My Healing Games

Chapter 957 Knight and Princess

Ping'an Street is an east-west commercial street with all kinds of shops, vendors, and food stalls. Pedestrians come and go, and it is lively even late at night.

The further west you go along the street, the darker it gets and the worse the environment becomes. Han Fei is standing at the westernmost end of the street.

He looked at the alley leading into the unknown darkness, and the madman chained to the alley entrance, and felt that this nightmare was not simple.

"What's your name? Where are your family? Who locked you here?"

The madman seemed unable to understand Han Fei's question, spewing all sorts of vulgarities. When he got emotional, he would lunge at Han Fei, the chains around his neck taut and rattling.

"This street seems to get more prosperous as you go east, and dirtier as you go west. There's more and more trash on the ground, but strangely, the smell of burning trash in the air is getting weaker." Han Fei was a little puzzled. All the trash was piled up on the west side of the street, but the source of that pungent smell of burning trash seemed to be on the east side.

While Han Fei was thinking, two boys ran over carrying broken bowls. They seemed to be brothers. The older one looked about twelve or thirteen years old and had a slightly fierce appearance. The younger one was probably just starting elementary school and followed his brother around, his eyes darting around, always looking very aggrieved.

The two children seemed to have experienced a lot of hardship and were more mature than their peers. They placed the broken bowl full of leftover food next to the madman.

The madman, drawn by the aroma, lay on the ground like a stray dog, grabbing food with his hands and stuffing it into his mouth. He seemed to eat only one meal a day, not caring whether the food was spoiled or not, and ate very quickly.

The two children also noticed Han Fei. They were initially a little scared, but seeing that Han Fei had not hurt the madman and that he looked gentle and quiet, they lowered their guard.

After the madman finished eating, the younger brother went to collect the broken bowls, while the older brother walked up to Han Fei and said, "You don't seem to be from this street?"

"Can you recognize everyone on this street?" Han Fei countered.

The older brother shook his head: "I just want to remind you to find a place to stay as soon as possible. If you're still wandering the streets after midnight, the princess will burn you alive."

"Princess?"

"She's the owner of this street, a crazy woman who's incredibly vain and loves to compare herself to others. If she sees something she likes, she has to get it. All the merchants genuinely despise her, but no one dares to say it out loud." The brother didn't dare to speak too loudly, seemingly afraid that the princess would hear him.

"It just doesn't feel right to associate such an ordinary commercial street with the word 'princess'."

“I’m not lying to you. My father was chained here because he offended the princess.” The older brother’s expression was gloomy, filled with dissatisfaction and helplessness. “My father used to be one of the managers of this street. After the princess came, she drove my father crazy. She wants to tell all the merchants that if they don’t listen to her, they will end up like my father.”

"Brother, we should go, it's almost time." The younger brother tugged at his older brother's sleeve; it seemed they had other things to do tonight.

"Is it already eleven o'clock?" The older brother nodded, turned and walked a few steps, but seemed a little worried. He turned back to Han Fei and said, "If you really have nowhere to go, you can hide in my house first. It's the wooden shed at the far west end of the alley. Although it's dirty and messy, at least it can keep you safe tonight."

The two brothers jogged away, seemingly entering a shop on the east side of Ping'an Street.

"The two brothers are very enthusiastic and seem like good people, but the older brother is obviously acting. His words are a mix of truth and falsehood, and he seems to be hiding the most crucial thing." Han Fei is a master actor and saw through the older brother's clumsy performance at a glance.

In order to find out the truth, Han Fei avoided the naked madman and entered the wooden shed.

The shed was very rudimentary, with drafty walls. The owner of the shed seemed to enjoy collecting trash that could be sold, treating it as a treasure and hoarding it all at home.

However, over time, the room will develop a foul odor that can't be washed away.

"So the two brothers and their crazy father live here? But this doesn't seem like their house to me?"

The room contained only old women's slippers, and all kinds of old clothes were mainly pink and white. Above the desk were cartoon characters that girls liked, as well as many small toys made from recycled materials.

This family was poor, but you could tell the homeowner loved his child very much. He couldn't afford toys, so he made them himself. Almost everything in the house was prepared for the girl. The homeowner himself seemed to only have the most basic bowls and chopsticks. It seemed that as long as his child was happy, he would be extremely satisfied.

"The trinkets in this garbage shack are all for girls. Why did those two boys say this was their home? Judging from their clothes, they do seem to live here."

Han Fei now has two questions in his mind. First, all the garbage is piled up on the west side of the street, but the smell of burning garbage comes from the east side of the street. Second, the wooden shed garbage house on the west side is full of girls' clothes and toys, but two boys and a madman live there.

"Have the east and west sides of Ping'an Street been switched?" Han Fei narrowed his eyes. He didn't stay in the house for long. After searching, he immediately ran towards the east side of the street.

As time went by, fewer and fewer people began to walk on the streets, and the legend that the princess would kill people after midnight seemed to be true.

Stopping in front of the shop the brothers had entered, Han Fei casually glanced inside. It was the only inn on the street, with three floors and about a dozen rooms.

While the front desk clerk was busy with her work, Han Fei quietly slipped in. He walked without making a sound, like a cat blending into the night.

"This is not only your nightmare, but also our nightmare. Only by killing the princess can we all escape." A familiar voice came from inside the room, and it seemed that the madman's two children were in the room.

