The village hidden under the trash mountain radiated eeriness. It was a place forgotten by the world. It was where the ghosts and souls gathered. The white lanterns, paper money and empty bowls everywhere suggested that this village didn’t welcome the living.
Something like rats scurried across the roofs and crawled into the hanging black pipes. Soon, a villager dressed like a butcher came out of the house. He was stained with blood and oil. His head trembled unnaturally. His spine was bent out of shape. He had a cheap prosthetic leg. As the butcher approached them, Old Cao and the rest lowered their heads to avoid eye contact. Gao Ming stared at the butcher openly as if trying to take a read on him.
“Ah Chong wants you to go over to him,” The butcher’s voice was horrid. It sounded like he had razors stuck in his throat. He couldn’t hold the knife firmly but he gave off a dangerous presence. Gao Ming felt like he was talking to a ghost from the nightmare.
As he shuffled away, the butcher led the group around the village. Horrible voices came from the houses. They were like cages for beasts. Whenever they passed by one, the things inside would be triggered.
They came to the other side of the ancestral hall. The butcher knocked thrice on the door and mumbled something. The old door opened on its door. The smell of medicine drifted out. The butcher guarded outside the door as he signalled the rest to enter.
The situation at Fu Family Village turned Gao Ming’s understanding of the world upside down. A man covered in small wounds sat in the middle. He looked weak and fragile. However, his eyes were sharp.
“Brother Chong!” Old Cao and the bearded man bowed respectfully, “The young man with the flyer is here.”
“Yes.” Brother Chong scratched his wound and his eyes rolled over with ecstasy. He enjoyed the feeling of bleeding. He desired pain. This desire was engraved into his soul. His unfocused eyes looked at Gao Ming. He asked, “Who gave you the flyer?”
Gao Ming admitted that Brother Chong was oppressive. However, the strange thing was he felt not one shred of fear. He had met many people who were crazier than Brother Chong.
A metallic helmet was taken out from the heap of trash in the corner. He looked at Brother Chong, “Do we have to do this? This has quite a strong side effect.”
“Since he doesn’t want to talk, what else can we do?” Zhang Zhan was scared of Brother Chong so he hurried over to help. He even tried to get Gao Ming to cooperate through non-verbal communication.
The dream release device was similar to the device at Immortal Pharma. However, the quality couldn’t be more different. This device felt more like a torture implement.
Gao Ming felt pain when the helmet was put on him. The helmet didn’t care about the life of the wearer. Gao Ming’s consciousness sunk into chaos instantly. The memories he had since he awakened at the hospital were forcibly pulled to the front. The device tried to piece them together.
The car accident on the Hungry Ghost Festival, the tunnel filled with corpses, the flesh seeds that consumed shadow and negative emotions…
The bloody scars under Gao Ming’s skin brightened. His heart pounded like something was trying to crawl out of his chest!
Different emotions and personas gathered in his mind. They couldn’t belong to one person. It was like many different people poured their souls into him before they died. They tore apart Goa Ming’s soul without really destroying him. It was like they were tempering his soul in the great fire.
The device wanted to recover more of Gao Ming’s nightmare, but it slowed down. When it was at 9 percent, all the lights on the device started to flicker. The memory fragments were triggered to form a silhouette. He accidentally turned back in a casual moment. He saw thirteen endless blood cities. One of them was a giant grave with his name on it.
The dream release device froze. Blood slid down Gao Ming’s forehead. He opened his eyes and saw the final number on the device, 10 percent.
“I have only recovered 10 percent of my memory?!” Gao Ming didn’t wipe the blood off his face. He stared at the others, “Are you satisfied now?”
“Go get another one,” Brother Chong lay in the pool of water. His wounds wiggled under the unknown liquid.
“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with our device. It’s this guy’s brain.” Old Cao picked up the broken device. He tried to plug the device back on, but as soon as he did that, all the nearby wires and the plaques on the table started to vibrate. He quickly stopped, “Brother Chong, I think it’s Huang Yin who gave him the flyer…”
“Shut up!” Brother Chong shouted. He didn’t let Old Cao reveal anything more about Huang Yin. With evil in his eyes, he slowly stood up. “The old ghosts from the next door don’t sense any stench on you. Are you not from Immortal Pharma, or do they not even know what has happened to you?”
“Do people from Immortal Pharma carry a stench?”
“Yes. Everyone who has participated in the level 5 experiments will be submerged in a nutrient cocktail. Their consciousness is dropped into the nightmare, and they rarely wake up.” Brother Chong put on the clothes and opened the hidden curtain. Many monitors had recorded Gao Ming’s data and files. In just a few minutes, they had already found out everything about Gao Ming in the real world. “Those undying creatures are already urging me to invite you.”
Brother Chong waved his hand with agitation as if chasing away some invisible bugs. He looked unsettled.
“Come. I’ll take you to see the other side of Xin Lu. You’ll see how dirty and ugly it is underneath the glossy and beautiful veneer.”