381 The Underground Boy

“I’d advise that we stay inside the elevator, the world inside and outside the elevator might be completely different.” The male student, Yan Zu stood at the corner, he was a very introverted boy. He rarely spoke to others. He was so chatty around Han Fei because if he didn’t say anything, he might not have the chance to anymore. The man before him was like the child of tragedy. In less than 30 minutes since they met, the whole Building 4 was shaking from its foundation.

“We didn’t come here to hide but to find the reason why the Ziggurat is in the state that it is in now.” The Soul Chaser took the elevator to head upstairs but Han Fei went against the grain. When the building was in chaos, he used the elevator to reach the underground.

“There is a tenant in the chat group who has been here before, I’ll let him talk to you.” Yan Zu opened the chat group and had one of them pm Han Fei. Han Fei was familiar with this ID. “Fish and Water is requesting a video call!”

Fish and Water, “I’m now hiding inside an urn, so the lighting is not that good. Just bear with me.

“The Ziggurat always has the habit of conducting soul-summoning rituals. Every few days, there will be a ritual and every 4th of each month, the ritual will happen too. One day, I was curious, where did the summoned soul come from? So during the 4th of April last year, I sneaked behind a Soul Chaser and came to the underground. I discovered something terrifying.

“The manager was taking advantage of the spirits inside the building. It used the connection between the resentment of the dead and the memory of the living to thread a rope, making knots in the depths of nightmare. Then it had the dead conduct the ritual to send the living into the dream, to complete the so-called ritual.

“This way, the dead souls would be able to see the living individuals that we missed but after dawn, all the living souls would not disappear, guess where they’ll all be taken to?”

Lee Yanzu, “Underground?”

Fish and Water, “That’s right. Other than extremely powerful tenants like the senior monster in Room 4234, the souls summoned by the other tenants would be trapped by the manager in the underground. It worked on these souls and used them to cultivate something.”

“Then would the living that lost their souls die in real life?” Han Fei asked.

“Death is the best result. If they survive but their souls are no longer inhabiting their bodies, do you still consider them living?” Fish and Water’s words reminded Han Fei of his Resurrection Talent. One of its usages was for Han Fei to kill the summoned soul and then pour his own consciousness into the target’s body. Since the power was too macabre, Han Fei had not used it before.

Fish and Water, “The Manager’s power is related to nightmares. Its power allows it to pull the living’s souls into the Ziggurat through some kind of method but the limitation to its power is very big. Just look at the various decorations at Ziggurat. Based on what I know, the success rate of the ritual is very low as well, it requires high resentment from the dead and intense memory from the living.”

“As low as it might be, Ziggurat must have summoned quite a bit of souls over the past decade.” Han Fei still remembered his mission. If he ran into any living soul, he would have to save them.

“That is the other point I have to tell you, if you run into another soul underground, do not get close to them and do not talk to them.” Fish and Water’s voice trembled, “When I headed underground that time, the elevator suddenly stopped at the negative 4th floor. I waited for a long time until a child poked his head in. He said he lost his way and needed my help to bring him home.”

“So did you help him?”

“Since I ran away from home myself, his words resonate with something inside my heart. So I did help him. But slowly I realized something was wrong. The 4th floor basement didn’t have rooms like he mentioned, there was no way home, the underground was a giant grave!” Fish and Water said desperately, “The boy wanted to drag me into the grave!”

The light in the elevator flickered. While Han Fei was on the phone, a dirty hand reached out from the corner of the elevator door. Then a boy’s head poked into the elevator booth. He looked at the people inside the elevator with open curiosity.

“Is this the boy you met?” Han Fei slowly turned the camera around. The phone, which was tainted by the presence of more than 10 Lingering Spirits and Animated Regrets were unable to capture the boy’s full image. Instead the phone started to crack like it had taken videos of things it shouldn’t.

“Run! Stay away from him!” The screen darkened and the call ended.

‘Looks like this child is quite interesting.’ Han Fei put away the phone and walked towards the boy. He didn’t feel fear but quite intrigued like a biologist finding a new species. It was not that Han Fei had no fear but he understood fear would not solve any problem, instead rationality and calmness would. “Little boy, why are you alone here so late at night? Where are your parents?” Han Fei hid his hands behind his back. If the boy acted aggressively, he would pull out Rest in Peace immediately.

“I live here but I can’t remember which door leads to my home…” The boy said between sobs. His clothes didn’t fit him like he had picked up a random shirt and put it on.

“There’s no need to rush, why don’t you stop and think about it slowly?” Han Fei said gently and his eyes were warm. Then he used the arm where Big Sin was hiding to pat the boy’s shoulder. Soul Poison dripped on the boy’s clothes. Big Sin suddenly came alive.

“I can only remember that my home’s door has no lights. It is very dark, but all the rooms here are dark.” The boy then broke into tears.

“Do you want me to walk you home?” Han Fei pulled back his arm and a small red paper shred slipped from his fingers and fell into the boy’s collar.

“I have to return before 4.44 am. My parents told me that if I don’t, something scary will happen.” The boy cried as he walked out from the elevator. He appeared to be afraid of the dark.

“It’s fine, I’ll walk you home.” Using Soul-Depth Touch, Han Fei held the boy’s hand. He could feel the stink that radiated from the boy’s soul, it was the smell of the soul’s decomposition. Han Fei had used this talent on many ghosts before, but this was the first time he actively wanted to let go.

“Kid, what’s your name?”

“I don’t have a name, my parents said I don’t need a name.”

“Then how do they call you?”

“They normally won’t, they don’t speak to me. They are very unresponsive, it is like having dead bodies look after me.” The stench from the boy’s soul thickened but his eyes remained pure and innocent.

“Such an interesting family dynamic.” Han Fei noticed Big Sin, who was fidgeting in his arm, and he noticed something strange. When Big Sin got close to the boy, it would become extremely agitated like it had met its nemesis. ‘Big Sin’s nemesis is the Butterfly, that is defined by the system. Is this boy related to Butterfly? He was here 1 year ago, which means that he can move around this place freely. That is extremely strange.’