My Healing Games

Chapter 299 Horror Film Director and Comedian (4000)

When Feng Ziyu went to Lihua Community to check on things before, he encountered the other party once. After a brief conversation, Feng Ziyu felt that the other party was not crazy, but was just pretending to be crazy due to some kind of pressure.

He believed that the horror film director must know something, and the fact that the other party had been staying in the Pear Blossom neighborhood was itself suspicious.

After memorizing all the information, Han Fei destroyed the documents. He called Li Xue, reported his itinerary, picked up his baton, and left the room.

Pear Blossom Residential Area is also located in the old city of Xinhu, but it was built in a very remote place and has been renamed many times. Han Fei searched for a long time before finally finding the place using navigation.

Looking at the somewhat dilapidated gate of the community and the banners protesting for rights hanging on the wall, Han Fei felt as if he had returned to decades ago. The place still looked the same as before, and technological progress had not brought much change to the city's underprivileged.

"That horror movie director made a lot of money after becoming famous, so why is he still living in this place?" Han Fei opened his phone and searched for the other party's name. After he entered the two characters "Zhuang Ren", a large number of search results appeared.

Ten years ago, this horror film director was quite popular. Every one of his movies was a bad movie with ridiculously low ratings, but it still made money at the box office.

Many people watch his movies not because they're looking for horror, but because they want to enjoy the comedy.

On the social media platform where this director hasn't been updated for nearly five or six years, there are still his "followers" making jokes, respectfully calling him a titan of the comedy world, and regarding this horror film director as the godfather of new concept comedy.

Looking at Zhuang Ren's comment section, Han Fei felt a sense of familiarity, as his own social media comment section was somewhat similar.

He is clearly an actor, but many netizens have mistaken him for a bounty hunter.

In that respect, he actually understands Zhuang Ren quite well.

The gate to the community was locked, a water outage notice was posted on the wall, and the trash cans at the entrance hadn't been emptied in a long time; they were dirty and messy.

This neighborhood used to be considered a very nice one, but as time has passed, it has been forgotten by the city, just like the people who still live here.

After walking along the bumpy, under-construction road, Han Fei glanced at the sign hanging on the roadblock and realized that the road had been under construction for six months and was still not finished, and it was estimated that it would not be completed until the second half of the year.

The Pear Blossom residential area is not large, with only four buildings, none of which are tall.

Building No. 4 was completely sealed off; it's said that Yong Sheng Pharmaceutical bought the building a long time ago.

Shaking the welded-closed iron gate of Building No. 4, Han Fei couldn't help but sigh, "It's good to be rich."

The chairman of Yong Sheng Pharmaceuticals once lived here, but unfortunately Han Fei cannot go in to check it out now. At least during the day, he does not dare to force his way into the residential building.

After bypassing Building 4, Han Fei arrived at Building 1 where Zhuang Ren was located. He went straight to the fourth floor and didn't see a single person throughout the entire process. This community was like a ghost town, and it was frightening even during the day.

"Is anyone here?"

I knocked lightly on the door, but there was no response from inside, as if no one lived in the room.

Leaning forward, Han Fei pressed his ear against the door, where he could vaguely hear the news broadcast.

"Excuse me, is this Zhuang Ren's house?"

Han Fei knocked on the door for a full three minutes before footsteps suddenly came from inside the house.

The security door was opened a crack, and a bloodshot eyeball appeared through the gap. The homeowner remained silent, staring at Han Fei.

"My name is Han Fei, and I'd like to ask you some questions."

Upon hearing that Han Fei had come to inquire about something, the homeowner immediately prepared to close the door, but Han Fei was prepared. He had already slipped his fingers through the crack in the door and grabbed the door panel.

"I'm not a bad person. If you're worried, I can call the police for you and have them come over." Han Fei spoke gently, but what he said left people unsure how to respond.

Why involve the police when it's just a matter of whether or not to close the door?
With a little effort, Han Fei managed to pull the door open. To avoid upsetting the homeowner, he stood politely at the doorway and didn't go inside directly.

“I’ve seen your information online and I know about your past. Calm down and listen to me.” Han Fei stared at the face behind the door and slowly lowered his voice: “I know you’re not crazy because I’ve encountered the same thing as you. My family was locked up somewhere. They didn’t die, or rather, they exist in another form.”

