CH 457

“Thank you for saving me earlier, I will bring food for you every day after I get off work.” Han Fei’s blade only cut through sin. As dawn showered into the alley, Han Fei put the hilt away and crossed his arms. The homeless guy retreated with fear on his face.

Moments later, Han Fei took out 500. “The weather is getting cold. You should get some thick blankets for yourself or perhaps find a place to stay.” The homeless guy didn’t dare to take Han Fei’s money. He dragged the wooden box and rushed down the other side of the alley.

‘A drifter that doesn’t accept charity? I wonder what he did for a living before he became homeless.’ Han Fei noticed the homeless guy cared about the stray dog a lot. As unkempt as the man was, he would still play and clean the dog every day. It was like the dog was the only pride he had left in the world. ‘The most sensible thing to do is to silence all the witnesses so that Ten Fingers couldn’t get to me through this homeless guy. But doing that is no different from Ten Fingers.’

Han Fei turned around and returned to his rental. Since the nurse was dead, he planned to visit the man’s home. When he was about to walk upstairs, a paper plane covered in black stains landed beside his shoes. Han Fei lifted his head up to look. The window on the 3rd floor was left half-open and a woman stood at the window. She looked at Han Fei expressionlessly. The hands that hung on the window were scorched from fire.

“Hello.” Han Fei raised his hand to greet her but the woman disappeared in the blink of an eye. “It doesn’t feel like she was looking at me but the 2nd hand shop uniform I am wearing.” Han Fei bent down to pick up the paper plane. It was written with symbols that no one could understand. “Are these words? What is she trying to tell me?” There was a dead person who lived in the same rental who greeted one daily, most people would have moved away already but Han Fei wanted to visit the woman so that they could have a good chat.

‘I believe I saw her among the illusions…’

Han Fei first returned to his room to grab the toys the nurse had tossed away. He placed them inside the old lady’s rucksack and then ran to the nurse’s room. 7th Finger and 8th Finger were independent ruffians but this particular Finger had a wife and son. This confused Han Fei, why was that?

Han Fei knocked for a long time before a child’s voice answered, “Who are you looking for?”

“I’m your downstairs neighbor, we’ve met before.” Han Fei said slowly, “Kid, you dropped your toys on the ground that day, I’ve kept them for you.”

“You’re here to return my toys?”

“Yes, I notice that you quite like them.”

The doorknob wiggled. The door was pulled open from inside. A strange smell drifted out. The boy hid behind the door and his eyes were glued to the rucksack.

“You’re the only one at home?”

“Father hasn’t come back from work and mommy is still sleeping.” The boy was at ease around Han Fei. Han Fei didn’t stand on ceremony and walked into the room like he owned it. After Han Fei entered the living room, the boy became quite flustered. He scratched his head, confused by the situation. He didn’t know if he should close the door or not.

“Here, the toys are quite expensive.” Han Fei took out the puppets from the rucksack, and the boy’s attention was immediately drawn to them. While the boy played with the toys, Han Fei started to look around. The room only had the simplest furniture and they were all worn and old. Other than that, ever since Han Fei entered the room, he noticed every object in the room exuded this horrible smell, like the whole place was rotting.

“Boy, how long you haven’t seen your mother already?”

“Very long time…” The boy was still playing with his toys, his favorite was the puppet that represented his father.

“Then do you want to see her?”

“Father won’t let us into her room, he will hit me.” The boy lowered his head and he slowly pulled the puppet’s head out.

“It’s fine, after all, he’s not here.” Han Fei walked towards the bedroom. When his hand landed on the door, he caught the picture frame that was tipped over on the television from the corner of his eyes. He righted the frame and noticed the picture only had the woman and the boy. There was no sign of the nurse. “Why isn’t your father in any of the photos?”

“He…” The boy stopped talking. He continued to try to pull the puppet’s head out. Since the boy didn’t answer, Han Fei didn’t press. He tried to turn the doorknob and realized the bedroom door was locked.

“The key is on father, without his permission, mommy will not open the door for you.” The boy’s voice appeared to be changing.

“Your mother loves you that much, how could she bear to not see you for so long? I suspect your father has done something bad to your mother.” Han Fei smiled. “Do you mind if I use some force to open the door?”

“Okay, but a locked door can’t be opened without a key.”

“Well, I’m going to give it a try anyway.” Han Fei aimed at the doorknob and kicked! The giant sound shattered the silence of the morning. Curses came from downstairs but Han Fei couldn’t care less. He resisted the stinging stench and turned to look into the bedroom. A woman covered in IV drips lay in bed. Various medicinal bottles that released horrible odors scattered around the bed. The woman’s eyes had gone blind from all the crying. Her eyes and ears were stuffed. If not for her slightly convulsing body, Han Fei would have assumed the woman was dead already.

