672 Collaboration?
The curse-filled eyes, the lips that had tasted despair, the seductive face leaned close to Han Fei. She was injured. She had abandoned her soul. She walked out of the curse and hugged Han Fei’s head. She looked down at the face that couldn’t remember her.
“I might not be saved anymore. I might disappear the next time you blink. So please don’t let go when you look at me. Hug me close, like this.” The curses coursed through her wounds. 99 deaths and 99 memories made Xu Qian like this. However, there was no regret in her words. She trusted Han Fei implicitly and placed her last bet on Han Fei. “That’s it. Hug me tightly!”
The woman made from curses dominated Han Fei’s eyes. She branded herself in Han Fei’s mind.
The black cloth over the memory started to change. Han Fei tightened his arms and chanted the last step of the ghost marriage. “Resurrection!”
Endless curses flowed into the paper doll through the red threads. The broken paper doll opened its eyes. The pupils reflected on the endless night, the spreading city, and Han Fei beside the doll.
The paper doll couldn’t speak, but its expression was very life-like. She seemed to have moved into the doll. The ancestral home’s despair and Yin energy were absorbed by the door. A weak hatred pounded in the doll’s heart. It tugged on the red thread and leaned on Han Fei. The moment Resurrection was completed, Han Fei slightly narrowed his eyes. He saw the woman’s 99 deaths. The horrible deaths cut his heart. His mind churned with waves, and the waves slammed into the black cloth that suppressed his memory!
His body trembled non-stop. The split on the black cloth ripped. His own voice echoed in his mind.
“So I’ve already stopped you 99 times…”
“What can I do to make you stay?”
“Is it to give you hope? Or to push you away at the start? Or to destroy this city, to make the moon cry, and to have the ghosts riot?”
The curses on his body disappeared. Han Fei lifted his head. His eyes were different from before. Putting on his suit and the white smiling mask, Han Fei hugged the blood-red doll tightly.
“Everything has been arranged by the script. The actors should follow the script.” A cruel smile appeared under the mask. His eyes stopped being so lost.
“I still can’t remember my past, but I’ve remembered you. That is enough for me.” Han Fei walked downstairs, passing the white candles’ ashes. As he returned to reality, the clock started to tick again.
He pushed open the entrance. After Han Fei left, this building made from Xu Qin’s memory disappeared from the city. She had given her last bit of obsession to Han Fei through the doll. She had nothing left to her anymore. The wind caressed Han Fei’s hair. Behind him was no longer the ancestral home but a winding path through the darkness.
“Notification for Player 0000! You’ve reached Stage Six!” The robotic voice soon disappeared, and it was replaced by Xiao Jia’s voice. “Han Fei! Was the ghost marriage successful?”
Xiao Jia and Xiao Yu ran over. Han Fei nodded.
“How come it feels like you’re different from before?” The phone over Xiao Yu’s neck vibrated. Her mother was afraid.
“You’re probably overthinking. Let’s get in the car. We still have many things to do tonight.” Han Fei stared down the distance. There was a window in an apartment. He stared at it fearlessly.
“Are we still not going home?”
“Home? Where is home?” Han Fei entered the taxi and closed the door.
“We’ve gained another five points, making our total 35 points now. Did you manage to kill a Lingering Spirit in that building?” Lee Guo Er started the car. She noticed Han Fei had changed. It was like he had taken a step away. He had lost some warmth and gained some danger.
“The ritual attracted something else, but she was killed by the paper doll.” Han Fei knocked on the car window. Human faces appeared on the roof. He pressed his hand on those faces. “We’ll bury the victims first and then go to the police station.”
“The police station?” Lee Guo Er turned around in disbelief. “Are you sure?”
“We’re going to give F a big present.”
“You want to blame the death of the taxi victims on F?” Lee Guo Er was very smart. “But it’s too dangerous. We might be exposed ourselves.”
“How does one collect points before this?” Han Fei looked ahead. “F has killed more than one person. The black knife he was holding is the best evidence. He can’t afford an investigation.”
Lee Guo Er stopped retorting. Xiao Jia and Xiao Yu at the back didn’t dare to speak. This was the first time they saw the anger in Han Fei. This was a wave of chilly anger. The taxi drove through the dark. Han Fei collected the last effects hidden by the taxi driver, and then he went to Perfect Life Hotel to gather some ‘evidence’.
“Such a shame. In the whole city, only this place’s owner wants to unite all the players to clear the game together.” Lee Guo Er knew that once the police started the investigation, no matter what happened to F, this hotel would have to close.
“Perfect Life?” Han Fei looked at the sign inside the car. “If they insist on stopping me, I’ll be the one destroyed.”
Lee Guo Er felt like Han Fei was talking about something.
“Come on. Let’s get to the police station.” The fugitives arrived at the police station at midnight. Han Fei presented the present to the police. He was very good at these like he did this often. However, the others in the car were not as courageous as he was. Once Han Fei returned to the car, Lee Guo Er started the engine and zoomed away.
“Don’t just drive around randomly. We need to get to the first stop of Bus 1’s route now.” Han Fei leaned against the seat. The others couldn’t see his expression because of his white mask.
“Why there?” “Do you still remember the bus heading to the theme park? The Mad Laughter’s soul wanted to use that bus to sneak into the theme park. We need to find Mad Laughter.” Han Fei toyed with Company. “There are too many chess players in this city. We need to eliminate some of them.”
