"Guanxing, why has the character tattooed on your arm disappeared?" Han Fei unconsciously took a step back.
"I don’t know either," Zhang Guanxing was utterly confused, "After I met you yesterday, that character gradually faded, and then when the dormitory building’s main door opened, the character for ’resentment’ completely vanished."
"When the dormitory building’s door opened?" Han Fei gently grabbed Zhang Guanxing’s arm, using the secret touch that reaches deep into the soul.
The young man before him was indeed Zhang Guanxing, and the array of emotions transmitted from his soul was the same as before.
"Guanxing, in the school legends passed around, has that ghost who faces away from people ever appeared in the dormitory building?"
"It never has. Many students have seen him in the corridors of the academic building. It seems he was killed by his girlfriend, harboring a grudge, and so he lingers in the academic building."
"So, it’s possible that guy slipped in last night when the dormitory door was opened. And it was after it came in that the character for ’resentment’ on your arm completely disappeared?"
"Yes, that’s right." Zhang Guanxing didn’t understand what Han Fei was trying to express.
"Why did you originally choose to tattoo that character on your arm?" Han Fei lowered his voice, sitting on the dormitory bed with Zhang Guanxing, "Don’t think of me as a teacher, just think of me as a friend you can confide in. I promise I won’t tell anyone your secrets."
After hesitating for a long time, Zhang Guanxing finally spoke, "My mom abandoned me and my dad; she left on her own, making me endure my dad’s beatings every day."
"Because of your mother?"
"My dad could only drink and then take his anger out on me. And then there were some classmates of mine who would often mock me, making jokes about my mother." Zhang Guanxing’s hands slowly clenched, "I hated all of them, and I hated this world. Why did all the misfortune fall on me? I never asked for wealth or happiness, I just wanted to be like other kids, but even such a simple wish wasn’t granted. Instead, I was bullied over and over again, unable to see even a glimmer of hope."
Reaching out, Han Fei gently patted Zhang Guanxing’s back and after offering a few words of comfort, whispered, "You hate everything in this world, but is there anyone you do not hate, like your girlfriend Chu Xia?"
Upon hearing the name Chu Xia, Zhang Guanxing’s expression softened, "I don’t hate her. She is the only person who’s willing to believe in me and, of course, now you as well, teacher."
Zhang Guanxing had forgotten about his own death, now only remembering the good about Chu Xia.
Narrowing his eyes, Han Fei realized that Zhang Guanxing’s current situation was very similar to Meng Shi’s; they both had forgotten about their deaths, forgotten about the most despairing and painful event, in order to maintain their sanity.
Han Fei suspected that the previous Building Chief might have tampered with Zhang Guanxing as well.
If that was the case, then he might be able to find clues left by the previous Building Chief on Zhang Guanxing.
In fact, Han Fei had already sensed something was off when he heard Zhang Guanxing tell that story before.
The story Zhang Guanxing told seemed to be his own, and that monster with its back turned to the world may have been formed from the resentment in his heart.
"When the ’resentment’ character disappeared from your arm, that creature standing with its back turned appeared. Could there be some connection between you two?" Han Fei guided Zhang Guanxing step by step.
"A connection?" Zhang Guanxing silently looked at his arm where the character for ’resentment’ seemed as if it had never been there.
He thought for a long while and just as he was about to shake his head, the door of dorm 104 was suddenly struck by something.
It wasn’t a knock on the door, but more like someone had slammed their back against it!
"Player number 0000, please note! You have successfully triggered a Grade G hidden quest—Facing Away from You."
"Facing Away from You: I entrusted my back to you, yet you pushed me into the abyss. You fear my restless spirit, but all I desperately did was turn my head, just wanting to look at you one more time."
"Quest requirement: Within half an hour, do not let it press against your back!"
"This is a timed quest."
As soon as the system’s voice emerged in his brain, Han Fei immediately became extremely tense, "Not to let it press against my back? This task description sounds a bit scary, doesn’t it?"
"Teacher, what’s wrong?"
"Alert! That guy is right at the door!" Han Fei had Zhang Guanxing stand together with him inside the room, both of them staring intently at the door.
The door of dorm 104 was slammed again, the door panel trembling as if it could be broken through at any moment.
"This door won’t hold for long."
Han Fei had blocked the door with beds and desks, but just then, he saw fresh blood seeping through the crack.
What terrified him more was the sound of bones being crushed and ground from outside the door; the monster seemed able to freely alter its own body.
The scent of blood in the air was so intense it reached its peak, and Han Fei asked Zhang Guanxing to place the jar near the dormitory door, then he let the Black Giant Python coil around his body.
The old wooden door of the dormitory trembled more and more violently, dark red blood and crushed flesh and bones squeezed through the gap, dripping down and staining Dorm 104 a blood red.
Retreating continuously, Han Fei and Zhang Guanxing had backed up to the balcony, where a badly rusted anti-theft grid trapped them inside the room.
"Teacher, what should we do?"
"You just stand behind me, and no matter what happens, don’t leave. The rest is up to me," Han Fei couldn’t yet exit the game, and if something went wrong in this mission, it would really be game over.
He was more nervous than ever, his heart pounding, and cold sweat breaking out in his palms.
The monster’s flesh and blood squeezed into the room through the gaps, and the pool of blood on the floor writhed, making Han Fei’s scalp tingle.
The thick scent of blood irritated his nostrils, as the shattered flesh began to slowly reassemble, a twisted human silhouette gradually appearing within Dorm 104.
It stood facing away from Han Fei, its back twisted and askew, as if all the bones in its body had been shattered.
The small dormitory was so stifling, it was hard to breathe, as the monster absorbed all the blood from the ground, its body gradually becoming whole.
For the first time observing the monster from such a close distance, Han Fei noticed that the monster bore some resemblance to Zhang Guanxing, except that the monster was wearing the uniform of Yimin Private Academy.
His gaze slowly shifted to the monster’s arm.
Through the tattered uniform, he could vaguely see a bloody character for "Resentment."
That character looked as though it had been gouged out with a finger, the wound never healing, continuously oozing black blood.
"Why does he also have that character on his arm?"
Han Fei was moving backward when his back suddenly bumped into Zhang Guanxing’s body.
Turning his head, Zhang Guanxing stared blankly at the monster in the dorm, the light in his eyes quickly fading, replaced by confusion and pain.
"I’ve never seen his back before."
"But why do I feel so familiar with him?"
"Just seeing him lets me feel his despair and sadness."
"Every single one of his bones has been shattered, he can’t control his voice, he hears the howling wind by his ears, and he has twisted his neck trying to turn back."
Zhang Guanxing’s voice turned ominously grim; he grabbed his own arm, his nails digging fiercely into his flesh.
"I remember him, I know him..."
With a crisp sound of bones, both Zhang Guanxing’s body and the monster’s body began to twist, and Han Fei stood between them, looking pale.
Still, he chose to trust Zhang Guanxing. No matter what happened behind him, he didn’t look back, his eyes fixed on the monster in front.
"Guanxing, you now have someone by your side who truly wants to trust you, someone who would risk their life to save you, you’re not alone anymore."
Han Fei’s voice echoed in the dormitory, upon hearing it, Zhang Guanxing’s expression became even more pained.
The monster also heard Han Fei’s voice, and chilling, creaking sounds came from its neck.
As those sounds emerged, the monster still stood back to Han Fei, but its head was slowly turning.
Gradually, Han Fei finally saw the monster’s face, which looked exactly like Zhang Guanxing, except his face was covered in scars, and blood flowed from all seven orifices.