376 Child Recovery Service

 

The senior monster stood at the opening. He looked at the world outside the grey mist before he slowly turned around. His red eyes were no longer confused. Hatred and resentment weaved in his eyes. The senior monster used action to inform the Evil Soul of his choice.

The spine extended and the human faces were polluted by hatred. Their blood bond amplified the hatred! The senior monster’s body expanded further. The hatred in his heart was boiling as he stomped his way back into the Ziggurat.

Without the senior monster, the grey mist rapidly recovered. As it was about to close, a blood red table knife sliced through it!

The red lips moved and a female voice echoed in the mist, “His laughter came from this way, I am sure that was him.” Bloody dress stuck to her skin, her every step radiating with arresting beauty, sickening beauty, maddening beauty.

Multiple hands kept the opening from closing. The sounds of sobbing appeared. A boy holding an urn followed behind the woman. There were tears on his face and spikes of despair protruded out from his body.

“It does sound like him.” One tall and one short figure exuded a heavy air of misfortune. After they entered the mist, the tall one ate the small one. “To lure the Singer to the Ziggurat and while the Singer is dealing with the grey mist, he hit the weakest spot of the mist. He then laughed to signal to us his location, only he will do something like that. But how would he know that we’d come looking for him?”

“Just get in! The boss’ laughter sounded different from before, I suspect he might be in danger.” A man in a convenience store outfit rushed towards the Ziggurat. His only eye glinted dangerously.

As the mist closed around him, black eyes opened in the mist. Beside the single-eyed man was a young girl. Her eyes were closed and she held a screaming girl doll in her arm. These people shuffled into the Ziggurat from the opening. The man at the back of the group lifted his head. He wore a cap and a normal windbreaker. He looked fragile but no one wanted to stay too close to him.

There was a rumor at Happiness Neighbourhood, 8 people had died inside a room and their bodies were pieced together haphazardly. Because the creation was too strong and its resentment too heavy the manager was forced to cut them apart and keep their body parts at different spots of the neighbourhood. The death in the grey mist pierced through the skin. The weak man looked at Ziggurat and slowly removed his cap. He had a very normal face and his name was Wei Youfu. “Han Fei, we’ve come to fetch you.”

The group of people didn’t waste any more time. They walked in the shadows, hid their presence and slipped into Ziggurat through the opening!

…

The purest death from the underground was triggered by the Evil Soul. Endless death tussled with the Singer. The building’s shell started to crack. It was getting destroyed faster than it could heal. “A building named by Death but it is somehow alive, this is just disgusting!”

The Evil Soul controlled the senior monster to smash through the wall. The inner part of the wall started to bleed like actual human skin. “The manager will return at 4.44 am, we still have plenty of time.”

Standing inside the corridor, small black blood vessels crawled out from the senior monster’s body, they were like roots of an ancient tree. They crawled into the rooms through the cracks and gaps. The roots were black before they entered the rooms but eventually they would turn red. The red blood was heavy with pain and hatred, they would all become the senior monster’s food. To prevent himself from being targeted by the manager, the senior monster locked himself up inside his room. He thought that way, he could somehow survive at the Ziggurat but the manager never intended for him to live in the first place.

The hatred in his heart exploded and no one at the Ziggurat could stop the senior monster!

He moved up the floors, massacring everything and everyone in the way! The tenants who didn’t hide well were all food for the Evil Soul. To save time, the senior monster didn’t stop. But when he reached the 3rd floor, he slowed down.

The Evil Soul’s face slowly turned to glance at Hua Kui and the woman on the senior monster’s back. The duo shivered under the Evil Soul’s gaze. The senior monster stopped moving. His roots-like vessels rushed towards Room 4034.

…

“It doesn’t sound too quiet tonight, the 4 of us better be careful.”

“It is never peaceful on the annual Night of Resurrection. But as long as we have control of this Soul Chaser, the other Soul Chaser will not come after us.”

“Correct, the situation outside has nothing to do with us.”

Room 4034 had a table in the middle of it. 4 gamblers were playing mahjong. Their death portraits were placed in the middle of the living room and the table was scattered with paper money.

“Are we sure it’s fine for us to trap this Soul Chaser like this? We’ve tricked quite a few wandering spirits this year.” The gambler to the west of the table said as he played a tile. His eyes glanced towards the boy trapped behind the 4 death portraits. The boy had his head lowered and he wore a bloody pyjama with a little bear print. He was like a broken doll that had no self-consciousness.

“Don’t jinx it. We’re fine every year so why would it be different this year? When the other Soul Chasers sense that there is a Soul Chaser in our room, they will not come inside, that is the rules of the Ziggurat.” The gambler to the south said.

“Why did both of you play the tiles of West Wind?” The gambler to the east also played the same tile. He glanced around casually. “There is a rumor that if every person at the table plays the tiles of West Wind, they will all die and head towards the western nirvana. Dare to try?”

“We’re already in this state, why would we still fear death?” The gambler to the north pulled a West Wind. As the 3 other gamblers stared at him, he ultimately decided to keep the tile. “But I’m not superstitious like you people, Yi Tong!”

When he put down the mahjong tile, the man realized he lost control of his body. Sensing something, he looked up. The ceiling was covered in intertwining black blood vessels.

“What, what are those?!”

The front door cracked. Before he could get an answer, his chest was punctured by a hand. Red blood burned through his body. His broken body was tossed to the side. The Evil Soul wiped away the blood from his palm. His eyes swept the mahjong table.

He swiped his palm down and the black vessels on the ceiling pulled down the wall. There were screams as the Evil Soul cackled. He flipped over the 4 death portraits on the table and single-handedly picked up the Soul Chaser boy.

“Hey, look, is this your child?”