The appearance of the Mother Ghost touched Han Fei’s soul. He himself didn’t understand much about parental love, only experiencing the care from parents in the Shrine Memory World through Mirror God and Fu Sheng’s past.
"The Mother Ghost eats ghosts. She seems to stand on Gao Xing’s side, but last night she didn’t harm Gao Cheng or me. Perhaps in her heart, both Gao Cheng and Gao Xing are her children."
When the Curse on the Greed Abyss clashed with the missing person’s notice, Han Fei saw memory fragments of Gao Cheng and Gao Xing, both considering the Mother Ghost as an extremely gentle person.
"Those black-robed followers appearing with the Mother Ghost all seem to be living people. It feels like the Mother Ghost stands on the side of humans, helping the weak in her own way."
Han Fei wanted to have more contact with the Mother Ghost; she would be the key for him to understand this world.
Swallowing the last piece of meat, Han Fei’s condition visibly improved, his body temperature returned to normal, and a mental pollution level of 20 was already within an acceptable range for him.
"Old Wang, I really didn’t expect you’d be so considerate." Han Fei leaned against the dining table, scrutinizing Wang Chuqing. They were only ordinary colleagues, and who would have thought the other would risk their life to bring Han Fei back to school from the Taste Pavilion.
"I just want to complete the deal with you." Wang Chuqing replied coldly, maintaining a three-meter distance from Han Fei, his eyes filled with caution.
"Staying at school, we always face the problem of drawing lots. Are you interested in doing something big with me? After it’s done, it can solve the safety issues of your students once and for all." Han Fei sounded like a devil enticing the living, his voice disturbing Wang Chuqing’s mind.
"You’re not planning to rebel against the school, are you?"
"All I can tell you is that Yan Lan, the person in charge of Class One, has already joined." Han Fei’s voice was low but just loud enough for Wang Chuqing to hear: "You must have seen how Xu Hui died, right? His chest was punched through with a single blow. Who else in this school could do that?"
"As long as the principal is here, you’ll never succeed," Wang Chuqing replied icily.
"So, if the principal were dead, you’d join us?" Han Fei’s eyes burned with ambition that could devour everything.
"I never said that!" Wang Chuqing broke out in a cold sweat, feeling that Han Fei was truly a madman.
"But your expression has already betrayed you." Han Fei took out the White Token: "I’m ready to fight back with the white token I drew. With the black token you’ve drawn, do you still want to comply?"
"This is beyond our deal." Wang Chuqing’s gaze wavered as he stared at the White Token in Han Fei’s hand, his brows together in a frown.
Dealing with a devil is extremely dangerous. He pursed his cracked lips but in the end, said nothing and left quickly.
"Teacher Wang saved my life. How should I repay him? Lead him onto the right path?"
Han Fei approached his task of obliterating all traces with meticulous seriousness, restoring everything in the kitchen, removing all clues, and quietly returning to his apartment.
The faculty apartment was large, but in the evening, few teachers chose to stay here, as everyone had their secret storerooms outside the school where they could sleep soundly.
He pushed open the unlocked door, his eyes narrowing slightly as he sensed an eerie and malicious aura.
Looking up, he saw a man sitting on the sofa in his room.
"Your Mental Pollution Index has reached thirty-nine, and you still dare to go out? Aren’t you afraid of dying outside?" The man on the sofa turned toward Han Fei with ill intentions.
"Ma Jing?" Han Fei didn’t expect the person in charge of Class Three, Ma Jing, to appear in his apartment, but he quickly figured it out—both Ma Jing and Wang Chuqing drew black tokens, so if they didn’t want to enter the Death Building themselves, their best option was to find the seemingly easiest-to-bully Han Fei to exchange with.
"You should also understand why I’m here." Ma Jing adjusted his glasses and took a black token from his pocket: "Anyway, you won’t live much longer. Why not give me the White Token, and I’ll look after your students for you?"
"Do I seem like the kind of person who would sacrifice my own life for my class’s students?" Han Fei smiled kindly, closing the door behind him. This small gesture made Ma Jing’s pupils contract.
Normally, someone in a position of absolute weakness wouldn’t trap themselves in an enclosed space. By closing the door, Han Fei showed he had some confidence or prior knowledge that Ma Jing would come.
"Wang Chuqing has already contacted me beforehand. If you want to exchange, then show me your bargaining chip." Han Fei sat opposite Ma Jing, the Coin of Fate dancing on his fingertips.
"I have a bargaining chip you might find irresistible." Ma Jing pulled out a crumpled file bag from his pocket, the yellowed outer shell stained with blood and black fingerprints: "Inside are records of things you’ve done."
Dumping out the contents, Han Fei saw snapshots and pieced-together transaction records.
These documents detailed how Gao Cheng had sacrificed living people, trading with ghosts and monsters.
One photo clearly captured Gao Cheng communicating with ghosts and monsters, later devouring other Fierce Ghosts, looking more hideous and terrifying than the ghosts themselves.
"Don’t feign ignorance. You sacrificed living people to Dark Merchants, letting them help you devour ghosts to gain some ghost abilities. Did you really think you were being discreet?" Ma Jing pointed to a photo: "I escaped from the Old City District prison. Every prisoner there was devoured by your greed. You gifted those living souls to the ghosts!"
"You make me feel much better." Han Fei’s smile didn’t change: "They were guilty anyway. They deserved to die. I only sacrificed those who were guilty."
"Will the school’s surrounding residents believe you? They’ll tie your weakened self to a pyre and burn you alive! The principal forbids any private contact with ghosts and monsters. Once found out, your personality will be destroyed, and you’ll become a living specimen." Ma Jing crossed his legs, thinking he had the upper hand: "You’ve committed an unforgivable taboo. The assessment is in two days. Hope you think it through."
