Chapter 770: Gardener's Home
Han Fei walked down the quiet street, holding the black umbrella. “The black rain feels like the Unmentionable above me is shedding colors.” Han Fei was under a lot of pressure since he only had 1 Life Point. He was now certain that the rain cloud over the whole zone was a giant ghost. “The mirrors here are left behind by the Unmentionable, but how come the mirror will shatter whenever Mad Laughter and I show up inside the mirror? Is it because we’ve killed too many people? Or are the mirrors in the outer zone the low-quality products?”
Han Fei couldn’t enter the Red Orphanage. His only way to communicate with Mad Laughter was through the death mirror. However, that might break the mirrors. The rain silenced Han Fei’s footsteps. He looked like he was a part of this place. “I’m about to reach the other street, but I haven’t seen a single ghost.” Even in the Ziggurat zone where Han Fei had cleaned, there would be some straggling ghosts. There were ghosts in this black rain zone, but they were very good at hiding themselves. Han Fei continued to walk forward. He suddenly stopped when he reached the backdoor of a bun shop. Beside the trash heap near the backdoor, there was a man in disheveled clothes. His skin was exposed to the rain. His flesh had been severely corroded. If Han Fei’s Life Point was normal, he might go closer to take a better look and even helped the man, but he was not in that state.
“Rain…” The man noticed Han Fei. He tried to crawl towards Han Fei. As he moved, a wooden plank on the trash heap fell. It shattered the silence of the back alley.
“If you don’t want to be like him, you better leave.” A chilling voice rang out behind Han Fei. He didn’t notice the person’s appearance. Han Fei whipped his head around, and he noticed the backdoor of the bun shop had opened a gap. A bloodshot eye was looking at his black umbrella. Without any hesitation, Han Fei left immediately. If he didn’t have the black umbrella, he might be dead already.
“The blind elder at the clubhouse also walked without any noises. Are they humans or ghosts? How is it that they have no Yin energy but intense malice?” Ghosts were surrounded by Yin Energy, but there were good and bad ghosts. The intensity of the Yin Energy merely reflected the power level of the ghosts. However, the ‘people’ in this black rain zone were all covered in malice. They were pure evil. Han Fei walked out of the alley and sneaked a look behind him. The door of the bun shop slowly opened. A twisted arm covered in black thorns reached out. It pried open the man’s mouth, shoved something down the throat, and pressed the man back to the trash heap. The man with the rotten flesh couldn’t even speak now. He struggled, and the trash fell. It revealed his legs that were fixed to the ground. The man was the bait used by the monster at the bun shop.
“The ghosts at other zones wouldn’t do something like this.” Han Fei glanced at the arm again. He was confused. “Is he really human?” Han Fei became more careful. He knew that curiosity kills the cat, so he hurried on his way. “I better come back to explore after I finish my mission.”
Han Fei undid the top button of his shirt, and Big Sin’s presence oozed out. Han Fei only had 1 Life Point, but he managed to look oppressive. The edge of the black umbrella covered half of Han Fei’s face. As he walked down the street alone, he radiated a strong presence. “All the locals here hide inside their houses and don’t dare to make any noises. At this moment, only the scariest monsters will dare to move outside… like me.”
Han Fei slowly approached the skyscraper. The closer he got, the more he realized how unique the building was. The skyscraper appeared to be the center of the world. It sucked people toward it. Several minutes later, Han Fei noticed the buildings along the street had changed. The buildings became taller, and the architectural styles became more numerous. He had arrived at the inner zone.
“The rain appears to have gotten heavier.” Han Fei looked around. The strange sense of familiarity in his heart grew. It felt like he was back in Xin Lu's intelligent city. The inner zone was modeled after the intelligent city, or at least the intelligent city from 10 years ago.
“The Unmentionable here has once stayed at the intelligent city? His most memorable memory happened in the intelligent city, so he rebuilt it in the cryptic world.” Han Fei was shocked by the thought that appeared in his mind, but he shook his head. “No. If the Unmentionable has rebuilt the intelligent city here, that doesn’t explain the skyscraper in the middle of it. The skyscraper doesn’t exist in the intelligent city.” Whenever he looked up at the building, Han Fei felt dwarfed. “I remember Jin Sheng once placed a very unique curse on me. He said I’d one day enter the cryptic world’s tallest building. Is he talking about this?”
Han Fei took a deep breath and lowered his head. The skyscraper was like the divine’s body. Once one looked at it for too long, one would feel a sense of respect.
