The light hit Han Fei. If the night was a stage, then he was the main character. Many members who joined the center hadn’t seen Li Xue before, but this new teacher was named to meet the director just as he arrived. The survivors looked at Han Fei. All signs proved that this teacher might carry a special secret.
“If you want to, you can come as well.” The leader raised his left arm. The light shone the way into the base. The uniforms split up. Their presence was different from normal survivors. Everyone was as sharp as a knife.
“Going through Door One!” Han Fei, Yan Lan, and Wang Chuqing entered the Tragedy Investigation Center. The large base was split into 24 teams based on the different types of police departments. There were internal safety, persecution and law, city investigation, tech research, emergency rescue, and so on. All the locations were planned, and everyone had their role. The whole center was like a well-oiled machine. Just walking through it could make one feel the pressure.
“Going through door Two!” The black door made from special material slowly opened. Two uniformed members walked beside Han Fei. They continued to move forward. The center building was in the middle of the base, and it was the tallest building too. Han Fei slowly moved up the steps. The ghosts hidden in the greed abyss started to get agitated. Perhaps it was because the center had too many ghost killers. The place made the ghosts feel afraid. The black ghost blood leaked into the building. Many names decorated the walls on both sides. Han Fei saw the name of Zhao Ming’s friend—Zhang Xiaotian.
The chains slammed against the ground. Some of the rooms were to trap members with severe mental corruption. They volunteered to be captured and became research specimens for the center. They didn’t hope to be healed, but they wished they could help the center with the research after they died. Humans walked towards destruction due to various negative emotions, but they got revived on the ruins too. The three teachers walked down the corridor and came to the highest floor.
“The director is waiting for you inside.”
The dark room had a light that would not extinguish. A middle-aged woman stood at the window that faced the city. “Director, the man is here.” The two members reported and retreated to the corner. The woman turned around. The left side of her body was branded by ghastly scars. Her neck appeared to have been pierced by chains. Tragedy had left an indelible mark on her body. However, it didn’t defeat her. It was a face Han Fei was very familiar with, but he was unfamiliar with the gaze. The woman appeared to stand in the deep sea, suffering great pressure. However, she didn’t give up the struggle. She wanted to become the fire in the sea.
“Li Xue?” Han Fei couldn’t reconcile this woman with the woman that he knew. They were too different.
“It’s unexpected that three young people managed to kill the headmaster.” The woman walked to the side of the office. “We’ve investigated the school. It is the human farm for three Black Buildings. The ghosts are finding new ways to expand. They have been collecting children and babies. If you didn’t kill the headmaster, your students would become ghosts in the black buildings.”
“You’ve investigated the school. So it wouldn’t be hard for you to kill the headmaster?” Wang Chuqing was suspicious.
“We rarely go after living humans.” The woman pointed at the map of Xin Lu on the wall. “Killing the headmaster and destroying the school… The Pure Hatreds will just create a new farm, so our plan was to destroy the three Pure Hatreds.”
Wang Chuqing stopped speaking. He couldn’t deal with Pure Hatred. Perhaps only Yan Lan could deal with them for a while. The woman scanned the three teachers before her eyes landed on Han Fei. “You know Zhao Ming and Zhang Xiaotian. You look at me strangely too. What’s your name, and where do you come from?”
“I…” Han Fei looked around. “Do you mind leaving? I can handle this on my own.”
After a quick hesitation, Wang Chuqing and Yan Lan left. Li Xue waved for the center members to leave too. They left and closed the door.
“Now, can you speak?” Li Xue looked at Han Fei. The pressure was very uncomfortable.
“You should know that ghosts can be categorized into Animated Regrets, Lingering Spirits, and Pure Hatred. Then do you know there’s another category above Pure Hatreds called Unmentionables?” Han Fei probed.
“Yes, but no one has seen one before.” Li Xue nodded.
