My Healing Games

Chapter 951 The Third Layer of Nightmare: Family Feast

Han Fei came to the main city with three things in mind: to save people, to kill a god, and to open a passage.

"The rest of you stay here. I'll go check on things." Han Fei told the neighbors of Xingfu Community to stay in their quarters, and he left through the back door with Bai Xian and Wuchang.

"Han Fei, are you sure it's just the three of us going in?" Bai Xian hesitated. There were so many ghosts in the deep world, yet Han Fei had chosen the one that looked the most ordinary.

"That's enough." Han Fei wasn't wearing a mask, so even though he left through the back door, he was still seen by nearby players. The people trapped in the game followed Han Fei from a distance, trying to figure out what the First Player Community was planning to do.

In the current situation, super guilds, which can mobilize numerous resources and have multiple information channels, have become the hope for all ordinary players.

"It's Han Fei! Quick, keep up!"

"They seem to be heading in the direction of the shrine! The First Guild is going to challenge Nightmare? Quick! Report to the boss immediately!"

"With so many supplies being delivered to the base, there must be items specifically designed to counter Nightmare. The First Guild is finally going to make its move!"

"Why are there only three people? Isn't the number one guild being a bit too arrogant? Do they think three people are enough?"

Even when trapped in the game, players remained incredibly gossipy, unable to contain their curiosity.

Han Fei didn't care about the players following him. He appeared here without a mask to tell everyone that it was Han Fei who saved them.

If Han Fei wants to successfully reorganize Yong Sheng Pharmaceuticals, he will inevitably need public support. If he can help four million people escape their predicament, many things will become easier in the future.

The main city area is very large. Even to get to the shrine closest to the garrison, it takes a long time to walk. The crowd following Han Fei gradually increased, but the atmosphere around them became more and more tense.

When the buildings shrouded in gray fog came into view in the distance, almost no sound could be heard from the crowd; everyone consciously kept quiet.

“This used to be the hospital in the main city. After the shrine appeared, the hospital was swallowed up by the gray fog, and there is scattered dream dust everywhere.” Bai Xian led Han Fei and Wu Chang to the west gate of the hospital: “This hospital has four entrances and exits. The west gate has the fewest people. Let’s wait for five or six minutes. If no one else goes in, the three of us will go in together.”

"Are there any other things I should be aware of?"

"We'd better hold hands and take our first steps at the same time, ideally with our shoes landing at the same moment." Bai Xian was very cautious: "Don't be careless, this nightmare is really terrifying."

Amidst the expectant gazes of countless players, Han Fei and his two companions stopped at the west gate of the hospital. After confirming that no one was entering, they grabbed each other's arms and stepped into the hospital.

After taking the first step, Han Fei and Bai Xian appeared in the gray mist, but Wu Chang had disappeared without a trace.

"What about others?"

“Nightmares are randomly assigned to different people. It’s probably because there are other people in this room that he was put into someone else’s nightmare.” Bai Xian held Han Fei tightly: “Look up, the shrine is next to the window on the top floor of the hospital’s main building. We need to get there.”

"If every step we take is like experiencing a nightmare, how many steps will it take us to reach the top floor of the main building? How many nightmares will we have to endure?"

"The distance you can travel depends on the difficulty of the nightmare. The most basic first and second levels of nightmare only allow you to take one step forward, but it's said that after escaping the third level, you can take three steps forward directly." Bai Xian looked around: "Although we can't see other players, it doesn't mean they don't exist. The gray fog will block players' perception. As long as we let go, we won't be able to see each other, so we don't know how many people are in this room. Hopefully, we won't encounter any troublemakers later."

Taking the second step, Han Fei and Bai Xian remained inseparable, but Bai Xian was already sweating nervously, his eyes twitching slightly: "Are you ready? We're about to enter the third layer of the nightmare."

"Adjust your mindset and relax." Han Fei and Bai Xian took another step forward. The moment their feet touched the ground, the gray mist dissipated, and the surroundings turned pitch black. It was as if they had fallen into eternal night.

I experienced a brief feeling of weightlessness, like when you fall asleep and suddenly fall into a pit.

When Han Fei and Bai Xian opened their eyes again, they found themselves in front of a dilapidated apartment building, with three other players standing beside them.

