My ‘Healing’ Game
Chapter 522: I’ll Help You Paint the World Red (6000 Votes for Monthly Ticket)

Chapter 522: Chapter 522: I’ll Help You Paint the World Red (6000 Votes for Monthly Ticket)

"A white door?"

In the pitch dark, a white door appeared, hard to overlook.

"Did the orphanage used to lock up the disobedient children behind that door?" Han Fei always found it strange that this orphanage, built in the Deep World, seemed to harbor other secrets.

"Yes, any child the adults disliked would be locked in this room, and once they entered, they never came out again." The little boy clung tightly to the stuffed toy he called ’Mommy,’ a flicker of fear passing through his eyes.

"Would you like to go inside and see?" As Han Fei’s hand touched the door on the ground, footsteps sounded from outside, although they were not heading this way.

The little boy dragged his stuffed toy to the door to check. A tall nanny carrying a night lamp was walking down the corridor.

She opened door after door, seemingly checking each room for anything unusual.

"The adults are coming!"

The little boy stumbled and ran towards Han Fei, his hands gesturing frantically.

"There’s no place to hide in the director’s office, so it looks like we have to go into this room."

Grabbing the doorknob, Han Fei felt a strange sensation, as if something behind the door was calling to him.

He pushed the door open forcefully, and white steps leading downward appeared in front of Han Fei.

"Let’s go down and hide for now."

Carrying the little boy, Han Fei entered the underground. As they descended the steps, they found that the white door seemed like a mirror, with two worlds upside down on either side of the door.

"The world outside the door was enveloped in darkness, oppressive and eerily terrifying, filled with malice, while everything inside the door was painted white—stairs, walls, stone bricks, all items were white."

Holding the little boy’s hand, Han Fei reached the bottom of the stairs. Another white room door appeared in front of them.

Upon pushing this door open, they entered a director’s office whose primary color was white.

Compared to the director’s office above ground, this room was clean and tidy, giving a comforting feeling.

"Is there really another orphanage hidden underground?"

Without touching anything in the room, Han Fei carefully observed every detail. His memory was excellent, and he clearly remembered the placement of all items in the office above ground.

"That’s right, all the items in this office are the same as those above ground. They are cleaned daily, dust-free, and spotless."

Han Fei quietly walked to the other side of the director’s office to the exit and opened the door to look outside.

The pure white corridor was spotless, with a lamp installed every two meters, illuminating the area as if it were day.

Most thoughtfully, the bright light was not harsh, and the lamp bases were quite cute, with little cartoon tips on saving electricity beside them. These scenes made Han Fei feel somewhat bewildered, as if he had returned to reality."

"Is there such a bright place in the Deep World?"

Han Fei did not expect to find such a place in the gloomy and oppressive depths of the orphanage.

"Isn’t this the room for punishing bad kids?" the little boy asked, clutching his stuffed toy. He stared at the beautiful stickers and colorful paintings on the walls, mesmerized.

"Let’s look around some more.’

Walking in the corridor, they felt no oppression; the air even carried a faint fragrance.

Han Fei and the little boy continued forward. Each room door in the corridor had a nameplate with characters also marked in Pinyin, and for the convenience of the blind, tactile Braille was thoughtfully engraved on the door panels.

Pushing the bedroom door slightly, there was not a hint of bad odor inside. All the beds were made neatly, and each person had their own wardrobe and small desk.

The clothes in the wardrobe were plain but tidy, and there was a variety of books on the small desks.

Although most of the books were second-hand donations, they were treasured by the children here, some even had protective covers put on by the children.

"Each of them has a pen and a new notebook." The little boy pointed to the small table in the dormitory, his tone somewhat envious.

Compared to the dormitory above ground, this place was indeed too comfortable.

"The rooms above ground were filled with various rank odors and mustiness, the bedding crumpled, and some even stained with blood. Compared to the rooms above, this place could be termed as heaven."

The little boy looked reluctantly, ready to go in, but Han Fei grabbed him.

"Let’s look around first. Although this place is nice, we haven’t seen any living things yet."

Han Fei reached out and opened another room – the nanny’s room. The floor tiles gleamed as if reflecting someone’s image, and the desk was neatly arranged with stacks of documents.

Having stayed in the Deep World for so long, Han Fei was particularly sensitive to records and diaries, and seeing no one in the corridor, he decisively entered and began flipping through them.

