My Iyashikei Game-Novel

663 Key to the Memory

“Home?” Xiao Jia looked at the eerie corridor. He couldn’t believe Han Fei would say those things.

“Haven’t I told you and Lee Guo Er before? Building 1 feels very familiar to me, like I used to live here. When we came in the morning, I had the feeling too, but it wasn’t as strong. The building felt unfamiliar, but now it’s different.” Han Fei spoke very fast. When he was done, he was already on the second floor.

“After we were dragged by Xiao Yu’s mother into the ghost’s world, I realized the Happiness Neighborhood Building 1 that I am familiar with is not the one in the morning, but the one at night. I believe I used to live with ghosts.” Han Fei felt very conflicted. He feared death like a normal person, but on top of that, he felt warmth too. It felt like his best and worst memories were featured here.

While Han Fei and Xiao Jia communicated, the bloody phone glowed. Xiao Yu used her mom’s phone to call the landlord. “Why did you want to harm me? Why?” Once the call was connected, Xiao Yu lost control. Her fear turned into an interrogation. After experiencing what she did, being affected mentally was unavoidable. However, now was not the time to waste time on the blame game. Therefore, Han Fei grabbed the phone from Xiao Yu and asked, “What happened in the room you rented to Xiao Yu? Why is the hanging man there?”

“That has nothing to do with me!” The landlord definitely knew something because he immediately shifted the blame.

“When did it appear?”

“I’m a victim too! I bought the room at a low price from my friend, not knowing that he was trying to scam me. The tenant had committed suicide in the room, and the body was found after it started to smell. I heard from the neighbors that the tenant’s body had already strung out of shape when the police arrived. The head and the body were almost separated. The neck was stretched until it elongated.” The landlord’s voice shook with fear.

“Then why did you still rent the room out?” Xiao Yu’s body trembled out of both fear and anger.

“I have no choice. I didn’t want to rent that room at first. I just wanted to find another person to buy it. However, whenever the room was left empty, I would have a nightmare. I dreamed about a man hanging beside my bed. His neck was stretched until his spine showed!” The landlord was very afraid too. “I found many people to try to evict the ghosts, but it was to no avail. In the end, it was a user with a black profile who added me online. He said he had a solution for me.”

“A user with a black profile?” Han Fei was instantly reminded of the taxi driver. The driver killed nine passengers because he was controlled by the black profile to do so. It was the black profile who taught him the steps of the ritual.

“Yes. The man told me to rent the room out. After nine different living humans stayed in that room, the Yang energy would wash away the Yin energy. The ghost would leave with the last tenant, and it would stop haunting me.” The landlord admitted.

“And you followed his instruction just like that? Didn’t you care that you might harm other people?” Xiao Jia screamed. It was unknown if other people were harmed, but he was definitely harmed.

“I have no choice! I don’t want to die!” The landlord had no idea his callers were trapped inside the ghost apartment. He was cooperative.

“Do you know why the man committed suicide? What was his wish before he died?” Han Fei remembered what the clown told him. The clown helped him because he helped the clown with his wish. Han Fei’s plan was simple. He wanted to find out the hanging man’s obsession and see if he could use Company to shatter the core of his resentment.

“The man was bullied since he was young. Then, he was framed at work. He chose the most extreme method to escape. When my friend took over the room, he found many notes the man left behind. They contained messages that curse the world. In the end, the man died hating everything.” The landlord felt Han Fei was very professional, so he told him everything he knew.

“So the person he hates the most should be the one who framed him. Why didn’t you invite his boss into the apartment? Or let the man possess you, and then you go and find the boss at night?” The solution provided by Han Fei was too farfetched that the landlord didn’t know how to answer.

Rapid footsteps came from upstairs. It sounded like several crazy people racing inside the building. The info provided by the landlord was not enough to deal with the hanging man. Han Fei asked again, “I need you to think! When the tenant died, did he leave behind something special, or did something out of the ordinary happen inside his room?” The boy’s dead body became a Lingering Spirit because of the resurrection ritual. The black profile had actively contacted the landlord. Han Fei had reasons to believe the black profile might be related to the hanging man.

“Hmm…” Just as Han Fei was about to lose his patience, the landlord was reminded of something. “Normally, a person would use a stool to step on to hang oneself. However, the man used a black urn. I heard from my friend that the urn contained the man’s old school uniform, pencil, eraser, folder, stapler, an empty mug, and so on.”

“An urn? You said that the man was bullied since he was young. Did the urn contain the things related to his bullying? The owners of these things caused him to slowly move towards death?” Han Fei reacted quickly. “Have you tossed the urn away?”

“My friend said he did. However, I would dream of that urn whenever I had a nightmare. It was still inside that room.” The landlord was tortured. “But I couldn’t find it.”

“How is your relationship with your friend?” Han Fei suddenly asked.

“He owes me a lot of money. He gave me the house because he couldn’t pay me the money anymore. Honestly, before the money issue, we were such good friends. But money really changes everything.” The landlord was shocked. “Wait. Did you mean my friend did this to me on purpose?”

“Would the man always appear beside your bed in your dreams?”

“No. I would hear some noises first. Then, it slowly moved from outside into the bedroom.”

“The hanging man appears outside the bedroom.” Han Fei turned to Xiao Yu. “Didn’t you say you always hear footsteps? Where did they normally originate from?”

“I think it’s the bathroom.” Xiao Yu thought about it and said.

