693 Shell
After thinking for a long time, the blond took the bloody phone. He slowly placed the phone beside his ears, and his heart was in his throat. “Hello?”
“I remember you were from the same school as Fu Sheng. Did he do anything out of the ordinary for the past year?” Han Fei’s voice came from the phone. The blond was confused because Han Fei didn’t sound like Fu Yi. At that moment, Han Fei added, “You better don’t lie to me, or else I’ll kick you out to the street and use you to lure the ghosts.”
Even though the voice had changed, the tone was the same. The question in the young man’s heart disappeared instantly. “Hello, uncle. I’m not that familiar with Fu Sheng. I heard from his classmates that he easily got the first place in school after some hard work, but then… he became rather… different from normal.”
“Different from normal?”
“Yes. He communicated even more with the ghosts. There was no longer any happiness in his life. It was like the end of the world was coming, but he was the only one who knew it.” The young man told Han Fei everything he knew. “None of us knew what happened to him. From a moment onwards, he started to hate making choices. He skipped all the multiple-choice questions in the exam and had a fixed schedule for his everyday life, eating the same thing. If the food was sold out, he’d rather go hungry than eat something else.”
“This is more than difficulty in choosing. He is afraid of choices.” Han Fei believed Fu Sheng obtained the black box around this time. He was about to make the choice that would affect his whole life.
“But he was still very appreciative of you. When he was in the most pain, he would write letters to you and message your number. You are his support.” The young man was better at talking than before. “This continued for a while, and Fu Sheng stopped appearing at school altogether.”
“Do you know where he went?”
“Someone saw him at the theme park at night. Some said he would come back to school to study at night. Some said he had died, and they saw his body hanging on the clock tower at Time Building.” The young man paused because he remembered something. “Right. A few months ago, a teacher went to find Fu Sheng. She saw Fu Sheng at the city’s plastic surgery hospital. She saw many strange things around Fu Sheng. He seemed to be ready to sew those things into his body.”
“Does he want to get united with ghosts?” Han Fei frowned. Fu Sheng must have been pushed to the edge to attempt something so insane.
“They might not be ghosts…” The blond glanced at Xiao Yu’s mother. “In any case, I heard the teacher say that the things around him didn’t harm him. They even told him to ignore their feelings so that he could save more people.”
“The ghosts hope that Fu Sheng would choose to save the humans.” Han Fei started to understand why the female student became the way she was. This whole thing was more complicated than he thought.
“Uncle, is Fu Sheng’s prediction real?”
“What do you think? Monsters, ghosts, and mad people are roaming the city. This is hell.” Han Fei told the young man to return the phone to Xiao Yu. “You two should stay where you are. I’ll go there now. Take care.”
…
Han Fei, inside the taxi, ended the call. He saw the chaos outside the window, and his heart trembled. In this large metropolis, there were tragedies happening everywhere. The sun didn’t appear like usual, but the ghosts walked out of the darkness. Crying and pleading became common.
“This is too scary.” Xiao Jia sucked in a cold breath. He didn’t dare to look outside the window.
“Did you notice something?” Han Fei looked at the scenery outside the window. “Things were not that serious when we left the family compound. The closer we are to the theme park, the more common the ghosts and people become crazier.”
“I don’t dare to think of anything now.” Xiao Jia hugged his head. “The two worlds have overlapped, and ghosts are everywhere. This is scarier than the end of the world. Maybe dying is easier.”
The supernatural phenomenon occurred everywhere. The city was dyed red. There were so many ghosts that humans were like toys. Not only Xiao Jia but also the other players were shocked too. This was not an Iyashikei game. Even the most terrifying apocalyptic game was not as despairing as this city.
“Compared to them, we’re quite lucky. At least we have the tools to fight back.” Han Fei looked at the buildings outside the window. When the unknown terror descended, most people locked their doors and hid at home, waiting for death to come knocking.
Among them, Lee Guo Er drove quietly. She didn’t participate in the conversation. After all, talking was pointless.
The black taxi led the way. The two vans by the players followed behind. Han Fei’s team had expanded to 13 people. Han Fei had carefully selected these people. Their power could affect the ghosts to a certain degree. Actually, Han Fei could have easily abandoned the players, but he had a goal. He wanted to train these players so that they would have a brave heart and stop being fearful of the ghosts. When the cryptic world really assimilates into the real world in the future, these players would be able to protect others.
One hour later, Han Fei arrived at the spot where Xiao Yu and the blond young man were hiding. They headed to the plastic surgery hospital together. Han Fei had a deep impression of this hospital, but he couldn’t remember specific details.
Once he pushed open the hospital gate, Han Fei raised his hand for everyone to slow down. There were screams everywhere outside the hospital, but it was incredibly quiet inside the hospital.
“Are there no ghosts here? Or is there a very scary ghost here that has killed everyone?” Han Fei grabbed the blond young man. “You will lead the way.”
“Why me again?” The young man’s lips trembled. If time could turn back, he would never bully his schoolmates.
