447 Me
‘There’s another door?’ Han Fei turned back to glance at the doctor in the surgeon’s outfit. ‘They probably used this place more than to torture people.’ Pulling open the hidden door, they were hit by a strong scent of blood mixed with medicine. The hidden room was very big with various surgical instruments as well as 2 simple surgical tables.
“This is…” While he moved, Han Fei’s injured leg knocked against a box. The box toppled over and the content spilled out. There were many bloody one-time use surgical tools. Han Fei looked deeper into the room and it only got more revolting. Covering his nose and mouth, Han Fei silently moved forward. His left eye was bloodshot and something echoed in his right ear. It felt like he was inside a frozen river, the chilling water gushed into his ears, silencing the other sounds.
“When you get this shot of sedative, you will not feel pain anymore, but the price is you’ll lose part of your body.” The unfamiliar voice began again. When Han Fei came to his senses, he was already lying on the surgical table. The shadeless lights above the surgical table lit up. They were immensely blinding. This was probably when the sedative was injected into the altar owner’s body. He could no longer struggle as the light descended over him. Energy drained from his body. Han Fei felt excessive pain coming from his internal organs, he wanted to scream but there was no sound coming out from his mouth.
The memories that didn’t belong to him were torn apart and the pieces fitted perfectly into Han Fei’s body, they flowed through his blood, entering his organs.
“Notification for Player 0000! You’ve gained dead internal organs, your physical recovery speed increases, stamina permanently +1!
“Notification for Player 0000! You’ve triggered a random mission—Me.
“Me: After I have killed all of my kindness, am I still me?
“Mission Requirement: There are 2 mirrors in the room, one will reflect the truth, the other will reflect false hope, please make the correct choice.”
Han Fei opened his eyes blurrily. He tried to move his arms and control his body. He wanted to crawl down from the surgical table but as he turned over, he fell directly to the ground. His body was too numb to feel any pain.
Blinded by the light and darkness, he couldn’t see the exit but he did see 2 mirrors hanging on the wall. Han Fei stumbled towards them. The two mirrors hung on the wall but the reflections were completely different.
The left mirror showed a clean and proper surgical theatre. The doctor rejected Wang Quan’s demands. The altar owner’s father was in the room. He knelt down beside Wang Quan, his eyes filled with remorse. He begged Wang Quan to not harm his son. Wang Quan finally surrendered to the doctor and the father’s request. He groaned and told the doctor to put his instruments away.
The surgical theatre in the right mirror had flickering lights. When the lights came on, one could see a room covered in blood. In this room, there was no doctor, Wang Quan and the father. Only a young man leaning before the mirror. He was abandoned here. His face was ruined and his hand touched the mirror. His blood and tears leaked into his mouth, no one could hear his cry for help.
‘This is so cruel.’ Staring at the mirrors, Han Fei finally placed his hand on the right hand. He reached out to touch the palm of the young man in the mirror.
“Notification for Player 0000! You’ve completed the mission—Me.
“Thank you for finding the real me. Many years ago, I abandoned him inside the surgical theatre mirror and from that day onwards, I wasn’t me anymore.
“You’ve rectified 35 percent of the altar owner’s regret! You’ve obtained a large amount of EXP and the preliminary approval of the altar!”
When the system chimed, all the strange mutations disappeared. Han Fei gained control over the memory that didn’t belong to him. He didn’t feel as influenced by them as before.
‘To inherit this evil altar, I have to fulfill various conditions. I'm sure I have not done that so why has the previous altar owner given me his preliminary approval already?”
The shadeless lights returned to normal. Han Fei stood before a single mirror. The mirror faced the surgical table so that the patient could see the operations being done on them. Everything had returned to normal but Han Fei felt like he had bade farewell to an important person inside the mirror.
“Why are you crying?” Lee Hu studied Han Fei with shock. Even when he found out he was scammed by his biological father, Han Fei showed no emotion. But now for no reason, tears trickled down Han Fei’s face.
“These are not my tears.” Han Fei touched the mirror before him. He turned to ask the rest, “Can I bring this mirror with me?”
“Of course, but why would you want it?”
“As a memento.” Han Fei carefully removed the mirror. He studied it again to see if there was anything special about it. Han Fei walked out from the basement. He gave Brother Snake full right on how to handle Wang Quan and the doctor. He was more worried about another thing. Han Fei had killed 8th and 7th Finger, the other fingers wouldn’t forgive him. The next few days would be rocky.
