CH 384

“A shattered cocoon?” Han Fei was confused as he stared at the giant cocoon on the sea of red flowers. There was something deep underground which had completed its metamorphosis. ‘Butterfly should still be a Pure Hatred but the shell of this cocoon is already at the level of an Unmentionable. This is not Butterfly’s cocoon!’

The black mist that emitted from the cocoon enveloped Ziggurat. It was because of the black mist that the neighbourhood was named Ziggurat. Han Fei leaned closer to the flowers. The crimson petals had dews condensed from the death in the mist. Han Fei held Rest in Peace and stood at the elevator door. He resisted entry into the sea of flowers but there were two voices in his body urging one.

One of them was Big Sin. Big Sin who hid inside Han Fei’s arm was overjoyed. It couldn’t control the spikes on its body, causing a large amount of Soul Poison to leak into Han Fei’s blood, mixing with the Death Curses.

The other voice was the laughing man. The Butterfly’s Death Curses broke something in Han Fei’s mind and the guffaw kept echoing in his ears. “Well, since I’m already here.” Han Fei dragged the unconscious boy and walked out from the elevator.

As his shoes stepped on the flowers, it felt like he was stepping on flesh and blood. The scent of Death was thick around him. Han Fei felt like he was wading underwater. ‘The boy inside the dresser on the 7th floor basement wanted me to destroy a heart. But this sea of flowers is so big, where am I going to find a heart?’

The manager would be resurrected at 4.44 am. Han Fei needed to destroy the ritual, he really didn’t have the time to go search for this elusive heart. The laughter in his ears annoyed him. He had to turn back every few steps, because it felt like there was someone persistently tailing him.

‘Perhaps Big Sin can prove helpful here. After all, both Butterfly and it came out from the human cocoon, it should be able to sense something.’ The scenario here reminded Han Fei of the mass grave under the security company. However, the sea of flowers here was much larger than the one at the security company. The one at the company was just a mount, this here was an undulating range of redness.

Raising his arm with Big Sin, Han Fei used his pet’s instinct to guide him through the flower sea. Han Fei climbed up a small hill and when he looked down, his face was pale. The giant cocoon shell that was on the surface was just a tip of the iceberg! The real cocoon shell was buried under the sea of flowers!

Standing on the hill, Han Fei had a better vantage point. The giant cocoon that was imprinted with human faces was torn open from the middle. Han Fei could see its original state. This was a human-shaped cocoon. The giant shell held up the four buildings at Ziggurat. If that was all, Han Fei might be shocked but his face wouldn’t pale.

Inside the broken giant cocoon, there hung plenty of children. Their bodies and heads were joined with the roots of the flowers. Part of their skin had been virtualized. The thing that sent chills up Han Fei’s spine was that most of the children’s expressions were still changing like they were in a very long nightmare.

“My God…” Butterfly had collected many children and their nightmares. The nightmares contained their memories and emotions, which became the nutrients of the blood flowers. “Each blood flower corresponds to one child?”

The laughter in his ears became shriller and madder. Han Fei felt someone push him from behind. He dragged the unconscious child and climbed down from the hill. With his hands on the roots of the blood flowers, Han Fei examined closer the human faces on the cocoon and the children that were strung inside the cocoon. Now he understood why these things were called human cocoons. The thing looked like a bug but actually it was made from the sin within the human heart. To metamorphose, it had to feed on its host’s memory and emotion. “But how did a human cocoon grow to such size?”

Han Fei stepped on the children’s nightmare as he slowly made his way into the valley of the cocoon. Lifting his eyes up, Han Fei felt like he was inside the home of the devil. Blood flowers were everywhere and the cliff was decorated with children trapped in endless nightmares.

Seeing this, Han Fei couldn’t help but be reminded of the hints the system gave him when he triggered the Night of Resurrection mission. “I fell into the abyss of nightmares. The demons and ghosts looked at me without saying a word. They are curious why haven’t I called for help, I am curious why they would have such a question.

“Aren't all children in the world like me? Trapped inside a cocoon since birth until one can break open with wings?”

‘The Butterfly was born inside a cocoon until it grew wings?’ Han Fei related that to the scene that he was seeing and he was shocked. ‘The abyss of nightmare refers to the centre of this cocoon? Butterfly was dragged here due to some reason and he was made to dangle on the cliff like the other children. But unlike the other children, he was transformed by the nightmare into a new monster.

‘This cocoon is the Butterfly’s place of birth!’

However, this confused Han Fei further. It meant that this cocoon was not Butterfly’s cocoon, it was already here before Butterfly was born. So what came out from this cocoon and who dangled so many children’s nightmare here?

‘Butterfly has been trying to manufacture a replacement…’ Han Fei was shocked by the idea. ‘Perhaps Butterfly has already succeeded? The Butterfly outside is merely a scapegoat?’

Staring at the broken cocoon, Han Fei felt the thick scent of Death from it. This was just a broken shell but the presence it emitted was beyond a Pure Hatred. Han Fei wanted to stop to think but Big Sin and the laughter refused to give him peace. The Soul Poison trickled through his body, the system kept reminding him to seek treatment.

Han Fei continued to hike downwards. He realized someone was fighting at the bottom of the giant cocoon. The hatred caused the black mist to swirl. When Han Fei got close enough to identify the person, he was given another shock.

“Zhuang Wen?” After the jumper woman was moulded back together, she stormed to Building 4 to murder her own father. Han Fei didn’t see her at Building 4 because she had been here all along. The black mist gathered around Zhuang Wen. She was standing at the centre of the black mist swirl. Zhuang Wen wanted to destroy this place but the black mist kept her firmly apprehended. At this place, the more powerful you were, the more the black mist would target you.

