Han Fei completed the wishes of his 3 souls. After a long night, everyone saw the coming of dawn, this was going to be a new beginning.
With the encouragement of his family, the senior monster’s grandson stood up straighter. He was still crying but he swore to live up to his family’s hopes.
Lai Sheng’s parents hadn’t fully recovered so they tried to stay away from him. But the boy jogged all the way behind them.
Firefly finally saw the people he had helped, he was surprised that their first actual meeting would be in the afterlife. In the past, these people relied on him but in the cryptic world, they shielded him in the middle. Everyone had found their closure, Han Fei’s soul fragments on them slowly faded away.
‘Dresser 4444 has been destroyed, the Butterfly’s path cannot be used anymore, so how am I supposed to send them back? Through Resurrection?’ Before Han Fei could come up with a better idea, he decided to leave the people be.
After eating Xu Qin’s food, Han Fei’s Life Points surged back to an acceptable range but he still couldn’t move his limbs too much. He was very heavily injured, his face was almost ruined. “I’m fine, better go and help Little Eight calm down.” The Butterfly had perished but its traces could still be found at Ziggurat. Little Eight and Zhuang Wen had already pounded Butterfly’s shell into dust but they still hadn’t found release. So they turned their aggression to the neighbourhood.
To prevent a live burial, the tenants from Happiness Neighbourhood and Spider tried their best to stop the two. After a long time, Little Eight finally walked out from her madness. The giant red shadow collapsed and only 8 lingering spirits remained among the ruin.
‘The previous building manager has warned Wei Youfu from leaving the Happiness Neighbourhood unless it is absolutely necessary.’ Han Fei took in the 8 fainted figures and his eyes softened like he was looking at his family, ‘Who would have thought the man who has no friends in real life would find family in the cryptic world.’
With the thought of family in mind, Han Fei stood up and looked around. He searched for a long time before he found Zhuang Ren’s eldest daughter, Zhuang Qing at a secluded corner. Curling up her body, hugging a broken figurine, Zhuang Qing’s Death Curse had been removed. Her memory was slowly awakening. Being held by Xu Qin, Han Fei walked towards Zhuang Qing, “Where’s your mother and little sister?”
Lifting her head with confusion, Zhuang Qing looked at Han Fei and said in a throaty voice, “Not long after they entered Ziggurat, they were tortured by the Butterfly until they perished.” She picked up the shredded paper doll from the ground and her face looked defeated and ashen, “The Butterfly wanted to use us to complete the ritual. At first, it used my little sister’s soul to threaten me and mother, and then it used my mother and sister’s souls to threaten me. The bastard only needs things that are useful to it so I am the only one left.” Zhuang Qing’s eyes were hollow. Her spirit wavered, she had nothing left to anchor her to this world anymore.
“You’re the only one left?” Han Fei shook his head. “Do you have any unfinished wishes? Perhaps I can help you fulfill them.”
“Wishes?” Zhuang Qing had lost all hope. Her world crumbled when her memory returned. Now she was just an Animated Regret which was fading. “I haven’t seen my father in a long time already. All the memories I have of him are painted with regret. The accident happened too suddenly. I remembered arguing with him that very morning.”
“Do you want to meet him?”
“Butterfly had been trying to summon his soul but it had never succeeded. I know the steps to the ritual, the ritual can only succeed when both parties miss each other. Perhaps my father doesn’t miss us anymore. Before the accident, he was rumored to be pursuing a female actor in his movie, perhaps he has remarried and moved on already.” Zhuang Qing hugged the figurine and sighed.
“The ritual didn’t succeed, not because he doesn’t miss you but it was because of something else.”
“Thank you but there’s no need to comfort me.”
“I’m telling the truth. To find you, your father has left the entertainment industry, lost his job and even his reputation.” Han Fei decided to complete his promise to Zhuang Ren. He walked into one of the rooms still standing. “Let him explain it to you in person.” Closing the door, Han Fei activated his special talent.
The menu opened like a blood red door from hell. A small fish with red and white stripes struggled in the sea of blood. He avoided all the ghost faces before leaping out from the sea surface. The door closed and Zhuang Ren knelt on the ground. He looked at Han Fei with shock. “Han Fei?”
