My Healing Games

Chapter 209 Suspense Novelist

The outsiders at Yimin Private Academy have been cleansed out by the academy's vengeful spirits. They hate Ma Manjiang to the bone, and everything related to Ma Manjiang has been eliminated.

Han Fei understood them well, but after they did this, the number of quests that could be triggered in Yimin Private Academy decreased by more than half.

Han Fei, along with Li Zai and Yinglong, spent the entire night thoroughly searching Yimin Private Academy, leaving no corner unchecked. Only after they could no longer trigger any more missions did Han Fei log out of the game.

"With Yimin Private College now fully operational, my focus will shift to Animal Alley."

Taking off his gaming helmet, Han Fei stretched. Looking at the wall covered with photos of victims, he felt neither fear nor discomfort. He had a clear conscience towards anyone, and even if ghosts truly existed, he wasn't worried about being haunted by them.

"Animal Alley is quite far from Happiness Community, and it's not easy to get there safely. This hidden profession doesn't seem to be easy to obtain either. However, according to the official website, hidden professions that can only be changed at specific locations are extremely rare. These professions have more talents and unique abilities than other professions."

Effort and reward are proportional; at least in terms of fairness, "Perfect Life" does a decent job.

After playing games all night, Han Fei was exhausted and his whole body ached. He took a moment to check his personal account. The money from the online streaming revenue of "Twin Flowers" had not yet been deposited into his account. The reward money from his act of bravery was still not enough to buy a game pod.

"Let's wait a little longer. Once the gaming pod arrives, I'll be able to play games for extended periods of time."

After putting away his gaming helmet, Han Fei went to bed to catch up on sleep. He only slept for a little over three hours before being woken up by his phone ringing.

After seeing the caller ID, Han Fei felt embarrassed to refuse the call.

"Assistant Xiao, is there something you need? I'm supposed to start filming tomorrow, right?" The person who called was Xiao Hui, one of Director Zhang's assistants.

"All the actors have arrived at Xinhu today. Director Zhang hopes that everyone can get together at the filming location and get to know each other, since we will be spending a long time together in the future."

For other actors, this would be a great opportunity to expand their network and broaden their horizons, but Han Fei just found it troublesome.

"What time? Where is it located? I'll take a taxi there."

"Taking a taxi? Teacher Han? You've already made it onto the list of most promising young actors, you don't even have an agent, do you?" As Director Zhang's assistant, Xiao Hui usually deals with actors who are at least third-tier or higher, and people like Han Fei are rare.

"I find it too much trouble." Han Fei hung up the phone after getting the address, but he didn't leave immediately.

The address provided by Assistant Xiao is located at the junction of the northern suburbs of Xinhu and the old city, which is very remote. Normally, Director Zhang would not allow the actors to gather there.

Just to be on the safe side, Han Fei told Li Xue about his plan to go to the northern suburbs.

……

Cars were parked next to the abandoned Fugui Meat Processing Plant, and people were coming and going around the area. There were crew members wearing hats and workers responsible for setting up the scenes everywhere.

The roar of machinery, the shouts and commands—the northern suburbs of Xinhu hadn't been this lively in a long time.

“Director Zhang, times have changed. We can put all of this into a virtual set and use technology to create any scene we want.” A fair-skinned middle-aged man covered his mouth and nose, seemingly afraid of inhaling the dust and smoke from the construction.

"Films are meant to record reality. If you create a fictional scene and then use that fiction to film that fiction, the film will lack a certain quality." Director Zhang, wearing a safety helmet, personally directed the operation, wanting to recreate the scene as it was ten years ago.

“I can’t argue with you, Xiao Tong. You try to persuade Director Zhang.” The fair-skinned middle-aged man took off his sunglasses, revealing his handsome, somewhat effeminate face, and said to a stylish young man next to him.

“I think Director Zhang is right.” The young man stood on the same side as Director Zhang without hesitation.

"I reckon even if Director Zhang said the moon is square, he wouldn't argue." A tall woman wearing a mask stood on the other side of Director Zhang. She was wearing flat shoes, but she was still taller than Director Zhang and the middle-aged man.

One by one, actors gathered around Director Zhang. Among them were established stars, popular celebrities, and award winners. This is the appeal of a top-tier veteran director.

Around noon, Han Fei arrived at the northern suburbs of Xinhu. By then, the Fugui Meat Processing Plant and the adjacent residential compound of the plant's employees had undergone tremendous changes.

Director Zhang used a lot of manpower and resources to renovate these two buildings in order to film his new drama.

Looking at the large amount of machinery and the staff coming and going, Han Fei felt like a country bumpkin visiting the Grand View Garden; he had certainly broadened his horizons.

Compared to Director Zhang, the filming of Twin Flowers was just a small-scale project; the financial investment of the two was on completely different levels.

Standing silently in the crowd, no one paid any attention to Han Fei, who also happened to dislike talking.

