653 Bus
This was the first time Han Fei felt joy ever since he woke up at the hospital. He also didn’t know he’d feel such peace and stability after seeing the victims with peace. “Is it possible that I’ve provided some kind of special service in the past?”
“You have a good physique, so it’s not impossible. Why are you suddenly bringing it up now?”
Xiao Jia shared a look with Han Fei. Han Fei clarified, “I meant is it possible that I’ve provided service to comfort the dead and so on in the past?”
“That is rather unique.” Xiao Jia touched his balding head. He stopped talking and carefully hugged the items used for the resurrection ritual.
Han Fei turned around to look behind the car. After the boy was pushed off, he slammed into the pile of trash by the roadside. The blood and body wax were splattered everywhere. However, soon he climbed up again. He chased after the taxi like a machine.
“Is he still not giving up?” The boy’s body was covered in curses. The resentment gathered in the curses. The curses seared through the black skin, giving him power way beyond a normal ghost. Han Fei looked down the distance. The blue and white sea of flowers undulated in the wind. A woman in a blue dress stood at the window. The blood butterflies on her dress seemed to come alive.
“Both the woman and the boy have strange patterns on them. Is that why they become like this?” Blue White Tuition Center was not yet a location Han Fei could challenge. He knew he was lucky to have escaped. “How did I fight the ghosts before I lost my memory? With my own power, how could I be a match to these Lingering Spirits?” Han Fei held Company. The blade echoed with the names inside his heart. The clown appeared to have prepared this blade specifically for him. “This is the clown’s blade, not mind. This is strange. After I met F, I could hear the black blade in his hand calling me, like that is my real weapon and not his.” Han Fei’s hands tightened, and he felt the urge to steal F’s knife.
“Other than the knife, I’ve lost many important things!” Han Fei massaged his temples. A sound came from the background. Han Fei felt something brush against his arm. He looked down and saw the wounded cat crawl out of the backpack. It collapsed in Han Fei’s arms and looked at Han Fei directly.
“What are you thinking, silly? You didn’t pee in my backpack, did you?” Han Fei frowned. When he talked to the cat, he noticed something interesting. The cat didn’t have normal cat eyes. Instead, it had human eyes. It felt like the cat was pieced together using both human and animal carcasses. There were many sewing marks on its skin. The cat looked at Han Fei and then at the roof. It could see the lost souls on the roof too.
The cat’s eyes moved around. It was not until Han Fei helped these ghosts that the cat recognized Han Fei as its real owner. It smiled at Han Fei. This startled Xiao Jia and Han Fei.
“Brother, did your cat just smile?”
“I have no clue. I haven’t smiled myself.”
Han Fei had no impression of this cat. At the time, he found it dying, so he saved it. The random act of kindness represented Han Fei perfectly. The cat was rubbing affectionately against Han Fei, but a few seconds later, the cat suddenly convulsed. It kept dry-heaving like it was trying to vomit something out.
“Are you sick? Did you eat something at the building earlier?” Han Fei was about to help when he saw the cat coughed out a small red piece of paper. It was hard to tell what kind of material it was made out of. It looked similar to normal paper, but it couldn’t be torn apart. It also exuded an intense smell of blood.
“There’s an eye painted on it.” Xiao Jia glanced over. “It’s pretty.”
“No, this is not a painting.” When Han Fei touched the red paper, his heart was pierced. He winced and said, “This is the eye of the paper doll!” After that, Han Fei’s heart quivered with pain. Something painful had happened. Even though his mind couldn’t remember it, his body could.
“She’s dead?”
“Who?”
“I don’t know…” Han Fei held the red paper. His body had a unique connection with the paper doll. It was as if their blood and emotions were connected. “Someone very important to me.” Han Fei studied the eye. He noticed that even though he was wearing the clown’s mask, the eye was reflecting Han Fei’s true self. “Who are you?” Han Fei caressed the single red eye. At that moment, he felt the other locations where the rest of the paper doll was hidden. “I have a blood connection with this doll. I need to piece it back together!”
He placed the paper in the pocket closest to his heart. Han Fei rubbed the cat’s head. “Why did you only give me this now? Is it because you didn’t recognize me before this?”
To Han Fei’s surprise, the cat nodded. It seemed to understand simple human language.
“You approved of me after I resolved the issue with the victims inside the taxi. Is that how you gauge me? The real me am willing to communicate with ghosts, and the fake me will kill them without hesitation?”
The cat didn’t respond. It was tiring.
“The clown left me a knife and had me see bliss. He gave me the power to kill ghosts; Then, the cat gave me the paper piece after it saw how I chose to resolve the conflict peacefully with the ghosts even though I had the ability to kill them. Everything is linked together. The moment I took one wrong step, my fate would be pushed astray.
