146 The Family of Three

 

The game at Han Fei’s home had no connection to an Iyashikei game other than the logo that was pasted on the side of the helmet, but that logo appeared to be added by the shop owner later on his own.

However, it was a game like that which had changed Han Fei’s life. With the threat of death dangling over his shoulders, Han Fei was forced to make friends and open his heart to others. Due to unexpected visits from the crazed murderers, Han Fei learned how to communicate with his roommate. To survive, Han Fei started to form new relationships with his neighbours. In the end, the man with social anxiety even became the representative of a whole apartment. Even though the method used by this game to cure people was ‘questionable’, Han Fei indeed had been healed. He had become a better version of himself, proven by the fact that he finally got to stand on the stage which he always dreamed of.

At the end of the day, Perfect Life did live up to its Iyashikei genre.

Staring at his reflection in the backstage mirror, Han Fei tried to smile. He could still see the fakeness but one day, he believed that a real smile would appear on his face as long as he continued to try. ‘It is undeniable that I have been changed by Perfect Life.’ Han Fei felt like he shouldn’t keep such a life-altering game to himself. There were many poor individuals with broken personalities in this world. He could use the same method to cure others, to make the world a better place.

After packing up, Han Fei was ready to go home. But as he opened the backstage door, he was intercepted by Li Xue and a detective in plainclothes. “How can I help you?” There were police officers guarding outside his door. A normal celebrity would not be able to enjoy such ‘privilege’.

“Han Fei, all this time I believe you’ll be a better police officer but today you proved me wrong. That was some serious acting skills. Just from the trailers alone…” Before Li Xue finished, the detective beside her coughed to cut her off. “We’re here today not only to attend your movie release conference, but also we have some questions for you...” The detective walked into the backstage dressing room and closed the door. After ensuring there was no one around, he continued, “It was you who caught the fugitive of the Toy Plushie Case, right?”

“That’s right. The reporter told you that already, no?”

“Can you tell me in detail what happened that day? When you saw him, what was the father’s mental state?” Just as the detective asked that question, Han Fei immediately realized the fugitive must have acted strangely while in police custody.

“At the time, I noticed he was tailing the reporter so I decided to tail him instead. The fugitive was agitated but it was a frantic kind, like he was afraid of something.” Han Fei tried his best to think back to that day.

“Afraid?” The detective’s eyes glowed.

“Is something wrong with that man?”

“To be honest, the man lost his mind after he was apprehended. He said he heard the voice of Death and saw the most horrible things in the world.” The detective stared at Han Fei for a long time before he continued, “We performed a full medical check-up on him. He was physically fine. We invited a sketch artist to sit down with him. Based on his description, we reconstructed this ‘Death’ that he saw, it looked rather similar to you.”

“Me? Are you sure he’s not trying to frame me for hitting him?” Han Fei sighed helplessly. “That day was the first time I ever saw that man. He was holding a knife at the time. He wanted to attack me, I was so scared that I responded on instinct. I hit back as hard as I could.”

“We’re not saying that you were wrong to defend yourself, it’s just that…” The detective arranged his thoughts. “You’ve been a great help to the law enforcement in many cases. Initially we do not want to trouble you anymore regarding this Toy Plushie Case but after the family of 3 was captured, all of them have gone insane. Their symptoms are getting worse so our captain wishes for you to come down to the detention centre with us. He wants to get your thoughts.”

“Sure, but it’s already quite late already, do you mind if we do it tomorrow?” Han Fei wanted to head home to play the game but that was not an excuse he could tell the police.

“Please come with us. The car is already here. It won’t take long, at most an hour.”

“It’s that urgent?”

“Our Vice Captain is already there, when you see the family of 3 in person, you’ll understand our urgency.” The detective had on a bitter smile. “They’ll get worse at night that they require medication.” Glancing at the time on his phone, Han Fei decided to follow the police for now. The trio got into the car and headed to the detention centre at the old city.

“After some criminals know that they’ve been given the death penalty, they’ll act insane for a more lenient punishment but the condition of this family is quite different. We even had experts to come in here to inspect them.” The detective swiped his key card and led Han Fei and Li Xue into the centre.

“Is it really necessary to try to treat these criminals who have maliciously tried to claim other people’s lives?”

“This case is quite complicated. The mother and daughter have pushed the blame fully onto the father and now all 3 of them have gone insane. To get to the bottom of the truth, we had no choice but to try to treat them. Only by having them admit their guilt that we can return the victim their justice.” Walking past 2 doors, the trio entered the innermost building at the detention centre. The smell of medicine was thick in the air. Down the bright corridor, Han Fei spotted a doctor talking to an officer.

“Captain Si, I’ve brought Han Fei with me.” The detective shouted at the officer. The latter responded by coming over to shake Han Fei’s hands.

