The brilliant blade that cut through the night also sliced through Butterfly’s heart. The entire Ziggurat appeared to freeze for a second. Butterfly who stood before Dresser 4444 turned around, its eyes landed on the Evil Soul. The future in the nightmare did become a reality but the person who wielded the blade was not Han Fei but a fractured soul. ‘How could a ghost pick up the blade of humanity?’
The Butterfly’s mad struggle stopped. The crack on its heart started to expand throughout its body. The wings that drained the cryptic world of its colors started to dim. Its night was torn apart.
After the Evil Soul made the cut, the black flame of hatred in the senior monster’s heart extinguished. The blood red butterfly and the senior monster’s hatred were buried together. Its large body disintegrated like dust and the last strand of his lineage flowed into the Evil Soul’s body. No one expected the Evil Soul to pick up Rest in Peace and for the senior monster to sacrifice himself.
The wrinkled hand that held the hilt was slowly fading. The heart valued by Butterfly was split into two. After the senior monster’s body collapsed, the Evil Soul was back in the grandson’s body. He was now weaker than Han Fei. The Evil Soul held the knife and retreated. For the Evil Soul, the knife had a new meaning and he would protect it no matter what.
Big Sin inside the Butterfly’s chest was not injured. It was too focused on the heart to care about what was happening outside. When it saw the heart shatter, it bit on the largest piece and crawled out from the Butterfly’s chest.
The Pure Hatred and Lingering Spirit who surrounded Butterfly naturally would not miss this opportunity. The next few seconds were crucial as to whether they would kill the Butterfly or not.
The spider web trapped the Butterfly near the dresser door. Its beautiful wings were torn apart and the pus of nightmare oozed out from the wounds. The Butterfly’s body slowly fractured. Its handsome face was covered in death spots. Butterfly, who was cornered, shielded its hands around its open chest to stop its broken heart from tumbling out but even its family was trying their best to escape.
“They have never treated you as family but that is not the reason for you to torment so many people.” The Spider’s web pierced through the Butterfly, “Repent for your sins!”
“Repent?” Butterfly’s pale hands covered its heart. The cracks had splintered to the back of its arms. “You are just bugs living in the nightmare, do you really think you can kill me?”
The handsome face broke into a laugh. Butterfly plunged his arms into its chest. The chest and Dresser 4444 behind it exploded at the same time. Since its birth, the dresser had been the Butterfly’s cradle. The old dresser possessed all of its nightmares. Dresser 4444 was a Grade E Cursed Object which matched perfectly with the Butterfly.
This was the first time the people in the cryptic world saw the inside of Room 4444. The path that led deep into the nightmares was connected to many people’s consciousness. With Han Fei’s current knowledge, he was unable to make full sense of it. Han Fei with his limbs chained was prepared to die but to his surprise, the hatred that poured out from Butterfly’s explosion purposely avoided him.
Butterfly was naturally not that kind. There was only one reason why it had done something like this. The Butterfly wanted to use this last opportunity to complete the ritual!
Its original body was lost in the spider web, there was only one way for it to escape now. Before Han Fei could warn anyone, a deep black butterfly flew out from Room 4444. The butterfly was extremely well hidden but it carried intense despair. The Butterfly split out Han Fei’s soul for the purpose of this moment.
Everything happened in the blink of an eye. When the Butterfly’s body exploded, its elusive consciousness fluttered into Han Fei’s mind. The consciousness was hidden among the other black butterflies. It was not strong but extremely hard to detect. If everything went according to plan, it could continue the ritual and take over Han Fei’s body! Once that happened, Butterfly would still be alive, it would revive through Han Fei’s soul.
Butterfly wanted to take over Han Fei’s consciousness and dominate his body. However, just as it entered Han Fei’s mind, before it could do anything, Han Fei’s mind was dyed red and an orphanage bleeding red appeared. A wicked Han Fei stared at the Butterfly as if waiting for its arrival.
It was too late for the Butterfly to retreat now. It rammed into the blood red orphanage. The black hatred and red memory collided. The mind reverberated with horrifying laughter. Under the Butterfly’s attacks, the memories related to the orphanage surfaced in Han Fei’s mind. The memories looked normal but they were all dyed red.
Children were playing inside the red room, eating red food inside the red canteen but no one thought this was out of place. These memories appeared to peel off the red orphanage. As Han Fei remembered them, his consciousness blurred. It was like he had been living in a nightmare, a nightmare that would never end.
The Butterfly wanted to corrupt Han Fei’s mind but after it entered the blood red orphanage, the black butterfly was slowly acclimatized by the redness. It fanned its wings to kill the laughing Han Fei but its body shrunk as it stayed inside the orphanage. When it reached Han Fei, it had already regressed to a normal black butterfly.
Reaching out his hands, Han Fei laughed rather madly. He pulled apart the butterfly bit by bit before feeding them to the red ants on the ground. Being bitten by hundreds of ants, the butterfly experienced unforgettable pain. Han Fei looked silently at it.
