My House of Horrors

“I’m sorry, but I can’t let you do that. The child is too mentally fragile, any careless words might traumatize him.” Nurse Yu rejected him outright. Even in this state, she still loved Yu Jian deeply and tried her best to protect him. Chen Ge’s original plan was to summon the Red Specters to conduct a further inspection on Yu Jian after his mother left. But Nurse Yu refused to leave, and Chen Ge did not want to expose Zhang Yi’s power, so he gave up the plan. He picked up a random manuscript. The sentences written on it made no sense, and what it all meant was pure guesswork.

“He gave her a present because of love. Roses are red; blood is red. Roses pricked her neck; blood leaked from her neck.

“She embraced the children because of love. The embrace was so tight that she refused to let him go. I was once held in such a tight lock that I couldn’t breathe. My fingers went numb like they were encased in cement.

“Perhaps I have experienced that. No, I must have.”

The content on each page was different. Chen Ge read a few of them and realized that they were made up from pieces of different stories, cataloguing a child’s growth process. Of course, this was how Chen Ge saw it. To borrow the words from one of the scripts, it was a seed planted on a grave. The roots stuck into the bones and blossomed in flowers. The man used such words to describe himself. He no longer saw himself as human. He was trapped in his own world, a world that was a different version of the world that he inhabited.

No matter what Chen Ge said, the man had no intention of answering. He just kept on writing. With each pen stroke, he seemed to dwindle before their eyes. The room was very quiet. Chen Ge had given up on conversation. He picked up the manuscripts to read. His eyes glowed with interest like he was the man’s biggest fan. One was writing, and the other was reading—Nurse Yu was left out.

“I think I get it now.” Chen Ge tidied up the manuscript that he had read. “It’s a good story, but it’s sad that the protagonist is a living person, and the plot is inspired by real life.”

Laying the thick manuscript on the table, Chen Ge flipped through the comic in his backpack and then left the bedroom with Nurse Yu. When he closed the door, he dropped his backpack at the door and returned to the living room with Nurse Yu barehanded.

“You saw the condition of my son. He has not left this place for a long time, so he wouldn’t be involved in any murder case. If you insist on making that claim, I’ll have to call the police.”

“Before going to primary school, Yu Jian was a complete terror among his peers. He hated seeing other people happy, and he did not know how to respond to other people’s kindness. The biggest change happened during his second year in the academy. After he was suspended, he closed himself up and stopped going out. He did not want to harm others anymore. As his mother, have you ever wondered why?” Chen Ge sat before Nurse Yu. His eyes staring at the cloudy tea on the table.

“He was trying his best to change, to become a good kid, but no one gave him a chance. Everyone was bullying him, and eventually, his mind snapped.” Nurse Yu’s explanation was clearly biased in favor of her son.

“A person with a demon living inside him will not crumble so easily from bullying. Something really special must have happened to him to give him a renewed appreciation of this world.” Chen Ge leaned against the couch. “Yu Jian’s class teacher was the only person who cared about him. Have you tried to communicate with her since what happened to Yu Jian?”

“The teacher left Jiujiang after that. I have no idea where she’s gone.”

“You had time to find a psychologist but couldn’t spare a moment to talk to that teacher,” Chen Ge said accusingly, but Nurse Yu reacted strangely like she refused to talk about that teacher.

“The truth is before your eyes. You can’t evade it forever. The deeper you try to hide it, the scarier the wound will be when it is exposed.” Chen Ge stood up. “This is my phone number. I’ll come back tonight. I hope by then you will have changed your mind. If Yu Jian continues to be like this, his whole life will be ruined.”

Walking to the bedroom, Chen Ge picked up his backpack. He stood at the door for some time, but he left without saying a word. Leaving the area, Chen Ge found a spot shielded from the sunlight and summoned Men Nan. “So, what did you find?”

“A lot of curses have been left on that guy! The reason he became like this is because he has been through too many curses.” Men Nan’s first words gave Chen Ge a surprise.

“Does that mean the ghost fetus once possessed his body?”

“Yes.”

“Ask Zhang Yi. What are the chances that the ghost fetus is still hiding in Yu Jian?” Chen Ge was excited. Yu Jian was just like the ghost fetus, so he was the ghost fetus’ best chance.

“He said that it’s impossible to tell, but something happened that broke the bond between Yu Jian and the ghost fetus, so Yu Jian locked himself away from the world.” Men Nan relayed the information from Zhang Yi. “He was trying to resist the curse the ghost fetus left in him.”

“Yu Jian’s change was due to his encounter with his class teacher. That teacher will know what happened to him, but unfortunately, I don’t have the time to leave the city to find her.”

After leaving Yu Jian, Chen Ge went to the police station. With Lee Zheng’s help, he met up with Zhen Zhen. The boy had recovered nicely. There was still no concept of death in his mind. He just thought that his mother was asleep and often asked the officers when his mother would wake up. The boy was very cute, and everyone at the station loved him. When they tried to get information from him, they would bring him snacks and candy.

Based on Zhen Zhen’s appearance, one would not tie him to the ghost fetus. Jiang Long, Bei Ye, Zhen Chun, and the mentally ill mother were unconscious. Other than the ghost fetus, only Chen Ge knew about Zhen Zhen’s past. But Chen Ge did not plan to share that secret with others yet. He also hoped that the child would grow up without any childhood trauma.

After asking Zhen Zhen some questions, Chen Ge asked the police to help investigate the child with the heart problem and badmouthed the ‘non-smilers’ before the police so that they would pay attention to this bunch of monsters who kept up a smile at all times.

The police helped Chen Ge save a lot of time, so he could focus on his investigation into Yu Jian. After visiting the school and interviewing some of the students there, Chen Ge realized that the problem was much serious than painted by his mother. The police had records on Yu Jian. Before he went to the high school, the man had been a total madman with extremely high intelligence, which was a dangerous mix.

After finishing his preparation, Chen Ge visited Yu Jian again that night.