My House of Horrors

The cleverer the man, the more arrogant he would be. Yang Chen desired a clear—even if it was just one time, it was a proof of competence.

“I disagree.” Ol’ Zhou was the first to reject the idea. “When we came in, you said that we’re all teammates, but now that something has happened, that is thrown out of your mind? Don’t you think you’re being a bit much?”

“Ol’ Zhou…” Duan Yue smiled at the crowd apologetically as she pulled on Ol’ Zhou’s sleeves. It appeared like she was used to apologizing on Ol’ Zhou’s behalf since the man was a man filled with justice and would often run his mouth on certain events.

“I also do not think that we should abandon them.” It was Xiao Lee who spoke. Since he came in alone and had no team support, he was afraid that if the same thing happened to him, he would face the same issue as the Fan siblings—cruelly abandoned.

“I was just stating my thought. Whatever the decision, it’ll still be dependent on the majority.” Yang Chen raised his hand. “I think we should go back to the junction and go down the other corridor.”

When he finished, Wang Dan and Lee Xue also raised their hands.

“Only three, now who agrees with searching for the chef and his brother.” Ol’ Zhou was the first one to raise his hand. It was followed by Duan Yue and Xiao Lee. Three versus three. “The rest of you, stop wasting time.”

“I have no issue with going to find the chef, but the student has a point as well.” Bai Qiulin gave a third option. “I agree we should go look for the chef, but we cannot take the corridor that he took.”

Then he turned to look at Ah Nan. “What does the rest of you think?”

Ah Nan had been thinking, and he turned to Ol’ Zhou. “We’re a party, and internal conflict will only bring us down, so I also choose to find the chef.”

He and Hu Ya raised their hands. “Five versus three, so let us move out.”

When Ah Nan was doing the headcount, he suddenly raised something. He looked left and right. “Wait, where is Tails‽”

“Is she still inside the room?” They all ran into the warehouse and hopped over the trash and squeezed through the racks. They searched the whole place but could not find Tails.

“Where is she?”

“I swear she was just behind us!”

When darkness fell, it was not two people who disappeared but three!

A chill wrapped itself around everyone present. They stood where they were, and some were already ready to quit. They had prepared everything that they could. Yet, in just a few minutes, a quarter of the team had already disappeared.

“A living person could not have disappeared just like that! There has to be a hidden passage in this room!” Ah Nan had not given up. “The boss would not build a completely useless space.”

“Perhaps Tails has discovered the secret of the room, triggered some kind of trap, and fallen into the secret passage?” Hu Ya thought back to where Tails was standing. She walked to the printer and stared at the power button that was flickering. She moved her eyes downward and saw the printed paper that littered the ground.

“I remember there wasn’t so much paper.” She squatted down to pick them all up. The few earlier pictures were rough frames, but the last sheet had the words ‘Look behind you!’ written on it.

It was three simple words, but it created a different type of terror due to the unique circumstance they were in.

“Looks like Tails really did discover something, but how did she trigger the trap, and where is this trap?” Hu Ya looked at the paper and then at the printer. “Could it be related to this thing?”

She waved behind her, and the few worked together to move the printer away. On the wall that was behind the printer, they saw a deep tunnel that they had no idea where it led. The edges of the hole were uneven like they were gouged out by human hands.

“Tails?” Ah Nan screamed into the hole, but there was no reply.

“I have to confirm Tails’ safety.” Hu Ya took out her phone to call Tails, but there was no answer. “We already said to keep our phones on when we entered this place to ensure a constant channel of communication. Did something happen to her?”

“Did she not pick up the call? Then, shall we crawl right in?” Ah Nan was also worried.

“Follow me.” Hu Ya was more courageous than Ah Nan. She turned on the flashlight on her phone and crawled into the hole.

“Hey!” Yang Chen wanted to remind them about the danger of using phones inside the Haunted House, but he knew that Hu Ya was not going to listen to his order, so he shifted his tone. “Don’t make a rash decision. There might be something waiting for us on the other end.”

“Feel free to choose other routes, but the two of us will take this one.” Hu Ya was worried about Tails’ safety. She picked up her phone and moved into the hole. The tunnel walls were slippery, and this lowered her speed.

“I’m sorry, but I have to listen to the big sister.” Ah Nan was the next to follow. The few that stood outside were caught in a conundrum.

“We should follow them. It’s not a good idea to get separated.” Yang Chen sighed. The situation had totally gotten out of control.

“Brother Bai, shall we follow them?” Xiao Lee wanted to butter up to Bai Qiulin, so he was very polite around the man.

“Since Fan Dade and Fan Chong’s disappearance, things have been taken out of our hands, and it’ll only get worse from here.” Bai Qiulin did not sound optimistic. “We mustn’t split up anymore, but we cannot stay at one spot for too long. It’ll give the boss more time to set up traps and monsters. We have to try to be ahead of him—only then will we have a chance of winning this.”

Then, he crawled behind Ah Nan. Xiao Lee, Duan Yue, and Ol’ Zhou followed.

There were only the medical students left in the warehouse. When they first entered the underground morgue, they had been the leaders, but now, no one was paying them any heed.

“Something is just not right.” Yang Chen looked at the team that wandered off, and he sighed tiredly.

“It’s fine. Even with just the three of us, we can still do this.” Lee Xue consoled Yang Chen. The three wanted to discuss something else, but suddenly, they heard the sound of bouncing. They turned to look. The lights in the corridor started to go out again, and the human head moved to the entrance of the warehouse.

“We should move forward for now. We need to leave this place first.” With the three students at the back, all the visitors crawled into the tunnel.

They moved several meters before they came across some light. Hu Ya poked her head carefully out, and at the end of the tunnel were three corridors that were painted white.

“Another split? Which corridor would Tails choose?” Hu Ya called Tails’ number again, but there was still no answer. “Just what is happening‽”

Gritting her teeth, this main editor was starting to lose her cool.

…

Tails, who was stranded, walked down the dark corridor alone. Her eyes were watery with tears as she held her phone like she was talking with someone.

“Sister Hu Ya, where are you all? I’ve been walking for so long, but I still haven’t found you!”

“I can hear your footsteps, keep moving forward.” Hu Ya’s voice came from the phone.

“Okay.” Tails nudged herself forward. With one hand on the wall, her slight frame slowly disappeared into the darkness.

“Why haven’t I seen any of you guys yet?”

“Don’t be scared, Tails. Just keep moving forward. I will be here with you…”