62 The Self-Sacrificing Kind of Friend

 

After Han Fei took out the human cocoon, the eyes of the person inside Room 1064 were instantly drawn to it. Naturally Han Fei caught this. He purposely put the human cocoon away, “Perhaps I was wrong then.”

“Wait, you were not wrong. This cocoon did belong to my friend. Give it to me.” The door opened some more. Then a thin arm covered in scars reached out from inside the house.

“So this is a cocoon? I thought it was some kind of stone.” Han Fei placed the Human Cocoon back in his inventory. He regarded the tenant of Room 1064 with clear suspicion. “But you said you didn’t have a friend that went missing earlier so this thing clearly does not belong to you, do you think I’m so easily fooled?” A murderous glint crossed the tenant’s eyes. He rarely reasoned with people, tonight, this was an exception. “Was it a woman with a ruined face, long hair and a tattoo of a human-faced butterfly who gave this thing to you?”

When he heard that, Han Fei was honestly startled. He remembered clearly the appearance of the murderer that died in his house. He definitely did not fit the description given by the tenant of Room 1064. Seeing the lack of response from Han Fei, the tenant knew he had accidentally revealed things that he shouldn’t. He quickly added, “If it’s not her, then the person who gave you the cocoon should be a man with a big build that greatly needs a shower. There was a scar near his brow. That man is my brother, he went down the stairs a few days ago and hasn’t been seen since.”

“Yes, it was indeed this man who gave me the cocoon. He was being chased by something and had me temporarily look after this cocoon.” Han Fei thought back to his brush with death and took a deep sigh. “To be honest, he even saved my life. Without him, I probably would have been killed by a monster already.”

“Now can you give the cocoon to me? This thing has no use for you, in fact, it’ll only bring you bad luck.” The tenant of Room 1064 was not in the mood for story time, he just wanted the cocoon.

“I do not sense even a shred of concern for your close friend from you, you only care about the cocoon. I can’t help but suspect, are you two even friends?” Han Fei could quit any time. He was not afraid to push buttons. “I can’t give something that he clearly valued so much to a stranger. He saved my life, I have to fulfil his last wish to my best ability.”

“If you really want to repay him, then give the damn thing to me!” The tenant’s voice hissed through his teeth. He was tormented by Han Fei. His muddy eyes colored with black and red veins.

“If you can prove that you are really his brother, then of course I will return this to you.” Han Fei was not afraid of the man at all. Compared to his Big Sister on the 5th floor, this crazed tenant was like a cute puppy. The man’s pupils turned slowly. It was clear that his patience was wearing thin. “I have a lot of his things in my room. If you don’t believe me, why don’t you come in and see for yourself?”

“If you have the evidence, then why don’t you get them to show me? Why should I enter your room? It shouldn’t trouble you that much to go take something of your friend to show me, right?” Han Fei exclaimed loudly. He was fearless. It caused the man’s eyes to twitch.

“Fine, I’ll go take one for you now.” Knowing Han Fei wouldn’t be fooled into the room, venom crossed the man’s eyes. He answered in an angry whisper.

“Is your throat fine? Can you speak louder? Why are you still standing here by the way? Aren’t you going to take the evidence? Hmm. Why are your eyes so bloodshot? Do you suffer from pinkeye?” Han Fei bombarded the man with questions. It caused the man’s temper to boil even further. The man’s personal info was aired openly, and that was equal to summoning death in this world. The sound of teeth grinding came from behind the door. The man’s arms that hid behind the door tightened as if he imagined closing them around Han Fei’s neck. The red eyes bounced in their sockets. The man’s shoulders trembled. He bit on his tongue and blood leaked out his mouth. Seeing this scary expression on his neighbour, Han Fei opened the menu. Staring at the lit up quit button, he leaned closer to his neighbour and asked in a concerned and innocent tone, “My friend, are you alright? You look like you’re suffering from epilepsy.”

