Chapter 527: 527 Qiang Wei

527 Qiang Wei

To keep on moving in the dark, one's heart had to turn towards the light. There was no hope in the endless dark; everything would be dominated by horror, fear, and despair. Therefore, one to rely on oneself. One had to maintain sanity and not be corrupted by darkness.

Such an individual was rare. However, Han Fei was lucky. He encountered Huang Yin, who did not bow to Butterfly after being killed endless times, and Bai Xian, who radiated kindness. Han Fei walked alone in the dark. He needed to gather strength in the cryptic world as he explored its secrets. Huang Yin and Bai Xian were his friends from the surface world.

Han Fei had been pondering why Fu Sheng entered the city to fight with the Unmentionables? Why did he give up everything to destroy the cryptic world? Han Fei came up with a possibility. Perhaps the Unmentionables deep inside the city wanted to open a channel between the two worlds and had darkness consume everything. Han Fei's level was still too low. He was unable to verify this speculation. However, it didn't mean he couldn't prepare for it.

Han Fei opened both sides of the black box. He had chosen the most difficult path. He didn't gain the cryptic world's approval or aid from the surface world, so he could only rely on himself. Everything he did, he did for that one possible day in the future.

If despair really descended, and the cryptic world tried to kill him, and the surface world branded him as a demon, he needed people to stand beside him. Han Fei left after chatting for a long time with Bai Xian.

He received a call from the police when he exited the neighborhood. Li Xue provided him with several candidates who matched the characteristics of 019 and 030.

Everyone had their dream, but how many could see them become a reality? None of the people Li Xue sent was a prominent actor or had robbed a bank. The police used the photon computer to construct the possible appearance of the two orphans based on the descriptions given by Han Fei. The computer used aging software and compared them to the database to pull out the rudimentary filter result.

After looking through the message, Han Fei called Xin Lu's most famous paparazzi, Jin Jun. He had once saved Jin Jun's life, and when Zhuang Ren first entered the game, Jin Jun helped too.

"Boss, congrats for winning the best male supporting actor. I've seen many actors, but no one rises as fast as you!" Jin Jun answered after the call only rang twice.

"I need you to find two persons for me." After checking Li Xue's result, Han Fei picked two actors out. "They are about my age. One is a professor musical actor called Qiang Wei. The other is a very low-profile D-list actor called Lee Changxiong."

"I know Lee Changqiong. He had an accident and almost ruined his face. The man is very professional, and I heard he has a doctorate. He leads a very self-disciplined life. He likes to exercise and read. He is the kind we are the most uninterested in." Jin Jun rattled out the man's information quickly.

"What about the other one?"

"I am not familiar with the musical genre. But normally, stage actors require great performing skills because they need to face the audience directly, and there is no redo. Therefore, stage actors are mostly outstanding actors." Jin Jun hung up after he received the files from Han Fei. He promised Han Fei to look into it and give him the report the next day.

"Jin Jun is reliable." After lunch, Han Fei returned to the old city. He found a quiet shop and sat down. He pored through the murder cases and made his notes.

The shop did not have that many customers. The waitresses in the shop looked at Han Fei. The girls giggled among themselves before one was pushed out. Encouraged by her colleagues, the girl took out her phone and walked towards Han Fei. Her cheeks blushed and she stood before Han Fei nervously. The lips opened, but before they could say anything, the girl's pretty eyes saw the bloody pictures on Han Fei's phone. Her pupils trembled. The girl turned to look at Han Fei's notes. They were all about murder and plastic surgery. The girl's heart pounded even harder. She froze beside the table.

"How can I help you?" Han Fei lifted his head to look at the girl. The sun slid down his face to carve out his perfect jawline. The girl blushed again. She refilled Han Fei glass and then ran away.

"Was that my fan?" Han Fei shook his head before returning to his research.

The waitresses had gathered together to have a discussion.

"The young brother has a sick hobby!"

"Should we call the police?"

"Don't you think he looks like a celebrity?"

"Why would a celebrity come to an old shop like ours?"

"I wish for him to eat me."

"Hey, wake up!"

Han Fei did not hear the whispering inside the kitchen. He thought the service there was very good. Han Fei planned to return home when the sun fell. Suddenly his phone vibrated.

