344 The Previous Manager's Clue

 

The number 4144 told Han Fei that he was currently inside Building 4 and the dresser did act as a passageway between different rooms at Ziggurat. This teleporter-esque cursed object had aroused Han Fei’s great interest. ‘After the Butterfly is killed, the dressers and all the buildings can be usable by all the tenants!’

Currently the Ziggurat belonged to the Butterfly and its manager. It treated the tenants as tools and toys, they were things that could be sacrificed to achieve its own goal. But if Han Fei became the new manager, he would respect everyone’s decision and help the tenants locate their real selves.

“Wait! I feel like there is something dragging me from behind!” The middle-aged man who ran at the back of the group said with a pale face. He kept turning his head around until his neck was sore but he couldn’t see anything behind him.

They were running for their lives so he didn’t dare to make too much noise, he tried his best to keep up with the woman.

In the dark corridor, the voice-activated lights flickered on and off. Compared to Building 1, the corridors at Building 4 looked older. Every door had traces of burnt paper money and photographs. It appeared like every family was conducting the spirit summoning ritual. ‘What is the Butterfly up to?’

The building was creepy but it had nothing to do with ghosts. It was like humanity had transmuted at this place to become something else. The axle of the safety door creaked noisily. Han Fei looked into the dark stairwell but he didn’t enter it rashly.

Fleeting singing came from outside the building. Han Fei’s ring had a few new cracks. Perhaps the ring’s owner also didn’t expect Han Fei to wear it to come to a place like the Ziggurat.

“Why have we stopped?” The woman asked, “This place gives me a bad feeling, it was safer when we were inside the dresser.”

“Can you hear the song outside?”

“Song?” The woman shook her head. “I don’t hear anything.”

“Did you two hear me? There is really something wrong with my back!” The middle-aged man finally caught up to them. “Please help me take a look. I have this feeling that something is back there!”

Han Fei turned to look at the middle-aged man’s back. A holy figurine stood in the middle of his spine, the head appeared to have grown out of the man’s spine. “Well, what’s wrong? Did you see anything? Is there a bug?” The middle-aged man waved his flabby arms but somehow he couldn’t reach the spot where the figurine was.

“It’s just a small bug, don’t scare yourself for nothing. Take a deep breath and relax.” Han Fei had the middle-aged man look ahead. And then he took out Rest in Peace. “Brother, no offense but have you killed anyone before?”

“Of course not! I haven’t even killed a chicken before!”

“Okay.” Rest in Peace was extremely sharp when dealing against evil enemies. Han Fei didn’t want to accidentally harm the man. Pulling back the bloody clothes, Han Fei swung the blade with full force!

The figurine was sliced through and shattered into pieces. But to Han Fei’s consternation, as it cracked, the figurine slowly turned to give Han Fei a creepy smile.

The weight was taken off his back. The middle-aged man turned to see what kind of bug it was but he instead saw shattered pieces of the figurine. “Wait, it was the thing under the bed which was on my back all this time?”

“You’ve been carrying it for quite some time already, but you’re safe now, I think…” Han Fei used his hands where Big Sin hid to massage the middle-aged man’s back. He noticed some of the broken chips had stuck into the man’s flesh. “Be ready, this might hurt a little.” He used Rest in Peace to try to dig out the pieces but at that moment, he noticed there was a human face inside the middle-aged man’s wound!

“What is that?” As Rest in Peace widened the wound, Han Fei saw a figurine the size of one’s thumb embedded inside the man’s flesh. When Han Fei dug out the figurine, there was an even smaller figurine behind it!

All the figurines had the same creepy smile. They sat comfortably inside the man’s flesh, staring at Han Fei. ‘You’re taunting me?’ Han Fei had no idea why the figurines had targeted the middle-aged man. Perhaps he was the weakest or he was just unlucky, but no matter the reason, Han Fei would not sit idle. After having the middle-aged man close his eyes, Han Fei took out the paper doll and slipped it into the man’s wound.

‘No matter how many there are, I’ll take them all out. After all, I’m not the one in pain.’ The smile on the figurines suddenly froze. Han Fei had been taught to be ruthless in the cryptic world. If the figurines had entered his body, he would do the same thing. Controlling the paper doll, Han Fei extracted 2 more figurines from inside the middle-aged man.

The last figurine was only the size of a pin. The ghost inside it was shredded by the paper doll. With a wail, the ghost dissolved into a piece of paper and a strand of hair. They were the origin of its resentment.

The paper doll handed the paper to Han Fei. The paper had someone’s name on the front and the back was a Death Curse—If I dismember you, will you die?

Han Fei saw the Death Curse first, it was thick with curse and hatred. Then he turned to see the name on the note. It caught his attention immediately. ‘Fu Sheng?’

Han Fei knew that the previous manager’s memory fragment was hidden at Ziggurat but he didn’t expect to find a clue related to him this way.

‘Is it possible that every figurine is holding a paper note?’ The ghost that Han Fei killed earlier was a ghost technically inside a figurine but its heart had been eaten by the paper doll. It disintegrated into shredded paper, it was understandable for Han Fei to not notice the note with the Death Curse among them.

‘This hair couldn’t belong to Fu Sheng, could it?

‘His consciousness has been split into numerous pieces and then hidden inside the figurines?’ The Ziggurat’s manager should be Butterfly. In other words, it had probably tinkered with Fu Sheng’s memory fragment. ‘In that case, I believe I know what the scariest thing in Room 4144 is now.’

Han Fei studied the note. The name and hair were to evoke the curse and the note was the curse itself. There were numerous Death Curses inside Ziggurat and now Han Fei suspected they were all prepared for the same person.

The previous manager was at least 40 years older than Han Fei and he had the black box for a long time already. Even though he failed, and his consciousness had been shattered, he could still leave behind so many things for Han Fei, his influence could still be felt, that showed how powerful he was.

‘If the Butterfly has the previous manager’s memory fragment, then I have one more reason to kill it. There shouldn’t be a second person who knows the black box is currently inside my brain.’