My ‘Healing’ Game -
Chapter 464: They Are Your Sacrificial Offerings
Chapter 464: Chapter 464: They Are Your Sacrificial Offerings
"No wonder Ten Fingers were groping for ten years and never succeeded, holding the idea of becoming the Master of Shrine to explore, they may never truly be able to control the Shrine."
This Memory World was left by the Master of Shrine, and all things within it are tainted with his traces, everything that happens in this world is his regret.
The appearance of the Shrine changed the Master of Shrine’s life, making him an Unspeakable existence, but it was also the Shrine’s presence that led to all the tragedies.
To gain his approval, one must continuously atone for regrets, and becoming the master of the Shrine was also one of his regrets.
"I think I know what to do now." Han Fei clenched the handle of his saber.
"You... it would be better if you were not impulsive." The man felt that his previous words had been in vain, realizing that Han Fei was also a very opinionated person; he even saw a hint of the Devil in Han Fei, "Killing won’t solve any problems, if you get the chance, you might try looking in my brother’s room. He has two monsters trapped in there, one with a mouth called Truth, the other with eyes called Conscience."
Fearing that Han Fei might become even more mad than his brother, the man voluntarily revealed his brother’s weakness.
As he spoke of his brother’s secret, ten times more black hair burst from his mouth than before, as if he had triggered some taboo.
"Those two monsters fear flames! Find them! Figure out why my brother turned out like this, you need to avoid following in his footsteps, otherwise you too will be shackled by the Shrine and lose everything important in your life!"
The black hair tore the man’s mouth apart and submerged him at the bottom.
Han Fei tried to save the man, but nearly got trapped in the black hair himself; he struggled mightily to escape the bedroom.
Looking at the photos all around the room, Han Fei picked up a fallen picture frame from the floor.
"Boss Gu’s brother also mentioned the monster called Truth, and this matches the hint given by the female tenant in Room 13, so it seems necessary to go there."
From the man’s words, Han Fei learned critical information; he needed to figure out how the department store boss gradually became a madman, then avoid the same occurrence when he takes over the Shrine.
A person born with brain abnormalities and violent tendencies, labeled a "bad person," can become a "good person" fitting social moral standards with the help of postnatal education and overall environment.
A person born innocent and always holding himself to high moral standards can also gradually descend into the Abyss under certain circumstances.
In Han Fei’s era, there was a branch of psychology specifically to study them, called abnormal psychology.
Interestingly, Han Fei had some knowledge of this subject; he vaguely remembered being studied once.
Han Fei had seen many bad people and devils as heartless as a Butterfly, these individuals, who had eradicated their conscience, their psychological and physiological mutations generally had some triggers, which were the knots of all clues, unraveling it would reveal the truth.
Leaving the man’s house, Han Fei headed straight for Shahe Origin Number One.
Walking on the streets of the residential area, Han Fei suddenly realized something.
Shahe Origin Districts one to nine are spread out in a circular manner, the overall layout reminiscent of a Well.
"In the center of the nine districts there is a man-made lake, and the water is channeled from Shahe."
Han Fei deliberately took the long route towards the small lake; however, before he reached it, he developed a very bad feeling, as if the lake symbolized misfortune and death.
He had felt the same way previously when he took Wang Ping’an home that night, passing by Shahe, he gazed upon the waters of Shahe and felt fear, as if the slowly flowing river could devour everything, washing away all memories.
"All around the lake there’s surveillance, what exactly are they monitoring? Are they afraid of someone fishing by the lake? Or are they afraid of someone entering the lake to steal things?"
Walking along the outskirts of the artificial lake to Zone 1, there were two security teams patrolling, and Han Fei was stopped just by approaching.
No one could casually approach the residential house of the Department Store Boss, calling for an appointment and registration beforehand was necessary.
Relying solely on Han Fei’s power was not enough for entry, and barging in would only expose him earlier. After much consideration, Han Fei decided to leave first.
He planned to wait until he got the photos from the well, released the old man and his family, and then act together with them.
"The world has already begun to mutate, and it is time to gather as much power at my side as possible."
Leaving Shahe Origin, Han Fei went out and found Wang Ping’an, who was wearing Han Fei’s coat and watching cats fight by the roadside.
