406 Light up the Night! [2in1]
Passing through the fringe of the plastic surgery hospital’s area to reach the theme park was extremely dangerous. However, after Han Fei shared his plan, no one bowed out. After a long discussion, they managed to decide the first batch who would head towards the theme park.
From the Happiness Neighbourhood, the people who volunteered were Xu Qin, Weep and the mannequin.
Before the previous manager went missing, Xu Qin had visited many places for ‘fresh ingredients’ so she had been to the theme park before. She was the most experienced and quite powerful, so she was a good candidate. The mannequin came from the theme park, so it was not a surprising volunteer.
The volunteer who surprised Han Fei was Weep. After being reborn in the blood pool at the Cattle Alley, Weep seemed to have changed. The place he occupied would still echo with cries but the boy himself rarely cried anymore. His despair instead was branded inside his heart, becoming a power that he could control. After meeting Han Fei, Weep had grown and managed to learn how to face his fear. Currently Weep only wanted to get stronger. He gave himself a goal which was to be stronger than the deepest despair, that way he wouldn’t feel despair anymore.
The volunteers from the Ziggurat included a few members from the Death Chat Group and the red dress. Honestly, Han Fei wanted to bring the jumper woman with him but her heart had already lit up the black flame of hatred. Even though she had failed to evolve, once she entered the other areas, she would be immediately discovered. For the sake of security, Han Fei left Zhuang Wen back at Ziggurat.
After the people were assigned, Han Fei started the last step of his plan. Before the altar was upgraded, he had to ensure Ziggurat’s territory was absolutely safe. He led everyone and did a carpet search of the area around Ziggurat.
For most normal players, they would stay at Ziggurat until level 30 before they left but perhaps because Han Fei had chosen to open both ends of the black box, the EXP he gained from the low level missions was pitiably low. There were still many Grade G Missions remaining at Ziggurat’s area but unfortunately, even after Han Fei completed them, his EXP barely budged.
‘Grade G Missions should correspond to level 1 to 10 and Grade F Missions level 10 to 20. Does this mean that if I finish missions meant for players lower than my current level, I won’t get much EXP?’ Perhaps someone had done this before so the system had banned this method.
Leading his neighbours and Big Sin, Han Fei used the whole night to turn all the buildings around Ziggurats upside down. With the aid of several Large Lingering Spirits, Han Fei completed 2 Grade F missions and countless Grade G Missions, which bumped him up to level 16. When Han Fei heard the system notification, he almost cried. To level up to level 16, he had to clear almost all the missions available at the Ziggurat’s territory, he didn’t expect to have to do so much work.
‘Brother Huang managed to reach level 15 in a night. With so many friends, I only managed to raise 1 level after clearing out an entire map. Why is the difference in treatment for the both of us so huge?’ Han Fei slowly understood how difficult the path he had chosen for himself was. To search for an answer between destruction and salvation, that was not doable by a normal person. ‘When I find the singer and unlock another one of Fu Sheng’s memory fragments, he might have me make another choice after opening another layer of the black box.’
When Han Fei opened the black box the first time, he was not really himself. If he was given the chance to pick again, he might have made a different choice.
The Ziggurats’ area was finally safe. Han Fei had completed his first dream after entering the game, to have a safe home, and to own a ‘business empire’.
Han Fei and his neighbours returned to Happiness Neighbourhood. This might be a one-way trip so the neighbours wanted to have a quick farewell. The neighbours went off separately to prepare until Han Fei and Xu Qin were the only ones left at the gate.
Toying with the table knife, after everyone left, Xu Qin took out a blood-stained paper from her pocket. The paper was wrapped in hundreds of curses, only the person approved by Xu Qin could open it.
Seeing Xu Qin walk over towards him, Han Fei’s heart raced. He had not experienced anything like this before. Furthermore, he had not acted in any romance movies so he was rather nervous. ‘Wait, is this… no way? So direct? Should I…’ Han Fei’s normally clever brain suddenly went on the fritz.
