543 Lothario
The school on a rainy night and in the day was completely different. The ruckus died down. Enveloped in the mist, even the shape of the building looked softer. Han Fei followed the middle-aged man. This was the first altar mission he triggered, the mission to change everything so he was very careful.
‘The school wasn’t like this in the past. The man is happy with the new changes.’
Ten minutes later, the middle-aged man stopped at the backdoor of Year Three Class Four. He looked through the glass window into the class. His eyes sharpened. He scanned the rows of unoccupied tables before stopping at the podium. He seemed worried that the teacher couldn’t handle the class well. The middle-aged man’s eyes deepened like he saw something in the empty classroom. Several minutes later, the man pulled his gaze away as if satisfied.
The man walked up the stairs. Instantly the temperature dropped and Han Fei’s mood point fell. Han Fei slowed down and hesitated. ‘There are more than the girl student and the middle-aged man at this school!’
The middle-aged man didn’t stop. To complete the mission, Han Fei had to follow him. The middle-aged man finally paused at the stairs that led to the roof on the fifth floor.
Standing under the awning were four pale male students with deformed bodies. They had removed their shirts and were sitting on the steps, smoking cigarettes. When the middle-aged man appeared, the four students immediately stood up. They appeared to be unaffected by anything before this but they were so cowardly before the middle-aged man.
The man walked to them and told them something. Han Fei was too far to hear clearly. The middle-aged man was stern but his eyes were filled with pain. The man seemed to understand the four students’ background and he kept advising them. Three of the four boys lowered their heads and one of them cried. The four boys didn’t fear the middle-aged man, they took him as their family.
When they had given up on themselves, a stranger still cared about them. He was willing to talk to them repeatedly. He still had hope for them. Wiping their tears, the four students ran past Han Fei and disappeared into different classes. After the boys returned to their classes, the middle-aged man closed the door that led to the roof and exited the education block.
‘Those four boys are ghosts too. But how did they die?’ When the middle-aged man exited the education block, he immediately saw the newly built office building. Seeing the gaudy building, the man frowned as he walked towards it. Strangely enough, when the man reached the entrance, he couldn’t cross it like there was an invisible wall.
‘Why can’t he enter the office building?’ Han Fei ran over. The invisible wall only worked on ghosts, it had no effect on the living.
“Those who did nothing wrong have no fear of ghosts. The middle-aged man patrols the whole school. Whenever he goes, even the raindrop softens, and the soul of the dead silences. Such a gentle soul is blocked outside the office building?” Han Fei looked around and he noticed a few large black flower pots placed at the entrance of the office building. The pots had plastic trees.
“Are these for decorative purposes?”
The middle-aged man got more agitated. He started to slam against the invisible wall.
“Don’t worry, I’ll help you take a look.” Han Fei was just at the office building that morning. He remembered coming across many fake trees. Back then, he thought the staff wanted the place to look greener. Han Fei approached one of the pots. He dug through the soil and eventually found a small red bag. Inside was a black congealed blob about the size of one’s thumb. A stench floated out when the bag was opened. Based on his experience, Han Fei believed the thing inside was a piece of rotten human skin. “This thing can ward against ghosts? Whose skin is this?”
The thing was disgusting but it was a treasure for Han Fei. “If it can really stop ghosts from approaching me, I should throw this at the faceless woman when she tries to come after me next.” Han Fei looked through the flower pots and eventually found the second bag inside a pot beside the building’s side door. After Han Fei kept the two bags, the middle-aged man finally could enter the education block. When he saw Han Fei, there was appreciation in his eyes.
“I need to befriend this polite ghost.”
Han Fei followed the middle-aged man upstairs. The man who was so patient and kind to students started to have his expression twist. Death spots appeared on his body as he snarled at the offices on the fourth floor. His stained hands touched the spotless wall before he stopped at the door to the filing room. He wanted to enter but once he touched the door, his face would wince with pain, and his body would flicker.
“Let me.” Han Fei removed his jacket to cover up all the nearby cameras. He stood at the window and looked out. Assuming the guards were not asleep on the job, they would need eight minutes to get here. That was more than enough time.
