CH 766

“Blood?” Bald Eagle examined his fingers. The feeling of blood was very familiar, but he couldn’t figure out why the mirror was bleeding. Bald Eagle lifted his head. The large underground garage felt like it had been enveloped by some kind of power. The pressure was high.

“This has never happened before. What is going on?” He was anxious, but the ritual had to continue. Bald Eagle pushed on his mask, and his eyes moved between Han Fei and the mirror. Han Fei in the raincoat and Han Fei in the mirror should be the same person, but they exuded completely different presences. The ritual hadn’t officially begun, but there was already a problem. Bald Eagle took a step back. He was reminded of the task given to him by Crow. He told Han Fei to lift his arm to touch the mirror. “You have to pass this test to become our core member. Now that death is blooming, you will be the most beautiful flower. When Xin Lu becomes a sea of flowers, you’ll be reborn in the new world.

“I’ll escort you across the bridge.” The words Bald Eagle chanted appeared to awaken the mirror. With every word, the mirror started to change. Death appeared in the mirror. Blood dripped down the mirror's surface. When the enchantment was done, Han Fei, in the mirror, lifted his head. It reached out to grab Han Fei’s hand.

Bald Eagle looked at the mirror. This was the most dangerous moment. This unique mirror would show everyone Han Fei had killed. If Han Fei could combine with all of his victims, he’d become the new core member. Bald Eagle was so nervous that he didn’t dare to speak. He stared at the mirror. In the darkness, suddenly, an innocent child’s laughter rang out.

A small handprint appeared on the mirror. A boy around 5 years old appeared inside the mirror. He wore the orphanage clothes and looked around with curiosity.

“It’s here.” Bald Eagle gasped, “His first victim is a child…”

The boy didn’t seem to know that he was dead. He walked around. Then, the second, third, and fourth children appeared…

Bald Eagle stared at the mirror. He didn’t dare to breathe anymore. He was a crazy person but when he saw the 30 children sandwiched inside the mirror, he also felt fear in his heart. “30 orphans? And this is just the beginning!”

Death was still gathering inside the mirror! The storm was raging outside. Bald Eagle felt like he was being lifted into the storm. His fingers trembled, but the ritual had to continue. Normally, Bald Eagle could only continue the next step of the ritual when all the victims had shown up, but the mirror was already filled to the brim!

Bald Eagle resisted his fear and asked Han Fei, “To reach the other side of the bridge, you will lose something. Are you ready? Are you willing to lose your happiness and your smile?”

The thunder exploded in their ears. Han Fei, in front of the mirror, nodded silently. When he did so, the faces of the 30 children lost their innocent smiles. Their eyes were filled with despair. They slapped their hands against the mirror as if questioning Han Fei for his decisions.

Bald Eagle turned his eyes away. He just wanted to finish the ritual and leave. “Are you willing to be taken by anger and accept god’s blessing?”

Han Fei nodded again. The corner of the mirror started to crack. An old well appeared. Inside the well of desire, there was a tree hanging with human heads. Underneath the tree was an altar carved with human souls.

“What is that? What has he killed?” Things were beyond Bald Eagle’s comprehension, but the ritual had to go on. “Are you willing to embrace death, chase after death, and spread death?” Bald Eagle asked the next question. Before Han Fei could answer, the 30 dead children started to mutate. Monsters grew out of their pure souls. Everyone radiated a scary presence!

Other than the children, more things Bald Eagle couldn’t understand appeared. There was a teacher with three mouths, a madman with a cocoon inside his heart, a butcher with a pig’s head…

The mirror couldn’t fit so many things. Han Fei had killed so many people that the mirror couldn’t sustain all of them. The cracks started to move to the middle. Han Fei standing in the middle of the mirror was like a whirlpool of death!

All the souls he had killed pounced at him. He stood there and allowed them to munch on him. Han Fei passed the first few questions. Bald Eagle was afraid. Before all the souls combined with Han Fei, he asked the last question so that he could leave as soon as possible. “Are you willing to become your real self?”

Back then, Guinea Pig had asked Bu Kaixin the same questions. This was the process of the ritual, seeing death, accepting death, spreading death, and becoming death. Bald Eagle got everything right, but when he asked the last question, all the noises in the garage faded away. The crying and howling stopped. The resentment and death were pushed to the corner. Han Fei outside the mirror had his head lowered; Han Fei inside the mirror suddenly had his shoulders shuddered. Then, a laugh came from underneath the mask. At first, the laughter was normal, but as the ritual continued, the laughter became more unhinged!

The thing hidden inside Han Fei’s brain was awakened by the ritual! The dead children slammed on the mirror in an attempt to escape. Every soul Han Fei had killed crashed against the mirror. More cracks appeared.

