Something very scary was slumbering under the polluted source of faith. When Gao Ming and the God of Flesh and Blood fought for the death portrait of the blood city, they felt the other party’s presence at a close distance. The Beast God and the faceless God were nothing compared to them.
“Every figurine has its own unique power. Their power will increase as they have more disciples. No wonder the investigation centre feels threatened.” Gao Ming studied Ah Fang. He didn’t think the boy would lie to him. He was weighing whether it was too soon to get into conflict with the two figurines.
Seeing Gao Ming’s hesitation, the boy leaned on the male doctor’s shoulder. He didn’t understand why his parents were so afraid of Gao Ming and didn’t even dare to leave his side. The adult world was too complicated for Ah Fang. He reached his hand into his pyjama and took a death portrait out.
“I’ll give you this. Can you let all my parents go?” Ah Fang asked innocently. He said ‘all’ his parents because he didn’t know which one of his ghost parents was real. Ah Fang treated all the ghosts as his family. He’d call any female ghosts his mother.
Gao Ming walked to Ah Fang and accepted the picture. In the portrait, Ah Fang fell asleep in front of a haunted house. It was a simple setting, but if seen from another angle, the haunted house was filled with bloodred doors. Ah Fang was surrounded by bloodred rooms. Ah Fang was truly loved by the shadow world. He had more death portraits featuring him than Xia Yang and Situ An.
“This is the key to my home. If you have it, you can come to play at my home any time you want.” Ah Fang revealed another piece of information to Gao Ming. Ah Fang might be young, but he had his own ‘home’ like Situ An did. He was a ‘parent’ chosen by the shadow world.
“I made my houses with blocks. They are my home.” The houses made by Ah Fang were all haunted. His home was probably scarier than Situ An’s home.
Sensing Ah Fang’s kindness, Gao Ming reached into his pocket as well. The ghosts around Ah Fang became alert. The air froze. Gao Ming pulled out a lollipop and handed it to Ah Fang. “There are many people who want to harm you at Han Hai. If you run into any trouble, you can come to find me.”
“Okay.” Ah Fang nodded. “I promise you.”
Gao Ming didn’t stay and returned to Zhang Ding’s supermarket with the big dog.
“Do you think that child is trustworthy? He’s one of the candidates. He might stab you at the crucial moment.”
“He wouldn’t. Situ An raised him for a reason.” Gao Ming studied the picture Ah Fang gave him. Each bloodred door in the picture seemed to hide a horrifying ghost.
“I keep feeling like he’s trying to tell me something.”
Another night passed. Min Long Street and Li San had fully changed to become the base for horror game players. There were even roadside stalls selling cursed items. Of course, they had already given ‘protection fees’ to Zhang Ding.
“The new rules are setting up. Humans adapt so quickly.” Gao Ming greeted the supermarket employees. He pulled back the sign that said ‘employees only’ and entered the warehouse.
“Did you run into trouble? Why are you late?” Xuan Wen asked with worry when she saw Gao Ming.
“I was supposed to find Fan Li, but I accidentally ran into another good potential seed. That’s why I was delayed.” Gao Ming scanned the room. Zhang Ding, Granny Shen, and Wei Dayou were all there.
“We’ve released a lot of missions through Dead Water Forum based on your information. We found a lot of potential players.” Xuan Wen took out a list. “Han Hai is a treasure trove. Even normal citizens have such great potential. It’s like they’ve experienced something similar before.”
“Maybe they have, and they have merely forgotten about it.” Gao Ming skimmed through the list. Dead Water Forum was up for not that long, but some players had already broken through level ten. This meant that they had survived at least ten anomalies. ṛ
“Humans unleash their full potential when they put themselves first.”
Unlike the investigation centre, the horror game players were not limited by rules. The forum would not check their mental state or their results in the anomalies. The forum would only take a small transaction fee when they traded on the forum.
“We’ve underestimated humanity. In desperation, their survival desire is astounding.” Wei Dayou pinched off his cigarette. He handed his list to Gao Ming, “Han Hai’s horror game players organically split into several large groups. The East City Tragedy Response Union has more than 500 members. They are very united and have the highest overall strength.” Wei Dayou glanced at the ashes on the ground. “The founder is someone called Situ Cheng. I hear he’s Situ An’s relative, and he can control big ghosts.”
“Already 500 people? So fast.” Gao Ming only nodded.
“It can’t be helped. There are anomalies everywhere in the east city. If they don’t work together, they’ll die alone.” Wei Dayou continued, “The old city is more complicated. One mafia boss became a horror game player. He saw the tragedy as an opportunity to expand his gang. He even got normal citizens working for his gang.”
“Are you talking about the Catfish Gang?” Gao Ming was reminded of Yu Ruolong.
“What is that?” Wei Dayou shook his head. “No. They call themselves the Justice Gang or Han Hai Self-Rescue Committee. The mafia boss’ name is Shen Tian.”
Gao Ming heard of Shen Tian before. In one of the futures, Xia Yang murdered Shen Tian and Gao Ming before ruling over all the players. Everyone handed their lists to Gao Ming. He gained a rudimentary understanding of the players.
In a few days, the number of players quadrupled. When the old rules shattered, everyone wanted to save themselves.
Gao Ming collected the lists. He wanted to gain the will from these top players to help the God of Flesh and Blood become a Dream Ghost before the investigation centre’s event.