My House of Horrors

The temporarily flash of light made the dangling head look even scarier. Several slender hands reached for the window, and the edge was covered with fingers—creepy! At this crucial moment, however, Chen Ge was thinking about something else.

The woman’s face is similar to the spider monster drawn by Fan Yu. She doesn’t look old; it fits perfectly. She should be Jiang Ling’s older sister.

The wooden beam creaked. The hut seemed like it was going to crumble under the pressure and was shaking. The spider web crawled toward Chen Ge, and the woman squeezed her head into the room. “Save me, save me!”

“I did come here to save you!” Chen Ge did not dare wait anymore lest the situation got out of control. This was probably the first time the woman had heard such an answer. She stopped talking but continued to crawl into the room. Blood red web stuck to the wall, and the woman’s face twisted with various emotions.

“You’re Jiang Ling’s sister; we’ve met before!” The woman was unfazed like she did not understand what Chen Ge was talking about. “Jiujiang’s Children’s Home! Don’t you remember‽”

Chen Ge was ready to call Xu Yin when he suddenly remembered something. He retrieved a plastic bottle from his pocket. “This is what your little sister gave me!”

There was a flattened spider inside the bottle. When he left the Children’s Home, Jiang Ling had given Chen Ge the spider’s body as a present. The hut stopped shaking. The woman’s eyes that were lacking pupils looked at the plastic bottle. She stopped destroying the window. After looking at Chen Ge for a while, she leaned her head toward him.

The woman’s neck was fair and sexy, but the length was double that of a normal human neck. Chen Ge twisted the bottle open and handed it to the woman with one hand. The scary monster finally calmed down. She kept her mouth closed like she was considering some stuff.

“I bear no ill will toward you. I just feel like you and your sister are very sad, so I came to help you.” Chen Ge silently turned off the recorder. “Your sister has told me many things. I can understand your situation and your pain. Technically speaking, we’re about the same; I too have survived some despairing ordeals.”

Chen Ge had told Xu Yin the same thing before. He was not good at social interactions, so the only thing he could do was place himself in other people’s shoes. The ghost and the human looked at each other with a wall between them.

“I’ll help you clear your name, and I’ll take care of your family!

“Why do you think I entered the mountain alone in the middle of the night?

“I just want to help you little sister, who wants to relieve her sister’s pain!”

In the end, even Chen Ge believed in what he was saying. He looked serious and pain could be heard in his voice. The woman pulled back her head. She looked at Chen Ge with her head titled. The expression on her face did not look that angry anymore, and in its place was confusion.

“I can help you put down your resentment and bring you away from this painful place. I can find you a new home to live,” said Chen Ge earnestly.

The woman appeared like she had started to believe Chen Ge. She did not quite understand what Chen Ge was saying, but when he mentioned bringing her away, she shook her head.

“I know you love your sister and want to protect her, but do you know? It is because of your presence that your sister is bullied by other children and is seen as a monster, a patient. She cannot return to a normal life, love normally, and enjoy being loved.

“I can understand you, but others can’t. Believe me, if you continue to shadow her, one day, you’ll become her darkest nightmare!

“Do you want to hear from your own sister’s lips that she hates you‽”

The woman felt like things had developed beyond her expectations. Her white eyes turned before she shook her head again.

“I will not force you to make any choice. I’m just telling you the truth. It’s for your own good.” Chen Ge’s voice had a trace of indescribable sadness in it. “The pain that you’ve suffered and might suffer in the future, I’ve experienced it before. If you find yourself with no place to go, you can come find me.”

Then, he made a brave move. He hid the right hand that was holding the hammer behind him and reached out with his left hand to the woman. “My little brother is your little sister’s best friend. If possible, how about we be friends as well?”

He did not purposely lower his voice. When he said so, there was a weird sound coming from next door. It sounded like someone had fallen from the bed. The woman’s eyes turned crazily. She leaned back, looking at Chen Ge’s extended hand.

“We can be friends.” Chen Ge walked forward, and the woman’s eyes turned even faster. She opened her lips to shoot a spider web at the door before retreating into the plantation and disappeared.

“Wait!” Chen Ge moved the wooden bed away and rushed out the door, but the woman had already disappeared. I still haven’t given her my address… Never mind, this was a good start. To employ her at the Haunted House, I still need to go through Jiang Ling.

The door next door flew open, and the old man rushed out, holding both the lamp and the hoe. He stood at the door, shaking. He was truly afraid of Chen Ge. The man did not get scared meeting a ghost but even opened the door to chase after it! What was with that expression of regret on his face?

“Master Bai, you’ve been eavesdropping, right?”

Rain wet Chen Ge’s hair. He turned to look at the old man. Chen Ge’s gaze caused the old man to quiver with fear.

What is he going to do? Kill me to silence me? Also, where did he find that hammer that looks like a murder weapon‽

“No, I was awoken by the words you said when you were sleeping. I’ll be going back to sleep since you’re fine.” The old man gripped the hoe tightly until the back of his hand was popping with veins. He was so nervous that his lips were quivering.

“You don’t need to lie to me anymore. This place is a crime scene. A family of four: the parents were poisoned, the older sister went missing, and I believe that the creature I just saw was that sister.”

Chen Ge thought about it before adding, “She disappeared into the peach plantation, and when I first met you, you were digging inside the plantation. If my guess is correct, you should have been searching for her body.”

The old man was stunned. After a long time, he said with a voice heavy with guilt and regret, “How did you find out?”

“Not only do I know that you’re looking for her body, I also know that her body is hidden under the tallest tree at the plantation.” Chen Ge pointed at the blood red spider web on the door. It was the clue left behind by the woman.