After glancing at and memorizing the faces of all the actors, he closed his eyes to rest, pondering the game strategy in his mind.

A dozen minutes later, a motorhome drove into the scene.

The car door opened, and an elderly man in his sixties with a full head of white hair stepped out of the car.

Upon seeing the elderly man approaching, the actors who had been talking all went to greet him.

"Old Li, you've arrived."

"Hello, master!"

"The old man looks younger."

The elderly man who got off the bus was Li Huaiming, a national first-class actor and veteran actor who has won numerous awards.

Upon seeing Mr. Li arrive, Director Zhang stopped his work and invited everyone into the meat processing plant's residential compound.

“Our new movie, ‘The Suspense Novelist,’ is being filmed here. I’ve already arranged for staff to inspect this apartment building and communicated with the remaining residents. I will restore everything and present the truth that was once covered up completely.”

Director Zhang introduced the filming location to the actors and led them on a tour.

The movie "The Novelist" is based on a true story. The author, who used the pen name Spider, killed eight other versions of himself in this building, thus achieving an incredible redemption.

Most of the film's plot takes place inside this building. Unlike the other actors who are laughing and chatting, Han Fei squinted his eyes and memorized every detail inside the building.

There is a special connection between the deeper world and reality. The animal alley that Han Fei is going to next happens to be the name of that suspense novelist's first book. He thinks he should be able to find some clues in reality.

At this moment, Han Fei's mindset was completely different from the other actors. While everyone else was just filming, Han Fei was using the opportunity to gather evidence and increase his chances of survival.

The two sides have completely different goals, which determines that their level of seriousness is not on the same level at all.

After familiarizing themselves with all the filming locations, Director Zhang invited everyone to have lunch in the rest shed set up by the staff. The opening ceremony was held in the afternoon.

It seems that theatrical films like theirs pay a lot of attention to these things. Everyone cuts the ribbon together, takes photos, and it's already 3 p.m. when everything is done.

Director Zhang distributed scripts to all the actors, and he hoped that everyone could practice together in the family dormitory that evening.

If other directors had made such a request, these actors probably wouldn't have agreed, but they dared not disobey Director Zhang.

Most of the actors returned to their RVs to familiarize themselves with the script; their RVs were much more comfortable than the somewhat dirty and messy family compound.

As for Han Fei, he didn't have so many worries; he took the script and went straight into the meat processing plant's residential building.

Touching the rusty iron railings, and glancing at the mottled walls and cluttered stairwell, Han Fei felt as if he had returned to his happy neighborhood.

He walked step by step to the rooftop with the script in his hand and looked around.

Spider, a suspense novelist, lives in a residential building next to a meat processing plant. The location is very remote. Since the meat processing plant went bankrupt, more and more residents have moved away, and you often can't see a single car passing by on the road next to it for most of the day.

"With the development of technology, old factories with low production efficiency have been shut down on a large scale, and 30 percent of jobs in society have been replaced by machines, which has changed the lives of many people."

Han Fei silently gazed at the meat processing plant in the distance. There was a line in his script, which should be the original quote from the Spider novel—"People slaughter livestock day after day, slowly forgetting that they themselves are nothing more than food in their mouths."

The words in the dialogue refer to many things, such as this rapidly developing city, or this era that is hard to say whether it is good or bad.

"The view from the rooftop is indeed impressive. Could the spider have also enjoyed the view from here?"

While others were acting, Han Fei was trying to survive. He took the script and completely immersed himself in the role of the spider.

In the novel "The Suspense Novelist," Han Fei, who plays Spider, is only a supporting character. In reality, Spider is also just a minor supporting character in his own life.

He lived in the shadow of split personality from childhood to adulthood, and even after his death, few people knew his story, and even fewer liked him.

“Animal Alley, Butcher’s House, I’m getting more and more curious about the world in Spider’s mind.” Han Fei stood on the rooftop and memorized all the lines, then he walked alone to the fourth floor.

Spider lived in room 401 on the fourth floor before he died, and after his death, all the residents on the fourth floor moved out.

No one knows why those tenants moved out, but their doors were covered with tattered talismans and wrapped with faded red ropes. It seemed that Spider's neighbors were all guarding against something ominous.

"Could the thing the neighbors feel is ominous be a spider?"

The empty fourth floor looked a bit scary, but Han Fei didn't hesitate and grabbed the door of room 401.

"Is it locked?"

Han Fei was slightly surprised. When Director Zhang brought the actors over to see it before, the door was clearly not locked. Why was it locked now?
"Was it done by a staff member?"

Han Fei was deep in thought when he faintly heard very soft breathing coming from upstairs. He turned his head to look.

There was an old man at the corner between the fifth and fourth floors. He didn't say a word, just stood quietly in the corridor, looking at Han Fei's back.

(End of this chapter)