My ‘Healing’ Game
Chapter 520: Initial Brainpower Increase by One (6000 Votes for Monthly Ticket)

Chapter 520: Chapter 520: Initial Brainpower Increase by One (6000 Votes for Monthly Ticket)

Memories in Han Fei’s mind emerged amidst the sounds of wild laughter, the child holding a sharp knife, covered in blood, looking behind himself with a smile still on his face.

There were no bodies in the scene within the memory, but as the boy turned his head, everything was dyed red.

A blood-red colored dining room and the boy’s sunny smile created a stark contrast.

It wasn’t clear from the memory fragments why the boy was laughing, he seemed to have lost all human emotions, only showing that warm, healing smile.

The dining room’s night light turned back on, its dim light dispelling the darkness.

Old Wolf and the two pools of blood on the ground had completely disappeared, as if the lanky monkey and Little Fatty had never been there.

Everything seemed to be returning to normal, except for Han Fei spiraling on the ground, holding his head. He pressed his hands firmly against his temple as though if he didn’t, his head would split into two.

Excruciating pain stimulated every nerve, with traces of blood from the Blood-colored Orphanage staining many of Han Fei’s memories.

"In the White Orphanage, all the children’s fear turned into wolves. In the Blood-colored Orphanage, I am the wolf, one who has devoured countless children, seemingly devouring all emotions and personalities as well?"

The young child stood alone at one end of the dining room, covered in blood, then turned around with the sharp knife.

Han Fei had never imagined he had such experiences: "The games played here in the orphanage seem to be those I once played. Replaying these games might stimulate more memories to surface."

Reason and hysterical laughter continued to struggle; Han Fei tried his best to suppress the version of himself from within the Blood-colored Orphanage.

As his mind was nearing a sea of blood, chains of memories from the Blood-colored Orphanage began to materialize around, representing childhood figures and dual spirits of good and evil.

Each holding a chain, they seemed to prevent the Blood-colored Orphanage from "surfacing" in his mind.

"All my childhood memories, benevolent souls, pure evil, everything is stopping the Blood-colored Orphanage; what exactly does the laughter in the orphanage signify?"

In other places, good and evil are as different as fire and water, but in Han Fei’s mind, benevolence and malice seemed like brothers.

The trembling Blood-colored Orphanage finally returned to normal, and more memory fragments related to the Old Wolf game appeared in Han Fei’s mind.

The pain slowly eased. Han Fei sat on the ground, his mouth and eyes as if torn, oozing blood.

Opening the item bar, Han Fei took out the pig heart made by Xu Qin and bit into it voraciously.

Consuming things was the best way for the Midnight Butcher to relieve stress.

As his blood volume slowly recovered, Han Fei rose from the ground, also receiving another prompt from the system.

"Player number 0000, please pay attention! You have successfully completed the second game with the children! Task reward obtained — Clue 2."

"Clue 2: The child you are looking for is the bad child in everyone’s heart."

The second clue was already very specific, most orphans didn’t qualify.

"The bad child in everyone’s heart? This guy I’m playing the Old Wolf game with is the worst child, everyone must secretly think he’s an asshole but dare not speak out; yet this little boy by my side seems to be alienated by everyone too, no one wants to play with him, thinking he’s a bad kid who doesn’t listen to the nanny."

If it wasn’t for being uncertain, Han Fei might have stood up and knifed the oldest boy right then.

At that moment, the boy had already run behind, pounding his fists one after another on the girl with the broken leg.

Just when the situation was extremely critical, the girl suddenly spoke up, intending to cause the death of both Han Fei and the boy.

None of the children in this orphanage should be underestimated; never be careless just because they are children, or one wouldn’t even know how they died.

Picking up the chains from the ground, Han Fei pressed down the boy’s head, his gaze filled with murderous intent, "Stop it."

The more games played in the orphanage the better, Han Fei planned to try out as many games as possible before hatred arrived, he wanted to understand his past.

Previously he hadn’t had the capability to endure the consequences of retrieving the blood-colored memories, but now he had nearly earned the right to know the truth.

"So who won just now?"

Han Fei coldly spoke up, the boy looked up at him, his eyes hiding a trace of venom, "Whoever touches the Old Wolf first wins, but neither of us touched the Old Wolf just now, so it’s a tie."

After the boy finished speaking, he seemed afraid that Han Fei might resort to violence, his neck withdrew backward.

"Alright, then let’s play the third game."

No sooner had Han Fei finished speaking than his hand was grabbed by the little boy, who urged Han Fei, "Let’s not play anymore, let’s go first."

