My Healing Games

Chapter 666 The Secrets of the Deep World

The room was empty, yet it seemed both deserted and crowded with people.

Han Fei stood at the door, listening to the sound of the soul bell above his head, and ripples stirred in his mind.

"The Soul-Guiding Bell?"

Unconsciously uttering those three words, Han Fei lingered silently under the bell for a while.

Previously, whenever he entered any room, he would feel not only familiarity but also a raw killing intent. That fear was impossible to hide; he had died in this building more than once.

But all the fear of death strangely disappeared after entering this room, as if this room was the only safe place in the entire ghost realm.

"The place that makes me feel most at ease? Is this room truly my home?"

Moving his feet, Han Fei entered the room. His gaze swept over the old furniture and then over the paper figures. The memories shrouded in darkness in his mind seemed to be stimulated.

I picked up a paper figure at random. It was a cute little girl wearing a dress stained with animal fur, her eyes closed, and she was hugging an empty fish tank.

"This girl..."

Even though he was touching a paper figure, his fingers trembled uncontrollably, as if he were holding the corpse of his own daughter.

"I remember there should be something in the fish tank."

Each of the paper figures in the room had its own name written on it. Han Fei flipped the paper figures over and found a few words on the girl's back: "First Anger".

"Anger? Why doesn't the girl have a name? What does 'anger' mean the first time?"

Han Fei picked up the paper figure next to the girl. It was a little boy curled up, thin and pitiful, sitting on a makeshift altar made from a cardboard box, his eyes blurry with tears, his face full of sorrow and despair.

Why is he crying?

Feeling somewhat uneasy, Han Fei looked at the boy's paper figure's chest, where it was written—"First Pity."

"When I saw this child, I did feel a pang of heartache, and I didn't want him to cry."

Han Fei didn't want to put down the two children in his arms. Although they were just paper figures, Han Fei just couldn't bear to leave them in the house any longer. He felt an urge to take the paper figures out of this gloomy and cold room.

"And there's the paper effigy of an old lady. That paper craftsman is really skilled. He captured the old lady's kindness perfectly. It made me a little homesick." Xiao Jia followed behind Han Fei, pointing to a paper effigy of an old lady standing in the room. The paper effigy was dressed simply and was holding a paper pot in her hand, as if she had just come out of the kitchen and was preparing to welcome the children home for the New Year.

As Han Fei carefully examined the old woman, his pupils slowly contracted. He felt as if he had been struck by something, and his heart, filled with fear, felt a long-lost warmth.

Walking behind the paper-figure old woman, Han Fei noticed the words "First time feeling warmth" written on her back.

"warmth?"

Han Fei gradually discovered the strangeness of the room. The writing on the paper figure corresponded exactly to the emotions Han Fei felt the moment he saw it. These subtle fluctuations converged, and Han Fei's calm mind was finally stirred up.

"They look like my family? My family members have been turned into paper figures?"

Han Fei's voice was somewhat hoarse as he unconsciously tightened his grip on the blood-red paper doll's eyeballs.

"No way? How could your family members look like this?" Xiao Jia pointed to the corner of the wall, where a paper figure of an old man in a security guard uniform was leaning against the wall. He was hunched over and always had a smile on his face, but his back was covered with human heads and mutilated limbs.

Next to the security guard paper figure was an even more terrifying paper figure. The spine of that paper figure was made up of individual human heads, which seemed to be linked together from generation to generation, forming an incredibly huge and deformed monster.

"If I burn such a terrifying paper figure for my ancestors during the ancestral worship ceremony, will my ancestors beat me to death?" Xiao Jia's steps were unsteady, and he was somewhat afraid.

Han Fei's behavior was the exact opposite of Xiao Jia's. He walked step by step to the terrifying paper figures and examined the writing on them.

The paper effigy of the security guard reads: "The first time I showed respect." The paper effigy of the human head on the back reads: "The first time I understood separation."

