CH 435

‘The mission is completed?’ Wang Pingan’s father invited Han Fei to stay. Han Fei sat on the old sofa, holding a cup of tea. The old man and Wang Pingan were busy inside the kitchen. Han Fei used this opportunity to check his character profile.

The reward provided by the mission was much better than Han Fei anticipated. The title of good person could make his mood point decrease slower. This was a crucial ability because it meant that he could stay outside the mall longer. Other than that, the mission reward also gave Han Fei another surprise and that was the EXP gained.

The missions in the memory world were rather different from the missions in the cryptic world. There was no clear level delineation but the EXP gained after completing the mission was similar to a Grade F Hidden Mission. Since Han Fei had chosen both sides of the black box at the same time, it meant that it was very difficult for him to gain EXP. At his current level, he wouldn’t gain much EXP from completing Grade G Mission. Grade F and E Missions were not that common, so his level was stuck at 16.

‘While I’m here, I should try to complete as many random missions as I can to level up!’ Leveling up was the most direct way to gain attribute points. Thanks to Han Fei’s hidden profession, Midnight Butcher, each level up would strengthen his physique. In the past, he had to run away from Animated Regrets but now he could chase after normal Lingering Spirits, that was the perk from having an increase in stamina.

‘The difficulty of random missions is different. The harder the mission, the greater the EXP!’ Han Fei studied his EXP bar. Based on his analysis, he would level up after completing another 3 or 4 random missions.

Before Han Fei closed the menu, he opened his inventory. After he entered the memory world, he didn’t think much of his inventory. The memory world intended to lighten the presence of these items. Outside objects shouldn’t be able to change anything in the memory world.

‘I can only take one?’ Han Fei picked the paper doll without hesitation. It would give him a sense of security. After making his choice, something surprising happened. The life-size paper doll suddenly changed size. When Han Fei took it out from the inventory, the paper doll became only the size of Han Fei’s palm, the blood on it faded away and Han Fei couldn’t sense any Yin energy from it at all.

‘Is it because my mood points are recovering that I can’t see its actual property?’ The palm-sized paper doll was very well made. The face looked just like Xu Qin. It looked less like a paper doll but more like a piece of paper art.

The kitchen door opened. Wang Pingan walked out with an open smile. He was holding a cup of hot tea. Han Fei put the paper doll away and then stood up to help Wang Pingan.

“Sit, sit! Pingan wants to thank you too.” The old man sat on the wheelchair and had an honest smile. “There are still good people in this world. Young man, what’s your name?”

“Han Fei.”

“Brilliant name.” The old man passed the only 2 apples on the plate to Han Fei. “It’s already getting late, why don’t you stay here until dawn?” Wang Pingan served the dinner. The old man invited Han Fei, “Since Pingan would return home late every day, I would leave dinner for him. Why don’t you join us?”

“Then I shall infringe on your kindness.” Han Fei was indeed hungry. So far he only had porridge. Han Fei and Pingan picked up the chopsticks. Even though they were leftovers, they were delicious.

The old man studied Han Fei and Wang Pingan with big smiles. “Pingan hasn’t brought a friend home for so long already. This kid is different from others, he learns things slowly but he is really kind. After my accident, he took on this delivery job to help support the family. He works until very late every night. I know he’s often bullied at his job but he never complains to me. Every time he sees me, he would smile like a child.”

“Sir, don’t worry, I’ll be Pingan’s friend from now on.” Han Fei swallowed the food, he realized his mood points had recovered to 45. Since Wang Pingan’s home could help recover his mood points, Han Fei decided to come to this place more often. Han Fei placed his arm over Wang Pingan’s shoulder. “Pingan, if you run into any trouble during your delivery runs, come to the 2nd hand shop at the mall to come find me, if I can, I will help you. But remember do not enter the shop, the shop is not that safe.”

Wang Pingan nodded repeatedly but it was unclear whether he really understood Han Fei or not. After he had his fill, Han Fei’s mood points returned to 50. Honestly, he was worried about Huang Li but he wasn’t capable of going back to the mall alone yet.

Once he left Wang Pingan’s home, his mood points would drop. Furthermore, he had to be cautious of the boy’s father while he walked down the scary streets and alleys. Just the thought of them made Han Fei shiver. His best option was to wait until dawn. The old man was physically weak so he rested quite early. Han Fei used his psychology knowledge to try to diagnose Wang Pingan’s situation. He tried to communicate with Wang Pingan to gain his further trust.

