Taboo was the most feared thing in the building. They were not afraid of anything and were ready to challenge God. Whenever a Taboo showed up, a whole floor would be massacred.
The child’s King of Club started to change. He didn’t expect a Taboo to appear on his floor. The paper dolls were shredded easily. The black fire burned through God’s toys. The red lady was unstoppable.
“Why are you looking for me? Why am I so unlucky? I haven’t done anything!” The kid hid behind his parents. He was very innocent. When he was young, he was protected by his parents. Then, he was protected by his ‘friend’. Thanks to his friend, he became a greenhouse flower. His friend took away his independence in exchange for endless joy. The boy was this way even after death. He was always a child. He only knew how to cry and pee his pants.
The hand covered in black flame pressed on the father’s head. The curse and flame burned through its body. The paper heart covered in pus fell to the ground. It looked just like the rubber ball the boy had been playing with.
“What are you? Go away!” The man abandoned his mother and ran away.
The black flame burned. The woman chased after the boy. The curse patched up the gaps on her clothes.
…
Han Fei heard the boy’s crying. He urged Big Sin to move faster. The northern corridor of the 51st floor was covered in talismans as if this zone was forbidden. “Sealing up a Taboo is hard, but releasing them should be easy.”
The paper dolls stopped chasing them. Han Fei sighed in relief. He climbed down from Big Sin’s back and looked at the many doors. Most talismans in the cryptic world were just decorations. They were ineffective against ghosts. Han Fei reached out to pull off one of the talismans, but as he touched the talisman, his mind faltered. The lights twisted, and the floor slanted. The doors looked like crying faces. Han Fei bit on his tongue, and the pain jolted him awake. His sight blurred, and he saw a black shadow at the end of the corridor. He couldn’t see the person’s face or clothes, but the person was very familiar. The shadow walked towards Han Fei. All the talismans in the corridor rustled noisily.
“No. 2?” The shadow waved at Han Fei. He couldn’t get close to Han Fei, so Han Fei had to go to him. Han Fei pulled down the talisman from the door. The world hadn’t returned to normal. The slide down to the abyss was irreversible. The other tenants would have escaped at this moment, but Han Fei opened his eyes to welcome the abyss. He pulled down the talismans one after another. It was hard to tell whether he or the world was going crazy. He moved down the sealed corridor and walked past all the sealed doors. He listened to the adults in the room talking about Night and chanting the name of a new God.”
“Is this the Taboo’s power? To draw people in to worship them?”
There was a family behind every door. Every family had its own memory. These rooms were like time capsules. They were the Taboo’s treasures. The children laughed, and the adults cried. Death visited every room. Han Fei pulled down the talismans as he chased after the shadow. The doors behind him opened. Memory about death slipped out. This Taboo sealed up on the 51st floor might have powers related to death. They could collect the dead’s memory and manifest them.
“Death is the end of life, the start of all souls. Any power related to death is scary. No wonder God will trap this Taboo.”
The shadow appeared again. He led Han Fei past many corners. Just as the skyscraper was about to tip over, Han Fei saw a unique door. The door existed between two worlds. This room wouldn’t have existed on a normal floor. It couldn’t be seen from a normal angle.
“Is this the safehouse mentioned by the dancer? It’s so hard to find!” Han Fei looked around. The floor was before his eyes. The world had turned 90 degrees. The powerful brain had created something incredible. Han Fei opened the door and saw an altar covered in dust. The altar was small and was placed on a study table. The altar doors were sealed. The shadow that waved at Han Fei was the altar’s shadow.
“Is that you? No. 2?”
Han Fei had witnessed the power of the Unmentionables. If they wanted to kill him, he would be dead already. Han Fei slowly walked forward. The table was normal and common. The altar was different from the other altars because other than the door, it had many sealed-up small windows. The windows were the altar’s eyes or God’s hope. It didn’t like to be trapped in enclosed spaces, so he created windows.
The altar’s shadow leaned on Han Fei’s shadow. This altar was very kind to Han Fei. A normal person would feel fear when they met a ghost, but Han Fei felt this sense of familiarity. “I’ll let you out.”
