53 A Name Given by the Dead

 

Xu Qin’s cooking was riddled with curse. From the information Han Fei found on the official website, this kind of food, that carried with them a unique effect, was extremely rare.

So far, no players had been able to make them in the game. Naturally, Han Fei would not let this opportunity slip by. The food might look suspicious but they’d improve his attributes, and that was what that mattered. Furthermore, Han Fei had no complaint about their flavor, he even thought about asking Xu Qin for cooking lessons. After finishing the bovine heart, Han Fei’s courage grew. His eyes wandered to the other dishes. ‘Should I try a strand of hair?’

After a brief hesitation, Han Fei tossed that thought out of his mind. The plate of hair kept screaming, Han Fei could not imagine swallowing it. He opted for the other relatively normal-looking dish and once again surreptitiously brushed it against his finger. To his disappointment, all the dishes on the table appeared to contain the same curse. The effect could only be triggered the first time Han Fei ate them. ‘These dishes are all Grade G Food. Based on Xu Qin’s passion in cooking, if I can provide her with greater ingredients, she might be able to make some higher-level food.’ Han Fei lavished Xu Qin with more praises. Somehow, this mad woman with painted lips and crazy eyes who had an abnormal appetite was turned into a beautiful, kind sisterly neighbour with awesome cooking skill through Han Fei’s descriptions. Xu Qin probably did not get praises for her cooking often. The more she spent time with Han Fei, the more she enjoyed his company.

“You mentioned I was the third guest to come visit since you moved here. Big sister, who are the other two?” Han Fei wanted to know who else was so courageous.

“The building manager used to drop by, but unfortunately he does not know anything about good food. He has horrible taste.”

“The building manager used to come here?” Han Fei’s interest was instantly piqued. He had been yearning for information on this mysterious building manager.

“Yes, the building manager shares a good relationship with many of the tenants here. It’s a shame that he has gone missing.” Xu Qin said as she took out a key from her jacket pocket. “But I suspect he knew this would happen. Before he disappeared, he handed the key for the first floor steel door to me.” Toying with the rusted key, Xu Qin’s blood red lips curled. “He knows that I will go grocery shopping every week. He was probably worried that I’d go harvesting within the apartment should I am trapped inside the building so he thoughtfully left me with the key. I suppose he had predicted his tragedy beforehand.” Grocery shopping was a banal activity but Han Fei knew it would entail something much more terrifying in Xu Qin’s case.

“After the building manager disappeared, the spare keys went missing. As a result, a lot of non-locals sneaked into the building, in fact, a few of them are squatting on the 6th floor right now.” The woman’s smile took on a morbid glow as she reached over to caress the leather doily underneath the china. “The second guest I had was one of the non-locals. He stayed on the 6th floor. The man knew nothing about food. To help him understand the meaning of good food, I purposely had him leave behind his skin.”

Xu Qin’s pale fingers danced on the beige-colored leather. Han Fei’s eyes twitched. His legs were trembling but he kept his upper body as normal as possible.

“Are you alright? You don’t look so well.”

“I’m fine.” Han Fei soon recovered. He licked at his lips and said as if to himself. “I was just thinking, one guest is only enough for you to make a small doily. If you can get all of them, you’d have enough material to change a new tablecloth.”

After hearing that, the woman chuckled, “Great minds think alike.” Han Fei had no idea what was going through Xu Qin’s mind, he simply did not like the non-locals on the 6th floor. After all, one of them did try to kill him for no reason. These non-locals appeared to be completely dominated by hatred and bloodlust. Seeing how happy Xu Qin was, Han Fei laughed along with her. He finished his plate of food and regarded the empty plate with regret. “I’m so blessed to be able to enjoy this feast with you. I promise to bring you more ingredients to cook in the future.”

The atmosphere at the table was joyful. If the plates were not filled with hair, mannequins, and if the walls were not covered with struggle signs and blood stains, it would be a Kodax moment. After the satisfying dinner, Han Fei left Room 1052 accompanied by Xu Qin. To be honest, he still had more questions for Xu Qin but since this was his first visit, Han Fei’s goal was not to interrogate but to lay the foundation for a neighbourly relationship.

When he reached Room 1044, Han Fei realized his back was soaked. It was like he had just come out from the pool. “Xu Qin stays on the 5th floor alone. She has absolute control over the entire floor, that shows how eerily powerful she is.”

In any case, Han Fei had a lucrative outing that day. He not only levelled up, he had made a new acquaintance.

Xu Qin mentioned that she’d go grocery shopping every week. Han Fei wondered if he could tag along and leave the apartment with her when Xu Qin’s friendliness level with him reached 100. In this horizonless city shrouded in darkness, to find one’s way around, one needed a guide.

Shutting the anti-theft door behind him, Han Fei turned to look at the innermost bedroom. It was still closed. Han Fei did not dare to venture towards it earlier but now that he could log off at any time, he moved to open the door. The Feng Shui of Room 1044 was such that the most Yin energy would be gathered at the innermost room. Once the bedroom door was open, the temperature inside the house dropped conspicuously. Han Fei was already mentally prepared but when he glanced into the bedroom, his heart still skipped a beat.

The seven broken victims stood beside the bed with their heads lowered. Their bodies were bleeding. Their blood mingled together to form the blurry shape of a monster. All 7 of them resisted their inner despair, they did not want to turn into the monster.

“Is there anything that I can help with?” Han Fei’s eyes scanned the numb, icy faces. “I promise to capture the killer on your behalf! I’ll avenge all of you!”

All 7 victims heard Han Fei but only Wei Youfu appeared to understand him. The man’s head slowly raised. Resisting an unimaginable pain, before his body got torn apart, he wrote down a character in the air.

“An? An from Meng Changan?”