After Li Xue left, there was only Han Fei in the conference room. He sat beside the table alone. “Mad Laughter has paid a lot to lead us into the memory world to usurp God! While Gao Xing is creating chaos in the real world, we’ll mess up his altar!” Li Xue’s suggestion inspired Han Fei. “Gao Xing’s wish is an altar core mission. Three different choices represent three different fates. After I made my choice, the memory world would change. The mutation will become worse.”
Han Fei had no idea when the real Gao Xing would appear, so he needed to hurry. He stood up. As he left the conference room, he was accosted by Tou Qi with a form. “Is there anything you need?”
“This time, you went out alone and discovered the loophole in Hope City and killed eleven servants of the Evil God. You also saved two police members from Hope City. You get a total of 35000 contribution points.” Tou Qi handed the form to Han Fei. “The evidence department just got a Lingering Spirit Heart. The director told me to reserve it for you. It only requires 10000 contribution points. Do you want it?”
Normal ghost blood would be slow to cleanse mental corruption. Han Fei knew his situation. He only hesitated briefly. “Alright.”
He didn’t like to reject other people’s kindness.
“That means you still have a debt of 175000 contribution points.” Tou Qi sighed. “Based on your progress, I believe our warehouse will be cleared out by you soon.”
“We’re all colleagues. Why mind these small details?”
“You say that, but I feel like I’m working for you.” Tou Qi touched the black band. “I’m here for another reason. The temp headmaster, Yan Lan, wants to rebuild the school. Do you plan to stay in the center or return to school?”
“This place is clearly more suitable for me.”
“Since you intend to do that, I suggest you pick some potential juniors to train. After all, you’re the only member of Team 13. It is very inconvenient for you.”
“Understood.” Han Fei felt like Tou Qi was looking out for him. The leader of Team Three was a loner due to his unique persona. He believed Han Fei was similar to him, so he liked to talk to Han Fei.
“I’ll have the heart delivered to your ward. I hope we can go out on a mission soon.” Tou Qi left with a smile. It was a good thing that the center had a new powerful team leader. After parting from Tou Qi, Han Fei returned to his ward. He was too tired. He collapsed and slept. The starlight shone into the greed abyss. Han Fei had a dream. In the dream, he became Gao Cheng and was inside a room filled with flowers with a strange woman. The woman pointed at the different flowers. Sunlight shone on her hair. The room was filled with fragrance. In the dream, Han Fei smiled.
“Hey, are you in a nightmare? You look so scary.” A child’s voice appeared in his ears. Han Fei sat up in a hurry. He looked to the side. No. 4, 5, and 2 sat on the couch in the ward. They stared at Han Fei.
“When did you guys get in here?”
“How oblivious are you? If I want to kill you, you’d be dead already.” No. 4 was very direct, but Han Fei knew he had a kind heart.
“Teacher Gao, we’ve finished our rest. We want to go out.” No. 5 took out a hand-drawn map. It marked a familiar location, An Kang Pharmacy.
“Why do you want to go there?”
“Earlier, we checked the center’s internal document using the excuse of wanting to treat you. We discovered an altar deep inside the Evidence Department.” No. 5 silently wrote down the number 0 on the map.
“The presence of the altar reminded me of someone, someone very special to us.”
Han Fei knew who No. 5 was talking about. The students probably sensed Mad Laughter’s presence on the altar.
“You won’t stop us, right?” No. 5 was polite. He was always similar. With the leader persona, his emotion was hard to read. To be a leader, one had to learn how to manage one’s emotions first.
“I won’t stop you, and I’ll help you with all my might.” Han Fei looked at No. 5 seriously. “In this altar world, I will protect you unconditionally because that is what he told me to do.”
“I thought we’d use a lot of time to persuade you… No. 2 got it right again.” No. 5 shrugged. “Take good sleep. We’ll depart after dark.” No. 5 opened a black box on the bedside table. The room temperature dropped. Inside the box was a pounding heart of a Lingering Spirit. “To thank you, we’ll help you cleanse your mental corruption.”
The ward door opened. A few kids walked in. They surrounded the bed. They helped Han Fei eat the heart. The scene would shock any doctors at the center. No one had eaten the heart of a Lingering Spirit fresh before.
“Don’t worry. If you’re scared, we can knock you out and then force-feed you.” No. 4 very kindly raised his fist.
“I can swallow it directly.”
The students triggered their persona. Han Fei’s luck was temporarily raised. His mental world became slow. He consumed the heart. All the negative emotions were suppressed. The spirit’s purest resentment absorbed the stains in his brain and was transmuted into soul energy. Only a small handful of Lingering Spirits could nurture a heart. They all had the potential to become Pure Hatred, but now they were food for Han Fei.
Feeling his body getting better, Han Fei sighed. “Both of my personas have improved.”
