My House of Horrors

Chen Ge did not expect it to go so successfully—he had just wanted to make himself look vulnerable so that it would be easier to endear himself to the man. Who knew that Mr. Liu would be so direct, ask for the culprit, and be so ready to represent him?

He’s a good teacher. Chen Ge sincerely thought this Liu Zhengyi was not bad. The Haunted House currently needs someone to manage the mannequins; he looks like the perfect candidate.

After sighing, Chen Ge did not instantly answer Mr. Liu’s question. Instead, he whispered, “Sir, I know you mean well, but I cannot say.”

“Are you afraid they’ll retaliate for being a tattle-tale?” Mr. Liu frowned. “Then have you considered that the more you refuse the resist, the weaker you’ll become in their eyes, creating a vicious cycle?”

Chen Ge lowered his head like he was seriously considering what Mr. Liu said.

“Don’t be afraid, I’ll help you,” Mr. Liu promised, and he was ready to take action. After a while, Chen Ge slowly raised his head like he had come to a decision. “Mr. Liu, this involves many people, and then you’ll realize the students and even colleagues around you have a side you don’t know. You are a good person; I don’t want to drag you into this mess.”

“Involves many people? I know most people at this school; they wouldn’t do something like that.” Mr. Liu had a great sense of justice, but he was not dumb. After thinking about it, he said, “Other than the headmaster, there are only six teachers, not including myself, and a few experienced clinical doctors. Based on my understanding of them, they would not be involved in something like bullying students.”

Chen Ge kept his head lowered, memorizing everything that Mr. Liu said.

“Minus the teachers, there are only students, security guards, and general staff.” Mr. Liu thought about it but could not come up with an answer. However, Chen Ge did not look like he was lying.

“Sir, these people look a certain way before you, but they change when you are not around. They are wolves under sheep’s clothing.” Chen Ge’s fists tightened when he said that, and the words were squeezed through his teeth. Seeing that, Mr. Liu felt sorry for Chen Ge.

“I cannot drag you down with me, but if there’s a chance, I’ll personally expose those people for you to see.” Chen Ge was not joking—he had sensed endless malice from that security guard earlier. The security guard who had merged with the world was not interested in Mr. Liu, but if he saw Chen Ge, he would attack relentlessly. Mr. Liu would then see the real face of these ‘people’.

“Alright then.” Mr. Liu did not force Chen Ge to continue. He walked back to the students and continued the class. Chen Ge was quite bored. The longer he stayed, the thicker the membrane became.

Mr. Liu is a nice person. I can make use of this chance to verify my speculation about whether helping the souls behind the door can help me gain the world’s approval or not.

He walked toward Mr. Liu, but before he got close, Mr. Liu stopped him. “No one is allowed to come near the autopsy table without the proper equipment.”

“Sir, I just want to see whether there’s anything that I can help you with.”

“Thanks, but as long as you focus in class and use that knowledge to help other people in the future, that is the biggest help you can give me.” Mr. Liu looked at Chen Ge and shook his head. “There are lab coats in the decontamination closet, go and put one on. You can attend this class for now, but after class is over, I’ll go with you to find your teacher.”

“Okay.” Chen Ge put on the coat and the heavy mask. He walked to the autopsy table and stood next to the four dead students, looking at the cadaver on the table. Before Chen Ge entered, the room had only had Liu Zhengyi—the rest were all dead bodies. When he thought about it, that was quite scary.

Liu Zhengyi gave his lecture to a class of dead people and would gesture at the cadaver. There was a textbook on the table, but Chen Ge did not understand most of the medical terms. He turned the page to one with pictures and graphs. He studied it and understood about thirty percent of it.

After a long time, the cadaver on the table was still the same, and the students were all dead bodies, so of course, they did not reach out to touch the cadaver. However, Mr. Liu did not seem to notice any of that.

Chen Ge was at least given a valuable class in autopsy. When he completed his first Nightmare Mission, he had been given a talent, Mortician’s Make-up. A good mortician should be familiar with human anatomy and dead bodies. Chen Ge grabbed the scalpel from the student next to him and steadied his breathing.

Only through practice could he know that he had learned something from Mr. Liu. The first step of the autopsy was to separate the skin. Chen Ge’s hand that held the scalpel was steady. Initially, Mr. Liu thought about giving Chen Ge some pointers, but after Chen Ge finished scouring the cadaver’s skin, he stood to the side and watched silently.

The scalpel ran up the neck, and the incision started at the occipital point. The knife cut through the scalp and severed the hair. When the hair was snipped, and the sound echoed in the room, Chen Ge’s heart beat with its rhythm. This was the first time that he had come into such close contact with a cadaver and in this manner.

The cadaver’s skin was thick from long submersion in formalin. It was like cow hide, completely lifeless. Chen Ge felt death so clearly and closely for the first time that he would remember this feeling forever.

After death, every emotion and desire changes into regrets, and my Haunted House is the place where all these regrets collect.

Following the autopsy, the blood membrane became thinner and his breathing easier.

Mr. Liu would occasionally correct Chen Ge’s mistakes. Initially, Chen Ge was very irregular in his actions and made many mistakes, but his learning capability surprised Mr. Liu. The autopsy only went halfway. When Chen Ge prepared to continue, he realized that the blood membrane would not thin anymore.

What’s going on? Chen Ge put the scalpel down. He had planned to remove the membrane fully in this room. He lifted his head to look. Mr. Liu, who stood not far from him, was spacing out. The floor underneath his feet that was made from flesh had blood vessels squirmed about, and it crawled into his eyes.

The blood pulsed underneath the skin, and gradually, Mr. Liu’s eyes turned blood red, filled with blood vessels.

Losing control, the man seemed to morph into a different person. He moved his body slowly to remove the cadaver from the table. He put the lab coat on it and then moved one of the students to replace its place on the autopsy table.

After he was done, he turned to look at the table where Chen Ge was standing.

The bloodshot eyes moved down the group, and he seemed to be wondering why there was an extra person.