My Healing Games

Chapter 875 The Vanished Elders

Smelling the distinct stench in the air, Han Fei walked past the advertisement: "Good people, good water, good air. This place is completely different from what the advertisement says."

After walking a few hundred meters further, Han Fei saw corpses hanging upside down on the branches. The rotting corpses were dressed in bright red clothes, and each piece of clothing was embroidered with a black character for "longevity".

"Stop! Don't go any further!" Leaves fell, and a strange man wearing two layers of raincoats emerged from behind the tree. He looked to be in his forties, with a burly build and a black beard.

"Isn't the village just ahead?" Han Fei didn't sense any threat from the strange man.

"That village is full of monsters!" The man in the raincoat was about to say something when the red rope and bells tied to the tree suddenly rang. He immediately became tense: "Run! Don't drink the water in the village! Be careful of the old people!"

"Is there a problem with the water? What happened in the village?" Before Han Fei could finish speaking, the man disappeared into the bushes. Just as Han Fei was about to chase after him, the temperature suddenly dropped, and a sinister laugh rang out.

A moment later, two old men appeared on the dirt road. They were carrying white paper lanterns in broad daylight, their cloudy eyes staring at Han Fei.

"Young man, are you lost? Would you like to come to my house for a bowl of hot porridge?"

The old man's words were heartwarming, and Han Fei smiled gratefully: "Thank you both for taking me in."

Both sides were very polite, and everyone entered the village in a pleasant atmosphere.

The leaves rustled, and after Han Fei left, the upside-down corpse fell to the ground. The bright red burial shroud fluttered in the wind, and the black character for "longevity" became damp.

“Our village is a natural oxygen bar and a hometown of longevity. On average, the elderly here live to be over 100 years old.” An old man carrying a white paper lantern introduced to Han Fei: “In the past, many people came here for vacation, and the media even came specifically to find the secret to longevity.”

“Young man, you should just stay in the village. The outside world is in chaos, but our place is blessed with outstanding people and is protected by the gods. No ghosts or monsters dare to come in.”

At the end of the dirt road stood two huge gateposts. A white cloth was tied to one gatepost, and a fool was tied to the other.

He looked to be in his early forties, with messy hair, filthy clothes, no shoes, and blisters and wounds all over his feet. It seemed he had run a long way and been caught.

"Don't be afraid, he's the village's mentally challenged man. He goes crazy during the day. There are a lot of elderly people in the village, and he's very strong, so we had no choice but to tie him up," the old man quickly explained, seemingly afraid that Han Fei would misunderstand.

"He only goes crazy during the day?" Han Fei was a little confused. Did he not see ghosts at night?

Following behind the two elderly people, Han Fei had just passed the gatepost when the fool suddenly opened his eyes wide and shouted angrily at Han Fei, "Get out! Get out! Get out!"

"Why are you having another episode? Shut up!" The old man picked up a branch from the ground and whipped the fool with all his might, leaving a bloody welt with each lash.

"It's okay, I get yelled at all the time, don't hit him." Han Fei portrayed himself as a cowardly, kind, and naive good-natured person.

“I don’t want to hit him either, but no matter how I try to persuade him, it’s no use. I’ve watched this child grow up since he was a child, and now he’s gone mad just like that.” The old man threw the tree branch aside and stood between Han Fei and the mentally challenged man, preventing them from communicating.

Another old man grabbed Han Fei's arm and pulled him into the village.

The entire longevity village is built in an antique style, with two-story pavilions and farmhouses. The village is very well built, but what should be a beautiful place with clear waters and lush mountains gives people a gloomy feeling.

"We still have plenty of vegetables at home. You can rest at my house tonight, and find a place to stay tomorrow. There are many empty houses in the village. If you stay for three days, the house is yours." The two old men were very hospitable, and at first glance, you would think that the villagers were very honest and simple.

As he walked along the deserted path, the muddy road was overgrown with weeds on both sides, and from time to time, insects and huge rats that Han Fei had never seen before would crawl by.

"We've arrived." The old man, carrying a white paper lantern, first bowed three times towards his own door, then picked up the brass ring on the door and gently knocked: "Old woman, I've brought guests back."

The sound of wooden planks being slowly pushed open came from inside the house. After a long while, an old woman opened the door. She was very old, with a face full of fine wrinkles that almost made her eyes disappear.

"Go heat up the porridge; this child hasn't eaten in a long time."

"It's okay." Han Fei acted very shyly, perfectly portraying the inner struggle of being hungry but too embarrassed to speak up. He captured the character's personality quite well.

The two elderly people had completely let their guard down around Han Fei, thinking that he was different from those guys who came to the village to "cause trouble," and was just a pitiful refugee.

"You must be tired from your journey. Go inside and rest." The old man led Han Fei to a guest room and then left.

The heartwarming scene came to an end. Han Fei watched the old man's back through the crack in the door. His severely hunched back looked like a huge lump of flesh, as if another person was hiding inside.

"The Longevity Village and the Guilou Nursing Home are very close to each other. The best way to learn about the Guilou is to first gather enough information here."

Even with Han Fei's current strength, he couldn't guarantee a safe escape from the Ghost Tower. The Ghost Tower is the most terrifying building besides the Forbidden Tower, and it remains unexplored to this day, likely hiding something unspeakable.

Sitting on the bed in the guest room, Han Fei quickly noticed something strange: there was a separate room inside the guest room, and the door to the separate room was locked.

The bed in the guest room is separated from the cubicle by a wall, and somewhat strangely, there is a window on that wall.

