Chapter 793: Case of the Ghost Card

The 15th floor was cleaned by the bloody shadow, so it should be safer. Han Fei summoned Nine Lives and the snake. He walked down the corridor and was impressed by how destructive the shadow was. Wherever it passed, the place was covered in thick blood stains. It was like the wall was scarred. “The bloody shadow will probably become a new Taboo.” Han Fei took out his broken elevator card and retraced his steps. Based on the hint, Han Fei came back to the place where he encountered the giant Deviant. The monster that dominated several Mausoleums had been crushed. Its body was scattered everywhere. However, to Han Fei’s surprise, the monster wasn’t dead. Or, more accurately, its soul still lingered.

“No wonder Sister Hong says Deviants are impossible to kill. Even if this state, it is still alive.” Han Fei’s lips curled as he took out Rest in Peace. “In the past, I was bullied by you, but now I’ll make you regret it.” The blinding light cut through the broken skin. The Deviant’s remaining humanity was absorbed into the blade. Han Fei could feel the knife turning sharper.

A loud boom from the corridor grabbed Han Fei’s attention. He stopped and turned around. The Mausoleum was filled with trash and rotten bodies. There was nothing strange.

“Something’s not right.” Han Fei walked to the door and stabbed into the trash pile. “Come out. I can already see you!”

The broken hand fell from the trash heap. A smelly boy crawled out of the heap. He tried his best to control his emotions. But when he saw Han Fei, he cried immediately. His dirty hands rubbed his eyes. Due to fear, his small body trembled like he was about to faint.

“Don’t use your dirty hands to rub your eyes. You’ll go blind.” Han Fei used Rest-in-Peace to brush against the boy’s hand. The boy was not severely injured. He hadn’t killed anyone or carried any harmful thoughts. “Stop crying.” Han Fei sighed in relief. He only had 1 Life Point left, so even a child could kill him. “If you continue to cry, I’ll feed you to the Deviant.” Perhaps his Piped Piper’s effect kicked in, and the boy eventually stopped crying. “Why are you here? Where are your parents?” Han Fei talked to the boy calmly. However, whenever he got close, the boy would cry again.

“Why are you crying again? Am I that scary?” Han Fei thought that he was quite good with kids.

“Let, let us go.” A weak voice came from outside the corridor. A young man dragging an old school bag crawled out from behind the trash heap. His body was rotten everywhere, and his arms were covered in mold. He would become a Deviant soon.

“There’s another o0ne?!” Han Fei was confused. He didn’t even sense the young man’s presence. However, to Han Fei’s shock, another thin woman came out of the hole where the young man was hiding earlier. The young couple didn’t dare to look at Han Fei. They crawled to the door of the Mausoleum. The young man knew that he had done something wrong, so before Han Fei said anything, he kowtowed to Han Fei.

“We are about to become Deviants soon. Please let the child go. He doesn’t know anything. He has just been to this world.” In the skyscraper, even dignity was gone. The couple begged and the boy cried again.

“Stop this!” Han Fei took a step back. “What’s so precious about this dirty world anyway?”

The couple thought Han Fei was about to kill them and they became even more nervous.

“Please let the boy go. We’ll do anything for you. I’m willing to use my life to trade for his.” The young man’s forehead was rotting from the collision. Blood mixed with mold. His hands grabbed the dirt tightly.

“Why would I kill you? Leave.” Han Fei carried the boy by his shirt and lifted him to the couple. “Do I look that cruel to you?”

“The child can sense evil. Since he’s so afraid of you, it can only mean that…” The young man closed his mouth but it was already too late. Han Fei ruffled the boy’s hair and got the system notification. “Notification for Player 0000! You’ve found a unique citizen—Dirty.

“Dirty (unique citizen): He was born in the skyscraper. His parents are innocent people who have done nothing wrong. He has a pure soul. God likes this kind of sacrifice. Disciples search for such children daily.”

“How can there be someone with a pure heart in this dirty place?” Han Fei was shocked. “Get up first. Good people shouldn’t kneel. They should pick up the knife to kill all the bad people.” You shouldn’t beg others for fairness. Han Fei hoped the young parents could understand that. With Han Fei insisting, the parents eventually got up. Dirty’s father took out a piece of skin the size of one’s palm from his pocket. “This is something I peeled from the large Deviant. This should be your winning.”

“How can a Deviant’s skin be so supple?” Han Fei accepted the skin. He was surprised. The skin was very smooth and had a strange fragrance.

“Deviants with over 70 percent mutation might grow new skin. This is an extremely rare thing. You should be able to trade it for a week of food on the other floor.” The young father explained.

“A week of food?” Han Fei nodded. He opened his inventory and took out the food Huang Yin gave him. “These should last your family for a long time.”

Seeing the food from their memories, the young couple felt like they were dreaming. Dirty’s father touched the food with his fingertip and his eyes watered. He called Dirty to his side. He proudly explained to Dirty the different food and had his son try them. However, he didn’t touch any of the food.