The bloodshot eyeball moved slightly, as if the other party had discerned the deeper meaning hidden in Han Fei's words.

"I know where they are, but I can't rescue them. I need to get some information from you." Han Fei spoke for a long time before a hoarse, gloomy voice finally rang out from behind the door.

Where do you think they are?

"Have you heard of the Death Tower?" Han Fei didn't answer his question, but instead asked another one. To his surprise, after he mentioned the Death Tower, the door slowly opened.

A disheveled man with half-white hair and beard appeared at the door. He was actually around sixty years old, but he looked like he was terminally ill and might pass away at any moment.

"Come in. If you say these things outside, people will think you're crazy." After saying that, the man went into the house without even closing the door.

Han Fei confirmed the location of the baton and then went inside.

Avoiding the trash on the ground, he glanced around and saw medicine bottles scattered everywhere inside the room.

It was morning, but all the curtains in the windows were drawn, making the living room very dark.

Han Fei closed the door, and when he looked up again, the man came out from the inner room, holding a fruit knife in his hand.

He stared blankly at Han Fei, his bloodshot eyes bulging outwards.

After a long while, seemingly seeing that Han Fei had no reaction at all, he finally spoke: "Want an apple? The community assistance program brought them over yesterday."

"No need, I didn't come to see you just for fruit." Han Fei sat down on the sofa, looking at the television playing a video and the notebooks scattered across the coffee table. "You don't seem to like using modern appliances very much?"

“I’m used to the old stuff, so I don’t want to change it.” The man sat down on the other side of the sofa, and he and Han Fei looked at the television together.

The screen is playing a news report from many years ago: a bus veered off a bridge and drove into a swollen river during a rainstorm.

"Were your family members all in this car at the time?" Han Fei asked this question. Just then, the names of the victims were scrolling down below the news, and Zhuang Ren's family members were clearly among them, but Zhuang Ren shook his head decisively.

“They’re not dead, they’re just locked in the dead building, I’m sure of that.” Zhuang Ren casually tied up his messy long hair. “Everyone outside thinks I’m crazy, but I’m more lucid than anyone else.”

Han Fei did not reply immediately; he pondered for a long time before asking, "Have you ever entered the Death Tower?"

“I’ve been trying to find a way in, but I can’t find the way.” The man stared with blood-red eyes, then mysteriously opened the game console under the TV cabinet and handed Han Fei a game controller.

"What are you doing?"

Zhuang Ren stopped talking. After getting the game controller, his condition became even more unstable. His pupils kept twitching, and all his attention was focused on the TV screen.

After connecting all the cables, the game started, and a game with very poor graphics appeared on the TV screen. The name of this game was "Dead Building".

Black background with red lettering—simple yet incredibly unpleasant to look at.

"My family is in here! They're waiting for me to rescue them! All I have to do is beat the game!" Zhuang Ren's tone became increasingly manic; he was no longer acting like a normal person.

"You mean this game when you say 'dead building'?" Han Fei was a little disappointed. He put down the game controller, but just as he was about to get up, he suddenly saw the game screen.

In this game called "Dead Building," the first game map is actually called "Happy Community"!
Even more coincidentally, the game in the neighborhood was also about finding puzzle pieces, except instead of finding a human figure puzzle, it involved helping a child find ordinary puzzle toys.

You must ask different NPCs to find eight puzzle pieces hidden in the corners of the vast map to successfully complete the game.

Zhuang Ren had lost count of how many times he had played this game. He skillfully controlled the blurry character, constantly triggering tasks. In the process of searching for puzzle toys, he learned about the troubles of his neighbors in the community and helped them solve them one by one.

This first map looks rough, but it contains a lot of information.

At this point, Han Fei no longer thought Zhuang Ren was crazy; he quietly watched from the side.

It took Zhuang Ren fifteen minutes to find all the puzzle pieces. The final puzzle showed a child reaching out and catching a butterfly.

After passing the first level, Zhuang Ren entered another map, the second map called Qiuyun Mansion. Here, Zhuang Ren needs to help the deliveryman deliver things in the complicated building.

During the delivery of takeout and goods, Zhuang Ren comes into contact with different people and experiences the warmth and coldness of human relationships.

Judging from the first two maps, the game creators seem to have a sunny and positive outlook, and probably wanted to create a healing-themed mini-game.