“Your daughter is outside this door.” Just as Han Fei said that, Zhuang Ren clambered up from the ground and reached for the door. The corridor outside was filled with scary looking monsters, Zhuang Ren was shocked. He fell to the ground but his eyes locked onto Zhuang Qing at the corner.
With his lips twitching, Zhuang Ren who couldn’t even stand straight from fear slowly moved towards her by inching along the wall. He slithered past the monsters and ghosts to reach his daughter. Compared to many years ago, Zhuang Ren’s hair was already white, his skin was loose and his face was wrinkled. He used to be tall and rather rotund but now he was skinny and malnourished. He had changed so much but his eyes stayed the same.
After experiencing so many torments at Ziggurat, Zhuang Qing assumed her heart had died but when she saw her father run towards her, her tears fell involuntarily.
Han Fei didn’t want to disturb this reunion but when Zhuang Ren approached Zhuang Qing, the last figurine suddenly glowed red. It was due to the protection of this figurine that Zhuang Qing wasn’t consumed by the Butterfly. However, at this moment, the figurine seemed to sense something. As Zhuang Ren touched Zhuang Qing, the figurine shattered and the bloody glow from it enveloped Zhuang Ren.
He doubled over in pain. He hugged his head and screamed. His eyes were filled with bloody shadows. The memory that didn’t belong to him was awakening. Afraid that Butterfly might revive, the tenants of Ziggurat immediately surrounded Zhuang Ren. Han Fei was worried that Zhuang Ren might be harmed by them so he immediately squeezed through the crowd. “Calm down! Your daughter is beside you! This reunion is not easy! Don’t lose yourself!” Han Fei shouted but it didn’t have much use. Zhuang Qing stood up to hug her old father. With his daughter’s help, Zhuang Ren slowly regained his sanity. He pulled on his head like he wanted to twist it apart.
After a long time, Zhuang Ren finally spoke. His eyes were filled with fear and he stammered, “I saw some fragmented memories in my mind, I have not experienced them before!”
“What did you see?” Zhuang Ren’s memory was tinkered by the Immortal Pharma’s Director. The memory echoed with the figurine that broke.
“I saw a giant monster crawl out from a black cocoon. It was covered in black mist and it fought with a man. Both of them ended with heavy injuries and left behind two broken altars.” Zhuang Ren shared what he saw, he had no idea how much impact his words had.
“A monster that crawled out from a cocoon?” Han Fei had been to the basement of Ziggurat. He knew all the Death Curses came from the giant cocoon. In other words, the black mist that could deter an Unmentionable also came from the cocoon. Just an abandoned cocoon was strong enough to hold back the Singer. Even though the Singer was injured, it was still an Unmentionable. Therefore, it was logical to believe that the creature that crawled out from the cocoon was also an Unmentionable.
“What else did you see?” Han Fei’s voice chilled.
“The man told the monster that all of its struggle would be for nothing. It is meant to perish in the nightmare with the most horrid death.”
“Die in the nightmare? What else?”
“That’s all. The monster escaped into a city shrouded in darkness. The man didn’t follow after it but he did say he would one day destroy the city.”
The memory Zhuang Ren saw didn’t belong to him. He was just a pawn left behind by the Fu Siblings.
Han Fei frowned deeply. His eyes slowly moved to Hua Kui and the madman from Room 1144. ‘The Butterfly we killed had been trying to clone itself. To complete the goal, it had done many crazy things, but why would it insist on doing that? Just for company? The Butterfly wouldn’t do something so meaningless. It wanted to create another Butterfly to have the new Butterfly die on its behalf, for it to suffer the predetermined future it saw in the nightmare.’
Han Fei was reminded of the endless children strung on the giant cocoon and mumbled the mission hint from the Night of Resurrection, “I fell into the abyss of nightmares. The demons and ghosts looked at me without saying a word. They are curious why haven’t I called for help, I am curious why they would have such a question.
“Aren't all children in the world like me? Trapped inside a cocoon since birth until one can break open with wings?”
The abyss mentioned here referred to the black cocoon. In other words, the giant cocoon existed before the Butterfly that they had just killed! ‘We might not have killed the real Butterfly. The thing that crawled out from the cocoon might be the real Butterfly and the one guarding over Ziggurat was another one of its clones. Regardless, the next step is to get stronger, to adventure deeper into the city.’ Standing at Ziggurat, Han Fei turned to the city shrouded in darkness. In the darkness, there hid many scares and secrets.