It was a picture taken by Jin Jun. The picture was shot inside a dark room. A man with long hair was feasting on raw meat. "Allotriophagy?" Then Han Fei received a series of random numbers. Jin Jun probably couldn't type actual sentences and this was all he could manage. "Is he in trouble?"

Han Fei checked the picture and noticed the props were marked with Center Performance House. Han Fei put away his phone and rushed out. "The long-haired man is Qiang Wei?"

Han Fei urged the driver to go faster. They reached the location in 20 minutes. The place was closed and there was no one around. "Jin Jun's car is here so he probably hasn't left. Then why has he stopped messaging me?"

Jin Jun was a very experienced paparazzi, but he seemed to have met a very special actor this time. When the cleaner opened the door, Han Fei sneaked in. He was like a cat, moving silently through the ground. Han Fei moved behind the stage. The backstage had the actors' dressing rooms, and it was unusually cold. "Is the place so eerie normally?" Han Fei rarely went to see a play so he was here for the first time. Han Fei saw an open door at the end of the corridor. The door was marked Prop Room.

Han Fei pushed the door slowly open. His nose twitched. He sighed in relief when he couldn't smell blood. Han Fei took out the nunchuck from his sleeve. Han Fei moved through the different props, and he was extremely alert. The horror of the cryptic world taught him well. He was not afraid when he entered the dark room alone. If anything, he felt like coming home.

Han Fei found many children's toys at the corner. The place had been made into a small playground. "Why are there so many toys here?" The dolls were seated neatly by the wall, they had on beautiful skirts and their faces were painted. Han Fei felt uncomfortable by how lifelike they were. The dolls were all looking at the mirror deep inside the Prop Room. Flower petals were scattered before the mirror. Footprints could be seen among the petals. Someone was standing here barefooted not too long ago. "Jin Jun took the picture here."

Han Fei turned to the mirror and the reflection reminded him of the cryptic world. Many props were stacked together. Han Fei's eyes moved, and suddenly, he saw a person stand behind one of the props. Their eyes met in the mirror but when Han Fei turned around, the person had disappeared. Han Fei rushed out of the Prop Room and looked ar, but no one was there. Han Fei took out his phone to call Jin Jun again.

The strange melody rang in the stairwell. Jin Jun's phone was inside the safety passage! Han Fei did not hesitate and rushed into the stairwell. His stamina was better than most, but he still could not catch the moving ringtone. "Is he going to the roof?" Han Fei arrived at the roof 10 seconds later. The door which could only be accessed by employees had been broken. The lock was on the ground and the ladder that led to the rooftop was lowered.

Han Fei had a bad feeling as he climbed the ladder. The wind howled through his ears and scattered the strange melody. Han Fei saw Jin Jun holding the phone and walking towards the edge with a glazed expression.

"Danger!" Jin Jun shivered when he heard Han Fei. He suddenly picked up speed to run to the edge. He was going to jump over the rails!

At the crucial moment, Han Fei unleashed a burst of speed. When Jin Jun was a few meters from the fence, Han Fei pressed the man to the ground.

"Brother, calm down!" Han Fei suppressed Jin Jun with one hand while his other hand held the nunchuck as he looked around. His senses were sharp. He scanned every possible hiding spot, and half a minute later, he was sure there was no one else on the roof. Jin Jun slowly returned to normal. His eyes were slowly taken over by fear. If not for Han Fei pressing on him, Jin Jun would bounce around in shock.

"What did you see?"

"Ghost! Ghost!" Jin Jun screamed.

"What kind? Where did you see it?" Han Fei protected Jin Jun. This was an amusing scene.

"In the Prop Room! The ghost was eating the child. He hid the meat inside the dolls!" Jin Jun was still agitated, but he slowly calmed down after he saw Han Fei. "Right, I have pictures of it! I took down his picture consuming the child!"

Jin Jun was a professional paparazzi. Even though he was scared, he checked his phone quickly. He clicked open his phone, and all his latest videos had been deleted. "It's fine! This is not the first time a celebrity wants to delete incriminating videos of themselves. Therefore, whenever I finish taking a picture or video, they will be automatically uploaded to the cloud server." Jin Jun clicked around, and then he cheered. "Found it!"

