“Why would we reject you?” The two large Lingering Spirits rushed into the skyscraper. The shrill siren rang. To prevent the ghosts from going out of control, there were a lot of alarms here.
“We’re lucky. This way, we won’t need to look for a guide.” Han Fei didn’t panic. As long as he dealt with them before the others came, no one would know that he had been there. The girl wanted to leave, but she couldn’t shake Han Fei off. In the past, she was the one haunting others, but this was the first time she wanted to escape.
“Stop resisting, and I might consider keeping you alive.” Han Fei felt the enemy’s hostility. His words didn’t sound like something a member of the center would say. The siren rang and then stopped. They actively shut down the alarm because they wanted to capture Han Fei alive. Han Fei’s arrival might be related to Brother Chou’s disappearance. Once they captured Han Fei, they could have the upper hand.
“What kind of guard shut down the alarm?” No. 5 moved to the driver’s seat. “Teacher Gao, I’ll drive the car outside the buffer zone so that people won’t catch up to us. We’ll come back for you.” After deciding on the meet-up location, other than No. 1, the other kids left.
“Why didn’t you go with me? Don’t you trust me?” Han Fei looked at No. 1.
“You’ll control your ghosts to move away from us to distract the people pursuing us from behind. Leave the rest to me.” No. 1 was really reliable. Han Fei had no idea how strong No. 1 was. He only knew that he had the miracle persona. The two Large Lingering Spirits covered No. 1 as he approached. The two spirits entangled with the criminals as No. 1 sneaked into the building. Several minutes later, the door was pushed open. No. 1 dragged a man that was covered in organ specimens over. To Han Fei’s fright, the other criminals were all vanquished. “We’ll go to look for No. 2. Use your ghosts to distract the reinforcement. Make this as crazy as you can. We need to frame the other ghosts for this tragedy.”
“I know how to do that.”
The two Lingering Spirits exploded in resentment. The siren rang out again. The two spirits left in the direction opposite from No. 1. The silence of the night was shattered. Blinding red lights blinked. The city’s defense system was triggered. When the patrols arrived, the two Lingering Spirits were already gone.
Han Fei met up with the kids. They pried open the specimen killer’s mother. The man’s name was Ah Fu. He was a taxidermist. He was a criminal on the ghost cards and became familiar with many criminals at Hope City due to his hobbies.
Han Fei got bad news from him. The criminals on the ghost cards had blessing from God. They had gathered a lot of followers and formed night patrols at the buffer zone. These people were on the frontline, so they won the trust of Hope City. After many expansions, the patrols were already larger than the city’s police. To make things worse, some criminals mixed into the admin group and became big shots that could move through the city freely. In the interrogation, Han Fei also found out the owner of Little Red. Unfortunately, Little Red’s owner sensed the danger and escaped. Other than that, Han Fei also got the info about Kong Tiancheng.
When the murderer saw the car from the center, they were so happy. They had no idea Death was inside the car. “After the Doctor escapes, he’ll go to look for Kong Tiancheng. We’ll enter the city now. We have to find the ghost before he does.” No. 2 leaned on No. 5’s back. His hands played with something invisible. All the coincidences appeared to be woven by No. 2. His power appeared to be related to fate. He wanted to gather these minor coincidences to create a new destiny.
“We’ll take the path used by the night patrols. This killer will lead us into the city.” No. 2 stared at Ah Fu on the ground. “Get up. I know you’re still alive.”
“I don’t care how many people you’ve killed. If you don’t kill me, I’ll throw you in here.” Han Fei shoved Ah Fu’s head into the greed abyss to show him hell on earth. Ah Fu’s legs wobbled. He saw the endless black water. Such was pure evil.
“I… will cooperate with you.” Ah Fu’s face was pale.