"Is this what it's like in a nightmare?" Han Fei tried to open his inventory, but he couldn't summon the system panel. His ghostly markings were covered by dream dust, so he couldn't call out Xing Fu from within the ghostly markings.

Now, the only things Han Fei can use are the healing personality and the greedy personality in his mind.

"It's a bit like the shrine world. Could it be that the shrine world of dreams isn't a single world, but a 'fragmented world' pieced together from countless nightmares? Is the nightmare I'm experiencing now a dream experience? Or is it a memory that the dream stole from other places?" Han Fei stood there, looking at this nightmare world.

The entire world is very small, consisting of only one apartment building, surrounded by complete darkness.

The apartment building was dilapidated, built many years ago. It had five floors, but only the middle apartment on the third floor had its lights on. The other rooms were lifeless, as if no one lived there.

"The third level of nightmare is clearly more intense than the second level. There's probably more than one ghost in this building," Bai Xian whispered a warning, not daring to enter the stairwell alone.

"Hello." Among the other three players, a boy wearing glasses stepped forward: "My name is Haoxue, the vice president of the Xinhu University game community, level 30, professional astronomer. This nightmare is extremely dangerous inside. Dying here will cause permanent brain damage, so I hope we can cooperate sincerely and escape together."

“No problem, for the sake of all players getting out of trouble!” Another male player chimed in. He was muscular and probably a combat player who focused on stamina: “My name is Aiwo Ruyan, level 30, not yet a guild member. I recently switched to the hidden class, Demon Muscle Man, and I’m good at melee combat.”

"Only by cooperating can we escape." The only female player seemed like a nice person, with a sweet smile: "You can just call me Aqi. I'm level 32, and I'm the head of a caravan under the Merchant Alliance."

"The Merchant Alliance?! One of the top ten guilds!" Aiworuyan's voice unconsciously grew louder.

"The merchant alliance is huge, but I'm just one of its errand runners." The female player didn't mention her profession, and her manner of speaking was different from that of ordinary players.

Finally, all three looked at Han Fei and Bai Xian, as the two actors looked very familiar to them.

"My name is Bai Xian, and this is Han Fei. We are both members of the Happiness Community." No further introduction is needed; the words "Happiness Community" are enough.

"I feel like I can lie down on this floor now." Aiworuyan was overjoyed. He was originally very scared, but he didn't expect that all his teammates were members of top guilds. He didn't have to worry about others messing with him anymore, because he seemed to be the one who messed with him the most.

After observing the building, Han Fei was the first to enter the corridor. He had no interest in self-introductions or anything like that. While others were struggling to survive in their nightmares, he was focused on speed.

"Let's go straight to the one on the third floor where the lights are on." Han Fei had a talent for hide-and-seek and was very keen on clues, so he headed straight for the third floor.

"Shouldn't we check the other floors first? There are so many rooms in the building; maybe something is hidden there." Haoxue wanted to discuss it before making a decision, but Han Fei had no intention of communicating at all.

The yellowed walls, the rusty doors covered with small advertisements, and the cluttered stairwell—this stairwell feels incredibly real, as if you've stepped back in time and into the memories of your parents' generation.

A light knock was made on the door of the third-floor apartment. Hurried footsteps sounded from inside. Two or three seconds later, the door opened, and a kind-looking middle-aged man appeared in the doorway. He opened the door with a joyful expression, but then realized that the person standing outside did not seem to be the one he was waiting for.

"Old Li, is your son back?" A middle-aged woman wearing an apron ran out of the kitchen, holding a soup spoon in her hand.

"Our son hasn't come back yet..." The middle-aged man looked at Han Fei with a hint of doubt: "On New Year's Eve... is there something you guys need?"

"We are your son's friends. Since our homes are all far away, your son invited us to come back for the New Year so that everyone could have a lively celebration." Han Fei's expression was completely different from when he was outside; he was very friendly and spoke very naturally.

"Oh, why didn't you say so earlier! Come in, come in!" The middle-aged couple were very hospitable, bringing out fruit platters and various snacks to entertain Han Fei and his companions. They even pointed the electric heater at the sofa, making the group feel a little embarrassed.