He tried to make himself look as collected as possible. His gaze wandered between Xu Qin’s fingers and the stained white paper. The familiar scent of blood lingered in the air, a unique fragrance of meat surrounded Xu Qin. For the midnight butcher, this smell was better than the most expensive perfume in the world. While Han Fei got lost in her unique perfume, Xu Qin had stopped before him.
They were very close. Han Fei’s adam apple trembled. Many scenarios ran through his mind. In this endless darkness, at the gate of this creepy neighbourhood, Xu Qin grabbed Han Fei’s hands and placed the paper in the middle of Han Fei’s palm. She didn’t ask for permission, Xu Qin’s meaning was clear, ‘this is for you, so keep it.’
Feeling the chill from his fingertips, Han Fei lifted his head to look at Xu Qin. ‘She’s a bit forceful but internally she’s very gentle.’ When Han Fei first left Happiness Neighbourhood, it was Xu Qin who accompanied him. The red paper doll that saved Han Fei many times from certain death was also created from Xu Qin’s own blood. If Han Fei was the guardian spirit of Yi Ming Street then from the very beginning, Xu Qin was Han Fei’s guardian spirit. Han Fei had no idea what Xu Qin would say next but no matter what she said, he would not reject it.
“I’ve written everything on that paper.”
“I understand.” Han Fei took a deep breath. This was his first time being so nervous but from non-danger. ‘I’m surprised that I would develop a relationship like this in this cryptic world.’ In the past, he only saw this game as survival training, he didn’t expect to find other opportunities in it. ‘Then again, of course one’s perfect life wouldn’t be missing…’ Han Fei opened the piece of paper. After he saw the content, his mind froze again. The white paper listed out 5 different places. Each of them corresponded to 1 large freezer.
“While you were away, I made different dishes from the ingredients I’ve gathered. They are all your favorite meat. Hopefully they’re enough to satiate you until I return.” Xu Qin looked at Han Fei. In a fleeting moment, there was a sickened obsession in her eyes.
“You look disappointed?” Xu Qin smiled. Her blood painted lips slowly approached Han Fei. “Is that not what you have in mind? Or would you like to have something else to eat?” Xu Qin’s chuckles echoed in his ears.
When Han Fei came to his senses, Xu Qin dropped a giant black anaconda before Han Fei before she turned to walk back into Happiness Neighbourhood. Under the flickering streetlights, Han Fei and the black snake were both startled as they watched the woman saunter away.
“What exactly is her intention?” Han Fei turned to the black anaconda. Xu Qin’s pet also turned to look at Han Fei. The man and the snake looked at each other like that for quite some time before the snake shook its head with disappointment.
“What is the meaning of that? Why are you so disappointed to be stuck with me? Let me tell you, I have many pets now and every one of them is more powerful than the last.” The moment Han Fei said that, the robotic voice came, “Notification for Player 0000! You’ve allowed your Demonic Pest too much free reign, you’ve obtained 10 reputation! Your reputation is now 46!”
After he worked for so long, Han Fei’s reputation only reached 30 plus points but without him doing anything, the system suddenly announced that his reputation had risen by 10. That startled Han Fei. ‘But we haven’t even departed yet, why would my reputation increase?’ Han Fei’s heart trembled with a bad feeling when he read the notification again. ‘Isn’t Demonic Pest Big Sin’s talent? Fuck, where is Big Sin now?!’
Han Fei looked around and Big Sin which had been following him had disappeared. Han Fei became even more anxious. He moved down the streets. When he saw the altar at the gate of Happiness Neighbourhood, his brain buzzed and his lips were pale. The black cloth had fallen to the ground, the bowl placed before the altar was tipped over. The bowl used to have a permanent supply of white rice but now it was empty!
“Notification for Player 0000! Your pet has entered the sight of the Unmentionable, both of you have gained the continuous cursed state—Taboo!