“For every 10 Lingering Spirits with a heart, one would become a Pure Hatred. Based on math, you’ve almost consumed half a Pure Hatred already.”
After the treatment, the students left. They said they didn’t care about Han Fei, but once Han Fei got into an accident, they came to help him.
“Do they all have stubborn persona?” Han Fei lay on the bed and entered the abyss. The boy that represented Gao Cheng’s memory sat on the edge of the abyss. The girl stood inside the abyss and looked at the boy curiously. She and the boy were both trapped for a long time inside the aquarium. She also knew how much Gao Xing had been torturing the boy.
“The abyss is far more populated than before, but it’s still not enough.” Han Fei’s plan was going well. The two personas complimented each other. As long as Han Fei didn’t die, he could get endlessly stronger.
Han Fei grabbed Brother Chou’s soul. He dangled the criminal over the edge of the abyss. “Tell me how to use your persona, or I’ll make you regret being in this world.”
“Do you think I’m afraid of death?” brother Chou smiled with disdain. “Despair will only please me.”
“I love how stubborn you are. You have to hang in there.” Han Fei kicked him into the black water. “God used these tortures on them, and I would use them on you. I guess you’re closer to your God now.”
Han Fei ignored Brother Chou and went to sit beside the boy. He was still thinking about that dream. “How does it feel like… to have a home?” Two children sat under the starlight. They were both one half of the twinflower.
A new day began. Han Fei arrived at the canteen. He used a lot of contribution points to buy plenty of meat. “It was a good choice to become a Midnight Butcher. When I’m a bad mood, I only need to eat.”
The stack of empty plates was taken away. The members who wanted to get Han Fei all moved away. Animals were usually in a bad mood when they were feasting. Han Fei was a beast who killed 11 Evil God followers on his own.
“The members here are so polite. They give me space to eat. I like this place.” Han Fei felt better. He found Xue Ba, and entered the document room together. He started to discuss with him how to use the dominating persona to control the eyeball Pure Hatred. When it was almost dark, Han Fei left the document room. He entered the center’s support zone. Actually, it was basically where the residents lived. Every member pitched in so the center could work like a well-oiled machine. Han Fei walked down the clean streets. People looked at him with respect.
He entered the new school. The students were learning how to fight. To survive the tragedy, they had to deal with ghosts and humans.
“You came too early. It’s not even dark yet.” No. 5 saw Han Fei from afar. He jogged over and whispered. “We don’t want to alert the others when we go out this time.”
“If there are too many of us, we’ll be noticed too easily.”
“Only No. 1, 2, 4, 30, and me. Can you bring the five of us with you?” No. 5 glanced at Han Fei’s black band. “You’ve finished such a big mission. The director didn’t give you a promotion?”
“I’ll do my best.” Han Fei decided the time and palace with them. He wanted to take back the truck. The worker hesitated. The black truck was evidence. It couldn’t be driven out so easily. In the end, Han Fei negotiated a car from the center.
The day was dark. Han Fei picked a mission closest to An Kang Pharmacy and drove the five students there. He went through the examination checkpoint, but No. 2 used his power, and they sneaked through. The night belonged to the ghosts. Han Fei had been fighting ghosts in the day, and the ghosts hadn’t fully used their power.
“Are we being too high-profile to drive in the night?” Han Fei was not scared, but he was worried for the five students with him. The other four were fine, but No. 30 was an innocent little girl. She was the first to approve of Han Fei, but she didn’t look like she could fight.
“Other than the Black Buildings in Zone C, nothing can threaten us.” No. 1 said peacefully. “As long as we don’t taunt the Pure Hatreds, nothing can stop us.”
“It looks like you have been busy improving yourselves.” Han Fei stepped on the pedal.
“We’re just taking back what we’re owed. But you’re the real surprise.” No. 2 was in a good mood. “No. 1 has the miracle persona, and you are a miracle in itself.”
Han Fei was rarely praised. He didn’t know how to answer. He switched the subject. “There’s a black merchant under An Kang Pharmacy. It has been serving the altar. Perhaps we can ally with it.”
“After the Unmentionable disappeared, the black merchant still worshipped the faceless God. With such a devoted disciple, God should give it immortality.” No. 2 had planned everything. “When we’re there, you can eat it so that it can be immortal in the abyss.”
“Is… that a good idea?” Han Fei was hesitant. “Eating it is the only way for it to escape from the shackles of the altar world. You’re saving him.” No. 2 smiled. “When the old God fell, to be eaten by the new God is an honor.”
Han Fei arrived at An Kang Pharmacy at midnight. He led the five kids to the door of the pharmacy.
Black merchant floated out of the darkness. It took out the rotten head and studied the five students. “Gao Cheng, are these the new sacrifices?”
Comments