506 Help is on the Way
After the mission was completed, the exit button on Han Fei’s menu lit up. A mask fragment appeared in his inventory. Considering it might be the face of a Pure Hatred, Han Fei didn’t dare to take it out in the hospital territory. He would study it in the safety of Ziggurat. Han Fei crawled up from the ground and pushed open the door. The corridor was a mess.
The Life Thread on the back of the doctor’s heart pierced into the bottom of his heart. The doctor and all the monsters at the clinic started to bleed. Their souls twisted.
“Don’t go over there!” Auntie Lee wanted to go help her husband but she was held back by Ironman and Yan Tang. The two players were quite reliable. The clinic and the apartments echoed with the sound of mirrors breaking. All the mirrors were bleeding, it was like the mirrors were some ghost’s skin. “The Pure Hatred from the plastic surgery hospital should be coming, lean back!” Without any hesitation, Han Fei took out Rest in Peace and aimed it at the Life Thread at the back of the doctor’s heart!
The blinding light slashed through the ink black Life Thread, severing it easily. The beauty of humanity dissolved into points of light. The Life Thread that bound around the doctor’s heart contained the spirit of more than 100 people. Rest in Peace absorbed all the humanity. The doctor and the other monsters stopped rampaging. They collapsed to the ground like a part of their soul was lost. The expression sewn to their faces blurred. Yan Mo was injured the most. After his Life Thread was severed, his body shattered, he lost half his life. However, he was still better than Seaglass at the hotel, at least he didn’t perish.
“Yan Mo!” Auntie Lee rushed towards the doctor. The doctor finally dared to touch Auntie Lee.
“We need to leave now! We can talk later!” Han Fei put away Rest in Peace. After absorbing the humanity inside the Life Thread, the blade became brighter, warmer, and sharper.
Doctor Yan knew that the clinic was dangerous so he took out a mirror from his pocket. A large number of faceless monsters at the clinic crawled voluntarily into the mirror. The remaining monsters had empty faces, there were no surgical signs on their faces. “If they don’t want to go, then so be it! We need to go!”
Han Fei had completed the mission and recruited a Large Lingering Spirit. If he could bring them back to the Ziggurat, then this was a very successful mission. Han Fei had his neighbors return to the urn while he carried Auntie Lee and rushed out of the clinic with the other players. The sound of mirror shattering attracted the attention of many other ghosts. Han Fei couldn’t care about stealth then. He took out his phone to call Zhuang Wen to come to fetch them.
“Run faster!” The Pure Hatred might come at any moment. Han Fei was under great pressure. He ran at full speed which shocked Ironman and Yan Tang. After triggering Super Speed and Ziggurat’s Night Patrol, Han Fei was as fast as a ghost. Ironman couldn’t believe that he was only 3 levels behind Han Fei.
“You two are too slow.” Han Fei was desperate to escape. He couldn’t care about the details now. He summoned Lee Zai. “Help him run. After this, they’ll be more willing to be your friends.”
“Okay!” Lee Zai loved to be around players with low luck points. When they were close enough, Lee Zai could absorb their remaining luck so that everyone would be equally as unlucky. With Lee Zai’s help, escape was easier. They came closer to the mist. When they were only several meters away from the mist, Han Fei turned back to look. There was a child standing at the junction before the hotel. The child wore white shoes and stared at Han Fei. ‘Was he attracted by the Piped Piper talent?’ Han Fei subconsciously ignored the hatred in the child’s eyes and charged into the mist. Han Fei didn’t dare to stop. He continued to rush and only dared to sigh in relief after he entered the Ziggurat. ‘I’ve dealt with 2 Large Lingering Spirits at the plastic surgery hospital’s zone, the Pure Hatreds will not give me such chances again.’
Pure Hatreds rarely left their own building, like Butterfly. But perhaps due to Han Fei’s continuous taunts, the Pure Hatreds at the hospital had started to appear outside the hospital. If not the hospital zone was large enough, they might have run into white shoes before they entered the clinic.
‘I’ll probably not be so lucky next time.’ Han Fei turned to look at Auntie Lee and Doctor Yan. Han Fei saved Auntie Lee for convenience. After saving her, Han Fei didn’t think she would be of much help either, he even wanted to send her back to the surface world early. But this normal-looking auntie had helped Han Fei gain a Large Lingering Spirit with special power!
‘How can a high-end neighborhood not have a beauty center and a doctor?’ Han Fei welcomed Doctor Yan. Through Doctor Yan, he could know more about the plastic surgery hospital. “I’m not going to disrupt your reunion. You should talk to resolve the misunderstanding.” Han Fei led Yan Tang and Ironman away, leaving time for the husband and wife. 20 years had passed, they were no longer the same but luckily, their feelings hadn’t changed that much.
“Auntie Lee is at her limit, do you two have any extra key?” Han Fei walked in front and suddenly asked.
“The key to leave the hidden map?” Yan Tang shook his head. “We’ve tried many times but none of the keys here can be used.”
“I’ve grabbed all the keys here, so it’s normal that you can’t find anything.” Han Fei led the two into a room. “Expand your search. You need to learn to get used to darkness and despair. But remember, do not leave the mist.” The mist covering Ziggurat came out of Han Fei’s altar. As long as the players didn’t leave the mist, he could know their location easily. With their safety protected, Han Fei wanted to cultivate these two players. With Ironman’s talent, he easily grabbed the enemy’s aggression, he was the perfect meat shield. Yan Tang had high initial intelligence. Combine that with his Daydream talent, he could easily lure out the monsters hidden in the dark. His talent had many unique uses too. The two players were not dumb, they memorized Han Fei’s words and treated them as valuable pointers.
