Chapter 763: Chapter 763: Promotion
“The night has given black eyes, yet I use them to search for light.”
The Priest, clutching a cross, stood next to a pile of garbage in the alley behind Dolphin Bay, bending over to examine a holess man’s body.
“His limbs are broken, bone fragnts piercing the flesh. The perpetrator knew how to inflict maximum pain without killing him. What kind of artwork does that guy want to complete? It’s not unheard of for soone to harm a fellow vagabond, but it’s rare to find one with such clear objectives and brutal thods.” The cross in the Priest’s hand had been sharpened to a point. With his left hand, he gently covered the holess man’s eyes while he raised the cross in his right hand as if preparing to plunge it into the man’s mouth.
“Hey…” A low voice suddenly emanated from the darkness at the end of the alley. The Priest felt as though he had seen a venomous snake sticking out its tongue, and his back muscles instantly tensed up as he stood facing the rear of the alley.
“What do we have here, a Vulture swooping in on soone else’s prey?” Han Fei erged from the shadows; after beating the holess man half to death, he was ready to leave but felt that a bystander was acting strangely.
It wasn’t that strange, really. The Priest just happened to be in the crowd on the street when Han Fei entered Dolphin Bay, and “just by chance” he walked by from a distance after Han Fei had dragged the vagabond into the alley.
To appear around Han Fei twice in a row – it might seem coincidental to most, but Han Fei was exceptionally sharp.
He pretended to leave, using the holess man as bait, and sure enough, the Priest took it.
“Are you also here to attend the art exhibition?” Han Fei thought he had talked enough and was ready to attack as soon as the Priest nodded in agreent.
“I am responsible for recording and observing, summarizing your creative processes for the judges,” the Priest slowly retracted his cross. “You may consider an outsider.”
“Outsiders don’t ddle with others’ prey. You want to ruin my artwork, so beco a part of it,” Han Fei said as he advanced. By the ti the Priest realized, Han Fei had already closed the distance between them.
“I am a formal High-level mber of the Death Spread Group Chat; you cannot lay your hands on .”
“I have joined the Death Spread Group Chat, and you’re talking to about rules?” Out of respect for a High-level mber, Han Fei pulled out his baton and swung it forcefully: “It seems your daily prayers are useful. The god you worship has led you to et , and I will enlighten you.”
Han Fei’s invitation letter didn’t specify any off-limits targets; the entire Dolphin Bay was the stage for the “Death Art Exhibition,” and he had no intention of sparing anyone who entered the town.
The Priest had never expected to encounter a “Contender” like Han Fei. He hastily picked up the cross to defend himself, but he underestimated Han Fei’s strength.
Two crisp sounds echoed down the alley; the first was the breaking of the cross, and the second ca from his arm.
“Judging by the sound, you seem to have a bit of osteoporosis.”
Han Fei showed no rcy, even knowing the Priest was “part of the staff.” Within minutes, the number of “bodies” on the trash heap grew to two.
“There might be Unspeakable entities in the Black Rain Area. Until now, I have never encountered a true Unspeakable, nor am I clear on the range of abilities they have, or the impact they can have on reality.”
“For now, I’d better assu the worst. Those Core mbers might receive so small gifts from the Deep World, like the woman wearing the God of Death mask who can block my blade. So I mustn’t let my guard down.”
When the night reached its darkest, Han Fei’s hunt continued.
He wore a terrifying Joker mask, roaming through the darkness like a Ghost, frightening not just ordinary people but even other mbers of the Death Spread Group Chat.
…
The kerosene lamp lit up on the dock where the repulsive Shenhai crouched on a fishing boat, next to him a huge fishing net entrapping a father and daughter.
“I’ve waited a long ti for this opportunity, last ti my work was too trite, sheer brutality and blood aren’t the criteria, understanding death is.”
The fish-killing knife plumted down ruthlessly, Shenhai flayed a live fish, slicing it into pieces, not minding the fishy sll, he put the pieces into his mouth and chewed them directly.
“Dawn is approaching, a decision must be made.”
Crushing the fish head, Shenhai walked to the front of the net, knife in hand, he squatted beside the father and daughter’s faces: “I can kill you both, but now I want to give you a chance to live.”
“Please, spare my daughter, she’s still young, I’ll do anything you ask!” the fisherman father pleaded with the Monster before him, his daughter already scared to tears.
