568 What the Hell is That?
Only half of the 18 players remained. Other than Wu San, they didn’t trust Han Fei. The ending of these lone wolves was decided in this mutating world.
Han Fei sighed, “This is all Shen Luo’s fault.”
Wu San had no idea why Han Fei would say that. He smiled wryly. “Do you still remember Qiang Wei’s female assistant? She and another female player plan to sneak into the hospital as clients. They refused to listen to me no matter how hard I tried to persuade them. Worm escaped on his own. My friend is watching Du Zhu outside the theme park maze. The rest chose Inmate as the new leader. They suspect Qiang Wei had found the black box’s secret, so they’re planning to infiltrate the hospital too.”
This group of players exemplified greed perfectly. When Qiang Wei and Boss were still around, they listened to these two. But now that Boss was missing, and Qiang Wei was trapped, most of them started to revolt. Qiang Wei was the nation’s most famous black box hunter. He was also Absolute Truth’s founder. He had much info related to the black box. Now that he had disappeared inside the hospital, the players didn’t think about saving him. They instead believed Qiang Wei wanted to take the black box for himself.
“Show me the messages Qiang Wei sent you.”
“The messages are with the female assistant. I only know part of the messages. They have locked me out of their private channels.” Wu San shrugged. “I asked the assistant to come with me to meet you, but she thought this would be meaningless.”
“No matter.” Han Fei nodded and asked another question, “What did you see inside the hospital yesterday night that had frightened you so?”
“Long story short, I feel like the scariest nightmare is not worse than what I experienced yesterday.” Wu San held the rails. His hands shook whenever he thought about what had happened. “Yesterday night, Qiang Wei, Worm, and two more players entered the hospital. They had scouted the place and prepared for two days. They knew Du Zhu would carry out a special ‘treatment’ yesterday night. Everyone planned to kidnap Du Zhu during the treatment because it was a private treatment. Even if Du Zhu disappeared, the others wouldn’t know, and we would have plenty of time to escape.”
“That sounds normal.”
“The problem is the ‘treatment’ is not what you think.” Wu San’s scalp numbed, “I was their runaway driver. They didn’t appear at the designed time, so I turned to Plan B. I contacted the female assistant and sneaked into the hospital myself. The hospital, which was crowded in the day, looked more like a morgue at night. The strangest thing was I almost got lost even though I had remembered the map. I searched for half an hour before finding contact with Qiang Wei. He told me to get to the second floor to meet up with them.” Wu San looked normal so far, but as he was about to continue, his eyes widened, his pupils trembled, and he started to vomit violently. Wu San vomited out black water. After a few minutes, Wu San returned to normal. “After I reached the second floor, I saw a few patients standing there idly in the corridor. The bandages on the face were slipping down. Do you know what their faces look like?” Wu San became agitated, “Their faces have been hollowed out. There’s only a dark cave under the bandages!”
“Are you sure they are people? How did they appear to you?”
“I’m telling the truth!” Wu San looked at Han Fei seriously.
“I know. I’m not questioning you.”
“Then, how can you be so at ease? Do you think I’m exaggerating?” Wu San wanted to describe the scenes more vividly, but he wasn’t that good with words.
“I’ve seen them at the hospital before, so I’m not that shocked.” If Han Fei shared his own experience, it would frighten all players.
“Okay.” Wu San rubbed his temples and continued, “The patients feel more like plants than humans. They’re like corn husks after the fruits have been harvested.”
“In other words, they can’t sense anything about them? They have no sentience and soul?”
“I suppose you can see it that way.” Wu San poured in cold sweat like he was transported back to the hospital. “I resisted my anxiety and walked through them to arrive at the location Qiang Wei told me too. The room was huge with an unknown function. I waited for five minutes when Worm rushed at me carrying a woman wrapped in cloth. Then, I saw something I would never forget.” Wu San’s body shook. “The corridor started to bleed and human faces appeared on Worm’s body!”
Han Fei thought this felt familiar. When he visited the mirror clinic, he had entered a room filled with human faces. “And then?”
“Worm and I ran outwards, but Qiang Wei was not with us. Worm said he and Qiang Wei were chased by a monster. Qiang Wei lured the monster deeper into the hospital.” Wu San pulled on his hair. “After I met up with Worm, all the wards started to change. Endless ghosts are hidden there!”
