CH 456

Han Fei had spent most of the time in illusions so it was a bit late to break the walls now. To prevent himself from being discovered by the boss, after Han Fei memorized the location of the well, he replaced the shelves. He carried the axe and shovel and walked around the underground storeroom, feeling the chill from the landlord’s ring. There were so many more haunted things down here than above.

“What is this?” There was a carved wooden box placed on the shelf near the altar. It looked like an antique. When Han Fei got near, he felt a chilling wind. Han Fei used his gloved hands to open the box. Inside the box were several blackened sheets of rice dumpling leaves. The leaves were covered with rotten rice and jujubee but strangely enough the leaves were unaffected. ‘These leaves look so strange. Their veins look like human blood veins.’

Han Fei moved the leaves out of the way and noticed there was a letter placed at the bottom of the box. Barely legible on the envelope was the sentence—for an old friend.

Resisting the strong discomfort, Han Fei found a piece of plastic to grab the envelope. He wiped away the blood on the surface and saw an address. ‘No. 19, white city, River Head? Isn’t that the same address which orders white rice every night?’ White city was where the rich people lived and River Head was the richest among them. ‘The family must have known the boss well to send rice dumplings during festivals.’

Han Fei placed a piece of leaf and the letter into the plastic bag. He planned to visit River Head with these things after dawn arrived. Other than the leaves, Han Fei found many items with Yin energy in the storeroom. Things like expensive silk cloth, used meat mincer, old television and so on. ‘Every shelf has at least 1 dirty thing and they are placed facing the altar like they are worshiping it.’

Han Fei scanned the shelves, he planned to bring the haunted things out from the storeroom, for them to see the light again. ‘In the altar owner’s illusion, all the ghosts are controlled by the altar and they are all accomplices to the boss but is that really the truth?

‘He was in an extremely despairing state and was dominated by depression. With the influence of the altar, he saw that hopeless world. Perhaps that world was the one the mall boss created for him. Every single goodness that encountered the altar owner would be corrupted into ugly despair. He was trying to slowly turn the altar owner into a monster, one that would kneel, enslaved to the altar. After experiencing so many things, I could be considered the person who understands him the most but that doesn’t mean I would take the same path as he did.’

In the illusions, Han Fei was also cornered by the ghosts. However, Han Fei didn’t hate the ghosts, he even wanted to help them. ‘They are bullied by the altar and can’t even have peace after death. If I am to find helpers in this world, it will be among them.’

Han Fei couldn’t carry everything at once so he picked a few convenient ones, things that he could hide easily and place them inside the old lady’s rucksack. When Han Fei left the storeroom, there were extra things in the rucksack. They included a paper plane folded from a love letter, a wig covered in spider web, and the letter as well as rice dumpling leaf.

Han Fei recovered everything at the shop. Then he carried the old lady’s rucksack, walked out from the shop and came to the donation box behind the mall. Huang Li had brought him here before. The mall boss had the donation box built not far from the trash cans, perhaps the mall boss found this an easier way to deal with the old lady’s donation. Taking out the key, Han Fei opened the donation box and kept the old lady’s rucksack inside it.

Perhaps it was because he had been involved in too many murders, Han Fei was very good at dealing with crime scenes. Thankfully he was not a bad guy or else with his skills, Xin Lu would have another supercriminal.

Han Fei returned to the shop and continued to sleep at the counter like nothing had happened.

Just as the sky was about to brighten, there was a customer. A man in black walked in. From the hat to the shoes, the man was in black, it was like he just came from a funeral. The man ignored Han Fei and walked around the shop before he stopped before the altar.

“How can I help you?” Han Fei stood at the counter and enquired with a yawn.

“I wish to purchase this altar but the server said that he couldn’t make that decision, he needed to verify it with the boss.” The man slowly turned around. “It has been days since then, I wonder if your boss came to a decision.” The weather was cold but the man was dressed in a very thin shirt. There was a complicated black tattoo on his neck, it was like a giant snake consuming several human heads.

“Can you tell me which server has told you that? I can help you contact him.” Han Fei tapped his face lightly like he was trying to keep himself awake.

“Thank you but I believe he should be here soon.” The man glanced at Han Fei and then soon lost interest. Compared to humans in this world, the man cared more about the old stuff on the shelves.

About 10 minutes later, the door of the 2nd hand shop opened again. Fei Yang with bloodshot eyes appeared at the door. His clothes were unkempt and his hair stuck out in places. It looked like he was woken up right about the time he was about to sleep.

“Why are you here?” Han Fei was surprised. Fei Yang waved his hands and rushed towards the man in black. They whispered among themselves. Fei Yang kept glancing at Han Fei as if afraid that Han Fei might discover something. About 10 minutes later, Fei Yang walked towards Han Fei. “Brother, your leg is injured so why don’t you get off work early today? Go back and rest. Then come back later.”

“Are you sure you can handle this? You left at 11 plus yesterday night and it is now barely dawn…”

“I’m fine. You better hurry back to rest.” Fei Yang urged Han Fei.