“I don’t know the exact reason for the tragedy, but an Unmentionable is key. His name is Gao Xing, and my body’s name is Gao Cheng. They are two kids whose fates have been switched.” Han Fei told Li Xue about Gao Cheng and Gao Xing. “The Third Optometrist Hospital, Deep Sea Aquarium, and Gu Yang Tian Nian Old Folk’s Home. These three Strange Buildings are related to the brothers. If possible, I wish for you to investigate these three places.”
“That’s valuable info. Alright. Now I know who Gao Cheng is.” Li Xue’s eyes darkened. “Now, tell me who Han Fei is.” The air in the room froze. Han Fei hesitated for the first time in the altar world.
“Han Fei is me, your former best friend. We have solved many cases together. I was a rather… famous horror movie actor.” Han Fei said, but Li Xue’s gaze was still unfamiliar. She couldn’t remember these things. In Gao Xing’s future, Han Fei didn’t exist.
“You don’t remember me.” Han Fei felt the taste of being forgotten for the first time. Li Xue didn’t respond. She seemed to be gauging whether Han Fei was telling the truth or not.
“Do you think I’m lying to you?” Han Fei walked to the table and told Li Xue many things that only they would know.
“No. I’m just considering a possibility.” Li Xue stood up. “Follow me.”
They left the office. Li Xue led Han Fei to the evidence department. The evidence department was where they kept things related to ghosts. They moved from the top floor to the basement. Li Xue opened a singular room in the department. Inside the room was an old altar. On it was a faceless figurine.
“Why are you showing me this?” Han Fei had seen a similar altar and figurine at the black merchant’s place.
“Ghosts above Pure Hatreds are impossible to kill. They have their own altars and figurines. However, we’ve found some faceless figurines deep inside the city. We can’t find any info related to them. It’s like everything related to the figurine has been purposely wiped away.” Li Xue stood beside the broken altar and looked at Han Fei.
“After an Unmentionable is killed, everything about them will be removed…” Han Fei suddenly remembered something. “Unmentionables will be eliminated once they are killed! Mad Laughter used Usurpation to enter the altar! To use that power, one has to sacrifice everything! The other kids and I still retain some of our memories because he has sacrificed himself!” Han Fei stared at the faceless figurine. “In Gao Xing’s future, Mad Laughter became an Unmentionable and was killed?”
Everything matched. Han Fei broke out in goosebumps. This future where he didn’t exist was too real.
“Based on the info you gave, the most possible situation is that you became an Unmentionable during the tragedy but died. We forgot everything about you.” Li Xue closed the door. “Of course, this is just a possibility. The truth is not important. What I want to know is what you’ll do next. Will you side with the ghosts or the humans?”
“If you’ve investigated Gao Cheng, you’ll realize that even though he has done many bad things, he hates ghosts. He has been investigating Strange Buildings. I am now in his body and align with his ideals. This is probably why I am reborn in his body.” Han Fei couldn’t do everything on his own. He wanted to join the center and had the center’s aid. The students of Class Seven probably had the same idea. That was why they showed their values so openly. After Han Fei was done, he noticed Li Xue was still studying him, but her gaze was not as hostile as before.
“Find Zhao Ming and fill in the files. He will arrange a place for you and all the school survivors before dawn.” Li Xue didn’t say anything else and chased Han Fei out of the room.
After Han Fei left, a few figures exited the shadows. “Director, are we letting him go just like that? He looks too dangerous. He has awakened his persona at least three times already!”
“Is he really your friend? He didn’t look like he was lying.”
The members followed Li Xue. If Han Fei did anything crazy, he would be taken down already.
“I can’t remember him, but for some reason, whenever I hear the name Han Fei, I would be in great pain. It’s like my body is trying to make me remember him.” Li Xue looked down the distance. “Go back to rest. Tomorrow, we’re exploring the Deep Sea Aquarium. You can bring him along.”
…
After he returned to the temporary school camp, Han Fei went to be alone. His joy from seeing Li Xue was replaced by something else. Han Fei didn’t expect Mad Laughter to sacrifice himself for the usurpation to succeed.
“Is this part of No. 2’s plan?” Things had already occurred. What Han Fei could do was not to disappoint Mad Laughter. “I will protect all the children and save everyone this time!”