The time for the reunion was short. Soon dawn was coming in real life.
Even though Lai Sheng’s parents were unwilling to part with their son, they knew it was time to go. As the Soul Chasers at Ziggurat, they were Butterfly’s puppets and had to heed its every order. But because of that, they knew many Butterfly’s secrets too. The couple carried Lai Sheng who had cried himself to sleep and walked towards Han Fei. They signaled Han Fei to follow them underground.
Following the exposed capillaries, Han Fei’s group came to the underground. After the altars were destroyed and the heart was consumed, the giant cocoon started to break. The blood flowers had already wilted, revealing an altar filled with sacrificial items. They were all pictures of children. The wilted blood flowers cascaded around the pictures of innocence, it felt unsettling.
After Butterfly was vanquished, not only Lai Sheng’s parents, the other Soul Chasers also wandered to this place. They looked at the children in the pictures and the emotions in their eyes were complicated.
“These pictures appear to contain Butterfly’s hatred.” Han Fei placed the pictures he collected on the altar as well. When he looked closer, he realized the children in the pictures seemed to have come alive. They blinked at Han Fei as if trying to say something. As the day approached dawn, the Soul Chasers jumped into the abyss. The blood on their clothes faded while colors returned to the children’s pictures.
“Leave and please don’t come back.” The Soul Chasers melted into the hatred inside the pictures. Like keys, they unlocked the bindings on the altar.
The children who had regained colors started to break out from the pictures. When they escaped from the pictures, their souls were smiling. The innocent souls were like fireflies, rising in the darkness, forming a spire of light. It was unknown how many children's souls were gathered at Ziggurat. The rising lights connected the underground and the sky of the cryptic world.
“This is just a dream, after you wake up, please live a good life.” Lai Sheng’s parents nudged Lai Sheng into the middle of the altar. The small body rose with the light. A small glow exited the boy’s head to fly back into Han Fei’s body. Then came Firefly and the senior monster’s grandson. The humans who were summoned here had to return to real life before dawn, that was the last step of the ritual. Their souls rose with the souls of the kids, returning to their original places. The 3 souls returned to Han Fei. When they entered Han Fei’s mind, the sea of redness slowly returned to normal. The bloody orphanage was pushed back into the inner recesses.
The exit button finally lit up on the button and Han Fei sighed greatly in relief. However, the accident this time did give him a reminder. Earlier he thought it was the separation of soul that caused him to be stuck in the game but now that he thought about it, that didn’t appear to be the truth. When his first soul was pulled out from his body, he could still leave the game. It was not until the Evil Soul appeared that the system marked him as being in a special status. ‘The system bans me from leaving when the bloody orphanage appears in my mind, why is that?’
After the 3 souls returned, Han Fei heard the robotic voice.
“Notification for Player 0000! You’ve completed the Grade E Main Mission, Night of Resurrection! You’ve obtained double EXP, 5 free skill points and basic title, The Undying!
“The Undying: Special title given to the player who first cleared the Ziggurat map! San maximum value increases by 20! Intelligence +1! Stamina +1! Max Life Points +20!
“Notification for Player 0000! You’ve found your lost souls at Ziggurat, helped the humans summoned into the building, ruined the ritual and killed the Butterfly! You’ve completed the main mission perfectly, congratulations for obtaining additional rewards!
“Cursed Words: You’ve killed the manager of Ziggurat, becoming the scariest Death Curse at Ziggurat! Your words now possess intense curse. Your voice can affect your listener. This power can only be used 5 times a day. The stronger the listener, the weaker the effect of Cursed Words.
“Notification for Player 0000! Your butcher knife, Rest in Peace has absorbed many new souls, it is now sharper and stronger!
“Notification for Player 0000! You’ve butchered many spirits and killed the Butterfly. You’ve obtained EXP reward!
“You’ve successfully reached Level 14, obtained 1 free attribute point!
“You’ve successfully reached Level 15, obtained 1 free attribute point!”
The system rang nonstop. Han Fei saw the changing menu and he wondered how many ‘people’ his Evil Soul had murdered. Killing a Lingering Spirit wouldn’t provide much experience to the player, Han Fei’s main source of EXP came from completing missions. However, his Evil Soul had butchered so many spirits that the system had to specially mention it, that was quite unbelievable.