Butterfly’s interference loosened the lock on the blood red orphanage. Han Fei was reminded of more memories, but other than the color red, there was nothing too special about them.
The brain slowly returned to normal. Han Fei regained control of his body. He forced his eyes open and saw the broken Room 4444. All the nightmares Butterfly had experienced were carved on the wall. As Butterfly perished, this space that connected the cryptic world and the nightmare collapsed and twisted. The sacrifices trapped inside were dying as well. Han Fei was too weak to save all of them, saving Feng Ziyu was already his limit.
Spider web bound around his body. Spider pulled Han Fei and Feng Ziyu out from the dresser. After the two exited, the scary Grade E Cursed Object fully collapsed. All of Butterfly’s nightmares were buried in the past. Laying on the wilted blood vessels, Han Fei looked around.
The clock in the ruin showed that it was 4.44 am. Little Eight and Zhuang Wen were still attacking Butterfly’s shell relentlessly. The survivors walked out from their rooms, some of them made their escape while others stood quietly around. A handful of the tenants finally found a chance to vent their hatred towards Butterfly. They surrounded the boy Han Fei led out from the underground, the madman in Room 1144 and the security guard Hua Kui.
The madman and Hua Kui were the spare bodies the Butterfly prepared for itself while the boy was a part of the Butterfly’s soul. He was responsible for guarding the altar in the basement, he was modeled after Butterfly’s dreamt perfect childhood. As the Butterfly perished, the cute boy turned into an amorphous monster, this was its true appearance.
Staring at the monster, Han Fei felt no pity. After all, he saw with his own eyes how this boy murdered the other children in the dressers, taking over their future and appearance. No one had the right to forgive it on its victims’ behalf. To ensure that Butterfly was really dead, all the Ziggurat tenants scattered to inspect every corner of the neighbourhood.
While the tenants from Happiness Neighbourhood tried to make Little Eight calm down, Xu Qin walked over to Han Fei and took out a box that she prepared, “Do you need me to feed you?”
Before Han Fei could say anything, a male student rushed over. He just climbed out from the basement. He carried Firefly on his back and pulled along Lai Sheng. His eyes were filled with concern. “You’re the group’s manager, you have to take care of yourself.”
When the student brought Firefly and Lai Sheng to Han Fei, the Evil Soul who held Rest in Peace also turned to Han Fei. They shared the same idea but no one said anything. Taking a deep breath, Han Fei knew this was something he had to face. With Xu Qin’s help, he sat up.
“My souls have infiltrated your bodies, do you need anything from me? I will do everything within my power to fulfill your wishes.” Han Fei told these humans who were summoned to this world.
“I, I want to see my parents…” Lai Sheng was the first to speak. He was still a child, he just wanted to be with his parents.
“They’re already here.” Han Fei signaled behind Lai Sheng. After Butterfly perished, the bindings on the Soul Chasers disappeared. Even though Lai Sheng’s parents hadn’t fully recovered, they came to find Lai Sheng, compelled by instinct. Perhaps afraid that they might scare the boy, they stood in the shadows, protecting their son from the distance.
“Go and meet them, tell them what’s on your mind.” Then Han Fei turned to Firefly. This tall and thin man was too kind for this world. “Do you need anything from me?”
“You’ll be the manager of the chatgroup from now on. Don’t worry about me. I will try my best to keep on living, carrying everyone’s hope with me.” Firefly’s own consciousness was awakening. He was as kind as Han Fei’s kindness. He was also incredibly gentle. Being summoned to the cryptic world would have a lasting impression on Firefly. He might be the second person to be cured by the Iyashikei game.
Lastly Han Fei turned to the Evil Soul who was also staring at him. Before Han Fei said anything, the Evil Soul walked over holding Rest in Peace. His bloody eyes radiated evil. “I thought you’re my Evil Soul, but it looks like I’m mistaken.”
“I also didn’t expect that the person the Butterfly saw in its nightmare to be you.” Han Fei knew from the door guardian that a person’s soul might change and even betray the original persona after leaving the main body. However, a soul’s nature differed depending on the individual. Certain nature was hard to change.
“It doesn’t matter who that creature saw, the important part is even until now, I still think I’m a good person, the kind who can save the world.” The Evil Soul placed the hilt in Han Fei’s palm. “I need a favor from you.”
“What favor?”
“I am dominating the consciousness of a little kid. His greatest wish is to see his family again but his family is now inside the blade. I can’t control this blade freely, so I need you to release his family for them to meet.” The Evil Soul let go of the blade.
“No problem.” The Evil Soul’s bloody lips curled into a smile. He silenced his consciousness and forced the grandson out. When he opened his eyes again, his expression changed. There was no sin in his eyes, only fear and memory.
“Rest in Peace!” The blade shone again. Many people appeared behind Han Fei. Among them were the senior monster and his family. Seeing the people behind Han Fei, the grandson cried immediately. He ran towards the intangible shadows and stood among his family.
Death was like a train, the departed would travel to the beyond, waving goodbye to the living who had to stay at the platform.
