110 Healing Tears

 

In this despair-filled world, Han Fei gave Xu Qin something rare. Monsters and ghosts hid behind every corner and a wrong step would lead to death, hope was impossible to foster here but that was the thing that Han Fei offered Xu Qin. Han Fei had once himself turned away from hope. He blamed destiny and life, he was too lazy to even struggle anymore. But after starting Perfect Life, he knew loss of hope was not the scariest, instead the scariest thing was never having the chance to even taste hope before.

After getting to know his neighbours, Han Fei could feel the change to his perspective, he realized how strong his yearning for life was, how much he wanted to live. His life was indeed changed by this Iyashikei game and now it was time for him to share the lessons that he had learned with others. Xu Qin was mad according to the system, in fact the system labelled her a Curse Amalgamation but so what? From Han Fei’s perspective, Xu Qin had saved his life multiple times and that was more than enough.

“You should rest now. I’ll be waiting for you to invite me back for dinner.” Han Fei looked out the window. He saw the horizonless despair and the empty streets in front of Happiness Neighbourhood. “After we explore all the neighbouring locales, we should consider opening a restaurant on this street. With how delicious your cooking is, I’m sure we’ll have lots of customers. Perhaps we can help heal their souls through your cooking too.” After staying for a while longer, Han Fei left the 5th floor.

…

Huang Yin’s heavily impacted consciousness slowly recovered. The moment he opened his eyes, his body curled involuntarily together. His mind was still shaking.

“You’re finally awake?” A kind voice entered his ears. Huang Yin turned to the voice with alertness. Under the dim lights, an old lady walked out from the kitchen carrying a bowl. “I noticed how weak your body was so I cooked a bowl of porridge for you. Here, eat it while it’s hot.”

The television set was playing a normal advertisement. The room was decorated like it was from 10 years ago, it was simple but homely. “I remember I was being chased by ghosts…” Huang Yin sat for a long time in the bed. He realized he could not remember his memory that clearly, it felt like someone had whacked the memory out of his mind.

“That was probably a bad dream.” The old lady handed the bowl to Huang Yin. “I found you collapsed in the corridor so I carried you in. I was afraid that you might catch a cold so I tucked you in bed, but you started rambling about some nonsensical stuff.”

“Was it really a dream? But everything felt so real.” Huang Yin tried to sit up in bed. The delicious smell of the porridge brightened his mood. The exhausted man reached out for the bowl. The piping hot porridge warmed his cheeks. Huang Yin took a cautious sip. The warmth trickled down his throat and into his stomach. It was scrumptious. Holding the bowl in disbelief, the gory images slowly returned to the man. There was a woman who crawled on the ceiling like a spider, the murderer whose body was scorched, and the young man who tricked him. The horror overwhelmed him and he remembered he pleaded uselessly for help. He shook his head to chase the thoughts away. He turned back to the bowl of porridge in his hands. It was a simple porridge but it brought him an indescribable sense of warmth. He had never tasted such a healing porridge before. Holding the bowl with both hands, Huang Yin found his earlier unshed tears falling down his face.

“Child, what’s wrong?” The old lady was concerned about Huang Yin. She picked up the napkin and handed it to him. “You’re too old to be crying like that. But no matter, let it out all. Granny is here for you.”

“It’s nothing.” Huang Yin sniffed and rubbed at his puffy eyes. “Your porridge is too delicious, it reminds me of my mother’s cooking. She has already passed away.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

Huang Yin took a big gulp of the porridge despite the heat. Then he started to open up, “I was a very naughty boy. One winter, I ran out to the lake to play. I accidentally skidded and fell. The layer of ice was very thin, so I dropped through it. I cried for help. My mom jumped in without hesitation. She used everything she had to push me to the surface but she was too weak to haul herself up.”

“You had a wonderful mother.”

“I’ve been blaming myself ever since. At my current age, I have more than enough money to get anything I want. But I can’t say that I’m happy but I’m not sad either, it just feels like there’s something missing.” Sipping on the old lady’s porridge, Huang Yin’s eyes were still red. “I rarely tell people these things, sometimes I can even convince myself that I’ve already gotten over it but earlier in that nightmare, I believe I saw my mom again.”

“You saw your mother earlier?” The old lady repeated in shock.

“In that endless horror, just when I thought I was going to die, when I had finally given up, she appeared again.” Huang Yin tried his best to think. “Just like when I was young, she saved me from the edge of death. She entered deep into my nightmare to rescue me.”

“You sure you saw the right person?”

“I can’t really say. But in that horrible nightmare, who else can it be? At least the person who came to my rescue reminded me very much of my mother.” Huang Yin’s hand went to his heart. “This game is always able to capture the softest light in people’s heart, perhaps it is trying to use that nightmare to heal this scar that I didn’t even know I had…” While Huang Yin mumbled to himself, the bedroom door opened. A boy walked out. When he saw the food on the table, he opened his mouth to say, “I’m not going to eat anything from the co…”

Before he could finish, the old lady rushed over to clamp her hands over his mouth.

Rubbing his eyes, Huang Yin finished the porridge. “I don’t know why I am telling these things to an in-game NPC. Regardless...” He stood up and gave the old lady a deep bow. Then he took out many items from his inventory and placed them on the table. “Thank you for your porridge. But there is one last thing I need to confirm before my mind can truly rest!”

Then, under the old lady and young boy’s confused gazes, Huang Yin walked towards the bathroom. He grabbed the door handle and turned back to take in the small room. “Perhaps this is the true meaning of the hidden map. The game lives up to its name, it really does go straight into your heart to touch your soul.” His hand pressed on the handle. When the door of the bathroom opened, a hand landed on his back. Endless Yin energy surged in a whirlpool. Huang Yin dissolved into a slip of red light and disappeared back into the blood red menu. The menu slowly returned to normal. Han Fei who just utilized the Resurrection talent fell to the ground. “The exhaustion from using Resurrection is so heavy? It feels like my body has been hollowed out.”

Actually Han Fei already arrived at Meng Si’s place before Huang Yin woke. He was worried about Huang Yin’s condition so he hid inside the bedroom to observe. It was not until he made sure Huang Yin was fine that he sent the man back to the surface world.