Unable to resist the provocation anymore, the man’s arm lashed out from behind the door. Just as the arm was about to snake out from the gap, another person from inside the room held him back. A man about 2 metres tall walked out from the bathroom inside Room 1064. He had been hiding inside the bathroom. If Han Fei entered the room earlier, he would be ambushed by this man.

“Go and get the accursed picture.” The man had a surprisingly feminine voice. It did not match his size at all. The small, thin man, who almost lost his cool, turned away from Han Fei. He walked back into the room and took out a black and white picture from the bedroom. It was a group photo of about 10 adults. They were of varying ages and most of their faces were ruined beyond recognition.

“We used to work at a nearby cinema. This is a picture taken of us together. Now do you believe us?” The man about 2 metres tall stared straight at the cocoon.

“This one picture does not prove anything.” Han Fei squeezed the cocoon between his two fingers and continued to incense the tenants of Room 1064. The cocoon was right within their grasp. The eyes of the 2 non-locals gradually became dominated by blood.

“The man once saved my life, I have to be careful to obey his last wish. Even though this thing is useless to me, I swear to return it to its deserving owner…”

“It’s clear that you’re a man of honor.” Han Fei was interrupted by the imposing man. “Since my brother was willing to hand this thing over to you, that means that you have gained his approval. A friend of my brother is a friend of mine as well.” The dainty voice was like a snake’s whisper. The man slowly reached his hand out of the door. “I have not seen you before, did you just move here?”

“Yes.”

“This is a dangerous place. Having more friends to help look over your shoulders is never a bad thing.” The man stopped his hands before Han Fei for a handshake. “My name is Chong Lou, what about you?”

“My name is…” Han Fei just raised his hand when the man suddenly leaned forward. His hand reached for Han Fei’s body. At the same time, the smaller man jumped out from behind the door. The cold steel shone in his grasp. The duo worked together seamlessly. Once the tall one apprehended Han Fei, his partner would deliver a fatal stab into Han Fei’s heart. The two made their move suddenly but Han Fei was prepared for it. He never trusted them to begin with, he was just playing a role. The stamina that he upgraded came into use then. Han Fei’s reaction speed had an obvious increase. After narrowly escaping the man’s grapple, he turned to race downstairs.

“Go get him!” To acquire the cocoon, the two tenants hurried after Han Fei. The temperature in the corridor continued to drop. With the amount of noise they’d made, it had attracted the attention of some other stuff in the apartment. Han Fei raced ahead, the small man with the knife followed close behind. They soon arrived at the 5th floor. The man with the knife slowed down at the landing. It was not until he saw Han Fei enter the fifth corridor safely that he picked up his speed again. With his face twisting, the man chuckled wickedly, “There’s nowhere for you to run!”

Han Fei and the man rushed past the open door of Room 1051. The large man did not think much about it but when he crossed the open door, pairs of dark hands suddenly reached out from the room. The invisible hands dragged him into the room. Hearing his roommate call for help, the small man stopped. He realized something was wrong. He was about to abandon his roommate to retreat back to the 6th floor when the door to Room 1052 behind him opened. The color of blood flashed and two stained table knives stuck into the man’s ribs. Han Fei jumped on the man and closed the man’s jaw to prevent him from screaming. What happened next was too gory to describe. Xu Qin soon dealt with the small man and Chong Lou was consumed by Room 1051.

Xu Qin shut the door to Room 1051 and glanced upstairs. Both she and Han Fei heard a strange footstep. It sounded like someone staggering down the stairs step by step.

“Get in here!” Xu Qin hooked her fingers through Han Fei’s collar and dragged him into Room 1052. As the footsteps approached, Xu Qin closed the door. His heart throbbed painfully. The ring on Han Fei’s finger chilled intensely. He knew there was something incredibly scary outside the door. He held his breath for 10 minutes before the chill dissipated. He was about to give a sigh of relief when he turned and saw Xu Qin’s red pupils glaring at him. “Why did you take so long?”

“It, it has nothing to do with me. It was them…” Han Fei stammered as he regarded the small man on the ground. “They wanted me to stay with them because they insisted on being my friends. The kind who would take two stabs to the ribs for me.”