There were good people and bad people in the world.
It was the same in the cryptic world. Some ghosts were filled with malice when they were alive, but after they died, they became evil spirits that spread despair; however, there were also ghosts that harbored kindness in their hearts.
"What's your name? When the time is right, I'll bring you to meet your big brother. "
"Ying Huo, my mother said there's a kind of insect that glows in the dark, it's called Ying Huo but I've never seen it before."
"There are many parents who wish their children to grow into dragons but this is the first time I've come across a parent who wishes for their child to grow into an insect." Han Fei had the boy grab the ball and leave. "Don't come here to play anymore. Give me your home address and I'll come to find you."
"My mother and I are staying at the motel next to the convenience store. My mother has been reluctant to leave. I believe she's waiting for my big brother to come back."
The boy struggled to speak. After he gave Han Fei his home address, he hugged the ball and bounced away.
'This child is quite interesting …' He turned back to stare at the back alley wall for a long time. Actually, Han Fei was more concerned about the black shadows on the wall. Everyone who had worked as a worker here seemed to have ended up dead. Part of their soul was trapped on the wall.
Over time, the walls of the back alley were densely packed with faint human silhouettes. Each of the human silhouettes represented an employee.
'This shouldn't be the first time Ying Huo has come here to play but the ghosts on the walls not only did not kill Ying Huo or take over his soul, they even voluntarily played games with him.
'When I opened the door, the ghosts on the walls appeared to help Ying Huo hide. No one made any movement to expose Ying Huo's location.'
The Remnant Souls on the wall wanted to protect Firefly. From this point alone, Han Fei believed these Remnant Souls could become his friends.
'Looks like most of my colleagues and seniors are good people!'
His eyes scanned the walls and Han Fei bowed slightly. "This is my first day here, please take care of me."
Seeing there was nothing wrong with the walls, Han Fei entered the room. However, just as he was about to close the door, he saw the human shapes on the walls start to move. They appeared to be discussing something.
'All the former workers have been sealed inside the walls. I'm curious, why didn't the boss just kill them? Could it be that you still need their remnant souls to control their powers? "
The soul force of regret wasn't particularly strong, but when hundreds of regrets gathered together, it was a very terrifying force.
"Ding!"
The spirit bell rang again. Han Fei was about to walk into the house when the landlord's ring on his finger radiated a bone-piercing chill.
Gently touching the crack on the ring, Han Fei hid in the garbage disposal room and glanced outside.
The one-eyed shop assistant stood at the cashier counter. In front of him was a woman in a red dress who was almost 2.5 meters tall.
The woman was wearing a blood-red veil and a bright red wedding dress, but there was a white flower hanging on her chest.
Almost at the same time the woman appeared, the temperature in the convenience store dropped to freezing point. The one-eyed clerk also became very polite and treated the woman seriously.
Most of the time, it was the single-eyed worker who asked the questions. The woman would only nod occasionally. Han Fei did not catch all of their conversation, he only managed to catch the words, Resurrection, Ziggurat, and Room 144.
Several minutes later, the one-eyed worker walked out from the cashier counter and signaled for the woman to follow him into the storeroom.
When the 2 metres tall woman turned around, she paused for a moment in the direction of Han Fei's hiding spot. The veil fluttered in the wind and Han Fei saw a gaping mouth.
'She's discovered me?'
The woman did not make things difficult for Han Fei. She carried a bloody bag in her hands and slowly walked into the storeroom.
There were no strange sounds, but the light in the warehouse suddenly became much dimmer.
Coughing came. The one-eyed worker carried a paper doll as tall as a normal person out of the storeroom. The paper doll had a smile on its face as it covered the worker's eyes with both hands.
The woman in the wedding dress walked out but the bloody bag in her hands had disappeared.
The spirit bell rang. The worker carried the paper doll and left the convenience store with the woman in the wedding dress.
'The paper doll is different from normal paper dolls. The expression on its face is like a living person. Is that the paper doll the boss?'
The temperature in the store returned to normal. Han Fei sneaked to the storeroom. The candle inside was extinguished and the room was dark.
'Even if the paper doll isn't the boss, it should contain part of the boss's consciousness. After all, the doll's expression is no different from a living person. It even knows to cover the worker's eyes as if afraid that the one-eyed man might see something.'
Han Fei did not believe a normal paper doll could be that smart, it was probably the boss who was behind this.
'The woman in the wedding dress is very powerful, she gives me the feeling that she is scarier than Xu Qin. She entered the store to ask for the boss's help, that bag should be the reward for the boss.'
Following the blood trail, Han Fei came to the last shelf of the storeroom.
It did not feel good to be stared at by so many paper dolls but Han Fei noticed one thing.