Mad Laughter echoed in the thunder and rain. Han Fei inside the mirror slowly removed his mask. He stared at Han Fei outside the mirror. He held Han Fei’s arm and asked in his maddened voice, “Are you willing to be me?”

Instantly, the cracks covered every spot of the mirror, and then it shattered!

There were endless Han Fei reflected in each fragment. The mad laughter echoed in the room.

“Impossible! Fu Xi Mirror Factory’s mirror is the biggest and most unique mirror. It has helped in many ascension rituals. How can it break?” Bald Eagle retreated. He was the clubhouse’s high-class member. Even though he was young, he had been following Crow for a long time, so he knew many secrets.

“Is the thing in my brain out in real life?” Han Fei stood among the mirror pieces. He slowly raised his head as he thought about the ritual. It was similar and dissimilar to what Bu Kaixin experienced.

“Did I fail?” Han Fei turned to look at Bald Eagle. He walked towards the man. “I think you saw my face.”

“No!” Bald Eagle suddenly felt so normal. He waved his hands madly as he collapsed to the ground. “Earlier, I was so rude to you. How about I kneel to you? Can you forgive me?”

“Did you see my face?” Han Fei’s hand slowly moved to grab Bald Eagle’s neck. The two men looked about the same size, but Bald Eagle was putty in Han Fei’s grasp.

“No!” Bald Eagle’s mask fell to the ground. He looked quite young. “Don’t kill me. Give me a chance!”

“A chance?” Han Fei slowly released his fingers. “How long have you joined the club? Do you know the core members?”

“Four years! I was one of the first batch to join! I am very familiar with Crow. I’d call him brother when we’re alone.”

“The clubhouse was in existence four years ago?” Han Fei signaled Bald Eagle to put his mask back on. “I can spare your life, but you need to cooperate with me.”

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“I’ll do anything you ask.” A deeply-hidden enmity glowed in Bald Eagle’s eyes. “How about I walk you out?”

“You’ll come with me.” Han Fei snapped Bald Eagle’s arms.

Bald Eagle screamed and fell to the ground from pain. “Didn’t you say you’ll spare me? I really didn’t see your face. Please let me go.”

“I asked you to come with me. So you only need your legs. Stop screaming, or I’ll tear off your tongue.” Han Fei stepped on the broken mirror. The images of the victims appeared in Bald Eagle’s mind. He quickly shut up. Bald Eagle felt fear so intensely for the first time.

The old elevator rose. Crab and Dwarf guarded the door. They were curious since they heard the sound from the underground room.

“Is the ritual a success?” The dwarf looked at Han Fei. “I didn’t receive any notification from the core member. What happened?”

Han Fei asked his own question. “Are you two high-class members of the murderer’s clubhouse too? How much blood is on your hands?”

“I’ve killed everyone who looked down on me. Then, I could’t stop! This is very addicting! So, I started to kill everyone who pitied me!” The dwarf was small, but he picked the ferocious tiger mask. He had an awful laugh.

Compared to Dwarf, Crab was more cautious. He merely said, “I like to eat organs, fresh organs.”

“No one here is good.” Han Fei walked to Crab and Dwarf. “If I hold back, it’s disrespectful to the dead.” Han Fei kicked Crab in the chest. Before the Dwarf could do anything, Han Fei rewarded him with a kick too. The booming machine covered up the screams. Bald Eagle shivered in a cold sweat as he watched Han Fei deal with his partners. The man was like a tyrant. He would kill for no reason. Bald Eagle was reminded of the endless victims he saw in the mirror. They had attracted the attention of a scary monster!

“What to do now? Where is he going to bring me? He will not let me go! I need to find a chance to escape, even if it means I’ll have to surrender to the police!” The rain was still pouring. He was very scared.

When Crab and Dwarf were incapacitated, Han Fei stopped before the grinder. The three didn’t even dare to whimper.

“Come. I’ll bring you somewhere fun.” Han Fei led Bald Eagle away from the mirror factory and to Jin Jun’s home. He planned to pull Bald Eagle into the cryptic world and perform memory surgery on him. He would make the man his temporary assistant. Bald Eagle was the first step. Han Fei’s real goal was Crow.

…

At 11.30 pm, there was a creak at an abandoned building in Northern Countryside. The heavily-encrypted door opened. The man in the guinea pig mask slammed the encrypted phone on the long table. “Bald Eagle, Tiger, Green Crab, three high-class members have gone missing from Shou Xi Mirror Factory! Crow, you were too careless.”

The man in the crow mask crossed his legs and placed them on the table. “So?”

“The mirror at the factory shattered. The ritual didn’t succeed or fail.”

“Shattered?” Crow stood up and looked at Guinea pig in shock. “How is that possible?”

“The mirror reached its maximum capacity.” Guinea pig said confidently, “The mirror was squeezed until it was cracked by the souls he killed.”