“Assuming I didn’t escape from home; assuming I didn’t check the basement; assuming I didn’t save the cat; assuming I didn’t save Lee Guo Er; assuming I died in Blue White Tuition Center…” To do these things, one not only needed a strong body and mind but also to be rational, kind, and calm. “A person’s life is not predestined. What one becomes depends on the choices one makes. I believe I would have made the same choices no matter how many times I was reborn.” Han Fei pressed his hand on his chest. He touched the broken piece of paper through the pocket. “Someone whose name I can’t remember can bring me such pain.”
“Han Fei! The kid is still after us! We can’t go back home like this. He’ll follow us there!” Lee Guo Er drove very fast, but she still couldn’t shake off the boy. Han Fei turned back to look. The boy’s limbs had been ground off. In their place was a black mist. The curses on his body crawled like worms. He moved faster!
“What an annoying kid.” Xiao Jia’s face was pale. “You can’t bring him back to my home!”
“It looks like we have to figure out a way to deal with him.” Han Fei took out the ritual items from his backpack. He wanted to find something to deal with the kid. Comparing them to the messages between the driver and the black profile, Han Fei did find something useful. “Once the rituals started, it couldn’t be stopped. There are nine rituals. If the first ritual didn’t succeed, one had to proceed with the next ritual before the body decayed until success was achieved.
“If the body acted strangely during the process, use the dead’s mirror to aim at his face. The curse on the mirror will affect him. After all the nine rituals are completed, regardless of the success, you have to destroy the pictures of the live sacrifice, or you’d be consumed by them.”
The stranger only taught the driver how to complete the ritual but nothing about how to deal with the revived boy. The person only wanted to create a monster.
“The mirror is useful.”
Han Fei picked up the mirror. The mirror contained the blurry image of a kid. He looked a bit similar to the dead boy. However, he was weak and cowardly. It was hard to imagine him as the monster chasing after the car. The small mirror had strange characters and the boy’s details. It looked spooky.
“The boy’s body has consumed the life of nine victims. If I can control him, does that mean the nine victims can take their soul back?” Han Fei studied the car. “I can replicate the ritual inside the taxi and then lure the boy into the car. I might be able to trap him.”
“That is easier said than done. The thing is chasing after us. To lure him inside the car, someone has to be inside to be the lure.” Xiao Jia shook his head. “The risk is too high.”
“It’s okay. I can try.” Han Fei shared his plan. “Later, you can slow down. I’ll get down to distract the boy. In that time, set up the ritual inside the car. Then, escape as fast as you can. I’ll try to figure out a way to lure him inside the car.” When Han Fei said these things, he looked at the human faces on the roof. The victims didn’t look angry. If anything, they were excited. They also wanted to become more complete.
“It’s not easy to do that! Just the curses alone will be impossible to replicate!” Xiao Jia thought Han Fei was being crazy. “Perhaps we should just toss these things out the window. Or we can drive the car downtown. There are many gangs there. They might take care of the thing for us.”
“That’s not a problem. I’ve memorized most of the curses.” Han Fei took out the pen from his backpack. With Xiao Jia and Lee Guo Er looking on in shock, he started to paint the inside of the taxi with curses. “I don’t know what they mean, so I copy them directly. Thankfully, I have a good memory.”
Lee Guo Er swerved around to buy Han Fei more time. They cooperated nicely. They didn’t even need to speak. Xiao Jia felt left out. They raced through the city for one hour. The street in the night appeared to be a maze. One could never leave this city.
“Are you done?” Lee Guo Er was highly nervous. After she turned a corner, she saw a bus running towards them!
Lee Guo Er turned the steering wheel. If she didn’t react fast, they would have crashed into the bus.
“Fuck! Do you know how to drive?” Lee Guo Er cursed. She looked at the bus. The old bus was like a ghost ship. The driver and passengers had their heads lowered. The bus slowly entered the bus stop. Thanks to the near accident, the taxi slowed down too.
“I’m almost done. We’ll start now!” Han Fei carried the mirror and pushed the other items to Xiao Jia. “You remember all the locations, right?”
“I think so.”
“If you’re wrong, I’m dead!” Han Fei stared at Xiao Jia through the mask. “If I’m dead, I’ll go and find you every night.”
“Please don’t.” Xiao Jia shivered.
“The boy is coming closer!” Lee Guo Er slowed down again. Han Fei opened the car door and jumped out. Seeing Han Fei, the boy pounced with a growl. His speed was too fast.
“Place the things and run!” Han Fei turned back to shout to his teammates. Then, he rushed towards the bus. Earlier, Han Fei had already noticed there was something wrong with the bus. He knew he couldn’t deal with the boy on his own, so his goal was to make use of the bus.
“My heart didn’t feel fear after seeing the bus, so there’s no premonition of death.” Han Fei was very confident in his special power. He grabbed the knife and rushed to the bus stop. The boy chased closely behind him. Han Fei rushed into the bus. The temperature dropped. It felt like he sunk into a freezer. His brain cleared immediately.
The driver and passengers slowly raised their heads. The pale faces looked at Han Fei.
