My Healing Games

Chapter 702 The Dream That Sinks to the Bottom of the Lake
"Idol?"

Han Fei squatted by the bed and observed for a while. The statue's features were similar to a human's, but its body was carved with fish scales, and there were ripple-like patterns spreading on its back.

"Is this the lake god statue the old lady was talking about? But didn't the statue sink into the lake with the orphan?" The lifeguard was curious and was about to approach when Han Fei stopped him.

"Don't move." Han Fei removed one leg of the wooden chair and gently tapped the statue with a wooden stick.

Muddy sewage flowed from the foot-tall statue, and a black worm with eight thin legs crawled out of its open mouth.

It resembles a water spider, but is much larger, with patterns resembling a human face etched on its abdomen, as if a drowning person is calling out.

"Rebirth."

With a flash of his blade, Han Fei sliced ​​the black worm in two. Its eight thin legs twitched a few times before its body turned into foul-smelling black liquid.

“The more sins an enemy commits, the easier it is for my blade to kill them. Don’t underestimate this poisonous insect just because it’s not very big; it has killed more than one or two people.”

Han Fei's standard for judging whether something is dangerous is very simple: first, cut it with a knife, and then determine whether the other party is a threat based on the damage caused.

The lifeguard was so frightened that he took several steps back. If Han Fei hadn't stopped him, the black insect would probably have already crawled into his sleeve.

A meow rang out, and the ugly cat jumped out of Han Fei's backpack and squatted down next to the statue. Its paws pressed down on the statue's feet, and the nine black stripes on its body seemed to be connected to the statue. Black water kept flowing out of the statue and being absorbed by the black ghost stripes on its body.

A dozen seconds later, black "water spiders" fell out of the statue's mouth and nose. Their bodies shrank, their eight thin legs curled up together, and the patterns on their abdomens disappeared, as if they had been drained dry.

Seeing the corpses of those "water spiders," both the lifeguard and Yan Le felt a chill run down their spines. It was astonishing that such a tall statue contained so many poisonous insects. Luckily, they hadn't gotten too close.

"Da Nie and Jiu Ming are hidden within my ghost pattern. Jiu Ming is currently appearing in the form of a cat, while Da Nie seems to still be trapped inside the ghost pattern and unable to escape. However, once it absorbs enough power, it should be able to break free." Han Fei could already feel the intense call from within the black pattern.

Han Fei put the ugly cat back in his backpack, picked up the statue, and saw that although it was only a foot tall, it was actually very heavy.

"Han Fei, we'd better not touch anything here, or we might get ourselves stuck." The lifeguard kindly reminded him, "When I was doing search and rescue, I heard a lot of stories about things that happened by the water. If you want to live longer, don't meddle in other people's business."

“If we don’t meddle, trouble will find us.” Han Fei glanced at the half-open window, outside which lay the vast lake, a small, bloodstained fish scale still clinging to the window frame: “Has the person in charge of the boat rental center turned into a water ghost? Or is he a water ghost in disguise?”

After rummaging through drawers and cabinets, Han Fei found an account book in a hidden compartment behind his desk.

The first half records evidence of the resort owner cutting corners and falsifying accounts, while the second half contains several strange passages.

"On November 1st, that greedy and cowardly Mr. Jia seemed to have changed. He used to never care about the feelings of the nearby residents, but today he actually took the initiative to come to me and wanted to unite everyone to worship the lake god. It's like the sun has risen in the west."

"November 2nd. It seems I have too much prejudice against city people. Although Mr. Jia is usually quite stingy, he is very good at crucial moments. This year's worship of the lake god is much larger than before. With the blessing of the lake god next year, it will surely be a year of good weather and abundant harvests."

"On November 10th, Mr. Jia was so generous. I'll wait a few more days. If he's willing to pay me more money, then destroying these accounts isn't out of the question."

"November 14th, no, no, no! Something seems wrong! He wasn't offering sacrifices to the lake god, he'd sculpted his own child's corpse into the statue! What is that madman trying to do!"

"November 15th, who exactly is Mr. Jia? Why does his wife say he's already dead? Why do I keep having the same dream every night lately, where Mr. Jia turns into a big fish and tries to bite me into the water?"

"November 16th, why does my dream from last night seem to be coming true? What are these fish scale-like things on my arm?!"

"November 18th, tomorrow is the day to worship the lake god, why does everyone seem to have gone mad! Haven't they noticed anything strange about the town?"