"Uncle, please stop working and sit down to rest." Ai Wo Ru Yan was flattered by this treatment for the first time in her nightmare: "How about I help you with the work? I'm strong."

"No need, no need, how can we let our guests do the work?" Seeing that there were more people, the middle-aged man put on an apron and prepared to cook a few more dishes himself.

The couple were busy in the kitchen, but the players outside were uneasy. Hao Xue didn't dare touch the snacks and candies on the table, his eyes full of doubt: "In the first nightmare, we were chased by ghosts as soon as we woke up. In the second nightmare, I opened my eyes in a haunted house and had to seal the evil spirits within half an hour. Why is this third nightmare so different from the previous ones?"

“There is definitely a problem.” Aqi got up and paced around the room. “You guys shouldn’t just sit there. Let’s look for clues.”

Sitting silently in front of the coffee table, Han Fei watched the middle-aged couple busy in the kitchen. This nightmare reminded him of his first experience in the deep world, at the old lady's house.

All the warmth is just a facade; poison is wrapped in candy wrappers.

"Please wait a moment! The food will be ready in ten minutes!" The middle-aged woman's voice came from the kitchen.

"Ten minutes, is this the time limit we're given?" Han Fei glanced around the living room and saw a thick stack of newspapers under the coffee table. It seemed this family had a habit of subscribing to newspapers.

"There's no dust, so it must be flipped through every day. What news is worth reading repeatedly?" Han Fei moved a thick stack of newspapers to the sofa and quickly flipped through them, relying on his photographic memory and speed-reading ability.

Five minutes later, he noticed a familiar picture in a thick stack of newspapers; it looked somewhat like the apartment building outside.

"A college student was returning home for the Spring Festival after finishing his internship. He took an eleven-hour train ride and was involved in a car accident 500 meters from his home. He died at the scene. The driver fled the scene. We are now releasing the driver's information and the appearance of the vehicle involved in the accident."

“The apartment building is surrounded by darkness, making it impossible to get out. This means that even though the accident site is only 500 meters away from us, we still couldn’t prevent the tragedy from happening.” Han Fei fell silent. He checked the newspaper date and compared it with the date on TV, discovering something even more terrifying: “The accident happened last year, and the couple still hasn’t recovered and is still living in the nightmare of that day.”

The warm atmosphere suddenly turned terrifying, and the figures of the couple happily busy in the kitchen seemed to be gradually distorted.

The food would be ready in five minutes. Han Fei left the coffee table and walked towards the bedroom. He didn't make a sound the whole time, and he was so professional that he didn't seem like a comedian at all.

The master bedroom is the room of a middle-aged couple. There is another secondary bedroom at the back of the house, but the door to this secondary bedroom was tightly closed during the Chinese New Year.

Upon entering the room, one finds posters of a certain sports star on the walls, spotless books on the table, and the home gym equipment beside the bed wiped clean.

"This is their child's room, and they seem to clean it every day."

Based on the various household items in the house, Han Fei roughly deduced the personality of the middle-aged couple's biological child. He loved fitness and sports, appeared strong and brave, but was gentle and sensitive inside. He liked to act spoiled in front of his parents and was very filial.

Sitting on the bed, Han Fei's nostrils twitched. He smelled a familiar scent, very faint, the kind of scent that most people wouldn't even notice.

Bending down, Han Fei lifted the blanket, then the sheet, and then moved the mattress aside.

A completely twisted corpse appeared before Han Fei's eyes. Compared to the corpse that reeked of decay and was no longer recognizable as human, the person in question was dressed in clean and tidy clothes, as if they had just changed into them that morning.

"Dinner's ready! Kids!" The middle-aged woman's voice came from the kitchen. Han Fei immediately turned around and left, closing the door to the second bedroom.

"Did you notice anything?" Aqi noticed a slight change in Han Fei's scent.

"There's a corpse under the bed in the second bedroom. When you escape later, remember to take that corpse with you," Han Fei said softly, startling Ai Wo Ru Yan so much that she dropped the candy she had in her mouth.

The content of Han Fei's words feels extremely jarring against such a warm and cozy scene.

"There's a corpse in the bedroom? A corpse?" Ai Wo Ru Yan tried to remain calm, lowering her head to hide her unease.