“Notification for Player 0000! Your pet has destroyed an altar, both of you have gained the continuous cursed state—Malicious Fiends!
“Taboo: Charm -1! There are many Unmentionable’s taboos in this city but you have to violate them. When you mentioned their name, they had already grabbed your heart in their palms.
“Malicious Fiends: Charm -3! Less people are willing to get close to you, because you will attract tragedy.”
After the notifications were over, Big Sin who heard Han Fei’s voice finally crawled out from the altar. It was munching something in its mouth. Han Fei had no idea what Big Sin had consumed from inside the altar. When he looked into the altar, the altar was already empty.
‘What have I done this time!’ Han Fei didn’t mind Big Sin eating altars but this altar was left behind by an ally!
‘O well, there’s no use crying over spilt milk.’ Han Fei stared at the empty altar and then glanced at his system notification. ‘Big Sin has eaten the thing inside the altar. Even though I suffer the punishment alongside it, the system did mention that only my pet has been sighted by the Unmentionable.
‘The Unmentionable of this altar only saw Big Sin and not me. If that’s the case, maybe I should have Big Sin consume the altar from other areas. When the pet is cursed, as the owner, I’m cursed as well. But the reputation gained by the pet will be gained by me as well.’ Han Fei calculated the math. After Big Sin destroyed 5 more altars, it would be enough for him to upgrade his own altar. ‘Should I send Big Sin to the theme park too? Let it pretend to be a monster from the hospital?’
Han Fei stared at Big Sin who was happily circling around Han Fei and the latter had many ideas. Han Fei started to teach Big Sin about the altars, he tried to tell Big Sin that not far away there were more delicious altars for him to enjoy. The neighbours slowly returned to complete the mission Han Fei had given them. Big Sin was intrigued by the pictures painted by Han Fei. It was willing to go eat more altars but the problem was, other than Han Fei, no one appeared to be able to control Big Sin.
Han Fei who only had 1 Life Point couldn’t personally lead Big Sin to find altars. He needed someone else to help look after his pet or this Harbinger of Tragedy could easily go out of control. After everyone had given it a try, Han Fei was shocked to realize Big Sin only showed no malice towards Bai Sinian, the only survivor at the security company. “Bai Sinian? You have such ability?”
Big Sin was born in the mass grave under the pet shop and his first transformation was in the underground blood pool at the security company. Perhaps because its transformation process was prompted by the souls of the security guards, or perhaps Han Fei wore the security guard uniform daily, when Big Sin was close to Bai Sinian, it didn’t show any hostility.
“Thankfully I’ve saved you.” Han Fei also didn’t expect his kindness would repay him in this way. He summoned Big Sin and Bai Sinian together. He requested them to work together. He worked with them for an hour before Big Sin could barely accept walking beside Bai Sinian.
“Don’t worry, I will do my best to look after it!” Bai Sinian in his guard uniform indeed looked quite imposing with its ‘imposing watchdog’.
“You need to shed the guard uniform, best if you can find a patient’s garb near the hospital and put it on. From today onwards, you are from the plastic surgery hospital. And don’t call it Big Sin, its name is now Plastic Surgery Bug.” Han Fei focused on the details, he was like a director assigning roles. After they were complete with everything, they moved to Ancestral Hall Street.
With the Mirror God’s help, everyone carried a lot of broken life threads and was taught a few simple ways to use them.
“We are going to create a big ruckus, but we won’t harm the innocent. If you run into people who need help, don’t be stingy with your kindness.” Han Fei pointed at himself. “In the past, there was only 1 Han Fei in this dark night. But I believe that with hope, all of the Han Fei’s will be able to shine with glow and light.”
Han Fei scanned his neighbours, thinking of his memory with them. Without knowing it, their destiny had been bound together. The endless night in the cryptic world might not change due to Han Fei’s arrival but there were more and more people who were willing to bring light to this world with him!
