The Restless Spirit's Father

Other sounds tuned out as Fu Xing stared at the child next to him. He didn't even feel how much of a jelly his knees had turned and even the very movement of his vision panning differently as if the source of vision moved.

Bang! He fell to the floor, and the pain woke him up instead. He then crawled backward away from the child. What made him have spasms inwardly was that the child actually jogged to chase him.

"Uncle Fu, it's dangerous to be outside the light," the child said as he raced to the man's side.

"Light?" Fu Xing then noticed that he had already dropped his flashlight, and the light beam was at the corner where he saw the figure. Coincidentally, the same figure peeked from the side... albeit from the ceiling.

What was that man doing up there in the ceiling?

"Guangru won't hurt Uncle." Guangru wanted to laugh, but he knew that his giggling would only knock out the man. He then lifted his head and stared at the security camera that moved to keep an eye at the guard.

"Uncle! Come here!" He waved at it. "Uncle needs help."

The operator cursed in his office. He was alone in the Control Room at the moment. Aside from keeping an eye at Fu Xing, he had to watch all those screens in pitch-black darkness. He was now scared to see figures in the darkness if he looked at other cameras.

An idea came to his mind, and he radioed the guy from the fourth floor to come help Fu Xing. He only said that the man stumbled in the dark. He was newly operated so he needed help. That did the trick, making the operator sigh in relief.

However, as he continued staring at Guangru's black eyes, he felt that his soul was still shaking.

"Kid... let me... let me have him..."

A ghastly voice echoed in the hallway, and Fu Xing darted his gaze around him. The figure at the end of the hallway had vanished, but something was actually creeping towards them from behind.

Fu Xing's eyes were accustomed to the dark so he could more or less spot a moving creature in the void. He then tried to get up swiftly, but he felt pain sting from the wound that paralyzed him a week ago.

"Kid... let this brother have him... I haven't eaten for a very long time..." The voice seemed to be coming from the creature. "I could spare you an arm or a leg if you wanted to feed..."

"What's happening?" Fu Xing was terrified. The creature from behind them was bargaining with the child next to him?

"Uncle Fu is Baba's friend. I can't let you eat him." The child turned to face the creature in the dark. "I've eaten a lot earlier so I'm not really trying to eat Uncle."

"Eaten a lot? You were in that room earlier?"

"Yeah. There should still be left-overs. Go there instead."

Low chuckling came from the ghastly voice that was like coming from an old man with a hoarse voice. "That long-haired lady there is mutating. If I go now, she will eat me instead." Bright eyes came from the darkness. "If you're really not letting this brother eat, then... I would have to eat you instead!"

Tick! Tick! A series of successive cl.i.c.k.i.n.g came from the floor as the creature that tried to look human earlier ran across the hallway on its tip-toed claws on its four limbs.

Since it was dark, it was hard to decipher what it really looked like. However, Guangru only stood where he was, unfazed by the crazed movements of the other.

Fu Xing was so terrified that he passed out when he tried to move again. He was knocked unconscious when he started hearing the cl.i.c.k.i.n.g noises. Right now, he just laid there on the floor, waiting for either death or release.

Swish! The creature swung a claw towards Guangru, but he stopped with its sharp points centimeters away from the child's face. It stared at Liu Guangru's unwavering gaze before looking behind it.

From the hallway it appeared on the second time… was a figure walking in the dark. Each step it took echoed in a low thud. However, it was as if dictating the force of thumping inside the creature's soul. It didn't have a beating heart anymore, but it shuddered at every step the newcomer made.

The operator couldn't really see the dark creature; neither was he aware why Fu Xing already passed out. All he could do was to urge the other guard to make it on time.

After a few circulations, the operator realized that the series of cameras from the cell hallway to this access way were the only ones getting static. Moreover, the cameras getting static differed by the second... as if something was approaching Fu Xing from the cell hallway.

"Holy shit..." The operator really needed to save Fu Xing immediately. He didn't even think about his accountabilities before pressing that emergency button. He might really need his job, but he wasn't willing to watch someone die on his watch.