The oldest boy hadn’t expected Han Fei to be so agreeable, seeing Han Fei consent immediately energized him, "Best two out of three, if you win the next game, I will definitely obey you forever, anything you ask, I’ll do."

This little beast was full of malice, seeing no difference between people and other animals in his eyes, and being incredibly selfish. After causing the death of Thin Monkey and Little Fatty without any psychological burden, he immediately turned around to beat the girl to death when she tricked him.

In his eyes, other people’s lives were like an item that could be discarded at any time.

Han Fei had imprinted the behavior and facial expressions during conversations of these orphans in his mind; he concluded none of these children were decent. It seemed like they had been corrupted, turned into poison apples that were outwardly normal but rotten inside.

"The next game is also one we often play, in the room further inside." The boy carefully concealed the venom and hatred in his eyes, looking completely different from Han Fei when he was a child at the orphanage.

In Han Fei’s memory fragments, even though he held a sharp knife and was covered in blood, leaving a red trail wherever he went, his face always had a warm smile, and his eyes seemed to perpetually shine. Those elements never changed regardless of the surrounding environment.

Through this simple comparison, Han Fei also noticed his difference: "Back then, it seemed like aside from smiling, I had lost all other emotions. Now, it’s quite the opposite."

The boy grabbed the girl on the floor and forcefully took her with him, heading towards the end of the dining area.

Pushing open the door of the dining area, outside was a pitch-black corridor with no windows on either side, resembling a mine shaft buried deep underground, suffocating just upon entry.

A faint light reflected off the yellowing walls, with the night light in the middle of the hall being the sole source of light.

The oldest boy covered the girl’s mouth and also slowed his pace, treading lightly, not daring to make any sound.

The inside of the orphanage was much larger than it appeared from the outside, with black doors tightly shut everywhere, and no signs hung on the walls. Han Fei didn’t know what was hidden behind those doors.

"This is the place."

The oldest boy dragged the girl with a broken leg to a stop deep in the hallway, pointing at the door in front of them.

"The third game is called Cardboard Room. We don’t have many toys here, so everyone collects cardboard boxes from fruit and vegetable deliveries, then we build houses and castles out of those broken boxes."

"Is the competition to see whose castle looks the best?" Han Fei, having the ability of art appreciation, satisfied both the aesthetic senses of the Underworld and the Mortal World.

"No, we hide inside those cardboard houses. You can’t destroy the boxes in any way; you can only look with your eyes. It’s a five-minute time limit, and you get three chances to touch the boxes. If you don’t choose the box where we are hiding, then we win." The boy seemed very confident.

"Similar to Hide-and-Seek?" Han Fei nodded, "That’s fine."

"You wait outside for a minute." With force, the boy pushed the door open, entering with the girl.

Once the door closed, Han Fei leaned on the door panel to listen. After the two children entered, their footsteps soon disappeared, with no other subtle sounds emanating out, which was highly eerie.

Counting the time silently, Han Fei noticed the night light in the hallway beginning to dim, as if something was approaching in the darkness.

"Play the game first, then consider other things."

Well aware of the saying curiosity killed the cat, Han Fei didn’t linger in the hallway. After counting a full minute, he entered the room with the little boy.

The air was tainted with a faint foul smell, and the scene in front did not trigger Kuangxiao, which slightly relieved Han Fei.

"This room is strange."

The not-so-large room was filled with cardboard boxes folded into small houses. Most of the buildings looked like graves; the children’s creations were indeed quite down-to-earth.

"They’re hiding in here?"

The discarded cardboard boxes were not laid flat on the ground. Most were stacked on top of each other, piling up in a very chaotic manner.

"It seems like you guys play this game often." Han Fei glanced at the little boy beside him who looked enviously at those cardboard buildings.

"Only they get to play. They always snatch all the cardboard boxes, then go create or destroy. I can only watch, unable to join in."

"Why don’t they include you in the game?" Han Fei asked the question he had been wanting to ask.

"They always say I’m a naughty child, running around everywhere, not listening to the nanny or teachers. It seems like playing with me will get the nanny punished," said the little boy, sounding very aggrieved.

"Do you hate that nanny? If you had the chance to make him disappear forever, would you choose to make him disappear?"

"Are you talking about killing him?" It was hard to imagine that a child would say the word ’kill’ so casually.

"It can be understood that way,"

"Then I wouldn’t make him disappear. He just dislikes me, and there are many people in the world who dislike me. I can’t make all of them disappear," the boy pondered seriously over the question.

