percent chance, I will do my best to bring him back because he is your father and my husband.””