Lying on the bed in the guest room, you can see the window connected to the cubicle when you look up.

Han Fei approached quietly. The window was blocked by cardboard, and only by removing the cardboard could he see the items placed inside the cubicle.

Just as he was about to lift the cardboard, the door was suddenly pushed open, and the old lady with a deeply wrinkled face walked in carrying a bowl of hot porridge.

She kept her head down, and the veins on her arms bulged out, like trembling dark green worms.

"Eat more, there won't be any left to eat at night." The old woman's voice was devoid of any emotion, numb and gloomy, like a severely rusted machine.

"Thank you." Han Fei looked at the rice bowl on the table, which contained freshly made wild vegetable and mixed grain porridge. It was still steaming and had a rich aroma that made one's mouth water.

Han Fei picked up his chopsticks and stirred the bowl carefully. He found three coins and a strand of black hair at the bottom of the bowl.

"Is this porridge for the dead?"

Han Fei placed the chopsticks flat on the table. He picked up a coin, intending to probe the old man's intentions, but after leaving the guest room, he found that the sky outside had darkened considerably.

Time seems to flow much faster inside this longevity village than outside, as if some force is draining the time from all the living people, accelerating the villagers' aging process.

The white paper lanterns on the ground were gone. Han Fei didn't linger in the courtyard. With curiosity, he pushed open the kitchen door.

The terrifying scene I had imagined did not appear. The kitchen was perfectly normal, just like any ordinary farmhouse, with nothing noteworthy about it.

"Was that bowl of porridge made here? But why is the pot so clean, without a single trace of use?"

Leaving the kitchen, Han Fei looked towards the main house. He clearly remembered that when the old lady opened the door for him, he heard the sound of wooden planks being pushed inside, and that sound seemed to come from the main house.

Peering through the crack in the door, the main room was filled with a lot of wooden furniture, but there was nothing else noteworthy.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

A knock suddenly sounded at the door, and Han Fei turned to look at the door in the courtyard.

A heavily made-up village woman stood at the door carrying a bamboo basket. Although she was called a village woman, she was actually at least fifty years old. However, because her face was covered with a thick layer of makeup, it was difficult to guess her real age.

The village woman hadn't expected there to be anyone else in the house. Her strange eyes were fixed on Han Fei, and the powder on her face fell off, revealing a somewhat terrifying smile on her rosy cheeks.

"Who are you?" Han Fei felt uneasy under her gaze and asked directly.

"Me? Oh, I'm the daughter-in-law of this household. I've come to bring him food." The village woman picked up the bamboo basket covered with a black cloth and placed it in the kitchen.

Throughout her movement, her gaze kept glancing at Han Fei, intentionally or unintentionally.

"Did you just arrive in the village today? Have you had your porridge? When you sleep tonight, be careful not to toss and turn. It's best to sleep on your stomach, that way... you'll sleep more comfortably." The village woman was very talkative. After putting down her bamboo basket, she tried to grab Han Fei's hand, but Han Fei dodged her: "I'm just like you, I came from outside. At first, you might not be used to it, but slowly you'll find that you don't want to leave here at all."

She still looked at Han Fei with that terrifying smile: "My home is on the west side of the village. If you don't feel comfortable living here, you can come and find me."

The village woman left somewhat reluctantly. Han Fei closed the courtyard gate, ran to the kitchen, lifted the bamboo basket, and peeked inside. The basket contained a huge rat and many silkworm cocoons that had been forcibly peeled off.

"How could this village become a survivor's stronghold? It feels like everyone who's alive is acting strangely. Their changes must be related to that haunted building."

Han Fei returned to the guest room, and as soon as he entered, he noticed something was wrong. The chopsticks that he had placed flat on the table were now stuck upright in the porridge bowl, and the strand of black hair had also disappeared.

"No one should have come in while I was away, so it seems the evil thing is hiding in the cubicle."

Walking to the table, Han Fei stirred the bowl of porridge that had cooled down. A strand of black hair at the bottom of the bowl had now turned white.

As night fell, Han Fei did not go out again; he lay down on the bed in the guest room.

As the last ray of light disappeared, darkness enveloped Longevity Village. Han Fei felt an unnatural chill envelop his entire body. He frowned slightly: "Is it like I'm in a ghost realm? Will Longevity Village be devoured by hateful ghosts tonight?"

Time seemed to slow down, and a deep weariness washed over Han Fei, as if a voice deep within him was urging him to fall asleep as soon as possible.

Holding his breath and adjusting his breathing, just as Han Fei was fighting against the inexplicable drowsiness, he suddenly heard the sound of fingernails scratching against the wall.

Looking in the direction from which the sound came, Han Fei stared at the window on the wall of the cubicle.

The cardboard covering the window bulged slightly, as if the window had been opened from the inside.

The tattered cardboard was scratched by fingernails, and slowly, a hole appeared in it, from which a pale finger emerged.

The fingerprints were burned away by the fire, and the finger slid down, the bright red blood slowly soaking through the cardboard.

As night deepened, the cardboard slowly fell away, revealing a human face on the other side of the window. Its deformed body gradually emerged, and its segmented arms stretched towards the bed in the guest room.

This scene was incredibly terrifying, so oppressive that it was suffocating.

The monster's lower body was still in the cubicle, while its upper body had already extended out of the window, its fingers almost touching Han Fei's cheek.

Han Fei opened his eyes and looked at the ghost so close to him, his lips moving slightly: "Touch the secrets deep within the soul."

He braced himself with his arms and rammed his head into the monster's distorted face!

(End of this chapter)