“I better finish the mission first.” If not for the mission, Han Fei wouldn’t have come here. However, this mission proved that the system was forcing him toward a more dangerous and despairing place. This was the only way to become an Unmentionable. Even though Han Fei was scared, he had to maintain surface control. He needed to act like he was a local here. The inner zone was more crowded than the outer zone. Once he stepped in here, he was targeted. He received a warning from Big Sin. The party could easily kill Han Fei before Han Fei could summon Big Sin. Han Fei knew that, but he didn’t panic. He glanced in the direction where the threat came from. The lips under the black umbrella smiled. “Do you dare to come to kill me?”
No one made a move. Han Fei held the black umbrella and walked down the streets. After a few minutes, Han Fei finally found the bungalow the elder mentioned. Different from the luxury described, the bungalow had been abandoned for a long time already. The outer walls were covered in ugly plants. The courtyard was eerie with the sound of running water.
“No. 14, Chao Hua Street? Is this the gardener’s home?” Han Fei’s eyes moved away from the plate. He moved the rusted gate and stepped into the house. Strange plants grew all over the yard. At every few meters, there was a soul-flower. The tiles were made from human bones. There was a large shadow swimming slowly inside the large pool. The décor of this courtyard was rather special with its focus on death. Han Fei walked past the small forest, pulled back the dangling hair, and avoided the shivering souls entering this maze-like bungalow. Han Fei only took about ten steps when Big Sin became so excited. Han Fei immediately stopped. Whenever Big Sin was excited, it meant that Death was coming for Han Fei. Han Fei slowly knelt and silenced his presence. He had reached the end of the garden. Before he was the abandoned bungalow.
“Is someone inside?” Han Fei perked up his ears, and he realized the gardener was talking to someone. “Gardener, I’ve given you three days. Have you considered it?” The person who spoke was a man. His voice was scary. His voice could make all the flowers wilt.
“I still can’t enter that building. My flower fields are outside.” The gardener’s voice was the same. Based on her voice, one would think she was a kind, old lady.
“Is that your answer?” The man’s voice chilled further. “The whole city of Xin Lu is a garden, and all the souls are flowers waiting to bloom. God is the owner of the garden, and you’re just a worker.”
“I know, but it was not easy for me to escape…”
“Do you want that blind guy to die? God has been looking for him.” The man didn’t want to negotiate anymore. His tone was firm. “I’ll give you one last hour. Think about it. Don’t cause the death of everyone in the outer zone for your own selfish reasons.”
“I’ve caused the death of everyone? It’s God you say that wants to kill everyone. It has turned all of you into monsters, but you still worship it as God. I want to change that, but you’re forcing me to turn back?” The gardener got angry too.
“It is about to wake up soon! We don’t have much time left!” The man tried to suppress his madness. “Do you think you still have a choice? When you’re being torn up here, the people in the outer zone might have found him already. The only way for everyone to live is for you to return to that building!”
The man kept threatening the gardener with the dancer’s life. The gardener’s only weakness was the dancer. The gardener fell into silence. It sounded like it was hard to leave once one entered the skyscraper.
“Now I understand why there is a time limit to this mission. If I came later, the gardener would have followed the man into the building already.” Han Fei walked out of the garden with a cough. The gardener and the man were not surprised by Han Fei’s appearance. They had both discovered him, but they didn’t expose him.
“You have the black umbrella but no death on you. Are you from the outer zone? How come I haven’t seen you before?” The man stared at Han Fei. The man had two heads. One of them was sleeping and slumped on the shoulder. The other head had glowing evil eyes.
“Two-headed man?”
“I’m asking you a question!” The man reached for Han Fei. The flowers around him wilted at once.
“If you want to fight, leave my place.” The gardener’s voice came from a pot. Currently, she only had her head left. Her large body was gone. However, even in her state, she managed to stop the two-headed man.
“I’m just here to deliver a letter. Continue your chat, and ignore me.” Han Fei looked calm on the surface, but his heart was pounding. He ignored the two-headed man and took out the blind elder’s envelope. Han Fei planned to drop the letter and leave, but the gardener no longer had her hands. After some contemplation, Han Fei decided to help. “Do you need my help? He’s worried about you.”
The gardener knew who wrote the letter based on the envelope. She signaled for Han Fei to get closer to her. Han Fei opened the envelope and placed the yellowed letter before the gardener. Out of respect, Han Fei didn’t read the letter.
A few seconds later, the system notification and the gardener’s angry roar came at the same time.
“Why would the mirrors break for no reason? It must be you! I’m warning you! If he’s dead, I’m going to bury everyone in the outer zone in flower pots!” She glared at the two-headed man.
“Notification for Player 0000! You’ve completed Grade E Normal Mission. You’ve delivered the letter within one hour. You’ve obtained double EXP and 1 friendliness point with the gardener! You can take one flower from the gardener’s home!
“Warning! The gardener has extremely rare flowers at her home! Please choose carefully!”
Hearing the old lady’s voice, the man and Han Fei had completely different expressions.
“Extremely rare flowers?”
“Have they made their move?”
