446 Tattoo
What is the most painful thing you have experienced? Everyone might have a different answer. But for the altar owner, this was an unanswerable question because when he thought he had already experienced the most painful thing in his life, there would be something worse waiting for him.
“Why are you standing there? Hurry up!” The father prompted urgently. He waved at Han Fei. “Don’t you need the money to save your mother? We’ll go and take it together!” The middle-aged man started to panic. His expression was anxious. “Come, follow me!” His tone became stern and even authoritative. The middle-aged man walked down the stairs very slowly. After taking a few steps, he turned to look behind him. When he saw Han Fei hadn’t moved, the anger and anxiety in his eyes grew. “Hurry up, what are you still doing there?!” The father roared. This useless man only dared to raise his voice at his family.
Taking a deep breath, Han Fei took one step forward. He looked into the middle-aged man’s eyes. “What have they promised you that you would trade for it with your own child’s life?”
“They?” The middle-aged man’s eyes darted about. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. What is wrong with you?”
“Even if you show a shred of remorse, he will find various reasons to persuade himself and let you go but you can’t even give him that.”
Seeing Han Fei’s refusal to budge, the father became desperate. “I told you to go down there! Why are you wasting my time?” The middle-aged man grabbed Han Fei’s arm, aiming to drag him underground. The man was weak, he assumed the altar owner wouldn’t fight back because he was the owner’s father.
Han Fei easily extricated himself from the man’s grasp. He grabbed the father by his collar and pulled that disgusting face towards him. “I didn’t hurt you at all at the tea shop but since you want me dead, then you can’t blame me anymore.”
“You, you unfilial bastard…”
Han Fei slapped the man’s face. He didn’t need to suppress his anger anymore. He punched the man’s stomach and tossed him to the corner. At that moment, noises came from all around the small building. Wang Quan’s people started to gather.
“This old bastard really is from the same gang as Wang Quan! He tries to scam his own son! Is he still human?” Lee Long and Lee Hu guarded behind Han Fei when they saw the ruffians armed with steel pipes and other weapons. Even though they were prepared, they were disgusted when they found out. Wang Quan’s people gathered but Han Fei’s attention was focused on the underground tunnel.
“Be careful, don’t move!” Han Fei’s eyes narrowed. He saw a shadow flash through the basement and then came the sound of the iron door being opened. Two figures walked out. One tall and one short. They carried metal pipes and chains. Human skull tattoos were on their necks. Behind them was a doctor. The man had on gloves and carried a medic kit. He was all scrubbed up like he was ready for an operation. ‘Why would a surgeon be underground? The altar owner has signed the contract to surrender his body?’
Han Fei, Lee Long and Lee Hu retreated. The two men who came out from the basement were interested in Han Fei. “When I saw him earlier, I thought he was new here. Now I can confirm he is unique, he should represent some kind of unique memory.” 7th Finger held the metal pipe and stared at Han Fei with anticipation.
“I’ve scanned everyone in this world but I have not seen him before. If the memory hasn’t changed, then he comes from outside.” 8th finger was stout and had wrinkly skin. “It doesn’t matter, we’ll capture him anyway.” Dragging the chain on the ground, when 8th Finger moved forward, the ruffians also moved forward. Han Fei’s exit was about to get blocked when footsteps came from the alleys not far away.
Brother Snake had arrived. They were all dressed in black. Among them were locals and workers at western city. 7th and 8th finger were crazy and cruel. They tortured people for joy. The residents at western city couldn’t stand them for a long time already. They just needed someone to unite them. Han Fei’s appearance had given them an opportunity, an opportunity to riot.
“That’s quite a lot of you, but it doesn’t matter.” Brother Snake had gathered many people. Brother Snake had the number’s advantage but 8th Finger didn’t panic. He looked at Brother Snake and the other locals. “This is not my first time entering his memory and thus not my first time dealing with you people either, so why can’t you learn from the past lessons?” The pale finger raised and 7th finger pointed at Brother Snake. “The last time we killed you it was 30 days ago. Your daughter cried so hard. I love her cries so I took one whole night to kill you. I know you’re curious about what I did to your daughter. I put her inside a box and made her into a music box.”