The nannies knew every child’s personality, past, and the traumas they had suffered; they had even filled out various treatment plans, clearly showing their genuine desire to heal those unfortunate orphans.

"Are these a group of angels?"

There seemed to be no issues in the records, and Han Fei wanted to continue, but the sound of crisp footsteps reverberated from the corridor outside. He immediately restored the records to their original state and pulled the little boy to hide under the bed.

He had just finished arranging the bedsheet when the door to the nannies’ lounge was pushed open and a pair of female legs appeared before him.

He had seen similar scenes in other movies, but experiencing it for the first time, Han Fei was utterly amazed; he actually saw a pair of normal human legs in the Deep World!

Not the kind of pale legs devoid of any blood color, nor legs without feet that floated mid-air; there were no scars, no Curse, and more importantly, no faces attached to them!

"A player? Impossible!"

Melodious singing followed, as the nanny changed clothes and then took some object and left again.

Han Fei and the boy climbed out from under the bed, and he touched the nanny’s clothes that had just been changed with the back of his hand: "There’s still some warmth left? Really a living person?"

Everything in this Underground Orphanage was too similar to reality, which made Han Fei feel as if he had returned to the real world.

Leaving the lounge quietly, Han Fei listened to the nanny’s footsteps, following her.

The nanny, now in sportswear, reached the end of the corridor. She opened the wooden white door leading outside, letting the light flood the corridor.

"Sunlight?"

The little boy next to him was confused, and even Han Fei himself was somewhat unsettled right now. How could there be sunlight in a world plunged into eternal night?

The nanny didn’t close the door, and Han Fei, along with the little boy, walked over. Just nearing the door brought the scent of flowers to them, and the breeze felt refreshing, lifting their spirits.

Standing behind the door, Han Fei peeked through the doorway. Above was a blue sky with birds flying, and the ground was covered in green grass, with flowers striving to bloom.

Looking further, beyond the white fence stretched a boundless forest where animals were barely visible, and the creek was cheerfully flowing, as if singing for the children.

"So beautiful..." the little boy whispered, holding his worn-out stuffed toy, as he gazed transfixed at the scene outside.

Initially amazed, Han Fei soon noticed something amiss—the birds in the sky stayed in one place, and the water splashes from the creek hung mid-air, stubbornly refusing to fall.

The refreshing breeze kept blowing, but the grass on the ground didn’t sway accordingly.

Everything outside the Orphanage was drawn on; this was an artificially created "Heaven."

Lively singing emerged from the courtyard; led by the nanny, seven children were doing morning exercises following her directions.

The seven children, dressed in white clothes and shoes, earnestly copied the teacher’s movements.

The nanny taught well and often encouraged them, boosting the children’s enjoyment in learning.

"Is this the punishment room? Isn’t it only for bad kids?" the little boy was very puzzled, lightly tugging on Han Fei’s clothing, wanting an answer. However, Han Fei’s gaze was now fully fixed on the children’s white shoes, which looked exactly like the ones he had seen in reality.

"Should we greet them? They don’t seem like bad people." The little boy wanted to approach the children. Holding his most treasured companion, he walked forward, ready to share his mother’s stories if the children were willing to play with him.

This time, Han Fei did not stop the child; his mind was in turmoil upon seeing the Underground Orphanage, and countless possibilities sprang into his brain.

"024 is the code for the white shoes, this must be his Orphanage, but why are there paintings left by a Painter?"

The paintings on the Orphanage walls felt very similar to Han Fei to another painting he encountered before—in the style and the realism, just like those painted by the Painter in Chou Ba’s building corridor.

"Are the two connected?"

Han Fei wanted to get closer to the wall for a better look when suddenly, a shadow appeared on the grass right in front of the wall.

The painted grass was being erased by some force, and upon closer inspection, the shadow emerging in the picture took the form of a human silhouette.

It was continuously slamming against the wall, and as it did so, the realism of the painting eroded, with fine cracks appearing among the trees and the stream.

"What is that?"

The nanny quickly noticed something was wrong and immediately gathered the children around her.

At that moment, her face was a picture of astonishment, incredulous as she stared at the wall. More startling for Han Fei was the sight of small cracks also beginning to form on the nanny’s skin.

