664 Place Where It All Started
The girl on the television appeared to be a Malice. The resentment she had was completely different from the hanging man. It was even stronger than the one on the childhood version of the clown. Just a stare by her and Han Fei’s soul felt like melting.
Han Fei and the hanging man didn’t expect this to happen. Han Fei thought this room looked familiar, so he wanted to come in to take a look. Who would have thought such a scary ghost would be hiding inside the television.
The hanging man’s head outside the room shifted. The black mist wafted into the room. The hands that detained Han Fei slowly retreated. He wanted to leave, but Han Fei was too afraid to stay in the room alone, so he hugged the hanging man’s body tightly. When he touched the man’s soul and memory, Han Fei was hit by a sense of déjà vu. He had done something similar in this room before!
His mind rippled. The black cloth over his memory ripped again. ‘I’ve done this before! I have survived until now! This means that my choice is correct!’
Han Fei practically used his whole body to hang onto the man. It made the head outside the door so desperate that it gnashed its teeth. Honestly, Han Fei was very afraid. The girl’s twisted face filled up the screen. Inexpressible pressure chilled his body. Hugging the other ghost in the room gave him some security.
‘One of the scariest ghost stories happened at Happiness Neighborhood. Is she the eight-handed Yama?’ The girl was playing with human body parts earlier. She had to be a Malice!
Han Fei held onto the hanging man tighter. He stopped considering how to kill the hanging man but how to survive. ‘The girl’s eyes are dominated by murderous desire. I’ve not seen something like that.’
Han Fei had met many murderers, but they were not as scary as this girl. It was hard to imagine why a girl at such a young age would be so murderous. Han Fei couldn’t even imagine how many victims she had killed. The black and white television screen flickered. The girl’s blood leaked out of the screen. Each drop radiated a terrifying presence. The girl stared at Han Fei. She had problems escaping the television. Han Fei realized that too. However, just as he was about to sigh in relief, the blood slid down the screen. The television cabinet started to nudge on its own. In the dark, the television with the girl’s face slowly approached Han Fei!
Han Fei’s neck was covered in goosebumps. He wanted to leave, but his body wouldn’t listen to him. His legs weakened. Only his hands that held the hanging man were still slightly mobile.
“Why are you all stunned? Move! Do you want to die with me in here?” Han Fei shouted at the hanging man. If they continued to stay in the room, they would both be killed by the Malice.
The hanging man’s head outside the room screeched. The black mist oozed into his body. He wanted to drag his body out. The kitten used this chance to take revenge and scratched his cheeks. The man’s face was covered in scratches. He had gone mad. His pupilless eyes spun quickly. He wanted to throw Han Fei and the kitten into the room.
“Quick!”
The television came closer. The hanging man exhausted a lot of black mist to drag his body out.
“Quick!” Han Fei shouted. The television cabinet was almost at his feet already. “Did I kill you? Why are you looking at me like that?” The girl appeared to hear Han Fei’s voice. Her lips moved as if saying something.
“Key?” Han Fei realized he could read lips. But at that moment, he only managed to decipher the word key. ‘What key? House key? Does she want me to help her find a key?’
Before the television touched Han Fei, the hanging man used a lot of black mist to drag his body and Han Fei, who was hanging onto his body, out of the room. Han Fei’s legs returned to normal. Han Fei and the kitten didn’t hesitate. They jumped up and raced up the stairs.
The hanging man collapsed on the fourth floor. He had exhausted too much black mist. He couldn’t even heal the scratches on his face. His hands fixed his head. The hanging man’s eyes filled up with Han Fei’s image. Killing Han Fei became his new obsession. The hanging man was strung up from the ground by an invisible thread. He moved to chase after Han Fei.
“Have you found the thing?” Han Fei came to the seventh floor and asked. He didn’t dare to shout lest he attracted other unwanted things.
“Found it!” Xiao Jia cracked the corner tile in the bathroom and found the black urn hidden inside. The bathroom was the room with the strongest Yin energy. The landlord’s friend did this on purpose.
“Give me!” Han Fei ran to Xiao Jia. He saw the problem immediately. The black urn was pasted with two white papers. Someone’s life chart was written on the paper. It was worth noting that the handwriting on the white paper was similar to the handwriting on the boy’s mirror.
The bone-cracking sound appeared at the door.
Han Fei didn’t hesitate. He tore off the papers and shattered the black urn. Horrible-smelling water liquid oozed out of the urn. Soaked among it was a school uniform covered in insults and several colored photographs.
This happened at Blue White Tuition Center before. The people in the photographs cried for help. However, Han Fei didn’t save the people mindlessly. Instead, he scanned all the pictures. The pictures contained people bullying a student, the boss scolding his employee, the colleagues mocking their co-worker. The photographs were well-taken. The hanging man was featured in every picture. But he was always in the corner, on the ground, or pushed to the side. “These things are the source of your hatred and resentment. I’ll help you destroy them.”
Company cut into the pictures. Han Fei didn’t try to save these people. The same pictures, the same victims, but the ending was different. Xiao Jia was startled when he heard the screams from the pictures. He didn’t expect Han Fei to make this choice.