Han Fei reached for the talisman on the door. Once he touched the talisman, his body froze. An unimaginable power rose from the talisman. A pair of eyes looked at Han Fei. Once he moved, he would die.
“Is the talisman written by the Unmentionable?” The talisman was triggered when Han Fei touched it. It was not any strange curse. It was a simple one. Those who touched the talisman without permission would die.
The murderous aura on the talisman thickened. The room was like a boat in the storm. It swayed, like it could capsize at any moment. The situation was very dangerous. To Han Fei’s surprise, when God’s presence appeared, so did the children from the Red Orphanage. They no longer feared anything. Not even God could make things worse for them. The red memory shattered the chains. The mad laughter was laced with sadness and cruelty. Han Fei and Mad Laughter stood before the altar.
Different from the seal on the 25th floor, the seal on the 51st floor was undamaged. The thing inside the altar couldn’t come out to help Han Fei, but the shadow wasn’t worried. It had full confidence in Han Fei. The stalemate continued until God moved his eyes away. Han Fei thought that Mad Laughter had distracted God, but when he glanced behind him, he was stunned. Curses crawled over the room. Xu Qin carried a fat boy and stood at the door. They hadn’t seen each other in days, but it felt like years. Han Fei’s heart relaxed. A sense of security blanketed Han Fei. “Don’t move. Your soul has told me everything.”
The table knives stabbed at the table. Curses swallowed the altar. God’s gaze moved to Xu Qin. The black flame started to burn Xu Qin’s body. Her fair skin scarred, and she aged rapidly. The Unmentionable was turning Xu Qin’s black flame on her. A normal Pure Hatred might not stand this, but Xu Qin was a source of curses. Her real power was not the black flame but curses!
Resisting the burning pain, Xu Qin controlled the curses to attack the talismans on the door. When part of the talisman was corrupted by curses, a slender fate thread squeezed out of the door. The Taboo joined forces with Xu Qin. God’s focus was on real life. His power in the cryptic world was held back by the latest Night Police. Xu Qin and the Taboo didn’t take long to remove the talisman. The door opened, and a small grey brain fragment appeared before Han Fei. This fragment was different from the one Han Fei found. This fragment’s power was related to death.
“Just how many powers does No. 2 have?” Han Fei picked up the fragment.
“Notification for Player 0000! You’ve obtained Grade D Rare Fragment—Brain.
“Brain (Grade D Fragment): The brain fragment of an Unmentionable. You’ve gained his approval, so you can use his power.
“Memento Mori (Unique Power of the fragment): It can help you see the memories of all the dead. You can also transform these death memories in the way that you like.
“Notification for Payer 0000! You’ve discovered the core Taboo on the 51st floor—The altar’s shadow. The altar before you is just a shadow. It’s a forbidden existence No. 2 made from death memories. It has corrupted the divinity of No. 2. It can be changed into a Room of Death that only you can see. It’ll help you escape danger. You can use the brain fragment to control it.”
Han Fei tried to communicate with the altar shadow. To his surprise, Soul Parasite was triggered. All the memories related to Han Fei’s death were absorbed by the altar shadow. When all the negative emotions had been sucked away, another chain binding the Red Orphanage snapped. The soul that represented Han Fei’s kindness was absorbed by the shadow.
When Han Fei’s Evil Soul was absorbed by the brain fragment, Han Fei didn’t think much. However, now that this had happened again, he could guess what No. 2 was up to.
“The person’s real target is the Red Orphanage in my mind! Evil Soul, Kind Soul, and Blank Soul are the third chains binding Red Orphanage. When all three chains disappear, the Red Orphanage will appear in my mind!”
The Kind Soul overlapped with the altar shadow. The study and the safehouse faded away. In the end, only a shadow that looked at Han Fei remained.
Compared to Evil Soul, Kind Soul was very silent. He didn’t like to speak, but he stood at the most dangerous spot and did the most dangerous thing without asking for anything in return.
Fate threads slowly oozed out of the altar shadow and poked into the floor. It seemed to be joining with Evil Soul’s fate threads.
No. 2’s brain was fragmented and sealed. Once they were released, their fate threads would bind them together so they could share each other’s powers.
