294 The Altar Before the Neighbourhood

 

“Killing Eight-Crown didn’t complete the mission but helping Bai Sinian’s senior did. The real guardian spirit of Yi Ming Street was someone absolutely normal and unimposing.” The security company boss allied himself with Ziggurat, he only thought about himself. In contrast, Bai Sinian’s senior was weak and could be crushed easily by Ziggurat but through his own method, he tried to protect this street. “The qualification of a guardian spirit has nothing to do with his strength but what he has done. This is quite like the style of Perfect Life.”

Just as Han Fei lamented that, he received the final notification from the system.

“Notification for Player 0000! Your professional resume has been updated—The night you sought employment at the security company, you killed the boss, trespassed into the core of the company and massacred the whole employee roster! Of the company’s 171 employees, only 1 remained!

“Notification for Player 0000! Your Business Killer Title will upgrade soon!”

The notification almost stopped Han Fei’s heart, why did the system make it sound like it was his fault that the security company’s employees had died?! Turning back to look into the deep hole and then Rest in Peace in his hand, Han Fei’s eyes twitched. Technically the system was not wrong. Opening the menu, and taking in his colorful professional resume, Han Fei didn’t know what to think. With this kind of resume, he could kiss any normal job goodbye. This was fine in the cryptic world, but if one day he returned to the surface world, his resume would frighten anyone that came across him.

The attribute point that he got from leveling to level 12 was added to Stamina, raising it to 17. For stamina, every 10 points would be a new threshold. Soon Han Fei would make one of his earlier dreams a reality—run faster than a ghost. “The hidden profession, Midnight Butcher, is quite a cheat. The additional buff to Stamina is ridiculous, no player at my level will be a match for me.” Currently Han Fei was the only player in the cryptic world but who knew what would happen after the game entered OB. People might stumble into the cryptic world like that game tester who went insane. No one could predict the future and Han Fei was not going to lose his mind over it. He was satisfied if he could survive to see the sun rise another day.

After cleaning up the security company, Han Fei’s original plan was to make his way towards Ziggurat but due to his new title, he changed his mind. Han Fei had been wondering about the identity of the altar in front of Happiness Neighbourhood, he never got the chance to open it before. After gaining the title of Yi Ming Street’s Guardian Spirit, the system stated that he was now qualified to open the altar so he decided to return to satisfy his curiosity.

After sending all his neighbours back into the urn, Han Fei left Yi Ming Security Company. Perhaps it was his new title being in effect, it no longer felt that oppressive walking down Yi Ming Street. If anything, everything looked very familiar like he grew up here. Half an hour later, Han Fei materialized from the shadows and returned to Happiness Neighbourhood’s front gate. “The first time I left Happiness Neighbourhood, I held the altar’s bowl and headed across the street. It was because of the altar’s protection that I wasn’t killed directly by the ghosts. Even though I had not seen the thing inside the altar before, it felt like it had been watching over me.”

The small altar sat at an unassuming corner, people would miss it easily. After Han Fei was all prepared, he reached out to pull away the black cloth covering the altar. ‘When I was small, the adults at the orphanage told me not to disturb any cloth placed over an altar, to not disturb the divinity inside. They also warned that altars found beside the street might be home to things which are not divine.’ Han Fei looked into the altar. The inner walls were covered in blood but other than that, there was nothing.

‘It’s empty? It’s just a shell?’ Just as Han Fei prepared to lower the black cloth back down, the interior of the altar started to change. Like gaining consciousness, pairs of eyes opened among the blood stains. The landlord’s ring pinged noisily. When Han Fei met those eyes, his Life Points, mental power and spirit drained rapidly until he didn’t even have the strength to hold the black cloth anymore.

Han Fei slumped to the ground and he looked at the altar in shock. Before he knew it, the black cloth was back in its original place.

‘Eyes? There were eyes inside the altar? They were sucking out my life and soul!’ Crawling back, Han Fei looked at the altar with alertness, he almost died in front of his house. Compared to before, the altar seemed to come a bit more alive.

“Notification for Player 0000! Lighting of the altar has failed!

“Different ‘Gods’ are served inside each altar, some altars will provide you great boons while others will claim your life should you open them.

“The lowest level requirement to light an altar is level 30 but since you’ve obtained the title Yi Ming Street’s Guardian Spirit, you’ve gained the right to do so in advance.

“Lighting the Altar: After successfully lighting the altar, your name will be remembered by Unmentionables, you might get their blessing or curse.

“Warning! Each altar is home to an Unmentionable’s past. Remember, unless you are totally confident, do not pry into their secrets.”

Han Fei heard the notifications and touched the landlord’s ring. It now had 2 extra cracks on it.

‘You’d have to be at least level 30 to interact with these altars, no wonder I almost died just now.’ Han Fei was only level 12, if he didn’t pour all his attribute points into stamina, he’d be dead already. ‘The Midnight Butcher will grant double stamina, and with the other attribute buff, I should be able to light the altar before I’m level 20 but Butterfly won’t give me that chance.’

Climbing up from the ground, Han Fei’s head was still spinning. He was about to put the landlord’s ring away when something scarier happened. The song drifted down from the end of the street. The eulogy singing voice was rapidly approaching. The goal was clear, it was Happiness Neighborhood.

‘Was it attracted by the altar?’ Without any hesitation, Han Fei grabbed the urn and ran. Normally the Song would only echo around Happiness Neighbourhood but this time its goal had changed. The harrowing vocals entered Han Fei’s ears and they punctured his consciousness and mind like small chains, latching onto his memories.

‘Why is it on me this time?’ The urn started to crack. Drake slipped out from the urn, carried up the weak Han Fei and started to flee.