Everyone had their pain to face and a fearful future to meet. That was the source of the God of the Future’s power. Compared to the pain of the indelible past, the despairing future was more suffocating.
Gao Ming’s parents surged outside the door. They were covered in curses. All the negative emotions in the neighbours were gathered on them.
“Gao Ming! Gao Ming!” They screamed like dogs when they saw Gao Ming. Their love was rotten. They wanted to chew Gao Ming into pieces. “We have been searching for you! We are so worried!” The twisted voices came from the hollow mouths. “Do you know how much we’ve paid to get here? Why are you so disobedient? Why do you refuse to see us when you are just behind this door?”
The resentment rose and mixed with the curse. Gao Ming’s parents wanted to squeeze into Gao Ming’s body.
“Gao Ming! Get over here! Let mother hug you! We miss you!”
The black hair stuck together. The curse was so thick that it had become palpable. The parents would leave behind a trail of blood whenever they passed by. The monsters released a familiar presence within them. It seemed to be Gao Ming’s blood.
“Our bloodlines are connected. The curses are triggered by the parents, but they activate in me. Can God be so vicious?” In the past, Gao Ming felt some regrets about destroying the shadow world, but that was no longer what he thought. These Gods had never treated humans as humans. They saw humans as the source of faith. Their heaven was made from human carcasses. It was God’s heaven but hell for humans.
“Killing fate is something I must do. However, I will not side with the shadow world like Situ An.” Gao Ming grabbed the nails around his heart. He had no choice but to sacrifice his lifespan to summon the God of Flesh and Blood again.
“Gong Xi!” His wound tore apart. The curse ran all over his body. It made him look scary. The door of the torture room was forced open. The chains with the names of the dead were dragged out by Gao Ming. “Since you miss me that much, stay with me forever.” If Gao Ming didn’t remove the nails from his heart soon, his life would eventually be exhausted. Therefore, he opted for the most direct solution. The chains bound around the monsters. They were trapped inside Gao Ming’s torture room along with the curses.
“I need to remove the nails before the curses occupy my heart fully.” Gao Ming wanted to stand up, but he realised he couldn’t control his body. Whenever he used the power of the God of Flesh and Blood, the God of the Future’s nails would influence him further. The pain was physical and mental.
“Where do you want to go?” Luo Dong detained Situ An’s mother. The female ghost knelt before Gao Ming. They seemed to have discussed this. One would be the guide, while the other aided Gao Ming.
Before Gao Ming could react, the ghost swept him off his feet and picked him up. Whenever Xuan Wen went to the tunnel, she would carry Gao Ming out to offer him a new beginning. This memory influenced the female ghost greatly.
“The God of the Future has many tricks but it hasn’t officially come after you. I suspect something else is drawing its attention.” The ghost’s voice had completely changed from Xuan Wen’s. “This is your chance.” The ghost had no other choice. She sided with Gao Ming fully, “I’ll bring you to the God of the Future’s room.”
On the first floor of Everlasting Life Apartments, Gao Ming destroyed the door that represented the past. The door of the present connected to the outside world, but no one dared to exit. The door of the future also started to change.
Behind the door, where the horror game players and investigators could not see, the leader of Team One and Liu Yi were on the run. Their conditions were different from when they were outside the door. The leader of Team One had a head of silvery hair. Liu Yi didn’t change much appearance-wise, but her aura was chilling and sharp. This was how they would be ten years later.
“This is your fault, and you are a traitor who works for the shadow world!” The leader of Team One was furious. He ran on the buildings covered by shadows.
Liu Yi was calmer. She held the head of a mud figurine. The head kept emitting a baby’s cry. Liu Yi was annoyed, and she shoved her red student badge into the figurine’s mouth.
“Return that thing!” The leader of Team One was anxious. After he followed Liu Yi into this body, he saw Han Hai’s worst future. The shadow world had fully consumed Han Hai. The Gods revived through the living humans.
The two of them should work together to prevent this, but Liu Yi chose to aid the Gods. It was not until the last God arrived that she made her move. She swiped the divine head, causing the two to be chased by the entire world.
“If I return it, then I’m a real traitor.” Liu Yi sensed the power coursing through her body. Those inside the door of the future could utilise the power they would gain in the future. This was how Liu Yi managed to survive until now.
“Then what is your plan?”
“I didn’t force you to follow me in here.” Liu Yi held onto the head as she took out a white student council badge from her pocket. “Now, we wait. The exit will soon appear.”
At the deepest part of Prosperity Neighbourhood’s underground parking lot, many citizens with white student council badges lay around the pillars. They were like sheep waiting to be slaughtered. All their heads had a giant hole. Their blood pooled around a headless figurine.
Next to the figurine stood two half-human, half-ghost monsters.
The one on the left was a student in a school uniform. The one on the right was a middle-aged man with limbs punctured by chains.
“Gao Yun, you’ve stopped me once at Han De Private Academy. Do you think you can stop me again?” The chains around the man’s limbs appeared to be alive. They kept struggling against the oppression the headless figurine placed on them.
“I do not wish to fight with you, but you are always in my way.” Gao Yun’s face was devoid of emotion. “Gao Ming will be here soon. Situ An, you still have the time to run from here.”