Capítulo 23: Chapter 23 My Hide-and-Seek Game
In the entire building, Han Fei now had only an old man as a friend, and it had taken him a tremendous amount of effort to increase Meng Shi's friendliness. If something were to happen to her, all his prior efforts would have been for naught.
"Cry has been trapped by me, so in theory, that room should be very safe now. Could it be that Chenchen is not in room 1034?"
Han Fei grabbed a kitchen knife and ran towards the third floor, the anti-theft door plastered with Talisman Paper was wide open, but the elderly figure was nowhere to be seen.
"Granny? Chenchen?" Han Fei extended his hand, which wore the landlord's ring, into the room. His ring didn't react much, indicating that the room was safe.
After hesitating, he slowly entered room 1034 and looked around at the worn-out furniture.
Room 1034 was also covered with Talisman Paper, on the floor, walls, and ceiling, as if the entire room had been sealed off with Talisman Paper.
"This looks way too eerie! Even the Haunted House I live in isn't as exaggerated as this!"
Han Fei was extremely cautious, "Something's off. The child who came to my house didn't seem very strong and certainly didn't merit such a grand setup. There might be something else in this room."
Although the ring had no reaction, Han Fei decided to exit anyway. But as he moved backward, he suddenly noticed that the door to room 1034 had been shut without him knowing when it happened.
Cold sweat broke out instantly, and Han Fei's body froze on the spot. "You've got to be kidding me?"
He had just locked the child in the bedroom, and now he found himself trapped in room 1034. What goes around comes around, and Han Fei was inwardly devastated.
"What do I do now? Should I ask Wei Youfu to bring that child over to exchange hostages? But there's no way Wei Youfu and the others would listen to me! Besides, that child might already be on his way to reincarnation by now."
Standing still, Han Fei clung to the last hope and twisted the doorknob. The anti-theft door wasn't locked, but he couldn't open it.
"Really shameless, still playing dirty tricks even as a ghost."
After stopping at the door for over ten seconds, Han Fei finally calmed down.
"The landlord's ring still doesn't feel cold up to now, which might be the only good news I've got."
There was something nefarious in the room, but it wasn't revealing its presence, hiding for some reason.
Han Fei knew he couldn't leave for the moment, so his mind started racing, and he scanned the room from the corner of his eye.
"The windows have been completely sealed with wooden planks and Talisman Paper, so jumping out is not an option. Room 1034 is right below the Haunted House where I live. If I make a lot of noise here, the residents in the building should react."
His gaze stealthily shifted to the kitchen, and Han Fei glanced at the gas stove: "This room hasn't been lived in for a long time, and the gas is probably cut off. Even if it wasn't, creating a big explosion would surely kill me first."
Han Fei went through all the options he could think of, and finally, resignedly realized that it seemed impossible to escape in any way.
"I can leave the game now, but the problem is that when I log in next time, I'll still be in this room, and then it'll be impossible to fly away."
Spirited, Han Fei decided to explore the room thoroughly while he could still exit the game at any moment.
Since there was no way to evade, he thought to just take it one step at a time.
Han Fei covered the amulet on his neck and started moving slowly around the living room.
He didn't dare make any noise, and his movements were as slow as possible.
The room plastered with Talisman Paper was a bit frightening, with white rice grains scattered on the floor and things like a Spiritual Altar placed in the corner, occasionally there were torn Papermen.
The shattered faces smeared with various paints were chilling just to look at.
"What on earth happened in room 1034 before? And why is the child called Cry?"
As he pondered these questions, Han Fei pushed open the bedroom door.
The old and rusty hinges issued "creak, creak" sounds. Just as Han Fei was about to enter, a child with covered eyes suddenly hugged his waist.
"Caught you!"
"Chenchen?" Han Fei stared at the child at the doorway whose eyes were covered then looked inside the bedroom, where Meng Shi lay unconscious on the floor, her tattered clothes covered with the handprints of a child.
"I finally caught you!"
Chenchen began to laugh with joy, but Han Fei raised his hand and slapped him on the back of his head, "Are you still in the mood for playing games?"
After removing the cloth that covered Chenchen's eyes, Han Fei realized the problem. Chenchen's eyes were all white, looking cursed and terribly frightening at the moment.
"I caught you! Now it's your turn to be it! Now it's your turn to be it ... Now it's your turn to be it!"
Chenchen kept repeating these words, and his voice got louder and louder, resulting in an echo in the room as if someone else was repeating the words as well.
Han Fei tried to cover Chenchen's mouth, but even with Chenchen's mouth covered, the voice still echoed in the room, and to make matters worse, the ring on Han Fei's hand began to gradually emit a cold sensation!
The ghost was here!
