Horror Game Designer

“Teacher Xia, how did you become like this?” Gao Ming righted the wall. The limbs of the painted woman on the wall were pinned. She looked haggard.

“If I said I was purposely captured to trick them to save you, would you believe me?” Xia Yang’s smile was incongruent with how dishevelled he looked. “But that was the truth. Everything was as I expected. A good artist had already finished the whole painting in his mind when he took his first brushstroke.”

“Then, should I thank you?”

“I am you, and you are me. Thank you is unnecessary.” Xia Yang was trapped in the wall and couldn’t use his power. Gao Ming didn’t expect Xia Yang to be so stubborn and childish. How was he once the biggest demon in the world?

“The sun is coming up. I suggest you let me out soon. The security members have strange powers. They could be tracking this wall.” Xia Yang said in a kind tone.

“You’re right.” Gao Ming released the tired God of Flesh and Blood to carry the wall.

Xia Yang could sense the change to the God of Flesh and Blood. The oppressive power made him feel uncomfortable. “Where do you plan to take me?”

“You’ll know when we’re there.”

The God of Flesh and Blood and Gao Ming headed deeper into Bo Wan Village. Many strange events occurred in this village. It was located on a land with no law. With Situ An’s deliberate manipulation, the village became the hiding spot for many homeless people and criminals. Most villagers stayed on the outskirts. The deeper one headed into the mountain, the more dangerous it would be.

“Hey!” A coarse voice came from somewhere. “Brother, why don’t you lend us some money? We also don’t want to hurt you.” Gao Ming looked around. Two men in tattered clothes walked out of the trees. One of them held a rusted axe, while the other aimed a gun at Gao Ming’s head.

“Remove your clothes, including your underwear. Quick!” The man with the axe slowly approached. “Follow our orders, and we won’t hurt you!” The God of Flesh and Blood didn’t warn Gao Ming because he didn’t sense any danger.

“Alright.” Gao Ming’s hands reached the top of his shirt buttons when he lifted his eyes. His pupils suddenly trembled with fear as he looked behind the men.

“These tricks won’t work on us!” The two felt a chill. The man with the axe couldn’t help but lift his head to look. His axe fell to the ground. He and his partner were lifted up by multiple arms and flung away. Gao Ming didn’t want to kill random people. He wanted to distract the investigation centre, so he needed these criminals.

“An abandoned village deep inside the mountain, a midnight hospital that has been turned into a sacrificial altar, and a school where you have to follow the rules to live… Han Hai is becoming more and more like a horror game city.”

There were no paths in the mountain. There were occasionally one or two abandoned houses, but they were taken over by grasses. The owners left a long time ago. Only old furniture and dead bugs remained.

“The plants here are so lively, but I can’t hear any animals. It feels like all of the animals have been sacrificed.” Xia Yang’s voice came from the wall. “This makes me want to draw a scenic picture.”

Gao Ming ignored Xia Yang. He realised there were fire pots underneath most old houses. The pots had broken hair and ashes of paper money. Once the ash blew away, there were pieces of unburned pictures. Gao Ming checked a few of the old houses. The pictures featured different people. The only similarity was all the human faces had been deliberately burned away.

“The villagers in the pictures look like Lu Zang from Li San Hospital.” Gao Ming had seen Lu Zang. The doctor would have dragon-like scars appear on his face under certain circumstances.

“Bo Wan Village hasn’t always been the name of this place.” Xia Yang looked around inside the wall. “The village name makes it sound like the place is cursed.”

“I need to digest the things Situ An has left for me before I can consider anything else.”

Gao Ming didn’t dare to stay in one spot for too long. Gao Ming only stopped when he was almost lost.

“We can’t go any further.” The status of the God of Flesh and Blood worried Gao Ming. Perhaps he had been staying in the sun for too long. The God’s four faces blurred, and growls echoed from his throat. He seemed to be warning something from approaching.

Danger encroached silently. Gao Ming gave the order to destroy the piece of wall. The bricks crumbled. The portrait that entrapped Xia Yang was washed out. The iron nails were pulled out of flesh. The painted woman was covered in hatred and pain. Before she shattered, she opened her eyes and memorised everything.

“Next time, I have to paint everyone from the investigation centre.” Xia Yang’s tone was warm as he demolished the woman’s portrait.

“Come back.” When Xia Yang was unwilling to return to the torture room, Gao Ming turned to the God of Flesh and Blood helplessly. Both of them seemed to have started their rebellious period.

Ever since he swallowed the death portrait of the bloodred city, the God of Flesh and Blood started to show self-consciousness. Or perhaps he had always been pretending.

“The two of us need to have a good chat.” Gao Ming placed his hand on his chest. His heart pounded with God’s heart. Their fates were intertwined. “I have your help to reach this point. However, you can’t escape fate if I haven’t repeated my deaths to collect all the pieces of your body from the past and the future.”

The God of Flesh and Blood stood in the forest. The sunlight landed on him through the canopy. The light shimmered with blood. Other than Gong Xi, the other three faces growled. Xia Yang and Situ An inside the torture room suddenly screamed. Two bloodlines crawled out of God’s heart to dye the bloodred patterns on two of his arms fully red. It was like two bloody torches raised in the light. Four faces looked at Gao Ming. The remaining six arms hung weakly. The God of Flesh and Blood used this method to answer Gao Ming.

“The God of Flesh and Blood has four faces and eight arms. I am not in the death portrait of the city. There are twelve people in two. Do you want me to send the twelve people into the torture room?”

Hearing that, the God of Flesh and Blood slowly lowered his large body. He seemed to be saying, he would fully follow Gao Ming’s orders after he dealed with the other twelve people.