"But what if they wanted to make you disappear? Would you resist?" Han Fei’s question was too heavy for a child.

After thinking for a long time, the little boy still shook his head: "If they wanted to kill me, then I would hide in a place they couldn’t find. If they can’t see me, it’s as if I’ve already disappeared. Yes, that’s what I’ll do!"

The seemingly casual response from the little boy caused a slight flicker in Han Fei’s pupils.

In reality, Little White Shoes initially hid in a place where no one could find him; people never found him but in the end, they only found his corpse.

Recalling the photo provided by Liuli Cat, the child wearing white shoes in one of the photos also liked to run around a lot.

All these signs indicated that there should be a certain connection between the little boy and the white shoes.

While Han Fei was still thinking, the little boy suddenly raised his hand, pointing towards the northeast corner of the room and excitedly shouted, "Mom!"

Looking in that direction, Han Fei saw a female doll thrown on top of several cardboard boxes.

"They said not to touch or damage the boxes, but they didn’t say not to touch the dolls." Han Fei approached the northeast corner of the room, and as he walked inside, he realized that the entire area was densely packed with refolded boxes, one after another, resembling graves in the dark room, which seemed quite frightening.

"You can’t go any further." The doll was too far away; advancing further would definitely involve touching those boxes on the ground.

Staring at the doll, Han Fei was thinking about how to retrieve the doll to give back to the little boy when he suddenly saw the doll’s hand, dangling from its belly, pointing directly towards a particular direction.

Following the direction the doll’s hand pointed, he saw a strand of black hair peeking out from a slit in that particular box.

"Is this doll giving me a hint?"

Just as Han Fei was about to choose that box, his gaze discovered something else.

Next to that box, a piece of a girl’s clothing was left on the edge of another box, as if she had hastily hidden and forgot to tuck her clothes completely inside. Looking further, a meter away in the gap of another box was a limp hand spread out, and even further, another box was bleeding out.

"These boxes are very far apart; hair, hands, and clothes are all separate."

"The fingers are slender and clean, belonging to that little girl; the clothes and long hair as well; now, there are two possibilities."

"First, there is still something inside these cardboard houses, and it’s not just the few of us here."

"Second, the girl has been divided into different parts and hidden in different cardboard houses; if they divided two people into four parts, then with only three choices, I clearly won’t be able to find them all."

Han Fei knew that the little devil would play tricks, but he hadn’t thought he might do something like this.

"That shouldn’t be the case." The little boy knew a lot, but even so, he was startled by Han Fei’s words; even the Underworld Orphanage rarely played like this.

"Maybe I’m overthinking it." Han Fei nodded slightly, "After the boys and girls entered the room, they only had one minute. It would be very difficult to accomplish splitting up and hiding in that time; besides, I didn’t hear any screaming from outside."

"If the two children are unharmed, then it means there is something else hidden in these cardboard houses." Han Fei asked the little boy, "Did you notice anything strange when they were playing with cardboard houses?"

"Everyone really likes playing with cardboard houses, but the nanny said that after everyone builds their own house, they shouldn’t just walk in; they have to knock on the door first, and if nobody answers, then they can push the door and enter."

"What kind of custom is this?"

Han Fei frowned as he looked at those rooms; on the surface, he was playing a game, but in reality, he was probing another self deep in his mind.

He might have played this game before; if he had, it could trigger the memories of the past.

Even though recalling the past was extremely painful, Han Fei still wanted to do everything possible to retrieve his lost self.

"Could it be that I didn’t like building paper houses before?"

When the perverted boy gave Han Fei a three-minute time limit and only one minute was left, Han Fei decided to give it a try.

Slowly moving forward, he lifted the box that the doll was pointing at with its outstretched hand.

Underneath the box was a strand of hair and a piece of cloth; the children were not hidden here.

"Shouldn’t you have knocked on the door first to ask if there was anyone inside?" The little boy quietly reminded Han Fei, but it was already a bit late.

The room became noticeably darker than before, and more and more things began to appear in the gaps of those cardboard houses.

There were patterns on the clothing, more and more bloodstains, and a fleeting glimpse of an eyeball.

"Two more chances." Han Fei threw the lifted cardboard house to the side, hugging the Spiritual Altar as he jumped onto the cleared space.

Now close to the doll, Han Fei reached out and grabbed the doll in his hand, then stood still and looked around.

He was now in the center of the room and could see many boxes that were blocked behind.

