My House of Horrors

“The woman in the red raincoat appeared at the bus stop. We should make use of this time to look around the bus stop to see if there are any clues around here.” Fu Bole and the other haunted house designers started their search around the bus stop, and they soon discovered some problems. There were two human-shaped shadows painted behind the avenue’s bus stop. They were in the shape of a male and a female. The two shadows were etched into the backwall of the bus stop, as if it was a snapshot of someone’s memory.Underneath the bus stop, there was a puddle of water. If one looked closer, one could see the image of a male student in a school uniform and a female teacher holding a red umbrella. At the corner of the bus stop, there were words that appeared to be randomly carved out. They were uneven and titled. The person who had left behind these characters was probably emerged in some kind of juvenile yet simple happiness.

“Love started from the moment I met you.”

“The last bus of the day came, but I waited until you arrived.”

“Can I please walk you home?”

Reading these words, they appeared to have the ability to evoke the readers’ memory of youthful love. It was innocent, unwieldy, yet uniquely blissful.

“Why would such characters be carved in such an eerie place? Could it be that a horrible and cruel story is hidden behind the innocence of young love? All of this beauty is just buildup, and they will be brutally torn open at the last moment. The contrast will be used to create some kind of despairing effect, right?” Sister Snake’s haunted house appeared to have employed similar tactics before. She touched the black skull tattoo on her arm. Her mind seemed to have sunk into the memory of the past. This was a woman with a story.

“The style of this avenue is completely different from the other places that we have visited before, so theoretically speaking, there should be plenty of scare points. Yet, so far, we have not encountered anything remotely scary.” The bad feeling in Zuo Han’s heart was getting stronger and stronger. He felt like this was the calm before the storm. “We should stop inspecting the bus stop. We need to move on to the next location immediately!”

Zuo Han looked at the black fog that was following behind them and quickly decided to call the rest to hurry down the avenue.

“We need to leave this place immediately. This ghost fetus scenario has completely shattered my understanding of this haunted house. None of the experience I have collected can be used here. Why is that happening?” Everything had happened a bit too suddenly. It felt like there was a pair of invisible hands that were slowly pushing them to the brink of despair from the back of the scene.

“Less than fifteen minutes after the game started, the scenario has already entered the third stage. All the ghost actors within the four-star scenarios have started to go on a rampage. The chance of survival with just the three of us is close to zero.” Zuo Han understood that he had basically fallen into the worst possible scenario. “The few haunted house designers are completely unreliable. If they do not change their prejudice now and stop underestimating Boss Chen’s haunted house, they will probably ‘disappear’ in the next sub-scenario, and then what shall I do to solve this conundrum?”

He was using his mind so much that Zuo Han’s forehead was soon soaked with sweat. He was now under a great deal of pressure. On one hand, he had to face an unknown and scary enemy, and on the other hand, he had to carry a bunch of dead weights and possible haunted house actors hiding among them. Facing both internal and external pressure, he really tried hard but failed to come up with a reliable solution. “Everything’s happening too quickly! This four-star scenario does not give me any down time to think or even calm down from the previous scares at all!”

After the woman in the red raincoat left, the buildings on both sides of the avenue lost their sense of scariness, and the avenue seemingly turned back to a normal street. The visitors left the avenue easily and came to the entrance of an orphanage that had a white and back color scheme.

The rusted iron door was left half open. A spine-tingling lullaby drifted out from an unknown source. The orphanage looked like it had been abandoned for quite some time, but there were children’s clothes hung on a clothesline to dry in the yard. There were also plenty of freshly dug holes in the ground. They appeared to be used to bury some things. Many signs of human activity could be seen around the orphanage’s yard, but the visitors could not find the presence of any living individuals.

The wind chime that hung on the awning jingled lightly as Zuo Han pushed opened the front door of the orphanage. A rather sad tune drifted out from one of the rooms. At the end of a very long dining table sat a broken and ruined altar.

“This has to be a privately-owned orphanage; a government-ran orphanage would not allow such an obvious religious structure within the confines of the building.” Mr. Wang stared at the altar, and flashes of images from his past flickered through his mind. “Some of the owners of private orphanages believe in religious karma. They set up shrines of their respective faith in their own rooms, but this is the first time I have encountered an orphanage that directly places such an altar right in the lobby of the orphanage.”

Walking past the long wooden dining table, Mr. Wang’s expression slowly turned darker and uglier. The altar had the name Fang Yu carved in all its corners. It looked quite frightening.

“These are carved out by one’s bare nails character by character. The deep black stains on it are blood stains. They have completely seeped into the wooden boards. This is strange. It feels like someone has spent years scratching these words out on this altar.” Mr. Wang was confused. “Did the boss need to go to such length just to create a prop inside the haunted house?”