But then again, a weak spirit wouldn’t have gotten to this place. They would be crushed by the black mist already. Han Fei was an exception. He was a living human but he had Big Sin and the blessing of a Large Lingering Spirit.

‘Most of the black mist has already billowed out to trap the Singer, the remaining mist is still strong enough to suppress Zhuang Wen?!’ Without the Singer and Zhuang Wen, Han Fei would have to face a black mist which was so much more intense.

Han Fei inched closer to Zhuang Wen to see if he could communicate with her. But when he got closer, he realized Zhuang Wen had been completely dominated by hatred. A normal Pure Hatred should be able to control the hatred in their hearts but Zhuang Wen failed to make the breakthrough. The hatred on her was intense and if Han Fei got any closer, she might attack him.

‘O well, let’s see what Big Sin wants.’ With Big Sin guiding the way, Han Fei started to move to the bottom of the cocoon. He looked at the children around him and he was unsettled. Even the laughter in his mind had quieted down. After walking for some time, Han Fei finally stopped at an inconspicuous corner. This corner was no different from the rest of the place, but Big Sin insisted on coming here. Slightly nudging away the children which were entangled by vines and roots, Han Fei found an old altar underneath the sea of blood flowers.

“Another altar?” Han Fei was averse to altars. In fact, the reason he had to enter the Ziggurat earlier than planned was because he had opened the altar in front of Happiness Neighbourhood. That attracted the attention of the Singer, who chased him all the way to the Ziggurat. “At the bottom of the cocoon, deep inside the blood flower, what kind of God will live here?”

The altar before him was covered in blood flowers and the children’s souls rested around it. Han Fei was conflicted, he was afraid of the altar but also had the urge to see what was inside it. It was like having an unknown red button placed before him and he just wanted to press to see what would happen.

Big Sin was throwing a party already. The red pattern extended from Han Fei’s arm to his palm. It urged Han Fei. “I’m not even sure if you want what’s best for me anymore.”

Han Fei pushed away the children’s souls and crawled deeper into this inconspicuous corner. If not for Big Sin, he would not have discovered this altar. The closer he got to the altar, the more intense Big Sin reacted. The blood pattern had almost spread through Han Fei’s body, scorching his skin.

This altar inside the cocoon was different from the altar in front of the Happiness Neighbourhood. It looked older, even the black cloth over it had decayed. Taking a deep breath, Han Fei used Rest in Peace to cut away the blood flowers outside the altar before bending down to look inside it.

“Notification for Player 0000! Lighting of the altar has failed! Different ‘Gods’ are served inside each altar, some altars will provide you great boons while others will claim your life should you open them!” As the notification appeared, Han Fei also glimpsed the thing inside the altar. It was a broken heart, the heart was covered by tiny capillaries, they were connected to the roots of the blood flowers, sucking nightmare from the endless children’s souls. This heart reeked horribly. It had been dead for a long time but it was still beating.

“This is the source of all the Death Curses at Ziggurat?” Big Sin was very excited, but the more excited it was, the closer Han Fei was to death. “Should I just slice through it?”

Gripping Rest in Peace, Han Fei stared at the heart inside the altar, he felt transported back into the meat packing plant. After the blade was forged, the thing that was used to sacrifice to complete the blade was Spider’s Heart of Sin and now he was going to cut through a heart which was heavily connected to the Butterfly. Perhaps Butterfly had planned for Han Fei to cut through Spider’s Heart of Sin.

As Han Fei thought back to the things he had seen at Ziggurat, the crimes Butterfly had committed, the pain and despair it had placed on others, his hands held the blade and he focused to bring the blade to life!

Human figures appeared behind Han Fei, they grabbed the hilt with Han Fei. The brilliant blade shone with the hope and beauty of humanity. Then everyone swung at the same time!

The blood flowers wilted as the blood vessel-like roots were severed. Han Fei’s butcher knife cut through the altar and fell on the rotten heart!

No blade had managed to pierce into this heart before. At that instant, Han Fei felt pairs of eyes open inside the altar. Before he could see what they were, his body was sent flying. His hands that held Rest in Peace were covered in blood. The front of his body which faced the altar was heavily wounded.

Rest in Peace did manage to injure the heart but Han Fei was sent flying before the blade could cut beyond the heart scab.

Han Fei lost control of his arms. Han Fei turned to examine them and he realized the blood pattern had disappeared, Big Sin had escaped from his body!

Han Fei turned back to look at the altar. Big Sin, which was several times smaller than before, was lying on top of the broken heart. It snuggled into the fresh wound Han Fei introduced on the heart and started to feast on the heart inside the altar!

The roots connected to the blood capillaries started to tremble. The children strung on the cocoon cliff began to shake like they were waking up. The tremble moved outwards. The black mist lapped against the cocoon shell like waves. ‘This broken heart doesn’t belong to the Ziggurat’s current manager, so who does it belong to?’

Han Fei’s Life Point was almost zero so his talent was activated. He retreated as fast as he could but it was still too late. There was a giant earthquake at the bottom of the abyss, the foundation that held the Ziggurat started to collapse!

The small altar was connected to the whole cocoon. The sea made from blood flowers started to gush inwards. Seeing as Han Fei was about to be buried alive, a red giant shadow enveloped him. Han Fei turned to look with fear. Zhuang Wen’s eyes were burning with the black flame of hatred. But the fire was also scorching a little girl’s soul. The girl represented Zhuang Wen’s last shred of rationality, when the girl was burnt into ashes, Zhuang Wen would lose control again.

“Go up! The exit is up there!” Han Fei shouted but Zhuang Wen showed no sign of leaving. The woman with black flames in her eyes finally found the thing she could vent her hatred on. In that situation, she started to attack the altar!