My House of Horrors

The scalpel fell to the ground, releasing a sharp tingle. Doctor Gao held his heart. As his life slowly disappeared, the black threads in his eyes returned. “At the moment of death for the door-pusher, the stronger the resentment around them, the stronger the Specter they will be become after death. This is why I have been cultivating this world behind the door since five years ago. Every inch of this place is filled with despair and blood.” Doctor Gao hugged the wife in his arms. “Human power is limited, and I have already reached my limit. To find her, I need to acquire a stronger power.”

“Therefore, you’ve been planning to become a Specter for five years?”

“Lingering spirit, baleful Specter, Red Specter—I’ve been thinking about what is above a Red Specter. Perhaps if I reach that state, I can finally accomplish what I want.” The black threads in Doctor Gao’s eyes were running out of control; he would be losing it soon. “Chen Ge, while I still retain my sanity, I wish to make a trade with you.”

“You want me to help revive your wife?”

“Not that, it won’t go against your morality.”

“Tell me.” Doctor Gao was not acting right. Chen Ge was unsure what this madman might do next, so he thought to agree to his demand first.

“Since you have visited the Third Sick Hall, you should have noticed that many things the society did is related to the number three; this number is very special to me. It represents Room 3 in the Third Sick Hall, the three people in my heart, and the three doors the society owns.”

“Three doors‽” Chen Ge sucked in a breath. He had thought that the society only had two doors—he did not expect that they would have a third door other than the underground morgue and the Third Sick Hall doors.

“The door is in Eastern Jiujiang’s Li Wan City. It is a door that has gone completely out of control.” Doctor Gao’s body was shaking. The threads made from despair and negative emotions crawled all over his body. “One third of the stuff that the society has accumulated over the last five years is behind that door, and I can give you everything inside it.”

“Are you kidding? The door has already gone out of control; even if there’s a treasure inside, I’ll need to be alive to enjoy it.” Doctor Gao was willing to surrender all of the things that the society had gathered, which was indeed tempting to Chen Ge, but what the man said about the door losing control unnerved him.

“That is the content of the trade. I hope you can help me look after Ru Xue and do everything within your power to close that door.” Doctor Gao was not worried that Chen Ge might reject him. “In return, other than the treasure left behind by the society, I will share the method to close these doors with you.”

There was a door in Chen Ge’s Haunted House. In terms of business, that door was a security risk, and he had been looking for a way to close it. “Looking after Gao Ru Xue is no problem. I can handle her future expenses like school fees and even future employment, but I will need to consider about closing that door.”

“You will say yes.” Doctor Gao looked at Chen Ge, but it felt like he was looking into the man’s heart. “Your parents know the door-pusher, and she knows your parent’s location.”

Doctor Gao had used the society’s power to investigate Chen Ge’s past.

“How do I know you’re not lying to me?” The clues about his parent had already gone cold; Chen Ge was shocked that he would find more information from Doctor Gao. Reaching into his pocket, Doctor Gao pulled out a picture. “This is the picture taken when the society was going after the door-pusher. The picture was taken one week before your parent’s disappearance.”

The background of the picture was a creepy alley, and normal buildings bookended it on both sides. It looked so normal but also abnormal at the same time. A husband and wife stood facing away from the camera, and facing them was a little girl in a red shirt.

In the picture, the girl seemed to have discovered the photo-taker and was screaming down the alley. The couple was in the middle of turning. From their backs, Chen Ge could confirm that they were his parents. Doctor Gao had no reason to lie to him.

“Where was this taken?”

“Li Wan City after midnight.”

“I’ve been to Li Wan City, and the streets don’t look like this. However, my parents did go out every night one week before they disappeared like they were looking for something.” Chen Ge walked forward to take a closer look at the picture, but his legs were wound by the black hair. Zhang Ya did not let Chen Ge leave her side, like there was still hidden danger.

After seeing this, Doctor Gao slid the picture to Gao Ru Xue. “The door has now gone out of control, and no one knows what will happen next or what kind of monster will escape from behind the door.”

“Doctor Gao, there is one question that I don’t quite understand.” Chen Ge interrupted Doctor Gao. “From my perspective, you have never cared about people’s lives before, so why do you insist that I close this door? How does that benefit you?”

“The door has lost control. After you enter it, you’ll understand why.” Doctor Gao took Chen Ge’s response as a yes, so he told him how to close the door. “There is only one method that I’ve discovered to close the door. That is to find the door-pusher, have them suffer all the despair in the world behind the door, and then detain them outside the door. The world behind the door exists solely on the door-pusher’s despair. After losing that sustenance, the door will slowly disappear.”

“Therefore, I need to find the door-pusher? But what if the door-pusher has already changed into a Red Specter or has been vanquished?”

“Red Specters can still suffer despair, but as for if they have been vanquished, I have not come across that situation before.” Doctor Gao’s voice was turning weak. The black threads in his eyes kept jumping like they were preparing to shoot out of his body. Just looking at the man, Chen Ge could imagine the pain that he was in.

“Take Gao Ru Xue away with you—this world is collapsing. I will go and search for more methods to close the door.”

The organs and flesh fell from above them. The underground morgue started to collapse. The negative emotions that sustained this world had entered Doctor Gao’s body, so it was collapsing on itself.

The corridor shook, and Doctor Gao touched Gao Ru Xue’s head. “Go back home. I’ve already opened the door.”

Without waiting for the girl to speak, the woman in Doctor Gao’s head raised her head to look into Gao Ru Xue’s eyes. Their eyes met for a brief moment before the girl fainted. The woman’s body became transparent, and with an order from Doctor Gao, she also made the two workers who had brought Gao Ru Xue there faint.