CH 463

“Bad guys will die but not necessarily before the good guys.” Han Fei used Rest in Peace to trim the hair that gushed out from the man’s mouth. “I noticed that you don’t have much resentment despite what your big brother has done to you. You only have regret and not hatred in your eyes.”

“He has given me a choice and I made the wrong one.” The man tried his best to shake his head. He turned to the boarded up windows. “It’s been so long since I have to speak that I can’t even remember how to talk anymore. It was like I was a young kid all over again. I was very shy and introverted. I looked like a girl and would be nervous around strangers. So I followed behind my brother, he was my complete opposite. He was proud and never took orders from others, he always had his own way of doing things.

“I view him as my role model and I did everything he said until one day, he was burning something at home and burned the whole house down. The thick smoke immediately filled up the house. I was locked in and I only knew how to cry. I was too stunned to do anything else. It was my big brother who knocked down the door to save me. He was the one who caused the fire but he was also the one who saved me even though I had been severely burned by the flame.

“After the fire, we had to move. It was then that my parent’s attitude towards my brother changed. They would scold and beat him for no reason. My brother was a stubborn person, some might say he was psychotically stubborn, he would never admit he was wrong. During one argument, he left home and never returned. My parents eventually caved and tried to find him but he was gone. After a few years, my parents heard that he had opened a small shop in the southern part of the country. They wanted to go see him but on the way there, they died in a car accident.

“It was at our parent’s funeral that I saw my brother again. He had changed a lot. His eyes were like a bottomless well and he was very fake. It was like he was wearing a mask that he couldn’t remove. My brother became a stranger to me.

“A few years later, he moved back to River Head. He was now a rich boss but he was still alone. He voluntarily sought me out. The passion that he showed frightened me.

“Lured by the money, I started to work for him and became his right hand man. Because of that, I got to know a lot of his secrets. My big brother trusted me unconditionally and told me everything. I thought that was because I was his family but later I found out it was because when he met me, he had already written my ending for me.

“After reuniting with my brother, I had a life that I didn’t even dare to imagine in the past. I had reputation, money and envy from others. I didn’t mind the changes happening to my big brother because I was slowly turning into someone like him.

“The years passed by and my brother's business started to face some problems. This happened without any warning, it was like all of a sudden he had exhausted all of his good luck. I remembered very clearly, that night, we were drinking at home when my big brother suddenly apologized to me. He said he was sorry for the fire which ruined my face and almost took my life. He wanted to give me a present to make up for it.

“He took away my phone, room key and wallet and placed them on the table. Then he told me that he was going to give me 2 choices. 1, leave River Head immediately without anything that I had earned through him; 2, listen to his deepest secret.

“I thought he was drunk so I chose the second choice. My brother told me his deepest secret. He led me to a water well and told me to look for my own picture inside the well. I looked inside it for a long time but I couldn’t find anything. I only saw my body slowly sinking. Yes, I saw another version of myself sinking. However, that version of myself didn’t have a wig and the scars on his head were all exposed.

“I started to feel fear and panic. When I was completely surrounded by darkness, my big brother fished me out from the water.” The man looked at the wig Han Fei was holding and revealed a sad smile. “I thought I was safe and just as I wanted to open my mouth to thank him, hair started to flow out from it. I looked at myself in fear. Turns out my real self had been dropped inside the well, the thing that my brother saved was the wig that he had once given to me as a present. My consciousness had lingered on it.

“My brother told the altar beside the well many things. He was begging the god inside to take me away and in exchange, he would put more things inside the well.

“Then I lost consciousness. When I opened my eyes, I was back in this room. I was trapped inside this room and continued to enjoy everyone’s ‘envious’ gaze.”

Han Fei looked at the delivery box. He merely followed the landlord’s ring and took out several items with the heaviest Yin energy from the storeroom. He didn’t expect there would be human lives behind each of them. ‘There is so much more merchandise in the storeroom, the boss is collecting them for a reason.’ The 2nd hand shop was just a front, everything was in service of the altar.

Han Fei contemplated it seriously and he helped the man cut off his hair for the last time. “It is time to end this tragedy. I believe it was your big brother who killed your parents.”

“Impossible!”

“Why is it impossible? You know your brother better than I do.” Han Fei placed Rest in Peace on the man’s neck. “In any case, I’m not here to listen to your stories. You know all of your brother’s secrets, so you should know how to release him from the charm of the altar.”

“Killing him is not going to solve any problem because the altar and the well are still there.” The man shook his head with a sad smile.

“So you want me to destroy the altar?”

“You can destroy the altar at the mall but can you destroy the altars in human hearts? As long as someone believes throwing important ‘things’ into the well will get them a corresponding reward, the altar will exist forever.” The man’s eyes moved away from the wig and stared at Han Fei. “After my brother dies, there will be a next person to take his place.”

“You mean I should kill everyone who knows about that legend?” Han Fei was very straightforward.

The man didn’t reply. After some time he said, “Remember, the fact that you knew about the altar is not because my brother has chosen you to work for him but the altar senses that you two are similar people.”

“In conclusion, the solution is to kill everyone who knows about the altar. After that, I’ll decide what to do.” Han Fei repeated.

“Or perhaps there is a less violent solution, like making sure that no one in this world continues to trust in the altar; make people believe that the altar doesn’t exist.” The man said slowly and he looked at Han Fei with pleas.

“Make people believe that the altar doesn’t exist?” Han Fei frowned. In this memory world, the only real thing was the altar. In other words, he was to deny the only truth in this fake world, but then that appeared to be the altar owner’s wish too.

‘I think I get it now. If one still hopes to be the altar owner, one will never be the altar’s new only. Only by getting everyone to forget about it can there be a new choice and a new beginning.’