“Make use of your talent and ability and find a way to survive, I can’t protect you forever. After some rest, I’ll venture out of the mist again.” After communicating with the two players, Han Fei left with the urn. He went to find Feng Ziyu to discuss how to train the players. They had come up with a few training sessions for these players. Friend or enemy, the players’ choices would decide their fate.
About an hour later, Han Fei heard a strange sound coming from downstairs, it sounded like a door being kicked open. He and the other tenants rushed over. The faceless doctor carried Auntie Lee and appeared on the corridor. Auntie Lee was in a bad state. The endless mental trauma had pushed her to the edge. If this was the surface world, she would be forced offline already but they were in the cryptic world.
“I can save her but you will need to separate from her for a period of time.” Han Fei walked towards Yan Mo. “Will you trust me?” Looking at the dying Auntie Lee, Doctor Yan nodded. He had no other choices.
“The cryptic world belongs to the ghosts, when she is here, her spirit will be continually exhausted. It’s time for me to send her away.” Han Fei carried Auntie Lee into the adjacent room. He used Resurrection and sent her back to the surface world.
The weakened Han Fei walked out of the room. He wanted to ask Doctor Yan more about the hospital but Doctor Yan had collapsed to the ground. His body was very small. The places where the Life Thread was had been shattered. He needed time to recover.
“You should rest here. This will be your room. After you have enough rest, you only need to fill in the tenancy form.” Han Fei called over Laughing and the merchant. After the doctor felt better, they would ask him about the plastic surgery hospital. After doing all that, Han Fei found a room and pressed the exit blood.
Blood crawled and the city turned red. Han Fei focused on the voice behind him but at that moment, he saw down the city horizon there was a blood-red figure moving, he seemed to be searching for something.
Han Fei’s consciousness was pulled away. He removed the gaming helmet and he thought of the red-figure he saw. ‘Of all the locals in the cryptic world, only the Singer could move when I was quitting the game. Could the red figure be an Unmentionable too? Was he looking for Big Sin?’ At this point, Han Fei poured with cold sweat. ‘Thankfully, he was far away. Temporarily, he wouldn’t reach Ziggurat.’ Crawling out of the gaming hub, Han Fei gorged himself on the food inside the fridge.
‘Auntie Lee has suffered great mental stress. Even though I’ve sent her out of the cryptic world, she’ll need a lot of time to heal and recover.’ When they were in the cryptic world, Auntie Lee had given Han Fei her phone number to persuade him to help her find her husband. ‘Her son is working at another state, so she should be staying alone.’
After some hesitation, Han Fei called the auntie’s number, he wanted to check on her. The call was connected but no one answered. “There’s no accident, is there?”
Putting on his jacket, Han Fei thought back to the info Li Xue had given him and rushed out of the room. He took a cab to the eastern side of the old city. Han Fei used 20 minutes to reach Auntie Lee’s place. Her son had bought her a house in the intelligent city but Auntie Lee preferred to stay in the old city. She thought the intelligent city was too cold, the old city was more human.
Han Fei knocked on the window of the guard booth and awakened the sleeping guard. “Hello, my family is sick. She is living in your neighborhood. Can you let me go in?”
“Who are you?” The guard looked at Han Fei with blurry eyes before his eyes widened. “What the fuck! Han Fei?!”
“You know me?”
“I’ve seen you as Meng Changxi! You’re the top idol among the security guards circle! Everyone dreams to be like you, helping the police to capture the criminal and being openly praised by the police!” The guard jumped up from the bed. “Which guard hasn’t dreamed of capturing a criminal red-handed? That would get us high monetary rewards and praises from the boss. You can hold your head higher among your peers!”
The guard didn’t expect that his idol would be waking him up in the middle of the night. This was like a dream, he was so happy.
“It is good that you know me.” Han Fei patted the guard’s shoulders. “Bring me to Room 301. My family is in trouble, I called her several times but she didn’t answer.”
“A murder case?!” A shine of duty appeared in the guard’s eyes. He immediately grabbed his walkie-talkie and entered the neighborhood with Han Fei. They found Auntie Lee’s room. Han Fei knocked heavily but there was still no response.
“Is she really in trouble?” The guard immediately took out his phone. “I know the locksmith, I’ll call him now.”
“How long it’ll take him to get here.”
“At most half an hour.”
“That is too slow, just call the ambulance.” Han Fei glanced at the door. “The auntie lives on the 3rd floor. She plants many flowers on her balcony and there is no safety net on her balcony.” Before he entered the building, he studied the auntie’s room. An idea crossed his mind. Han Fei led the guard to the second floor. They knocked on the door of the family. After explaining the situation, Han Fei rushed to the balcony. “Han Fei, what are you doing?”
“Han Fei? That man is Han Fei?” When the owner heard the guard, she reacted greater than the guard. She finally had a good look at Han Fei’s face. “It’s the real person! Hubby, it’s Han Fei!”
He opened the exit on the second floor anti-theft net. Han Fei grabbed the net and started to climb.
“What is this? Is this some new variety show?” A man rushed over wearing his glasses. He had seen celebrities visiting normal people’s homes before but never to climb on their safety net. While the couple was in shock, Han Fei already reached the 3rd floor. He opened the window and leaped in.
“Sister Lee?” Han Fei crawled into the living room and saw Auntie Lee who had collapsed beside the coffee table. She was unconscious. Her arms were cut by the broken vase and blood was everywhere.
Without hesitation, Han Fei carried Auntie Lee and ran out. The couple and the guard rushed over to help when they saw the unconscious Auntie Lee. They followed behind Han Fei.
“Grab the medic kit to stop the bleeding first!” Han Fei carried Auntie Lee and ran to the neighborhood entrance. Thankfully, the ambulance had arrived.