“The man doesn’t look like a good person. Be careful and don’t be scammed.” Han Fei reminded him kindly.

“Okay, okay.”

Han Fei was quite happy that he could get off work early. He worked the account and then left the shop rubbing his sleepy eyes.

However, the moment he left the shop, Han Fei’s eyes sharpened. He saw very clearly that the human head tattoo on the man’s neck was similar to 7th Finger’s. ‘How did Fei Yang get entangled with Ten Fingers?’

Fei Yang and the man in black spoke very softly but Han Fei possessed the altar owner’s right ear so he heard everything. Fei Yang had discovered parts of the mall boss’ secret, he had a feeling that he would die next so he voluntarily sought help from the man in black. The man in black was a private investigator, he had been investigating the mall so he was glad to take on Fei Yang as a client.

‘After 7th Finger and 8th Finger are killed, the other Fingers started to make their move. Fei Yang is very clever but he has found the wrong person to cooperate with. Working with Ten Fingers is no different from signing your own death certificate.’ Han Fei warned Fei Yang with the risk of exposing himself but Fei Yang was too panicked to heed Han Fei’s advice. ‘Hopefully he can survive until the end.’

When tragedy struck, everyone would try their best to save themselves but certain people would make the wrong decision.

The sky outside the mall was brightening. After making sure there was no one around, Han Fei turned to the donation box and retrieved the old lady’s rucksack. “Time to go home.”

Walking past the bridge, Han Fei lowered his head to study the gurgling river. His reflection in the water was blurry and it didn’t look that much like Han Fei. It was like there was another person looking at him from under the river.

‘After I take a quick nap, I will go take a look around River Head with Wang Pingan at noon.’ Han Fei rubbed his hands. The weather was turning cold, so he should get some heavy layers for himself. Han Fei walked around the garden and entered the alley but he soon stopped.

There were 2 alleys between the mall and his rental. The homeless guy would normally stay at the first alley but today he had appeared at the alley closer to the mall. When he saw Han Fei, the man crawled towards Han Fei and extended his palms like he was asking for food from Han Fei. It had been a day since Han Fei saw the man. He noticed that someone had broken the man’s leg. He was limping just like the dog inside the wooden box. His clothes were tattered and his hands were stained with mud. In the past, the homeless man would never actively block Han Fei’s way to ask for food, he was acting strangely today.

“The sun hasn’t come up yet and the breakfast stall is not yet open, so I can't purchase any food for you.” Han Fei continued to walk forward. The homeless man suddenly grabbed Han Fei’s shirt. His dirty hands left stains on Han Fei’s employee uniform.

Han Fei narrowed his eyes. He didn’t say anything harsh to the homeless man, he didn’t shove him away either. Instead Han Fei grabbed the man’s wrist lightly. “Looks like you must be extremely hungry. Okay, let me return to the mall. I remember there is a 24 hour convenience store at the mall.” Han Fei smiled warmly. After Han Fei turned back to the mall, the homeless guy finally let go.

2 minutes later, after Han Fei disappeared from sight and the homeless guy prepared to return to his wooden box, the door of the nearby house suddenly opened. A man in a nurse's uniform charged out, he was holding a sharp knife.

“You saved him?” The man squeezed the homeless guy’s neck and slammed him into the wall. “Since you like to do charity so much then you can die on his behalf!” Just as the knife was about to pierce into the homeless man’s stomach, footsteps echoed down the alley.

Han Fei didn’t really return to the mall, he had been hiding at the corner. Without considering the consequence, Han Fei charged and knocked the man over.

“You are indeed suspicious! I was wondering why I haven’t seen you before!” When the man saw Han Fei turn back, he was excited, “A stranger has appeared in this unchanging world, whose memory are you based on?”

The nurse couldn’t feel pain and he was stronger than a normal man. He easily detained Han Fei by grabbing one of his arms. “Not going to tell me? Fine. I’ll make you into a can and trap you inside my bedroom.” The man’s other arm reached for Han Fei’s neck. As he tried to squeeze the life out of Han Fei, Han Fei’s right arm punched at the man’s chest. “Don’t you even know how to fight? You are making me laugh, do you think a fist is going to pierce through my chest?”

The smile on the lips slowly froze. The man felt a chill from his chest. “How can the body… made from memory feel cold?” He lowered his head to look. The light of dawn gathered in Han Fei’s hand. A shining blade appeared in the man’s eyes. Grabbing the knife, Han Fei swung the blade.

The nurse’s head fell to the ground. His body melted under the sun. The nurse looked at Han Fei in surprise. Before he got the chance to activate the tattoo on his neck, he was already beheaded. “I, I have remembered you…”

“Shush.” Massaging his wrist, Han Fei stood up from the ground. “There are 6 human heads around his neck, does that mean he’s 6th Finger?”

Putting away Rest in Peace, Han Fei looked at the corner. The homeless man cowered in fear, hugging his dog, afraid that Han Fei might harm them.