Han Fei was deep in thought. Three people knew what really happened that night, Qiang Wei, Worm and Wu San. Worm had escaped on his own, Qiang Wei was missing and Wu San was the only one left.
“Han Fei, what should we do now? Qiang Wei said the way to leave this hidden map is inside that hospital. He also said we might die for real if we died here. However, Inmate said Qiang Wei only came up with that ridiculous warning because he wanted to take the black box for himself. I don’t even know who to believe now!”
“Don’t panic.” Han Fei used cursed words to make Wu San calm down. “You said your experience is scarier than the scariest nightmare. But after hearing your story, I feel like your nightmares are not that scary.”
“Wh-what do you mean?” Wu San was confused.
“Take it slow. You’ll get used to it.” Han Fei got some info from Wu San. “You better don’t contact me recently. Be careful of the police. I’ll go to the hospital tomorrow to try to save Qiang Wei.”
“Okay, thank you.” Wu San chased after Han Fei who was leaving. “Han Fei, was Qiang Wei telling the truth? You’ll die in real life if you die here?”
“Why would you believe something that preposterous?” Han Fei patted Wu San’s shoulder. “Qiang Wei doesn’t know hidden maps. Believe me, your physical body can still operate even if you die here.”
“Okay then.”
“At worst, your memory will be slowly removed until your brain is dead. Then you’d become the monsters that you saw. Your face will be gone. You will wander around like a zombie.”
Wu San’s knees weakened. His face blanched.
“Don’t worry. I will protect you. Compared to the other players, you’ve chosen the right path.” Han Fei was using Cursed Words. He could control Wu San’s emotions. Masterful Acting plus Cursed Words made Wu San feel like Han Fei was his only hope and he had to hang onto him. Han Fei could use Cursed Words five times a day. Why waste it? He needed a reliable ally now. “Take care of yourself. Contact me once you discover something.” Han Fei left. He was as fast as a ghost. Soon, he disappeared into the darkness.
‘I’ve done everything I can do. Now, I need to use my limited life to neutralize the last hidden threat for Fu Sheng.’ Han Fei looked at the plastic surgery hospital and he thought. ‘Time to get back to work.’
Han Fei avoided the cameras as he returned home. He bought delicious food. The family had a nice dinner.
At the same time, Octopus and his people were busy partying at Han Fei’s old home. Octopus guzzled the beer and enjoyed the praises and flattery from his members. He had never felt so happy. He felt like he had reached the peak of his life. “Brother Octopus, the higher-ups now value you the most. They allowed you to handle such an important project alone. It feels like they’re prepping you for CEO Zhao’s post!”
“Fu Yi only knows how to rely on women. If not for CEO Zhao, do you think he could be better than Brother Octopus?”
“Drink! Drink! Now that Fu Yi is fired, their small team will get disbanded. Leader, how about you invite Lee Guo Er over to our team? She is very good at her job but more importantly, she is very pretty.”
“I’m already preparing for that!” Octopus leaned against the couch and put his shoes on the table. “Fu Yi’s life was honestly quite enjoyable.” He looked at the big house and envy crossed his eyes. However, it was soon replaced by pride. “But now he has nothing. His work, his reputation, his house, and…” Octopus’ envy resurfaced as if he just remembered something. He put down the bottle, lit a cigarette and walked to the balcony. Octopus closed the balcony door, took a few deep breaths and called Zhao Qian. It rang for a long time before it was accepted. “Sister Qian, I just moved. Everyone is here, do you want to…”
“Congratulations, is there anything else?” An indifferent voice said.
“I mean…”
“If there’s nothing else, I’m hanging up. Remember to prepare all the documents for Project B. The higher-ups are very dissatisfied with your new design!”
“But isn’t Fu Yi responsible for Project B?” Before Octopus finished, the call ended. His hands pulsed, his joy faded away. Octopus waved his arm and almost slammed the phone to the ground but he stopped himself.
He cursed. Octopus was about to turn when he saw a woman in red standing right in front of the neighborhood. The woman stood in the middle of the road. Her lowered head rose to look at the balcony where Octopus was.
“What the hell is that?”