At 4 am, the sun came up and the darkness of the night faded away.

“Pingan, before you go to work, you have to remember to lock all the windows and doors!” Then Han Fei rushed out from Wang Pingan’s home to head towards the mall. ‘I hope Huang Li is fine or else I'll be the shop’s last employee.’

Running down the road, Han Fei realized his mood points decreased very slowly when it was daylight. This was good news because it meant that he could explore the world further when it was in the day. Sound of rushing water entered his ears. Han Fei walked to the hole in the fence, he remembered there was someone following them yesterday night. He slowed down and took out his phone to take pictures for evidence.

‘Why are there only footprints from me and Wang Pingan?’ Han Fei narrowed his eyes. He noticed the ground had been cleaned but the person was very unprofessional. They accidentally cleaned away parts of Han Fei’s footprints. ‘The fabric on the fence was similar to the boy’s clothes. If the man hadn’t moved the boy, the boy would probably be buried here!’ The fabric was inside Han Fei’s pocket, which was a valuable piece of evidence.

‘Should I go down to the pond to look?’ Han Fei hesitated. ‘I think I should head back to the shop first. It doesn’t feel good staying outside all alone…’ Han Fei retreated when he heard rapid footsteps!

‘Someone’s coming!’ Instead of turning back to look, Han Fei’s first reaction was to jump forward in evasion! A sharp knife cut through his shirt and almost stabbed into his back. Han Fei rolled on the ground and then quickly readied himself. He crawled up from the bank and turned. The blade came again.

“I know you were lying to me! You must have seen something!” The middle-aged man growled. The man’s face was dark. He was wearing a cap, dark-colored clothes and a mask covered in mud was poking out from his pocket. This man had been to the 2nd hand shop yesterday night, he wanted to buy back the boy’s toys!

“You have killed your own child and wife!” At this point, there was no reason to keep pretending. The man was crazy. He attacked Han Fei even though he only suspected Han Fei.

“You sure know quite a bit.” The man was large and muscular. He attacked Han Fei again, he was incredibly fast, he must have some kind of training. Han Fei’s eyes narrowed as he evaded. Evasion was not something he was familiar with. He was forced to retreat. The river soaked his shoes. Han Fei led them deeper towards the river. The terrain was uneven. Han Fei finally caught an opportunity when the man stepped on a soft spot. Han Fei immediately started to counter!

After his experience in the cryptic world, Han Fei was quick and ruthless. He elbowed the man’s throat and then locked the man’s arms. Han Fei’s attacks aimed at the weak points. This was not street fighting, this was an assassin completing his mission. The man was larger and stronger than Han Fei but he felt fear. The young man who pretended to be innocent really wanted to kill him!

The man used all of his force to struggle loose but his knife fell onto the rock. The knife was now closer to Han Fei. The man immediately jumped towards the knife, without the knife, he didn’t feel so safe. Han Fei didn’t even glance at the knife. While the man moved, Han Fei swung a fist at the man’s chin. The man resisted the pain from the punch as he continued to lunge at the knife. At that moment, Han Fei’s knee came towards the man’s body. The man groaned in pain. He had to give up the knife and rolled away. He then turned to escape. Han Fei was not going to let him go so easily, he chased after him. They ran for about 10 metres when the man was tripped by something and fell into the river. Water splattered everywhere. Han Fei removed his jacket and planned to jump into the river to chase after the man when he noticed the man’s body was rapidly sinking into the river. Han Fei saw toys in the river grabbing onto the man’s clothes and rain, pulling him down.

The man struggled but he still slowly descended into the depths. ‘Just how deep is this river?’ The slow river gave Han Fei a deep sense of foreboding. He didn’t want to stay by the river for too long. ‘Is the man dead?’

As Han Fei moved away from the river, he noticed the thing that tripped the man over. It was a child’s puppet. It was covered in mud, it looked similar to the headless puppet at the shop.

“Notification for Player 0000! You’ve completed the random mission—Toys. You’ve helped the boy save his toys.

“You’ve fulfilled 10 percent of the altar owner’s regrets! You’ve obtained a large amount of EXP as well as a unique item, toy.

“Toy: When he was dismantling the boy’s ‘toy’s, he had no idea he’d one day become the boy’s toy. Function unknown, might change after dark.

