717 Next Ghost

 

“A Malice is worth 10 points. We only need to kill one more.” The fog faded. Han Fei stood on the cracked road and looked at the theme park shrouded by darkness. “Let’s go.”

Han Fei hopped into the taxi and took out the script. He read through it and remembered something. “Turn back. We’re heading to Blue White Tuition Center.”

“The taxi driver’s resurrection ritual location?” Lee Guo Er was confused. “Why?”

“There’s a Malice similar to Dream hiding there. It has once killed me.” Han Fei wanted more than revenge. He wanted info. The cars howled through the street, and Han Fei returned to the familiar junction. In the past, he was chased by a Lingering Spirit and was forced to get on a haunted bus to escape. In just a few days, everything had changed. Han Fei, who had regained his memory, radiated cold. Even ghosts feared him.

“The tuition center filled with blue and white flowers; the burned down beautician clinic; children who are fair as paper; exceptionally beautiful women, these are all Butterfly’s favorites.” The more someone lacked something, the more they wanted them. Butterfly was extremely ugly. Therefore, it used everything in its power to make its appearance perfect; Its inside was rotten and vomit-inducing, so it loved cute and innocent children.

“This building looks very normal. Is there really a Malice hiding here?” Worm led the special citizens and followed behind Han Fei.

“In my memory, it is hiding here.” Han Fei patted Big Sin’s head. “Go and knock on the door.”

“How about I go?” Worm couldn’t imagine Big Sin knocking on the door.

“Don’t get too close. This building is very dangerous.” At that moment, there was a loud trample and Big Sin crashed into the front door. The iron door was flung several meters away. The windows on the first floor shattered. The flowers in the yard were ruined. There were blue and white petals like the building was crying.

“Isn’t that knocking a bit too loud?” Worm was about to persuade Han Fei but what happened next made him shut up. The flying petals made strange voices, and they flew towards Han Fei. When they were close, Worm and the other citizens finally noticed that they were not normal flower petals but strange butterflies that had blue and white patterns.

“Damn! Why are there so many of them?”

“Get back into the car quick!”

The swarm was like dream dust. They looked pretty from a distance but horrifying up close.

“Monsters, ghosts, what other unknown things are in this cryptic world?” Han Fei raised Rest in Peace, and his body was covered in curses. If he also retreated, the people behind him would be exposed. “The bugs Dream raise are just like it. They look pretty, but they are actually ugly and dangerous.”

Han Fei charged toward the swarm. Without Rest in Peace and Xu Qin, he wouldn’t survive. However, fate had changed. Dream had missed the perfect chance to kill Han Fei. With every slash, a huge part of the swarm would die. Han Fei cooperated with Big Sin and used about 10 minutes to take down the swarm. Losing the swarm’s disguise, the building revealed its real appearance. The yard was desolate. Dead children bodies were buried under the ground. They were pierced through by some kind of black plants. Underneath the plants was the nursery for the blue and white bugs.

“Dream is heartless. How can it use the children to feed Butterfly?” When it was safe, Worm and the rest got down. If they didn’t run fast earlier, they would have been swept away by the swarm already. Han Fei ignored the survivors. He stared at Big Sin. They weren’t going to enter the building yet.

Dream was one of the theme park managers and was a ‘ghost’ born in the cryptic world. One had to be careful. If the ghost didn’t want to come out, Han Fei would have Big Sin break down the building. After all, it was quicker than building it.

With the signal from Han Fei, Big Sin’s desire to destroy was released. It climbed upwards. The presence of death pulsed on the walls. All the places it crawled past radiated with misfortune. Screams echoed inside the building. Han Fei didn’t plan to keep anyone alive. After all, all the ghosts here had hunted him in the past.

When Big Sin reached the fourth floor, there was a sharp wail coming from inside the building. A woman in a blue, white dress appeared at the window. She was covered in blood as if she had fallen from a high place. Her limbs were bent, and her spine poked out of her skin. It formed a pair of titled butterfly wings on her back. After the woman saw Big Sin, she charged at it. The two creatures instantly got into a big fight.

“In my memory, it was a person who looked like Butterfly who killed me and not this woman.”

Han Fei looked around carefully. He didn’t find Butterfly but found a man in a ghost mask standing at the corner. He seemed to be observing Han Fei. “Could this be Dream’s disguise?”

The two parties watched each other from a distance. Eventually, Big Sin overwhelmed the woman and tore open the woman’s back. The white bone wings collapsed. A blood butterfly made from blood and flesh flew out of the woman’s heart. The membrane opened like wings. When the flesh butterfly appeared, the ghost-masked man made his move. He was waiting for this moment. He used his remaining arm to yield his butcher’s knife!

The knife easily cut through the night. Through the street, it pierced through the flesh butterfly and pinned it on the garden’s dry soul. After the flesh butterfly died, the man seemed to have made a decision. He walked out of the corner and stopped hiding. Han Fei stopped Big Sin, who had killed the woman, and called it to his side. They faced the man in the ghost mask. The man with the mask entered the garden. He pulled back his knife after he confirmed the flesh butterfly was dead. He crushed the flesh butterfly with a single step and wiped away the blood from the knife.

“Aren’t you going to say something?” Han Fei wore a white smiling mask, but his mask was different from the others. There was a tear stain on his.

“I’ve been observing you for a long time. I have a few questions for you. If you have the power to protect the weak, how will you use it?” The man’s voice was mature.

“I will set up the most basic rules and use that power to protect the bottom line of the weak.”

“Just the bottom line?”

“Power can’t be used freely. The weak have to rely on themselves to become strong.” Han Fei didn’t go against his principles.

“Then how would you set the rules?” The man was very interested in Han Fei.

“I would set a long goal, and I will proceed to this goal with everyone. Then, I’ll form a framework where everyone can play their own role. Then, I’ll leave them to handle the framework.”

“You’ll leave the framework to them? What about you?”

“I’ll continue to work toward the ultimate goal, punish those who violate the rules, eliminate the uncertain factors within the framework and kill everything that stands in our way.” Han Fei had no idea what the man wanted to hear. He was just sharing his vision for the city in the future.

“That’s a very dangerous thought. If only you have more sympathy for the weak.” The man sounded disappointed.

“Of course, I have sympathy for the weak, but the ghosts in the cryptic world will not sympathize with me.” Han Fei walked toward the man. “Will a prisoner who lives in the underground prison prefer a charity meal from others or the chance to break out of the prison to see the sunlight?”

The man was silent for a long time. “I don’t know. Perhaps everyone’s answer is different.”

“You’re wrong. Most people won’t even have the chance to choose. But I can give them that chance.” Han Fei had considered forcing Ghost to stay, but the man didn’t seem hostile. “Is this why you’ve been following me?”

“At first, I wanted to kill you because Dream made you its shell, but now I’ve changed my mind. After this city drops into chaos, you’re the only one who is going around saving people, maintaining the human dignity.” The man took out his knife and said, “Other than you, I can’t find a better candidate for now. I will hide this knife in my heart. If you can find it before I die, you’ll be its new owner.” Then the man in the ghost mask left.

“What did he mean by that? Does he want to hand over the Ghost manager role to me?” The butcher’s knife was responsible for murder and punishment. Han Fei had a special butcher’s knife too.

 

Sorry. My grandma was hospitalized so I wasn't working.