50 A Pretty Big Sister

 

After Han Fei bought enough time, he could log off the game but the ghost behind him could not, so the threat it faced was real. At the last crucial moment, the ghost behind Han Fei decided to abandon its prey. It even gave up a small part of its body to distract the tenant as it tried to slip out the door. Han Fei did not get the answer he hoped for, so he too made a drastic decision. The hand that held the door pulled back and slammed it close.

“Ah!” The ghost, who was close to escaping, did not anticipate Han Fei’s action. It was angered beyond belief, the whole building could hear its screech. It had even surrendered parts of its body to create the opening to leave but its plan was disrupted by the most harmless party. To make matters worse, it was certain that Han Fei had already decided to bring everyone down with him. If the young man was unable to escape, then no one was going to leave this room. After losing its body, the ghost behind Han Fei weakened greatly. It could no longer fight on equal ground with the tenant of Room 1051.

“Bring me with you!” Han Fei ordered again. His voice though grated on the ghost’s nerves. Ignoring the attack from Room 1051’s tenant, it reached for Han Fei’s neck. “Are you still a human?” A ghastly voice hissed through gritted teeth. The ghost behind Han Fei moved to kill. It had never been so angry.

“Even if you kill me, you won’t be able to leave this place so why don’t you cooperate with me?!” Han Fei’s eyes lingered on the mission interface. No matter what, he had to hold on. “I still have a trick up my sleeve! Remember the pendant that injured you earlier? If you help me break the binding around my body, I can use it to help us escape this place together!” Meng Si’s jade pendant already shattered so Han Fei was clearly spinning a yarn. But as an actor, both his tone and expression lent his words plenty of credibility.

The ghost behind him did not wish to die in the darkness. Unlike the other ghost in this building, it still retained some rationality. Because of that, it too still had the weakness of being a ‘human’. After it made some calculation, the ghost decided on the most rational choice. The hands that closed around Han Fei’s neck slowly loosened. The hook-like fingers reached before Han Fei. The hands closed to grip at the invisible darkness. A spine-tingling sound came from inside the room. The ghost’s hands held nothing but the sound of flesh tearing echoed inside the room.

The darkness that encased Han Fei was torn apart. But just as Han Fei was about to gain his freedom, the ghost behind him suddenly bumped against him and sent him tripping into the living room. Both parties were scamming either other. The ghost never believed Han Fei’s words to begin with. It just wanted to use this chance to push Han Fei away from the entrance so that it could escape without hindrance.

Han Fei landed on the ground but he still did not turn around. He stared at the mission interface and tightened his teeth. ‘The mission is going to be over soon. I can prepare to log off now!’ There were only several seconds left to the mission. Everything was coming to an end. The ghost that followed Han Fei used its last reserve of energy to ram into the door. The tenant of Room 1051 lashed out to pull it back. Han Fei, who was ignored by both parties, resisted the pain and crawled closer to the entrance so that the next time he logged in, he’d be near the exit. The timer was almost up. The ghost once again surrendered a large part of its body before it was able to reopen the gap on the door.

“It’s my bloody luck to run into you. I hope you’ll survive so I’ll have the chance to repay you for your kindness.” The ghost hissed viciously at Han Fei and then its shrunken body slipped through the door. But to everyone’s surprise, once the ghost exited the room, it wailed horrifyingly.

At the same time, Han Fei’s hidden mission was completed. Han Fei, who did not turn back for a whole 15 minutes, finally could move his head around. The door to Room 1051 was slowly opened. A person who shared Han Fei’s frame laid unconscious on the ground. It had no face and a stained knife was stuck into its bald head. Han Fei finally saw the ghost which he had ‘befriended’.

The death of the ghost did not bring Han Fei any comfort, if anything, his fear reached another level. A pale arm plucked the knife out from the ghost’s head with ease. A woman was currently standing outside Room 1051. Her fingernails and pupils were both red. Capillaries popped on her fair skin. She wore a bright red jacket. Her lipstick was so red that her mouth looked like it was dripping blood. Curtain of black hair fell on her shoulders. Her pale fingers held the bloody knife gingerly. There was a morbid beauty about her.

“Baby, it’s time to eat.” The woman’s voice was magnetic and beautiful. However, somehow it did not match her age. Then the woman pulled out several trash bags from the adjacent room and tossed them into Room 1051. The binding on Han Fei disappeared immediately as several black shadows pounced at the trash bags. The plastic bags were instantly torn apart. Animal guts and unknown ingredients splattered everywhere.

“I’m sorry if they’ve frightened you.” The woman glanced at Han Fei. “This room is where I keep my pets. I used to store my unused cooking ingredients inside Room 1051, somehow the room fed on their energy and came alive. It started to request feeding. I decided I don’t mind its company. Some people keep cats or dogs, while I have these.”

The woman stepped on the shadows on the ground. She then leaned over to use the knife to saw off the headless ghost’s head. She hugged the faceless head tightly and a blissful expression lit up her face. With a kick, the rest of the ghost’s body was sent into Room 1051.

Witnessing this, Han Fei’s eyes twitched. Suppressing his fear, he crawled up from the ground and uttered in a natural voice, “I’m your neighbour from downstairs. This is my first time coming to visit so I don’t know what to bring, but from your expression, it looks like you appreciate my gift.”

The bloody pupils turned onto Han Fei. The woman’s red lips curled into a soul-rending smile. “I haven’t received such a thoughtful gift in a long time already.” The woman opened the door to Room 1052. “Even though we haven't officially met, you already know me so well. As a thank you, why don’t you stay for a meal?”

“Sure, I would love to try your cooking.” To forge another neighbourly relationship, Han Fei decided to forge ahead for now.