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“If you haven’t returned sooner, we’re planning to go find you.” Wei Youfu looked at Han Fei and sighed in relief. Seeing Wei Youfu and Little Eight rush out to welcome him home, Han Fei did not know how to feel. He had only seen this kind of scene in television shows before. Before he started this game, no one would be waiting for him to go home. He’d open the door and walk into darkness. No one would keep the lights on for him, no one would welcome him back with a smile, much less run out with joy due to his return.

Han Fei first dropped Xu Qin home. He prepared some simple food for Xu Qin, after Xu Qin looked better, he left.

After he returned to Room 1044, Han Fei sat down on the couch and shared his experience with Wei Youfu and the other victims. The victims of the human jigsaw case would attract the attention of malevolent force whenever they left the Happiness Neighbourhood so they were very interested in Han Fei’s tales of the outside world. They felt transported by Han Fei’s story-telling. Their expressions changed with the rise and fall of the story. Inside the small room, a man gestured animatedly to entertain his ghost roommates.

Han Fei finally finished his story by 5 am. Like a worried father, Wei Youfu nagged Han Fei to promise that he would no longer put himself in such danger. Just as Han Fei prepared to log off to avoid the nagging, the landline in the room rang. Han Fei’s expression turned guarded immediately and he pulled out Rest in Peace. Wei Youfu though calmly picked up the phone. “Don’t worry, do you remember the hostel next to Yi Ming Convenience Store?”

“I do.”

“The old man at the hostel managed to imbue his memory into the phone lines to create a unique cursed object. To make communication easier, we’ve pulled one of his phone lines into Happiness Neighbourhood.” Wei Youfu might have lost all of his ghostly power, he retained his humanity and intelligence. After a quick chat, Wei Youfu hung up. He frowned and asked Han Fei to join him beside the window. The two looked out the neighbourhood. At the door of Yi Ming Convenience Store, there stood a scary woman over 2 metres tall!

“It’s her?” Han Fei remembered this woman. On the day he was employed at Yi Ming Convenience Store, this woman invited the paper doll boss to join her at Ziggurat. It was because of her that Han Fei had the chance to steal the boss’ coffin. At the most crucial moment, Han Fei entrapped the paper doll boss but the bride suffered collateral damage. She had paid a lot to gain the boss’ help but at the most demanding moment, the paper doll’s consciousness shattered. Imagination alone could tell Han Fei how much despair and helplessness the bride must have suffered in that moment.

“She’s still alive? And has returned?”

“How did you attract the attention of someone like her anyway? What’s your story with her?” Wei Youfu glanced at Han Fei. The latter had indeed charmed way too many people for his own good.

“Looks like I’ll have to personally visit the convenience store, Drake wouldn’t be able to handle her alone.” Han Fei had to leave even though he just got home. He brought Weep with him. 10 minutes later, Han Fei arrived at the store. 10 white candles were arranged on the shelf. One of them cried the hardest as he badmouthed the current boss. He tried to endear himself to the bride, clearly he saw her as his new ticket out of this place. The candle was so into his story that he did not notice the other white candles had gone silent. Drake tried to warn him several times but was stopped by the bride every time. The white candle continued to wax his tale until he noticed the bride’s eyes slowly moved away from him. Then he turned to look behind him. The pale face looked at Han Fei who was silently toying with a lighter. The face on the white candle froze. His eyes moved about, he found no solidarity from the other candles.

Han Fei lit up the white candle and moved him to the counter. Then he stood beside the bride. The bride who was 2 metres tall looked down at Han Fei. The made-up face stared into Han Fei’s eyes as if trying to understand how come all the ghosts inside the store became less restless after this man arrived. In her memory, Han Fei was only the temp worker when she last visited this place.

“I am Han Fei, the temp owner of this convenience store.” With a standardized smile on his face, Han Fei said with politeness. “I remember you have some kind of deal with our previous owner?” The bride had no idea when Han Fei became the temp owner and she did not care, what she wanted was an explanation. She dropped a bloody handkerchief on the counter. Han Fei picked it up and examined it closely. “The previous owner promised to enter Room 1064 at the Ziggurat with you but he failed to live up to his promise and almost caused your death. Since the previous boss has already taken part of your payment, the responsibility now falls unto us.” Han Fei looked pained as he said that. He folded the handkerchief nicely and put it away, “The previous owner has gone missing, we have no idea where he went but we will not shirk our responsibility. We will fulfil the promise that he has left uncompleted!”

The bride was quite flustered. She came here ready for a fight but things did not unfold the way she expected. “Yi Ming Convenience Store has always placed our customers first. We know the Ziggurat is very dangerous but we have indeed failed to live up to our promise. We will accompany you to enter Room 1064 again but I hope you’ll give us some time to prepare.” Han Fei took a deep breath and said with sincerity. “In 10 days, we will join you at Ziggurat and try to help you get the thing you want. To help ease the weight on both of us, I hope that you can tell us more about the Ziggurat.”

With calm demeanour, Han Fei made his sales pitch. This man was as weak as a bug but he was ready to take up the dangerous responsibility. Perhaps the negative 13 charm on Han Fei had worked, the hatred around the bride lightened. The bride gave it some thought before she removed her wedding veil and placed it on the counter. Then her wounded lips moved to say the following, “I will come and find you after 7 days.”

The bride then turned to walk out from the store. Han Fei picked up the bloody veil. There was the character for Death written in the middle of the veil. The word itself appeared to carry some kind of special curse, it was the ticket for one to enter the Ziggurat.

“Boss, are we really going to help her? But she’s asking us to go to the Ziggurat!” Drake said worriedly.

“Customers are our god, we should always try our best to satisfy their demands.”

“What if she only plans to use us as bait?”

“Don’t worry, I have my plan.” Han Fei put the wedding veil away. “The customer is God but God lives not with us but in heaven.”