“Did I allow you to speak?” Shenhai moved the fish-killing knife towards the fisherman’s eyeball: “If your daughter personally kills you, I can let her live alone, and vice versa, I’m also looking forward to the expression you’ll have when you kill your own daughter.”
Grinning ferociously, Shenhai’s mouth split open, revealing crooked teeth: “This is my final rcy.”
He released one of the fisherman’s arms and pulled the upper body of the fisherman’s daughter out of the net, then gave them a small knife to scale the fish.
“Kill each other, and the one who remains can live; otherwise, you both die.” Shenhai’s pale eyes fixed on the father and daughter, ready to act at their slightest movent: “Quick! Don’t make wait too long!”
Neither the father nor daughter made a move, the girl continued to cry, unable to hold the knife steady, and the father didn’t have a single thought of murder; he would rather die himself.
“I’ll give you ten more seconds.” Shenhai scraped the fish-killing knife against the deck, beginning the countdown, making it even more agonizing for the father and daughter.
“10, 9, 8…”
Shenhai’s voice sounded like the notes of a death knell, and the fisherman ultimately made a decision, he gestured with his eyes for his daughter to run, he himself would fight Shenhai.
The net ensnared the father and daughter, if the fisherman wanted his daughter to escape, he had to pull her legs out of the net first.
“7, 6…”
He yelled loudly, pretending to swing the knife at his daughter, actually aiming to cut the net off her legs.
Shenhai watched the struggling father and daughter, his smile growing more excited, he didn’t stop them, instead focusing on the daughter’s pale face: “Your father is totally off guard right now, kill him, and you can live.”
As the countdown neared its end, the fisherman hadn’t cut through all of the net, but Shenhai was already behind him: “4, 3, 2…”
Just as Shenhai was about to count to one, a sudden noise ca from the side of the boat, five soaking wet fingers gripped the edge of the fishing boat.
Drops of water fell, a Joker mask appeared by the side of the boat, wet black hair clinging to the face, Han Fei climbed out of the sea and onto the fishing boat.
“I’ve searched the whole town and couldn’t find you, so you were hiding here.”
The skin soaked by the sea, turning sowhat pale, matched with his cold, emotionless words, made Han Fei resemble a Water Ghost wrongfully dead in Dolphin Bay.
“You… swam over?” Shenhai felt an inexplicable fear, he didn’t know why this Madman wearing a Joker mask was targeting him, and as an old-tir who had attended several “offline gatherings”, his reaction was extrely decisive; he threw the fish-killing knife at Han Fei and without even blinking, jumped straight into the sea, wasting not even a second of ti.
“Tsk.”
Han Fei walked towards the spot where Shenhai had jumped off the boat and took the opportunity to rescue the father and daughter from the fishing net.
“Th-thank you.” The fishing family had escaped death and were both excited and scared. They didn’t dare get too close to Han Fei.
Standing at the bow, Han Fei looked out over the pitch-black sea, where Shenhai had already disappeared without a trace.
“Starting today, I am going to undergo intensive swimming training; the sa mistake can’t happen twice.”
It was almost dawn, and there was one last thing Han Fei had yet to do—he asked the fishern to hurry back to Dolphin Bay.
While resting on the boat, Han Fei took the opportunity to bandage the girl’s wounds. Upon reaching the shore, he left imdiately without saying another word.
Walking down the dimly lit street, Han Fei pulled a plastic bag out of his pocket, containing several cellphones, one of which belonged to the Priest.
“Based on these ‘staff mbers” conversation records, their base should be nearby.”
In the process of looking for Shenhai, Han Fei had killed several “staff mbers” and deduced the location of their lair from the information they left behind.
Kicking open the battered door, Han Fei made his way down the rusty tal ladder.
This place was a black market butcher shop that illegally slaughtered dolphins and rare fish, and the shop manager was likely one of the mbers of the Death Spread Group Chat.
“Dolphin Bay used to be a demonstration area for dolphin protection, and now they’re even selling dolphin at, although it’s not guaranteed to all be dolphin at.”
Humming a tune, Han Fei held a stick covered in bone splinters and bloodstains, stepping on the stinking ground.
He moved forward step by step and finally pushed open the door at the far end.