‘6th Finger is experimenting on this woman?’ Han Fei immediately took out his phone to call for emergency rescue. He didn’t dare to touch the drips lest he injured the woman. As Han Fei tried to communicate with the woman, the boy appeared at the bedroom door. He held the puppet that represented father. He grabbed the puppet’s legs in his left hand and the puppet’s head in his right. “Father said he is treating mommy’s illness, if the treatment doesn’t go well, mommy will spread the illness to us and we will be in great pain.” The boy repeated the statement 6th Finger had taught him. The expression on his face slowly became stranger and stranger.

“Then did your father tell you what kind of illness your mother has?” In Han Fei’s left eye, the boy’s body was slowly changing. Han Fei was suddenly reminded of something. The boy before him was friends with the drowned boy. The drowned boy once witnessed his father murder his mother so the boy’s mother puppet was beheaded.

Now, this boy was holding the same set of puppets as the drowned boy. Once he got the puppet, he started to yank the head off the father puppet, it felt like he was trying to use this way to kill his own father. It was a simple thought but also quite scary.

“Father said there is a person hiding in mother’s heart. This is the only way he can lure the bad person out.” The boy slowly walked towards Han Fei. “Father only became my father not too long ago. He said that he would become my father every time he enters this world. He has watched over me for 10 years already. He knows everything about me, he wants me to be his son but… I’ve only seen him for a few weeks.” The boy’s tone was strange as his mouth opened and closed. “Father knows everything in this home. He told me that my original father has died for a long time already. Since he has died, how could he linger in a living person’s heart so the new father needs to treat my mother. He said mother and I only belong to him and can only belong to him.” The boy reached Han Fei. He walked around his mother’s bed, the boy didn’t seem surprised by the scene inside his mother’s bedroom.

Han Fei didn’t expect this to happen, he started to calmly analyze the boy’s words. The boy sounded like he was rambling but he had actually revealed a lot of information. The boy’s real father was not 6th Finger but someone else. The boy’s mother still missed her husband and raised the boy alone. However, 6th Finger appeared. 6th Finger used every method available to make the boy’s mother forget about the boy’s real father. Unfortunately, even after 10 years, he failed to murder the ‘man’ inside the woman’s heart.

Seeing the woman in bed, Han Fei could imagine the torture she must have been through. This created a lasting impact on Han Fei. Combine that with the way 7th Finger and 8th Finger had ruled the western city, Han Fei came up with a terrifying conclusion!

‘When Ten Fingers enter the memory world, it is no different from a normal player entering Perfect Life. They can do anything they want, even to kill the people inside the memory world thousands of times.

‘This memory world is based on an altar and anchored by the Unmentionable’s deepest resentment. Then could Perfect Life be based on an altar too?

‘To be able to support such a huge gaming world, as well as a surface and cryptic layer, a normal altar wouldn’t suffice but what if it was the black box?’ These mad hypotheses slowly crowded Han Fei’s mind until he felt someone pull on his shirt.

“Uncle, what are you thinking about?” Han Fei’s mind was interrupted and he turned to the boy. “Today, father didn’t return home on time and he didn’t feed mother medicine.” The boy raised the beheaded father puppet. His face had a creepy smile that a child should never have. “Uncle, would you be my new father?”

Han Fei retreated. In his left eye, the boy had already mutated. Flesh kept growing out from his left brain. The flesh became a cage to envelope Han Fei and the boy. Without any hesitation, Han Fei grabbed the boy’s arm and rammed into the bedroom window. There had to be a reason why 6th Finger chose to be this boy’s father. Perhaps the boy might become scary after he mutated or the boy knew some secrets. Regardless, Han Fei needed to stop the boy from mutating before him. He tried to drag the boy out from the flesh cage and bring the boy out from the bedroom but the window was nailed shut.

Bang! Han Fei felt like his bones were about to shatter.

“Be my new daddy! Mommy needs someone to look after her! I beg you to stay!” Ignoring the boy, Han Fei continued to slam into the window until the puppet the other boy gave him bounced to the ground. The already cracked toy smashed into smithereens on impact. Han Fei reached for the puppet but another hand was faster than he was.

“Why do you have this toy?” A drenched boy appeared from the broken toy. He stopped the mutating monster. Using this chance, Han Fei finally tore two planks out from the window and the sun hit the 2 boys. The drowned boy disappeared and the mutating boy slowly returned to normal.

Han Fei stood by the window nursing his beating heart. He realized he had greatly underestimated the danger of this world. ‘As time progresses, the crazier this world will become. The monster in people’s hearts will be released.’

The mission to survive for 30 days was impossible, perhaps it was a wish that couldn’t be fulfilled.

‘This boy is scarier than Lee Long and Lee Hu combined after he mutates. Perhaps that is why 6th Finger chose to adopt him. I have to maintain a good relationship with this boy. That way I’ll have some aid after this world has fully mutated.’