"November 19th, it's over! It's all over! Everyone on the boat died in the lake, and the lake god statue left by our ancestors sank. The Earth Official is in charge of pardoning sins, and the Water Official is in charge of relieving calamity. Now the disaster is bound to spread! A great calamity is about to befall us!"

"The only way now is to find another orphan to take the statue that's been soaking in the well of the old house to the island in the middle of the lake and complete the ceremony again. But where can I find an orphan willing to go? The news has spread far and wide, and no one dares to go at night. Alas, because of greed, I've let down my ancestors!"

"On November 22, Mr. Jia's body was found. The police said that he wanted to bring the whole village down with him in order to resurrect his child. He also poisoned the memorial ceremony. It seems that the nightmares I had in those days were also due to hallucinogens."

"November 25th, why? Why? So many days have passed since it all ended, why am I still having that dream! The fish scales on my body are increasing, and the scene in the dream has become reality!"

"Don't sleep! You absolutely mustn't fall asleep! Otherwise, you'll wake up to find yourself submerged in the lake!"

"On December 1st, I saw it! They were all at the bottom of the lake. There was no dragon palace of the lake god at the bottom of the lake, only the graves of all the people!"

"On December 2nd, I'm going to pluck all these scales off! It hurts so much! Someone please save me, save us!"

"The statue must be sent up there on December 4th! It's on the island in the middle of the lake!"

There were some words at the end of the ledger, but those words were no longer written words, but symbols that no one could understand. It seemed that the writer had forgotten how to write at this point.

"It seems the way to break this deadlock is to land on the island at midnight and hold the lake god worship ceremony again." Han Fei stuffed the ledger into his backpack. He had the lifeguard hold the statue of the god, and the three of them searched the boat rental center but couldn't find a single person.

"Let's go, let's check out the next place."

As soon as the three of them stepped out of the boat rental center, they heard the sound of a taxi starting up, and the vehicle crashed into something while speeding along.

"Is Li Guo'er in danger?"

Han Fei immediately ran towards the direction from which the sound came. The black taxi was parked next to the hot spring hotel, and the front of the hearse was dented, with some fallen fish scales on it.

"Are you alright?" Looking into the car, Han Fei realized that his worries were completely unnecessary. Li Guo'er had discovered the monster, and instead of running away, she chased after it and ran it over.

"After you left, I kept feeling something outside the car, and it felt like rain was falling on the car window, with water droplets constantly sliding down."

"Did you see what that monster looked like?"

“He looks almost like a human,” Li Guo’er said calmly. “He looks like he just came out of the water; his clothes are all wet. He’s been trying to get into the car and he’s even mimicking your voices.”

If it were anyone else, they would probably have been terrified. Only Li Guo'er could remain calm and collected. When targeted by a monster, her first thought was to run it over and kill it.

Where did the body fly to?

"In the courtyard of the hotel over there."

Taking out the Rebirth Blade, Han Fei headed straight for the hot spring inn. He pushed open the rusty iron door, and soothing music began to play in his ears.

On the third floor of the hotel, someone was playing ancient music. The unknown melody seemed to have a hypnotic effect, like water droplets slowly flowing into one's heart.

Looking around, the yard was filled with all kinds of flowers and plants. I don't know what special fertilizer the homeowner used, but all the plants were growing very lushly.

As we walked forward, the soothing ancient melody suddenly changed, interspersed with sounds of fish scales being scraped and meat being sawed, as if some background noise had been accidentally recorded during the recording process.

The monster that had been knocked into the hotel had disappeared without a trace. When Han Fei entered, he only saw ripples on the pond in the courtyard, as if a large fish had just leaped out of the water.

"Is this pond connected to that big lake? It feels so deep, I can't see the bottom at all."

The lifeguard was a little scared. He was a very good swimmer, but here, he didn't even dare to go near the water's edge.

"Let's not separate anymore, let's go upstairs together and take a look." Han Fei led everyone through the courtyard and into the hotel.

The lanterns hanging high above the entrance cast a dim yellow light. The hotel is in an antique style, but for some reason, it was built like an ancient charitable sanctuary.

"Is anyone here?"

The candles on the counter were still lit, an old almanac hung on the wall, and a small shrine had been specially built at the corner of the corridor, but no statues of gods were placed inside.

