My Healing Games

Chapter 27 The Gradually Emerging Truth

"I haven't told this secret to anyone, and it's probably the worst mistake I've ever made in my life."

Meng Shi unlocked the bedroom door and led Han Fei inside.

The bedroom wasn't very big, with a single bed and a huge freezer on the other side of the bed, covered with a thick black cloth.

The lights were dim, and the bedroom curtains were nailed to the wall, making it impossible to see inside from the outside.

“I told you a story before, about a woman who adopted three children. Actually, that woman was me.” Guilt and unease of conscience had been tormenting the old woman until she experienced a life-or-death crisis, at which point she decided to tell the truth: “That day, I secretly followed them to the outskirts of the city and watched the three brothers wrestling next to the corpse. I heard them hurling insults at each other. That’s when I realized that the harmony between them was just a facade for me.”

The old man's skinny, bony hands gripped the black cloth on the freezer: "The third brother started acting abnormally a long time ago. He went from burning ants and catching earthworms to torturing stray cats and dogs. He seemed unable to vent his emotions like a normal person, and could only stimulate himself through certain behaviors."

"The eldest and second eldest brothers knew about the third brother's unusual behavior. To keep me from worrying, they contacted the third brother privately many times."

"The eldest brother found a psychologist for the youngest brother who was still in school, and the second brother helped the youngest brother with the aftermath. The two brothers kept giving the youngest brother a chance, but lecturing him all the time could not change him."

“Until that day, tragedy struck: the third brother killed a homeless man living in an abandoned villa.”

"The first to notice the problem was the second brother. He was used to cleaning up after his younger brother, but when he discovered that it was a human corpse, he was completely stunned."

"The second brother angrily cursed his younger brother as a devil, saying that a person like his younger brother should not be allowed to live in the world."

"Kneeling before the corpse, the younger brother showed little remorse. He even excitedly told the second brother that he would soon be able to prove that he was not sick, and that he had found the butterfly that had fallen deep in his mind. He felt that as long as he could find that butterfly, he would die for it."

As she spoke of the past, the old woman's voice began to tremble, and she silently lifted the black cloth covering the freezer.

"A butterfly that landed deep in the mind? Does the third brother have a mental illness? Does he hallucinate?" Han Fei vaguely felt that things were not so simple.

"The third brother always says there's a butterfly in his head, he can feel it, but he can't find it. That butterfly leads him forward, and every time its wings flutter, he feels an uncontrollable killing intent. As the killing intent intensifies, he gets closer and closer to that butterfly, which he says has the most beautiful colors in the world." The old man laboriously opened the freezer, and cold air rushed out.

Han Fei looked into the freezer, where rows of rotten books were displayed.

"Grandma, why did you put the book in the refrigerator?"

The old woman didn't answer. She reached into the refrigerator and took a book out, revealing a frozen human face beneath it: "These books all belong to the third son, and the person under the books was also murdered."

Putting the book in his hand aside, the old man knelt down on the side of the freezer: "That day I watched the three brothers fight and hurt each other. My heart ached so much. I felt that it was all my fault."

Guilt, self-blame, and pain filled the old man's voice as it gradually weakened: "I rushed up to stop them. When they saw me, all three children were surprised, and even the youngest, who had been arguing with his older brother, lowered his head."

“I persuaded the third brother to turn himself in, and the eldest and second brothers also decided to call the police. Throughout the whole process, the third brother didn’t say a word. It wasn’t until the end that he told us something: someone else had induced him to commit the crime.”

"He couldn't tell us who that person was. He said that knowing the name would put everyone's lives in danger. He also said that a series of murders would soon occur in the old town, all in order to find the butterfly in his mind."

“As family, we wanted to believe in the third brother, but murder can never be forgiven. In the end, the eldest and second eldest brothers decided to give the third brother a week to prove the existence of that person.”

“The abandoned villas in the suburbs are home to many homeless people and scavengers, as well as many fugitives and undocumented immigrants. It is easy to find bodies hidden here, so we transport them to freezers in refrigerated trucks.”

"I don't remember much about what happened after that; it's like there's a gap in my memory. I only remember that all three children left me, and I stayed by this body, waiting for the youngest to come back and turn himself in."

The old woman still doesn't remember that she's dead; this situation is likely caused by the game.

"The third brother said someone tricked him into killing someone, and that a series of murders would soon occur in the old city. He seemed to have predicted the human body puzzle pattern!" Han Fei knew that the three brothers were still alive, and something must have happened to them.

“I feel that all three brothers are in great danger now.” Han Fei shifted his gaze and inadvertently saw the book that had been placed over the face of the deceased. The book was called “The Butterfly of the Soul”, and the author was one of the founders of neurological research in the last century. There was also a sentence written on the cover of the book.

"Like an entomologist constantly pursuing colorful and beautiful butterflies, I am deeply attracted to the backyard of the neural gray matter. There are cells with exquisite and elegant forms, and the enigmatic butterfly of the soul. Who knows? Perhaps one day it will flap its wings and unveil the mysterious veil of the spiritual world. — Ramon Cajal"

"A butterfly of the soul? After I log into the game, will my mind and soul step on that butterfly and fly into the underworld?"

Han Fei knew nothing about the game; he was still only at the most basic survival stage. Thinking about it now was useless; his priority was to keep leveling up.

"Grandma, if the third brother killed someone, he should be punished. If you protect him, you will only turn him into a monster, and more people will suffer at his hands in the future." Han Fei closed the freezer. He had decided to bring the third brother to justice in reality, which might be a relief for the old woman.

"The deceased lost their life, but the murderer escaped punishment. No matter the reason, it's unfair to me." Han Fei and Meng Shi's friendship level had reached a very high value, so Han Fei wasn't worried that Meng Shi's friendship level would decrease because of his words: "This freezer looks like it's sealing a corpse, but it's actually sealing all the happiness and beauty of your generations. I think you should let it go."

Looking at the old man kneeling beside the freezer, Han Fei thought of the tenants in the haunted house, and his gaze drifted into the distance.

"In this game called Perfect Life, it seems that no life is perfect."

(End of this chapter)