My ‘Healing’ Game
Chapter 440: The Woman in the Fitting Room

Chapter 440: Chapter 440: The Woman in the Fitting Room

The department store past midnight was chillingly dark and sinister, giving off a particularly spine-tingling vibe.

"Weren’t you two supposed to follow me the whole time?" Han Fei, seeing the thugs hesitate, provoked them further, "I’m heading to the third floor now."

After saying that, he took the lead, and the two bandaged-armed thugs hesitated for a long while before finally following.

Seeing the thugs dragging their feet, Han Fei found it odd. These two weren’t department store employees; they shouldn’t know about the various horrors inside the building.

Turning his head, he saw the two dressed in suits, the scar-faced man only able to move two fingers, carrying a plastic bag filled with the sunflower seed shells they had just been eating.

Glancing towards the store entrance, it was spotlessly clean, the newspapers that had been on the floor were now gone, not a single seed shell in sight.

"You loan sharks are quite principled, aren’t you?" It was unclear if it was because Han Fei had subdued them, that they didn’t dare to be reckless.

"Don’t label us wrongly," the chubby thug said, shaking his plaster-cast arm, "We are engaged in subprime financing, aiding small businesses and individuals..."

The chubby man was cut off again by the scar-faced man, who had a cold glint in his eyes, resembling a lone wolf in the snowy plains, though the plastic bag fluttering at his fingertips was somewhat anticlimactic.

"I won’t be able to pay you back anytime soon. If you insist on following me, then it seems we’ll be spending quite some time together," Han Fei walked side by side with the two thugs, ready to push them in front of any danger, "What are your names? Since it’s a fight that brought us together, we might as well get to know each other."

Upon hearing the phrase ’a fight that brought us together’, veins bulged on Scar-faced Man’s forehead, but he was truly no match in a fight.

"My name’s Li Hu, and this is my brother, Li Long. We’ve both been orphans and grew up on the streets," the chubby man casually mentioned, not seeing any issue with sharing this—it was just names after all, and the young man in front of them couldn’t possibly curse someone just by knowing their names.

"Cough, cough!" Scar-faced Man gave a stern look at Han Fei as he coughed dryly, "Kid, I know you can fight, but unless you pay up, we’ll stick to you like Black and White Impermanence! After you go home, we’ll guard your door, and even follow you back. Whatever you do, we’ll stick to you like a shadow."

"The place I live is pretty sinister; you two might not be enough. Do you have any other brothers? I’ve seen in movies that people like you usually move in groups."

After a scoff, Scar-faced Man stopped talking.

Having the two passersby with him, Han Fei felt less nervous. Before, he had to run faster than ghosts to escape, now he only needed to outrun these two thugs.

Thinking this, he felt his spirits gradually lifting.

The elevator had stopped operating, so they made their way to the third floor step by step.

This was Han Fei’s first time entering the inner parts of the department store; the shopping area at night appeared incredibly vacant.

Pulling out his phone for light, the vast darkness huddled the three of them together.

"Why did Huang Li come to the third floor? And where did those two security guards go?" Han Fei hadn’t forgotten about the two security guards who had been pale-faced and staring at him from the railings when he left work in the morning; they might not even be human anymore.

"Last night, when that strange noise occurred, the two security guards rushed over to check, and when they came back, they started showing some changes."

Han Fei didn’t know where Huang Li had gone; he had no clues now but to head towards the source of the strange noise.

In the women’s clothing section on the third floor of the department store, each shop had mannequins in the window displays; as Han Fei and his companions passed by the store entrances, they always felt like the mannequins were watching them.

"We can’t let our guard down, maybe some of the human figures standing in the shop windows are not mannequins."

The light from the mobile phone shone on the shop window glass, reflecting the plastic models inside the window as well as Han Fei’s own reflection.

"Aren’t you a shop clerk? Why are you doing the security guard’s job? Can you stop running around?" Scar-faced Man said in a low voice, his wrist was broken and he couldn’t use his full strength, so he felt very insecure.

"I don’t want to either, but do you know where the security guards in the store have gone?" Han Fei continued walking forward, while Scar-faced Man hooked his remaining fingers around the chubby man’s shoulder, slowing down their pace.

Seeing Scar-faced Man reluctant to move forward, Han Fei sensed something amiss: "I found it strange just now, you guys are not the staff here, but you seem very fearful of this department store, behaving unwillingly to go further. Do you know something?"

