My House of Horrors

Salvage her dead body?

When Chen Ge saw the mission details on the black phone, his eyelids jumped slightly. This Trial Mission was different from what he thought.

Isn’t it a bit difficult for the mission to request me to go to the dam alone to salvage the sister’s body?

To salvage a dead body from a body of water would require a professional team, but Chen Ge only had one night to do it. Without the help of other people, without salvaging tools or a boat, he did not even know what the ‘person’ that he was supposed to salvage look like.

Bury seed happened before Wen Wen was born, so how old could Wen Wen’s big sister have been at the time? Why was her body later abandoned in the Eastern Jiujiang Dam?

Many questions floated up in his mind, and only Wen Wen’s aunt would be able to provide the answers.

Wen Wen’s father suffered from the same hereditary illness, but it was clear that he loved his daughter a lot. Unfortunately, due to his mental impediment, he might not have been able to remember things that happened so long ago. Thus, Wen Wen’s aunt was the only person who had lived through the experience and could be communicated with normally.

The woman appears to constantly avoid the event that transpired several years ago. Direct questioning will get me nowhere. I have to come up with another solution.

The Twin Water Ghost mission had been activated, and based on Chen Ge’s understanding of the black phone, if he failed the mission, the scenario would be locked away forever, and Chen Ge did not want to miss out on this unique underwater scary scenario.

Silently putting the phone away, Chen Ge turned around while holding the girl, and he suddenly realized that everyone’s eyes were on him. “Why are you all looking at me?”

Xiao Qing coughed and reminded him out of kindness, “The bone in your backpack is poking out.”

Chen Ge quickly turned around and realized that the handle of Doctor Skull-cracker’s hammer was indeed poking through the opening. This hammer that had been given by the black phone had not been so big at the beginning. As it followed Chen Ge and as the number of ghost and Specter that it came into contact with grew, it had probably absorbed ‘nutrients’ from them and grown scarier, longer, and heavier.

“Don’t worry, this is just a prop from my Haunted House. I often go out alone at night, and I carry this to ward off the bad guys.” Chen Ge provided a clumsy excuse.

“I really don’t understand how a person like you is so liked by children.” Xiao Qing did not go and inspect Chen Ge’s backpack. He looked at Chen Ge’s bright and kind expression; the innocence in his eyes, the angel-like Wen Wen in his arms, and rest of the setting formed a great contrast to the hammer peeking out of the man’s bag.

“Actually, I am quite good with children. Many of them like to be around me.” Chen Ge was reminded of Fan Yu, Xiao Bu, and Men Nan—all these children shared a good relationship with him.

“If you say so…” Xiao Qing and the other officer opened the police car’s door. “The culprit sneaked into the school to kidnap the student, which is quite serious. I will need a few of you to come with us.”

…

At 10:10 pm, Chen Ge hugged the girl as they walked out from the police station. Wen Wen grabbed the shampoo bottle. She still only let Chen Ge hug her and stuck close to him. Even Wen Wen’s aunt did not expect this. She followed Chen Ge closely, watching the two with complicated emotions. The three walked in a row, and those not in the know would think that they were a family.

“When the police were doing the interrogation earlier, I tried my best to help cover for you.” After they wandered to a more deserted corner, Chen Ge suddenly stopped. “Actually, it was Wen Wen’s elder sister who injured the teachers at her school. There was no child kidnapper, right?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I’ve met Wen Wen’s sister. Her body is still submerged at the bottom of Eastern Jiujiang Dam. She died a horrible death and is coming back to seek…”

“Stop talking!” Wen Wen’s aunt suddenly lost control and screamed shrilly, causing the passersby around them to jump.

“Avoiding is not going to solve the problem. Perhaps she hasn’t harmed you now, but that doesn’t mean that you’re safe.” He turned to look at the aunt. “What actually happened to the child? Perhaps I can help you.”

Standing by the bridge, the woman looked at the gently flowing river. After a long time, she said, “Do you know about Bury Seed? It was a cruel method to use a child’s life in exchange for the healthy growth of another. I don’t know about the exact details; I only know that when Wen Wen was about to come into this world, my parents led Wen Wen’s sister away. They left at midnight and only returned at dawn.”

“Wen Wen’s sister didn’t come back with them?”

The woman shook her head. “My parents only came back with a small bowl of dirty water. They woke Wen Wen’s mother up and forced her to drink it.”

“A bowl or dirty water?”

“Yes, very murky. There was even blood on the edge of the bowl.”

“Wen Wen’s mother didn’t resist? She allowed them to do that to her?” Chen Ge suddenly realized that there were few things about Wen Wen’s mother at her home.

“Her mother was from the same village as I was. She was unfortunate enough to get into a car accident and lost a leg. My parents took her in with the condition that she helped give birth to a healthy child for my big brother.” The woman paused. “It was my parent’s decision to use Wen Wen’s sister as the seed; they didn’t tell anyone. Wen Wen’s mother didn’t even realize the bowl that she drank from was stained with her own daughter’s blood.”

“So, what happened later?” Chen Ge felt like halting the story already. He did not know how to evaluate this family.

“Since Wen Wen’s sister didn’t come home, my parents made up an excuse and said that the child had been sent to their old home to be taken care of. Several days later, Wen Wen came into this world. During the previous hospital visits, the doctor had told us that the child was a boy, so until the minute of birth, everyone was so happy.”

A sad smile appeared on the woman’s face. “But soon, karma came. The child came out a girl and had a slight deformation on her head like there was another face growing on the back of her head. After the doctor’s examination, it was confirmed that the child suffered from the same hereditary disease. My parents couldn’t suffer the trauma and left home one rainy night.”

“They didn’t tell Wen Wen’s mother about her first daughter?”

“My father’s mind was not normal, and he had a temper despite his physical abnormality. My mother suffered from the same fate. They had been taking the ridicule and mockery from the society their whole lives, and they couldn’t resist it anymore. Their life was difficult, and they did not want their next generation to go through the same thing.

“However, the result showed that they had been lied to. The so-called bury seed failed. I don’t where they went after that night. In any case, I never saw them again.”

Initially, the woman looked pained, but as she talked, the lines on her face smoothed out like she had become desensitized to it. “My parents and Wen Wen’s big sister disappeared, her husband is an idiot, and now so is her second daughter. Wen Wen’s mother couldn’t withstand the pressure, so she stole all of the money that the family had and left. It was my twentieth birthday that day.”

Chen Ge wanted to console her, but he did not know what to say.

“Now, I’m almost thirty already. I don’t need pity or help from others. I just wish for Wen Wen to grow up healthily and safely—that’s all I wish for.” The woman walked to Chen Ge and extended her hands toward Wen Wen. “Give her to me. It’s time for us to go home.”