331 A Wish

 

‘The door to Building 1 has been opened, the black mist can bring with it the Singer too. Next I’ll have to find a way to other buildings and search for Feng Ziyu, but before that, I need to obtain the hidden profession of Ziggurat guard first.’ In the cryptic world, every step Han Fei took had to be careful. Han Fei planned to stay for 3 hours at Building 1 first before he left. ‘Zhuang Wen probably has gone to find the Butterfly, hopefully she’ll get her wish.’ Han Fei tried to close the entrance door but the lock had been broken. Even if the door was closed, the mist kept leaking through the gaps.

While Han Fei was fiddling with the lock, a black arm suddenly reached out from the black mist. Han Fei jumped back, holding up Rest in Peace in defense but before he did anything, the arm was bound by blood vessels and then shredded. The blood pooled around the red dress who had arrived at the 1st floor. She studied Han Fei closely, this was such a fragile person, where did he find the courage to meddle in the business of a Large Lingering Spirit and a Lingering Hatred.

“Thank you.” Han Fei put away the knife and walked towards the red dress, “I hope you don’t mind me asking but you wouldn’t have any problem with me being the guard here right?” The red dress nodded because she couldn’t find a reason to say no. “Then can you help me convince the others? I wish to stay here and help more tenants regain their selves. I know I am weak and have no special power. Many times, I can’t even save myself.” Han Fei smiled faintly, “I don’t even know when I’d die but I still wish to tell more people that there are people like me who are still working hard even in this dark world.”

Han Fei’s every word hit the red dress’ heart, that was exactly what she believed in the past. The red dress fluttered, evoking the resentment inside the whole building. She nodded again, “They will agree to it.”

With the red dress following him, Han Fei was no longer as scared as before. He planned to knock on the door one by one and get all of the tenant’s approval. Han Fei personally didn’t want to make things so complicated but this was the system’s requirement, if he wanted to gain the hidden profession, he had to get the approval from all the tenants.

First Han Fei came to the room of the bride. Earlier he had been too busy running for his life to locate her. Han Fei realized that the bride was considered powerful in comparison to most of the tenants here. The most important thing was that she could leave Ziggurat freely. That was highly valued by Han Fei. Han Fei knocked on the door but there was no answer. Han Fei turned to the red dress for help. The red vessels on her dress snaked into the keyholes and every door in Building 1 surfaced with mysterious, arresting patterns, similar to the ones on her dress.

The red dress appeared to misunderstand Han Fei’s meaning. Not only the bride’s room but all the rooms in Building 1 had been unlocked. The doors slammed against the wall, the bleeding room number looked like they were crying. Looking into the room, Han Fei noticed the décor of the room was similar to the one in the Ziggurat game. As he entered the bedroom, his eyes travelled to the wedding picture above the bed. “I run my business with honesty, I will live up to my promise to you. It’s just that I’ve come sooner than expected.”

Han Fei appeared to be talking to himself. No one answered him. There was not a trace of yin energy inside the room, it looked even cleaner than most rooms in real life. “I know you’re here.” Han Fei took out the bride’s veil from his inventory. Just as he prepared to hand the veil over to the red dress, the woman inside the wedding photo started to cry tears of blood. Pale fingers clutched at the frame and a woman over 2 metres tall crawled out from the photograph. Her eyes wandered between Han Fei and the ‘person’ behind Han Fei. Her cracked lips slowly opened but after a long hesitation, she decided to say nothing. ‘I just want a small favor from you, you didn’t need to bring this building’s scariest ghost into my house, did you? You plan to destroy me on your first visit?’

Her heart was deeply conflicted, the bride didn’t dare to speak out of place because she might not have the chance to survive to speak again. “Recently, the situation here is not that peaceful, we can delay our mission until much later.”

“It’s fine now. The jumper woman on the top floor has already left. Currently the most powerful tenant in Building 1 is standing behind me.”

“The… top floor?” The bride looked at Han Fei with disbelief, “You are responsible for the chaos in the building for the past 2 nights?”

“I wouldn’t say responsible but I was part of it, but this is all thanks to you for recommending me a job posting here.” Han Fei smiled at the bride. The bride had the urge to escape but she didn’t dare to make any sudden movements.

“Haven’t you been meaning to enter one of the rooms at Ziggurat? We can go now, I am a man of my words.” Han Fei repeated several times before the confused bride finally said, “I need to enter a room at Building 4, my husband’s eyes are hidden there.”

“Building 4? You know how to get there?”

“I was once a tenant there but my room has been taken over by something else.” The bride tore off the human skin around her neck. There was a blood red key hidden in her throat, “You only need to buy me around 5 minutes away from that thing.”

“Deal, but before that, I need to visit the other tenants here. Why don’t you follow me for now?” Thus another member joined Han Fei’s team. The bride maintained a very far distance from the red dress. Along the way, almost all the tenants approved of Han Fei, they gave Han Fei very high reviews. There was a ghost whose lips were sewn shut who showered Han Fei with praises in sign language. As a guard, Han Fei was glad to be approved by the tenants.

He came successfully to the 14th floor. Han Fei, the 2 other guards, and the red dress stopped before Room 1144. Before they knocked, an old lady appeared in the stairwell beside them. She wore black clothing and the butterfly pattern was barely visible on the back of her neck. Han Fei had met this old lady before. She liked to wander around at midnight, looking for the way out. She seemed to know some things.

“Young man, I’d advise you to not knock on that door. You’ve done very well but you won’t change anything. During the next midnight, everything will revert back to normal.” The old lady looked at Han Fei coolly, it seemed like she had been hiding on the 14th floor.

“How would you know without giving it a try?” Han Fei walked to the old lady, “Granny, you’re a tenant here too. Are you satisfied with my job so far? If you have any suggestions for improvement, feel free to tell me.”

“I wish we can change for a batch of more obedient guards, that way we can all live longer.” The old lady with the hunchback looked at Han Fei like he was some kind of cursed object.

“Granny, did you mishear me?” Han Fei took out a cigarette from his inventory. “I was asking for your suggestion, I didn’t ask you to make a wish.”