My ‘Healing’ Game
Chapter 465 Whose body is hidden in the deep well

Chapter 465: Chapter 465 Whose body is hidden in the deep well

Some say love needs to be cultivated, but Han Fei never imagined that the Master of Shrine would nurture a non-existent lover.

When all the customers were afraid to approach the Secondhand Store, Lin Lu appeared.

She didn’t care about those "rumors," nor was she afraid of the curse of the store, her eyes seeming only to see Han Fei, so perfect it was almost unreal.

"This shop only has secondhand goods, I really don’t know why thieves would target you, have they gone mad from poverty?" Lin Lu steadied the other side of the shelf, struggling a little to help Han Fei straighten it: "Your boss really is something, leaving you to work here alone, he earns so much money yet doesn’t know to sympathize with his employees, I used to think he was a pretty decent person."

Helping with the shelves, sharing complaints, Lin Lu’s presence filled the void in the Master of Shrine’s heart.

Even if the world had forsaken him, as long as Lin Lu was there, the Master of Shrine should be able to scrape by, maintaining the façade of a normal person.

"The boss might have his own difficulties," Han Fei said, busy with cleaning, and quite cold towards Lin Lu.

"You’re actually speaking up for him? You really are the best employee I’ve ever seen. I’ll come to you first if I ever start my own business." Lin Lu was kind-hearted, sensing that Han Fei was feeling very down, so she kept making jokes, hoping to make him a little happier.

Unfortunately, not only did Han Fei have no reaction, his brows furrowed even more deeply.

Based on what the department store’s owner had said before, Lin Lu might also end up as a sacrificial offering on the altar, some people’s endings are predetermined from the moment they meet.

Han Fei didn’t want to cause Lin Lu’s death, he never harmed innocent people, nor did he want to destroy the only thing of beauty in the Master of Shrine’s life.

"There should be other ways."

Around six in the evening, Han Fei and Lin Lu finished cleaning the store, having arranged all the shelves properly.

Han Fei stood behind the counter, beginning to tally the goods, removing items that were too damaged, while Lin Lu sat in the secondhand recliner of the shop, like an old man who had just returned from a stroll, swaying with the chair.

"It’s already dark, aren’t you going home?" Han Fei glanced at Lin Lu, who showed no intention of leaving: "I remember you said you’re a nurse at Shahe Hospital, you guys must be tired from work too, right? You should go home and rest earlier."

"Shahe Private Hospital is about to go bankrupt, and they still owe me half a year’s salary. Talking about it just makes me angry, the management’s benefits are paid every month, but they can’t provide salaries for us interns, isn’t that bullying?"

"Are you still going to work then?"

"Work? I’m going to give those managers a piece of my mind tomorrow," Lin Lu leaned back in the recliner, clearly exhausted.

After finalizing the last item’s condition, Han Fei walked out from behind the counter and stopped beside Lin Lu.

"Are you trying to get rid of me?"

"What do you want to eat? It’s my treat," Han Fei took out the keys, briefly locking up the store as he led Lin Lu through the department store: "There are many restaurants on the fifth floor, but I suggest it’s better for you to eat vegetarian."

This was Han Fei’s first time properly browsing a store, and for some reason, passersby kept casting surprised glances at him and Lin Lu.

"Why do I feel like everyone is looking at us?" Lin Lu followed behind Han Fei, whispering.

"Maybe they are envious of me." Han Fei rode the elevator to the fifth floor, which looked completely different after midnight, scents of various foods wafting through the air, with many diners coming and going—it was the busiest level of the department store.

"I’ll just have something light; I’ve been trying to lose weight and I’m not really hungry," Lin Lu said, carrying her handbag. She became the focal point of attention wherever she went, the complete opposite of the Master of Shrine.

"Let’s just go with this one." Han Fei didn’t select restaurants based on whether their food was delicious, but on whether they had appeared in his hallucinations.

All the restaurants that were normally operating in the Master of Shrine’s illusions were off-limits for Han Fei, because he couldn’t be certain that the meat in their dishes wasn’t some kind of meat he’d never eaten before.

The two of them entered the restaurant, found a seat by the window, and sat down facing each other.

Han Fei had never been in a relationship, and in this regard, he and the Master of Shrine were on the same starting line.