“Notification for Player 0000! You’ve completed a random mission, you obtain a chance to open your inventory. You can choose an item to bring into the memory world.” Han Fei opened his inventory and after some hesitation chose Rest in Peace. ‘One more mission and I can level up. Everything is progressing nicely but how come I have this bad feeling?’

As the day brightened, more people appeared on the streets. Han Fei didn’t dare to stay by the river for too long. He ran back to the mall. It was 5 am so the mall hadn’t started for the day, there was no one around. Han Fei opened the door silently but the alarm chimed loudly. Hurried footsteps came from inside the shop. Soon Huang Li appeared rubbing her eyes. Her hair was tousled and she looked tired.

“You’re finally back!” Huang Li became spirited when she saw Han Fei. “You skipped several hours on your first day of work! I thought something bad had happened to you! You gave me such a fright!”

“Sister Huang, I ran into some problem when I escorted the deliveryman home, I’m so sorry.” Han Fei studied Huang Li. The woman looked fine. Looks like nothing happened after he left.

“I’ll forget it this time but no more next time!” Huang Li said sternly. “What happened to your clothes? Did you go for a roll in the mud?”

“The deliveryman’s father’s wheelchair fell into the river bank, I went down to help him pick it up.”

“You are a kind person but don’t let people take advantage of it.” Huang Li sighed and she stopped scolding Han Fei. “You better go home to rest. Tonight, you’ll have to work the night shift alone.”

“Okay.” Han Fei looked around the store. “Sister Li, did something happen at the mall last night? Did the two guards create more problems for you?”

“No, after those two came back from the 3rd floor, they have been acting very strangely. They kept wandering around the mall but they never came this way.” Huang Li stretched lazily.

“It’s best to be careful, those two might be up to something. You should lock the door before going to bed.” Han Fei didn’t trust those two guards. Plus with what Huang Li said, he suspected something had invaded those 2 guards.

“It’s fine, the shop has many surveillance cameras, they won’t be that daring.”

“Okay.” Han Fei then left the 2nd hand shop. He walked out from the mall but he felt someone was looking at him. He moved slowly until he reached Entrance C. He turned around and saw the 2 guards standing at the rails of the 2nd floor. Their faces were unnaturally pale.

The sky was lightening. Han Fei didn’t stay at the mall but headed home. His body was weakened after a whole night of work. His mood points was dropping, so he needed to rest. After crossing the cement bridge, the small garden and 2 alleys, Han Fei finally reached home. Opening the door, the smell of mold hit him but Han Fei was already used to this. He entered the room. When he closed the door, the system came again. “Notification for Player 0000! You’ve successfully cleared the first night, your diary has been updated!”

‘My diary? But I have not written anything.’ Han Fei opened the fridge to take out the notebook. When he turned to the new page, he realized it was filled with scrawling handwriting.

“Today, I found a new job. It’s a night shift so I can find other jobs during the day. The new job is not difficult, I’m already familiar with it, but the mall is quite scary at night.” The content was very everyday but the handwriting showed the writer’s pressure. “I memorized the location and prices of all the merchandise. My mother told me to be a responsible person and she also told me to be a good person. Because a good person will have good karma.

“I helped a delivery person, I stopped him from being bullied by the guards. I only wanted to do good so why? Why did it turn out like this? I didn’t want this! Really! Who can help me? I just wanted to help so how did he die? He’s dead, I saw him die. The knife cut into his chest but it was because he wanted to kill me!” The handwriting was tipped over and the writer rambled on like he had lost his mind. As Han Fei read on, his face darkened. He didn’t write this diary but the altar owner did.

Everything went as Han Fei predicted. The altar owner helped the deliveryman but he didn’t escort the man home immediately. He waited for a long time but the man’s father didn’t show up and he didn’t answer the phone. Only then he escorted the man home. When they passed by the bank, they saw the old man’s wheelchair. They went down to look and accidentally ran into the boy’s father.

The boy’s father attacked immediately. When they fought, the man’s knife fell and it landed closer to the altar owner. He picked up the knife to defend himself but he accidentally harmed the man’s vitals. The man fell into the river. The only witness was Wang Pingan.

‘I didn’t even touch that knife yesterday night but the boy’s father was still killed. Looks like there are several things in this memory world that can’t be changed.’ Han Fei’s fists tightened. If certain key things couldn’t be changed, how was he going to rectify the altar owner’s regrets and hold onto the only light in this despairing world?