CH 449

‘The mission requires me to kill Lin Lu. Why is the mission called love but I have to ruin the last bit of goodness? And what does it mean by suitable time?’ Honestly Han Fei didn’t want to kill. The altar owner already had it bad, he didn’t want to eliminate the last bit of goodness in his heart.

‘But if I don’t complete the mission, it’ll probably affect my ability to inherit the altar.’ After surviving for days inside the memory world, Han Fei finally understood how difficult it was to inherit an ownerless altar.

The bus flew through the darkness. After Lin Lu left, the temperature started to drop again, but Han Fei was about to reach their station soon. If Lin Lu didn’t get on the bus halfway and cause the temperature and the other passengers to turn back to normal, Han Fei’s group wouldn’t survive until the end. This corresponded to the altar owner’s physical state. He teetered between life and death but managed to survive.

‘Perhaps when he first saw the altar, something had already done something to his body but he merely hadn't realized it.’ Before the temperature inside the car dropped down to 0, the bus finally reached the mall. Han Fei’s group got down the bus in a hurry.

“I will not take the last bus again.” Lee Hu swore to himself. His eyes kept wandering to his brother. Lee Long’s face hadn’t returned to normal. The death between his eyes thickened, “Brother, are you alright?”

“He’ll be fine. You better go back and pack your things now.” Han Fei had painted the Ten Fingers as a very scary organization. Worried that they’d be targeted, Lee Long decided to pack and move to a safer place to stay. The two brothers disappeared into the night. Han Fei watched the giant clock outside the mall. He didn’t go home but walked into the mall. It was time for work.

He entered the mall through Entrance C. The guardhouse at the entrance was empty. The mall was dark, even darker than usual. Other than the light from the large signboard, the only other light source was the light dim from the 2nd hand store. Dragging his injured leg, Han Fei looked into the shop. Fei Yang was playing on his phone behind the counter.

He opened the door and entered the shop. At the same time, the system rang. “Notification for Player 0000! Your current hunger point is 10. Your physical condition is bad, and your mental condition is rather disappointed. Your mood point is 50. Are you going to start today’s work?”

“Yes.”

When the doorbell chimed, Fei Yang immediately put away his phone. But when he realized it was only Han Fei, he sighed in relief. “You scared me, I thought it was the boss.”

“You’re the only one here?”

“Who else? Huang Li is in a coma and you didn’t answer any of the calls I made to you so I have to look after the shop alone. Thankfully, there weren't many customers today.” After Fei Yang finished the game on his phone, he walked out from behind the counter. “What the! What happened to you?! You got into a car accident?”

“I tripped.” Han Fei studied Fei Yang, hoping to see something from his expression. Unfortunately the young man was like a sheep waiting for slaughter, even though he knew the dangers of the 2nd hand shop, he had no intention of putting up a resistance.

“Brother, you’ll need to watch yourself now that we’re the only 2 workers this shop has.” Fei Yang grabbed his jacket and handed the account book over to Han Fei. “I’ve already done the accounts, so you only need to man the counter.” This was rare because Fei Yang was not normally that hardworking. Fei Yang stretched and prepared to leave when he suddenly remembered something. “By the way, the guards didn’t come to work today. I can’t reach Zhu Wei on his phone either. Be careful, you’re the only one at the mall today.” After making a scary face, Fei Yang pointed at a coffee cup on the counter. “I ordered 2 cups of coffee. That one is for you. Bye bye.”

Fei Yang put on his jacket and left.

‘Both of the guards haven’t come to work? Are they dead?’ Through the glass window, Han Fei looked out. The large mall was like a black ocean and the small shop he was in was sinking. Even though Han Fei couldn’t wait for the mall boss to die, he still did his job seriously. Checking the inventory, calculating the account, and inputting the data into the computer, Han Fei respected his job. If he wasn’t a comedy actor, he would still shine in his field of choice.

Soon Han Fei finished his job. He noticed that even though Fei Yang had completed the account, he didn’t restock the empty shelves. ‘Is it because he was afraid to enter the basement to grab the new stock?’

Han Fei also didn’t want to enter the basement if necessary. He stopped at the entrance for a long time until he saw blood stains appear from his left eye. The blood stain appeared to leak out from his stomach. ‘Even in his state of injury, the altar owner still returns to this place?’

Opening the door, the blood in Han Fei’s left eye trailed into the storeroom. He followed the blood trail which ultimately stopped before the altar covered by the black cloth.

“Open it. It is the only thing who can save you now, why hesitate?” There was a gurgling river sound in his right ear. Underlying the sound of the current was a strange man’s voice. His left arm slowly raised but just as he was about to reach the black cloth, Han Fei stopped. “Only I can save myself.”

All the painful memories had gathered here. No one would be able to save him, they would only bring him greater pain. Han Fei’s hand landed on the hammer beside the altar. His fingers closed around the hilt. “You’ve tried your best to strip him of his kindness, is it because you’re afraid that he’ll destroy you after the kindness in his soul finds out the truth?”

The shape of a person appeared underneath the black cloth. He stared at Han Fei quietly.

“Those with twisted minds like to destroy goodness in the world to earn satisfaction. But I am the complete opposite. I like to destroy dirty and evil things, that way I can know that I am truly alive.” Han Fei swung the hammer. “I do wish to get your approval but I do not intend to become the person you wish for me to be.”

An old tool hammer was placed beside the altar but only now Han Fei noticed something. He couldn’t see the hammer from his left eye. In other words, the hammer didn’t really exist in the altar owner’s memory. It was made by the altar owner’s subconscious. Just like how Lin Lu represented love and beauty, this tool hammer beside the altar represented the owner’s regret.

Even after he had become the devil’s puppet, even after he had lost his humanity and kindness to become an Unmentionable, deep inside his memory, there was still the choice that he had missed... placed beside the altar.