“You’ve been such a great help to the Xin Lu Police during the human puzzle case. I’ve been meaning to meet you in person, today I finally get the chance. Kid, you look as handsome as they say.” Captain Si shared some pleasantries with Han Fei before his expression turned serious, “Xiao Wei should have briefed you about the condition of the family already. We are now attempting ways to get them to talk.” Captain Si and the doctor opened the door. Ming Mei’s father was tied to the bed. To prevent the man from harming himself, the police had made a lot of effort as well. Hearing the footsteps, Ming Mei’s father’s eyes flew open. The bloodshot eyes darted about and he shouted like his life depended on it. “Ghost! Ghost! Ghost!’

No one knew what was his trigger. When Han Fei walked to his side, he ignored Han Fei which was strange considering Han Fei was supposed to be ‘Death’ in his mind. “We meet again.” Han Fei stared at the man’s face. His expression was raw with madness but there was no recognition in his eyes. ‘Is this the aftereffect of Spirit Farer? But how come it did not affect Huang Yin?’ Narrowing his eyes, Han Fei once attempted Spirit Farer on this man. He wrote his name on a ghost face but the attempt failed. The ghost face with his name shattered and melted back into the sea of blood. ‘Is this the result if the Spirit Farer fails?’

Han Fei felt a sense of relief. If the man had truly gone mad, then his secret would be safe. He cooperated with the police and stayed with Ming Mei’s father for a long time but they could not get anything from the crazed man. Captain Si sighed and finally allowed Han Fei to go.

Han Fei hurried down the corridor as he rushed home. However, when he passed one of the cells, he noticed a girl was being kept inside it. The girl was kneeling at the corner of the room and mumbled something on her lips. There was a gaming helmet that sat on her bed.

“Captain Si, the criminals now even have gaming privilege?” Han Fei was very sensitive around gaming helmets.

“That is not a gaming helmet. It’s a medical assistance helmet meant to help juvenile offenders to help treat their psychological problems.” The doctor answered.

“A medical assistance helmet?”

“Have you heard of sandplay therapy? Many years ago, psychiatrists came up with sandbox-like toys, they used various colors and objects to mimic items in everyday life to turn the sandbox into an imagined world. Through games, the child could express their inner world and the psychiatrists would be able to make their observation based on the child’s interaction with their sandboxes.” The doctor explained patiently. “With new technology, we can use these medical assistance helmets to construct a room specific for the patient. The room will keep on changing as it tracks the patient’s emotional fluctuation, it will give us a view of the child’s subconscious world.”

“A helmet that can cure psychological illness?” Han Fei stared at the helmet for a long time.

“This is a new technology made by Deep Space Tech and Immortal Pharma, they were only introduced into the market a few years ago.”

“Is the treatment effective?”

“So far… no.” The doctor coughed. “The girl is extremely well-guarded, she has never once opened up her heart.”

“Do you mind if I go talk to her?” Han Fei already recognized the girl in custody. She was the girl who poured Ying Yue’s parents’ cornea into the aquarium and stuffed Ying Yue’s body parts into the plushies.

“Sure.” Captain Si nodded. Han Fei opened the door and entered the small room. The season was deep winter. There appeared to be malfunction with the floor heating because the room was much colder than outside. The girl was curled up at the corner, looking as fragile as ever.

“Are you Ming Mei?” Han Fei stopped before the girl. Hearing the question, the girl lifted her head. But when she saw Han Fei, her face blanched. Her lips quivered. She pointed at Han Fei’s face and then squeezed out the following, “Ying Yue, Ying Yue, she is lying on your head!”

Ming Mei’s voice was small. She was clearly frightened as she tried to curl deeper into the corner. Han Fei did not leave. As he lowered himself down to Ming Mei’s level, while ensuring his back was to the doctor and Captain Si, his expression suddenly turned ghastly, “You can see Ying Yue on me? You really can see her? Do you know how much she misses you?!” Han Fei’s tone was intimidating. It caused Ming Mei to cry. The girl kept shaking like a leaf. “Interesting, if you do not suffer from hallucination, then that means you have spiritual affinity.”

Han Fei rubbed his neck. Way back when, Wei Youfu’s father said that he could see Youfu’s image on him, now with this episode with Ming Mei, this phenomenon did not appear to be a coincidence.

Ming Mei cowered in the corner. Her eyes were fixed on the spot behind Han Fei, her eyes filling with fear. ‘I get it now.’

Han Fei stood up and turned to leave the room. The doctor noticed the strange way Ming Mei was acting. He asked, “What’s wrong with the girl? Why is her body shaking so hard?”

“The floor heater is broken. It needs to be repaired. The poor thing is probably too cold.” Han Fei said softly.

“This girl is not the innocent child that she appears. Don’t be fooled by her appearance.” Captain Si warned.

“No matter what, she is still a child. We need to protect her rights. If she has made a mistake…” Han Fei turned back to glance at Ming Mei and uttered the last sentence under his breath, “She’ll simply need to make sure that she does not make the same mistakes again in her next life.”