Brother Snake’s face darkened. Not many people knew he had a daughter, this was his biggest secret.
“And you two brothers. I’ve peeled off your tattoos and pasted them on the wall.
“And you, what’s your name again? Never mind, it’s not important. I only remember how you died as well as the spots on your heart.”
8th Finger’s eyes swept everyone present. He had killed everyone before. “Don’t hate me, hate yourself for living at western city. In this memory world, this place is abandoned by the altar owner so we can unleash our resentment here without worry. It will not affect his memory because in his mind, all of you deserve to die.”
“Don’t listen to this madman! Take them down!” The waiter from the tea shop shouted. They rushed forward. The brawl exploded inside the white building.
After hearing 8th finger, Han Fei understood why Brother Snake called them crazy. This was not the first time Ten Fingers entered the memory world. Every time they failed and were forced out from the altar, the memory world would reset. Ten Fingers must have killed plenty of people inside the memory world already.
“Resistance is futile, you can’t even kill me. You are just dust on the surface of this world, we can wipe you off with a swipe of our hand!” 8th Finger shouted arrogantly. His voice attracted the attention of the workers at the tea shop. The workers were actually Brother Snake’s closest disciples. When they heard the men humiliate Brother Snake, they were already fuming. They shared a look and when they were 2 metres away from 8th Finger, they moved at the same time and surrounded 8th Finger. The solid wooden clubs fell. 8th Finger evaded the attack easily but when he was not looking, the waiter swung a club right at 8th Finger’s head. Blood flowed, 8th Finger’s skull cracked but strangely enough, he didn’t fall. If anything, he moved faster and crazier!
This man didn’t appear to be human. The injury had no influence on him. The waiter was shocked. Before he could recover, his stomach was punctured. Staring at the dripping blood, he couldn’t believe that chains could pierce through flesh so easily.
The twisted face leaned near him. 8th Finger smiled as he pulled out the chain. “You’re just a shell filled with memory, you don’t really think you can harm me, do you?”
8th Finger didn’t even care about the other clubs landing on him. He dragged the waiter into the basement and turned to find his next target. “I’ll savor your despair later.” Dragging the bloody chain, 8th Finger started to look for Han Fei. He liked to kill new people, the fresh meat made him excited.
“Found you.”
Han Fei stood at the entrance of the white building, he was protecting Lee Long and Lee Hu whose arms were broken. There were too many enemies. He was already injured, the wound on his calf started to bleed again.
8th Finger silently approached. He didn’t mind the injuries because pain would only make him more excited. The closer he got, the more bloodshot his eyes. “Not a rotten memory, I can smell soul on him.” 8th Finger picked up speed. The chain materialized beside Han Fei. As he planned to make his move, the tired Han Fei turned around with a faint smile on his face.
‘He knew I was coming?’ 8th Finger hesitated. His bloodshot eyes glanced towards Han Fei’s hand which was pulling out a bladeless blade. ‘A hilt?’ 8th Finger was not afraid of the actual blade, why would he be scared of a bladeless blade?
His smile grew twisted. 8th Finger planned to keep Han Fei. He would torture such an interesting prey for a long time. After all, they would have to stay inside the memory world for a full 30 days every time they entered anyway.
When 8th Finger grabbed Han Fei by his neck, Han Fei plunged the bladeless blade into 8th Finger’s heart. The sun was blinding. No one realized something was wrong. Even 8th Finger only felt a chill near his heart. Then fire burnt through his chest! He could feel his memory being ignited. The flame on his shell seared through his soul. Han Fei and 8th Finger collapsed but the latter couldn’t stand up anymore. All of his sins were severed and his soul was made entirely out of sin.