The middle-aged couple began serving the dishes, one meat dish after another, and their smiles grew wider: "The dishes are all here! Why aren't you eating? Are you waiting for my child?"

No one eats the vegetables, and no one knows how they are made.

The middle-aged man opened a bottle of wine, poured himself a glass, and kept turning his head to look at the clock in the living room: "Don't you work with my son? Why isn't he home yet? Did his boss keep him working overtime?"

The sound of a cleaver cutting meat echoed from the kitchen, each slice striking the cutting board with a frightening thud.

"What's going on? Why aren't you back yet? Could something have happened?" The light inside the room flickered, and the middle-aged man finished his wine, which was laced with impurities, in one gulp. He scratched his neck anxiously, drawing blood, but continued to scratch incessantly.

"He should be back by now. He called half an hour ago to say he was on the bus and on his way home. He should have arrived by now." The middle-aged man picked up his wine glass with fingers stained with blood and gore. "Did you see him on your way here?"

The lights inside the room flickered faster, the voices on the television became shrill, and the carefully prepared food on the table gradually faded in color, emitting a nauseating odor.

"I hope nothing unexpected has happened?" The middle-aged man left the table, found his phone, and dialed his child's number.

The bell rang, and Han Fei and the others heard it clearly; the bell was coming from the second bedroom.

The middle-aged man's eyes first showed confusion, then he seemed to remember something, his body bones gradually shifting as he walked step by step toward the second bedroom.

"Haoxue, Aqi, you two leave first; Brother Bai, you're in charge of blocking the kitchen door; Dazhuang, you come with me to snatch the body and the phone." Han Fei spoke very quickly.

"My name is Love Me Like Smoke".

"Understood, Dazhuang." Han Fei stared intently at the middle-aged man's figure. The cozy room had begun to mutate, and all sorts of terrifying and ugly things were slowly eroding this dream.

When the middle-aged man reached the door of the second bedroom, he gestured for Aiwo Ruyan to follow, and the two stopped behind the middle-aged man.

The door to the second bedroom was slowly pushed open, and the middle-aged man saw the corpse hidden in the bed.

His face was torn apart, bones protruding from his skin, and after witnessing the truth, he began to become unrecognizable.

"Do it!"

Han Fei picked up the corpse from the bed, taking the phone from its pocket with him: "Go!"

Bai Xian blocked the kitchen door, but in the next second, a blood-stained cleaver cleaved through the door panel, scaring Bai Ge pale.

The room underwent a complete transformation. The only light in the apartment building went out, and the middle-aged man, covered in blood and with bones piercing his body, crawled toward the group at an incredible speed!

"go!"

Although it was their first time meeting, the group cooperated quite well and escaped the room with a two- or three-second time difference.

After closing the security door, Haoxue and Aqi paced anxiously outside: "The apartment is only so big. Running up is a dead end, and running down is also a dead end! What will we do if they catch up with us?"

"Block the security door first, make sure they don't get out!" Han Fei carried the corpse to the corner of the corridor.

Inside the house, a deformed middle-aged couple frantically pounded on the door, and large amounts of black, foul-smelling blood gushed out from the cracks, filling the entire floor with a deathly atmosphere.

"The bloodstains are still spreading! Getting this on our bodies will have a huge impact on us!" Hao Xue shouted, feeling that Han Fei was being too impulsive. "That couple has completely turned into monsters! They seem to have gone completely insane!"

“I can’t stand it anymore!”

The players were extremely anxious, placing all their hopes on Han Fei.

“They just wanted to wait for their child to come home. This sad thing was used by the dream and turned into an inescapable nightmare. Perhaps if their child came home and spent the rest of the day with them, the nightmare would stop repeating.” Han Fei recalled the personality traits of the middle-aged couple and their child in his mind. He took off the brand-new clothes from the corpse and put them on himself.

"What are you doing?!" The men who had been desperately blocking the door were stunned to see Han Fei like this.

"I just want to end this nightmare."

Han Fei activated his masterful acting skills, immersing himself completely in the identity of the deceased. After calming down for a long time, he took out the deceased's phone from his pocket and sent a message to the number that kept calling him: "Dad, Mom, I'll be home soon."

(End of this chapter)