“The hanging man didn’t leave, so the landlord’s friend probably lied. He didn’t throw away the urn but hid it inside the bathroom.” Han Fei came up with a plan. “Later, I’ll find a way to delay him. Use that opportunity to go back to check the seventh floor’s bathroom.”

At that moment, they ran into the hanging man whose body had mutated on the fourth floor. The black mist surrounded the man’s body. The man’s head was roughly pierced through the spine. Its body had grown twice its size. The wounds left behind by Han Fei earlier had healed.

“How did it heal so fast?” Holding the knife, Han Fei stared at the hanging man wiggling in the corridor. It lay in the middle of the corridor like a giant worm. The thin legs were like insectoid legs supporting the large body. Two thin arms reached out of the sides of the ribs. The nails were strung with shredded school uniforms. They grabbed the staircase banister, blocking the path.

“It looks so scary. Just the sight of it fills my heart with terror.” Xiao Jia’s legs weakened. He wanted to run, but he knew that the entrance was locked.

“The urn he used to commit suicide is very important. I’ll buy a chance for you.” Han Fei didn’t like to risk his life, but most of the time, fate was not in his hands. He had to risk his life for that ray of hope.

“Just the two of us?”

“And Xiao Yu’s mother!” Before Han Fei could say anything else, the monster charged over. It climbed on the wall, almost charging at Han Fei. To ensure that Xiao Jia and Xiao Yu weren’t implicated, Han Fei didn’t evade but charged forward. His bravery already surpassed other gamers.

‘The hanging man blocks the stairwell so no one can leave. I have to lure him into one of the rooms so that Xiao Jia and Xiao Yu could use the stairwell.’ Han Fei suppressed his fear and chopped at the man’s head again. Normally, a man would die after being slashed at the neck, but the man was not affected at all. His arms bound with black mist tried to grab at Han Fei’s neck. Han Fei evaded them easily. He noticed that he was very good at close-quarter combat.

‘The space in the corridor is too narrow. Evasion is not going to help me last. I need to attack!’ Before Han Fei could do that, he felt something tighten around his neck. Then his air was cut off. Something strapped around his neck, and then a force pulled him up. Han Fei lowered his head to look. The hanging man’s head had fallen on the ground. The man’s mouth opened, and a light black mist wafted out of his mouth. They coagulated to form a black rope to strangle Han Fei’s neck. Han Fei was lifted up from the ground. Han Fei struggled like a hooked fish. It was futile. Han Fei’s face turned purple. He wanted to chop off the black mist around his neck, but his hands were bound by the hanging man. The man wanted to see Han Fei die from hanging. At that crucial moment, a dying kitten jumped out of the backpack Xiao Jia was carrying. It pounced on the hanging man’s head. The black pattern on its body temporarily blocked the black mist, but it had paid heavily. The wounds on the kitten opened. A large amount of black blood burst out of its small body.

“Han Fei!” Xiao Jia noticed the danger. He took out the mirror in panic. He screamed Han Fei’s name to bring himself courage. He raised the mirror at the hanging man. The mirror had a surprising effect on the ghosts. However, it only managed to stop part of the black mist on a Lingering Spirit.

The kitten and Xiao Jia created the opening for Han Fei. Han Fei held the knife and rammed it into the man. A living person couldn’t touch ghosts, but Han Fei appeared to be an exception. As he tried to shove the hanging man into the room on the fourth floor, his hands appeared to be connected to the hanging man’s soul. At that moment, he had touched not only the man’s body but also his memory and his resentment.

The hanging man didn’t think any living person would be able to touch him. His sealed memory was loosened. Then, he collapsed around the door of a room on the fourth floor with Han Fei.

“Get to the seventh floor! You have to find the urn no matter what!”

“Okay!” Xiao Jia knew they couldn’t fully kill the hanging man. He dragged Xiao Yu and ran to the seventh floor. Han Fei also wanted to leave, but his hands were still detained by the hanging man.

“Why are you hanging on to me? I can help you bring your enemies here!” Han Fei persuaded sincerely. His voice appeared to contain some kind of magical power. However, it was useless on the hanging man because his head was outside the room.

There was a meow, and Han Fei turned his head. He saw something terrifying. The hanging man’s head shook off the kitten. Then, it floated up into the air like it was being held up by black strings. Its pupilless eyes opened!

“Something’s not right! It doesn’t dare to come into this room!” Han Fei was defenseless. The human head could charge in to attack Han Fei, but the head didn’t do that. “I was right. There are other ghosts in this room!”

Han Fei had no idea what would happen next. What he needed to do now was to shake off the hanging man. The hanging man’s body held onto Han Fei tightly. Han Fei changed his tactic. He held onto the man tightly too. If he had to die, he would bring the man down with him.

While they fought, something strange happened to the television screen in the living room. The static flickered. A wooden house appeared on the screen. There was a lonely red girl inside the house. She was playing a jigsaw puzzle with the human body parts. She tried multiple times to piece the people together, but she failed every time.

The image was gory. Han Fei’s brain felt like it had been pricked by endless needles. New holes were torn open on the black cloth over his memory.

“Human jigsaw?” When Han Fei had that thought, the red girl sensed something and slowly turned her head around. She looked through the screen at Han Fei. The girl stood up among the pile of dead bodies. Her dress kept bleeding. She slowly stepped towards the screen like she was going to walk out of it!

“The girl looks so familiar!”

The static became louder, and the girl moved faster. The last second, she was inside the wooden house; the next second, she was close to the screen; and after another second, the girl’s ghastly face appeared on the screen!

Her bloodshot eyes glared at Han Fei like she planned to consume him