“If these paper figures were once your family, then I’m quite envious of you. So many ‘firsts’ are written on them; it’s as if they’re recording every little detail of your growth, watching over you, accompanying you, and teaching you all sorts of things.” Xiao You hung her mother’s phone around her neck: “Compared to you, my life seems so bleak; I simply can’t find so many people…”

"I just feel like they're my family, but actually my life shouldn't have any connection with them at all." Han Fei pressed his head hard. "I really can't remember."

"Don't rush, you haven't found the most crucial red paper figure yet, have you? Let's take it slow. Maybe you can remember something through these paper figures." Xiao You was very gentle with Han Fei. When they were on the verge of death, it was Han Fei who saved her and her mother. She remembered this kindness firmly in her heart.

"Wait a minute!" Xiao Jia seemed to realize something. "The paper figures were made by the paper craftsman. Since he can make so many paper figures that feel familiar to you, it means he must know you very well! As long as we find the paper craftsman, we can help you regain your lost memories!"

"That's true, but the premise is that these paper figures are really my family, and not some kind of illusion or ghost magic." Han Fei walked among the paper figures, his mind already somewhat chaotic, so he had to force himself to remain rational and consider all sorts of possibilities.

People who have lost their memories are the most insecure. They need to find their true selves, not the selves that others perceive them to be.

Before he knew it, Han Fei had reached the bedroom door. He was flipping through one paper figure after another, immersed in his own world.

"Let's help him look for it too," Xiao Jia said softly. "Once we find the red paper figure, we'd better get out of here quickly; this place is too eerie."

He carried Han Fei's bag and examined the paper figures on the wall. As he looked through them, he suddenly noticed that one of the "paper figures" was wearing clothes made of cloth.

Looking up, he saw an old man with a deathly pale face standing among the paper figures, looking at him.

After a brief moment of silence, Xiao Jia shouted back, "Someone's here! Someone's here!"

He sat down on the ground and moved his body backward; he was truly terrified.

Hearing the shouts, Han Fei quickly ran over, and the three of them gathered together, looking at the pile of paper figures.

"Keep your voice down, it's late at night, don't attract ghosts." The old man's skin was as pale as paper. He had been standing there silently watching Han Fei and the others.

"A paper craftsman?" Han Fei stared at the old man's face, his mind churning with turmoil, his blood rushing through his veins. He was certain that he had not only seen this old man before, but that he was someone who held a very important place in his life.

As his gaze slowly moved, Han Fei noticed that the old man's clothes also had a few words written on them—"First Meeting."

"The soul bell keeps ringing, how did you three grown men get in here?" The old man was still holding an unfinished paper figure in his hand. He slowly walked out from the corner and stopped in front of Han Fei.

"Sir, we accidentally wandered in here. Can you tell us how to leave?" Xiao Jia was scared half to death, but he still asked with a forced smile. However, the old man ignored him and kept his eyes fixed on Han Fei's face.

"I came in to rescue people," Han Fei replied, then tentatively asked, "Is this really the first time we've met?"

"Don't overthink it. My white goods store is called 'First Time.' It's about creating countless 'first times' for people from birth to death, and then burning them all to the ground so they won't have any more memories." The old man seemed to know Han Fei, but he didn't admit it. He just looked at Han Fei with incredibly complicated eyes.

“No, although I’ve forgotten everything that happened in the past, I’m certain that this isn’t the first time you and I have met!” Han Fei raised his scarred arm and grabbed the old man’s hand: “You know the truth, don’t you? The reason for my amnesia? The past I’ve forgotten? Do you know everything I’ve been through?”

Han Fei squeezed the old man's fingers until they were deformed, but the old man did not feel any pain. He was like a paper doll without any emotion, just quietly watching Han Fei.

“This is indeed the first time we’ve met. You may have met someone who looks a lot like me before, but that person is not me.” The old man shook his head. “I’m just a paper craftsman who can’t even leave this room. You’ve really mistaken me for someone else.”

