Chapter 27 The truth gradually emerges
"I didn't tell anyone this secret. This may be the most wrong thing I have ever done in my life."
Meng Shi unlocked the bedroom door and led Han Fei in.
The bedroom is not very big and has a single bed. On the other side of the bed is a huge freezer covered with a thick black cloth.
The lights were dim and the bedroom curtains were nailed to the wall, making it impossible to see what was inside the room from the outside.
"I told you a story before. There was a woman who adopted three children. In fact, that woman was me." Guilt and uneasiness in her conscience had been tormenting the old woman. It was not until she experienced a life-and-death crisis that she decided to tell the truth: "That day I secretly followed them to the suburbs, watched the three brothers wrestling next to the corpse, and listened to them insulting each other. Only then did I realize that the harmony between them was only shown to me."
The old man's bony hands grasped the black cloth on the freezer. "The third child became abnormal very early. He started by burning ants and catching earthworms, and gradually developed to torturing stray cats and dogs. He seemed unable to vent his emotions like a normal person, and could only rely on certain specific behaviors to stimulate himself."
" The eldest . In order to prevent me from worrying, they have privately contacted the third oldest many times."
"The eldest brother found a psychiatrist for the third brother who was still in school, and the second brother helped the third brother deal with the aftermath. The two brothers have been giving the third brother a chance, but blindly preaching to him will not change him at all."
"Until that day, tragedy struck. The third brother killed a homeless man living in an abandoned villa."
"The first one to notice something was wrong was the second oldest. He was used to cleaning up after his younger brother, but when he found out it was a human body, he was completely stunned."
"The second oldest child angrily called his younger brother a devil, saying that people like his younger brother should not even exist in this world."
"Kneeling in front of the corpse, the younger brother did not show much remorse. He even excitedly told the second brother that he would soon be able to prove that he was not sick. He had found the butterfly that had landed deep in his mind. As long as he could find that butterfly, he felt that his death was worth it."
When talking about the past, the old woman's voice began to tremble, and she silently lifted the black cloth on the freezer.
"Butterflies landed deep in the mind? Does the third brother have a mental illness? Does he have hallucinations?" Han Fei vaguely felt that things were not that simple.
"The third brother always says that there is a butterfly in his head, which he can feel but cannot find. The butterfly leads him forward, and every time the butterfly flaps its wings, he will have uncontrollable murderous intent. As the murderous intent continues to grow, he gets closer and closer to the butterfly. He says that the butterfly has the most beautiful color in the world." The old man struggled to open the freezer, and cold air rushed out.
Han Fei looked into the freezer, which was filled with rotten books.
"Grandma, why do you put the book in the refrigerator?"
The old woman did not answer. She reached out and took a book out of the refrigerator, revealing a frozen face under the book: "These books belong to the third brother, and the person under the book was also killed by him."
Putting the book in his hand aside, the old man knelt down beside the freezer and said, "That day I watched the three brothers wrestling and hurting each other. My heart ached and I felt that everything was my fault."
Guilt, self-blame, and pain, the old man's voice gradually weakened: "I rushed over to stop them. The three children were surprised to see me. The third child who had been arguing with his brother also lowered his head."
"I persuaded the third brother to turn himself in, and the eldest and second brother also decided to call the police. The third brother didn't say a word during the whole process, until the end he told us one thing, that there was someone else who induced him to commit the crime."
"He couldn't tell us who that person was. He said that knowing that name would put everyone's life in danger. He also said that a serial murder case would happen in the old town soon. All this is to find the butterflies in the mind."
"As a family, we wanted to believe the third child, but murder is unforgivable. Finally, the eldest and second children decided to give the third child a week to prove the existence of that person."
"The abandoned villas in the suburbs are home to many homeless people and scavengers, as well as many fugitives and illegal residents. The bodies hidden here are easy to be discovered, so we used refrigerated trucks to transport them to the freezers."
"I can't remember clearly what happened afterwards. It seems like there's a part missing in my memory. I only remember that all three children left me, and I was guarding this body, waiting for the third child to come back and turn himself in."
The old woman still doesn't remember that she is dead. This condition may be caused by the game.
"The third brother said that someone induced him to kill people, and also said that a serial murder case would occur in the old city soon. He seemed to have predicted the human body puzzle pattern!" Han Fei knew that the three brothers were still alive, and something must have happened to them.
"I feel that all three brothers are in danger now." Han Fei moved his eyes and inadvertently saw the book that had been covering the dead man's face. The book was called "Butterfly of the Soul" and the author was one of the founders of neurological research in the last century. There was also a sentence written on the cover of the book.
"Like an entomologist who is constantly chasing colorful and beautiful butterflies, I am deeply attracted to the back garden of gray matter. There are exquisitely shaped cells and the mysterious butterfly of the soul. Who knows? Maybe one day it will flap its wings and unveil the mystery of the spiritual world. - Ramón Čajal!"
"The butterfly of the soul? After I log into the game, will my mind and soul step on that butterfly? And then fly to the underworld?"
Han Fei knew nothing about the game. He was only at the most basic stage of survival. There was no point in thinking . The most urgent task was to keep upgrading.
"Grandma, the third brother killed someone and he must be punished. If you protect him, he will only become a monster, and more people will suffer from his murderous hands ." Han Fei closed the freezer. He had decided to bring the third brother to justice in reality. Perhaps this would be a relief for the old woman.
"The deceased lost his life, but the murderer escaped punishment. No matter what the reason is, this is unfair to me." Han Fei and Meng Shi's friendship has reached a very high value, so Han Fei is not worried that Meng Shi's friendship will decrease because of his words: "This freezer looks like it contains a corpse, but it actually contains all the happiness and beauty of your generations. I think you should let it go."
Looking at the old man kneeling beside the freezer, Han Fei thought of the tenant in the haunted house again, and his gaze gradually drifted away.
"In this game called Perfect Life, it seems that no life is perfect."
