183 My Favorite Game is Hide and Seek

 

Ma Manjiang who was controlled by the butterfly came closer. A kind and honest face was stuck to his chest and a trail of muddled students followed faithfully behind him. Seeing the cunning smile on Ma Manjiang’s face, Han Fei knew it was game over for him... at least this time. He took out the sharpest glass shard he kept from the broken cup and sliced his neck. “Ma Manjiang, I’ll be waiting for you in the depths of hell!” As blood poured out from his artery, Han Fei’s heartbeat slowed. Han Fei knew that dying by his own hands would be a greater and faster release than being captured by Ma Manjiang.

…

Opening his eyes, Han Fei’s hands flew involuntarily to his neck. ‘Ma Manjiang is definitely coming to this place, I mustn’t waste anymore time.’ Crawling out from the cupboard, Han Fei shattered the cup and carved out his name on his arm as fast as possible. Then he snuck the shard inside his pocket. This time, he did not leave through the infirmary’s front door but instead locked it from inside, buttressed it with the table and then went to unlock the window. The infirmary was on the 2nd floor, technically it was not that high up from the ground.

Jumping over the edge, Han Fei’s empowered stamina came in useful. By grabbing the pipe that was beside the window, he slid smoothly down the wall. Han Fei had lost Ma Manjiang for now but there were other dangerous ghosts in the school. One wrong step and the price to pay was death. ‘This time, I’ll have to figure out a way to deal with Ma Manjiang!’

The pain from having his neck sliced was still fresh in Han Fei’s mind. The game was too real, every pain was simulated down to the smallest detail. If he did not deal with Ma Manjiang soon enough, Han Fei would have to taste death again and again. ‘After Ma Manjiang gets the infirmary door open and realizes I’m not inside it, he’ll make the security room his next destination. I’ll have to get to Ol’ Lee before he does.’ Different from the other monsters and ghosts in Jin Sheng’s memory world, Ma Manjiang was controlled by the butterfly, Han Fei must not underestimate the man’s cunningness.

Time was of the essence. After Han Fei ran for about 10 metres, he heard the sound of the infirmary door being slammed in. This reminded Han Fei of the situation from his previous loop. ‘It won’t take long for him to realize I’m not there anymore.’

Han Fei knew that there was another teacher inside the corridor to the left of the security room. Therefore, he purposely avoided that route and entered the education block by jumping through a 1st floor window. He raced to the security room. He called Ol’ Lee’s name softly but there was no answer. He pushed the door open and the cold light from the computer screen landed on his face. Compared to the other rooms, the temperature inside the security room was considerably more normal. This small room provided Han Fei with a rare warmth.

‘Does this mean that Jin Sheng has once experienced warmth from Ol’ Lee?’ Han Fei knew that Ma Manjiang would be over here soon. He looked around the room for anything useful. The clock on the wall stopped at 1:08 am and 9 minimized surveillance video windows were shown on the computer screen.

‘What is the significance of these videos? And why is the time stopped at 1:08 am?’ Han Fei turned to look at the calendar on the wall, ‘Today is April 8th, a Thursday. Wait, that was the day when Ol’ Lee died!’ All the tragedy started with Ol’ Lee’s death so Jin Sheng’s memory appeared to be frozen on this day. ‘Ol’ Lee’s time of death was after late midnight and his body was found at the school’s back mountain. That means I still have the chance to save him! But why would Ol’ Lee be targeted by Ma Manjiang? Is it simply because the security guard has chosen to believe Jin Sheng?’

Han Fei’s eyes scanned the security cameras. Then something caught his eyes and he leaned closer to the screen. Thanks to the earlier Hidden Mission, Han Fei had gotten himself familiar with the location of all the cameras. Now he noticed that there was a new security video cam footage! It was unclear whether this was unique to Jin Sheng’s memory world or the camera had been destroyed in the cryptic world. In any case, this camera was located at the corridor that connected the field and the backdoor of the education block. If one intended to head towards the gym, one would have to pass this corridor. Han Fei quickly rewound the footage back to the day before. When the time stamp was adjusted to 1:05 pm, Ma Manjiang and Chuxia were shown clearly walking towards the gym together!

The gentle and kind face was featured on Ma Manjiang’s chest. Chuxia beside him had many cracks on her body, like she had been pieced together after she was shredded into pieces. ‘This is the incriminating evidence that would have caused Ol’ Lee to be killed!’ Han Fei first copied the footage and moved the original files into a hidden folder. Then he turned his attention back to locating Ol’ Lee!

He should be able to gain Ol’ Lee’s trust with this footage. After Ol’ Lee agreed to help him, Han Fei would have more wiggle room. A large thud came from the 2nd floor. Ma Manjiang probably had realized Han Fei was no longer inside the infirmary. Pulling the guard patrol duty record off the wall, Han Fei turned to leave the security room. ‘I need to make use of this opportunity. Ma Manjiang still has no idea where I am.’ The record had the details of the school guard’s work schedule. However, Han Fei did not have the time to stop and examine it. He leaped out from the window and exited the education block. Keeping his head bent low as he ran through the bushes, Han Fei raced back to the office building. Ma Manjiang should be on his way to the security room, so Han Fei purposely chose this timing to return to the office building.

‘The only teacher that Jin Sheng had shown trust was his former class teacher. I wonder how she’ll appear in Jin Sheng’s memory world.’ Han Fei climbed up the stairs while scanning through the guard patrol duty record. ‘Ol’ Lee and the other guards are given the duty to reinforce the fence that separates the school compound from the back mountain. The fence is there to prevent the students from skipping school and sneaking into the mountain. The mountain is very far from where I am now. The office for primary 1 classes’ teacher is on the office building’s 4th floor. Coincidentally, it was also where the female ghost in the video tape first showed herself. Actually, now that I think about it… Could the ghost who had been following behind Ol’ Lee be Jin Sheng’s class teacher?’

The woman ghost on the 4th floor was covered in blood and her face was heavily ruined. She harboured deep resentment. It contorted her appearance and body frame, Han Fei had no clear identifiers to clarify her identity.

‘Ma Manjiang still doesn’t know my exact position, this is a good thing for me!’ A bright light crossed Han Fei’s eyes. He had the passive ability, hide and seek. It would lower his presence when in hiding and increase his sensitivity when he was looking for others. This seemingly useless ability had provided Han Fei with immense help. As long as he did not make too much noise or voluntarily approach the target, the ghosts inside the classroom would ignore his presence. Different from Jin Sheng, since Han Fei knew that these students literally had no discerning eyes and ears, there was no point for him to appeal to them.

At such moments, Han Fei knew the importance of keeping his mind clear to protect the people he should protect, and kill all the ghosts he should kill!

Ma Manjiang got into a rampage because he could not find Han Fei. The more angered he was, the more careful Han Fei became. Han Fei made his way carefully to the 3rd floor of the office building. He glanced out through the window towards the back mountain. The grey mist rolled over everything. The visibility was low, Han Fei could not see anything.

‘O well, at least I know that he’s there.’

Han Fei pulled his gaze back. Just as he was about to continue his climb to the 4th floor, a female teacher appeared in the corridor.