Han Fei was too sharp; he had merely noticed some small actions and already identified the problem, grabbing the plaster on Scar-faced Man’s arm and asking with a smile.

"The two of us have been roaming the old streets since childhood; indeed, we know some things." Scar-faced Man glanced toward the central open space of the department store: "When this department store first began construction, a woman jumped from the third floor of the women’s clothing section and was pierced through the body by exposed rebar, dying a very grizzly death."

"Was it a construction worker who accidentally fell?"

"I heard from the aunties on the street say that the woman who died was the ex-wife of the store’s boss. She and the department store’s boss both originally weren’t from this city. When they were young, they did business in the coastal area; the man ran a secondhand store, and the woman sold women’s clothing. His secondhand store did poorly, while her clothing store was very successful, reportedly even opened several chain stores," Scar-faced Man said with a cold demeanor, yet surprisingly well-informed about the gossip from many years ago, which intrigued Han Fei.

"What happened afterward?"

"The man was always pursuing the woman business owner, and later they got married. However, after the marriage, the situation completely reversed. The woman’s clothing stores closed down one after another for various reasons, while the man’s secondhand store flourished more and more, and his luck also kept improving, expanding his business significantly. Later, they divorced, and the man took the money and returned to his hometown, where he built this department store."

Han Fei hadn’t expected such a story behind the department store; he slowed his pace and listened intently.

"Not long after the start of the construction, various accidents happened, all of which were suppressed by the department store’s boss, including the woman who suicided by running into the store. It is said that the woman snuck into the construction site in the middle of the night, dressed in bright red clothes and wearing heavy makeup, then she jumped from the third floor."

"No one knows what exactly happened between them. The department store’s boss, upon learning of the woman’s suicide, rushed over overnight and had the woman sent to the hospital for emergency treatment, but it was already too late."

"According to the doctors at the time, the boss was extraordinarily grief-stricken, a grown man holding the cold body and weeping bitterly, which made anyone looking feel very sorry for him."

"The department store’s boss was generous and righteous, which is why at the time everyone did not think badly of him, and many people comforted him, hoping he would not be so sad."

"Strangely, after the ex-wife’s death, the construction of the department store went unusually smoothly, with no more incidents occurring."

"At that time, the incident was gradually suppressed, and hardly anyone mentioned it anymore. However, there’s a saying here: the reason why the third floor of the department store is the women’s clothing section is because the boss wanted to atone for his ex-wife."

"After his ex-wife’s death, the department store’s boss devoted himself to charity, very high-profile, and became a well-known philanthropist far and wide. He established his own charitable organization, helped many orphans, and donated all kinds of items; now everyone speaks highly of him."

After Scar-faced Man finished speaking, his brother chimed in: "Having been in the underworld for a long time, you’ll know that around here you can mess with anyone, but the only person you can’t touch is the department store’s boss; the old timers in the underworld also warned us not to trouble this department store."

"The old timers don’t want you guys causing trouble with the department store?" Han Fei found this very strange: "Do they know about something even more terrifying inside the store?"

Continuing to walk forward, the bright light emitted from Han Fei’s mobile suddenly flickered a few times.

In the moment when the light from the phone dimmed, Han Fei thought he saw a figure standing not far ahead.

"Huang Li?"

Calling out softly into the open space ahead, Han Fei asked.

There was no response in the department store, which rather startled the two hoodlums.

"Did you see someone?"

"It seemed like a person."

Advancing slowly, Han Fei was about to approach the place where the shadow stood when his body suddenly froze!

Twisting his head slightly, Han Fei initially used just the corner of his eye to look, but gradually, an extremely surprised expression appeared on his face.

Turning around sharply, he aimed his cellphone at the glass display of a women’s clothing store nearby.

Between two mannequins, Huang Li, dressed in bright red clothes, was standing against the glass in the display window!

Her face was pale, adorned with bright red lipstick, and her eyes were bulging round!

The three men stepped back simultaneously, their hearts pounding violently.

"Sister Huang Li? Sister Huang Li!" Han Fei yelled loudly. Hearing his voice, Huang Li seemed to awaken from a sleepwalking state and suddenly collapsed to the ground.

Han Fei approached with his cellphone, but just then, a noise erupted from the store next door, like a changing room curtain being yanked off.