"What should we do?"

"Since this is your first time on Peace Street, the princess is unaware of your existence. After she leaves her 'castle' at midnight, you can sneak in and burn her favorite 'crystal shoe'." The brother's voice was very low, and if Han Fei's five senses were not far beyond those of ordinary people and extremely sharp, he would not have been able to hear it at all.

"Princess again, glass slippers again, this nightmare feels like a fairy tale," a female player muttered to herself.

"The castle refers to the tallest building on the east side of the street, right? What does the glass slipper look like? Where will the princess hide it?" Another player was more cautious and asked in great detail.

"The glass slipper is in the deepest room of the castle, where the princess's shameful past is hidden. She is far from being as glamorous as she appears; she is a very ugly, vain, and perverted monster." The brother's voice was very serious: "You must remember that the princess's only weakness is her fear of fire. Only flames can burn everything she loves and kill her completely."

"Are there any ghosts or monsters in the castle?" The players were still a little worried.

"The entire castle is inhabited by the princess and her black knight. The two are inseparable and will patrol the streets together after midnight. At that time, the merchants on Peace Street who have a grudge against her will also begin to resist, buying you time!" The brother's voice was filled with hatred for the princess, as if he couldn't wait to destroy her.

"Okay, we'll set off after midnight!"

Footsteps echoed inside the house, and Han Fei quickly left, the entire process going unnoticed by anyone.

Fewer and fewer people were on Ping'an Street, and many shops began to close. The neon lights went out, and it only took thirty minutes for the bustling street to turn deserted.

Han Fei arrived at the easternmost part of the street ahead of time and saw the princess's "castle." It was a luxuriously decorated Western-style building with an overall white color scheme. The pungent stench from burning garbage was coming from here!

"How could there be a smell of burning garbage in a castle that looks so expensive?"

Han Fei didn't immediately infiltrate the castle. Instead, he reached an agreement with the owner of a general store by taking a hostage. The owner generously took him in, saying he could stay as long as he wanted. The benefits of high charm were fully demonstrated; even the merchants in his nightmares were unwilling to kick him out.

Han Fei stayed at the grocery store until late at night. When midnight arrived, he saw the doors of the luxurious building slowly open. The entire Ping'an Street seemed to change at that moment, and everything seemed to become dreamlike.

The sound of hooves rang out, and several black horses pulled a giant, pure gold pumpkin carriage out of the building. On the largest horse sat a knight completely covered in black armor.

He was imposing and strong, seemingly omnipotent, capable of shielding the princess from all danger.

The horses' hooves fell, the curse seeped into the ground, and the black knight and his princess began their patrol.

"This nightmare belongs to a child? Is this a fairy tale she imagined?"

They were the only ones on the deserted street, and the princess's laughter drifted from the golden carriage; it seemed she could get everything she wanted here.

After the carriage left, Han Fei immediately walked out of the general store and slipped into the princess's castle as fast as he could.

The castle's interior is luxuriously decorated and filled with all sorts of rare treasures and numerous gems.

Han Fei paid no attention to these external things. His passive talent for hide-and-seek was triggered, and he ran at full speed through the corridor: "The smell of burning garbage is getting stronger and stronger. It seems that the source of all the smells is behind this painting!"

Han Fei stopped and entered the castle's studio. Before him was a giant oil painting depicting Cinderella putting on her glass slippers and going to her rendezvous with all her expectations.

Han Fei took the painting down, and a pungent stench hit him. Behind the painting was a charred door frame.

"The smell of burning garbage?"

As Han Fei slowly moved forward and entered the doorway, his expression changed. He was certain that the layout of this burned-down room was exactly the same as the garbage shack where the madman and his family of three lived on the far west side of the street!
All the stockpiled garbage was burned, leaving only some stinking remnants. Walking through the ruins, Han Fei also saw a pink women's slipper that was half burned.

"The bustling streets of Ping'an Street, the pedestrians coming and going, the various shops, and the princess and her castle—all these things give me a sense of unreality and illusion. Only this burned-down room feels incredibly real to me." Han Fei believes that everything on Ping'an Street is a figment of the nightmare's imagination, and the burned-down room deep inside the castle represents the nightmare's true living environment.

After restoring the oil painting, Han Fei locked himself in his room. He explored the ruins and eventually dug out a rusty iron box from under the ashes.

Inside the box was an adoption certificate that had been almost completely burned, and a tattered photo album. The yellowed photos in the album recorded the growth of a baby girl with mental disabilities.

The "father" who adopted the baby girl was a thin, short, and lame man. He was a sanitation worker, and it seemed that he was responsible for Ping'an Street.

He had never married, but one day he found an abandoned baby girl. He was struggling to support himself, so he decided to keep the lovely girl.

He dared not leave the baby girl alone at home, so he carried her to work. When the baby girl was a little older, he would put her on top of his orange garbage truck, where there was a special seat he had made for his daughter.

Together they fed the black stray cat on the street corner, made rings from aluminum cans, ground shards of wine bottles into gemstones, and cut up CDs to make sparkly princess dresses.

They were once very happy; they were each other's everything.
After the hustle and bustle fades away, the man, like a knight, leads his little princess into the night. Here, there is no discrimination or gossip; this is their world.

(End of this chapter)