"Today is specially circled on the almanac. According to the normal time, today should be the day for opening the lake for fishing. After worshipping the lake god, everyone can go fishing in the lake with peace of mind. Every household will return with a full catch. Tonight should be the liveliest time." The lifeguard took down the almanac. He was quite familiar with these customs along the river.

"It's highly unlikely that the living will all gather tonight, but the dead might be a different story." Just as Han Fei finished speaking, a coughing sound came from the second floor, and a door was slowly pushed open.

A creaking sound rang out, and a faint fishy smell wafted out from upstairs.

Water droplets rolled down, the ancient music inside the building stopped abruptly, and everyone stared at the corridor.

Strange noises came from the wooden stairs. Someone was going downstairs, but it wasn't the sound of footsteps; it sounded more like a fish sliding down.

The sound grew closer, and Han Fei's heart pounded. As he pulled the red string, an old man, completely wrapped up, emerged from the shadows.

"Are you here to stay?" The old man, like the old lady at the fish restaurant, had his head and face covered with a headscarf, leaving only his eyes showing.

"The weather isn't too cold, old man, are you dressed too warmly?" Han Fei stared at the old man's legs. The old man was wearing a long robe that covered his legs. What was even stranger was that he left a long trail of water wherever he walked.

"I'm getting old and I get cold easily." The old man walked behind the counter. "It's fifty yuan a night. Here's a map of the hotel. You can choose any room except for the ones by the lake. Once you've chosen, go inside and don't come out until dawn."

As the old man entered the counter and there was no other way to go, Han Fei's eyes slowly changed. He had already gathered enough information to continue, and continuing would only be a waste of time.

"Sir, have you ever heard of the idiom 'the map is unrolled, the dagger is revealed'?"

Han Fei flipped over and entered the counter, blocking the old man's only escape route.

"What do you mean?"

"It means that once I've looked at the map, I'll take out the butcher's knife." A dazzling, sharp glint appeared before the old man's eyes. Han Fei stared at the old man's face: "Take off the hood. I'm here to help you solve your problem. I hope you can cooperate with me."

Checking in late at night, threatening with a knife, the old man's hands, tucked into his sleeves, trembled slightly. He could hear the determination in Han Fei's words; if he didn't cooperate to resolve the issue, the other party might very well kill him.

After a brief hesitation, the old man sighed and took off his headscarf.

Fish scales fell to the ground, revealing the old man's ugly and grotesque face.

He had eaten countless fish in his life, but he certainly never imagined that one day, terrible scars resembling fish scales would grow on his face.

"I was just afraid of scaring you..."

"Are all the people at the resort like you?" Han Fei had already expected this, so he wasn't too surprised.

"I don't know." The old man shook his head. "We must have been cursed by the lake god. It's our fault, and we should be punished."

"It was indeed the lake god who protected you before, but the thing you were worshipping recently was something else entirely. That thing is definitely not a god; it's just a blood-sucking bug." Han Fei's words startled the old man. "I have hands that can touch souls. When you went over there just now, I examined your soul. Although you've become like a monster on the surface, your soul is still your original self. Like I said, I can save you and everyone else, but you need to tell me everything that happened here."

Staring at the butcher's knife in Han Fei's hand, the old man had no other choice. He pursed his lips and began to recount the recent events.

The old man's name is Guan Miao. He is the village chief and also Mr. Jia's business partner. Now, most of the villagers have disappeared. He lives in deep guilt every day and often dreams that he is drowned in the lake, with countless villagers seemingly waiting for him underwater.

He was perfectly healthy, but ever since he started having that dream, scales began to grow on his body, as if the power of the dream was slowly influencing reality.

Guan Miao also helped Han Fei confirm the contents of the ledger. If they wanted to disrupt the ceremony, they would have to find a way to go back to the island, because the real ceremony was held on the island in the middle of the lake.

In addition, Village Chief Guan revealed to Han Fei that there seemed to be a "lake god" living in this lake, which was what outsiders called a water monster.

"Han Fei, you'd better not trust them too easily." The lifeguard tried to persuade Han Fei to calm down, knowing full well the danger of landing on the island.

“I know we should take this time to plan carefully, but we don’t have that much time.” Han Fei used the secret of touching the depths of the soul and found that the old man was lying. Without further hesitation, he immediately asked Guan Miao to gather the people in the resort who could still remain rational in order to make the final preparations for entering the “mind”.

(End of this chapter)