My House of Horrors

Chen Ge could still remember when he first found the black phone. In a few months’ time, he and his haunted house had both experienced significant changes, but the phone in his pocket was the same as ever. Chen Ge stared at the screen and asked to no one in particular, “What is the actual truth?”

The phone told him that he was getting closer to the truth, but he had no idea at all what that meant. Even for high-difficulty missions like the ghost fetus and School of the Afterlife, the black phone had only categorized them as Trial Mission. If these were just trials… Chen Ge stopped himself from going down that path. Now was not the time to worry about that.

“I have lost some of my earlier memories, but my shadow hasn’t. In a way, he is the most reliable witness. Perhaps this Ghost Fetus trial mission is supposed to be a turning point. If I can communicate with the ghost fetus and get to know everything from him, I might know what I have been through and what happened to my parents.”

Everything could be answered in that moment, but he first needed to capture the ghost fetus and make him speak.

“A hide and seek of life and death, a game between me and my shadow. Perhaps this was a game from way back when.” Chen Ge placed the toy dog into his backpack, beside the wooden toys. Ten minutes later, Chen Ge returned to the haunted house. He was about to enter the underground scenario when he saw a smiling Ol’ Zhou hugging Wu Jinpeng by his shoulders, and beside them were two fainted medical students.

“What are you guys talking about? You look so happy.”

“Boss, is this our new employee? He’s exceptionally gifted!” Ol’ Zhao laughed happily. It seemed like he had befriended Wu Jinpeng when Chen Ge was away.

“Exceptionally gifted?” Chen Ge turned to Wu Jinpeng with curiosity, his mind wondering if the man had stumbled upon some kind of special power during a moment of crisis.

“Stop making fun of me,” Wu Jinpeng said sadly. “I also don’t know why these two children were so scared of me. I just wanted to help them, but I accidentally ushered them into the trap of the old employees.”

“Don’t be so humble. To be able to scare the visitors so well until they fainted on their first day means that you have a talent at this.” Chen Ge patted Wu Jinpeng on his shoulder. “Keep up the good work. If you have any question, just ask Ol’ Zhou.”

Seeing how well Wu Jinpeng had managed to mix into his new family, Chen Ge was relieved.

When they get to know each other better, Wu Jinpeng will not be that surprised when he finds out Ol’ Zhou and the rest’s real identity.

Opening the door that led underground, Chen Ge hurried to the underground morgue to find Zhang Yi and Doctor Wei. “Did Zhang Yi’s power work? Have the three visitors woken up?”

“I can only temporarily suppress part of their memory. In the future, they might jump up from their sleep, and some fragments of memory might come back to them.” Zhang Yi still looked very weak, like he was going to die soon.

“That’s more than enough. You have an amazing power.” Chen Ge took out the high heels. “You need to recover as fast as you can. Your power will come in useful.”

After moving the three visitors and two medical students out from the haunted house, Chen Ge returned to the staff breakroom. He pulled the curtains shut, locked the door, and summoned Jiang Long and the Stench. He used a whole afternoon to question Jiang Long and got all the information he needed.

“Chen Ge, I have told you everything I know. Now I just ask for… a swift ending.” Jiang Long, who was practically translucent, lay on the ground. He was too weak to lift his head.

“The shadow used you, but after he left you, you could have made many other choices, but you chose to become the second shadow.” The setting sun gilded the room. He turned the comic to the last few pages. “You reap what you sow, and it is time for you to face the music.”

His finger touching the page, all the objects in the room moved. Numerous blood vessels spread to cover the entire room. Among the bloody flower, a girl materialized beside Chen Ge. She was very young and looked weak, just like a doll that would be played with by others.

“Xiao Bu, I’ve helped you capture the man who turned your mother into a doll.” When he first played Xiao Bu’s game, that scene had left a huge impact on Chen Ge. He had controlled Xiao Bu and returned to his own home but found her stepfather being made into a doll. At the time, he had thought that was the game’s style; he did not think much of it. But perhaps it was a subconscious revenge by Xiao Bu. After all, it was her own mother that had been made into a ‘doll’ in real life.

Xiao Bu, who had such a nice personality, grabbed Jiang Long by his head. The blood vessels crawled all over his body, and throughout the whole process, the man did not stop screaming. Half an hour later, Xiao Bu picked up Jiang Long, who had been sewn into a doll by the blood vessels. She stood in the middle of room as if at a loss.

Standing up, Chen Ge walked to her side and gave her a light hug. As the sun set, Xiao Bu returned to the comic. Chen Ge looked at the room that appeared it had been visited by a tornado. “I almost forgot. The child is as strong as a Top Red Specter behind her door. After all, she is the door pusher of a 3.5-star scenario.”

After cleaning up the room, it was time to call it a day. Chen Ge called the other living employees and held a simple welcoming ceremony for Wu Jinpeng. Seeing how friendly and close the employees were, Wu Jinpeng felt at ease. After everyone left, Chen Ge took out a long document. This was the result of his interrogation of Jiang Long.

Jiang Long and Zhen Zhen had triangulated two candidates chosen by the ghost fetus. One of them had lost the sense of smell and had been killed; the other seemed to have a heart problem. They had confirmed the child’s address but were pursued by the police before they could do anything.

“I have five nights left. That should be enough time.”

“Tonight, I should go take a look behind Fang Yu’s door and then hurry to the coffin village. Reincarnation is what the Well Lady is obsessed with. Perhaps she can give me some crucial information.” The lady in the well had been around for a long time, and she had entered the blood fog many times. Chen Ge believed that she had more to tell him, so he wished for a chat.

Carrying his backpack, Chen Ge went to the underground scenario to fetch Zhang Yi and the red high heels before leaving the haunted house.

He found the address for the child with the heart problem, but the home was deserted. He waited at the door for a long time, but no one appeared. However, he did see a familiar face at the corner of the street. The lips were cracked, the face forever plastered with a smile. The ‘non-smiler’ in a hat appeared around the child’s home, but he left in a hurry after he noticed Chen Ge. The two did not get into an altercation.