“Your acting is bad. Relax. Take a deep breath.” Han Fei patted his shoulders. “Remember. We’ve been saved by you. Your friends have gone to chase after the two large Lingering Spirits.” Han Fei gave Ah Fu some quick acting classes. When they approached the outer zone, Ah Fu recovered. There were also criminals among the police. With Ah Fu’s help, they passed the checkpoints and entered Hope City. Even though they were only in the outer city, this place gave Han Fei the feeling of being in the real world.
“80 percent of people at Hope City live in the outer city. This place looks advanced on the surface but internally, it’s very chaotic. Once humans settle down, they will start to do bad things.” Ah Fu led them into the secret alleys. When they reappeared, everyone had changed. Ah Fu also grabbed two temporary pass cards to enter the inner city.
“There are two pass cards. Are you planning to separate us and then use these kids to threaten me?” Han Fei cut Ah Fu’s wrist and shoved the paper doll shreds inside his bleed. “When you have any bad idea, the paper doll will eat your heart from the inside.” Ah Fu’s face twitched. This man was crazier than he was.
“I can only trade for two, even after selling everything I have. Furthermore, security in the inner city is much stricter. We might not get entry even with the passes.” As they approached the inner city, the smaller the influence of the tragedy.
“Are they really not afraid of the ghosts’ infiltration? The buffer zone has some uses, but negative emotions will fester with so many people gathered in one place.” Han Fei was confused. The defense system of Hope City was much worse than the Center, but this place was operating like normal.
“I have the same question as you. I believe the ghosts purposely leave this city alone.” No. 2 said, “Once we enter the core zone, we’ll get the answer.”
With help from Ah Fu, Han Fei’s group avoided the surveillance and patrols. Plus, most of the devices were used to monitor ghosts, so they didn’t run into any problems as they entered the inner city.
“Kong Tiancheng is possessing someone working at the inner city’s hospital. He’s a patient with high mental corruption. Rumors say that he is Tragedy Investigation Center’s director’s friend. The director had him stay here to receive the treatment from Deep Space Tech.” Han Fei carried No. 2. He disguised himself as a father who needed to treat his child. With his flawless acting and temp passes, they entered the inner city and came to the hospital built for patients with special persona. Different from other buildings, the hospital was always lit up with lights. The whole building was white. Every ward had thick curtains so no one could tell what was going on inside.
“The person was originally staying in a special ward but his ward was taken over by the relative of a big shot. Now he’s staying in Building C’s mixed ward.” Ah Fu was familiar with a doctor at the hospital. “They only have ten minutes. After that, you have to leave immediately.” Walking down the white corridor, Han Fei heard the different voices from the wards. The way this hospital saved people was rather rough. Many patients screamed in pain. The stench in the air became clearer. Han Fei carried No. 2 into the deepest room of the corridor. They walked through the beds and came to the observation room for the patients in the mixed ward. Ah Fu and the doctor closed the door and silently pulled back the curtains. Han Fei walked to the bed. He was curious about who this person was. When Han Fei saw the patient’s face, he froze. Even though the man was eerily thin and his mental condition was unstable, Han Fei could recognize him as one of his close friends. “Bai Xian?”
In this worst future, Bai Xian was alive and became a key to the change of fate. Bai Xian was a good actor before the tragedy. He got in touch with the cryptic world through Han Fei. The biggest thing he had ever done was to replace Han Fei in the cryptic world to fool all the players.
“I’m surprised he’s still alive.” Even though they were in the altar world, Han Fei was happy. However, No. 2 cut his hopes down.
“They can survive in the worst future, but that doesn’t mean they will survive in the future you want.”
“What do you mean?” Han Fei asked.
“If you know fate well enough, you’ll know that when a person gains something, they’ll lose something.” No. 2 didn’t explain further, “There’s no more time. Use your persona to see if you can force the ghost possessing him out.”
“Explain yourself. If I change this worst future, does that mean people who have appeared here will die?” Han Fei’s voice became scary.
“If I say yes, will you resist fate?” No. 2 smiled. “Fate is a script you can’t change. Even if you know the horrible endings, you also have to follow the script. That is the fate of an actor.”