All the contenders who’d arrived at Dolphin Bay for the offline eting were staying inside the room—so were seated, so lay down, so gasped for air, so had already gone cold.
“Why are you alone?” A man with a big beard, reeking of dead fish, looked surprised, “Where’s the one who led you here?”
“No one led here. I found this place on my own.” Han Fei took out the plastic bag and gently shook it, dropping the cellphones to the floor.
Seeing those phones, the expressions of several people inside the room changed, and Big Beard, the Butcher, beca more serious, “No one led you here, so how will the process of your work be presented? Did you film your own deeds?”
“No,” Han Fei dragged his stick on the ground, “Because my work isn’t finished yet.”
“What do you an?”
“My new piece is called ‘No One Survives’, which ans all of you have to die.” Maniacal laughter ca from beneath the Joker mask as Han Fei, ard with the stick, charged into the final room.
Brutality, cruelty, despair—the mbers of the Death Spread Group Chat were experts at spreading these feelings, but they never imagined that one day they would be on the receiving end.
“I am fundantally different from you all because I have experienced the deepest fear and despair. So I don’t let others experience these feelings lightly. I understand restraint and reflection, and while I kill, I am also prepared to be killed.”
Han Fei gripped Big Beard by the neck and hoisted him high. He stood in the middle of the black shop, surrounded by mbers of the group chat with broken limbs lying all around him.
Tossing Big Beard into the stinking pool, Han Fei collected all “staff mbers'” phones in front of him and began to score and docunt the process of his own work.
Once finished, he pressed the send button.
“To beco a core mber, you need the agreent of other core mbers. Even if you kill all of us, it’s useless,” Big Beard gasped beside the pool, fearfully eyeing the Joker mask. He was a leader of a Death Spread Group Chat, had seen many perverts, but had never felt such a chilling fear.
“It doesn’t matter. I was just invited to an offline eting; at least I had a lot of fun tonight.”
At the sa ti that Han Fei sent the details of his work, in an abandoned building in the Xinhu North Suburb, hasty footsteps echoed.
A door secured with five layers of passwords swung open, and a man wearing a Crow mask stepped into the darkness.
“The God of Death has attracted police attention, should we act early to kill her?”
“I ca here today not because of her. A special piece has been received at Dolphin Bay. Maybe we should add one more chair here,” the man with the Crow mask sat at the table, a faint glow appeared in the darkness, with several masked weirdos sitting on either side of the long table.
“What piece has impressed you so much?” asked a man in a Guinea Pig mask with a hint of curiosity.
“The monthly Death Spread Group Chat administrative offline eting was held in Dolphin Bay. I personally selected twenty new managers to attend. One of them hunted down twenty-two people in one night, and all the kills were contenders.”
“Twenty people in the event, even if he killed himself, that still wouldn’t make twenty-two,” soone interjected.
“That includes the judges in charge of recording and the Shop Manager of Dolphin Bay. He graded his own work, and in all these years, I’ve never seen soone this mad,” the man in the Crow mask said as he placed reports from different “judges” on the table, all of which gave full marks and obviously ca from the sa person.
“Killing all the competitors, I can understand, but killing the judges too? Isn’t that a bit too perverse?”
“A core mber hasn’t been added in a long ti. The more pathological he is, the better he fits the requirents of that person. I think he’s suitable,” said the Crow-masked man.
“He erged too suddenly. This guy is dangerous. Could he be a cop?”
“Would a police officer kill twenty-two people?”
“The reports are written by himself, maybe he didn’t kill those people, just controlled them.”
The Crow and the Guinea Pig disagreed, and a woman wearing a Queen Mask raised her hand, “The new Butterfly has appeared, and we need more living followers of death. I think he fits the bill just fine.”
At the ntion of the word “Butterfly,” everyone turned to look at the other end of the long table, where two seats were empty, with no one daring to sit.
“I also agree to let him join. After all, it’s rare to see soone so mad, cruel and intelligent. But the Guinea Pig has a point. I think we can give him a temporary core mber status, then we get to know him slowly. Once we really understand him, we’ll let him in on our secrets,” said a young man wearing a pure white mask next to the seat of the Crow-masked man, evidently just of age.
“Then it’s decided,” a grating and piercing laugh ca from under the Crow mask as he rose from his seat and walked out of the room.
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