677 Malice's Secret

 

“The ragdoll is a toy too.” Han Fei used the knife to flip through the trash to make sure that the ragdoll wasn’t hiding there.

However, the commotion attracted the attention of the family living on that floor. Soon, the door opened, and a man who was spraying hairspray came out to shout, “How many times I’ve said this? Be lighter when you collect the rubbish. If you want to salvage something, bring the trash downstairs, and don’t do it in front of my home.”

The man’s eyes glowed with disdain. But soon, his eyes changed. He saw Han Fei in the white mask pull the knife out of the toy’s stomach and walk towards him. The hairspray fell to the ground. The man didn’t expect two fugitives to stand outside his door early in the morning.

“You have quite a lot of hair.” Han Fei said faintly. The man would probably remember this comment for life. The owner retreated and wanted to close the door, but Han Fei grabbed it tightly. “Good morning, my lovely neighbor.”

They were not on the same level in terms of strength. The man’s untrained body was no match for Han Fei. The grille was slowly pulled open. The scary white mask occupied the man’s sight. The man finally remembered to call the police. He turned towards the phone. However, he only took one step before he was held back by Han Fei with a grip on his neck.

“I will not hurt you. Let me introduce myself…” At that moment, the television in the living room broadcasted the morning news. The police listed out the info of all the 11 Grade A fugitives. The first was Lee Guo Er, and the second was Han Fei.

“You wouldn’t believe me if I say I’m not a mad serial killer, right?” Han Fei dragged the man’s collar and pressed him on the couch.

“I will believe you!” The man was so nervous that the fat on his cheeks jiggled. His eyes were filled with fear. “I will give you any money that you want! You can take anything from this house as long as you don’t hurt me. I still have 10,000 in the bank and several gold bars in my personal safe.”

“Do you think I’m doing this for money?” Han Fei sat across from the man. “I’ll ask you a few questions now. Every time you lie to me, I’ll cut off one of your limbs.” The tone was very casual. The man didn’t even dare to move. The villains he saw in movies were nothing compared to this man.

“O-okay. I’ll not hide anything or call the police.” The man’s eyes darted everywhere, and cold sweat slid down his forehead. “First question.” Han Fei raised one finger. “Other than yourself, who else is in this house?”

The man blinked because the sweat had fallen into his eyes, “My wife and kid are sleeping in the bedroom. I’m used to waking up early.”

“Only the two of them?” Han Fei took out Company. “Place your hands on the table.” The man’s breathing became uneven. His hands shook.

“From the moment I entered the room, you kept subconsciously glancing toward the second bedroom. Compared to your wife and child, you care more about the occupant of this room.” Han Fei’s voice came from the mask. It froze the man’s heart.

“My wife and child sleep in the main bedroom. My ex-wife’s child sleeps in the second bedroom.”

“I understand you want to protect your family, but you need to realize that you only have two arms and two legs.” Han Fei moved to sit beside the middle-aged man. The Yin energy from his fight with Malice hadn’t dissipated.

“Second question. Have you seen a very old ragdoll? One of her eyes has been gouged out. She wears a dress made from old clothes.” The man’s face paled. He definitely remembered something.

“So you’re here to look for that doll? I knew that thing is cursed.” The man was more afraid. “I didn’t know when that ragdoll appeared in my house. When I first saw it, it was inside my eldest son’s room. I don’t have a good relationship with my son. I threw the doll away without much thought. However, the doll soon reappeared inside his dresser.”

“So, the doll is your son’s toy?” Han Fei narrowed his eyes. “I saw there are many other dolls in the boxes outside your doll. Does your son like dolls?”

“No! He probably only accidentally picked that ragdoll home!” The man steepled his hands together and pleaded. “My whole family is law-abiding and obedient. If you let us go, I’ll try my best to fulfill your every desire.”

“Third question.” Han Fei’s expression didn’t move. “Don’t hide anything from me. I need to know why your relationship with your eldest son soured, the information about your ex-wife, and your eldest son’s usual living habits.” Han Fei wanted to know why the ragdoll would choose to hide in this neighborhood.

“My first wife died in the birthing room. She was carrying a pair of twins at the time. The little sister couldn’t be saved, but the doctors managed to save the eldest son. However, he was different from other kids since he was young. He had a strange personality and despised interacting with others.” The man said carefully. “I found many doctors, but it was pointless. He was very resistant to treatment and fought me because of it.”

“His mother and little sister are dead. He is the only one alive.” Han Fei had Lee Guo Er watch over the man while he walked towards the second bedroom. Han Fei slowly nudged the door open. The smell of air freshener drifted out of the room. He saw a child with long hair, pink female pajamas, and fair skin lying in bed. The room was very clean. The table was neat, and the floor was dust-free. The room had a cute wallpaper. Even the sheet didn’t even have a single wrinkle.

“That’s your son? Are you raising him as a daughter?” Han Fei waved for the man to come over.

“I’ve been meaning to butch him up. I even fought with him many times over this. But the more I tried to educate him, the worse he became.” The man didn’t dare to move because Lee Guo Er’s knife was on his neck.