“This might not have been made by Boss Chen himself. He has provided many clues to local law enforcement on murder cases. I suspect some of the props inside his haunted house are directly lifted from murder crime scenes,” Zuo Han whispered softly to his lecturer. This topic was considered inside information, so he was not willing to share it with unnecessary people lest they made a big deal out of it.

“This haunted house boss has provided many clues to local law enforcement for murder cases?” Mr. Wang was so shocked that the question fell out of his mouth. “I have indeed heard word on the street lately that things have been quite uneasy, and Jiujiang’s local police station has recruited a new informant. That person is the boss of this haunted house?”

“Sir, due to that incident, you no longer have any contact with the people at the station, so you might not know this. The boss of this haunted house is very…” Zuo Han thought for a long time, but he did not know how to put his thoughts into words. “Both of his parents disappeared mysteriously. To investigate their disappearance, he has overturned old cases throughout Jiujiang that date back to two decades ago. I do not even know how to describe such a person. The best description that I can come up with is for normal people to keep a respectful distance away from him.”

“He managed to help overturn old cases that date back to twenty years ago?”

“Yes, but that is not even the scariest thing about him.” Zuo Han lowered his voice even more. “He has provided many important clues to Jiujiang law enforcement for many heavy crimes, and they have solved many cases through him, but the case of his parents’ disappearance has seen no progress at all. I suspect there is a big conspiracy behind this. The case behind his parents’ disappearance is not as simple as it appears.”

“And that is why you have been coming to visit his haunted house?” Mr. Wang valued Zuo Han greatly. He believed that Zuo Han was one of the best students he had ever had the pleasure of teaching. He knew Zuo Han was unlike the other students; he was definitely not the kind of student who would skip class for fun.

“I am afraid I am still too unqualified to help investigate the case of his parents’ disappearance.” Zuo Han looked at the altar before him. “I cannot see through this man at all. I cannot tell even a little bit what he is thinking. Honestly, sometimes, I do not even dare look him in the eye. I tried to put myself in his shoes to analyze his psychological status and personality, and the conclusion that I arrived at sent chills all over my body. He has superb rationality and calmness in all situations. He also possesses a superhuman adaptive ability and extremely high intelligence.”

“Is there any similar character comparison to him in our current database?”

“No, he is like a monster. After all, he is able to come up with so many exquisite and brilliantly designed set pieces alone and can help find clues for so many heavy crimes that stumped even the local forces. Compared to him, no one has the qualification to be called a genius.” Zuo Han’s hand softly caressed the surface of the altar, his fingers feeling the grooves of the characters that were carved on the wooden board. “The more that I learn about him, the more afraid I become, but the more afraid I become, the more curious I am. I want to get to the bottom of the truth. Actually, if possible, during the last holiday before my graduation, I plan to apply to work here with Boss Chen.”

“The student with the best overall score at a medical university coming to work at a haunted house?” Mr. Wang even wondered if he had misheard his student. “You are far more gifted than I am. What you are lacking is experience. If he really is as impressive as you say he is, even if you come to work here, I doubt you will find out anything useful to you.”

When the two spoke among themselves, a wooden door that led to one of the other rooms was pushed open, and an old man with a head of white hair shuffled out holding a thermos. He was caught by surprise when he saw so many people gathered in the lobby.

“Are you here to adopt the children?” The old man’s voice was shaking. He looked like he was in a very weaken state, as if he could faint at any given moment.

“The haunted house even hires someone so old to be its actor? This place sure is horrible.” Fu Bole walked to accost the old man. “We are not here to adopt any children. We are here to look for missing items. Have you seen this thing before?”

He took out the picture of the rag doll from his pocket and shook it before the old man.

“I have not. If you are not here to adopt the children, then hurry up and leave. This small town is not that safe. If you do not leave soon, I am afraid you might not be able to leave at all.” The old man coughed and was about to leave when Ma Feng, who had been among the crowd, suddenly stepped forward.

“Wait a minute! Have I seen you somewhere before?” After Ma Feng took over Jiang Jiu’s position, to gain a deeper understanding of Chen Ge, he had spent many sleepless nights looking over the video when Chen Ge came to challenge his own haunted house. This old man before him appeared to have shown up in the video before, but he could not pinpoint exactly who he was.

“I have been staying here to look after the children. I have never left this small town. How is it possible that you have seen me before, or have you been to this orphanage in the past?” The old man was the lingering spirit that Chen Ge had brought back from the futuristic theme park when he went to challenge the place. He had also brought back the old man’s grandson, the ghost in the windchime, and the red Specter in the traditional Chinese Opera costume.

“Perhaps I’ve mistaken you for someone else.”

“That is the worst mistake you could have made in this small town. The person that you are familiar with might not really be him; it could be disguised by something else. Even though they might have the same face and voice, they will be carrying a different heart.” The old man suddenly started to hack horribly like the statement that he gave had crossed some kind of line, and he was being punished for it. “Quickly leave this place. Do not linger any longer.”