“Do you plan to work with that madman?” Xiao Jia shook his head. “I saw everything that day. The man suddenly burst out laughing. Then an arm reached out of his body. The man then died on the spot! If you work with him, you might end up like that man!”
“I’m not going to work with him. Instead, we’ll kill everyone else and then find a way to kill each other.” Han Fei tapped on the window. The rhythm was light and easy. The taxi rushed through the night and came to the first stop. Han Fei found a bus that headed to the theme park.
“There’s no telling how many buses take this route, and we can’t be sure the person you’re looking for is on this bus either.”
“It doesn’t matter. Follow it. Kill any ghost who stops us.” Han Fei looked at the stops outside the window. If the bus was filled with ghosts, the passengers who got on it would be in danger. In that case, they might as well kill the passengers before they got on the bus. The taxi followed behind the bus. After Han Fei killed the ghosts waiting at the bus stop, they continued along the route. If Mad Laughter wanted to mix among the passengers to get on the bus, they would meet. If Mad Laughter had already possessed the theme park worker on the bus, he would come down to examine the anomaly.
Time ticked by. It was already late midnight.
After clearing out two more bus stops, Han Fei saw a student on the third stop. To be more precise, it was an adult in a school uniform. He was 20 plus, and his face was white. He wore a pair of glasses and carried a very old schoolbag. He didn’t dare to stand with the other passengers. He stood at the corner alone. He didn’t mind if the other cut in front of him. He was used to being the last.
“Stop the car.” Han Fei left the taxi and walked to the bus stop. After the adult in the school uniform saw Han Fei, he voluntarily took a step back and gave Han Fei his spot.
“Don’t you mind me taking your spot?” Han Fei turned to look at the man. The man’s eyes darted about. “This spot should be yours.”
“Someone has to be the last.” The man said after a long hesitation. He scratched his dirty hair.
“How did you become like this? Can you tell me what has happened to you?” Han Fei hadn’t figured out what kind of person Mad Laughter would possess. It would appear that the weaker one’s constitution, the easier they would be possessed by Mad Laughter and be turned into a monster.
“Nothing happened to me. No one bullied me. I was only living my life peacefully. I didn’t do anything unlawful…” The man was gasping because he was not used to talking so much.
“Then you’re still a gentle person.”
“Gentle?” The man smiled with embarrassment. The smile was bitter. “Outpouring self-recrimination will be seen as gentleness by others. But other than that, I have nothing.”
“You have a false gentleness. You are kind to everyone but yourself. Don’t you think that’s very unfair to you?” Han Fei took a step forward. “You’re already so old, but you’re still wearing your school uniform, hung up in the past, too afraid to take a step forward.”
“Stop talking…” The man wanted to move forward, but Han Fei blocked him. “The bus is driving away. If I miss it, I won’t get to the theme park.”
“Why do you want to go to the theme park? Is it because you’re still a child?”
“Let me go.” The man walked forward. Han Fei moved to block him. The man didn’t anticipate this and fell to the ground.
“I have my own ride. After you answer my questions, I’ll drive you to the park.”
“There’s no need.” The man climbed up from the ground. He looked at the bus which was starting, and he became more desperate. “Let me get on the bus. Move, please!” He spoke faster, and his expression changed. The lips that never smiled slowly curled. The emotions he had been holding back slowly exploded, guided by some kind of power.
“Please let me get on the bus. I need to go to the theme park.” The man picked up his bag. In his carelessness, the contents of the bag tipped out. The bag was filled with a bunch of bloody clothes and a knife. He picked them up in a hurry to shove them back into the bag. However, the bag’s zipper broke, and he couldn’t do anything.
“It’s not supposed to be like this. I’ve always been obedient. I listened to my parents and never created any trouble. I always apologize. But this is not my fault. I didn’t kill them. These things aren’t mine. Someone else stuffed them inside my bag.” The man’s body was already an adult, but his mind appeared to stall at an earlier age. “Listen to me. I didn’t kill my parents. You can ask my neighbors. I’m always the most obedient kid in the neighborhood! I’ve never done anything out of line! Trust me. Promise me you won’t tell anyone else about this.” Hugging the broken bag, the man and the dirty clothes formed a great contrast. He kept saying these things, but the creepy smile on his face grew. After that line in his mind snapped, the negative emotions accumulated in his heart burst forward!
His lips cracked, and his eyes bulged to reveal an exaggerated smile.
“No one would believe I’d killed them. They wouldn’t believe it themselves! I’ve always been the most obedient child. Why is it that the most obedient children will always be bullied?” The shrill laughter emerged. Han Fei witnessed the whole process of the man’s mental breakdown and how he was taken over by Mad Laughter. He had no idea what kind of entity Mad Laughter was and what kind of power he had, but he at least knew that Mad Laughter’s target had to fulfill a few conditions before they could be possessed.
Those with great accumulated negative emotions would be easily affected by Mad Laughter to be his puppet.
“If this is all Mad Laughter can do, then he is no threat to me.” Han Fei took out Company and stared at the laughing man. “There was a busybody boss who told me that I had to be careful of five types of people in this city. You are one of them. The reason I came to find you is very simple. Are you interested in collaborating with me to chase the other four types of people out of this city?”