“Really?” Hearing the noise, the child in the bed opened his eyes. He looked like he had just awakened. He shrunk under the sheet from fear.

“Stop acting. I know you didn’t just wake up.” Han Fei walked forward as his fingers toyed with the dark red threads. “You were already awake when I entered this house. Did the ragdoll wake you up?” The curtain of long hair covered half of the boy’s face. He was very pretty. If his sister were still alive, she would look exquisite. “Are you the brother or the sister?” Han Fei’s voice was chilly. He didn’t expect the ragdoll to hide in a living neighborhood. He assumed all the ghosts would live in abandoned houses. Malice was indeed unique. The boy crawled backward. He was fragile, like a porcelain doll. His face was carved in fear, but there was a dash of intense hatred in his eyes.

“Big Brother, let the child go.” The middle-aged man said, “His brain is damaged. He is a dummy. He can’t remember people. Even if he sees you, he can’t remember you.”

“Many people will be fooled by what they see. Perhaps the fugitive is trying to save you, and your family is trying to kill you.” Han Fei was too lazy to explain. He looked around and twitched his nose. Under the haze of air freshener, he smelled the hint of decay. “She is here.” Han Fei was very good at playing hide-and-seek. He could analyze many things from a minor detail. Han Fei slowly approached the boy’s single bed. Then he suddenly waved his knife to cut at the sheet. The cotton poured out, and gashes appeared on the mattress too.

The middle-aged man panicked. His voice trembled, and his body slid down. “Please let him go. He’s just a child. Please. I will do anything to help you.”

“The bed is not wrinkled at all after one night. Do you believe that?” Han Fei pulled back Company. “Your son didn’t spend the night in bed. So, where was he? What was he doing behind your back?”

Han Fei grabbed the edge of the bed with one hand and pulled the sheet away. A horrible stench came from under the bed. There was even a sticky noise. It was as if a giant mouth was hidden under the single bed.

“Get down.” Han Fei aimed the knife at the boy. After a moment’s hesitation, the boy obliged. Han Fei flipped the bedframe over!

The stench assaulted the nostrils. The underside of the bedframe was stuck with endless broken clothes. Among the clothes was an ugly doll hugging the frame tightly. Its eye dangled beside its lips. Half of its face was gone. It was missing an arm, and the threads on its stomach broke, and flesh kept dripping out.

“This…” The middle-aged man was stunned. He had no idea such a scary thing existed in his home! He shivered when he thought of how his son spent his nights sleeping with this thing.

“Those are the victims’ clothes, right? I notice most of them are children’s clothes. Did you kill all of them?” Han Fei held Company. This was the moment when the ragdoll was at her weakest. He needed to deal with her.

“Hehe…” A shrill giggle came out of the boy’s mouth. Black blood capillaries pulsed on his face. At the same time, the ragdoll let go and splattered on the ground in a pool of blood.

“I, I am here…” A weak voice came from the ragdoll. The ragdoll turned over with difficulty. The threads on her stomach unraveled fully to reveal the black cotton and a dead fetus inside. The scary thing was the fetus had stopped growing, but it had a boy’s face.

“Son?” When the man heard the baby’s voice, he was stunned.

“This is a conundrum for a moral person. The boy is in the ghost’s stomach, and the ghost is in the boy’s body. If you kill the ghost, then you kill the boy; if you save the boy, then you save the ghost.” Han Fei shook his head. “But I’m just a mad fugitive. I’ll just kill everyone.” A cold smile always hung on Han Fei’s mask. “Don’t worry. I don’t really have to kill you. I’m here just to ask some questions. I want to find out what are the first-generation ghosts.”

“Hehe…”

“Stop doing that, or I’ll tear off your mouth.” Han Fei hated the giggle so much.

“I, I’ll tell you.” The big-headed fetus said. His body was connected to the ragdoll. “She is my little sister. There was an accident during birth. Of the two of us, only one can be saved. Mom and dad chose to keep me and abandoned her.” Han Fei knew the reason why the ragdoll surfaced. The little sister was abandoned when she was born. Her life was over before she even got the chance to open her eyes. After the failed ‘rescue’, her body was abandoned. The newborn soul was trapped inside the despairing shell. She was placed with other medical wastes. She absorbed the negative emotions from the other wastes, and eventually, she opened her eyes in the trash. She understood her first emotion—hatred.

The little sister’s hatred came from abandonment. As she encountered more abandoned stuff, she absorbed more energy from them until she became the way she was.

At first glance, the little sister didn’t sound different from the normal ghosts, but Han Fei noticed a few details. The little sister died before she was fully born. Her soul was not complete. She didn’t have a memory or an obsession.

The other ghosts formed due to resentment and obsession. The little sister patched herself into a monster after accumulating the hatred of abandonment from other waste.

“Are first-generation ghost accumulations of various emotions? Is it not a singular person?

“How come it sounds so similar to the formation of the cryptic world? The paper craftsman said that the cryptic world is formed from the accruement of humanity’s negative emotions. Is the entire cryptic world a ghost?”