With the destruction of each picture, the hanging man’s black mist would lighten. He also became more aggressive. Han Fei couldn’t avoid the attacks while destroying the pictures. Thankfully, the bloody phone rang. Xiao Yu’s mother crawled out to stop the hanging man. Han Fei used this opportunity to destroy all the pictures. After that, he picked up the smelly school uniform. He plunged Company right into the spot where the heart would be.
The school uniform bled. A similar wound appeared on the hanging man. His expression was filled with pain. He lashed out at the people around him.
“He didn’t receive any help. The man died when he was in school. Only a walking zombie remained.” The black blood seeped into the knife called Company. After the hanging man was vanquished, another name appeared on Han Fei’s heart. “This is a strange feeling. It feels like my body has recovered a bit more. Is this the power of Company?”
Xiao Yu’s mother consumed the lingering black mist in the room. She didn’t want to face Xiao Yu like this so she quickly returned to the bloody phone.
“Mom!” No matter how hard Xiao Yu cried, her mother didn’t appear. Xiao Yu collapsed on the ground, holding her mother’s phone. She kept calling her mother, but no one answered. Perhaps her mother would show up when she was in danger next time.
“Your mother didn’t want you to see her in that scary form. She wants to leave you with the prettiest memory of her.” Han Fei consoled Xiao Yu. “You have to understand that all girls like to be pretty. Your mother used to be a princess too. However, after she had you, she put on the armor and weapon to become your hero.” Fairy tales were fake, especially in this scary world. But Han Fei was very willing to give people hope.
After Xiao Yu calmed down, the three faced another conundrum. Han Fei and Xiao Jia were dragged by Xiao Yu’s mother into this world, but she didn’t appear to know how to pull them out.
“In the taxi, everything returned to normal after we killed the boy. The time started to move again…” Xiao Jia felt the temperature dropping. Things were getting worse.
“Happiness Neighborhood is the place where the human world and the ghost world overlap. It won’t be easy for us to leave.” Han Fei actually wanted to return to the fourth floor but he was too afraid. “There has to be a solution. At least this room is now safe. We can use this place as our base to explore Building 1.”
“Are you sure?” Xiao Jia was worried.
“I have a blade that can harm ghosts. Other than that, I realize I can touch the ghosts’ memory. With Xiao Yu’s mother’s help, it should be fine.” Han Fei picked up Xiao Yu. He led his two teammates away from the seventh floor. “We should explore upstairs first to ensure there is no danger there before we go downstairs just in case we’re attacked on both ends.”
The three reached the landing between the seventh and eighth floors when they heard the sound of bells.
“That sounds like it came from the ninth floor.”
“The ninth floor is the place where the old couple sells the afterlife objects, right?” Han Fei remembered visiting the ninth floor that morning to look for the paper doll. However, he was forced to leave due to the police’s sudden arrival. “We should go and take a look. Perhaps the paper doll’s body parts are there!”
They moved up the stairs. The stairs were scattered with paper money. The strangest thing was every paper money had someone’s name written on it.
“Living humans really shouldn’t come here.” Xiao Jia followed behind Han Fei and glanced up to the ninth floor. The place was similar to what they saw in the morning. The tenant’s room was left wide open, and many paper dolls lined up at the door. The paper doll had colorful clothes and lively faces. It felt like they would come alive at any moment.
“Calm down.” Han Fei studied the paper dolls. He believed he had come to the right place. He placed his palm on his chest. Han Fei silently took out the paper doll’s eye. He sensed the connection to the rest of the paper doll’s body.
“Part of the paper doll should be inside this room.” Han Fei slowly moved forward. “The old lady said that her husband was the paper artist. Is it possible that he was the one who made this blood-red doll?” “The old woman was quite friendly.” Xiao Jia remembered the details from that morning. “Hopefully, nothing will happen this time.”
“Wait a minute.” Xiao Yu grabbed Han Fei’s arm. “You better don’t touch anything on the ninth floor, and you shouldn’t believe anything said by that crazy old lady.”
“Crazy old lady?” Both Han Fei and Xiao Jia stopped.
“That’s right. The landlord warned me when I moved in. He told me not to go upstairs and not to talk to the old lady on the ninth floor.” Xiao Yu lowered her voice. “The old lady’s husband died a long time ago, but she believes her husband is still alive. She sat in the corridor making paper dolls every night. However, in the morning, she’d say that it was her husband who made all the paper dolls.”
“So the old lady is the paper artist? Her husband died a long time ago?” This revelation scared Xiao Jia. He thought the old lady was the most normal tenant in the building.
“Perhaps the old lady’s husband’s soul remains after he died. He still continues to make the paper dolls for the departed.” Han Fei was not shocked. In fact, he was so calm that Xiao Yu was shocked. “No matter what, I have to go and take a look. I need to find the red paper doll!”
Han Fei hid Company and came to the ninth floor.
The soul bell on the door chimed. Han Fei stood between the paper dolls and looked at the room.
Compared to the morning, this place was eerier at night. The little paper dolls felt like sleeping children who could wake up at any moment.