However, there were slight differences between them. Han Fei had anticipated Lin Lu’s ending, so no matter how strong the sense of dependence shown in the Master of Shrine’s memories in his brain sea, he always kept a distance from Lin Lu.

They ordered some dishes at random, and while they were waiting for their food, a chef suddenly walked out from the kitchen.

He looked around and then headed straight for Han Fei’s table.

What was weirder was that he seemed invisible to Lin Lu, sitting directly opposite Han Fei, next to Lin Lu.

"I have been a chef in this Memory World for ten years; every customer has been turned into a delicacy by me. I remember all of their faces and can distinguish all of their screams of agony, but I don’t seem to ever have seen you." The chef took off his hat; he looked gentle and refined, his skin pale as if sickly, with no trace of cooking fumes on him. Just by appearance, he didn’t seem to fit the profession of a chef at all.

"Is Halloween coming up? Your restaurant’s event is quite macabre." Han Fei glanced at the chef’s neck, beneath the chef’s garb hid the faces of crying people.

"Your Acting is quite good, but you can’t fool me." The chef smiled at Han Fei, squinting, "I smell my companion’s scent on you, that endlessly resentful stench of decay."

Han Fei smiled indifferently, knowing that the other party had only sensed something was off but hadn’t confirmed it yet; otherwise, with such a personality, he would definitely not have sat down to chat with Han Fei.

Raising his teacup, Han Fei couldn’t even be bothered to speak, as if communicating with the other party would lower his own intelligence.

Lin Lu, cornered and speechless, stealthily pointed at the chef and mouthed to Han Fei, asking if the man was sick?

"Your silence is consent; their disappearances must be related to you." The corners of his mouth lifted slightly, and the chef smiled a grim, eerie smile, "Enjoy your meal, I wish you a pleasant dining and a good night."

After the chef returned to the kitchen, Han Fei called the Boss over, gave the chef a good scolding, and then gleaned some information from the Boss’s mouth.

The chef was new, and the meat dishes he cooked were extremely fragrant; whoever tried them once would think of them again.

Having learned this information, Han Fei certainly dared not continue to eat the chef’s cooking and left the Department Store with Lin Lu.

Streetlights were already lit, and the two found a street stall and feasted happily.

After a hearty meal, Han Fei’s expression slowly turned solemn as he gazed at Lin Lu.

"Are you drunk? Why are you staring at me?"

"I’m afraid you will disappear in the future, so I want to remember you." Han Fei would not leave the Shrine to Spell; if he couldn’t occupy the Shrine, he would destroy it, no matter the outcome, the Memory World based on the Shrine would be destroyed, and Lin Lu would no longer appear.

She was the Master of Shrine’s fantasy of something beautiful, and not forgetting her face was likely one of the things the Master of Shrine most wanted to do.

"How could I possibly disappear?" Lin Lu was already somewhat drunk, her face flushed.

"Stop drinking; I’ll take you home."

"No need! I can manage on my own." Lin Lu decisively rejected Han Fei, seeming afraid that Han Fei would find out where she lived, and walked across the road with her bag slung over her shoulder.

Han Fei had always followed her, but after walking dozens of meters, he suddenly realized that Lin Lu’s figure was no longer among the crowd.

"She’s disappeared again."

It seemed that Lin Lu would only appear when the Master of Shrine experienced severe mood swings, and Han Fei hadn’t figured out the pattern yet.

When Han Fei returned to the department store, most of the shops had already closed, he pushed open the door of the secondhand store, and the system’s prompt sound, along with the customer entry alert on the door, sounded simultaneously.

"Player number 0000, please note! Your current hunger level is at 0, your physical condition is poor, your current mental state is slightly low, with a mood value of forty-five. Would you like to start today’s work?"

"Yes."

Standing at the shop’s entrance, Han Fei rubbed his somewhat stiff fingers, "What day is this?"

Looking at the photos of the outstanding employees on the wall, they were once living people, but now either lay in the hospital or had already disappeared; now, Han Fei was the only one left in the secondhand store.

"Boss Gu still hasn’t contacted me, nor has he returned to the shop, it seems he’s encountering difficulties."

Han Fei entered the store, his fingers tracing on the desk’s surface, connecting the recent events in his thoughts.