"Brother, did you deliver the white rice?"
"I delivered it, you were right, they are all good people." Han Fei and Wang Ping’an exchanged their clothes back, he placed the package into the delivery box and stuffed easily carryable items directly into his own pockets.
After finishing everything, he rode his electric bike, rushing towards the Department Store.
Racing through, as Han Fei neared the store, he returned the bike to Wang Ping’an and told him to go home to rest, while he ran towards Entrance C of the Department Store.
The Department Store during the daytime too seemed somewhat desolate, with hardly any customers. Many shops had already closed down or hung up "Available for Sublease" signs.
"The Boss’s business is indeed getting harder to maintain, no wonder he’s anxious."
Borrowed luck always runs out one day; things that don’t belong to him are hard to keep, no matter how much you pay.
Entering the store, Han Fei’s facial expression and demeanor underwent a complete change, his leg wounds seemed to worsen considerably, making him limp significantly with each step.
Shoppers seeing Han Fei all avoided him, probably afraid he would suddenly fall and then blame it on them.
"You’ve just come now!" Zhu Wei saw Han Fei and couldn’t help but blow up, "Dragging your feet, do you even know that someone broke into the store last night?"
For someone like Zhu Wei, Han Fei had a clear view. A bit of petty power, liked to boss around those lower than him, would vent out frustrations on others if he got upset himself.
"Everything was normal when I watched the store last night." Han Fei didn’t care about Zhu Wei at all, he couldn’t be bothered to even lift his head to look at Zhu Wei’s face, just kept walking on his own.
"What is that attitude?" Zhu Wei grabbed Han Fei’s arm, "The leader asked you to come over right away, do you see what time it is now?"
"If you don’t let go, I’ll just lie down and call the police." Han Fei pointed at his injured leg, "You are the manager of the Department Store, not the owner, be more careful when you speak to me in the future."
"I need to be careful when speaking to you?" Zhu Wei’s cheeks, shaking with anger, but he really couldn’t do anything to Han Fei. The Secondhand Store was operated by the Department Store Boss, and strictly speaking, it should not be under his control.
"Zhu Wei, I work at this Secondhand Store, which has already had a number of clerks disappear and get injured, how long do you think I will still work here?" Han Fei patted Zhu Wei’s face, "I’m not afraid of anything now, so you better be mindful."
Han Fei’s demeanor had visibly changed overnight. This was something he had purposely shown.
Last night, he narrowly survived the Master of Shrine’s illusion, and he knew that yesterday was a significant turning point for the Master of Shrine.
After experiencing his father’s betrayal and the torment of thugs, the Master of Shrine had begun to actively embrace the darkness.
Dragging his weary body, Han Fei walked past Zhu Wei and opened the door to the Secondhand Store.
Ding-dong, ding-dong...
As Han Fei entered the store, several burly men stood inside, who seemed to be the security guards of the department store boss.
"Exactly how many wrongdoings has he committed? Why does he go everywhere with a group of people?"
No sooner had Han Fei arrived than several pairs of eyes were fixated on him, the security guards watching him as if he were some sort of dangerous individual.
"Are you just going to stand here?" Han Fei scanned the debris on the floor and the overturned shelves, "The store is in such a mess, won’t you help clean up a bit?"
Han Fei wanted to say more, but suddenly, a coughing sound came from deep within the store.
Following the sound, the man named Gu stood beside the shrine.
The black cloth had fallen to the floor, the shrine was severely damaged, all the patterns on the inner walls had been erased, and one of the doors of the shrine had been smashed off.
Boss Gu, with his back to Han Fei, seemed completely focused on the shrine.
It even gave Han Fei an impulse to just pull out the Rebirth Saber and end the department store boss quickly.
"Boss, were the store’s losses severe last night?"
Upon hearing Han Fei’s voice, the man slowly turned around, staring into Han Fei’s eyes for a long time before he spoke, "Have you ever seen a divine being?"
The question from Boss Gu was entirely different from what Han Fei had expected, and he gently shook his head.
"I haven’t either, but I’ve heard that, as long as enough sacrificial offerings are placed on the altar, the Divine Spirit will appear. People in the past liked to use cows, pigs, and sheep to worship the gods. I’ve tried a few times, but unfortunately, they all failed. Later, I discovered that what really matters in worshiping gods is sincerity; as long as there is sincerity, no matter what kind of animal is placed on the altar, the Divine Spirit will hear our voices," Boss Gu murmured as he touched the damaged shrine.