"You two keep an eye on her!" Clutching his phone tightly, Han Fei rushed toward the other store.

Of the four changing rooms, only three had curtains. Han Fei raised his phone, using the light to walk deeper into the store.

The fabric of the changing room curtains swayed gently, as if an arm might reach out at any moment.

The darkness grew thicker, and the light from the phone could no longer reach further.

Moving on instinct, Han Fei quietly gripped the blunt knife in his pocket and slowly moved to the doorway of the fourth changing room. The empty changing room had no one inside, only a pile of red new clothes on the floor.

"Where is the person?"

Stepping backward, Han Fei noticed his recently recovered mood attribute inexplicably dropped a bit. Before he could react, his mood attribute dropped again.

With such a fast drop rate that he had never encountered before, Han Fei hesitated for not even a moment before turning and running out of the store.

During his run, Han Fei saw the changing room mirrors on the wall of the store.

Hovering in the darkness, the mirror reflected not only Han Fei’s figure but also the fourth changing room.

Among the pile of red clothes stood a woman with her back pierced through. She faced away from Han Fei, her fingers incessantly writing the character for "death" within the changing room.

Rushing out of the store, Han Fei hurried back, shouting, "Go! Down the stairs!"

Han Fei shouted at the two hoodlums, but they remained frozen, staring at the display window.

"What’s wrong?"

"She, she seems dead..." The chubby one stammered, though he was a loan shark used to fighting and even had the fiercest tiger tattooed for intimidation, he had never seen a dead body!

"A dead body can hardly stand up by itself without something to support it." Han Fei sounded quite professional as he spoke. At that moment, he chose not to abandon Huang Li, but instead hurriedly carried the unconscious Huang Li out of the shop.

The three of them ran towards the stairs together. He could feel Huang Li’s body temperature dropping slowly, and her heartbeat weakening.

"Do you guys have a car? Quick! Take her to the nearest hospital!"

At that point, Han Fei’s mood attribute was only in the twenties. He reckoned he wouldn’t survive leaving the department store if he didn’t want to go mad halfway, relying only on the two hoodlums.

"We didn’t bring one, how could we have driven here?"

After carrying Huang Li to the storefront, Han Fei made an emergency call. Roughly ten minutes later, an ambulance finally arrived from the darkness.

"You two take her to the hospital! Come back, and I will repay you as soon as I can!"

After Han Fei’s promise, Scar-faced Man had Chubby get on the ambulance with Huang Li while he chose to stay and keep an eye on Han Fei.

Once the ambulance had taken Huang Li away from the department store, a system prompt appeared in Han Fei’s mind.

"Player Number 0000, please note! You have successfully triggered the random Shrine mission—Money."

"Money (Random Shrine Mission): If one day, money could buy a person’s life, what choice would you make?"

"Mission requirement: Reach the Third People’s Hospital by sunrise and make the correct decision."

After hearing the system prompt, Han Fei didn’t act immediately. He moved a chair to sit at the store entrance, "Li Long, how long would it take to reach the Third People’s Hospital by bicycle?"

"About half an hour, why do you ask?"

"No reason."

Han Fei decided not to leave the department store immediately. He planned to wait until his mood attribute recovered to above fifty before departing, "The Master of Shrine’s mother lives at the Third People’s Hospital. It looks like I need to prepare in advance. After all, the hospital feels like an ominous place in the eyes of a patient’s family members."

As his mood gradually stabilized, Han Fei stared at the Attribute Panel while waiting for his mood attribute to recover. During this time, lights suddenly came on in the fifth floor of the department store.

Soon after that burst of light, the voice of Security Guard Li Daxing could be heard shouting the names of his colleagues.

"Is this guy still alive? What was he doing on the third floor just now?"

It wasn’t long before Security Guard Li Daxing ran downstairs. His face was flush with panic and unease. Upon seeing Han Fei, he hurriedly asked, "Have you seen Ma Yang? The security guard who was on duty with me yesterday!"

"No, what happened?" Han Fei shook his head.

"He’s disappeared! After we patrolled up to the fifth floor together, he suddenly vanished!" Security Guard Li Daxing’s face was pale as death, with blood remaining at the corner of his mouth and fear in his eyes, while cold sweat covered the flashlight in his palm.

"Don’t panic." Han Fei pulled Scar-faced Man back a step, "This department store can’t possibly eat people. Your colleague probably just went to the restroom."