“Hey!” Fu Bole wanted to reach out to grab the old man, but just as his arm was about to land on the old man’s shoulder, the old man used a surprisingly agile and strange maneuver to evade him. No one saw it clearly. The old man slithered through the open door that he had come out from, and Fu Bole was left standing there with his hand hanging in the air. The old man did not close the door behind him, but once he crossed the threshold, it seemed like he had disappeared into thin air.

A very bad feeling started to spread among the group of visitors. Fu Bole subconsciously walked toward the room that the old man had disappeared into. Standing in the lobby, one could hear the sound of children laughing coming from inside the room, but once they look through the door, there was no one in the room at all. Only some toys were there, littering the ground.

“There has to be something hidden inside this orphanage. Plus, think about it. The rag doll that Boss Chen wants us to find is so old and tattered. A child from a normal family would not have owned such a toy. It is probably the toy of an abandoned child.” Wei Chaochao tried to analyze the situation and shared his analysis. “The orphanage is a place where abandoned children are gathered, so there is a very high chance that the rag doll that we are looking for is hidden here.”

Everyone thought that Wei Chaochao’s analysis was quite reasonable. Only Zuo Han kept his brows locked, but he did not anything.

“What? Do you have any problem with what I’ve said?” Wei Chaochao was a very clever person, but his cleverness was often limited to a certain area.

“Your analysis is too one-sided. If you look at the bigger picture, the probability of the rag doll being hidden here is very small because we still have many scenarios that we have yet to explore.” Zuo Han gave his own thoughts.

“Stop talking in riddles. What are you trying to say?”

“I believe this orphanage is a set piece that Boss Chen has purposely built to distract us. This place is probably a trap. It would be better if we do not spend too much time here.” Zuo Han knew that these people would most likely not listen to his advice, so after he spoke his piece, he walked away with He San and Mr. Wang and started to look for their own clues.

“Let’s not be shaken by an outsider. We will continue to search with our analysis. I am sure we are on the right path.” Fu Bole shared the same opinion as Wei Chaochao. Splitting off into the same groups as earlier, they started to search carefully for any traces of the rag doll within the orphanage. The black fog rolled down the street and slowly surrounded the orphanage.

Seeing this, Zuo Han prepared to leave to hurry to the next scenario, while the haunted house designers insisted on staying at the orphanage. With the split in opinion, both parties eventually separated, and each went their own way. Zuo Han led He San and Mr. Wang to leave while the others continued their search in the slowly thickening black fog.

“This place is an orphanage, but we have not seen a child until now.” Wei Chaochao stood at the door that led to the side hall where the old man had disappeared earlier. “Could we have been tricked by the old man?”

“The old man entered the side hall last. Have you checked that place?” Fu Bole and Qin Guang were standing next to Wei Chaochao. The rest were searching the kitchen and the backyard.

“I have looked through the room. I cannot find the old man anymore. It feels like he disappeared once he entered the room…” At this point of retelling his experience, Wei Chaochao’s eyes suddenly lit up. “The side hall is connected to the backyard. Our preconceived notion made us believe that he has gone to the backyard, but there is actually another possibility—there might be a hidden path inside the side hall!”

The three of them shuffled into the side hall again. The placement of the toys was different from how they remembered it.

“Someone has moved the things in here!” Wei Chaochao noticed the problem immediately. Before he could add anything else, he saw a small shadow running down the hallway where the backyard was connected to the side hall. “Who is that? Stop right there!”

Wei Chaochao and Fu Bole rushed after the shadow immediately. They abandoned Qin Guang, who was at the back of the group. They chased after the shadow and entered the storage room that was situated in the backyard.

Pushing open the wooden door, they were greeted by an old shrine table, and a strange picture was placed on the table. The old man in the picture was facing away from Wei Chaochao and Fu Bole. He appeared to be hugging something in his arms. “The back of the person in this picture looks so familiar.”

Qin Guang, who was left alone in the side hall, was about to go after them when he suddenly heard the sound of a plastic ball bouncing. He turned his head to look. One of the toy balls in the side hall had rolled on its own into the lobby. And the strange thing was, there appeared to be something hiding in the dark corner. The ball rolled into the darkness, and then it was kicked out again like two invisible children were playing with it.

With the corner of his eyes twitching, Qin Guang left the side hall immediately and ran out to meet up with the rest of his group. After he departed, a boy in a red shirt crawled out from the corner of the room with his eyes burning. “I heard from the others that scaring people is something very simple and enjoyable. How come it is so difficult for me? Why?”

Just as the boy in the red shirt’s emotions were going astray, the door of Room 1 of the first floor at the Soundless House was heavily slammed against the door. A woman in a red raincoat walked out from the building with the fury of being lied to. Blood vessels boiled on her coat. Inside the endless black fog, a blood red rain started to fall.

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