“Stop wasting time. Where did your teacher say she saw Fu Sheng?”
“It’s the emergency room on the 7th floor, the place where his mother died.” The young man moved forward unwillingly. Han Fei and the other players followed.
Han Fei returned to the hospital, but things were completely different. There was no one inside the hospital.
“Han Fei, please save my daughter first. Yan Yue’s wounds need treatment.” The previous Brain left the family compound with Han Fei. His daughter’s condition was not good. Yan Yue’s situation was complicated. Her mind was corrupted by the butterfly and had harmed many people. Her mother killed all the girls Yan Yue was envious of to patch up her soul. This pair of mother and daughter was like demons. Even the players hated them.
“They are wrong, and they deserve to die, but they can’t die yet. My wife’s power can help all of you.” Brain tried to convince Han Fei. “She has killed 10 people, but if she can save 100 people…”
“The 10 she killed will still be dead.” Han Fei didn’t argue with Brain. He took out Rest in Peace and walked down the sickrooms. The deeper they went, the quieter it was. The patients and staff appeared to be locked up. There were only pale walls and half-open doors.
“Someone has been here before us. Many of the rooms have been kicked down.”
When they reached Building 6, the cat in Han Fei’s backpack climbed out. It slid down the stairs and went to the basement. The hospital had a secret underground tunnel that connected all seven buildings. Only a small amount of doctors had the qualifications to use it.
“It feels like the temperature has dropped a lot.” Xiao Jia lowered his voice as if raising his voice would attract something.
“Look at the walls. The patterns are similar to the patterns of the resurrection ritual at Blue White Tuition Center.” Lee Guo Er touched the walls. The patterns wiggled like they were alive.
“It looks like Dream has been here.” Han Fei pieced together the memory fragments in his mind. “Fu Sheng and Dream have always been a nemesis. After the cryptic world was sealed, both Dream and Fu Sheng were trapped in the cryptic world.” Back then, Fu Sheng had the support of the other managers, but even so, he couldn’t completely kill the Butterfly. Currently, Han Fei had nothing and was an enemy to everyone. How far could he go?
“Mad Laughter came from the blood-red orphanage inside my brain, so he should be the other me.” Han Fei had no support from the outside world. He knew that when he was in despair, he could only rely on himself. The patterns stretched through the entire underground tunnel. Dream appeared to plan to sacrifice everyone at the hospital.
“If I didn’t change the fate of the hospital, mad people would be trapped here. They included the rich who hunger for life and beauty as patients who were caught by the hospital. Their madness would be used by the Butterfly, and they would become the sacrifice for his revival.” Han Fei knew the hospital was very important, but he had no idea Dream would target this place too.
As they continued to move downward, all the patterns were replaced by hair. The hair was taken from the patients and doctors. Han Fei also found the first living person.
“Du Jing?” The name surfaced when Han Fei saw the face. After Du Zhu died, her little sister, Du Jing, became the new hospital director. In his memory, destiny had changed. Those who should have died were saved by Han Fei. Everything was improving, but Du Jing didn’t acquire her bliss.
“Why is it like this?”
Du Jing held two sharp pens. One of them was labeled hatred, and the other was love. She used them like knitting needles to knit the black hair. Human heads dangled between the second and third-floor basement. There were patients and doctors. Dream had given them the fairest ending.
Du Jing suddenly stopped moving as if sensing something. She turned around to scan everything before going back to her knitting.
“Du Jing?” Han Fei noticed that the woman’s eyes were dull, like she had lost all hope and had become Dream’s puppet.
Han Fei walked forward, and he noticed Du Jing weaved out different things using the patients’ hair. There were children’s clothes, football, and other mementos. With each new object, a patient’s eyes would close. Du Jing seemed to use this method to steal the patient’s happiness and dreams. The things she knitted would only exist for a while before they became a part of the giant pattern on the wall.
“Dream has left all the negative emotions to the living humans and stolen their remaining beauty.” Han Fei wanted to stop Du Jing. Du Jing didn’t react when he touched her. However, when Han Fei wanted to grab the pens, Du Jing suddenly waved the pens like crazy and shouted her daughter’s name.
“Has Dream taken her daughter and used her to threaten her?” In real life, Du Jing’s daughter was still alive. She even became friends with Fu Sheng and Fu Tian. “Perhaps Fu Sheng has died his best to save the girl, but unfortunately, no one but me still remembers Fu Sheng in real life.”
Han Fei walked past Du Jing and came to Building Seven. He saw the most shocking scene since he woke up at the hospital. The entire basement of Building Seven had been hollowed out. The patients and doctors had been used as bricks to build a Building Eight that spread underground.
There was a giant mirror between Buildings Seven and Eight. A person’s birth date was written in the mirror. A young man who looked like Fu Sheng was trapped inside the mirror.
“Butterfly at Ziggurat wanted to use me like the shell for his revival. Has Dream chosen the former Fu Sheng as his shell?”