“Brother, I’ve studied lockpicking.” Han Fei could remember the content from Huang Yin’s skill book. But when he approached the door, Han Fei remembered he couldn’t access his inventory to grab the iron pins. With an awkward smile, Han Fei kicked down the door!
The lock fell and the door slammed on the wall. The giant vibration also caused the red bag hidden behind the frame to fall. Han Fei picked up the bag and invited the middle-aged man into the room. The middle-aged man glanced at Han Fei before entering the filing room.
‘I believe I’ve left a good impression in him.’ The middle-aged man walked deep into the filing room and stopped beside a cupboard.
“The thing you’re looking for is inside this cupboard?” Han Fei showed off his ‘lock-picking’ skill again. He looked through the things inside the cupboard, most of them were normal documents. Han Fei would have given up if not for the man standing there not moving. Han Fei looked for a long time before he grabbed a file that looked just like any other. Suddenly the middle-aged man’s face turned ghastly, it frightened Han Fei too. The kind man suddenly turned into a monster.
Han Fei opened the document. The first few pages were totally normal but as Han Fei continued, he noticed things were not right. This private high school was formerly a school for the specially abled. Mainly they looked after students with hearing disabilities, mental problems, physical complications, and so on. The headmaster of this school was called Liu Yumin, the picture showed he was the middle-aged man standing beside Han Fei. The school had to close due to some reasons and this place was turned into a private high school.
Liu Yumin tried his best to garner support to stop the school from closing. He hoped to provide these special angels with an educational platform. He won much support from his parents. But all of a sudden, a scandal erupted regarding the married Liu Yumin. He was said to have a romantic relationship with one of his female teachers. Many media reported their relationship and supplied pictures. There were pictures of Liu Yumin and the teacher staying late after school, standing close together, and so on.
No one listened to Liu Yumin’s explanation and the female teacher said nothing. Soon Liu Yumin disappeared from the city. Some said he committed suicide from shame, others said he had run to another city, abandoning his wife and daughter.
In the past, Liu Yumin was a well-respected headmaster. The parents of the special children saw him as an ally. But in the end, Liu Yumin was a heartless man whom everyone spat on. The higher they were, the harder they fell.
Liu Yumin’s wife had a fragile constitution. She died in pain and despair. His daughter, Liu Lina had to suffer many gossips and complaints. However, she became a teacher and worked at his father’s former school. She was very serious at her job. The students loved her dearly. Perhaps she was trying to make up for what his father did.
“You are framed by those people. They slandered your character and then killed you so you wouldn’t have the chance to clear your name.” Han Fei put away the file. He looked at the man. “You’re a good man, I’ll help you clear your name.”
After Han Fei found out the man was Teacher Liu’s father, he was quite afraid. Now Han Fei understood why Teacher Liu hated him so much. Her father was painted like the bastard Fu Yi was. “I have to correct my mistakes but before that, I need to clear your name first.”
After the middle-aged man heard Han Fei, he turned to head to the headmaster’s office. Han Fei entered the office and found a secret compartment behind the bookshelf with the man’s help. He took out a USB and several pictures. The pictures were taken from a distance. On a rainy night, two men in black raincoats were digging in the bush behind the field before dropping something in.
“Looks like the new headmaster has kept this as security. He probably worries that he’d follow your footsteps.” Thinking of the old man who didn’t know how to do anything, Han Fei smirked. “Harbouring criminals is a crime. Since you’ve bullied my son, I’ll send you all into prison.”
Han Fei looked out the window. There was no one in the dark. Han Fei inserted the Usb drive into the headmaster’s desktop. There were a few videos and they were all taken in secret.
The first few videos were of Liu Yumin arguing with some people inside the old headmaster’s office. The group told Liu Yumin to cooperate and chase the retarded students away. The usually gentle headmaster chased them out of the office.
The latter videos were quite scary. The same people paid a young female teacher to ruin Liu Yumin’s name and purposely lean close to him at public settings.
The work at the school was heavy and not many wanted to work at this school due to the extra workload. So Liu Yumin often had to stay overtime. Those people told the female teacher to wait at school for Liu Yumin so they could go home together. Everything was set up. It was not complicated but it was effective.
