Chapter 59

Opening his eyes, the digital clock on the wall pointed exactly to midnight. Han Fei got up from the floor and looked at the eerie living room.

"This place is damp and cold, but after staying here for a while, it really feels like home."

The sound of static filled his ears, and the TV in the living room was turned on by someone. The black and white screen flickered with vague images.

The door to the deepest bedroom in the haunted house was open, and a child walked out from inside. He hung his head low, as if possessed, dragging his mangled body to the living room and sitting on the sofa.

"Cui Tiansi?"

The child's facial expressions kept changing, sometimes terrifying and sometimes innocent and lost. It seemed he was trying hard to suppress something.

Han Fei didn't dare to get closer, and the child didn't come to bother him either.

It was unclear whether the child had gotten used to Han Fei's presence or for some other reason, but he completely ignored Han Fei.

"Is today the day the victims watch TV?" Han Fei knew that the victims watched TV not for entertainment but to remember their past and retain their last bit of humanity.

As he spent more time with them, Han Fei gradually realized the dire situation of the victims of the human puzzle case. They were constantly fighting the monsters inside their bodies. When they completely lost their sense of self, they would likely merge into a single monster, never to be separated again.

"I wonder if solving the case can help them regain their true selves."

The victims kept coming out of their bedrooms to watch TV in the living room. Han Fei sat on a nearby chair, watching them with concern. The scene had a strange sense of harmony, as if they were a family.

At 3:00 AM, after waiting for three hours, Han Fei went to the living room corridor and looked at the deepest bedroom in the haunted house: "Wei Youfu is the most special among all the victims. He has more memories left than the others. I will use him as a breakthrough."

This was a rare opportunity. The victims came to the living room according to their time of death, and Wei Youfu died at 3:04 AM, so he should still be in the bedroom.

Without the disturbance of other victims, Han Fei felt he could get more information from Wei Youfu.

He quietly entered the deepest bedroom in the haunted house. Wei Youfu and Gu Ye were standing by the wall, their pale skin covered with black veins, looking very eerie.

The expressions of the two deceased were extremely terrifying, as if they were on the verge of losing control.

"Youfu?" Han Fei called softly.

Hearing his voice, Wei Youfu's eyes darted wildly in their sockets, bloodshot veins appearing as if about to burst.

Han Fei didn't dare to provoke Wei Youfu further and slowly backed away. As he was about to leave the bedroom, he suddenly noticed some clothes in the corner behind the door.

One of the clothes was very familiar; it was the one the neighbor on the sixth floor had worn.

The neighbor was now gone, but his clothes remained.

Han Fei quietly picked up the clothes and sneaked out.

"Still can't communicate normally."

Without disturbing his roommate, Han Fei placed the clothes the neighbor had worn on the dining table. He was curious about what a serial killer might carry in his pockets.

As his fingers touched something, Han Fei heard the cold voice of the system in his mind.

"Player 0000, please note! You have discovered a G-level blood-colored item—Human Pupa."

"Human Pupa (Blood-colored Item): The pupa of a certain insect."

Han Fei looked at the item in his hand. It was a thumb-sized, grayish-yellow stone, hard to the touch, with faint blood veins visible on its surface.

"Is this a pupa? Why is the pupa of a certain insect called a Human Pupa?"

He stored the Human Pupa in his inventory and continued to search the other pockets. After searching through the neighbor's clothes, Han Fei only found the Human Pupa.

"Considering he was a serial killer, having just one insect pupa on him doesn't make sense." Han Fei took the insect pupa out of his inventory and looked at it, which resembled an ordinary stone: "Now, the sixth floor is inhabited by outsiders. To obtain a hidden profession, I need to eliminate ten outsiders before reaching level 10. This insect pupa, carried by the outsiders, must be very important to them."

A plan slowly formed in Han Fei's mind: "Taking someone else's things is not good, and the owner will surely be anxious. Why don't I take the fifth-floor sister to return the insect pupa and eliminate them all at the same time?"

This idea firmly took hold in Han Fei's mind. He held the insect pupa, thinking about how to proceed, when he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his palm.

Looking at his hand, Han Fei noticed a small, inconspicuous spike on the bottom of the stone-like insect pupa. The spike had pierced his skin and was absorbing his blood.

"Does this thing drink blood?"

Han Fei almost threw the insect pupa away. He noticed that after absorbing his blood, the blood veins on the surface of the pupa had darkened slightly.

"I hate bugs. It's better to return it to the owner."

Storing the insect pupa back in his inventory, Han Fei took the neighbor's clothes to the door: "The main quest to explore the fifth floor wasn't completed last time. This time, I can use the opportunity to visit Xu Qin and complete this quest."

After the "don't look back" quest, the hallway had left a psychological shadow on Han Fei. He always observed for a long time before leaving his room.

"It's very quiet, and no one is around."

He quietly pushed open the security door and crept up the stairs, hugging the wall. He had developed this habit, even rubbing the paint off the wall near his door.

The hallway of the apartment building had a special oppressive feeling, and it would appear as soon as he left his room.

This time, Han Fei had good luck and didn't trigger any hidden plot. He smoothly reached the corner between the fourth and fifth floors.

The door to room 1051 was still open, the dark doorway resembling a beast's gaping mouth.

"To be able to raise a room as a pet, this sister is indeed extraordinary."

Han Fei quietly walked to the door of room 1052 and knocked lightly: "Are you home? I'm the neighbor downstairs."

After a long time, the door to room 1052 didn't open, but the adjacent room 1054 kept making cutting and chopping sounds.

Standing alone in the dark hallway, listening to the disturbing sounds, Han Fei felt a bit anxious.

After waiting for about ten minutes, the door to room 1054 suddenly opened, and Xu Qin walked out with a black bag.

Her red coat had become even more vivid, and the excitement in her sickly eyes had not yet faded.

"Sister, I have another small gift for you."

Xu Qin didn't seem surprised to see Han Fei. Her blood-red eyes fixed on his face, and she took a few steps forward: "Do you know what it means when a boy keeps giving gifts to a girl?"

Holding the Human Pupa he had just taken out of his inventory, Han Fei found Xu Qin very close and felt a bit at a loss: "What does it mean?"

Her lips, as if painted with fresh blood, formed a shocking smile. Xu Qin didn't speak but threw the black bag into room 1051 and opened the door to room 1052 with her blood-covered hands.

"Come in."