"Her human skin is painted?" Seeing this, Han Fei quickly stopped the little boy who was running forward: "Hold on a second."

It seemed the nanny had no memory of handling such situations. She followed a rigid daily work-rest routine, so when the anomaly occurred, she, like the children, was filled with panic.

The cracks in the paintings on the wall grew larger and the shadowy figures became clearer, his face almost squeezing out of the painting.

Standing at a distance, Han Fei also saw the face of that figure, his eyes filled with astonishment, the one trapped in the painting was none other than Shi Zhi, who had escaped from the department store into the Plastic Surgery Hospital Area!

This once harbored hatred had lost its former grace, looking disheveled, with all the human faces on his body streaming with bloody tears, nine of which were continuously emitting piercing screams.

"Did Shi Zhi eat all his nine ’brothers’?"

The intense hatred infiltrated every part of the painting, the Black Fire in his chest destroying all the colors in the painting, he kept walking forward, almost stepping out of the painting, but at the last moment was pulled back into it by a force.

The torn painting on the wall began to slowly restore itself, green grass sprouting anew, streams starting to flow, and those cracks also healing slowly.

"Is this the Painter’s Talent Ability?"

The cries of Shi Zhi were confined within the painting, audible to those outside, yet unable to touch one another.

After Shi Zhi was locked back in the painting, the Nanny’s skin also began to slowly return to normal.

"Morning exercise ends early, it’s time for breakfast," the Nanny said with a smile, lining up the children to walk towards the inside of the orphanage.

Han Fei hugged the little boy early and hid in an adjacent room, overhearing the children’s whispers as they passed by.

"I guess it’s rice porridge and potatoes again today, it’s the same thing over and over, I’m sick of it."

"It’s much better here than outside, be content."

"Don’t you feel like your bodies are gradually becoming dull? I don’t know how to describe it, but it feels like I’m turning into a machine, no longer myself."

"I haven’t noticed, why don’t you ask Mom?"

"Mom wouldn’t tell me the answer, besides, she’s not my mom! She’s just... a wooden doll without emotions, she’s never loved us."

The children entered the dining hall, and soon the aroma of food wafted from inside.

"Why are there never any windows in our dining room and rooms, can’t we look outside?"

"The teacher said that the outside world isn’t as beautiful as the one in the painting."

"But I still want to go outside."

"Mom’s here, eat your food, no talking."

The Nanny, referred to as Mom by the children, was very responsible, good-tempered, and pleasantly attractive, yet all seven children kept their distance from her.

"It’s time to eat." The Nanny watched with a smile as the children ate joyfully, timing them, ready to move on to the next scheduled activity.

Han Fei stood at the door, watching what was happening in the dining room, it felt incredibly familiar to him.

In his memory, he too had similar experiences, or to put it further, the life he remembered from the orphanage was just like these children’s.

Every day they woke up, exercised, ate, attended morning classes, played games...

Han Fei and the little boy watched the other kids from the shadows as if they were bystanders observing their life, mundane and comfortable, repeating endlessly.

After the meal, the next activity was morning classes, and the children were led into the classroom by the Nanny, albeit reluctantly.

Han Fei peeked through the door crack and noticed that the children’s study books were the same as he remembered, not the regular preschool educational guides, but rather various different stories.

Each person’s textbook was a different color, representing different emotions and different developmental directions.

"I remember my own textbook was white..." adjusting his angle, Han Fei noticed a white book on a desk in the back row, but there was no one sitting in front of it.

Once the children and Nanny entered the classroom, the painting outside that hadn’t fully recovered was once again assaulted by Shi Zhi, getting closer each time, his body burning with Black Fire, nearly covering the entire Underground Orphanage with hatred.

"You’ll never manage to trap me, when I get out, you will be the first one I devour!"

The sinister voice of Shi Zhi pierced through the painting, he seemed to be looking towards a specific place in the orphanage.

"Where is he looking?" Han Fei followed Shi Zhi’s gaze, and it seemed that Shi Zhi was focusing on the room to the far left.

Moving his feet, Han Fei paid no attention to the children, and walked directly to the room Shi Zhi was staring at.

Pushing open the door, he was confronted by several pure white paper houses.

"This again?"

Compared to the white houses on the ground, the houses here seemed much more normal.