When he first came here, the paper dolls' eyes were no different from a living person's, they were filled with different emotions.
But this time, the paper dolls' eyes were lifeless like they had lost their souls.
'The blood trail stops here.' Han Fei stared at a paper doll before him and picked it off.
There was a gap between the doll and the wall. Han Fei poked his head into it and noticed a coffin was hidden behind the last shelf.
'This sure is secretive.' Han Fei memorized the location of all the paper dolls. Then he picked a few of them and crawled behind the shelf.
When his hands touched the coffin lid, the ghost tattoo screamed. The pain was unbearable but Han Fei was not the one who was in pain.
'Brother, please hold on a little longer.'
The bag from the woman in the wedding dress was opened. The blood-stained cloth fell to the side. Han Fei pushed the coffin lid open with both hands.
Inside the coffin were bodies that belonged to different people. In the middle of the corpses that were pieced together was a palm-sized, blood-red paper doll.
The doll's eyes were closed like it was asleep.
Upon closer inspection, one would notice the faces of countless wailing souls on the doll. Han Fei recognized many of the faces from the pictures in the staff breakroom.
'This doll wants to possess a real body?'
Han Fei was focused. Just as he was getting nervous, a voice came from somewhere inside the room.
"Save me, save me …"
Han Fei was given a fright and almost fell into the coffin.
He looked around with widened eyes and realized the voice came from inside the white candle.
Squatting down beside the candle, Han Fei stared at the man. It was as if the word 'murder' was written on his face.
"You're the new worker, right? The curse on you is not that deep yet. Bring me away from here, I promise I will repay you! " The human face on the candle was very blurry. He tried his best to speak, "The doll has left. It rarely leaves the shop, this is a golden opportunity."
"You think a candle can persuade me? I'm loyal to the boss, you won't be able to sway me with just a few words. "Han Fei's eyes were filled with murderous intent.
"You've removed the boss' coffin lid on your first day, how is that loyalty?"
"I just want to get to know him better."
"You're a smart man, let's not waste any more time." The human face on the candle kept crying, "Do you know why the candles at this shop can burn for a whole night? Do you know why the light from these candles will soothe the wandering ghosts? "
"Why?"
"All the candles in this storeroom are made from cadaveric wax, they're made from the bodies of monsters and the lingering spirits of the workers. It likes to hear the cries of the lingering spirits when they're lit." The human face on the candle started to twist. "If you don't leave soon, you'll become a candle! I know the way to remove the curse, bring me with you, I'll help you remove the curse! "
"You seem to know the boss very well."
"I was once a worker here. The boss' true form is the paper doll inside the coffin. It's a unique cursed item. Due to the constant absorption of resentment, it slowly gained its own consciousness. Everyone who enters the shop will become its target. They will either become merchandise or become the workers' accomplices, but ghosts will not have a good ending! Even our workers will die! And it's not a peaceful death, the lingering humanity will be absorbed by the paper doll and become part of it. "The human face in the candle said with a sob.
"The humanity of all the workers has been absorbed by the paper doll?"
"Yes." The human face in the candle glanced at the coffin behind the shelf. "It has absorbed more and more humanity and resentment to form its own consciousness. Normally, it will hide its consciousness inside one of the paper dolls and place its real body inside the coffin to be nourished by flesh and blood. All the paper dolls in this shop are probably its clones … "
"Doesn't that mean we've been seen by it already?"
"But tonight is different! The bridal dress ghost has delivered the most important head and heart to the boss. As payment, the boss needs to help the bridal dress ghost kill someone. " The human face on the candle knew many things. It had been eavesdropping from behind the counter. "The person lives inside the Ziggurat, it's very dangerous. The boss needs to gather all of its resentment and power to kill it. Once it does, it'll be able to gain more things and grow faster. Then we won't be able to escape. "
"In other words, tonight is our only chance?"
"This is a once in a lifetime opportunity!" The human face tried to persuade Han Fei. "The boss' curse will stop you from getting close to its real body and prevent you from leaving the shop. Once you trigger the curse, you'll be in great pain. But if it's heavily injured, the curse will be weakened and so will the pain. So don't hold back, bring me with you! This is our only chance to escape, I'll tell you how to break the curse. "
"Wait a minute, if the boss is heavily injured, why are we leaving?"
"You've been cursed, you won't be able to fight back! I beg you, please listen to me! Bring me with you! "
"Don't worry, I have a better idea now." Han Fei stared at the coffin behind the shelf with a strange expression. "If I close the shop on my first day, will no one want to hire me in the future?"
Han Fei glanced at the mission interface. He understood why the mission required him to survive for one night. After this night, the shop might be gone.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