He showed Han Fei the phone and clicked for the video to play. Inside the Prop Room, a long-haired man danced before the enormous mirror. He stepped on the petals and the dolls were like his captive audience. The dance had a unique charm to it. It expressed the solitude of death and inexplicable loneliness. Jin Jun and Han Fei saw this dance for the first time.

"Looks like he's conducting some kind of ritual." After finishing the dance, the man picked up a doll. He twisted the head off and drank the red liquid from the body. Then he twisted the head of the second doll off, took out something from inside, and gorged himself on it. When he went for the third doll, he suddenly lifted his head. The head covered behind long hair stared at Jin Jun. The camera shook, which suggested that Jin Jun was running. The phone fell to the ground, and the video ended.

"He didn't eat any children, stop scaring yourself." Han Fei said.

"This video is not similar to what I remember. The man's eyes were red as he interacted with himself inside the mirror. It was his reflection who spotted me first."

"Do you remember what happened after that? Why did you come to the roof alone? Did he do anything to you?"

"I can't remember." Jin Jun pulled on his hair. "Since I was saved by you, I would blank out. Fear would descend and I would see horrible things from the most mundane stuff."

"What do you mean?"

"For example, didn't you tell me to look into Wu Wu Entertainment? When I entered the elevator, I saw a painter. He was a normal worker but I felt like he was a murderer. After that, I didn't dare to take the elevator alone anymore. Then one time I was following the CEO's old girlfriend. She was going to the airport, dragging a suitcase. The luggage looked fine but I knew there was a body inside. Then I saw on the news that the woman's body was discovered inside that suitcase!"

Jin Jun pulled his hair. Han Fei was shocked. He had no idea Jin Jun had so many close brushes with death. Jin Jun's life could be split into two parts before Han Fei saved him and after Han Fei saved him.

"The things you saw are probably not your imagination." Han Fei had a prediction, "Jin Jun, what is your talent in Perfect Life?"

Jin Jun had no idea why Han Fei was asking this. "It's completely useless. Something called the Pathfinder. It's a Grade C Talent. I can get double EXP when exploring unknown maps. The higher the exploration rate, the better talent I'll unlock. Since the game started, I have been exploring many maps, but most of the maps I can go to have been explored by other players already."

"What is your other talent?" Han Fei didn't think the talent was useless. The great big world of the cryptic world required a pathfinder.

"The other talent is even more useless called The Resurrected. It's a Grade C Talent too. The introduction is very long. It's something about a dead person being revived due to an accident. The effect is when my Life Points drop to zero, I will enter a fake death state. When I run into a player with the Resurrection talent, I have a chance to be revived." Jin Jun shook his head. "When I built the account and realized I had 2 Grade C Talents, I was so excited. But when I reached level 10, did you know what the profession the system recommended me was? My most compatible profession is Medium and I should work at cemetery or crematorium. And you're telling me this is the latest photon supercomputer?" Jin Jun groused.

"I heard from rumors that Deep Space Tech's photon computer could capture some special unique brain wave, so you might actually be haunted. You better be careful." Han Fei did not want to scare Jin Jun. "Leave the investigation of Qiang Wei to me. Now you need to train yourself."

Han Fei was really putting Jin Jun first. Even though Ziggurat was extremely scary, at least one would not die training there. That was a chance so many people would die for. If not because Jin Jun had helped Han Fei a lot, Han Fei would not give him this precious chance.

"Don't be afraid. I will help you get used to these horrors. Just stay at home to play games. Stop investigating Wu Wu Entertainment, and you better stay away from mirrors at night." Han Fei saved Jin Jun once, but he couldn't protect Jin Jun forever, so the best way was to train Jin Jun to protect himself. At the very least, he had to have the courage.

"Stay away from mirrors? Am I really cursed?" Jin Jun was scared.

"Don't overthink it. Go home and play the game to unwind. The next day, you won't be so scared anymore." Han Fei comforted Jin Jun. He counted his friends. 'Huang Yin, Bai Xian, Jin Jun, Seaglass Cat, one more person and we can start a neighborhood.'