“Eat as much as you want. I have plenty more.” Han Fei took out the Ghost’s New Clothes. With a sudden inspiration, he patched the skin to it. “Notification for Player 0000! You’ve gained 3 friendliness level with Zhang Xiaowei and 3 friendliness level with Jin Wei!” The meal gained Han Fei 6 friendliness level but the most surprising thing was Han Fei had read these two names in the file room that morning. They were missing in the Case of the Ghost Card. Their bodies still hadn’t been recovered.

“Take your time.” Han Fei said patiently. “This floor is mainly Mausoleums. Can’t you move to the other floors?”

“The Disciples have been trying to kidnap our son. We have no choice but to come to this floor to hide.” Zhang Xiaowei looked at Han Fei with appreciation. “Most of us live here to avoid disaster. Even though we look horrifying and we will one day turn into Deviants, I feel like this floor is cleaner than other floors. And I feel better leaving Dirty here.”

“Dirty is our son’s nickname.” Jin Wei put down the food and explained, “Since there are too many curses here, we never gave the child a real name. We’ve been calling him Dirty. However, he has the purest soul.”

“Are there others on this floor?” Han Fei said. “Can you bring me to them? I want to try to heal the wounds on you.”

Seeing the couple’s hesitation, Han Fei took out Rest-in-Peace and sheared off Zhang Xiaowei’s mutated body parts. The couple was shocked. Han Fei’s blade was only harmful to ghosts but not to them.

“Okay! We’ll bring you to everyone now!” The family of three hugged the food and entered the hidden tunnels on floor 15. They took many turns and the stench in the air became suffocating. “We’re here. Normally, we’ll gather in this corridor. If one of us has extra food, we’ll come here to share.” Zhang Xiaowei shook a bell on the wall. Weak lights came from the dark corridor. Several citizens with disheveled clothing came out of their hiding spots.

“Xiaowei, why did you bring an outsider here?” The leading elder paused when he saw Han Fei. His expression became serious.

“Uncle Lee, he’s a good man. He gave me food.”

“You’re so stupid! There’s no free meal in this building!” The elder was so angry that his beard was shaking. He started to cough violently. The other citizens looked at Han Fei with hostility.

“Lee Sisong, a doctor at old city’s Ninth Hospital. The oldest victim of the Ghost Card Case. Before he disappeared, he had treated the other victims. The police once suspected that he was the killer.” When Han Fei saw the elder’s face, he recognized him immediately. The elder had been through a lot. He looked barely human.

“I know words can’t convince you so I’ll use actions. I know some of you will become Deviants soon if you don’t stop the mutation on your bodies.” Han Fei took out Rest in Peace. “I can save you.”

“Uncle Lee, he’s telling the truth!” Zhang Xiaowei raised his arm. “He saved me.”

With the persuasion from the couple, a few highly-mutated citizens were pushed out. Han Fei used Rest in Peace to cut off their infected parts. Then, he used the medicine given by Huang Yin to conduct treatment. The effect was not perfect, but it was better than nothing.

“This doesn’t solve the core of the problem. The floor is mostly Mausoleums. You better move to other floors to live.” After Han Fei treated everyone, the victims were no longer hostile against him. He gained many friendliness level instead.

“If we can leave, who would want to stay?” Lee Sisong’s attitude changed a lot. He looked at Han Fei with an apology in his eyes. “The 15th floor is a trash site. The other floors will drop the stuff they don’t want here. There will be one such floor every 25 floors in this skyscraper. At first, there weren’t that many Mausoleums but as more people became Deviants, the Mausoleums increased too.” The elder sighed. “Let’s not talk about that anymore. Thanks for saving us. But I’m confused. Why did you save us?”

“I’m helping you to help me.” Han Fei used Masterful Acting to reveal the softest smile. “I’m a Sin Seeker. One day, I might lose myself but now I still believe in hope, fairness and justice.”

When the citizens knew Han Fei was a Sin Seeker, they trusted him even more.

“There’s a new Taboo in the building. The 15th floor has been cleared but I believe some other forces will come to check in a bit. So I suggest you move to another floor first.” After Han Fei communicated with the citizens, he realized that most of them were victims of the Ghost Card case. After all the victims had 3 friendliness level or more with Han Fei, he received a system notification. “Notification for Player 0000! You’ve triggered Grade D High Difficulty Mission—The Case of the Ghost Card!

Find the original at bit.ly/3Tfs4P4.

“The Case of the Ghost Card: One of the top ten unsolved cases in Xin Lu. Big Ghost carved the faces of 53 killers on the poker cards. Red Hearts represent heart-stealer, Black Clubs represent dismemberment, Red Diamonds represent live burial, and Black Spades represent missing and mystery. Everyone who received the ghost card will die within three days. The clown who delivers the ghost cards and the big ghost hidden behind the scene are still not found.

“Mission Requirement: Grade D Missions have many steps. When you complete one, you’ll open another one!

“Mission 1: Head to the 25th floor and gain your first ghost card!

“Warning! All Grade D Missions are related to Unmentionables. They might not appear in the mission, but you’ll definitely meet something or someone related to them in the mission.”

Han Fei was surprised. He was shocked that the case would be a Grade D Mission. “The Unmentionable here is behind the case? Is he the Big Ghost?”