“The world has started to mutate. I have to fulfill the altar owner’s regrets as soon as possible to become the altar’s new owner!” If Han Fei’s failed, he would die, the Mirror God’s sacrifice would be in vain, Weep and the red dress as well as the other tenants would die too. “I need to survive until the end!”
Han Fei stood outside the white building. Brother Snake’s people were everywhere, western city was controlled by Brother Snake again but the old man had no idea that he had been targeted by something more dangerous.
Members of Ten Fingers could dissolve their tattoo to ignite the resentment within them.
“You’ve helped us greatly but you need to be careful.” Brother Snake remembered what 8th Finger said. At his age, he didn’t care about much, his only weakness was his daughter. “These madmen appear to come from another city and they most likely have other teammates.”
“It was your people who chased them away, that has nothing to do with me.” Han Fei didn’t want to stay at western city but his leg was injured and the brawl had exhausted him a lot.
“Well, aren’t you clever.” Brother Snake scratched his beard and narrowed his eyes. “Your father sneaked away during the brawl, do you need me to find him?”
“Thank you in advance then.”
“I’ll have my people look for him. You should come back with me to the tea shop.” With Brother Snake’s invitation, Han Fei carried the mirror back to the tea shop. Brother Snake invited him to a scrumptious meal. After the meal, Han Fei was given a room to rest with Lee Long and Lee Hu. Han Fei knew what Brother Hu was doing, he wanted to know how Han Fei dealt with 7th Finger. He wanted to know Han Fei’s secret. But as an acting master, Han Fei was not going to reveal his secret so easily.
Han Fei took the time to rest and had Brother Snake pay attention to suspicious people who might have entered western city. When Han Fei woke up, the sky outside the window was already dark.
“Come on, we should leave already.” Lee Long shook Han Fei awake, “It’s very chaotic at western city at night so we better don’t stay overnight.”
“Has my father been found?”
“No, he probably has already left western city.”
After sharing another meal with Brother Snake, Han Fei, Lee Long and Lee Hu left the tea shop. They walked along the broken city streets for a long time before they reached the bus stop. “No taxi dares to come here so we have to take the bus.” Lee Long glanced at his watch. “There should be one last bus.”
“Actually instead of worrying how to get back, I’m more worried about the 2 of you.” Han Fei turned around to address them. “Our debt is cleared but if you don’t have my protection, you won’t be able to survive those crazy people’s revenge.”
“Your protection?” The brothers were startled. This was the first time they were told something like that but then it was also true.
“Did you notice the tattoo around 7th and 8th finger’s neck? Those are the marks of a very crazy organization. The members are all mentally ill. Now that Brother Snake has offended them, they will do everything to take revenge!” Han Fei sighed.
“There are more like 7th and 8th Finger?” Lee Hu was scared.
“Yes, for the sake of security, you two better stay with me. You can act as my liaison with Brother Snake. Tell me when you get any new update and we’ll work together to overcome this hurdle.” Han Fei had no idea how this memory world would mutate to in the end, so he decided to gather as many allies as he could.
Lee Long in his left and right eyes was already different. In his right eye, Lee Long was normal but in his left eye, Lee Long radiated death.
“Okay…” Lee Long and Lee Hu shared a look. They had been in the loanshark business for years, this was the first time they encountered someone like Han Fei. They had a feeling that if they didn’t agree, Han Fei would borrow another loan from them so that they would have to follow him. While they chatted, the last bus of the day arrived. Han Fei took out the fare. “My treat.”
The bus stopped. Han Fei was the last to get on. There was no one at the bus stop anymore but the driver still didn’t close the door. After about 10 seconds, the driver finally started the engine. He grumbled. “There sure are a lot of passengers at this stop.”
The bus departed. The in the bus rang. Han Fei’s expression shifted because he heard different versions in his ears.
“The vehicle is starting, please sit properly, the next station, River Hospital.”
“The vehicle is starting, please sit properly, the next station, the next station, the next station…” The next station kept repeating in Han Fei’s right ear. The voice also became sharper and sharper like the person’s air was being cut off.
“We better sit close to the door.” Han Fei glanced at his character profile. After he got on the bus, his mood points started to drop.
