461 Best Friend
Han Fei didn’t anticipate the sudden call from the mall boss. He looked at the number on his phone. At that moment, the family in Room 19 was at the verge of madness. If the boss said something wrong on the phone, Han Fei would be torn into pieces.
‘To accept or not to accept.’ While Han Fei hesitated, a pale face saw the caller id on Han Fei’s phone. The id and number had special meaning for the people inside the room. Just the sight of it caused all of them to mutate!
Black capillaries grew out of the bodies like roots. They expanded to cover the entire room. The sound of crying came from the 7 death portraits on the wooden table. Everyone in the picture cried bloody tears. They stared at Han Fei. Their bulging eyes filled with hatred. The previously empty room became ‘crowded’. The rotten food was colored with fresh redness, the children dragged the black roots and raced around the house, the giant tv in the living room switched on to show a new year program.
In this celebratory background, bloody people sat around the table. This was their final reunion. The landlord’s ring snapped and the crack grew bigger.
‘The hatred of this family is too strong.’ Han Fei knew he couldn’t allow this to continue further. He pressed the accept button before all the ‘people’. “Hello, how can I help?” Han Fei sounded tired.
“There’s a problem at the shop, you need to come now.” The boss sounded stern, this was the first time he used that tone. Normally the boss would hide behind a false mask of kindness and pretend to be approachable.
“Boss Gu?” Han Fei stood in the middle of the mutating room. Surging blood vessels moved under his feet and ghastly faces approached him, however he didn’t show any trace of fear. “I’m in the middle of a delivery, I might not be able to return so soon.”
“Fei Yang has disappeared and the shop is a mess. Did something happen yesterday night?” Boss Gu’s voice was dark and scary. If it was just Fei Yang missing, the boss wouldn’t be so mad, something important at the shop must be missing.
“Before dawn, Fei Yang came to switch shifts with me. At the time, there was a customer at the shop. He was all dressed in black and had a human head tattoo around his neck. He didn’t say anything when he was inside the shop but he stood in front of the altar.”
“Did he pull off the black cloth on the altar?!” The boss’ voice suddenly grew.
“No, but he did wish to purchase the altar and he said he had already discussed that with Fei Yang.” Han Fei was telling the truth. “What’s wrong, is there a problem with the altar?”
“The altar is still here but the thing inside has been stolen. The surveillance from the night before has been tampered with as well.” The boss’ voice darkened. “Did… you enter the storeroom yesterday night?”
“I did, twice. Mainly, it was to restock the inventory.” That was also the truth. When Han Fei arrived, most of the shelves in the shop were empty because Fei Yang didn’t dare to go underground to restock the items.
“Then did you see a basket filled with dumpling leaves in the storeroom? The basket contains a letter that my benefactor has given me.” Boss Gu had been trying to suppress his anger and asked Han Fei in a peaceful tone.
“A letter?” Han Fei said in a confused tone as he looked at the letter held by the ghost. His voice was befuddled like he had heard about this thing for the first time.
“Never mind.” As if afraid that he might expose more things, the boss stopped asking, “Come back to the mall soon, we’re understaffed.”
When the ‘people’ in the room heard the mall boss’ voice, they couldn’t even maintain their human shape anymore. The blood capillaries that grew out of the family bound them together to weave a blood cage. It trapped Han Fei inside it. The cage slowly decreased in size. The indescribable hatred was reaching the peak. “There is so much static on your end, why is it so noisy?” The boss said with impatience. Many annoying things had happened to him that day.
“Probably because my phone is too old.” Han Fei raised the phone and allowed the faces to get close to his phone. He hoped that the ghosts could travel through the phone line to kill the boss.
“Work for me and get a new phone after I give you the salary.” The boss didn’t have time to chat with Han Fei. He soon hung up. After the call ended, Han Fei placed the phone on the floor. “You heard it yourself. I took the letter back to you while risking my own life. I really want to help you.” Most danger could be turned into an opportunity.
Before Han Fei arrived, he didn’t expect the hatred of this family to be so scary. He was a player who had been through a lot. He was always on full alert, he would retreat once something didn’t feel right. However, he didn’t expect that things would change from normalcy to extreme danger in mere seconds. He barely had the time to react, much less run. However, Han Fei didn’t give up hope. Wang Pingan had been here yesterday night and he wasn’t injured. This meant that the ghosts in Room 19 didn’t harm Wang Pingan and even helped him get out of the neighbourhood safely. So this showed that the ghosts in Room 19 still had a shred of humanity.