In ten minutes, Zhuang Ren completed all the tasks and then entered the third map—the temporary resettlement housing on Happiness Road.

The resettlement housing has quality problems, and Zhuang Ren is tasked with persuading everyone to leave the housing within a specified time.

These games are very interesting, but Zhuang Ren has played them countless times. He clicks on each option like a machine, taking the shortest path to get the corresponding items. He must have memorized all the strategies.

The third map, the fourth map...

By noon, Zhuang Ren had already played the eighth map, which was called Pear Blossom Community.

He played this map very slowly, as if he were watching his life from a different perspective.

Half an hour later, the eighth map was also cleared. Although this game is somewhat difficult, it is definitely not impossible to complete.

Just when Han Fei thought the ninth map was about to appear, the game returned to the beginning, and only the words "Dead Building" remained on the TV screen.

"That's it? I've already cleared the game?"

"No, the gates to the dead building have only just opened." Zhuang Ren clicked start again. The eight maps he had played with before were like eight puzzle pieces in a children's jigsaw puzzle in Happiness Community, now pieced together.

Seeing this scene, it was as if a lightning bolt struck Han Fei's mind. He remembered some things, and these things were probably all related.

After the eight maps were pieced together, the ninth map appeared.

It was a very strange building; whenever Zhuang Ren controlled his game character to approach it, he would suddenly die.

He tried various locations, but none of them worked; he simply couldn't find the entrance to the building.

The blood vessels in his eyes gradually thickened, and Zhuang Ren's actions became increasingly irritable. Finally, he slammed the game controller onto the coffee table, then screamed and yelled like a madman, pushing everything to the ground.

After a long period of manic outburst and roaring, Zhuang Ren finally calmed down.

His hand was cut by shards of glass, but he seemed not to feel the pain. He picked up the game controller again, exited the game, and started a new level.

"Something must have been missed. Perhaps we need a certain item to enter the final dead building." Zhuang Ren's hand was bleeding, but his eyes were fixed on the television screen.

Seeing Zhuang Ren engrossed in the game again, Han Fei touched the game controller and suddenly asked, "Where did you find this game? And who told you that your family was locked in a dead building?"

Even a normal person who has suffered the blow of losing a family member would not easily believe such a thing. Han Fei felt that something must have happened to Zhuang Ren.

“You might not believe it, and you’ll probably think I’m crazy,” Zhuang Ren said while operating the game. “The Dead Building Game was given to me by the chairman of Yong Sheng Pharmaceutical when he was young, about forty years ago. He lived in this neighborhood back then.”

"Chairman of Yong Sheng Pharmaceuticals?" Han Fei's eyes showed disbelief.

“You’re probably going to say that since the person is already dead, I can make up whatever I want. Actually, I couldn’t understand why the person who was said to be closest to God would give me this game, until my family passed away more than ten years ago…” Zhuang Ren looked at Han Fei, who seemed to have suddenly thought of something, and his eyes widened.

“That’s right, you should have seen the Pear Blossom Community game map earlier. This game predicted the death of my family.” Zhuang Ren put down the game controller: “Everyone thinks I’m crazy. Gradually, I also started to doubt. I don’t know if it’s me who’s gone crazy, or the world.”

No one spoke inside; it was deathly silent.

After a long pause, Han Fei finally spoke: "Has the chairman of Yong Sheng Pharmaceuticals said anything else to you?"

“It’s been so long, I only remember a blurry scene. Late that night I saw him talking to himself in a corner of the neighborhood. He seemed to be possessed, constantly saying that he had an older brother.” Zhuang Ren recalled the past, leaning back on the sofa: “I was young then, and out of kindness, I wanted to help him, but he asked me a question that I still can’t understand.”

"what is the problem?"

He asked me if ghosts exist in the world?

"How did you answer?"

“I said no, and then he gave me this game.” Zhuang Ren stared at the TV screen, his wrinkles seeming to deepen. “He also told me that if I lost something important, I should look for it here. They might not have left, but were just locked in a black building and couldn’t get out.”

Everything matched up, except that Zhuang Ren didn't quite understand that the "dead building" mentioned by the chairman of Yong Sheng Pharmaceuticals was probably referring to a dead building in another game.

(End of this chapter)