"You just said with such certainty that the person wasn't you. Do you know of anyone in this city who looks like you? Can you tell me where he is?" Han Fei released his hand.

The old man was surprised by the question Han Fei asked. He looked at his deformed fingers and chuckled softly: "My name is Fu Sheng. There are many people in this city with this name. Although we have the same name, everyone's personality is different."

“Fu Sheng?” Han Fei repeated the name over and over again: “There is a Dr. Fu in the hospital, a Dean Fu downstairs, and F among the game participants… I used to be afraid of many things, my heart was filled with the fear of death. It seems that all those people with the surname Fu have killed me. Only when I enter your little house do I feel at peace. You seem to be different from them.”

“What’s the difference? People are all pretty much the same. Even the worst person has a little bit of goodness in their heart; even the kindest person has some flaws in their character.” The old man lowered his head and began to make the paper figure in his hands. Han Fei noticed that the paper figure was different from the other paper figures; it was blood red.

"You just said you couldn't leave this room?" Han Fei sat beside the old man, never leaving his side. "Are you being watched? Or is there someone or some ghost waiting outside to kill you?"

“My choice is different from theirs, so I will stay here.” The old man smiled and pointed to the words on his body: “I want to run this shop well from the very beginning.”

"the first time……"

"It's fate that we've met for the first time. I can give you a discount so you can choose a paper doll from me later." The old man casually turned on the radio next to him. He drew clothes on the paper doll while listening to the program, which seemed to be a solo show by a comedian.

The onlookers found it incredibly awkward, but the old man listened with great interest, and all the paper figures in the room seemed to be listening quietly as well.

Silently standing by his side, Han Fei would only ask the old man questions related to himself, and the old man would always evade the question, so Han Fei had no choice but to change the subject.

"Grandpa, we were dragged in by ghosts. Do you know how to get out of this place?" Han Fei glanced at the frozen time: "What is the relationship between this place and the real world?"

"This place doesn't have a specific name; I call it the Deep World." The old man mixed the paint for coloring the paper figure and then casually chatted with Han Fei.

"When a person dies, their emotions and memories will also dissipate, but the strongest and most inseparable parts have a certain probability of turning into obsessions."

“The constant accumulation and sedimentation of obsessions form a world that ordinary people cannot see, which is the deep world where ghosts reside.”

"This place is filled with all the negative emotions, shrouded in a black mist of resentment, and slowly grows all sorts of despair."

"No one knows when the deep world appeared, but many people have entered it unintentionally."

"Some of them survived by chance, leaving behind all sorts of strange tales, while others simply disappeared and became missing persons."

The white-haired old man used bamboo sticks to support the paper figure, and the paper figure in his hands was slowly becoming complete.

"Can ordinary people freely enter the deep world?" Han Fei felt this question was very important to him.

"There are many different situations. Most of the time, they are dragged in by ghosts, just like you." The old man lowered his head and busied himself with his work. "The deep world is the world of 'ghosts.' When a 'ghost''s' emotions and obsessions reach their extreme, the two worlds will partially overlap at a certain moment. Anyone who is nearby at that moment will encounter a ghost."

"Once you're in, how do you get out?"

“Ordinary ghosts can only affect you for a moment, and you can recover immediately. But some places are different. There are too many ghosts living there, and they affect the entire building or the entire area. If you want to leave, you probably have to run out of their influence.” The old man took out his pen and colored the paper figure. “This neighborhood is a ghost town. For you, the most important thing to do now is to leave the neighborhood. I advise you to set off as soon as possible. If you wait any longer, it will be difficult to escape.”

"Why? Will staying in the Deep World for too long turn you into a ghost?"

“No, that’s not it.” The old man shook his head and smeared the paper figure’s mouth with blood red. “Someone wants to completely separate the Deep World from reality, to completely block the two, to sever the passage between the two worlds, to deposit all despair into the Deep World, and to leave only the beauty in the human world. They have already begun to act, and the distance between the two worlds is getting farther and farther away. You will soon witness all of this.”

(End of this chapter)