My House of Horrors

Hu Ya’s voice that came out from Tails’ phone was soft and gentle. It shone directly into her heart like the sun.

“Sister Hu Ya, listen to me. The ghost was hiding inside the printer. It dragged me into the hole, one that you’ll be able to see once you move the printer away.”

“Okay, don’t worry, we’ll meet up soon.”

Hearing the sound on the other end, Tails was still worried. “You have to take the left corridor! When I just exited the tunnel, there was the sound of wheels coming from behind me. I didn’t have the time to think and just ran in a random direction. I only dared to call you after the sound disappeared.”

“We’re coming. Just keep moving forward. Don’t be scared. Don’t hang up the phone.” Hu Ya’s voice continued to come from the phone like a kind and patient big sister. With Hu Ya’s company, Tails felt rejuvenated, and she wandered deeper into the darkness.

…

“The phone is still not working.” Ah Nan stood in the middle of the split and looked at the white corridors on both sides. “Which path shall we take?”

This question had bothered him for a long time. The underground morgue was different from other scenarios; this place was like an extremely complicated maze, and they were already lost in it.

“There is no answer. The boss has figured out everything. There is probably something that disturbs the reception here.” Xiao Lee tried to explain it using the scientific way.

“It’s not that. The signal is at its maximum, but there is simply no answer.” Hu Ya put her phone away and moved to stand next to Ah Nan. There was worry in her eyes. “Tails probably dropped her phone when she was trying to run away.”

Hu Ya had stated the most likely scenario, and it was also the explanation she gave herself.

“Then what shall we do next? Which corridor shall we take?” Yang Chen looked at Hu Ya, who used her phone inside the Haunted House, and he moved silently away from her. Now that things had gotten out of hand, he surrendered the position of leader and tried to be as unnoticeable as possible. He looked surreptitiously at the other visitors, and the anxiety in his heart grew. He told himself to be careful as he tried to find this source.

“There are no signs on either corridor, but they are both painted white. Based on the medical students, these are used to transport cadavers—they are roads for the dead—so we’d better be careful.”

After Xiao Lee voiced his opinions, he turned to look at Bai Qiulin. He probably wanted to get Bai Qiulin’s support, but the latter had not been paying him any attention.

“We’ll need to take a gamble.” Hu Ya and Ah Nan shared a look and chose the left corridor without consulting anyone else. “Tails’ phone is still ringing, but no one is answering, so she should have dropped it somewhere. There has to be something scary chasing her for her to do something like this. It is probably that trolley that was moving about. Under the circumstance, she will definitely choose the path closest to her, and the corridor on the left is relatively close.”

“Your analysis sounds more like a self-persuasion; it doesn’t hold any water.” At the end of the day, Yang Chen was young, and he disagreed due to the flimsy analysis. “What if the thing that chased Tails came from the left corridor? In that case, she would have taken the right corridor, and if we go down the left corridor, we will run right into those monsters.”

“In comparison, the possibility of Tails entering the left corridor is higher, and that is enough for me.” Hu Ya and Ah Nan entered the left corridor without waiting for the rest. Since the two editors had already made their move, to ensure that the team stuck together, as unwilling as Yang Chen was, he had to follow. A team of twelve had already dwindled down to nine; if they split up further, it would only get worse for them.

Sighing, Yang Chen realized that he could not understand the boss anymore.Based on my understanding of the boss, the real terror of this scenario will occur after we obtain the picture. Everything so far is just an appetizer.

However, when he followed that train of thought, Yang Chen could not help sweating. Since the team was already having so much internal conflict at the very beginning, if this continued, perhaps they would be fully taken down before they even saw the pictures.

The boss is too insane; he didn’t even give us a chance to win! Yang Chen sighed internally, but his expression did not change. He was afraid his emotions might affect other people.

We mustn’t depend on other people, at a time like this—we have to put ourselves first.

Yang Chen turned to look. This batch of visitors had moved into their own cliques. The two editors moved at the front, Bai Qiulin and Xiao Lee were in the middle, and Ol’ Zhou as well as Duan Yue followed at the back.

The two editors have already lost their rationality, and they are too stubborn. Bai Qiulin is too arrogant, and I have a feeling that he is still hiding something. Yang Chen looked around, and eventually, his eyes fell on Ol’ Zhou. The couple is kind. The husband upholds justice, and the wife is gentle and soft. These two are perfect teammates; I have to communicate more with them.

Yang Chen whispered something to Lee Xue, and he slowed down to walk to Ol’ Zhou. Noticing Yang Chen coming over to him, Ol’ Zhou’s guard went up. He still remembered how cold Yang Chen had been when the chef and his brother disappeared. He did not give Yang Chen any face. Since Yang Chen could abandon the chef, then in the future, he could abandon them too.

“What are you doing?” Ol’ Zhou had a drawn face, but Duan Yue kept apologizing on his behalf.

Yang Chen lowered his voice to apologize to Ol’ Zhou. He explained his situation and analyzed the situation to Ol’ Zhou, and finally, Ol’ Zhou’s expression softened. However, when Yang Chen brought up the possibility of a cooperation, Ol’ Zhou denied it without giving it much thought. Duan Yue beside him asked why, and Ol’ Zhou answered in a voice loud enough for Yang Chen to hear, “Cooperating with them is similar to asking a tiger for its skin. We’re not as cunning as them—we’ll only be taken advantage of.”

Duan Yue nodded like she understood what her husband was saying. Yang Chen could only smile awkwardly. However, hearing Ol’ Zhou say that, he was even more certain that he needed to get Ol’ Zhou’s cooperation.

For some reason, the anxiety in his heart grew like the danger was just next to him, perhaps even hidden among the visitors. Therefore, he needed to work together with others to prevent accidents.

As Yang Chen tried to persuade Ol’ Zhou, the corridor that they were walking on changed. The formalin in the air thickened, and drafts of cold wind came out from an open steel door that was at the end of the corridor.