As his gaze slowly moved, he inherited the Personality Fragment of Mirror God, and his left eye still retained some ability to see the truth, yet even so, he found nothing.

As time ticked by, just when it was about to end, Han Fei’s gaze was drawn to a red paper house deep in the room.

Without any reason, upon seeing that paper house, his gaze could no longer deviate.

The small, dust-covered Red House held a peculiar allure for him, as if he had folded the red paper house with his own hands!

The chains of memory clanged loudly as the red house in Han Fei’s eyes seemed to slowly transform. When a sharp pain surged through his brain, he saw a segment of unfamiliar memory.

He was still a child then, curled up in a white paper house, his body trembling continuously, yet he dared not make any movements.

Various windows were painted on the inner walls of the paper house, but those windows couldn’t be opened at all, and the child couldn’t see what was happening outside.

Hiding under such extreme oppression, time slowed tremendously. The child’s face was buried deep in his knees, he didn’t dare to look up, and his body trembled with fear.

He seemed to have reached his limit and couldn’t hold on any longer.

A red blood blossom bloomed on the cardboard house, and the bright red color seeped from the outside to the inside of the cardboard.

It seemed as if a blood rain had started outside, and more and more red, like blossoms, bloomed on the cardboard house. The long, narrow traces of flowing blood resembled the petals of red spider lilies.

Cluster after cluster of blood-red red spider lilies bloomed on the white house until the white house was completely dyed red by the "petals" that fell and withered.

The boy’s body trembled more violently, and as the White House turned completely red, the face buried deep in his knees slowly lifted.

The warm, healing smile on his face finally began to twist, the corners of his mouth turned up, and the smile slowly turned into hysterical, maniacal laughter!

The boy walked out from the red house, and outside was a blood-red night!

Deep in his mind, the maniacal laughter echoed just like in his memories; he hugged his knees, sitting on the steps at the entrance of the orphanage, looking up with his childhood self in his memories.

The hysterical laughter transmitted from the memories, resounding in reality.

Han Fei felt that heart-wrenching pain once more, his expression already twisted. At this moment, he could no longer care about any game and immediately rushed towards the red house in the corner of the room.

All the cardboard boxes blocking his way were shoved aside, and he ran to the front of the paper house, but when his hand touched the red paper house, the originally blood-red house began to fade in color.

The system seemed to have notified him of something, but he couldn’t focus on listening now as the tearing sensation in his brain grew stronger, and his body knocked over one paper house after another, his teeth gritted in pain to the point of bleeding.

Even in such a state, he still held tight to the Spiritual Altar in his arms.

He was different from before now; he had something he needed to hold on to tightly.

As long as there was a shred of reason left, he would not let go.

For the Spiritual Altar in his hands, Han Fei showed a resolve he hadn’t even realized himself.

After being tortured by the laughter for a long time, that new fragment of memory finally merged into his own brain sea.

Compared to the previous game, the paper house game involved a memory even more critical to Han Fei because that blood-colored night appeared in this segment of memory.

If he continued to search, Han Fei felt he might recall what happened on that blood-colored night.

"Blood-colored Night is listed as a taboo by Eternal Life Pharmaceutical, and even such a giant remains silent about it, showing how special that night was."

Gradually regaining his sanity, Han Fei rose from the ground. By then, most of the paper houses in the room had been destroyed, and the oldest boy crawled out from his hiding spot with a sinister smile on his face.

Han Fei didn’t pay attention to that boy; he vaguely remembered that the system might have notified him of something.

Opening the Attribute Panel and Item Bar, Han Fei was momentarily stunned.

"Attention player number 0000! Your initial brainpower has increased by one!"

"Attention player number 0000! You have obtained a special item from the White Orphanage—White House."

"White House (Special Mission Item): He might know why the White House turned into the Red House."

After retrieving two memory fragments, Han Fei found his initial brainpower had indeed increased by one point, reaching nine points.

"Recalling the past can increase brainpower?"

Clutching his still faintly aching head, Han Fei was somewhat uncertain, "Was I a very intelligent person before?"

"You lost! Time to accept the penalty," the boy kicked aside a nearby box and walked up to Han Fei.

"Penalty?" Han Fei shook his head, "Didn’t we agree on two out of three games? Even if you won this round, we are only tied."

"You still want to play the fourth round?" the boy had never seen an adult as tenacious as Han Fei, "Fine, no problem."

"You’ve proposed three games; let me choose the next one," Han Fei stared at the boy, his hand reaching for the Rebirth Saber, "The new game is very simple; it’s called ’When it gets dark, please close your eyes.’"