“The perfectly good man is framed but he will be cleared by the big evil that is Fu Yi. I guess this is poetic justice.” After he got the evidence, Han Fei decided to leave. He grabbed the USB drive and his jacket. He cleaned his trace and left. ‘The altar mission is not yet completed. Looks like I need to clear the headmaster’s name. But this is the right thing to do.’
After Han Fei left, a woman walked out. She removed her jacket and wiped away the footprints that Han Fei didn’t spot.
Han Fei leaped over the wall. He frowned. “Fu Yi doesn’t have a sterling reputation. It wouldn’t be persuasive if he’s the one who exposes these things. People are always prejudiced. The best way to help the previous headmaster is to convince Teacher Liu and have her help her father.
“Furthermore, when the headmaster comes to school tomorrow and realizes the things inside the compartment is missing, he will move the body. That will make things interesting.”
Then again, Han Fei didn’t want to find trouble when he didn’t have Rest in Peace. After some thought, Han Fei decided to call Teacher Liu.
The call was answered after many rings. Teacher Liu’s emotionless voice came, “Fu Yi, why are you calling me? Don’t tell me it’s because you’ve been chased out by your wife and you need to stay with me.”
“Can we meet? I know your father is framed and I have the evidence. I also found out where he is buried.”
The phone was silent. After a long time, Teacher Liu said, “I’ve lied to me many times. If you used my father to lie to me, I will kill you.”
“We’ll meet at the internet café near the school.”
“Okay, I’ll be there.”
Half an hour later, Han Fei saw Teacher Liu at the door of the internet café. She wore a tracksuit and carried the large bag. Han Fei waved at Teacher Liu. “Do you have your Id? I didn’t carry mine. They won’t let me use the pc without one.”
“A person who frequents hotels doesn’t have his ID?” Teacher Liu refused to believe Han Fei. Regardless, they entered the café and found a secluded spot to sit.
“It’s all in this USB Drive, see for yourself.” Han Fei handed the evidence to Teacher Liu. Teacher Liu clicked on the videos. Her fists involuntarily gripped. Her eyes watered and tears slid down her cheeks. Her father didn’t disappoint her and her mother. Even until the last moment of his life, he was a principled man. But the whole world had misunderstood him.
The truth surfaced. Teacher Liu stared at the screen. She looked through the videos repeatedly before lowering her head to look at the pictures. The place where Liu Yumin was buried had no grass, instead a small tree grew there. Han Fei placed a paper beside Teacher Liu. He had written down the whole process of how to inform the police, the evidence chain and so on.
“You need to find the police in the morning. Bring these with you and follow my instruction. Your father’s name will be cleared and your father’s murderers will all be captured.”
Teacher Liu leaned on the keyboard. The energy had left her. Han Fei stood beside her because he was worried about her but he didn’t get too close.
After crying for a long time, Teacher Liu put away the USB Drive and photos. She carried her large bag and left. Just as they were about to leave the café, she turned back to look at Han Fei. She wanted to say something but in the end, she just turned and ran into the rain.
“Notification for Player 0000! Liu Lina’s hatred towards you lowers by 5.”
Her father’s incident was a thorn in Teacher Liu’s heart. She finally found the truth but she didn’t expect it was her most hated man who helped her find it.
“Notification for Player 0000! You’ve once again completed the conditions to gain the hidden profession, Lapidarist. You’ve gained affection from three spirits after lowering them. Will you activate the mission for the Lapidarist?”
“No!”
“Notification for Player 0000! Your compatibility with the profession Lapidarist is 98 percent, are you sure about your choice?”
“Yes! I’m not interested in the profession. I won’t toy with people’s emotions, especially not after this altar mission! Cheaters deserve to die!”
“Notification for Player 0000! You’ve rejected to unlock the hidden profession, Lapidarist 3 times. Congratulations for obtaining the hidden profession title—Lothario!
“Lothario: You’re an expert manipulator of emotions. You enjoy this excitement, like an ice dancing on fire. After you gain this title, you’ll gain affection level faster from people who like you and gain hatred faster from people who hate you.”
Han Fei almost coughed out blood. “I’m a Lothario? I did this to survive! Did you see me enjoy any of these?”