An icy breath emanated from all directions, Han Fei shielded Chenchen and the unconscious Meng Shi behind him as he turned his head to look around.
"It's your turn to be the ghost, it's your turn to be the ghost..."
The Spiritual Altar in the corner had been disturbed, wet handprints appeared on the walls, and the Paperman on the ground seemed to be laughing happily.
Soon, Han Fei saw a pale hand reaching out from the wardrobe, followed swiftly by half of a ghastly pale child's face.
Footsteps sounded in the empty living room as a round head peeked out from behind the TV, and a little girl with a ponytail crawled out from behind the sofa.
The eerie voices kept coming, from the shoe cabinet, the kitchen, the canvas, the curtains, and under the blankets, as children with deathly pale skin and only whites in their eyes slowly crawled out.
Han Fei found it hard to breathe, his legs weak, and he leaned against the wall to keep from collapsing.
These children seemed to be the missing kids from the neighborhood, and there were so many of them it made his scalp tingle with horror!
The air in the room had grown thick, and all the little kids stared at Han Fei.
This suffocating scene nearly finished Han Fei; his heart felt like it was going to jump out of his throat.
The children's voices grew quieter, a grating cry echoed in the room, and looking towards the sound, Han Fei spotted a dark shadow crouching in a corner.
The shadow was not tall, distinct from the other children in the room.
"Is that the real 'Cry'?"
One by one, the kids entered the bedroom, holding blindfolds, their eyes fixated on Han Fei's as they repeated the phrase "It's your turn to be the ghost" over and over.
Han Fei did not agree, and at that moment, one of the children pounced towards him, their sharp nails aiming straight for Han Fei's eyes!
Refusing to wear the blindfold meant he would be blinded instead?
Pair after pair of small hands grabbed Han Fei's clothes, rendering him immobile, as he could only watch the approaching fingers grow larger in his pupils.
It seemed inevitable, but as Han Fei braced for the pain, the Amulet around his neck suddenly let out a crispsnap, and a burst of cold air exploded forth.
"Bang!"
The child intent on gouging Han Fei's eyes fell to the ground, crying out in agony while clutching their broken fingers, as the other children were frightened into letting go.
"Was it Granny's Amulet that saved me?" Han Fei looked down to find his Amulet riddled with cracks, likely to shatter upon its next use.
"What to do? The enemy will soon discover the secret of the Amulet! I must find a way to escape soon!"
The whispering cry reached his ears as the shadow moved into the bedroom unnoticed, seemingly embodying the room's darkness and chill. It was the true "Cry"!
While the other children hesitated to approach, it quietly watched Han Fei, then picked up a blindfold from the ground and extended it towards him.
Meng Shi's Amulet could only be used once more, and Han Fei knew that refusing "Cry" would not change his circumstances. Every nerve was on edge, aware that this was the critical moment.
Han Fei did not take the blindfold from "Cry," nor did he refuse to play Hide-and-Seek, but after a moment of thought, a sinister, cruel smile began to spread across his face.
Crouching down, Han Fei brought his face close to the shadow: "Ordinary Hide-and-Seek is boring, let's play a bigger game."
A hand slipped into his pocket, and Han Fei's sickly face revealed a hint of obsession; his eyes shimmered with uncontrollable excitement: "In normal Hide-and-Seek, one ghost chases everyone, but today, let's reverse it, all of you ghosts try to catch me!"
His mouth curled upwards, his face nearly touching the shadow: "I stake my own life on this bet. If you can find me within an hour, then you can do whatever you want with my life but if you can't find me, then you'll have to do three things for me."
His eyes burned with malice and madness; the cold aura that had burst from the Amulet had not yet entirely dissipated, making Han Fei appear to share a kinship with the little ghosts.
The room slowly quieted down, and after an indeterminate time, the shadow nodded, leading all the little ghosts out of the bedroom.
Han Fei, supporting Meng Shi and Chenchen, followed them out, placing Meng Shi and Chenchen at the entrance of the living room. His smile grew more deranged, his body trembling with excitement: "If you can't find me in this house, you might also want to check the neighbors' homes; consider this a hint."
When all the little ghosts and the shadow turned away, Han Fei walked to the door of the living room, twisting the doorknob again, but the door remained locked.
"What an interesting bunch of little ghosts," Han Fei said with a superior gaze over all the children in the room: "Remember our bet and try your best to find me!"
With the most ruthless, most sinister expression, he laughed unrestrainedly: "Now, the game begins!"
Opening the Attribute Panel, Han Fei chose to exit the game.
The world turned blood red, spinning wildly, and when Han Fei opened his eyes again, he tore off the gaming helmet.
Drenched in sweat, Han Fei clutched his hair desperately, his eyes bloodshot.
"It's over, I've overacted this time!"
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