My House of Horrors

“What is that?” The doctor frowned. From the name alone, he felt like the society was not that friendly.

“A support group that is formed through mutual support. The members are people like us, people with stories.” Chen Ge wanted to say that it was a support group for mental patients, but he realized how that sounded, so he changed his mind.

“I’m not used to crowds.” Various rumors had forced his lover to her death, so ever since then, the doctor did not like to communicate with other people. The only reason that he talked so much to Chen Ge was because he was the one who had approached Chen Ge, and he felt the passengers on the bus might have worse stories than he did.

The doctor denied the offer. Chen Ge did not force him. After all, anyone would be suspicious when they were invited to join a strange society.

“If you ever find yourself unable to carry the burden anymore but you still wish to see your wife, you can call me.” Chen Ge left his phone number with the doctor. The doctor thought that he was weird, but he still memorized Chen Ge’s number.

“Brother, you mentioned the ghost apartment at Li Wan City earlier, can you tell me more details about it?” Chen Ge wanted to find out more information from the doctor. This was also a way to help the doctor.

“You need to search for the building on your own when you arrive at the city. Sometimes…” The bus suddenly lurched to a stop. All the passengers leaned forward, and it also interrupted the doctor.

The e-bike leaned to the side and knocked into a woman who wore a patient’s garb with her head lowered. The black hair covered her face fully. After the bike knocked into her, she maintained her pose, completely immobile.

“I’m sorry. Did it hurt you?” Chen Ge quickly moved the bike back. He looked at the four women in patient’s garbs, and he titled his head to the side and slowly squatted down. He wanted to see the four women’s faces to confirm their identity. With one hand on the bike and another on the back of the seat, Chen Ge adjusted his angle, but he still could not see the woman’s face. Hair seemed to grow out from the women’s entire head. However, Chen Ge still got away with a clue. He saw the name of the hospital from the woman’s garb.

It was a hospital with four characters, but the first character was blocked. The last three words were ‘ Xin Yi Yuan ¹ ‘.

Chen Ge cross-referenced with the local hospitals in Jiujiang—the more famous ones were Central Hospital, the People’s Hospital, and Jiujiang’s Female and Children’s Hospital. He could not figure out which hospital had the word Xin in its name.

Why did they leave the hospital in the middle of the night?

These four women were definitely not living humans. When Chen Ge approached them, his hair stood on end on reflex. He had even gotten used to this feeling.

Four ghosts sitting in a row, but why are they heading to Li Wan City? Chen Ge already understood why living humans went to Li Wan City, but he still did not understand why the dead were going to Li Wan City.

I’m already so close to her, but how come they still haven’t responded in the slightest? At least give me a glance.

Ghosts were different from normal humans; he could not just drag any ghost back to the Haunted House. He needed to understand them and observe them for a long time before he felt comforted enough to allow them to reside at the Haunted House.

When Chen Ge wanted to get more information from the four female patients, the announcement rang—they had arrived at the next stop. The doors opened, and the wind carried the rain into the bus. It fell on Chen Ge’s back.

Why is it raining so heavily? How come the weather forecast was so far off?

Chen Ge turned around. He only glanced at the bus stop, but he found himself unable to move his eyes away. The rain fell like the heavens had opened up. A woman in a red raincoat stood alone in the middle of the bus stop. The rain slid down the rim of her cap and wetted her hair.

“Were you the one on the phone with me that day?” Chen Ge stood inside the bus and looked at the woman outside the bus. Hearing this familiar voice, the woman slowly raised her head. A pair of strange-looking eyes looked at Chen Ge through the gap in the hair.

“I promised to find your child within a week, so I risked my life to get on this hearse. I have not forgotten the promise that I’ve made you.” Chen Ge sounded confident and trustworthy. The way that the woman looked at Chen Ge was different from how she looked at Xiao Gu. She stood where she was and did not nudge forward.

The announcement began again. The driver, Tang Jun, saw Chen Ge conversing with the woman outside the bus, and cold sweat slid down his face. He pressed the button to close the door. He hurried to the next station.

“Wait!” Just as the backdoor was about to close, Chen Ge used his backpack to block the door. “I have something I need to do.”

“This… is not so good. Everyone has right to ride the public bus. We can’t ask the whole bus to wait for you alone, right?” The driver was worried that Chen Ge might do something stupid. Whenever he heard Chen Ge’s voice, he would panic.

“You still remember that this is public transport, huh? Then why didn’t you stop to let me get on earlier?” Chen Ge walked toward the front of the bus. He did not argue with the driver anymore but stopped next to the middle-aged woman. The whole bus was looking at Chen Ge, waiting for what he was going to do.

“What do you want?” The large middle-aged woman moved deeper into her seat, and her voice dropped. Chen Ge did not waste time with her; he was not one to drag things out. Since the woman in the red raincoat had shown up, he could not delay the things with her child anymore.

“Is the boy next to you yours?” Chen Ge rarely used this type of tone. It was devoid of emotion and chilling.

“Ye… yes.” The woman placed herself between Chen Ge and the boy to stop Chen Ge from getting closer to the boy.

“I’ll ask you again, is the boy yours?” Under the shocked gaze of the other passengers, Chen Ge took out the hammer from his backpack. The middle-aged woman looked around the bus with a pleading look, but none of them dared say anything.

Her lips opened, and after a long hesitation, she said, “This is my relative’s child. They are working in Jiujiang, and they’re so busy, so I was asked to look after him.”

“So now, he’s your relative’s child?” Chen Ge swung the hammer. “Wake the boy up. I have a few questions to ask him.”

The commotion was so loud, but the boy continued to slumber; he showed no trace of stirring. The middle-aged woman’s face was conflicted. She pushed the boy, but he gave no response. “He’s quite a heavy sleeper…”

“He’s a heavy sleeper, or have you slipped him some drugs?” Chen Ge held the hammer with one hand. “Let me take a look at the child.”

The middle-aged woman’s face slowly lowered. Her expression was changing. She seemed to know that there was no escape. She reached into her pocket to grab something.

“Xu Yin!” Chen Ge did not give her the chance. When he noticed the change of expression on the woman’s face, he immediately summoned Xu Yin. “I’ll repeat myself one last time, give me the child!”