Bang! Whirr! Red emergency lights suddenly lit up the entire prison as the emergency sound blared through the speakers. All the sleeping resident guards jumped from their beds and quickly put on their gear. Those keeping an eye on the place shook their sleepiness off and waited for the announcement.

In the access way where Fu Xing was, the emergency lights painted the walls with a dim red as if someone splashed blood onto them. Guangru didn't flinch as well as the creature.

However, it still shuddered as he was taken away from the comfort of the dark. The approaching figure was only human in size and shape, but he was oozing with a rather nasty aura...

No... it was a miasma.

Dark miasma oozed from his body as he walked towards the dark creature that was hiding its long, furry limbs in the dark while a figure of a person was painted on its belly.

Like Guangru, this entity didn't seem to have human origins. However, it acted like a scared kid under the gaze of the approaching figure.

The person stopped walking and only stared at the dark creature. He opened his mouth to speak, but no voice came from his mouth. He was just a regular human, but he had this very terrifying presence.

Right now, his miasma drifted into the wind toward the dark creature. The dark creature wanted to back off, but it couldn't. Guangru was behind it after all.

Before the creature could even think of what it could do, it felt being pressured into immobility. It looked around its body and saw that the miasma was already coating it. It then looked at the human at the distance.

"Mercy..."

"No."

Bang! The miasma shrunk its coverage and squished the dark creature into implosion. The dark creature didn't even have the time to cry when it happened. All that was left of its presence was the strands of strange hair that fell on the floor.

When it vanished, the human saw the child… who was rather shocked. However, those sweet-looking lips soon curled into a smile.

Guangru ran to his father and asked to be carried. He then wrapped his arms around Liu Xiaodan's neck. "Baba, did you see? Guangru didn't have to harm anyone to keep Uncle alive!"

"Hehe, that's true. Let's go back before the guards find us."

Just like that, the figure vanished into a smoke-like visage and rushed to his cell, past the guards that came from the bottom floors. He turned back to normal as soon as he managed to hide beneath his blanket, the cloth rising and hugging the form of the human that suddenly got underneath.

Like nothing happened, Liu Xiaodan acted like he was as shocked as everyone else when the sirens kept on blurring.

The morning had come, and Fu Xing found himself getting discharged earlier than expected. His wound did open last night, but he wasn't in critical danger. He only needed to skip his workday tonight to heal at home. He just sighed as he held onto his stomach.

The events of last night still echoed in his head. He saw a child, and even the operator saw the same thing. However, he didn't know if the operator saw the other entity that tried to eat him. No matter, he just had to deal with it when he got back to work.

When he was leaving, he noticed the vending machine. Man, he felt thirsty just thinking about that night. It was much scarier than his encounter with the dead inmate.

He stood in front of the vending machine and pulled out his phone... aw, he didn't have it with him. He was on a shift. His things were still in his locker. The government had him insured so he didn't have to pay for his hospitalization.

Still, it didn't leave him with any change for a drink.

"Uhm, is everything okay, mister?"

Fu Xing turned around and saw a young man with a rather gloomy expression. He looked like he needed a drink even though he shouldn't be drinking this early.

An awkward smile appeared on Fu Xing's face. "Ah, sorry... I was taken here during my shift. Do you mind lending me money just to buy some juice?"

"Sure. Take a pick." The young man only hummed. He had his phone at the ready after all.

After Fu Xing picked a can, the young man paid for it through a QR code before getting his own. The old man couldn't help but offer some mental load in exchange for the can. "Aiya, you're so young, but you look so troubled. Since you bought Uncle a can, he'll listen to your troubles."

The young man only looked at him before pulling his lips a little for a little smile. "Thanks, Uncle, but I'm alright. It's my friend that I'm really worried about. Damn, we can't even see him."

He then twitched and waved his empty hand. "Forget it, forget it, sir. You might... uhm, I really don't want to hear any insults older people might have for my friend. He's very innocent... but he got himself in death row just to save asses..."

"Haha, don't worry. I'm not like that. In fact, I know that even some of the most dangerous criminals were all once friends and dear people to their loved ones."

"...I wish the university would say the same for Xiaodan..."