Initially, Han Fei did not notice anything wrong with what the boss was saying until he remembered something. Several people he had contacted in the Memory World seemed to have animal names.
It felt as if the department store boss was hinting to him that all those people were sacrificial offerings, and placing them on the altar would make the Divine Spirit appear.
"I’ve always treated employees like family, but I never expected the most harmless and gentle lamb to let the wolf into the house." The department store boss spoke with an expressionless face and a very calm tone, but he emitted a particularly chilling aura.
Han Fei could attest that the boss indeed treated employees like family, even their fates ending up the same as his family’s.
"I can’t figure it out, nor can I understand it," Boss Gu stepped towards Han Fei, "Tell me, why would he steal from the store?"
Han Fei always felt there was an underlying meaning to Boss Gu’s words, "Boss, exactly what did Pei Yang steal? I see that the more valuable items are still here."
"What he stole doesn’t matter; what matters is the moment he thought about it, he had already strayed," Boss Gu’s phone suddenly rang, and he answered the call in front of Han Fei.
"Boss, we’ve searched all over the upper part of Shahe, they must have fled to the urban areas near the middle and lower reaches," a voice reported progress on the hunt over the phone, seemingly meant for Han Fei to hear.
"I don’t care how you do it, find him before dark," Boss Gu issued a stern order, and the man on the other end hurriedly agreed.
The two conversed, but Han Fei felt no perturbation inside.
Pei Yang wouldn’t be so easily let go by the Ten Fingers unless he had already turned into a corpse.
After hanging up, Boss Gu stared at Han Fei again for a long time. He directly took an envelope out of his pocket, containing five thousand yuan.
"Until a newcomer applies for the job, you stay here to watch the store, and you can handle living arrangements in the store too, I’ll pay you double wages,"
"Sure," Han Fei took the envelope, "Thank you, boss."
"It should be me thanking you for choosing to stay here," both Boss Gu and Han Fei displayed a barely noticeable smile on their faces.
"I’ll try to find a suitable newcomer as soon as possible; I’m leaving the store in your hands now," Boss Gu said, and prepared to leave. Just as he was about to walk out the door, he suddenly stopped, "Oh, and from today onwards, try not to go into the basement warehouse at night."
"Alright."
Watching the boss and his group of security guards walk away, Han Fei placed the envelope full of money under the counter, "This guy’s money shouldn’t be spent carelessly."
Standing amidst the chaos of the secondhand store, Han Fei began to silently clean up.
The shop saw no customers during the day, with only a few passersby who came close to see the commotion; they pointed at the secondhand store and quietly discussed the strange occurrences within, some even believed the store itself was cursed, claiming that all who worked there met with a bad end.
With such rumors spreading, not a single person dared to enter the store, and there was no inclination from other department store staff to help Han Fei either.
Alone, cleaning the floor, Han Fei felt like he had been abandoned by the entire world.
He kept busy until evening, and as Han Fei was moving a heavy shelf back into place, the door of the store was suddenly pushed open.
"What a coincidence! You work here?"
A familiar voice rang in his ear as two hands supported the opposite side of the shelf.
Looking up, Lin Lu, dressed in a pure white down jacket, entered the store. She looked at Han Fei with a face full of surprise.
"Lin Lu?"
Han Fei watched the woman; she was vibrant and beautiful, her fair skin as radiant as the noonday sun. It seemed that just seeing her could disperse much of the gloom.
"I didn’t expect to bump into you just wandering around the department store—we must really have fate. By the way, why were you held hostage by those two thugs last time? Do you owe them money?" Lin Lu chattered incessantly, yet Han Fei didn’t find it irritating; listening to her seemed like a rare relaxation.
"They are my friends."
"You’re friends with those two hoodlums? You really can’t judge a book by its cover," Lin Lu helped Han Fei tidy up the store, continuing to chat with him, but Han Fei was somewhat distracted.
He glanced at the store’s door from time to time; when Lin Lu entered the store, the ding-dong sound that indicated a customer’s arrival had not rung.
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