My House of Horrors

“Enter the deepest part of the tunnel before midnight. So, does this mean I only need to keep walking into the tunnel?” The mission requirement was a bit too vague for Chen Ge to understand. If he failed any trial mission, the punishment was that the corresponding scenario would be locked away forever, so Chen Ge did not dare take any risk. “The only thing I can do is walk into the tunnel as deep as I can.”

Chen Ge had already done his research about White Dragon Cave Tunnel before. Everything online had something to do with the woman related to the car accident. In other words, people only knew that the female ghost would ask for a life. Chen Ge could not find any information on other spirits like the strange breathing sound, the shadow of the spider, or the like on the internet.

“I should go there before the sun completely sets.” Due to the multiple car accidents in White Dragon Cave Tunnel, many experts had been brought in to update the layout, but strangely enough, no matter how many times it was rebuilt, once it was allowed for traffic, accidents would still happen and in the end. The only solution was to seal the entire tunnel.

The internet said that the tunnel had been given three big rebuilds and numerous small rebuilds. Someone even suggested mixing dog blood and black donkey hoofs into the walls and floor of the tunnel, but that did not prove to be of actual use. The inside of the tunnel was complicated, and Chen Ge did not dare act too carelessly.

Carrying his backpack, after locking up the Haunted House, Chen Ge hurried to leave New Century Park and hailed a cab to get to White Dragon Cave Tunnel. With his previous experience, Chen Ge did not tell the driver directly that he was going to White Dragon Cave but told the driver to send him to a fork near the tunnel.

The original purpose of the White Dragon Cave Tunnel was to connect Jiujiang and Xin Hai City. Jiujiang was surrounded by lakes and a mountain range, so to liven up its economy, a route was necessary. Unfortunately, accidents kept happening on this route.

Some of the older Jiujiang locals said that Jiujiang’s lakes formed a Feng Shui depiction of Nine Dragons playing with the globe, so cutting a road through the mountains of Jiujiang caused the good Feng Shui energy to leak, and it was little wonder that strange accidents kept happening at that road. No one bought this story at the beginning, but the string of strange accidents started to change minds. The people on top eventually changed their mind and sealed White Dragon Cave Tunnel.

The night covered Jiujiang. As the taxi drove toward Eastern Jiujiang, fewer cars appeared on the road, and the number of skyscrapers also dwindled. The houses that showed up by the roads also appeared worn and old.

Cutting through the old part of town, the driver was a friendly person. He kept chatting with Chen Ge along the way. White Dragon Cave Tunnel was on the edge of the countryside, and before even reaching the destination, cars completely stopped appearing on the road.

On the narrow road, the streetlights were placed very far from each other. Perhaps because this road was rarely used, the government did not care much about its maintenance. Trash littered the road, and many of the streetlights were defective.

“I hate driving to Eastern Jiujiang. The locals hate outsiders and have a habit of dropping their trash on the road. It’s fine for an experienced driver like myself, but the newbies always get into accidents when they come here,” the driver grumbled casually.

“That trash might not be the doing of the locals.” Chen Ge had come to the edge of Eastern Jiujiang many times already, and every time, the feeling that he got from this place was that living humans should stay away.

The closer the taxi got to White Dragon Cave Tunnel, the more deserted the geography became. The surroundings were mostly trees and scrubs interspersed occasionally by the views of buildings and light.

“You can drop me here.” Chen Ge did not want to harm the taxi driver. He decided to walk the rest of the way. After all, it was still early.

“Are you sure? This place is in the middle of nowhere, and there’s not even a human shadow around here.” The driver said that, but he was already accepting the fare from Chen Ge. He handed the paper with the QR code for his WeChat wallet to Chen Ge.

Chen Ge knew that the man was only being polite. After he paid and prepared to get out from the car, the driver suddenly said, “Why is there a woman there?”

Following the driver’s gaze, Chen Ge noticed a woman squatting before an old residential home on the left side of the road. She had only one shoe on, and one side of her dress was torn open. She squatted in front of the house with her head lowered like she was searching for something.

The driver rolled down the window and poked his head out. The woman looked frail and weak. Her arms were thin like twigs. The yellow and white striped dress was wrinkly like someone had rustled it roughly.

“Hey! Why are you here alone?” The driver did not ask for Chen Ge’s opinion and called out directly. The woman heard the driver and slowly raised her head. The curtain of black hair parted to reveal a pale face. She looked normal, but as they said, whiteness could cover up one hundred types of ugliness. There was a unique allure about her.

The woman did not speak but slowly stood up. Without a word, she strode toward the taxi. The side of her dress was torn, and the dress itself was covered in dust and dried leaves. There were wounds on her calves, but strangely enough, none of the wounds were bleeding.

“Is there something wrong with the girl’s brain?” When a normal person came across something like this, they would not instantly think of ghosts. The driver was one such normal person.

The car window was tapped consecutively. Without taking too long, the woman reached the side of the taxi. She used her palm and tapped on the window with an expressionless face.

If this had happened to a normal person, they would have been unsettled, but the driver’s reaction was a bit strange. He smiled at the woman outside the woman and continued as if talking to himself. “It’s alright, don’t be afraid, I’ll drive you home.”

Then, he opened the door, and the woman easily crawled into the passenger seat.

“What’s happening?” Chen Ge was still seated in the back, and he turned to look to the front.

The woman lowered her head once she got into the car. She did not say a word, but the driver could not stop talking. It appeared as if he was talking to the air, and it was just weird overall.

“You’re married?”

“There shouldn’t be any tolerance for domestic violence. If it’s happened once, it’ll happen again. The b*stard shouldn’t be forgiven.”

“I can understand why you’re running away from home. You poor thing.”

“Are you planning to escape to your parent’s home? It’s okay. I understand. No problem.”

Chen Ge could not allow harm to come to an innocent. He took out the ballpoint pen from his backpack and left a message on the back of the paper with the QR code—The woman is not who she seems.

Then, he passed the paper back to the driver. “Boss, your code is not working! See if it’s because something is wrong with the paper.”

“Huh? It should work fine.” The driver looked at the paper for a long time but simply refused to turn it around. “How about you use any e-wallet?”

Then he took out another piece of paper and handed it to Chen Ge.

Without reaching to grab the paper, Chen Ge glanced at the passenger seat. “You plan to drive this girl home? Where is her home exactly? Perhaps we’re going the same direction. In that case, I’ll pay for both of our fares.”

The driver saw the logic in his argument. “She lives in the nearby village. It’s further in, but that place is even more deserted. I don’t think you’re heading there, are you?”

“Wow, this is such a coincidence, that is exactly where I’m heading. Just keep on driving then, you can drop me off with the girl.” Chen Ge opened his backpack and reached his hand into it.