“How is it possible…” The brawl around them continued. The large 7th Finger appeared to sense something. He snapped out from his madness. He saw Han Fei who was on the ground and the chains that draped across his shoulders. He charged towards Han Fei, the metal pipe attacking everyone that stood in his way. 7th Finger finally reached Han Fei. He grabbed the chain on Han Fei’s shoulder and he noticed something was wrong. This chain didn’t belong to 8th Finger. It was covered with animal fur, presence of death and curse. When he noticed the problem, the chains came alive. It wrapped around him like a snake. 7th Finger struggled. His heart chilled, he hadn’t felt that in a long time already.
“Not good!” Without any hesitation, the human skull tattoo on the back of 7th Finger’s neck started to dissolve!
Black hatred scorched the skin and burst through the blood capillaries. They surged towards 7th Finger’s heart but they were too late. Before the black resentment from the tattoo could inject into the heart, the sun already pierced through it.
The large body melted under the sun. 7th Finger’s left arm swung at his attacker in a last attempt. Even if he was going to die, he would leave a lasting imprint on his enemy. The arm that contained deep resentment squeezed. 7th Finger crushed the plaster around Lee Long’s arm. He left a black handprint that couldn’t be removed on Lee Long’s arm. While Lee Long screamed, Han Fei pulled out Rest in Peace.
‘I’ve already moved so fast but he still had the chance to counter. The human skull tattoos are more than mere decoration, they contain Ten Fingers’ power.’ Han Fei expected a counter attack but not in this form.
The imprint left on Lee Long could be used to confuse the rest of the Ten Fingers. If Han Fei was imprinted, he might die before he could rectify the altar owner’s regret.
Wang Quan’s people never had the advantage to begin with. After 7th and 8th Finger disappeared, they lost all fights.
“Those 2 madmen had escaped! They’re afraid!” Someone shouted to shake the enemy’s morale. Wang Quan’s people started to scatter. After the enemies had been taken care of, Brother Snake and the other people moved towards Han Fei. The old fox didn’t ask about 7th and 8th Finger. He was only concerned about Han Fei’s injuries. Then he announced to everyone that Han Fei’s loan with Lee Long had been absolved. To prove his words, Brother Snake found the loan contract between Han Fei and the man with the colorful shirt and burnt it up.
After getting Brother Snake’s friendship and clearing all the debt, the system rang.
“Notification for Player 0000! You’ve completed the mission—Caged Beast!
“Man trapped inside the cage will lose all humanity to become a mud figurine inside the altar. You’ve rectified 30 percent of the altar owner’s regret! You’ve obtained a lot of EXP. You’ve obtained the blind red left eye; the punctured right ear; the broken 5 fingers of the left hand; the dead internal organs. Please enter the basement to claim the mission rewards!”
Han Fei noticed that the mission had directly corrected 10 percent of the altar owner’s regrets. ‘Just what has he experienced in the basement?’
After the mission was completed, Han Fei entered the basement with Lee Long and Lee Hu. They walked down the staircase before they reached the land where the sun couldn’t reach. He pulled open the iron door and before them squatted a doctor who was shivering in the dark. “Please let me go, I don’t know anything! I have nothing to do with them!” The man knelt on the ground. “They forced me here!”
The basement had been redesigned, the space was huge. Han Fei took out his phone for a light source. The basement was filled with bloody mattresses and chains. A chair was placed in the middle of the room.
When he saw these things, the memory in Han Fei’s mind burnt. Different heart-tearing pain tore through Han Fei’s nerves as screams echoed in his ears. The memories that didn’t belong to Han Fei were torn into different parts, they were imbued into Han Fei’s left eye, right ear, five fingers and internal organs.
When Han Fei came to his senses, he was sitting on the wooden chair and his arms were weak.
The world that he saw from his right eye was normal but the world he saw from his left eye was covered in blood mist. Among the mist, some people still looked normal but some had fully mutated but they didn’t realize it.
“I am inside the room behind the dresser…” There was a voice that spoke into his right ear. Han Fei stood up to push away the only dresser in the basement. There was a hidden door behind it.