"The person I need to find is hidden in this room?"

Opening one cardboard house after another, Han Fei walked to the innermost part, and he looked toward the corner.

In the spot where there should have been a red cardboard house, crouched a boy even smaller than the other children.

He hugged his knees, curled up in the corner, burying his head deeply into his knees.

Seeing the child in this state, a blood-red memory surfaced in Han Fei’s mind.

The boy looked just like he did in his childhood memories, curled up in the corner, unresponsive to the outside world.

Han Fei tried to move the boy, but he remained motionless, as if living in a different world from everyone else.

After trying various methods without success, Han Fei suddenly recalled a special item he had acquired after playing with cardboard houses on the ground.

Opening his item bar, Han Fei took out the white house.

This house was like the ones in Han Fei’s memories except his childhood house was blood-red, while the house built by the boy was white.

Han Fei, holding the white house, approached and gently covered the boy with it.

As soon as the white house completely enveloped the boy, a childlike voice emerged from within.

"Who are you?"

"That’s what I should be asking you, why did you fold a house just like mine?"

"A house just like yours?" The boy’s tone was full of confusion.

"Your dress is the same as mine, white shoes, white clothes, and your textbook is also the same as mine, with a white cover discussing the beauty of human nature and various heartwarming stories," Han Fei shared his memories, feeling very perplexed.

"They just made me study these, saying I was the most likely to develop a perfect personality. I don’t even know what a perfect personality is, nor do I want to have one, but they said as long as I keep studying this way, it will fulfill all desires. They also said that someone before me had succeeded... Could that person be you?" the boy’s voice floated out from the white house.

"What else did those people tell you?"

"They said I might be a healing-type personality, they valued me a lot, and at that time, I felt like everyone loved me, but I failed the final test. I don’t know how I failed, then they gave me a number called 024, and they never paid attention to me again. Did I do something wrong?"

"Even if there was a mistake, it was their fault," said Han Fei, who didn’t expect to converse with the child in this manner; he was eager to understand who the child really was.

"Really? I always thought it was my fault, and gradually, I even started to dislike myself. I felt that no one liked me around, everyone hated me; rather than being despised by them, I thought it was better to leave on my own." The boy’s childlike voice tinged with complex emotions: "Later, I even left myself, merged with other kids, running around, and abandoned myself in the corner of the orphanage."

"You left yourself?" Han Fei’s pupils contracted; he felt he was on the verge of uncovering Little White Shoes’ deepest secrets.

"I still remember that day’s scene very clearly, the nanny and the other kids looked at me horrifyingly, just like usual I wanted to find an unoccupied corner to hide, hoping someone would come to find me."

"That day the orphanage’s basement door was inexplicably unlocked, I had never been there before."

"The basement was usually off-limits to children, curious, I started to explore."

"Following the stairs down, I pushed open a blood-red door and saw a red orphanage; everything was red."

"I walked deeper, suddenly hearing voices, those adults seemed to be planning to seal off the underground orphanage completely."

"Before long, they left. I hid in the corner, not daring to move. By the time I wanted to leave, the door was already locked, no matter how much I shouted or banged on the door, my voice couldn’t get out."

"I was truly desperate, scared, and uneasy, I hoped someone would notice me, but I was sealed alone in the basement."

The boy’s voice trembled, he seemed to be crying alone in the white house.

"Do you remember what happened afterward?" Han Fei pressed on.

"I searched for another way out underground, I was very scared, everything was blood-red, eventually, I found an unpainted cardboard house at the end of the orphanage, I hid inside."

"I didn’t dare to move or cry, I hugged my knees, trembling with fear."

"After a very long time, I suddenly saw another me leave my body; he was talking to an invisible child wearing white shoes, then they kept merging together, and he kept moving further away from me."

"I tried to grab him, but he pushed my hand away, and he said something to me that, to this day, makes me immensely saddened." The child in the white house began to cry.

"What did he say to you?"

"His exact words were—no one will come to find you, simplicity and naivety are the most useless things in the world, just stay forever in the white house, I will help you paint this world red."

As the boy in the white house finished his sentence, the corners of Han Fei’s lips, who had been holding the hand of the little boy, slowly curled into a smile.

"So, you represent the innocence and naivety of the Plastic Surgery Hospital area’s hatred? He left his purity behind in his own orphanage."