"The Fingers have entered the Memory World many times, accumulating over ten years of experience; they collaborate and have made contact with every person in this world; now, they have taken Pei Yang, probably deeming him likely to become the new Master of the Shrine."

It was normal for The Fingers to think this way; before Han Fei appeared, Pei Yang was the last employee who died in the store, and from any angle, he was the prime suspect.

"If The Fingers confirm that Pei Yang truly isn’t the one they’re looking for, then they will definitely focus all their energy on me, and I will face the double pressure from The Fingers and the boss."

Han Fei stared at the inventory list on the counter and began rehearsing in his mind how to retrieve those photos from the well over and over again.

By ten o’ clock at night, all the lights in the department store had gone out, and there wasn’t a single person left outside.

"It’s time to act."

In fact, acting after midnight would reduce the likelihood of being discovered, but Han Fei didn’t dare gamble, as the department store after midnight was simply too dangerous.

Taking out the gloves he had prepared earlier, Han Fei checked the surveillance again; most of the cameras had been destroyed by The Fingers and Pei Yang, and the store’s boss hadn’t had time to repair them yet.

"They’ve saved me quite a bit of trouble."

Han Fei secured the store’s door from the inside, calculating the timing.

When the door was pushed, the entry alert on the doorframe would sound, giving him approximately twenty seconds to emerge from the underground storeroom.

"For me, that much time is already sufficient."

Ready to proceed, Han Fei directly took the shop’s secondhand tools and entered the underground storeroom.

He had already identified the spot the day before; tonight, he must uncover the secret of that well.

"It’s so cold."

The underground storeroom was like a cold storage, with dark energy spreading in the corners, like poison weeds growing unrestrained.

Han Fei’s left eye could see the truth, so he didn’t bother turning on the light and went directly to the deepest part of the storeroom.

Moving the shelving, Han Fei first used a tape measure to pinpoint the precise location to strike, then he took out a hammer and chisel and started to slowly loosen the mortar.

To avoid making too much noise, Han Fei worked very slowly.

After chiseling, Han Fei went upstairs to drink some water, stepped outside the department store to stretch a bit, and casually showed his face on the external surveillance cameras.

After loosening up his muscles, Han Fei returned to the secondhand supermarket, directly carrying the cutter and electric hammer to the underground storeroom.

"Using the tools will be very noisy, but before midnight, there are no ghosts to be seen in the department store, and there are hardly any vehicles on the road outside; nobody should notice."

Han Fei was very decisive, using the electric hammer to break through the wall as quickly as possible.

After penetrating the joints, Han Fei picked up the sledgehammer he had prepared and smashed it against the wall.

"Bang!"

After several hits, an opening about half a meter in length and width appeared on the previously intact wall.

The largest piece fell into the well, splashing water everywhere, and a droplet landed on the back of Han Fei’s hand.

At that moment, Han Fei felt as if his soul was being scorched, as if not water, but flowing flames had touched his skin.

The fallen wall piece quickly sank into the well, disappearing from sight, which Han Fei had anticipated; he intended to use the well for disposing of debris, saving himself the trouble of carrying waste out of the store.

"The water surface is now only half a meter away from me, within arm’s reach."

Success seemed within grasp, yet Han Fei didn’t relax. He first cleaned the electric hammer and cutter, put the tools back in their place, and started cleaning up.

In just twenty minutes, Han Fei had taken care of all traces.

Even if Boss Gu entered the store now, he would never guess that Han Fei had used the store’s tools to carve a large hole in the wall.

"There’s still some time until midnight." Han Fei picked up a book, brewed a cup of coffee, walked around outside to ensure there were no abnormalities, then returned to the secondhand store.

Compared to when he had first entered, there had been "no changes" in the underground storeroom.

"It’s a good thing I only worked as a villain actor. If I had chosen another profession, perhaps I would have gotten lost in the role for real."

Moving the shelving again, Han Fei extended half his body into the hole.

It didn’t take long before he found the family portrait of the elderly couple, the photo was very close to him.

Suppressing the urge to grab it with his hand, Han Fei found a candle on the shelving.

He first lit the candle and then slowly moved its end closer to the photo.

As the flame illuminated the pitch-black well, Han Fei saw a throng of faces crowded beneath the water’s surface.