Han Fei was already very careful. He had considered many things before he decided to visit this place in person, but even so he had found himself in extreme danger. The human-skin-like dumpling leaves and the letter triggered the ghosts and then hearing the mall boss’ voice was like adding fuel to the fire.
“The mall boss said you are his benefactor but he is now living in a big mansion with his children and grandchildren. He has a lot of real estate but you have ended up in this state. Are you satisfied with that? I even heard the man say that he planned to level this apartment building. He doesn’t even want you to have a home in death! Once this root is removed, how do you plan to be reunited with your family? Unable to reunite in life is a regret but unable to see your family after death is a torture. Even after death, you are a threat to him so he will not let you go.” Han Fei persuaded the family.
“The mall boss doesn’t have much time left so he needs something to help prolong his life. This is his craziest moment but also his most vulnerable moment. If we do not grab this opportunity, the tragedy will just repeat itself.” Han Fei utilized his Masterful Acting to its maximum. He pleaded inside the bloody cage. “Despair is a bottomless abyss. You believe you have already suffered the deepest pain but destiny will show you that if you don’t resist, even greater despair will be waiting for you!”
Han Fei took the chain covered in animal fur out of his inventory. He gripped the chain. His bloodshot eyes stared at the death portraits. “I am the mall boss’ target. I am the next person who will die in that shop but I have no other choice. My mother is waiting for me to gather money for her at the hospital. I can’t die like this, I will not submit that devil in a philanthropist’s disguise either! You have your family to protect, I have mine too!”
The roars were close to losing control, they produced tears and sweats soaked in despair. The fists that held the chain tightened, strangling the unfair fate!
Even when he was surrounded by ghosts, Han Fei stood up straight and didn’t retreat even once. He knew he needed to protect the altar owner’s mother. Behind the mother was the abyss, if he retreated, he would send the mother down into the abyss. A normal person might not understand this feeling but ghosts who could only reunite in death could empathize with him. They were all victims, they had the same family to protect and they had the same enemy.
There was knocking and the living room door suddenly opened. The old man whom Han Fei saw earlier appeared at the door. He held a black plastic bag and his muddled eyes turned to the bedroom. With a sigh, the old man walked towards the bedroom. As he approached, the capillaries on the ground and the blood stain on the wall disappeared.
“Give the letter to me.” When the old man entered the bedroom, the chill in the room disappeared. All the monsters returned to their human shape. This old man was the real owner of Room 19. The pale fingers handed the letter to the old man. The old man held the letter and sank into silence. Room 19 returned to normal. The difference was there was an old man joining Han Fei in the room. “Your boss wrote this letter to me. When we were young, I treated him as my best friend. He left this place and even made a business for himself. We lost contact for more than a decade. One day, he suddenly returned to River Head and invited me to invest in a business with him.
“At first, the business was booming. He was very lucky. No matter what he did, he would be successful. I sold everything I had to invest in him and I did earn many back. Unfortunately at the time, I didn’t know that every benefit that you gain from him would have to be repaid with interest eventually.”
The old man stopped talking. He seemed to age at that moment. He sat down on the bed and looked at the death portraits arranged neatly on the table. “I treated him as my best friend but he only saw me as merchandise. After a few years of good business, suddenly things took a turn for the worse. He invited me to go drinking with him every day, he said he needed to borrow something from me but he never specified what.
“Not long after that, my eldest son who helped me with my business disappeared. My second son and youngest daughter came back to visit me during the dumpling festival and their two families died in a car accident.
“It was a day of celebration. I prepared a tableful of food. I waited until midnight and only received one after another bad news. My heart broke and I was hospitalized. I left all the business with my best friend. All my family had died. Other than the nurse, only my best friend came to visit me.
“He found me the best doctor and the best medicine but my body kept worsening. Living was a very tiring thing for me.
“Eventually I lost the concept of time. I spent my life in a blur. It was then that my best friend came to find me again. He said that he had a method that would enable me to reunite with my family but I had to pay a price. At the time, I was too muddled to reason with him. I bought what he was selling and borrowed him one last thing—my life.”