"Threatening me?" Han Fei tossed the Coin of Fate: "Aren’t you afraid I’ll sacrifice you to the ghosts too?"
The apartment was deathly silent, darkness seemed to be eroding human hearts, and Han Fei and Ma Jing both pondered whether to act, the atmosphere in the living room incredibly oppressive.
"Think it over, give me an answer the night before the assessment. By then, I’ll give you another bottle of Ghost Blood to help clear your Mental Pollution."
Ultimately, it was Ma Jing who couldn’t endure any longer. After leaving these words, he didn’t even pick up the photographs on the table and left directly.
The smile gradually vanished from his lips, and the murderous intent in Han Fei’s eyes grew stronger as he picked up a photograph and looked at it. "What is a Dark Merchant? There seems to be no mention of it in Gao Cheng’s diary."
The building in the photograph was between Zone B and Zone C, not far from the school. After a moment’s hesitation, Han Fei burned all the photos and left the school with his bag once more.
All of Han Fei’s understanding of this world came from the school and Gao Cheng’s diary, but the world was far from simple.
Having struggled and survived in the Deep World, he knew well that not all Ghosts and Monsters were consumed by negative emotions and obsessions. A very small number of ghosts retained their rationality and were known as Managers in the Deep World.
Han Fei, whose body had recovered, became much bolder. He took advantage of the time before dawn to reach the building in the photograph—the Ankang Pharmacy.
"I seem to have seen this pharmacy in Xinhu. It’s a chain pharmacy under the Eternal Life Pharmaceutical with a wide range of business." Staring at the familiar sign, a question popped into Han Fei’s Brain Sea: "I wonder what form Eternal Life Pharmaceutical and Deep Space Technology will take in this Memory Shrine? Perhaps they have already become history."
The pharmacy’s front door was locked. From the outside, the entire building seemed abandoned for a long time. However, to Han Fei’s surprise, as he approached, rust in the center of the door’s heavy lock began to fall off, and an eyeball slowly opened.
It scanned Han Fei up and down, then the lock fell away, and a pale, needle-ridden arm extended from the door crack.
The arm kept stretching, finally touching Han Fei’s face. He resisted the discomfort and didn’t fight back.
After a few seconds, the arm grabbed Han Fei’s shoulder, pulling him into the room like a rope.
Once Han Fei entered the pharmacy, the iron door closed again, locking him inside the room.
Pharmacy shelves had been overturned, various medications scattered all over. Some were for treating ghost phobia, some for mental disorders, and others for diseases Han Fei had never heard of.
"This medicine seems similar to what I got from the infirmary." Han Fei picked up a bottle, but just as he was about to examine it, the room’s temperature began to plummet. Behind him, a large shadow expanded, akin to a massive Monster from the depths of the Shenhai, opening a mouth full of sharp teeth towards him.
Holding the Coin, Han Fei turned to see broken Black Robes floating in the air, with twelve long, pale arms extending from it, each palm embedded with an eyeball.
"Player numbered 0000, please note! You have discovered a special Ghost and Monster—Dark Merchant, successfully triggering a random Shrine quest—Transaction."
"Quest requirement: Complete a transaction with the Dark Merchant."
Hearing the system prompt, Han Fei felt a sense of relief. Various signs indicated that Gao Cheng knew the Dark Merchant, so the latter likely wouldn’t harm him.
Using the ability to touch the secrets deep within the Soul, Han Fei grabbed the Dark Merchant’s hand.
The clearly overmedicated pale fingers hooked into Han Fei’s flesh, deep pain, and uncontrollable Greed surged into Han Fei’s consciousness.
The Monster had no intent to harm Han Fei. Its Black Robe slowly lifted from its chest, and it reached underneath the robe, pulling out a Withered human head.
The head, reeking of a strong medicinal odor, was thrust toward Han Fei’s face. The mouth on the head gradually twisted open, emitting a frightening hoarse voice: "Cheng, what have you brought me this time?"
The voice came from the head, and it seemed that the Dark Merchant had always communicated with Gao Cheng in this manner.
"Do you have any new goods here? How about letting me see the price list first?" Han Fei couldn’t gauge the Dark Merchant’s power, caught in between the dilemma of robbing and buying.
"Close your eyes." The Dark Merchant pulled Han Fei under its Black Robe. After a brief sensation of weightlessness, it took Han Fei to the pharmacy’s underground.
"The new goods are held in these five rooms." The Dark Merchant floated behind Han Fei, carrying the head. "The first room holds a child’s obsession. He loves to play. As long as you’re willing to play with him for an hour a day, he won’t retaliate against you. Sacrifice two adults to me, and you can take him."
Through the peephole on the doors, Han Fei could see the ghosts inside the rooms. The Dark Merchant appeared like a slave trader, selling ghosts as if they were merchandise.
As he passed each room, Han Fei hadn’t planned on making a deal with the Dark Merchant, but suddenly, the system prompt echoed.
"Player numbered 0000, please note! You’ve discovered a special Grudge—Envy."
"Envy (Growth-type Grudge): A newly formed Envy Aggregation, capable of rapid growth when fed with Curses and negative emotions, with a high probability of backlash!"
Xu Qin was a Curse Aggregation, and this Envy was a nascent Envy Aggregation. Han Fei sensed a great potential in it: "I want to buy this Ghost. Name your price."
"I need you to bring me ten students."
"Impossible." Han Fei rejected without a second thought.
"Cheng, the students at the school are meant for Sacrifice. I merely require you to smuggle the children destined for the Black Building over to me. This aligns perfectly with your standards."
"Absolutely not students, but I can bring you a teacher." Han Fei recalled Ma Jing’s smiling face, the class supervisor who threatened him, with a face that seemed like a perfect Sacrificial Offering.