25 Such a Hint

 

Going to the supermarket alone, going to the movies alone and going to eat steamboat alone. When night fell, Han Fei found himself walking by the lakeside alone. The sun dropped down the lake surface. The streetlights casted shadows on his body.

The temperature around him dropped and the number of pedestrians dwindled. But Han Fei stood there steadfastly, looking at the other opposite of the lake.

“Han Fei? What are you doing here alone?” Li Xue in casual gear jogged over.

“None of my scenes are arranged today so I came out to appreciate the beauty of this city.” As time neared midnight, Han Fei’s heart palpitated. Whether he’d survive his next gaming instance was completely up to luck.

“I saw you at a steamboat shop alone at the mall earlier. I wanted to come over to say hi but you left right after you finished the meal.” Li Xue stopped next to Han Fei. “When you’re in a bad mood, you should go partying with friends. Clear your mind and relax.”

“I… have no friends.” Han Fei admitted before adding, “But I do have a great neighbour.”

“Have you always been alone?”

“Yes.” Han Fei confessed. Studying Han Fei by the lakeside, Li Xue was reminded of a quote by her superior. Those who strove for idealism often end up at the outskirts of society. The lake breeze ruffled Han Fei’s bangs. He stared at the intelligent city centre across the lake. The glimmering lights lit up the place like fireworks but glow was unable to reach the two on the other side of the shore. Li Xue and Han Fei idled by the shore while Zhao Ming and Zhao Xiaotian hid inside a bush about 20 metres away from them.

“How come it feels to me Li Xue cares quite a bit for this Han Fei? Do you think someone that brooding will be likeable by girls?” After squatting for some time, Zhang Xiaotian whispered.

“It depends, if he has Han Fei’s face, then the girls will think he’s broodingly handsome; but if he has your face, then the girls will see you are being broodingly creepy.”

“Are you looking for a fight?”

“I’m just telling you the truth.” Zhao Ming did not continue the argument with Zhang Xiaotian, instead he pulled out his phone to call Captain Wang. “Captain, we’ve tailed Han Fei for a day already. He has completely turned my perspective of him, he couldn’t have been our perp.” Zhao Ming and Zhang Xiaotian’s suspicion of Han Fei lowered aplenty. They were touched by Han Fei’s unplanned acts of kindness.

“Is it because you’ve been discovered by him? As you know, people like him are good at putting up appearances.” Captain Wang said with hesitation. He asked, “Where is Li Xue? Tell her to answer the phone. Despite her blatant disregard for the rules, I have to admit she is a very good detective.”

“Sister Li? She’s now chatting with Han Fei by the lake shore.”

“What?”

“I think they’re discussing topics about life…”

“Did I ask for that?! Is that the point here? Didn’t I order you people to tail him in silence? What the hell are you doing? Get back to the station immediately! Now!”

Li Xue received a sudden text on her phone but she made no move to reach for it. After a while, her phone started to vibrate incessantly.

“Isn’t that your phone? Aren’t you going to answer it?” Even Han Fei heard the buzzing.

“Sorry. I’ll talk to you next time.” Li Xue accepted the call and walked away from Han Fei.

The night darkened. Han Fei stayed by the shore alone until 10 pm before he left. Walking through the familiar streets, Han Fei appreciated the sights before he reached his rental home. He ordered a quick supper and looked through the recordings of the shows he had participated in on the internet.

“I always have such big smiles before the camera, but was I really happy then?” Time ticked by soundlessly. Han Fei, who had some to drink, sat by the table quietly. He set up the cables adroitly and then held the gaming helmet up by both hands. Seeing the time ticking on the corner of the computer screen, Han Fei had no idea what to think. He forced himself to snap out of it. When midnight arrived, he put the helmet on. His vision darkened and his body felt like it had sunken underwater. Then everything turned blood red.

“Welcome to Perfect Life where you are free to choose your own perfect life!”

Before he even opened his eyes, Han Fei got a whiff of a horrible smell. He stayed put and carefully assessed the chill that came from his ring finger.

‘The ghosts are right beside me.’ Things could not have been worse. Han Fei tried his best to calm down because he knew the next few minutes would decide his life and death. Fluttering his eyes open, the moment his pupils focused, a demented excitement gushed out of Han Fei’s eyes. He was about to use his acting skill to accentuate the personality he had given himself. Scanning around, he confirmed he was still inside Room 1034 but the room had changed a lot since the last time he was here.

All the furniture was ruined. Wooden chips littered the ground. The closet was upended and the bed frame was shattered. The mattress and bedding were shredded. Children’s handprints were everywhere. Looks like the children had literally turned the house over trying to look for him. A chilling presence kept emitting from the landlord’s ring but the presence was flickering. Han Fei lifted his finger to follow the intensity of the frost. He turned to the direction where the chill was the strongest. Weep was standing on the ceremonial urn by the corner. The presence radiated off the shadow was weaker than before. Both of his arms were missing and they were regenerating at a very slow pace.

At this point, Han Fei understood 2 things.

One, Weep went insane after he failed to find Han Fei inside the house. He probably went to the other apartment units and got into conflict with Han Fei’s other neighbours.

Two, Weep’s loss of arms and fluttering presence meant that there were one or more ghosts which posed a greater threat than Weep inside this building!

He did not mean for his ‘hint’ to cause such a serious consequence. After losing both of his arms, Weep stood on the heavily damaged ceremonial urn quietly. Tattered paper dolls scattered around Weep but none of the other children was in sight.

“You only wanted to find someone to play with you but they tore off your arms instead, how can people be so cruel? This is so unfair.” Han Fei voluntarily walked towards Weep. “Who did this to you? Perhaps I can help you.”

With plain ‘malicious’ intention, Han Fei squatted down before Weep. He studied the boy like he had found a new and interesting toy, “Don’t cry. What happened?”

Han Fei said the same thing that morning but the situation was completely different. Instead of a kind big brother, the man who knelt beside Weep now was more like a beast, eyeing his prey.

Han Fei was sticking to his evil persona but he knew better than to push his luck. For example, Han Fei did not point out directly that Weep had lost the game. He did not bring up the wager of the 3 things now Weep had to do for him either.

The shadow turned his head towards Han Fei. His eyes scanned Han Fei.

The tenants of the building referred to him as Weep but this Han Fei tried to understand and stop his tears. Furthermore, he did not seem to be afraid of him. Weep did not quite believe in this possibility but his conviction started to shake. This man before him might be a presence more evil and scarier than he was. He might be a ghost wearing human skin.